Newcastle 3-2 Saints - Match Thread

[AlexLaw76]

Said it a few weeks back, we are very boring to watch (from a style of play PoV).

Constant slow, recycling of possession within the width of the 18 yard box - anywhere around the pitch.

Not getting a point, against a injury-ravaged Newcastle side, down to 10 mins for the last 40 mins and then 9 men for the last 25 mins, was ridiculous.

What makes it worse, we - as with all games - barely made their keeper work.

[WALK DMC]

2 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

Seriously, if you think Ings isn’t trying because he wants a move, you’re fucking deluded and it does not make sense. 
which scenario do you think he prefers,

a - Team playing brilliantly and he’s scoring every other game, increasing his worth which means a better deal for him 

or 

b - Team playing shit, he’s playing shit and not trying as he knows he’s off but list of teams wanting him and willing to pay top wages dwindles  His value drops and so  club are more reluctant to sell  

 

I certainly don't believe he isn't trying. I think he is just going through one of those periods when a goal just won't come. And the longer it goes on and the harder he tries the more difficult it will be. He could (should?) have had two yesterday. 

Forwards go through these spells; probably just needs 1 lucky one and more will follow. He went through the opposite phase post-lockdown last season when it felt like every shot he took was almost guaranteed to go in.   

The bigger issue is that both Ings and Adams are in the same cycle at the same time so neither of our forwards are scoring. Probably not helped by the whole team not playing well over the last 4-5 weeks. 

[OldNick]

a sobering thought is that this squad is going to be the nucleus next season and i doubt it will get many more bodies to strengthen! The kids coming through hardly inspire and so a rocky road ahead. 

[Teddeer]

18 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

Seriously, if you think Ings isn’t trying because he wants a move, you’re fucking deluded and it does not make sense. 
which scenario do you think he prefers,

a - Team playing brilliantly and he’s scoring every other game, increasing his worth which means a better deal for him 

or 

b - Team playing shit, he’s playing shit and not trying as he knows he’s off but list of teams wanting him and willing to pay top wages dwindles  His value drops and so  club are more reluctant to sell  

 

I think it is not that he isn't trying just that he is playing within himself to guard against injury. If that is true, and obviously nobody other than Ings himself can confirm it, we are likely to continue to see this drop in levels of intensity, work rate and goal poaching from him.

[WALK DMC]

6 minutes ago, OldNick said:

a sobering thought is that this squad is going to be the nucleus next season and i doubt it will get many more bodies to strengthen! The kids coming through hardly inspire and so a rocky road ahead. 

I totally agree. Bertrand still hasn't signed the new contract. Ralph doesn't rate Vokins/Valery. Ings could be off and today we have no strong deputy for Adams with Walcott injured. We're probably one short in central midfield although thankfully JWP/Romeu don't get too many injuries, but when they do we really only have Diallo as premier class (And I think Smallbone is better out wide). If Bertrand & Ings leave we could have £20m+ to spend on:

Starting 11 replacement for Ings

Starting 11 replacement for Bertrand

Three squad players covering forward and full backs (probably youngish with potential)

If Walcott doesn't sign (or we choose not to), then I think Ralph would consider Armstrong, Djenepo, Redmond & Smallbone as adequate in comparison to where his other priorities lie.  I can't see the likes of Hoedt or Lemina generating much cash. If our policy is to only spend what we bring in, the shopping list above is fairly frightening ....    

[beatlesaint]

I just think the fact we had jolly Jack playing as emergency right back, therefore taking away one of our better attacking options shows what a complete and utter fuck up it was not getting one in during the transfer window. We had 30 days to get it done and ended up running around like bloody idiots with a few hours left and failing badly.

The sooner KWP is back the better. 

[Charlie Wayman]

9 minutes ago, WALK DMC said:

I certainly don't believe he isn't trying. I think he is just going through one of those periods when a goal just won't come. And the longer it goes on and the harder he tries the more difficult it will be. He could (should?) have had two yesterday. 

Forwards go through these spells; probably just needs 1 lucky one and more will follow. He went through the opposite phase post-lockdown last season when it felt like every shot he took was almost guaranteed to go in.   

The bigger issue is that both Ings and Adams are in the same cycle at the same time so neither of our forwards are scoring. Probably not helped by the whole team not playing well over the last 4-5 weeks. 

I doubt it is a matter of form. Most likely other clubs have studied Ings moves on and off the ball extensively and have a very good understanding now of how to blot him out of games by close marking CBs who understand his movements. Occasionally he breaks free as all good players will but most of the time he is shackled and cannot operate with the freedom he would like.

