West Ham 1 - 1 Saints - Post Match Reaction

[dellboypete]

I was gutted for Sharpe - we were right behind the goal - just about 3 or 4 yards from him. Green made a great save from a really viscious shot from lallana that was moving about in the air. It seemed that sharpe only needed to tap it in. Actually thinking about it he did only need to tap it in.

 

On the positive side I thought Sharpe looked pretty sharp (ha ha) and I think he will be a real asset as he showed with his miss that he can get in on goal really quickly and should sneak a few goals before too long.

 

Obviously we were right behind (ok slightly offset to the left) Lamberts free kick and it had Green beaten hands down - couldn't believe it brushed the outside of the post.

 

It was great to see us playing the real passing game that we perfected in the great run up to December. There may have been a few poor balls and dodgy crosses, but our patient build up really got under WHU skin - you could see their players and fans getting really agitated because they couldn't get near the ball.

 

For me Lallana and morgan absolutely dominated midfield and when puncheon came on the extra width down the left almost paid dividends.

 

Difficult to say what would have happned if there hadn't been a sending off. WHU started like an express train, but that rarely continues for the whole game and WHU made it very tight with 10 men, but the way were played in the second half was outstanding.

 

Standing in the queue for the underground afterwards I was chatting with a few WHU fans. Obviuosly they were really ****ed off at the sending off, but once they got over that most of them were really impressed with our style and quality of football and genuinely thought that we were the best footballing side they had seen this season. One guy said that our two centre backs looked so comfortable on the ball they almost reminded him of one of their greatest legends. I wouldn't stretch it that far but but jos & fonte seem to have built a pretty good understanding already - although jos did give me a couple of dodgy moments in the 2nd half!

 

I actually thought that at times our football was some of the best I have seen this season, and hopefully we have got over the winter blues.

 

As an afterthought - I was sadly embarrassed by lallana's lame effort of conning the ref into giving us a pen!

Edited 15 February, 2012 by dellboypete
dodgy spelling!!

[Cabrone]

The last 3 games have been away at the best 2 teams (alongside us) in the division + home against a team on an awayday hot streak and we've bagged 5 points.

 

Got to be happy with that though can't help thinking we could have nicked it last night (like Brum).

 

Looking at our respective fixture lists we'll finish above West Ham IMHO, not so sure about Brum though.

[eelpie]

Pleased with a point. When I did the Predicter early January I had Saints in 3rd equal at this stage, so we're still on track.

COYR

[This Charming Man]

http://twitter.com/NickyHayesPhoto/status/169711048717381632/photo/1/large

 

I wonder if Fat Sam has seen that yet, though I imagine he'll just carrying on rambling about how it was a shove in the chest.

[shurlock]

In fairness we haven't lost to many of them away either though. Only Brighton (which was tragic, shame we don't defend like WHU when down to ten men)), Leicester (only won by a goal that shouldn't of stood) and Cardiff (outplayed us TBF) have beaten us at their places so far

 

Cardiff didn't outplay us - we were very unlucky up there. Reading should have beaten us; but generally our worst performances have come against the strugglers.

[shurlock]

I wonder if Fat Sam has seen that yet, though I imagine he'll just carrying on rambling about how it was a shove in the chest.

 

Not to mention he came sprinting over to do it.

[doddisalegend]

I wonder if Fat Sam has seen that yet, though I imagine he'll just carrying on rambling about how it was a shove in the chest.

 

The WHU player isjust giving sharp a friendly hair tussle in a good natured way. What has happened todays game when you can't give an opposition player a friendly shove in the face:rolleyes:

[Danny R]

The away support looked and sounded amazing last night from the top of the Bobby Moore stand, very hard to sit on your hands when we scored. West Ham fans were very negative about constantly giving the ball away; if they have a couple of bad results on the spin they will be right on the players backs.

[doddisalegend]

Cardiff didn't outplay us - we were very unlucky up there. Reading should have beaten us; but generally our worst performances have come against the strugglers.

 

yep losing to teams like Donny and Brizzle are the games that stick in the craw...those where the games to get some away points on the board.

