Norwich City 0-0 Southampton // Post-Match Reaction

[ToreSF]

Good performance under terrible conditions. Ramirez, Lallana, Jay Rod and Lamber all could/should have scored. Still need 10-12 points. April will be a massive month.

[Puddings and Monkeys]

Good power but good height! We got lucky today

 

Thank fook for Boruc

 

Neck and neck between you and Turdish for the most tedious bore of the forum award. Fairly close between the two of you for the misguided view of your own importance title too.

[The Kraken]

Looking at it objectively, Saints dominated the game and made Norwich look poor. The only thing missing was the end product. Our players just haven't got the quality in front of goal. Clearly, the conditions were awful, and, equally, so was the referee. That was never a penalty in a million years, and MP told him that very politely it would seem. But of course, we are still deep in the mire. Even QPR are catching up. It's going to be squeaky bum time. But, the performance today was good in my opinion, and we should take some encouragement from that. Even Ramirez got his finger out, but Guly was pretty anonymous unfortunately.

 

Agreed. Lambert's movement and positioning is excellent; however when he drops out wide it needs someone who can do the business to fill in to the middle. In lower league days Lallana, Guly, Oxlade etc all used to do that. In this division its harder, and we have a misfiring Lallana, a wet fanny Ramirez and an ineffectual Rodriguez. JRod's shinner from JWP's knockdown was a point in case; laid on a plate and he couldn't even kick it properly.

 

Good performance but a Boruc super save bailed us out of the sh*t, and shows up the massive deficiencies we have to be safe in this division, let alone whatever the longer term ambitions are.

[hans gruber]

110 persaint a penalty I'm afraid.

 

what??

 

apparently and its not conclusive, he has touched him in the back, but somehow this has made hiss legs cave in beneath him?

 

lol

 

if thats a penalty i am jesus... sorry..

[ALWAYS_SFC]

So are we definitely down now?

 

Just wanted to check?

[The Kraken]

what??

 

apparently and its not conclusive, he has touched him in the back, but somehow this has made hiss legs cave in beneath him?

 

lol

 

if thats a penalty i am jesus... sorry..

 

If it had been up the other end it would be nailed on. The commentators both agreed it was a clear penalty.

 

Obviously I forgot about the tinted approach you get on here to clear decisions against us. Carry on.

[Window Cleaner]

Least Sunderland are now in the mix as well....

 

their remaining fixtures are complicated, play a lot of lower rivals.Sunderland will either pull clear and push the others down or drop down themselves. A win there for us would be handy.

[70's Mike]

If it had been up the other end it would be nailed on. The commentators both agreed it was a clear penalty.

 

Obviously I forgot about the tinted approach you get on here to clear decisions against us. Carry on.

 

Phil Thompson didn't

[UpweySaint]

If it had been up the other end it would be nailed on. The commentators both agreed it was a clear penalty.

 

ObviouslyI forgot about the tinted approach you get on here to clear decisions against us. Carry on.

 

BBC disagreed with the decision calling it "very harsh". I personally thought it was a foul but Shaw is pulled back clearly just before he commits the foul so we shouldnt of even had to have a debate. Either both or neither were fouls for me, same level of contact. Consistency would be nice from the officials but there you go ...

[Badger]

The late penalty save makes it a point gained. But in trutyh this is two points dropped in the quest for European football.

 

C^ntese will not be happy.

 

Sort it out quickly MP , or you'll be on your bike.

[BARCELONASAINT]

lol at the idiots on here saying it was a penalty. The Norwich player actually jumps back into Luke Shaw! He knew exactly what he was doing and the ref fell hook line and sinker for it!

[VectisSaint]

Thanks to Wigan not playing.

Not sure they would have got much away at Man City, apart from a dent in their GD.

[pingwing]

If it had been up the other end it would be nailed on. The commentators both agreed it was a clear penalty.

 

Obviously I forgot about the tinted approach you get on here to clear decisions against us. Carry on.

