Who or what has been significant in our turnaround?

[up and away]

An interesting article from the Sabotage Times, always worth a read in my opinion. The article goes on to argue the case for Jack Cork being the most decisive cog in our transformation, something I just about agree with but far closer a run than the article paints. I believed at the start of this season that our success would come down to Adkins being able to replicate the free flowing football that we started with against Leeds last season. I always thought Cork was instrumental in that pass and move game but never underlined as much as when he came back into the side this time. Coupled by the fact we always looked to be getting onto the front foot, receiving the ball, turning to face the opposition and taking the ball forward. It was not always like this even when Cork was playing last year and just a reminder of what an exceptional job Adkins performed with such mediocrity.

 

We can all praise Cork but the out come would be different with our defence still floundering. Though missing Schneiderlin could easily have a similar effect as missing Cork, he has been massive for us this season. No one could expect to operate with the hole Fox was leaving behind on the left and all the other individual errors. The only position that has not been resolved is the goal keeper. Boruc is out of it now otherwise he would have played in front of Kelvin. Even looking at Gazzaniga's worst game it's still better than some of Kelvins and the Reading game giving us little to advance anyone's case, would still expect another keeper to come in. Otherwise I would expect to stick with Gazzaniga as some of his skills are first class, sadly not all at the moment.

 

The forward play has just about sorted out itself, mainly because of the attacking threat offered by our fullbacks, Clyne and Shaw. The balance of the side is far better now with Ricky viable in more options than he was previously. All the forwards with the exception of Ramirez are droppable to gain that vital midfield control. Though far less for Ricky now with our added threat down the wings. Liverpool would have been a game I feel it needed doing but too late once we found out. Still cannot believe we have not seen more from Mayuka, a threat forcing defenders to back pedal, that I only saw bettered when Clyne originally switched to LB. Our tactics are simple, get control of the midfield, equally as a defensive measure as attacking, engineer the odd goal or two, then play to our best to improve or keep what we have.

 

This is not to undermine all the rest of the players who are doing their bit equally, with the exception of the gk. Some can argue eloquently and decisively over the merits of Puncheon but it was the return of Cork which was synonymous with the free flowing football we have seen. Resolve the goal keeping issue and I feel we have a fair shot, injuries allowing. The Sunderland game will be a very good indicator of how right or wrong Adkins gets the midfield.

[saint si]

In reverse order...

 

Emergence of Shaw, Ramirez being fit and settling in, Cork's return, standard of opposition.

[Saint Charlie]

And that vital factor that is never mentioned on threads like this: a little bit of confidence.

[Saintjersey]

We have playing the likes of QPR, Swansea, Newcastle and Reading instead of Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal and Everton.

 

We have also played more games at home recently, so it will be interesting to see how we get on at Fulham, Stoke and Villa to see if our away form is still s***.

Edited 18 December, 2012 by Saintjersey

[Barry Sanchez]

We have played ****house teams who are crap and will be in the bottom 3rd of the table like us?

[Thedelldays]

having the run of fixtures from swansea to sunderland on saturday...probably the best set of fixtures anyone in this league could ever hope for...

[Dig Dig]

having the run of fixtures from swansea to sunderland on saturday...probably the best set of fixtures anyone in this league could ever hope for...

 

True but playing the teams around us has so much riding on the result that the pressure and expectation to win is far more than against the top teams.

 

We've done well recently, just need to keep home form up and get a few more results away.

[ottery st mary]

CORK

PUNCHEON

SHAW

TEAM/BACK fOUR

 

Coaching team led by Uncle Nigel..

 

BUT particularly ottery , from his position in the stand...

 

passing much solid info to the team at vital times....Like......Pull your fluuuuucking fingers out boyzzz:rolleyes: On behalf of Nige ..of course..

 

Not in the coaching manual...you might have guessed...but has worked at St Marys in many matches..

 

 

Not forgetting Groundsman........I see a Chelsea flower show prize this season.

Edited 18 December, 2012 by ottery st mary

[dronskisaint]

A well thought through OP and I concur with a lot of it but I don't think that the defence getting to know and understand each other's style should be under-estimated.