[SuperMikey]

Still a good result against a team who haven't had a game for 10 days whereas some of our players have had 2 extra full matches

since then.

What's the news on Frazer? will it have to be a complete re-shuffle for Saturday. Cork to RB,Bart back on the bench?

 

If Butterfield's fit then he'll probably play at RB - if not we'll see Harding at RB before Cork is played there. Nige prefers him in midfield and Morgan + Deano is too deep in midfield.

[Thedelldays]

yep losing to teams like Donny and Brizzle are the games that stick in the craw...those where the games to get some away points on the board.

agree

 

but we can make up for it..

we have to visit millwall, posh, watford yet......7 points from that lot please

[Minty]

Interesting transcript of the press conference for the written press after the game:

 

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=126017

 

Adkins is quite right to not actually get drawn into saying whether a ref has had a 'good' game or not. To try and summarise a host of difficult decisions in an important game like this in one word, is a bit silly. But then the press need their soundbites and they like manager who give them something a bit controversial or tasty. Big Sam obliged (and got it wrong) but Nigel is far more calculated. It IS infuriating for some, but I think he's spot on.

[Minty]

And here's Sam's whinging...

 

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=126016

[sandwichsaint]

Great game and the eternal ‘two points lost or one point gained?’ conundrum .... 2 points lost for me.

 

Positives: we went toe-to-toe with the league leaders away from home: big club, big atmosphere, and we absolutely stood up to be counted to a man. We had a lot of the game and created a long spell of pressure in the second half. Fans were absolutely terrific, non-stop backing for the team and none of that moaning and groaning stuff every time a player misses a pass. Defence and GK showed real determination throughout and were only beaten by a pen, only one goal conceded from open play v Cardiff, Brum, and Wham is an outstanding effort.

 

Negatives: despite the possession we again struggled to create clear cut chances, RL was well shackled by Faye all game and not for the first time we looked short of a plan B. I’m sure Sharp is going to be great for us and was really looking fd last night to seeing his partnership with RL but it never got going, he looked short of fitness and form and his miss was truly horrendous (Green made a right hash of a fairly routine drive from Lallana and spilled the ball fwd and sideways about 4 yds from goal, Sharp was completely unmarked and had half the goal to walk it into but inexplicably dragged the ball back into the only area Green could reach it – for all those on kumb – it wasn’t a ‘worldy’ by Green – 99.9% of the time it was a simple tap-in to the fd and a poor goal from a basic goalkeeping error.)

 

KD 8 top performance, couple of really smart stops and gathered several dangerous crosses, very brave take against Cole on the top of the D. Right back on it the last few games.

FR 7 up and down all night, couple of good crosses in the first half but couldn’t find the killer ball tonight. Surprised he went off, injured?

JH 9 (every game), came out on top in a real battle with Cole and always on hand to double-up where needed. Absolute quality and a real steal from Celtic.

JF 7 typical Jose performance, whole-hearted and a bit of everything including sweeping upfield with the ball a couple of times in the second half. Good stuff.

DF 6 usual busy performance but as ever not very much end product – always leaves me wanting more.

Gully 6 worked hard but typically inconsistent contribution, you can see what he’s trying to do but too often it doesn’t quite come off.

MS 7 gutsy performance and kept us ticking over nicely. Lucky to escape with one or two very loose passes that put us right under pressure.

JC 5 for me rapidly becoming the enigma of the side, first dozen games of the season it looked like he had it all but worryingly inconsistent since then. No lack of effort last night but nothing really came off for him and conceded a needless yellow card.

AL 9 right back on his game and ran the show for the first 20 minutes of the second half when played infield. Faded last 20, not sure if that was the subs effect or he ran out of legs somewhat?

RL 6 no lack of effort and one fizzing free kick but he was too-easily shackled by Faye and had little impact on the game. Not England quality tonight.

BS 3 OMG! Looking forward to seeing his ‘burst of speed’, his ‘intelligent movement’, his ‘partnership with Lambert’ etc. I didn’t see any of that – he looked more like a pub footballer who had taken a wrong turn on the way to the game. His first touch was all over the shop, he was constantly beaten to the ball, he didn’t win any one on ones all night, and he capped it off with one of the misses of the century. He’ll have better days!