 

It wasn't a penalty because play should have been stopped just before for a foul on our player...

 

Then again the pull on Holt in the first half was such a penalty it was embarrassing that wasn't given against us.

[The Kraken]

BBC disagreed with the decision calling it "very harsh". I personally thought it was a foul but Shaw is pulled back clearly just before he commits the foul so we shouldnt of even had to have a debate. Either both or neither were fouls for me, same level of contact. Consistency would be nice from the officials but there you go ...

 

Getting things right 100% from the officials would be nice, but its never going to happen. Neither is 100% of the population agreeing with a decision going to happen either.

 

Smart play from fatty Holt; he got the wrong side of Shaw and Shaw did enough to justify the fould being given. Similar to the other end of teh pitch when Shaw went down when Snodgrass grabbed at his arm, it was minimal but it was a foul. I have no problems with the decision for a penalty at all, I'd have been livid if we had been denied such a case.

[The Kraken]

It wasn't a penalty because play should have been stopped just before for a foul on our player...

 

Then again the pull on Holt in the first half was such a penalty it was embarrassing that wasn't given against us.

 

Its a fair comment, but as it wasn't given (and the penalty was) that's all that matters, really. Similar to the first half incident which, as you say, was clear as day but not given.

[Saints foreva]

After today's set of results, you kind of get the feeling that we've started QPR's great escape.

[Minsk]

Looking at it objectively, Saints dominated the game and made Norwich look poor. The only thing missing was the end product. Our players just haven't got the quality in front of goal. Clearly, the conditions were awful, and, equally, so was the referee. That was never a penalty in a million years, and MP told him that very politely it would seem. But of course, we are still deep in the mire. Even QPR are catching up. It's going to be squeaky bum time. But, the performance today was good in my opinion, and we should take some encouragement from that. Even Ramirez got his finger out, but Guly was pretty anonymous unfortunately.

 

Agree with almost all of this. We certainly dominated but our end product is non=existent, as you said. It is the final bit of that which makes me worried. We have gone from free scoring to not having a clue in front of goal; this, since MP came in.

 

Luckily today we managed to keep a clean sheet - obviously, primarily due to a fantastic penalty save by Boruc - but also thanks to a couple of excellent bits of defensive work from Yoshida.

 

All in all, I am not too unhappy about the draw as I expected us to lose this one - despite having predicted a draw (2-2 though) in the prediction league.

[Badger]

No point dwelling on the penalty, it was saved so did not cost us.

 

What bothers me is our inept finishing, according to BBC, 15 shots,7 on target.

[CWD]

The game deteriorated as the conditions got worse. I felt we should have abandoned our passing game and gone a bit more direct in the last 10 - 15 mins. It will be a travesty if we do go down having put in some of the performances we have, however good performances don't win you anything. We have to have a plan B that makes us a little more dangerous.

 

We seem quite slow to counter attack under MP, whereas our opposition are quick to get behind our defence, filling the gaps left by our attacking fullbacks. QPR scored from it, and Norwich came close today. We rarely get to the byline, but when we do we look dangerous. We need to attack with more pace.

 

Positive note: If you'd offered me the position we're in now at the start of the season, I'd have bitten your hand off.

[VectisSaint]

Norwich Boruced.

Someone said on build up thread that they had not been given a pen this season, now they have and now we know it wouldn't have made any difference. Difficult to say whether it was a pen, looked like it from what I saw, BUT Shaw was fouled before it and so it should have been free kick to us, and I can't tell whether Lardass dived or not. If we had won last week a point at Narwich would have been a good point. I guess it still is, but feel deflated that we did not get 3.

[Minsk]

It wasn't a penalty because play should have been stopped just before for a foul on our player...

 

Then again the pull on Holt in the first half was such a penalty it was embarrassing that wasn't given against us.

 

Agreed.

[itchen_dan]

Ok....

