Saints 3-1 Newcastle - Reaction

[Mr Biscuits]

Took my son for his first match, great result, son loved it.

Newcastle were poor and we should have got more out if it but at 2-0 the game was won. The incident with Long happened right in front of us and I honestly thought he'd done his collar bone with the way he landed. Should have been a card for the keeper.

 

Townsends goal was well taken although I'm puzzled as to why he was allowed that much space to get inside. All credit to the Newcastle fans who travelled, it can't be nice to see your team play badly away or home.

 

My son wants to go again so doubled result for me today

[davayy]

Still wondering why RK swapped Long for JWP. Surely the obvious choice was Long for Rodriguez then Tadic for Romeu? JWP offered nothing, especially given the fact he was playing against Shelvey and Sissokho who are both twice as tall / bigger than him.

[The Cat]

As easy a win as you'll see. They were desperately poor, we just had to turn up to get the 3 points.

[suewhistle]

My son wants to go again so doubled result for me today

 

Almost doubled amount for that budget line as well!;-)

[nta786]

Graziano Pelle has been directly involved in seven of Southampton's last eight Premier League goals (four goals, three assists).

[dellboypete]

Jay coming on was the highlight of the day for me so I voted him mom. Glad to see somebody else did too!!!!

 

I said to Mrs dbp as we settled into our seats in the Chapel that if we scored in the first five mins it would be over as a game. And it was. I thought saints controlled it throughout and did all that was required against a p*ss poor side who played as if they were already relegated.

 

We should have scored more but why so many on here complain when we won so easily is beyond me.

 

An earlier poster commented on Shelvey. I used to really rate this guy especially at Swansea and thought he Cdajfu. What's happened to him. I was almost expecting him to hammer one in from 30 yds. i almost feel sorry for him. But then I thought who in their right mind would go to Tyneside so serve the b*stard right.

[Badger]

 

An earlier poster commented on Shelvey. I used to really rate this guy especially at Swansea and thought he Cdajfu. What's happened to him. I was almost expecting him to hammer one in from 30 yds. i almost feel sorry for him. But then I thought who in their right mind would go to Tyneside so serve the b*stard right.

 

 

A couple of Swansea fans I know said they wanted him out of there due to his attitude and strops. After Shelvey was featured on MOTD for a couple of his early games for Newcastle he seemed to have settled in with a renewed attitude, although its always a question how long a player like that can stay focused. Just surprising he's looking so p!sssed off so soon at a new club.

[SaintTex]

Just surprising he's looking so p!sssed off so soon at a new club.

not surprising at all. His new club is getting relegated. His old club just beat Chelsea and secured 40 points.

 

Not to mention hard to get call ups when you are languishing in the championship. His international career is suddenly looking very short.

[angelman]

Weren't at our best today, especially after Long went off, but we really didn't need to be.

 

Think Newcastle are the worst team I've seen at St Marys this season.

 

I'd have to agree with you. Sunderland and Villa were both quite a lot better. I feel sorry for the Toon having to travel 350 miles to watch that ****e.

[S-Clarke]

It was a strange game really, I didn't think we played particularly well after we went ahead early on. Newcastle were pretty abysmal though, the way that team has been built is a joke. They have no one who can defend in that team at all.

 

We did labor a little more than i thought we would in the 2nd half, but the 3rd goal did kill it off. A win is a win at this stage of the season, we've got some very good games coming up in the next few weeks. I know people are worried about the games in hand all the other sides have, but I've always preferred to have the points on the board rather than games in hand.

 

It's been a weird season, somewhat lower in quality, yet we're not far off from last year at all.

[Pedro]

I wonder if their fans regret hounding Pardew out.

[Badger]

not surprising at all. His new club is getting relegated. His old club just beat Chelsea and secured 40 points.

 

Not to mention hard to get call ups when you are languishing in the championship. His international career is suddenly looking very short.

 

Fair point - perhaps I should have said he's looking disinterested at a new club.

[saintalan]

I thought the ref was decent today, not that he had too much to do though. Seemed to let the game flow more than most and didn't want to get his cards out at every opportunity which makes a nice change.

 

Yep, thought the same, maybe his slip early on made him a mere mortal like the rest of us:)

 

What was the 2 (looked like) security men marching over to the Kingsland to escort the officials off all about? Cant remember seeing it before.