Last year he was a bit of an unknown quantity and could roam to find goal scoring oppurtunities but as his reputation has risen so his effectiveness has diminished. Not a coincidence I think. The problem for us and him is that once sussed out even the best strikers rarely recover to the levels of their early promise. Think of the world's greatest strikers whose reputations have been tarnished or trashed in the Premier League in recent seasons. Aguero is arguably one of the very few who has proved capable of breaking free of that mould.

Adams has clearly suffered the same fate. 

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, tajjuk said:

Because we were unlucky, we defended poorly yes, doesn't mean the rub of the green didn't go our way, the two are not mutually exclusive. 

What bits are unlucky? 

[beatlesaint]

Just now, Turkish said:

What bits are unlucky? 

Well they way the ball hit Bednerek's foot then the other foot was a bit unfortunate tbh. How often does that happen to a defender ? 

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, beatlesaint said:

Well they way the ball hit Bednerek's foot then the other foot was a bit unfortunate tbh. How often does that happen to a defender ? 

It doesn't happen that often because most defenders can sort their feet out. He had an absolute nightmare there, personal disaster of a match/week.

When Bednarek is bad....christ he is beyond bad! When he's good he's decent though.

[pimpin4rizeal]

It still annoys me that Redmond kept boufal from having a decent run in the team.. never rated Redmond he’s always been utter rubbish if you ask me- brain dead player who suffers huge concentration losses switches off and gets confused and loses the ball or makes bad decisions and has zero end product..

whilst boufal was hugely talented could beat players for fun and had all the technique in the world it actually might have worked out if we had a manager who put his arm round him and believed in him but instead we he prefers league one Redmond 

[Chapel End]

Not trying to make excuses at all here, but its plain to see we dont have a player who wants to run at the opposition and try to beat them when Armstrong is not on the pitch, the other is Moussa but Ralf didnt bring him on and that is puzzling

[Turkish]

4 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Well they way the ball hit Bednerek's foot then the other foot was a bit unfortunate tbh. How often does that happen to a defender ? 

A little but was also shit defending

[beatlesaint]

Just now, Turkish said:

A little but was also shit defending

oh yeah of course.

[Dusic]

9 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

It still annoys me that Redmond kept boufal from having a decent run in the team.. never rated Redmond he’s always been utter rubbish if you ask me- brain dead player who suffers huge concentration losses switches off and gets confused and loses the ball or makes bad decisions and has zero end product..

whilst boufal was hugely talented could beat players for fun and had all the technique in the world it actually might have worked out if we had a manager who put his arm round him and believed in him but instead we he prefers league one Redmond 

Boufal was largely dross and if I am not wrong has barely done anything since going back to France.

Redmond was poor yesterday, but had Ings shot gone post and in would have had a nice assist.

Regardless, Boufal is one of the answers to the question of how our squad got in a mess in the first place, nothing more.

[Totton Saint]

3 hours ago, Teddeer said:

We have to stop this negative passing with just the aim of retaining the ball at all cost. The continual recycling and going back to our own goal is killing our instinctive creativity.  We seem very happy to work the ball up into the opposition third and then, if a simple pass isn't on or someone might have to take on a defender we immediately turn back and look for a 'safe' pass back towards our own goal thus surrendering the gain into opposition territory.  I'm not convinced we do well when we have lots of the ball because it usually means we have spent large spells just playing keep ball without actually hurting our opponents. Let's start being braver and taking more risks. It will not always come off but right now we are in danger of becoming boring to watch like a Puel team.

I totally agree. Why can't Ralph see this. Redders is the biggest culprit passing back to the player who gave hm the ball i the first place. 

[rallyboy]

Apologies if someone has said this already but I'm not up for 24 depressing pages....

 

Prowsie's free-kick yesterday was fucking incredible and has sadly been lost in the tide of shit that the week brought.

Absolute world class.

 

[simo]

Should have put Vestergaard up near Adams and dropped ings back a bit to play off their knockdowns and just bombarded them with crosses and long balls , Tippy tappy football in front of 2 banks of 4 that are sitting back won't work .

[Totton Saint]

2 hours ago, The Cat said:

We have quite a game plan in possession which involves moving the ball around defence and the base of midfield while the front 4 make runs to try and pull their players out of position. As soon as that happens a quick ball is played through the midfield to hit the runners whose space is created by the full backs pushed high and the number 10's dropping inside.

Vestergaard being out has had significant impact on this because a lot of our attacking play starts from his pass which is triggered by the movement further forwards. I don't believe any of our other CB's are capable (maybe Salisu will be) of playing these sort of balls. 

If the opposition are disciplined and don't get dragged around then we recycle the ball until this happens. This then makes it look like we are passing it around the back for no reason.

