Saints 2 V 0 Swansea Reaction & MotM thread

[Glasgow_Saint]

Well done VW at the end, came near the dugout and gave his shirt to a Downs lad, this gesture cost nothing but made this lad and his dad very happy.

 

Respect that

[Georgie]

finding a way to win when not playing well is exactly what good teams do. Its also nice to be able to beat teams around us.

 

Couldn't have asked for a better start.

 

Well we should have beaten Sunderland and West Ham, so really we should be top Seriously though still a great start, obviously helped by the fixture list. However we do have more very winnable games coming up after Man U - Fulham, Stoke, Hull. Good results in those 3 and we will really start to cement our place in the top half.

[Rebel]

But we didn't, and we have to go with it. if your one of the total w*nkers who are helping to shoot his confidence to pieces, then you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

Why should I be ashamed of myself? I didn't boo him nor did I cheer ironically when he passed the ball to a Saints player - but I'm not going to pretend he's something he's not just because he wears the Saints shirt.

[melmacian_saint]

At some stage in the 2nd half Lovren was kind of telling Fonte how impressed he was about how incredibly ****e Fox is. He kept facing to the left and making gestures on how he should cover a wing. Fonte just agreed, guess the older members of the squad pretty much know the drill. Good to see it's not a fans thing.

 

Also just how neat and intelligent in his game is Steven Davis?

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

In what is well nigh forty years of supporting this grand old football club I'm struggling to remember seeing a Saints team that comes close to matching this one in terms of organised defensive solidity. To score against us you first have to battle your way past our two (double hard) central midfielders, then outwit as good a centre half pairing as you'll see in this division ... oh and you still have the minor matter of beating a top class International Goalkeeper too.

 

Today we even played a Left Back who is manifestly out of his depth at this level - Nathan Dyer ran rings around him to be frank - but our goal still withstood everything Swansea could thrown at it. Now perhaps Swansea's having a match Thursday night might have made a difference, but we still managed to make the highly rated Michu look like a glorified pub player at times today - if you''ll forgive my hyperbole.

 

It just can't be a coincidence that our manager was a pretty decent defender in his day too can it?

[melmacian_saint]

There was a "discussion" between Lovren, Fox, Fonte and Lallana just after JayRod scored, and Fox was looking a bit heated at the start of it...

 

I thought it was a celebratory gathering? Wasn't really looking so only saw them together not what was going on.

[Charlie Wayman]

Only 26 more points needed and we're safe for another year.

[ozzmeister]

I am thrilled at our position/progress, I won't start making comparisons to last year though until Christmas, don't forget we had a very very hard start last year.

 

One thing I will say compared to last year is that no results seemed nailed on, big team dropping unexpected points every week!

 

Top 4, to much for this season, top 8 a very big shout!

[wessex saint]

...

Edited 6 October, 2013 by wessex saint
duplication

[wessex saint]

Nose bleed territory!!

Can't ever remember watching a Saints team grinding out a result like that - great stuff!!

Lallana had a belter, Wanyama's inability to pass is frankly embarassing at this level, and I don't need to mention Fox. Made Dyer look like a world beater.

Still - in Pochettino we trust - I'm sure he has a plan to resolve the lack of back up for Shaw.

I'm also developing a man crush on Boruc

Atmosphere in the 2nd half was fantastic - best for a long time! Definitely the 12th man today.

Edited 6 October, 2013 by wessex saint

[The Cat]

Just when I was telling my son that our fans were too quiet and the team needed their support the Northam stepped up to to the plate and rammed the words back down my throat. People were even singing in the family stand. More of the same every game from now on please because it does make a difference.

 

As for the game, well were clinging on to the one goal lead by Boruc's fingertips for what seemed an eternity. I was convinced Swansea were going to score and to be fair their play definitely merited a goal but then one bad defensive error from them and the 3 points were ours.

 

I thought Lallana was superb today, as were Boruc with some quality stops and Wanyama with some rock solid tackling. I also loved the way we took off our star signing and replaced hm with an 18 year old academy graduate to help close out the game. In fact all our substitutions were spot on. That was a tough, hard fought win against an excellent team.

[Colinjb]

That drive home went rather quick!

 

I shall be staring at the table for an hour or so tonight whilst sipping a cold drink intermittently. Enjoying this while it lasts!

 

 

The match was a game of two halves... the injury to Osvaldo was the turning point but Boruc was inspired and we just about ground it out. Rodriguez' goal was the icing on the cake.

[Appy]

Great support second half today.