 

Subs ????? A right dog’s dinner if I’m honest with you. Puncheon was excellent and a logical replacement for Gully but after that not sure what we were doing? We bought Connolly on for Richardson, with Cork going to RB, which gave us Lambert, Sharp and Connolly bunched in the middle and forced AL back wide when he had been very effective through the middle, and then as a point-saver we stuck Hammond on for Sharp in the last 5 minutes.

 

No real game-changers there and a disappointing tactical response from NA when we played 70 minutes against 10 men. I’d have played Tandoor at half time for Sharp – their two-banks-of-four were resolute and organised and Tandoor’s pace would have helped break up their lines much more than the ‘high-ball-to-Lambert-(easily)-collected-by-Green’ which we saw way too much of.

 

Great night out; proper football game in a proper football stadium and 1-1 probably a fair result overall. Very pleased to see a proper PL ref in what was a hothouse atmosphere and I thought he did well, more sour grapes from slug-face Allardyce. On last night’s showing these two ought to be able to hold onto the top 2 spots till the end of the season but we really do need to move it up a level on our finishing (and don’t get me started on our corners, why do football fans cheer when their team gets a corner? We looked much more dangerous from throw-ins!)

[doddisalegend]

And here's Sam's whinging...

 

http://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=126016

 

Like this from big Sam

 

And why do I know they're two penalties? Well, I knew they were two penalties at the time because everybody in the stadium appealed for it.

 

Home crowd appealing for a peno shocker...Is this a new rule in football if the home crowd appeal it counts????

[St.Patrik]

Only if youre a ManUre fan ; )

 

 

Like this from big Sam

 

And why do I know they're two penalties? Well, I knew they were two penalties at the time because everybody in the stadium appealed for it.

 

Home crowd appealing for a peno shocker...Is this a new rule in football if the home crowd appeal it counts????

[trousers]

Subs ????? A right dog’s dinner if I’m honest with you. Puncheon was excellent and a logical replacement for Gully but after that not sure what we were doing? We bought Connolly on for Richardson, with Cork going to RB, which gave us Lambert, Sharp and Connolly bunched in the middle and forced AL back wide when he had been very effective through the middle

 

Adkins was about to bring Connolly on (I assume for Sharp) but just beforehand Fraser pulled up injured (looked like a hamstring tweak).

 

Adkins didn't see Fraser down injured at first (the game had gone up the other end) but just as Connolly was about to come on Fraser had hobbled along the touchline back to the bench.

 

As soon as Adkins saw Fraser was injured he signalled to Connolly to hold fire for a few seconds. He then made a snap decision to move Cork to right back and bring on Connolly for Fraser instead of (I assume) Sharp.

 

Adkins had to make a snap decision and was a good call in the heat of the moment IMO.

[70's Mike]

The pack are closing in! A good away point under the circumstances but we need to beat our top rivals away from home. We missed an opportunity against 10 men last night with Billy Sharp missing the best chance of the night.

No more slip ups and we will be near the top at the end of the season.

 

why as long as our rivals do not beat us and we win against the other sides, how do they catch us?

[jawillwill]

[swisscottager]

Thought their support was awful last night. They couldn't cope with us shouting 'HOOF' everytime they literally kicked the ball forward and had no response at all !!

 

Talking to a few of their fans on the way back on the Tube and they were grateful for the draw and pleased with the result, plus they thought Kelvin was outstanding in goal for us. There was no noise on the journey back to Upminster from a crowded train and they all seemed like they had gotten away with a point rather than lost two on the rest of the league.

 

Felt sorry For Sharp as he should have buried the chance he had in the first half and fluffed afew balls afterwards.

 

Can t believe the young numpties who were shouting abuse at him as though he was the worst player ever for missing a chance so we need to support the bloke until he settles in and starts banging them in for fun.

 

You can see the potential for him and Ricky to really get it together and make life hell for some opponent in the next fe weeks.

