Saints 2 Norwich 1 - Reactions

[St Chalet]

Decent performance first half. Standard nail biting from 70 minutes onwards. A good six points in two games. COYR!

[Jonnyboy]

Not to be complacent at all but this thread now makes an entertaining read:

https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?61487-Saints-Vs-Watford

[Ashby Saint]

Cedric is a woeful player at the moment. I thought he was single handedly going to throw it away at the end.

[Hamilton Saint]

A great effort from the entire team. Notably improved performances from Cedric, Hojbjerg, and Redmond. Fantastic running up front from Ings and Long, who lead from the front. Impressive high pressing from the team in the first half. All the other results went our way. Things look a lot better this evening!

[Micky]

Given ourselves a chance, but we make it bloody hard work. Still a lot of graft to go to get out of this shyte...

 

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[OttawaSaint]

Delighted with the 3pts but a little concerned at how nervous the team got towards the end. Cedric shouldn't be anywhere near the teamsheet, he was beyond bad tonight.

[CB Fry]

We still look like a team highly likely to be relegated. We've looked about average in two home games against the worst teams in the league.

 

But at least we might make it to the transfer window still in touch.

[Hamilton Saint]

Cedric is a woeful player at the moment. I thought he was single handedly going to throw it away at the end.

 

Well, he is a liability in defending but he put a number of excellent crosses into the box today.

[tunit]

If we'd have hung on against Arsenal we'd be in 12th... Great win nonetheless. Defence looked very nervy at the end but in these games its the result that matters.

[Hamilton Saint]

Delighted with the 3pts but a little concerned at how nervous the team got towards the end. Cedric shouldn't be anywhere near the teamsheet, he was beyond bad tonight.

 

That's harsh. It's all relative, I suppose.

[Danbert]

A great effort from the entire team. Notably improved performances from Cedric, Hojbjerg, and Redmond. Fantastic running up front from Ings and Long, who lead from the front. Impressive high pressing from the team in the first half. All the other results went our way. Things look a lot better this evening!

 

I thought Cedric was poor all game. Agree about the pressing, and I thought Bertie put in a good shift. Ings a class apart.

[OttawaSaint]

Cedric is a woeful player at the moment. I thought he was single handedly going to throw it away at the end.

 

Incredible wasn't it. Two easy crosses fluffed then he mis-controlled it and trotted back like it was a Sunday stroll, then he hoofed it straight to Norwich while under no pressure whatsoever. Awful, beyond awful.

[Sheaf Saint]

Never make things easy do we.

 

Should have been completely out of sight by the time Stephens had his standard brain fart and let Pukki in to score.

 

Then the personnel/tactical changes completely shafted us and we find ourselves backs to the wall again. Lucky for us, Norwich's goalscoring form away from home is horrific.

 

Ings proving again what a great buy he was. Long did very well overall and his jump and header to set up Bertrand was superb.

 

Redmond very frustrating, again. Surprised he wasn't subbed off for Boufal, again.

 

Adams looked quite lively when he came on, but we had pretty much retreated by that point so he couldn't get into the game as much as he would have liked.

 

JWP was very good in the first half, but less so in the second.

 

Don't get me started on Cedric. He looked OK earlier in the season, but he's been total dogsh!te recently.

 

Delighted we have grabbed these 6 points that we needed to. If we had dropped points in either of these two games things would be looking very different.

 

Bizarrely, despite how dreadful we have been so far, we're still only 6 points and one less win behind Man Utd in 6th!

[Ohio Saint]

I take it one game at a time.

 

Lately, a part of me dies every week.

 

Even the joy of our wins is tainted by the stains of our ineptitude........I can handle losing over 90 minutes, I just can't handle winning for 45 and losing for 45 as the best we can manage.

[saint1977]

Three points the priority, very reasonable first hour and very poor last twenty. Ings immense, JWP and Djenepo very good. Redmond just not on it at present. Working hard but confidence looks low. Farke shored them up with the two CMs brought on, Tettey picked them up. Caught square for the goal but Pukki took it well. Subs went wrong, would have kept Long on as an outlet unless injured. That said, only really a couple of chances although the Byram slice at the end was shocking.

[captainchris]

Ralph dreadful performance second half I’m afraid. So easily out thought by other Managers...,

[Hamilton Saint]

We still look like a team highly likely to be relegated. We've looked about average in two home games against the worst teams in the league.

 

But at least we might make it to the transfer window still in touch.

 

Really? To me we look like a team with a hell of a lot more confidence, and showing so much more effort, than a few weeks ago. Luck seems to be with us, at the moment.

m

[OttawaSaint]

A great effort from the entire team. Notably improved performances from Cedric, Hojbjerg, and Redmond. Fantastic running up front from Ings and Long, who lead from the front. Impressive high pressing from the team in the first half. All the other results went our way. Things look a lot better this evening!