 

I get it, Fox isn't great, but the sarcastic cheering of him is a joke, blaming him for everything under the sun is too, Shaw has been caught out of position a few times this season, he doesn't get any abuse, whereas Fox gets both barrels.

[kwsaint]

Its not ideal, but I would have had Clyne at left back and Chambers at right back today.

Fox was woeful. His position is not Championship standard, let alone Premier league. Lovren, Fonte and Boruc stopped passing to him in the second half and he gave the ball away a number of times. And his confidence is completely shot. We got away with it today. Don't like getting on the back of our own players but he is simply a liability.

Fortunately Boruc was superb today. Hope he doesn't play as well against England on Tuesday week.

[The Cat]

I thought it was a celebratory gathering? Wasn't really looking so only saw them together not what was going on.

 

Lovren and Fonte were also in deep discussion on the pitch after the final whistle. I think they had more organising than usual to do today.

[The Cat]

Great support second half today.

 

I get it, Fox isn't great, but the sarcastic cheering of him is a joke, blaming him for everything under the sun is too, Shaw has been caught out of position a few times this season, he doesn't get any abuse, whereas Fox gets both barrels.

 

Completely agree. I had a bit of a rant about that in the family stand today and got a few sheepish looks from some other fans. It's the same with Guly last season, one misplaced pass from him and people start going nuts. It's all pretty pathetic if you ask me.

[Joesaint]

Well done VW at the end, came near the dugout and gave his shirt to a Downs lad, this gesture cost nothing but made this lad and his dad very happy.

 

Cool, cheers for sharing this

[SaintBobby]

I'm with Alpine.We should stop signing foreign players and we will get relegated this season.He's not here today. But I thought I'd troll on his behalf if that's okay with folks here?

[melmacian_saint]

Lovren and Fonte were also in deep discussion on the pitch after the final whistle. I think they had more organising than usual to do today.

 

Bony is a tough one to handle. Bulky, quite tall, pacey and technically good. Plus Swansea do move their players around the area really well as their game is mostly about finding gaps to penetrate in the middle. Certainly had more work than in the last few games.

[Dalek2003]

I am thrilled at our position/progress, I won't start making comparisons to last year though until Christmas, don't forget we had a very very hard start last year.

 

One thing I will say compared to last year is that no results seemed nailed on, big team dropping unexpected points every week!

 

Top 4, to much for this season, top 8 a very big shout!

 

I think we will need 48 points to be safe myself.

[Tamesaint]

I'm with Alpine.We should stop signing foreign players and we will get relegated this season.He's not here today. But I thought I'd troll on his behalf if that's okay with folks here?

 

He couldn't make it today. He never does when we win.

 

Just pity the poor bloke and be grateful that you don't suffer from the same mental illness as he does.

[The Cat]

Bony is a tough one to handle. Bulky, quite tall, pacey and technically good. Plus Swansea do move their players around the area really well as their game is mostly about finding gaps to penetrate in the middle. Certainly had more work than in the last few games.

 

Good points. And to their credit they only got in a bad muddle once when Lovren was booked for that foul right on the edge of the box in the second half. It's rare that a new central defensive partnership gels so quickly. Testament to their attitude, commitment and all the defensive work done on the training ground. Probably also helps that Pochettino was a pretty handy centre back himself.

[VectisSaint]

Lovren and Fonte were also in deep discussion on the pitch after the final whistle. I think they had more organising than usual to do today.

Think that Lovren realised what Hooiveld and Yoshi found out last season, that covering for the woeful Fox makes your life very difficult. There is no way to excuse Fox, it is not a confidence issue, he is confident, in fact thats part of the problem. He is just ****e, he does not know how to defend. Jogs along with no hope of reaching the ball, he is slow, defensively inept and even his deliveries were poor today. He is simply not good enough and is our weakest link by a mile. Why on earth MP did not play Clyne at LB today and Chambers at RB I don't know, Clyne is as good at LB as he is on the right.

 

Anyway, forgetting about Fox, thought everyone else was good today, we were very good first half, although second half we were hanging on, but we were doing it effectively. Vic's passing is woeful, but by God his tackling is brilliant. Morgan was good, but not quite so stand out as he has been in the past. Boruc made some excellent saves, but his kicking is woeful, but he oozes confidence and you just feel he is not going to concede. Apart from one terrible back pass I thought Fonte was the best CB defensively again for the 3rd week running, poor Dejan had to do the job of 2 men, even Ossie was back covering in the LB position a few times. Ossie and Lambert were not at their best, but did well. Nice to see JRod on the scoresheet. Brilliant performance, and goal from Lallana, my man of the match, and almost as good from Steve Davis, he really is beginning to show his mettle, he is like a little terrier, his tackling back and his vision are top notch, can't see Gaston getting back into the team for a while with SD in this form. Good to see a nice little cameo from Guly as well. All in all very happy we are 4th. We are not playing great (agreed we are playing different under MP but we have forgotten how good we were at passing the ball, we give it away far too often now, and thats not good).