[James]

 

But according tO big Sam and some random twitter journalist sharp is a cheat? Don't think so. Clear red, should be banned for more than 3 IMO - that's borderline assault grabbing someone by the neck.

[This Charming Man]

This may have been mentioned near the beginning of the thread (I could only be bothered to read the last couple of pages) but Benali was in the away end last night. What a legend and a top bloke.

[sotonjoe]

If you step back and think about taking a draw from the Hammers away from home it seems ok. However, playing against ten men for most of the game, creating that many chances, many on target, whilst only scoring once, you've got to say we should have done better. You shouldn't be only putting the ball in the net once if you've got that many 'on target' chances; not if you're "controlling the controllables" anyway.

 

Onto Derby and a win there would give us 7 points from the last three 'difficult' games and you'd have to be satisfied with that I guess.

[LostBoys]

Should have won and Sharpe missed a sitter right in front of me as I was a ground zero behind the goal. I see according to the t**t Allardyce Sharpe has become deformed with his neck now appearing on his chest and therefore this does not warrant a sending off - what an equally big t**t Taylor is as well as being crap. Good day out.

[dubai_phil]

SaintsFCFanZone Saints FanZone @

 

 

 

@jordansibley @moose_talksport @billysharp10 @NathSaints Look at the picture in the times.. http://yfrog.com/esx6zip

 

 

 

Picture of Sharp faking it......

 

Getty Pics from game

 

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=138140019&EditorialProduct=Sport#

[trousers]

Ian Abrahams still banging on....

 

Ian Abrahams @Moose_talkSPORT The pics I have seen show Matt Taylor did push Sharp from the neck but didnt hit Sharp or cause any head injury. Now if Soton fans want to argue this some more they can but I maintain Sharp's actions last night were awful & helped get Taylor sent off

 

 

[Minty]

BBC South Today producer on Twitter just said he's watched the pen in slow-mo and there definitely wasn't any contact.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Not a great result, but not a terrible one either I suppose.

 

A bit of added pressure on the team now as teams currently in the play-off positions erode our lead, but to be perfectly honest I see little or no reason to fear any of them.

 

On to the next game, and three more points I hope.

[trousers]

BBC South Today producer on Twitter just said he's watched the pen in slow-mo and there definitely wasn't any contact.

 

So, why isn't Abrahams banging on about the 'unprofessional' dive to win the penalty I wonder.... (asked Trousers rhetorically)

[eelpie]

But according tO big Sam and some random twitter journalist sharp is a cheat? Don't think so. Clear red, should be banned for more than 3 IMO - that's borderline assault grabbing someone by the neck.

 

That hand and thumb is clearly wrapped around Sharp's kneck, and not a push on his chest as Allerdyce maintains. Or perhaps Sharp is strangling himself?

 

I will give that it is not clear from this pic if Sharp is strangling himself or not, in which case Sharp should have been sent off if self-strangulation is an offence.

[derry]

Look, it's simple. Taylor was sent off for aggressively manhandling an opponent. Nit picking about chest, throat, going down etc is just garbage. Taylor grabbed Sharp by the throat, he deserved to be sitting on his backside spitting his front teeth out. In this instance he was sent off, he can appeal and if the FA agree that he was unfairly sent off the red card will be rescinded. Anybody want to quote the odds for that and whether they will even bother appealing.

Edited 15 February, 2012 by derry

[Gingeletiss]

So! The fans of the great 'academy of football' believe that Sharp was play acting? I have read every post on their crappy site, and almost all of their fans were sat 15 yards away (crowded that area), and all said it was a dive, or that he was pushed in the chest. Now that the picture has been posted, they claim it was still only a yellow card offence (know their football laws then). They also claim they had more possession, and we never really had a shot in the second half (can't read the stats). However, they almost to a man, had Green as their Motm.

Edited 15 February, 2012 by Gingeletiss

[Papa Shango]

Player ratings/report for the game : http://www.thesaintshub.com/westham1-1saints.html

[trousers]

Look, it's simple. Taylor was sent off for aggressively manhandling an opponent. Nit picking about chest, throat, going down etc is just ********. Taylor grabbed Sharp by the throat, he deserved to be sitting on his backside spitting his front teeth out.