[sandwichsaint]

I am just getting the tee shirts made up now,

 

'I was there,

our most meh

3-1 PL victory

.... ever !'

 

A solid 3-1 home win and a mere 62 posts on the post-match thread at midnight on Saturday, there is literally nothing to say!

[Saint_clark]

No ones really mention him but I thought Martina was superb in the first half today. Excellent touch, passing and wasn't beaten. He must be loving life. He played vs Stoke, Liverpool and Newcastle. All wins.

 

Yep, proving to be a very astute signing and at 25 could provide a cheap backup for a long while yet.

[austsaint]

No ones really mention him but I thought Martina was superb in the first half today. Excellent touch, passing and wasn't beaten. He must be loving life. He played vs Stoke, Liverpool and Newcastle. All wins.

 

He really does look a good player; get's forward, has a good eye for a pass; is quite fast and has some bottle in defence even if he can get caught out of position now and again.

[Chap in the Chapel]

As regulation a win as you could wish to see. Fonte was MOTM for me - Newcastle got no change out of him for the entire game. Pelle had one of his good days. He's a funny player, really - he blows either very hot or very cold, and it depends how you are as a fan as to how tolerant you are of that. It's the same with Tadic, I think. Perhaps it's the same with every attack-minded player at clubs like Southampton. You have your patience with these players, or you don't. I'm quite patient with Pelle and Tadic and I've seen enough of both to recognise that we should enjoy the moments when one of them is on form, and exalt when they're both linking up, as the latter situation means that we're scoring with an insouciant ease. We got halfway today against an admittedly poor side. That's just the way it is in the Premier League. Unless you're incredibly gifted you can't assume you're going to score in any game, regardless of how gifted you are.

 

With five games to go it is obvious that Virgil Van Dyke is player of the season, and that we are still in with a chance of the top four if we can beat Everton and Manchester City. The rest of the games are reasonably easy to call, but the six-point swing from these two games will decide our final position. Let's roll the dice and see what happens next week on a ground where we've traditionally been unlucky.

[DRAGONZ_RULE]

Pelle also set up Long for his goal. I think he had a pretty good game.

hardly, long nicked it from him

Haha what are you on about? Pelle played a through ball for Long who then continued his run and scored.

 

The second goal then came about when Long completely miscontrolled the cross from Tadic, and Pelle got up after his slip and finished superbly.

 

This is my first post on this forum after a couple of seasons reading on here, and your continual bashing of Graziano Pelle is beyond ridiculous. As per a post earlier in this thread, he has now scored or assisted 7 goals in the past 4 games (out of 8 goals total). Despite that, the main thing you focus on is how he wasn't as effective once Long went off when the score was 3-0 and the game was already over thanks to Pelle's goal and assist in the first half!!

[Dark Munster]

No ones really mention him but I thought Martina was superb in the first half today. Excellent touch, passing and wasn't beaten. He must be loving life. He played vs Stoke, Liverpool and Newcastle. All wins.

He put in some quality crosses into the box too.

[Mr Biscuits]

Almost doubled amount for that budget line as well!;-)

 

Lol yes. However he's my son and I only get to see him every other weekend. I don't spoil him but the odd home game when I can won't break the bank. If I could I'd get season tickets, there's plenty of my family who would use them if I couldn't go.

 

I'm a bit mystified about the obsession with Pelle - from what I saw he was doing plenty of good work all through the game. The goal really meant a lot to him from the way he celebrated. There were some errant passes but I could see he was trying to play in other players who either hadn't made the run he was expecting them to make or weren't watching him and didn't read his intention. That can be solved on the training ground, but I wouldn't be so hard on him - I think he's doing a good job.

[West Stand]

It looked to me, and some sitting around me in the Itchen, that Long threw-up in the centre circle just before he was substituted. Mane my MOTM. Wanyama did give the ball away too many times with bad passes, but a good three points.

[musesaint]

It looked to me, and some sitting around me in the Itchen, that Long threw-up in the centre circle just before he was substituted. Mane my MOTM. Wanyama did give the ball away too many times with bad passes, but a good three points.