[Appy]

Think that Lovren realised what Hooiveld and Yoshi found out last season, that covering for the woeful Fox makes your life very difficult. There is no way to excuse Fox, it is not a confidence issue, he is confident, in fact thats part of the problem. He is just ****e, he does not know how to defend. Jogs along with no hope of reaching the ball, he is slow, defensively inept and even his deliveries were poor today. He is simply not good enough and is our weakest link by a mile. Why on earth MP did not play Clyne at LB today and Chambers at RB I don't know, Clyne is as good at LB as he is on the right.

 

Anyway, forgetting about Fox, thought everyone else was good today, we were very good first half, although second half we were hanging on, but we were doing it effectively. Vic's passing is woeful, but by God his tackling is brilliant. Morgan was good, but not quite so stand out as he has been in the past. Boruc made some excellent saves, but his kicking is woeful, but he oozes confidence and you just feel he is not going to concede. Apart from one terrible back pass I thought Fonte was the best CB defensively again for the 3rd week running, poor Dejan had to do the job of 2 men, even Ossie was back covering in the LB position a few times. Ossie and Lambert were not at their best, but did well. Nice to see JRod on the scoresheet. Brilliant performance, and goal from Lallana, my man of the match, and almost as good from Steve Davis, he really is beginning to show his mettle, he is like a little terrier, his tackling back and his vision are top notch, can't see Gaston getting back into the team for a while with SD in this form. Good to see a nice little cameo from Guly as well. All in all very happy we are 4th. We are not playing great (agreed we are playing different under MP but we have forgotten how good we were at passing the ball, we give it away far too often now, and thats not good).

 

Not having that about Clyne at all, we lose something very positive in our team when he isn't at right back.

[del boy]

Only 26 more points needed and we're safe for another year.

You beat me to it - yes, always my first thought as a Saints supporter of old (well... just an old Saints supporter)

[Gemmel]

I think we will need 48 points to be safe myself.

 

**** off you trolling little ****

[OldNick]

He couldn't make it today. He never does when we win.

 

.

there will be a good reason why he wasn't here today......"......perhaps the result

[OldNick]

You beat me to it - yes, always my first thought as a Saints supporter of old (well... just an old Saints supporter)

 

Me as well!

[svetigpung]

Great result.

But , has Wanyama been practising his passing together with Fox since arriving here?

Both were liabilities with the ball today. VW in the first and Fox in the second half. Bloody hell.

At least Victor can tackle. Fox just backs off and gives his winger miles of space with the ball. Unbelievable.

 

How was Dyer welcomed by the StMarys faithfull today? Booed, little applause or just simply ignored?

[The Cat]

 

How was Dyer welcomed by the StMarys faithfull today? Booed, little applause or just simply ignored?

 

The "Nathan Dyer, he robs from the Skates" song got an airing. Can't see why anyone would boo him.

[Patrick Bateman]

Best atmosphere of the season so far too.

 

That it was ... we've been like a f*cking library so far, but that was much better.

 

On another note, Fox was horrible today. Sorry Mr Fantastic Mr Fox, great back up you may be, but you were sh*te today. Again. You were out paced by your man, you didn't tackle, you didn't track back. I wanted your position.

[Wes Tender]

A really tough match against a team very much like us in many ways. We would have beaten them last year at St Mary's had it not been for Dyer coming on late to equalise for them, but this season we are that bit better in defence and although Dyer ran amok against Fox, he generally came across a brick wall against our central defenders, particularly Lovren. It was inevitable that nearly all of their really potent attacking moves came down our left flank, with our weakest defender facing their paciest wide player. I'm sure that Dyer would have found it much harder to threaten against Shaw.

 

The result could easily have been all three points to Swansea but for a bravura performance from Boruc, some dogged defending and some pretty poor finishing from Swansea's attack. Their assessment of the match will have been similar to ours when we came up against Jaaskelainen when we played West Ham. On the plus side, we generally played some attractive passing football and had a few chances to have increased the score beyond the two goals. I eagerly await watching MOTD to see why a second goal was disallowed before Rodriguez made the match secure later on.