 

Indeed. The likes of Abrahams banging on about Sharp contributing to the referee's decision are surely highlighting a positive aspect of Sharp "making the most" of the assault.

 

If Sharp helped the referee make the right decision (which he did) then that's a good thing, surely?

 

Now, had Sharp had reacted in the same way had he not been assaulted then, yes, I'd be the first person calling him a cheat. But highlighting an actual assualt to the referee is fair play IMO.

[trousers]

So! The fans of the great 'academy of football' believe that Sharp was play acting? I have sad every post on their crappy site, and almost all of their fans were sat 15 yards away (crowded that area), and all said it was a dive, or that he was pushed in the chest. Now that the picture has been posted, they claim it was still only a yellow card offence (know their football laws then).

 

I went with a West Ham supporting mate and his first reaction to me was: "it looked like he threw a punch - definite sending off". We couldn't see Sharp's reaction from where we were sitting so this view was based purely on the assault, not on the reaction (which is the same criteria the laws of the game are based on).

 

If that wasn't a sending off then neither was Lambert's last month.

[Window Cleaner]

BBC South Today producer on Twitter just said he's watched the pen in slow-mo and there definitely wasn't any contact.

 

Jos says the same, but he admits to having committed a handball earlier on and doesn't seem particularly unphased about

West Ham getting a penalty.

[trixter_whufc]

Good Morning Southampton fans. I hope you don’t mind me venturing onto your forum to add my thoughts on last night and our clubs as a whole.

 

I thought it was a good game last night and both sides had their moments.

 

When it was 11 vs 11 I think we certainly had the upper hand. We were knocking it around quite nicely I thought.

 

The penalty situation was very strange. A real bitter sweet moment in getting the penalty but knowing we would only have 10 men for the rest of the match.

 

I'm still a little unsure about the sending off. I originally thought it was a shove in the chest by Taylor although after seeing pictures of him grabbing Sharp's throat I suppose the ref didn't have a lot of choice. I do think Sharp went down very easily and it was all just school boy stuff which i think should have resulted in yellows for both of them. However, as i said, probably had to be a red in the modern game.

 

I think we still held our own for the rest of the first half and matched you and the half time score was probably about right.

 

Second half, as expected, you played it around well and put a lot of pressure on us. It always felt like a goal was coming from you and it was no real surprise when it did although clear cut chances weren’t coming along all that often.

 

We still looked threatening on the break with some nice passing at times. Of course we hoofed it up the pitch plenty – we are an Allardyce team afterall but I think you were also guilty of long ball football occasionally.

 

Green played really well and was one of our best players and made a great double save (i think from Sharp but possibly Lambert).

 

I thought we lost a bit of shape when Cole went off as he had been holding it up well although Maynard certainly looked lively when he came on and was a little unlucky not to score late on.

 

Overall probably the right result. I thought we showed great determination with 10 men but I thought you played some nice stuff and moved the ball around quickly.

 

Not a bad atmosphere in the ground. You had a great turn out and we could certainly hear you at times although your chants of “we forgot that you were here” slightly contradicted the “your not singing anymore” chant!

 

Just one thing I want to ask if you don’t mind. “When the Saints go marching in” is your song. Obviously this is your song and lots of other clubs have stolen it. But the slow version that you sing, who started singing that first – you or spurs?

 

A good night in the end and both sets of fans probably went home quite happy.

 

I hope that we go up and you come with us. You are a club I always want to do well for some reason so hopefully our next meeting will be in the big time.

[southamptonbairn]

We haven't beaten a team in the top half away from home yet. A ridiculous stat for a team in our position.

 

I haven't seen Saints win away from home in the last two seasons and what's worrying me is with 15 games to go, I'll be at seven and six of them are away from home.

 

On another note, I was sitting at the opposite end of the ground last night and the Saints fans were in fantastic voice. Those Hammers fans are a bunch of moaning faced miserable sods. They were worried when big Jos scored though, they cheered Green's catch at the very last corner kick like they had scored the winner.