 

 

Long did

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

I too thought the game was rather strange experience with almost everyone in the stadium - both players and fans alike - knowing what the result would be after 3 minutes - if not long before a ball had been kicked in reality. But both teams went through the motions as you would expect well paid professionals to do. We played some nice stuff at times without ever getting into top gear while their defence did its now familiar 'Keystone Cops' impression.

'

Easily the best moment of the match however was Townsend's wonder goal - which seemed to stun both groups of fans so incongruous it was in a game of this nature. Hard to pick out one player out as my MOTM, but everyone must have noticed that Fonte could have played this match in his slippers on so commanding did he look most of the time. Good to see Jrod back of course - that lad has had a rotten time of late and he must know is future career is in the balance.

 

I took my Newcastle supporting mate with me and nipper as I do for this fixture every season. To compensate for the near certainy of defeat he had put a bet on that we would win 4-0 - but some sloppy finishing on our part denied him even that minor compensation. Never mind, relegation is not the end of the world.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

A good win which I didn't think would be in doubt once we got the early goal. One of those wins where you got the sense we could've kicked on and dished out a thrashing but lost our way with the second half subs.

 

Newcastle looked like a side accepting of their fate until Townsend scored and, even then, didn't really put us any consistent pressure. They do have some decent players in that side but the defence is woeful. Whilst relegation is devastating for a club's fans (& on occasion bank balance!), I do wonder whether the better players (or those with over inflated egos) see it as a stepping stone to a move elsewhere with a signing on fee pay day.

Edited 10 April, 2016 by Ivan Katalinic's 'tache

[Professor]

I wouldn't be surprised if Ronald thought that his poor opinion of recent refereeing decisions was confirmed yesterday by the ref's failure to penalise Darlow, the Newcastle keeper, for his reckless challenge on Shane Long. Long got to ball first and played it forward. The keeper would have been aware that he wasn't going to win the race to the ball but he went through with both feet anyway, sweeping Longs legs away. If ever there was a justification for a free kick, that was it, and for a red card.

Because Saints' were already leading and went on to an easy win, not much was made of the bad decision in post-match comments but it is poor refereeing like that which can give a result to the wrong team. Had that foul been in the area, I suspect the ref would have found it much harder to ignore it.

[doddisalegend]

He really does look a good player; get's forward, has a good eye for a pass; is quite fast and has some bottle in defence even if he can get caught out of position now and again.

 

That's the issue Martina seems to switch off at times and does go wandering into parts of the pitch he probably shouldn't be. Did anyone notice him having a barney with Koeman in the 1st half during one of our corners?

Edited 10 April, 2016 by doddisalegend

[CWD]

I wouldn't be surprised if Ronald thought that his poor opinion of recent refereeing decisions was confirmed yesterday by the ref's failure to penalise Darlow, the Newcastle keeper, for his reckless challenge on Shane Long. Long got to ball first and played it forward. The keeper would have been aware that he wasn't going to win the race to the ball but he went through with both feet anyway, sweeping Longs legs away. If ever there was a justification for a free kick, that was it, and for a red card.

Because Saints' were already leading and went on to an easy win, not much was made of the bad decision in post-match comments but it is poor refereeing like that which can give a result to the wrong team. Had that foul been in the area, I suspect the ref would have found it much harder to ignore it.

 

I didn't think it was a foul. It was a strong challenge but he got the ball first, and it looked worse because the pace Long was moving at sent him flying with momentum.

 

Like everyone else has said, a good result without anyone shining particularly. Personally though I think winning a game without getting out of second gear at this stage of the season shows good game management. Why exert yourself when it's obvious the other team are going to offer nothing?

 

I also love how Pellé celebrates every goal like a last minute cup winner. Hero.

[DT]

Clasie has attributes JWP doesn't and will never have: tenacity & desire to win duels being the obvious ones.

 

Have to say I thought Clasie was really poor yesterday, and hasn't the delivery that is required in a prem player. JWP certainly has. Needs support from Ron

[whelk]

Have to say I thought Clasie was really poor yesterday, and hasn't the delivery that is required in a prem player. JWP certainly has. Needs support from Ron

 

Lol.

[CHAPEL END CHARLIE]

That's the issue Martina seems to switch off at times and does go wandering into parts of the pitch he probably shouldn't be. Did anyone notice him having a barney with Koeman in the 1st half during one of our corners?

 

I noticed that too.