 

bigadamsport: Waited ages to speak to Artur Boruc - poor bloke got hauled off for a random drug test #saintsfc

[shurlock]

Lallana, Ramirez and Lambert going backwards last few games

 

1 win in 7 now for Tino....... Not good enough. norwich were poor today we needed to take advantage

 

So Yoshida didn't cost us the game then?

[tisspahars]

In conclusion then, we didn't have a chance of getting anything at Norwich, and yet our point is a dismal result, and Ramirez and Lallana were both absolutely awful and the decision to replace them shows just quite how clueless our manager is. Answers on a postcard.....

[hans gruber]

If it had been up the other end it would be nailed on. The commentators both agreed it was a clear penalty.

 

Obviously I forgot about the tinted approach you get on here to clear decisions against us. Carry on.

 

it was a dive

 

clear as day....

 

 

doesnt matter now but lets fce it...in real lefe maybe you can picture yourself as a left back. some fat striker is facing away from goal balls going miles over him.... any defender with an ounce of brain, and hey we all agree, shaw is going to be awesiome (well i agree with myself).. he's not pusing him in the back is he?

 

its common sense...

 

 

referee fail

 

kraken fail

 

off to bed for me then... i am dissapointed i think we did enough to win...... oh well i think we can take points from chelsea and liverpoo;l....

[geoffnut]

Have we taken all our chances in the last two games we would be 5 points better off and nearly safe by now. Very poor season so far only 6 wins and only 1 under the new manager, but still think we will be in the Premier next season.

[Wes Tender]

As the dismal run under Pochettino continues, there will be a growing clamour for the justification for Adkins' sacking.

 

There were games this season where Adkins' abilities to manage in the Premiership were questioned, based on what some considered to be odd substitutions. You should always play your strongest players we were told by the forum's experts and unless there were good reasons like injuries or suspensions, the wisdom was that it is foolish to select players to play out of their positions.

 

And yet that is exactly what has been happening under Pochettino, both things notably in this match. And a team that was scoring freely under Adkins seems to have stopped banging them in, regardless of the number of chances created that remains high. Why is that? Could it be that the high pressing line favoured by Pochettino denies our strikers the space, as the defence is packed?

 

I continue to believe that we have no plan B. Every manager knows before the referee blows the whistle to start the match what he can expect from us and plans his strategy accordingly. A team like Man City underrated us and paid the price, but others have either negated our strategy, or even benefited from it and won against us. For all that it is exciting to watch and that it might have been effective in Spain, I'm not convinced that it will work here, where play is much quicker.

 

Norwich and QPR are two matches where we would have hoped to gain 6 points, ahead of the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. With QPR closing the gap with their 6 points in the last two matches and Wigan proving by their comprehensive vistory against Everton that they have the quality to get themselves out of danger yet again, we really do have to start getting some points on the board.

 

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

[The Kraken]

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

Agree with you there, West.

[Manuel]

The lack of chances up front is down to the lack of Puncheon, and today Clyne. They are a good right wing partnership, create attacking chances together and Puncheon can shoot! Poor pitch conditions today wouldn't have suited them, perhaps that's why they were left out today but I would like to see both of them back on the pitch from the start against Liverpool. I think we're poorer in the last third without them creating from the right.

[shurlock]

As the dismal run under Pochettino continues, there will be a growing clamour for the justification for Adkins' sacking.

 

There were games this season where Adkins' abilities to manage in the Premiership were questioned, based on what some considered to be odd substitutions. You should always play your strongest players we were told by the forum's experts and unless there were good reasons like injuries or suspensions, the wisdom was that it is foolish to select players to play out of their positions.

 

And yet that is exactly what has been happening under Pochettino, both things notably in this match. And a team that was scoring freely under Adkins seems to have stopped banging them in, regardless of the number of chances created that remains high. Why is that? Could it be that the high pressing line favoured by Pochettino denies our strikers the space, as the defence is packed?

 

I continue to believe that we have no plan B. Every manager knows before the referee blows the whistle to start the match what he can expect from us and plans his strategy accordingly. A team like Man City underrated us and paid the price, but others have either negated our strategy, or even benefited from it and won against us. For all that it is exciting to watch and that it might have been effective in Spain, I'm not convinced that it will work here, where play is much quicker.