[shurlock]

Jos says the same, but he admits to having committed a handball earlier on and doesn't seem particularly unphased about

West Ham getting a penalty.

 

He's unphased about most things - at any rate, he didn't think their pen was a pen.

[nick1579]

I like it when opponent fans come on and give their opinion of the game - the one's I've seen always seem to be well balanced.

[CanadaSaint]

So are West Ham without Nolan and Taylor for the next two games, and without Taylor for the one after that?

[Saint Garrett]

So are West Ham without Nolan and Taylor for the next two games, and without Taylor for the one after that?

Yes.

[Fan The Flames]

Is Sharp the new Forte ;-)

[Sour Mash]

Good Morning Southampton fans. I hope you don’t mind me venturing onto your forum to add my thoughts on last night and our clubs as a whole.

 

I thought it was a good game last night and both sides had their moments.

 

When it was 11 vs 11 I think we certainly had the upper hand. We were knocking it around quite nicely I thought.

 

The penalty situation was very strange. A real bitter sweet moment in getting the penalty but knowing we would only have 10 men for the rest of the match.

 

I'm still a little unsure about the sending off. I originally thought it was a shove in the chest by Taylor although after seeing pictures of him grabbing Sharp's throat I suppose the ref didn't have a lot of choice. I do think Sharp went down very easily and it was all just school boy stuff which i think should have resulted in yellows for both of them. However, as i said, probably had to be a red in the modern game.

 

I think we still held our own for the rest of the first half and matched you and the half time score was probably about right.

 

Second half, as expected, you played it around well and put a lot of pressure on us. It always felt like a goal was coming from you and it was no real surprise when it did although clear cut chances weren’t coming along all that often.

 

We still looked threatening on the break with some nice passing at times. Of course we hoofed it up the pitch plenty – we are an Allardyce team afterall but I think you were also guilty of long ball football occasionally.

 

Green played really well and was one of our best players and made a great double save (i think from Sharp but possibly Lambert).

 

I thought we lost a bit of shape when Cole went off as he had been holding it up well although Maynard certainly looked lively when he came on and was a little unlucky not to score late on.

 

Overall probably the right result. I thought we showed great determination with 10 men but I thought you played some nice stuff and moved the ball around quickly.

 

Not a bad atmosphere in the ground. You had a great turn out and we could certainly hear you at times although your chants of “we forgot that you were here” slightly contradicted the “your not singing anymore” chant!

 

Just one thing I want to ask if you don’t mind. “When the Saints go marching in” is your song. Obviously this is your song and lots of other clubs have stolen it. But the slow version that you sing, who started singing that first – you or spurs?

 

A good night in the end and both sets of fans probably went home quite happy.

 

I hope that we go up and you come with us. You are a club I always want to do well for some reason so hopefully our next meeting will be in the big time.

Good write up and hard to disagree with too much of that apart from "both should ahve got yellows"? Not sure how you'd work that at. Could see it wass a blatant sending off from the back of the away end, really don't get why West Ham fans are making a big deal of this, easy decision for the ref.

[thefuriousb]

Not to mention he came sprinting over to do it.

 

Yes - the fact the left back turned up in our left back position seems to have been over-looked by Fat Sam.

 

If you are going to run that far to get involved the least the ref can do is have a (red) card ready for him!

[Dibden Purlieu Saint]

Is Sharp the new Forte ;-)

 

Nope, cos he isn't black. As ever, we only have black scapegoats!

[Thedelldays]

Nope, cos he isn't black. As ever, we only have black scapegoats!

racist

[This Charming Man]

Nope, cos he isn't black. As ever, we only have black scapegoats!

 

Is it any surprise though that black players don't perform well for us, given the amount of racial abuse they have to endure from the stands?

[Leicestersaint]

Who or what is Ian Abrahams??

[This Charming Man]

Who or what is Ian Abrahams??

 

Some moron from Talksport who was telling anyone who would listen last night that Sharp was a disgrace for pretending to be shoved in the face. He's since been shown numerous pictures of Sharp being shoved in the face and is starting a very undignified descent from his soapbox.