 

You could see that Koeman was clearly furious with Martina about something - most probably the fact that he was giving the opposition about a acre of free space to exploit on our right!

[austsaint]

Have to say I thought Clasie was really poor yesterday, and hasn't the delivery that is required in a prem player. JWP certainly has. Needs support from Ron

 

Your nine days late with that post.

[Kingsland Red]

Stroll in the park, Newcastle were very poor. Only disappointment was Tadic , who I thought was a passenger for most of the game this time out.

[John Boy Saint]

That's the issue Martina seems to switch off at times and does go wandering into parts of the pitch he probably shouldn't be. Did anyone notice him having a barney with Koeman in the 1st half during one of our corners?

It was the second half

He wasn't having a barney, you could see he couldn't hear or understand what RK was telling him, first half he was aware of where the sideline was and stayed in safe proximity of it. Second half as it wore on he was creeping into the middle more and further up the field, he probably didn't realise that he was doing it, hence not being sure of what Ronald was telling him to do.

i thought he had a sound game, played some lovely balls (I liked he take down and lay off to Mané in the build up to Longs goal)

I just don't get the venomous hatred directed to some players on here, they all drop clangers the only trouble is a defender when they err it normally ends up as a goal........ and when your name is a bit funny like Cucu then it's open season to some.

 

Has anyone seen back that Virgil maisey run where it appeared he was wrongly flagged offside?

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Stroll in the park, Newcastle were very poor. Only disappointment was Tadic , who I thought was a passenger for most of the game this time out.

 

It won't be a surprise to many on here to find that I agree with you re Tadic. Very anonymous in the 2nd half and again in the first half tried to take an extra touch (as he always does) when a first time shot was required.

[John Boy Saint]

It won't be a surprise to many on here to find that I agree with you re Tadic. Very anonymous in the 2nd half and again in the first half tried to take an extra touch (as he always does) when a first time shot was required.

Fabrice Fernandes MKII

[itchen]

A comfortable win. Even when they eventually scored it never looked like they could catch us or that we couldn't go and score another one if necessary. I don't understand all the criticism of Clasie and set pieces. We had loads of corners from the Kingsland/Northam corner which he whipped into the six yard box with real pace. I was surprised nobody really got on the end of one of them.

[Webby]

Why didn't Ron bring on JRod when he took Long off? I thought that was a strange substitution which dulled our attacking threat in a game that we shoulda/coulda won by 5 or 6.

 

edit: maybe he wasn't ready to give JRod 30mins??

[ALWAYS_SFC]

hardly, long nicked it from him

 

Your opinion of Pelle has now been replaced with made up drivel, proving that you

dislike him whatever happens...He played well for the whole game..

 

Questioning his mobility after yesterday is utterly mental...

[mrfahaji]

Your opinion of Pelle has now been replaced with made up drivel, proving that you

dislike him whatever happens...He played well for the whole game..

 

Questioning his mobility after yesterday is utterly mental...

 

I don't have an issue with Pelle, in fact on the match thread I defended him just before he scored, but unless I'm grossly misremembering the situation, I don't think this is 'made up drivel' from Batman...

 

I think yesterday suggests Pelle plays a lot better with other forwards buzzing around him. He held the ball up well and got some good flick ons, particularly in the first half, but without someone there to capitalise on these it would have just been "Pelle giving the ball away again". This showed in the second half when we went 4-5-1 (Mane pushed up a bit but didn't have the same intensity and directness as Long), so Pelle ended up being isolated and most of what he tried to do came to nothing.

[sambosa75]

I wonder if their fans regret hounding Pardew out.

 

Why would they? After a strong start he has yet again reverted to type and produced a string of poor results at Palace. Whilst they are higher than Newcastle, it is hardly the kind of form or results to pine for is it?

[mrfahaji]

He really does look a good player; get's forward, has a good eye for a pass; is quite fast and has some bottle in defence even if he can get caught out of position now and again.

 

You mean to say he isn't quite the "0/10 what is the point of this player £1m down the drain" signing that some were claiming?!

[Batman]

Why would they? After a strong start he has yet again reverted to type and produced a string of poor results at Palace. Whilst they are higher than Newcastle, it is hardly the kind of form or results to pine for is it?