 

Norwich and QPR are two matches where we would have hoped to gain 6 points, ahead of the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. With QPR closing the gap with their 6 points in the last two matches and Wigan proving by their comprehensive vistory against Everton that they have the quality to get themselves out of danger yet again, we really do have to start getting some points on the board.

 

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

We certainly played much better today than we did against Norwich at home. Not convinced that Adkins would have done things massively different. Think you're clutching for easy answers.

Edited 9 March, 2013 by shurlock

[Barry Sanchez]

As the dismal run under Pochettino continues, there will be a growing clamour for the justification for Adkins' sacking.

 

There were games this season where Adkins' abilities to manage in the Premiership were questioned, based on what some considered to be odd substitutions. You should always play your strongest players we were told by the forum's experts and unless there were good reasons like injuries or suspensions, the wisdom was that it is foolish to select players to play out of their positions.

 

And yet that is exactly what has been happening under Pochettino, both things notably in this match. And a team that was scoring freely under Adkins seems to have stopped banging them in, regardless of the number of chances created that remains high. Why is that? Could it be that the high pressing line favoured by Pochettino denies our strikers the space, as the defence is packed?

 

I continue to believe that we have no plan B. Every manager knows before the referee blows the whistle to start the match what he can expect from us and plans his strategy accordingly. A team like Man City underrated us and paid the price, but others have either negated our strategy, or even benefited from it and won against us. For all that it is exciting to watch and that it might have been effective in Spain, I'm not convinced that it will work here, where play is much quicker.

 

Norwich and QPR are two matches where we would have hoped to gain 6 points, ahead of the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. With QPR closing the gap with their 6 points in the last two matches and Wigan proving by their comprehensive vistory against Everton that they have the quality to get themselves out of danger yet again, we really do have to start getting some points on the board.

 

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

Do I sense some realism and honesty in your post Wes concerning our sitiuation?

[Sheaf Saint]

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

Yep. Me too.

[skintsaint]

my mate who is a Narrwich ST holder just sent me a message on Fb...

 

Southampton deserved to win that by a mile, good job our keeper was on form. don't know why I bother to go each week same **** every week..your boys didn't let U down today, can't see them going down.

[redder freak]

Was never a pen , if it was I would be the first one to say it was a pen , but great save from boruc and thanks to The fans for the support

— Luke Shaw (@Luke_shaw3) March 9, 2013

[shurlock]

my mate who is a Narrwich ST holder just sent me a message on Fb...

 

Southampton deserved to win that by a mile, good job our keeper was on form. don't know why I bother to go each week same **** every week..your boys didn't let U down today, can't see them going down.

 

Same thing being said on their forums too - and I thought it was meant to be a good result. After all it was against a decent midtable team in decent form.

[patred44]

Just got in.......Who was it said it wasn't the North Pole eh! Sure I saw a Yeti taking thier penalty for them.

0-0, not bad considering the conditions and that ****tinburg was trying to make himself man of the match and himself a Norfolk hero in one.

Boruc made him look more of a Norfolk Turkey in the end.

 

Boy is that Ramirez a luxury.. give me a Cork, J Rod or Schniderlin anytime

Surprised that Puncheon didn't come on earlier, we never threatened them once down that side.. it was crying out for a little dart at their left hand side.

Well good luck to the rest of the lads getting back home...it's really chucking the white stuff down now.. NOT THE NORTH POLE PAH !!

 

Now to put reindeer away, and then a nice cuppa Bovril in front of the fire

[Wade Garrett]

Looking at it objectively, Saints dominated the game and made Norwich look poor. The only thing missing was the end product. Our players just haven't got the quality in front of goal. Clearly, the conditions were awful, and, equally, so was the referee. That was never a penalty in a million years, and MP told him that very politely it would seem. But of course, we are still deep in the mire. Even QPR are catching up. It's going to be squeaky bum time. But, the performance today was good in my opinion, and we should take some encouragement from that. Even Ramirez got his finger out, but Guly was pretty anonymous unfortunately.