 

Wanyama continues to be a dilemma, giving away possession several times again, but then putting in a solid display by being a rock in midfield. Tactically Pochettino got it about right, strengthening the midfield to hold our lead when Swansea were threatening to gain the upper hand and with the introduction of James Ward-Prowse, we had five across the middle for a while to deny Swansea width. Lambert and Osvaldo had been reasonable until they were substituted, but it is encouraging that Lallana is getting back to his tricky best and took his goal really well, whilst Rodriguez scored a great poacher's goal, forcing a mistake from their defender with his quick thinking and a good finish.

 

So now we are above both Manchester teams, having conceded only two goals in seven matches and following three clean sheets. OK, arguably we have only played Liverpool of the glory teams, but we beat them with a clean sheet too and frankly, I don't know which team we ought to fear playing.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

Think that Lovren realised what Hooiveld and Yoshi found out last season, that covering for the woeful Fox makes your life very difficult. There is no way to excuse Fox, it is not a confidence issue, he is confident, in fact thats part of the problem. He is just ****e, he does not know how to defend. Jogs along with no hope of reaching the ball, he is slow, defensively inept and even his deliveries were poor today. He is simply not good enough and is our weakest link by a mile ...

 

Indeed, Fox's approach to this game can be surmised as:

 

Back off,

Back off again,

Back off even more,

Hope to God Steve Davis gets a tackle in,

Watch ball into box fly over his head and/or observe Nathan Dyer running past him with contemptuous ease.

 

Those at the game will confirm this happened time after time until young Ward-Prowse came on and did his job for him.

[Dalek2003]

**** off you trolling little ****

 

That's well out of order, the comment was humorous, what is up with you ?

[OldNick]

That's well out of order, the comment was humorous, what is up with you ?

I agree, it is totally out of character by Gemmel.

[Gorgiesaint]

Alan Green just called us 'so refreshing' - I nearly spat out my penguin

 

Just listened to the Press Pass on Talksport: Tony Evans of The Times was on there (he's a Liverpool fan if you don't know him), and was saying how good a decision it was by Cortese to get rid of Adkins and bring in Pochettino. Cue the host jumping in to say that no-one in the press at the time said that though so was with hindsight. The other journo (name I can't remember) then said after the announcement he had realised how highly rated MP was. Tony then finished by saying that we won't finish in the CL spots - but we won't be far away. One of them also commented about how Cortese is convinced we will be a CL club at some point, and whilst he didn't expect much spending in January, we will strengthen again in the summer. They also commented on our mix of youth and bought players - and also how many have been there since our L1 days.

[Appy]

That it was ... we've been like a f*cking library so far, but that was much better.

 

On another note, Fox was horrible today. Sorry Mr Fantastic Mr Fox, great back up you may be, but you were sh*te today. Again. You were out paced by your man, you didn't tackle, you didn't track back. I wanted your position.

 

Nathan Dyer would outpace most defenders to be fair.

 

On another note, Steven Davis was fantastic, what an engine he has.

[corky morris]

Just back in rural Shropshire. Enjoyed the game. I texted VFTT at half time & said I didn't know how we were still winning. Fair play Swansea. They move the ball quicker than we do, but we took our chances. MOM for me was Lallana. Boruc & Clyne were excellent as well.

I have been critical of Wanyama, but I see what he brings to the team & today showed it especially well. He is a barrier in front of the back 4. Still dont think he can pass, but would rather focus on his ability to destroy the oppositions attacks.

Well chuffed! See you at Old Trafford.

[Dalek2003]

Just listened to the Press Pass on Talksport: Tony Evans of The Times was on there (he's a Liverpool fan if you don't know him), and was saying how good a decision it was by Cortese to get rid of Adkins and bring in Pochettino. Cue the host jumping in to say that no-one in the press at the time said that though so was with hindsight. The other journo (name I can't remember) then said after the announcement he had realised how highly rated MP was. Tony then finished by saying that we won't finish in the CL spots - but we won't be far away. One of them also commented about how Cortese is convinced we will be a CL club at some point, and whilst he didn't expect much spending in January, we will strengthen again in the summer. They also commented on our mix of youth and bought players - and also how many have been there since our L1 days.

 

It is still early days in the league but no one can deny we have made a good start. We look solid a t the back but still need a bit more threat at the other end. Our squad lacks a little depth and I don't think we are ready for a CL sopt yet. If we avoid injuries we could well FINISH in the top 10 and that would be a massive achievement, tbh so would simply staying in the league, which puts it in perspective.