 

Shaw has, I'd imagine, exceeded all expectations - certainly mine and who would have thought that JP would have proved the revelation that he has within this run?

 

I'm glad that the board didn't go the knee-jerk route and kept faith and patience - certainly there are areas that need more quality in depth to cover but I'm massively encouraged by the quality of the youngsters coming through...the future's bright! :-)

[Barry Sanchez]

True but playing the teams around us has so much riding on the result that the pressure and expectation to win is far more than against the top teams.

 

We've done well recently, just need to keep home form up and get a few more results away.

 

Well yes.

[washsaint]

delldays - why do you continue with your moaning? You really are a piece of work............ "having the run of fixtures from swansea to sunderland on saturday...probably the best set of fixtures anyone in this league could ever hope for...". Why not state the bleeding obvious? What it also means is that we had an horrific early fixture list as the games we have played "are probably the best of fixtures" anyone could have.

 

Why not enjoy our resurgence, the fact that we are slowly adapting to the Premiership and we have a good chance of survival this year? You were one of the ones moaning in the summer how much better prepared Reading were......hasn't worked out so well has it?

 

Can't work out whether you are trolling for a reaction or genuinely such a Debbie Downer.

 

If our squad stays fit and we bring in 1-2 players in January we should be just fine and hopefully our younger players will be pushing on the 1st team door quite hard.

[Thedelldays]

delldays - why do you continue with your moaning? You really are a piece of work............ "having the run of fixtures from swansea to sunderland on saturday...probably the best set of fixtures anyone in this league could ever hope for...". Why not state the bleeding obvious? What it also means is that we had an horrific early fixture list as the games we have played "are probably the best of fixtures" anyone could have.

 

Why not enjoy our resurgence, the fact that we are slowly adapting to the Premiership and we have a good chance of survival this year? You were one of the ones moaning in the summer how much better prepared Reading were......hasn't worked out so well has it?

 

Can't work out whether you are trolling for a reaction or genuinely such a Debbie Downer.

 

If our squad stays fit and we bring in 1-2 players in January we should be just fine and hopefully our younger players will be pushing on the 1st team door quite hard.

how on earth was that moaning...it is stating a fact about our upturn.....which is the complete opposite at the start of the season...when fixures were directly blamed for our very poor start.....

[Dig Dig]

Well yes.

 

Good

[70's Mike]

standard of opposition only reason imo

[Bailey]

Emergence of Shaw, Ramirez being fit and settling in, Cork's return, standard of opposition.

 

Absolutely this. Also, the importance of self-belief and confidence that has come about from stringing a few decent results together cannot be under-estimated.

[The Kraken]

standard of opposition only reason imo

 

Hmm, interesting. So the introduction of Jack Cork and Luke Shaw has made no difference to us. I see. And having a settled back four without playing centre backs at full back hasn't been an issue either. Neither has no longer playing a certain striker out of position made a difference. Colour me surprised.

[Thedelldays]

Hmm, interesting. So the introduction of Jack Cork and Luke Shaw has made no difference to us. I see. And having a settled back four without playing centre backs at full back hasn't been an issue either. Neither has no longer playing a certain striker out of position made a difference. Colour me surprised.

cork and shaw have been excellent...added much needed balance and steel to the defensive unit....shaw (at this rate) is on to far bigger things than saints.

he just needs that little bit of luck with injuries in the next few years and hope we dont go down

[Dig Dig]

Hmm, interesting. So the introduction of Jack Cork and Luke Shaw has made no difference to us. I see. And having a settled back four without playing centre backs at full back hasn't been an issue either. Neither has no longer playing a certain striker out of position made a difference. Colour me surprised.

 

Having our club record signing available for selection is another

[Thedelldays]

Having our club record signing available for selection is another

he has been very good and very bad....but I guess, kind of expected that..young lad, new country etc etc

 

I thought he looked very lively when he came on for lallana against reading...considering he hardly trained etc...reckon he will keep that spot till adam is back

[Saint_clark]

he has been very good and very bad....but I guess, kind of expected that..young lad, new country etc etc

 

I thought he looked very lively when he came on for lallana against reading...considering he hardly trained etc...reckon he will keep that spot till adam is back

 

I haven't seen him be very bad at any point.