Earlier in the season it was working perfectly, but opposition teams have started to work out how to counter it, especially while we've been struggling with injuries.

Other teams play a very similar style, difference obviously is the better ones have a load of world class players who can adapt and do something with individual brilliance that unlocks a defence. 

I don't think there's anything wrong with our tactics, and when we are on it we are exciting to watch. At this point they are let down by a small squad with many players carrying injuries and too many individual errors. However I'm sure this will be overcome in time and we'll get back to winning games soon.

Yes, I remember when what you say above was working and it looked almost Brazilian like. I guess in winter conditions we need a different approach.

[Totton Saint]

11 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

Apologies if someone has said this already but I'm not up for 24 depressing pages....

 

Prowsie's free-kick yesterday was fucking incredible and has sadly been lost in the tide of shit that the week brought.

Absolute world class.

 

with a wet slippery and heavy ball  too. How does he do it? 

[VectisSaint]

3 hours ago, Teddeer said:

We have to stop this negative passing with just the aim of retaining the ball at all cost. The continual recycling and going back to our own goal is killing our instinctive creativity.  We seem very happy to work the ball up into the opposition third and then, if a simple pass isn't on or someone might have to take on a defender we immediately turn back and look for a 'safe' pass back towards our own goal thus surrendering the gain into opposition territory.  I'm not convinced we do well when we have lots of the ball because it usually means we have spent large spells just playing keep ball without actually hurting our opponents. Let's start being braver and taking more risks. It will not always come off but right now we are in danger of becoming boring to watch like a Puel team.

The negative passing is not the issue. That is the way we are set up to play, move the ball around waiting for an opportunity to open up/be opened up by off the ball movement, and then getting that trigger to launch a fast attack. The problem is that the quick attacks are not happening, so it looks like the players at the back are just aimlessly moving the ball around. For the last few games we have lacked any sort of quick, incisive movement in MF/up front, no energy, this was happening before "that" game but people got sidetracked because of the refereeing issues. Admittedly yesterday the pitch didn't help, but we have lost all energy from MF upwards. Maybe it is partly because we have lost KWP who is the chief provider of the fast outlets, along with Stuey. Also Ings is completely out on his feet, and isn't providing the energy, dynamism and creativity that is such a huge part of his game, I'm convinced that he has not really recovered from his injury before Christmas and then his subsequent Covid illness. He is operating at 80% (blaming it on looking for a move is bullshit in my opinion), having an Ings80% is still better than any other options hence he is playing but I think it will be a while before we see him back up to his early season standards unfortunately, his frustration is there for all to see. Unfortunately Ralph's tactics are a bit one-dimensional, and they can be seen to be a problem on heavy pitches especially where we cannot zip the ball about. We don't have anyone with enough guile to make play differently especially when Armstrong is out. It might be a while before we get back to winning ways yet, but I do think the key is getting KWP and Armstrong back fully fit.

[Appy]

14 minutes ago, simo said:

Should have put Vestergaard up near Adams and dropped ings back a bit to play off their knockdowns and just bombarded them with crosses and long balls , Tippy tappy football in front of 2 banks of 4 that are sitting back won't work .

They dealt with crosses easily. 

[Shroppie]

8 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

The negative passing is not the issue. That is the way we are set up to play, move the ball around waiting for an opportunity to open up/be opened up by off the ball movement, and then getting that trigger to launch a fast attack. The problem is that the quick attacks are not happening, so it looks like the players at the back are just aimlessly moving the ball around. For the last few games we have lacked any sort of quick, incisive movement in MF/up front, no energy, this was happening before "that" game but people got sidetracked because of the refereeing issues. Admittedly yesterday the pitch didn't help, but we have lost all energy from MF upwards. Maybe it is partly because we have lost KWP who is the chief provider of the fast outlets, along with Stuey. Also Ings is completely out on his feet, and isn't providing the energy, dynamism and creativity that is such a huge part of his game, I'm convinced that he has not really recovered from his injury before Christmas and then his subsequent Covid illness. He is operating at 80% (blaming it on looking for a move is bullshit in my opinion), having an Ings80% is still better than any other options hence he is playing but I think it will be a while before we see him back up to his early season standards unfortunately, his frustration is there for all to see. Unfortunately Ralph's tactics are a bit one-dimensional, and they can be seen to be a problem on heavy pitches especially where we cannot zip the ball about. We don't have anyone with enough guile to make play differently especially when Armstrong is out. It might be a while before we get back to winning ways yet, but I do think the key is getting KWP and Armstrong back fully fit.