[Toomer]

If I was a Swansea fan I would be thinking with the number of shots on target how many would we have got if not for a keeper on top form. We took two of about four clear chances that came our way and I thought with Shaw out we would have played Chambers at right back and Clyne left back.

[LGTL]

JWP is such a great option when we are trying to see out a game. Did the job at Anfield and again today.

[Griffo]

I'm usually the first person to moan about our support but today was one of the best at home in recent times. Haven't kept OWTS going like that for a long time. Itchen North has been sh*t this year but we got it together today. Swansea fans were looking over at us for ages, presumably wondering when we were going to shut up. Reminded me of Bristol City at home in the Championship when we kept it going for ages too. If only we could be like that every week.

 

Also how much space did we want to give Dyer today? They wouldn't have had half their chances if we knew how to deal with him. You'd think we'd have got closer to him after he tore us apart the first couple of times but we kept letting him get a run at Fox all game, who many moaned at, but he wasn't supported particularly well to deal with Dyer either to be fair.

[Saints foreva]

Also how much space did we want to give Dyer today? They wouldn't have had half their chances if we knew how to deal with him. You'd think we'd have got closer to him after he tore us apart the first couple of times but we kept letting him get a run at Fox all game, who many moaned at, but he wasn't supported particularly well to deal with Dyer either to be fair.

 

We got very lucky with this today. Fox was often left in a 2 vs 1 situation, that didn't stop the idiots moaning though.

[bazza]

Think that Lovren realised what Hooiveld and Yoshi found out last season, that covering for the woeful Fox makes your life very difficult. There is no way to excuse Fox, it is not a confidence issue, he is confident, in fact thats part of the problem. He is just ****e, he does not know how to defend. Jogs along with no hope of reaching the ball, he is slow, defensively inept and even his deliveries were poor today. He is simply not good enough and is our weakest link by a mile. Why on earth MP did not play Clyne at LB today and Chambers at RB I don't know, Clyne is as good at LB as he is on the right.

 

Anyway, forgetting about Fox, thought everyone else was good today, we were very good first half, although second half we were hanging on, but we were doing it effectively. Vic's passing is woeful, but by God his tackling is brilliant. Morgan was good, but not quite so stand out as he has been in the past. Boruc made some excellent saves, but his kicking is woeful, but he oozes confidence and you just feel he is not going to concede. Apart from one terrible back pass I thought Fonte was the best CB defensively again for the 3rd week running, poor Dejan had to do the job of 2 men, even Ossie was back covering in the LB position a few times. Ossie and Lambert were not at their best, but did well. Nice to see JRod on the scoresheet. Brilliant performance, and goal from Lallana, my man of the match, and almost as good from Steve Davis, he really is beginning to show his mettle, he is like a little terrier, his tackling back and his vision are top notch, can't see Gaston getting back into the team for a while with SD in this form. Good to see a nice little cameo from Guly as well. All in all very happy we are 4th. We are not playing great (agreed we are playing different under MP but we have forgotten how good we were at passing the ball, we give it away far too often now, and thats not good).

 

Davis was excellent today, his workrate is fantastic.

[S-Clarke]

How on earth did we win that 2-0?? For the first 35mins, we played really well, but then Swansea came into it and just dominated the rest of the game. We allowed them a little too much space at times in the 2nd half, which MP was also vocal about on the touch line. I thought for a team that played a European game on Thursday, they were very bright and fresh for most of the game.

 

Defensively we were ok, not as assured as recent weeks though. It was more luck that got us the clean sheet to be honest, although Boruc will have no complaints about his display again.

 

I thought Davis was excellent too, and in my eyes he's been MP's best player since he's been at the club. Box to box, full of energy and very good technically as well. He's a really good member of the squad and our central midfield options this season are stunning really. Also a special mention for Lallana who had a storming game, in fact he's had a brilliant season so far - our best attacking player so far in my eyes. Shouldn't be far away from England on this form.

 

But 3 wins in a row, another clean sheet and we're riding high for the next 2 weeks in the league.

[The9]

Much more entertaining, showed some defensive steel when under sustained pressure, very happy with that overall. A very open and exciting game.

 

Fox got exposed over and over again - partially because Swansea started entirely attacking down our left, but also, I'm surprised to see how many positive comments about Davis there are when his late arrival in the position was often responsible for the overlap and space they could exploit. There was a reason Ward-Prowse came on, and from that moment Swansea also stopped making every single passing move come down Saints' left side as well.