 

Have to disagree, Ramirez was ineffective, Guly did ok. And I reckon it was a clear penalty. Mind you, if he gives that, he has to give the one for the foul by Bassong on Lallana.

[Minsk]

As the dismal run under Pochettino continues, there will be a growing clamour for the justification for Adkins' sacking.

 

There were games this season where Adkins' abilities to manage in the Premiership were questioned, based on what some considered to be odd substitutions. You should always play your strongest players we were told by the forum's experts and unless there were good reasons like injuries or suspensions, the wisdom was that it is foolish to select players to play out of their positions.

 

And yet that is exactly what has been happening under Pochettino, both things notably in this match. And a team that was scoring freely under Adkins seems to have stopped banging them in, regardless of the number of chances created that remains high. Why is that? Could it be that the high pressing line favoured by Pochettino denies our strikers the space, as the defence is packed?

 

I continue to believe that we have no plan B. Every manager knows before the referee blows the whistle to start the match what he can expect from us and plans his strategy accordingly. A team like Man City underrated us and paid the price, but others have either negated our strategy, or even benefited from it and won against us. For all that it is exciting to watch and that it might have been effective in Spain, I'm not convinced that it will work here, where play is much quicker.

 

Norwich and QPR are two matches where we would have hoped to gain 6 points, ahead of the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. With QPR closing the gap with their 6 points in the last two matches and Wigan proving by their comprehensive vistory against Everton that they have the quality to get themselves out of danger yet again, we really do have to start getting some points on the board.

 

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

Pretty much agree with all of this, and especially the last sentence.​

[sotonjoe]

As the dismal run under Pochettino continues, there will be a growing clamour for the justification for Adkins' sacking.

 

There were games this season where Adkins' abilities to manage in the Premiership were questioned, based on what some considered to be odd substitutions. You should always play your strongest players we were told by the forum's experts and unless there were good reasons like injuries or suspensions, the wisdom was that it is foolish to select players to play out of their positions.

 

And yet that is exactly what has been happening under Pochettino, both things notably in this match. And a team that was scoring freely under Adkins seems to have stopped banging them in, regardless of the number of chances created that remains high. Why is that? Could it be that the high pressing line favoured by Pochettino denies our strikers the space, as the defence is packed?

 

I continue to believe that we have no plan B. Every manager knows before the referee blows the whistle to start the match what he can expect from us and plans his strategy accordingly. A team like Man City underrated us and paid the price, but others have either negated our strategy, or even benefited from it and won against us. For all that it is exciting to watch and that it might have been effective in Spain, I'm not convinced that it will work here, where play is much quicker.

 

Norwich and QPR are two matches where we would have hoped to gain 6 points, ahead of the matches against Liverpool and Chelsea. With QPR closing the gap with their 6 points in the last two matches and Wigan proving by their comprehensive vistory against Everton that they have the quality to get themselves out of danger yet again, we really do have to start getting some points on the board.

 

Whereas I still believe we can stay up, I'm more convinced each week that Adkins would have got better results in these matches than Pochettino.

 

Can't argue with that. We are

Fooked.

[verlaine1979]

The 'we used to be free-scoring' thing is a bit of a myth. Under Adkins we averaged 1.36 goals per game, under Poch we average 1.29 goals per game. Less than three goals more when extrapolated over the course of a season.

[Wade Garrett]

The lack of chances up front is down to the lack of Puncheon, and today Clyne. They are a good right wing partnership, create attacking chances together and Puncheon can shoot! Poor pitch conditions today wouldn't have suited them, perhaps that's why they were left out today but I would like to see both of them back on the pitch from the start against Liverpool. I think we're poorer in the last third without them creating from the right.

 

They were f*cking sh*t down the right last week. But to be fair, I reckon Clyne was carrying a knock.