 

Cedric? He had a shocker tonight.

[hypochondriac]

Really? To me we look like a team with a hell of a lot more confidence, and showing so much more effort, than a few weeks ago. Luck seems to be with us, at the moment.

m

I agree with cb fry. Soares and redmond were rubbish again and need dropping. At least we've given ourselves a chance but we are so so fragile.

[Hamilton Saint]

I take it one game at a time.

 

Lately, a part of me dies every week.

 

Even the joy of our wins is tainted by the stains of our ineptitude........I can handle losing over 90 minutes, I just can't handle winning for 45 and losing for 45 as the best we can manage.

 

"It's a game of two halves."

[hypochondriac]

I take it one game at a time.

 

Lately, a part of me dies every week.

 

Even the joy of our wins is tainted by the stains of our ineptitude........I can handle losing over 90 minutes, I just can't handle winning for 45 and losing for 45 as the best we can manage.

Ha that's a good way of putting it. I feel a similar way, I'd love a nice convincing win and a 90 minute performance.

[Ohio Saint]

"It's a game of two halves."

 

That was never more true until we got our new manager.

[Pamplemousse]

I had flashbacks to Southampton 2-2 Middlesbrough

 

That scarred me as a child, and I always knew from that point that with Southampton 2-0 is never enough to make it comfortable.

 

Fortunately Norwich were shocking.

[OttawaSaint]

Redmond looks horribly low on confidence out there. He's trying but everything he tried didn't really work.

 

Was impressed with JWP in the closing stages, made some good interceptions and stayed really calm with the ball.

[Batman]

Redmond looks horribly low on confidence out there. He's trying but everything he tried didn't really work.

 

Was impressed with JWP in the closing stages, made some good interceptions and stayed really calm with the ball.

 

Redmond needs ask himself - what would Henry do in this form?

[OttawaSaint]

I had flashbacks to Southampton 2-2 Middlesbrough

 

That scarred me as a child, and I always knew from that point that with Southampton 2-0 is never enough to make it comfortable.

 

Fortunately Norwich were shocking.

 

I guess that makes you too young for the 3-3 draw at the Dell where Boro equalized in the last minute with only 9 men. Ugh! They've been doing this to us for years. Glad we could hold on to the 3pts tonight. Vital woin!

[beatlesaint]

Ralph dreadful performance second half I’m afraid. So easily out thought by other Managers...,

 

That was my feeling too. The defensive substitutions invited pressure that we just aren’t any good at defending. Has the manager not noticed that yet ? They had two great chances to get a point at the end. Had they done so Ralph would have been crucified on here.

[Sheaf Saint]

Redmond needs ask himself - what would Henry do in this form?

 

Maybe he needs another 'Pep' talk

[DT]

Great result but how bad is Cedric, how tactically inept is Ralph, and how will i have to go for a walk for the last five minutes of every game? We're so brittle.

 

 

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[woodsaint]

Ralph dreadful performance second half I’m afraid. So easily out thought by other Managers...,

 

Must be on the wind up? We were being dominated in midfield and bringing on Romeu helped stem that. If only Adams had got on the end of the cross near the end to open his account

[Batman]

Must be on the wind up? We were being dominated in midfield and bringing on Romeu helped stem that. If only Adams had got on the end of the cross near the end to open his account

 

I agree, Romeu made a difference. Whether bringing in Yoshida for a striker made a positive difference, not sure

[Micky]

I agree, Romeu made a difference. Whether bringing in Yoshida for a striker made a positive difference, not sure

Kammy said that we were losing it in midfield and that Romeu had wrestled it back within five minutes of coming on. Seemed pretty impressed with Oriel.

 

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[Jimmy_D]

Norwich easily the worst team that’s played at St Mary’s this season. Could/should have been way more comfortable.

 

We’re one point off 12th! Not bad for a team that would probably have been dead and buried without the last two results.

[The Kraken]

Just don’t look like we’re ever going to keep a clean sheet. Unsurprising, as we very rarely do. So nervy at the back, surely we can’t go much further being reliant on Jack Stephens in the middle? Cédric seems ok with the ball but like he’s at panic stations without it.

 

A win is a win but I haven’t seen anything to suggest we’ll be comfortable at any point this season. Two of the easiest games done but December is reasonably kind so need to take advantage.

[DT]

Cedric? He had a shocker tonight.

 

He was utter tripe. Either kicking it aimlessly up the pitch or straight out of play. Can’t wait for him to toddle off

 

 

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[Chris27687]

This all seems really negative - we are out of the relegation zone and 1 point off 12th.

 

Newcastle, Villa & West Ham to come - could be out of the woods by Christmas.

[Wade Garrett]

Was at the other end, so I might be wrong. But why didn’t McCarthy narrow the angle for their goal instead of giving him half the goal to aim at?