[Thedelldays]

I haven't seen him be very bad at any point.

WBA and Liverpool away for a start (he was not the only one)

[Matthew Le God]

In reverse order...

 

Emergence of Shaw, Ramirez being fit and settling in, Cork's return, standard of opposition.

 

I'd add to that; a settled back four of Fonte/Yoshida/Shaw/Clyne starting to gel as a unit.

[NickG]

how on earth was that moaning...it is stating a fact about our upturn.....which is the complete opposite at the start of the season...when fixures were directly blamed for our very poor start.....

 

not by you, you blamed Adkins.

[NickG]

WBA and Liverpool away for a start (he was not the only one)

 

absolute rubbish.

 

WBA, only saw on tv, but first game back from injury and had a very insignificant impact (for him) on the game - disappointing for a player of his ability but very bad?

 

Liverpool away I went to. He was not very bad. Not his A Villa level but some decent stuff at times, not big mistakes.

[Thedelldays]

absolute rubbish.

 

WBA, only saw on tv, but first game back from injury and had a very insignificant impact (for him) on the game - disappointing for a player of his ability but very bad?

 

Liverpool away I went to. He was not very bad. Not his A Villa level but some decent stuff at times, not big mistakes.

i disagree...so there we go

[Dig Dig]

WBA and Liverpool away for a start (he was not the only one)

 

Wasn't at the Liverpool game but he was definitely poor at WBA....was his first game back after 6 weeks out without even an U21 GAME inbetween so understandable really.

[Thedelldays]

Wasn't at the Liverpool game but he was definitely poor at WBA....was his first game back after 6 weeks out without even an U21 GAME inbetween so understandable really.

as have said..I understand that he was and will be poor in some games..as he gets used to the speed of the prem...he clearly is a class act but lets not pretend everything he does is pure gold...

 

he is a huge player for us...for sure..shame lallana is going to be out for a while as I reckon we will see Gaston out on the left..he can still do damage out tere but when he is on song..he has been awesome in the middle

[Turkish]

Adkins picking the team

GUly have his minimum 15 minute clause removed from his contract

[Dig Dig]

as have said..I understand that he was and will be poor in some games..as he gets used to the speed of the prem...he clearly is a class act but lets not pretend everything he does is pure gold...

 

he is a huge player for us...for sure..shame lallana is going to be out for a while as I reckon we will see Gaston out on the left..he can still do damage out tere but when he is on song..he has been awesome in the middle

 

I don't, just saying that he's a significant factor in our recent decent form.

 

I agree, he is used to playing on the left, he played there for Bologna as well as playing through the middle but having a player of his ability in the side will always give us a chance.

[Dig Dig]

Adkins picking the team

GUly have his minimum 15 minute clause removed from his contract

 

Thought it was a bit weird how no one had mentioned the "chat" yet

[Turkish]

Thought it was a bit weird how no one had mentioned the "chat" yet

 

Surely this would be the most obvious thing?

[The Kraken]

Adkins picking the team

GUly have his minimum 15 minute clause removed from his contract

 

To be fair, that's probably the biggest factor.

Boruc's arrival has been massive too; he's clearly had a galvanising influence on the goalkeepers.

[The Kraken]

Thought it was a bit weird how no one had mentioned the "chat" yet

 

The chat led to other things that have already been mentioned (Guly dropped, JRod not played at RM/LM, Lambert played to his strengths etc etc)

[Dig Dig]

To be fair, that's probably the biggest factor.

Boruc's arrival has been massive too; he's clearly had a galvanising influence on the goalkeepers.

 

 

Least not forget the imminent return of Jonno Quick from his loan at Crawley had probably really got the lads buzzing and made them up their game.

[Turkish]

Least not forget the imminent return of Jonno Quick from his loan at Crawley had probably really got the lads buzzing and made them up their game.