 

I bet they would snap someones hands and feet off for a 14th place finish (or what ever) now though

newcastle fans are very deluded

[Charlie Wayman]

During his goal celebration yesterday Victor Wanyama was waving huge kisses to the Itchen as he ran back to position. Now then, do you think this was signal that he is beginning to love it here? Is a new contract a step nearer? Wishful thinking or maybe with old pals Fraser and Virgil here also from Celtic he is beginning to think we may have something going on here worth staying for?

[Professor]

I didn't think it was a foul. It was a strong challenge but he got the ball first, and it looked worse because the pace Long was moving at sent him flying with momentum.

 

Like everyone else has said, a good result without anyone shining particularly. Personally though I think winning a game without getting out of second gear at this stage of the season shows good game management. Why exert yourself when it's obvious the other team are going to offer nothing?

 

I also love how Pellé celebrates every goal like a last minute cup winner. Hero.

You may be right about the challenge on Long and the Ref seems to have taken your view, but I saw it again on MotD and to me it looked as if Long got to the ball first. Certainly, the ball went forward in the direction Long was heading and not away from the goal, which was the keeper's objective. But under the rules of the game (rule 37), a foul is committed if a tackle on a player is careless, reckless or using excessive force. In my view the tackle on Long was at least two of these and could have resulted in a serious injury, which is why I believe Koeman's view of current refereeing standards might have further deteriorated. If the ref was influenced by the possibility of having to send the keeper off, that should not have come into the matter at all However, you are, of course, entitled to your opinion (even if its wrong....) At least we won the game.

[doddisalegend]

It was the second half

He wasn't having a barney, you could see he couldn't hear or understand what RK was telling him, first half he was aware of where the sideline was and stayed in safe proximity of it. Second half as it wore on he was creeping into the middle more and further up the field, he probably didn't realise that he was doing it, hence not being sure of what Ronald was telling him to do.

i thought he had a sound game, played some lovely balls (I liked he take down and lay off to Mané in the build up to Longs goal)

I just don't get the venomous hatred directed to some players on here, they all drop clangers the only trouble is a defender when they err it normally ends up as a goal........ and when your name is a bit funny like Cucu then it's open season to some.

 

Has anyone seen back that Virgil maisey run where it appeared he was wrongly flagged offside?

 

No defiantly first half it seemed Martina was upset he was the only player back at our corner eventually Koeman called Bertrand back so there were two defenders left back at our corners.

[suewhistle]

Lol yes. However he's my son [sNIP] I don't spoil him but..

 

Quite right. Take him to a 0-0 against Stoke.;-)

 

I agree, the criticism of Pelle is odd. When he came back from injury he wasn't timing his flicks well, but nobody could complain about his contribution over the last few matches. Perhaps we just want more!

[iansums]

Why oh why don't we leave Mane or Long or both even up the pitch for corners?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nordic Saint]

Clasie was also one of the trio at fault for letting Townsend inside to shoot. He didn't have a great game today but he's a perfectly good player. Got a bit too excited getting forward at times but when he was in position he was blocking off service to Perez and Mitrovic very well.

 

Yes, Clasie and Ward-Prowse were really shown up by Townsend then. The lesson is you can't afford to play both of them. You need a bit more physical presence in midfield. That was possibly the worst I have ever seen Ward-Prowse play. If he continues like that, we should consider selling him. As for Clasie, the jury is still out on him, but he has got one of our worst player ratings in just about every game he's played this season. He'll need to improve a lot in future to merit a place in a Premier League team. At least he tries to get stuck in a bit more than Ward-Prowse does, even if he does get easily brushed aside. Fortunately, Wanyama gave a MOTM performance yesterday.

[Nordic Saint]

Graziano Pelle has been directly involved in seven of Southampton's last eight Premier League goals (four goals, three assists).

 

Yes. This is certainly his time of year. As soon as the weather warms up, he hits top form. I wouldn't be surprised to see him star for Italy in the hot summer sun in France, while some of the English players, like Vardy and Kane, may struggle in those conditions.

 

Forget his midwinter slump. Pelle is worth every penny we pay him for all the goals he gets early and late in the season. Hopefully, Austin will fill in midseason next year.

[mrfahaji]

Who was it who "jumped" in a bizarre fashion towards Townsend instead of trying to make the tackle? I thought it was JWP but comments on match thread suggested Clasie.