 

From his positioning, Fox had clearly been told to back off and let the left midfielder sort it out, but there were also a lot of occasions where he needed to be tighter to block the cross. Of course if he got too tight, Dyer would have just blown past him, so he was always going to have a tough time. On another day the 5-ish headers we allowed from crosses would have resulted in goals, but Bony and Michu missed a few and Boruc saved a couple well.

 

Oh, and can't really complain about Wanyama's being disallowed, it was obvious they'd get a phantom foul as soon as the ref realised he'd given the corner incorrectly. What I couldn't understand was why he waited so long to blow, usually the whistle goes when the ball's in the air from the corner. He didn't blow it until Lovren had gone for the header and the ball had dropped in the 6 yard box, if he managed to blow at all before the ball crossed the line.

 

Wanyama took literally 10 minutes to find a teammate with a pass and mislaid the ball 4 times in a row before he calmed down a bit, still a goliath defensively but God he's wasteful sometimes.

 

Overall though, another clean sheet and managed to attack a lot more today, which was great.

Edited 6 October, 2013 by The9

[RobM]

I enjoyed today more than any other game of the season so far, as it was truly competitive. The atmosphere was excellent, the result superb and yet another clean sheet was the icing on the cake!

 

It was also excellent to see some much-improved performances, namely Lallana who was as good as I've seen him, Wanyama who clearly put his boots on the right feet this week (for 90-mins too!) and Rickie, who's all-round game was fantastic, an unselfish performance for the team!

 

It's a strange feeling though, going into the next game, away at Man Utd, feeling positive of a result!

[oracle saint]

I agree with much of the content of the last 3 posts; although Fox is often like a rabbit in the headlamps often he was given little cover, particularly in the first half. Too often when Dyer received the ball, played it back and then took off like a scalded cat to receive the ball the player to whom he had passed the ball was not closed down - Steven Davis was at fault here though I'm tempted to overlook that factor and focus on the huge shift he put in - he kept going right to the end chasing, harrying and making a nuisance of himself. You can see why we've let in so few goals this season with him and Wanyama playing a key part in protecting the back four.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the game; I was puzzled why Saints changed their game plan after they had scored - or was it that Swansea changed theirs? Up until the goal Saints looked pretty threatening with the front four combining well. Then we scored and seemed to retreat into a more compact shape; did the players feel that they could hold out for a further 70 minutes? Is their belief in their own defensive prowess now so great that they feel they can defend a 1 goal lead for as long as necessary? The ease with which Swansea ripped us apart down the right was embarrassing - I was hoping for JWP to come on at half time to provide cover. When he did come on we seemed to tighten up though I also felt that Swansea changed their shape a bit and removed the emphasis on attacking down their right. I also thought that MP got the Rickie sub. absolutely right; Swansea were pushing up so high at that stage that it was crying out for some pace to exploit the subsequent space.

 

What I did enjoy was for the first time this season that a visiting team came who could play football; the 3 others to date have been dross. Swansea were very good in possession; Bony was good in the air but often a bit isolated and yes - Swansea had several shots on target but most were a bit speculative and reasonably comfortable for Boruc. Shelvey I felt was pretty ordinary; many of his dead ball kicks were poor. Dyer was by far the most potent attacker.

 

My MoM were Adam, Boruc and Davis; Clyne played very well and nullified any threat down the Swansea left though yet again any overlapping was notable for its absence apart from his forward run with about 2 minutes to go (when we were trying to close down the game - weird).

 

Oh and finally one of the funniest sights I've seen at a football match when Wanyama thought he'd scored; slid on his knees facing the corner flag while the game restarted behind him without him being aware of this - I think that he, with most of the crowd (me included) was wondering why he wasn't being mobbed by the other Saints players.

 

A good day out with a slightly flattering score but all credit to MP and the team - they must be in dreamland. Cortese presumably just thinks that this is exactly what he expected and paid out the Liebherr legacy for!

[Leicestersaint]

A great result - we are still not playing very well but we are getting the points. I felt very sorry for danny Fox today - just not up to it (and didn't really look fit enough). Lallana was back to his old self and Boruc was MoM.

[Batman]

A great result - we are still not playing very well but we are getting the points. I felt very sorry for danny Fox today - just not up to it (and didn't really look fit enough). Lallana was back to his old self and Boruc was MoM.

well, the fact that we are

you dont get to 4th by playing badly with our squad