 

the effect it has had on the fanbase is immense, look how quickly Arsenal sold out (except it hasnt, that is PR) when word went round Lallana was injured and Jonno might play.

[The Kraken]

Least not forget the imminent return of Jonno Quick from his loan at Crawley had probably really got the lads buzzing and made them up their game.

 

The boys have definitely had an additional spring in their steps since that wonderful day that JQ came back.

[Tamesaint]

GUly have his minimum 15 minute clause removed from his contract

 

So why did he come on with 15 mins to go against Reading? Has the clause been put back into his contract??

 

As we won that game, perhaps it is a good clause to be in the contract!

[Turkish]

So why did he come on with 15 mins to go against Reading? Has the clause been put back into his contract??

 

As we won that game, perhaps it is a good clause to be in the contract!

 

I think you'll find it was with 12 minutes to go.

[Tamesaint]

I think you'll find it was with 12 minutes to go.

 

You have forgotten the 3 minutes added time at the end of that game.

[Window Cleaner]

I think you'll find it was with 12 minutes to go.

 

plus at least 3 minutes additional time for the subs = min 15 minutes.

[Turkish]

You have forgotten the 3 minutes added time at the end of that game.

 

as added time was a variable that was never part of the contractual arrangement,

[Tamesaint]

as added time was a variable that was never part of the contractual arrangement,

 

Hmmm.... are you sure about that? I understood that Cortese insisted that was part of the contract. He is a bit of a hard nut when it comes to negotiating things like that.

[Turkish]

Hmmm.... are you sure about that? I understood that Cortese insisted that was part of the contract. He is a bit of a hard nut when it comes to negotiating things like that.

 

Positive. I'm mates with a steward who minds Corteses private bog, he overheard him and Sibley discussing it while Sibley was holding Corteses toilet roll.

[Window Cleaner]

as added time was a variable that was never part of the contractual arrangement,

 

ah but once the manager knows how many subs there have been and how many more he intends to make he can modulate the ET.

3 minutes is pretty much minimum these days, when was the last match we had less than 3 then?

[Turkish]

ah but once the manager knows how many subs there have been and how many more he intends to make he can modulate the ET.

3 minutes is pretty much minimum these days, when was the last match we had less than 3 then?

 

It was a guarenteed minimum of 15 minutes. There are no guarentees how long injury time would be so he had to come on with at least 15 minutes to play otherwise we were in breach of contract. Anyway, the clause has now been removed.

[The9]

Hmm, interesting. So the introduction of Jack Cork and Luke Shaw has made no difference to us. I see. And having a settled back four without playing centre backs at full back hasn't been an issue either. Neither has no longer playing a certain striker out of position made a difference. Colour me surprised.

 

And when we played the barely-competent Liverpool with all those "improvements" present ? We got utterly stuffed. So no, the only change is that we're playing teams we're more likely to beat.

[70's Mike]

Hmm, interesting. So the introduction of Jack Cork and Luke Shaw has made no difference to us. I see. And having a settled back four without playing centre backs at full back hasn't been an issue either. Neither has no longer playing a certain striker out of position made a difference. Colour me surprised.

 

despite all your points i still think we would have lost the games we lost even with the current set up

[The Kraken]

And when we played the barely-competent Liverpool with all those "improvements" present ? We got utterly stuffed. So no, the only change is that we're playing teams we're more likely to beat.

 

So those differences made no difference whatsoever in the previous games? None, none at all?

[Cabrone]

I'd say (in order of importance).....

 

- Standard of opposition.

- Stable team - No major injuries.

- Defence getting its act together.

- Introduction of Shaw and Cork + form of Puncheon, Clyne and Ramirez.

[kwsaint]

Changing the system in the summer. Going from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1/4-3-3. It took a while for the system to settle down and sort the defence out, but we are getting there. Listening to the commentary on the Reading-Arsenal game yesterday. Reading still play 4-4-2 and are getting outplayed in the middle of the park - plus their players aren't as good. NA made the right call.