[Maggie May]

Redmond has no end product. He’s lost all confidence and is in two minds over what to do with the ball.

[SaintTex]

Our first 12 matches - 8 points

 

Our last 3 matches - 7 points

 

We have a very winnable game next Sunday, but Newcastle is no pushover. Let's keep the momentum going!

 

-

 

we need 5 more points in the next 4 matches to be at 20 points at the mid-season point.

 

Newcastle (A)

West Ham (H)

Villa (A)

Chelsea (A)

[Ohio Saint]

Norwich easily the worst team that’s played at St Mary’s this season. Could/should have been way more comfortable.

 

We’re one point off 12th! Not bad for a team that would probably have been dead and buried without the last two results.

 

Yeah, frankly, I'm having a hard time working out what the rest of them will do. I know we are crap, but just how crap is half the division?

[eurosaint]

On way home now and don’t get the overriding negativity on here so far !

Redmond worked his socks off and caused Norwich all sorts of problems (TBF his final ball does tend to let him down) but he and Long did their jobs effectively !

Bednarek, Ings & Hojbjerg also did well as did Romeu when he came on...

Great result and if we can get a further few points v Newcastle, WHU and Villa we’ll start looking upward rather than down

COYS

[igsey]

Absolutely huge win, unbelievable that we are now one point behind twelfth. Should have been a lot easier that it was... but then, that wouldn't be The Southampton Way

 

Big improvements tonight from JWP and Hoj, Bertrand solid and Djenepo and Ings did well up top.

Redmond looks like he needs a rest, maybe he will get it at Newcastle if Boufal is back. Stephens at fault for a goal yet again, but we can all agree we look much better back four than back five.

 

Special mention to Cedric who had one of the worst second-half performances I've seen from a defender and definitely didn't want us to win that game. Horrific passing and crossing under no pressure, chasing long balls into the Norwich box with 2 minutes left, and getting absolutely rinsed by Hernandez despite him doing the same "stand-it-up-and-head-for-the-byline" routine all game. Norwich missed two gilt-edged chances that came from Cedric's mistakes.

 

But still - two home wins in a row is outstanding, a win's a win and I don't much care how they come! Bring on Newcastle!

[ButtikonSaint]

We're starting to look like a team. Settled shape, half decent automatism, hard working.

Unbeaten in three, out of the relegation zone, some optimism... it's a pretty decent turn around especially after Leicester and some of the dross served prior.

Fair enough some players are pretty limited and average but until we can get re-enforcement (probably not til summer), RH is managing to get something out of them.

Talking of the manager, I really think we need to support him... Some may think his tactics can be naive but he seems honest, fully committed to Saints and a leader.

A few more positive results in our next two or three games and we could be sitting mid-table looking up...

 

As for performances tonight:

Ingsy and Longy did pretty well and I think are a balanced partnership; Adams fighting to break that up will only benefit us.

Midfield wasn't too bad actually, certainly pressed hard for 70ish mins; kept the side way passes to a minimum...ran out of steam at the end

Defense and goalie: well ...let in less goal than we scored so I guess job done... A 30Mio hardcore central defender wouldn't go amiss

COYS

Edited 4 December, 2019 by ButtikonSaint

[igsey]

Oh and should mention Shane Long - did his job very well and made sure Norwich always had something to worry about.

[eurosaint]

Oh and JWP had a good game as well so hopefully he’ll not be the whipping boy this week !!

[Heisenberg]

Long, Ings, JWP, Hoj decent tonight

 

Not a vintage performance. But 3 valuable points

[hypochondriac]

On way home now and don’t get the overriding negativity on here so far !

Redmond worked his socks off and caused Norwich all sorts of problems (TBF his final ball does tend to let him down) but he and Long did their jobs effectively !

Bednarek, Ings & Hojbjerg also did well as did Romeu when he came on...

Great result and if we can get a further few points v Newcastle, WHU and Villa we’ll start looking upward rather than down

COYS

It's jot negativity, it's being realistic. The result is obviously fantastic but we still have some very clear weaknesses and I don't have loads of confidence that we will surge on now and get out of trouble. Redmond needs dropping and soares needs replacing in Jan.

[Patrick Bateman]

Good match, solid enough performance. Ings was excellent, Cedric is f**king awful - he needs binning off now.

[Give it to Ron]

Oh and JWP had a good game as well so hopefully he’ll not be the whipping boy this week !!

 

No it’s Cedric and boy was he utter sh1te the guy is brain dead.

We are 2-1 up hanging on a massive game the manager brings on Yosh to fill any gap yet the diminutive one disappears up front furthest player forward leaving massive hole the useless ****

 

 

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[cloggy saint]

Result more important than performance so I'm pleased with that. It seems Cedric is tonight's scapegoat but I thought he was ok. Any 'errors' he made were all deep in Norwich territory and on another night he could have had a goal.