[Dalek2003]

Back from a local game for me. We looked comfortable without showing any real threat on goal.

 

Confidence in front of goal is missing.

[shurlock]

The 'we used to be free-scoring' thing is a bit of a myth. Under Adkins we averaged 1.36 goals per game, under Poch we average 1.29 goals per game. Less than three goals more when extrapolated over the course of a season.

 

Totally agree - its an utter myth. Wasn't the argument also that we couldn't score from open play under Adkins.

[Window Cleaner]

They were f*cking sh*t down the right last week. But to be fair, I reckon Clyne was carrying a knock.

 

They're all carrying knocks our squad is too shallow. Take away the not even bit part players who won't get a game in a month

of sundays and there's no leeway. Down to the bare bones.

[CanadaSaint]

For me we dodged a few bullets today.

 

For a start, I'd love to know what the deal is with Forren because I don't understand why we would opt to reunite a central defence pairing that was hung, drawn and quartered by almost everyone that played against them. And we played Maya at right back against a team that usually attacks with pace and width. And, on top of that, we didn't start Puncheon, who strengthens our right side offensively and helps with wide coverage defensively.

 

Having said that, it's a game we should have won - and would have won IMO if Pochettino had brought Puncheon on at around the 60-minute mark.

 

My patience and belief regarding Ramirez are evaporating rapidly. I can buy into all the "he's got tons of skill", "he's still very young", and "he's still adapting to the PL" stuff. To a point. But he's too lightweight, especially for a game and weather conditions like that, and there is no excuse - none whatsoever - for failing to beat the first defender with three successive set pieces.

[Wade Garrett]

They're all carrying knocks our squad is too shallow. Take away the not even bit part players who won't get a game in a month

of sundays and there's no leeway. Down to the bare bones.

 

Fingers crossed we don't lose Morgan or Cork. They are outstanding week in, week out.

[saint lard]

All this talk about Adkins.......he had reached his pinnacle.

he was predictable both on and of the pitch.

that doesn't mean Pochettino is better,just that Adkins had fulfilled his remit.

and he was never going to take us forward.

Will Pochettino...? Who knows.....but Nigel was not.

[Dalek2003]

Actually that was the most effective I have seen him play away from home yet - in the first half anyway. The weather obviously got the better of him in the second half though.

 

I thought Ramirez played well today. Norwich did indeed sit very deeply.

[Wes Tender]

Do I sense some realism and honesty in your post Wes concerning our sitiuation?

 

My position was clear much earlier on, Barry. At the start if the season when for a bit of fun we were asked for our prediction for where we would finish, I had predicted tenth. After a poor start which could be excused because of the difficulty of the early run of fixtures, we had turned a corner and looked as if we were still capable of an outside chance of reaching 10th place, some cause for optimism being provided when we came back from two down against Chelsea away to get a point, the draw against Arsenal and scoring three against Stoke away.

 

When Pochettino was appointed and it became clear that his command of the language was poor, my knee-jerk reaction was that we would now be relegated. Having read various articles about how some of the game's top luminaries on the Continent lauded his prowess as a manager and having been excited at witnessing the fast attacking high line play he brought to us, I faltered in my opinion that we would be relegated and once more it seemed that we could climb the table. I agreed at least with the opinion expressed by many that there were three teams worse than us. That position appears to be shifting, as QPR and Wigan were two of those teams. OK, there is still time for us to put in a run of wins or draws to put things in our own hands, but equally those other teams around us can do the same and some other teams might yet be dragged down into the mire.

 

But I increasingly feel that Adkins had more about him strategically and also in terms of ability to motivate the players and give them self-belief after they had suffered a reversal.

[Wes Tender]

All this talk about Adkins.......he had reached his pinnacle.

he was predictable both on and of the pitch.

that doesn't mean Pochettino is better,just that Adkins had fulfilled his remit.

and he was never going to take us forward.

Will Pochettino...? Who knows.....but Nigel was not.

 

Thanks for that opinion Nicola.