Good post. I agree with your analysis of our tactics. It's not just slow sideways and backwards passing: it's retaining possession and trying to draw the opposite out of position. But you're right. When the opposition sit tight, we need guile, movement off the ball or someone to run at players to get through. We missed Armstrong yesterday because he provides a bit of vision for the defence-splitting pass, is not afraid to run directly and has a decent shot.

Ings was making moves but looked tired and sluggish. He didn't move to keep himself onside before Che's disallowed effort. BTW, I thought Che was most like to get the goal.

I also thought Minimino had a good debut, but he hasn't had long to learn how players around him work. I also wasn't unhappy with JWP and Romeu who I thought worked to play balls forward, but weren't given many options. As many have commented, Redmond was most disappointing: no adventure, and little positive passing, except the assist for Danny hitting the post. Surprised we didn't see Djenepo.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

14 hours ago, trousers said:

Sometime between now and the end of the season. Just like we do after every dip in form we have. Anyway, enjoy the more frequent posting rate now that we're in a dip.

Are you aware that people are 8 times more likely to post on an internet forum or review page when they've had a bad experience? Obviously not.
Ever thought about being a politician? You seem to be very good at skirting questions and offering little in the way of answers.

Edited 7 February, 2021 by Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd

[Portugalsaint]

If SFC published that they had asked their first team players,  subs and manager to donate a weeks wages from each game they lose to the NHS between now and the end of the season, it may help to focus their minds.  

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

14 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Well if we knew that, we’d all be making billions from the bookmakers.

I've asked him where he thinks the next points are going to come from, that's all. I'm not asking him to provide an answer so that I can head off to the bookies. I was merely looking for opinions. Isn't that the point of an internet forum?

I appreciate that it's hard to predict anything at the moment, particularly when we've only picked up 6 points from 10 games and beaten the league champions (which I doubt anybody expected) and then dropped points against some awful teams and been beaten 9-0 by Man Utd. Hence my question. Where do people think our next points are going to come from?
Do you not look at the fixture list and think, I can't see us getting points against Chelsea or Everton, but Wolves is a possibility?
 

[warsash saint]

4 hours ago, Teddeer said:

We have to stop this negative passing with just the aim of retaining the ball at all cost. The continual recycling and going back to our own goal is killing our instinctive creativity.  We seem very happy to work the ball up into the opposition third and then, if a simple pass isn't on or someone might have to take on a defender we immediately turn back and look for a 'safe' pass back towards our own goal thus surrendering the gain into opposition territory.  I'm not convinced we do well when we have lots of the ball because it usually means we have spent large spells just playing keep ball without actually hurting our opponents. Let's start being braver and taking more risks. It will not always come off but right now we are in danger of becoming boring to watch like a Puel team.

& you were saying that 2 months ago???

[trousers]

19 minutes ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

I've asked him where he thinks the next points are going to come from, that's all. I'm not asking him to provide an answer so that I can head off to the bookies. I was merely looking for opinions. Isn't that the point of an internet forum?

I appreciate that it's hard to predict anything at the moment, particularly when we've only picked up 6 points from 10 games and beaten the league champions (which I doubt anybody expected) and then dropped points against some awful teams and been beaten 9-0 by Man Utd. Hence my question. Where do people think our next points are going to come from?
Do you not look at the fixture list and think, I can't see us getting points against Chelsea or Everton, but Wolves is a possibility?
 

This is what happened in the aftermath of our previous 9-0. Perhaps something similar will happen this time? Perhaps it won't? Who knows?

[david in sweden]

I blame the weather.  The rain in the North East isn't the same as the sort we get blowing in off the Solent. 

[trousers]

16 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

& you were saying that 2 months ago???

The critics of the way we play were incredibly quiet during 2020. Can't for the life of me work out why.... Probably nothing to do with football fans being the most fickle creatures on planet Earth....

Edited 7 February, 2021 by trousers

[Toussaint]

3 hours ago, WALK DMC said:

I certainly don't believe he isn't trying. I think he is just going through one of those periods when a goal just won't come. And the longer it goes on and the harder he tries the more difficult it will be. He could (should?) have had two yesterday. 

Forwards go through these spells; probably just needs 1 lucky one and more will follow. He went through the opposite phase post-lockdown last season when it felt like every shot he took was almost guaranteed to go in.   

The bigger issue is that both Ings and Adams are in the same cycle at the same time so neither of our forwards are scoring. Probably not helped by the whole team not playing well over the last 4-5 weeks. 

Bear in mind we are creating literally nothing for our strikers, little wander Ings is overplaying the ball and Adams, different sort of player , is barely getting an opportunity 

[FairWeather]

1 hour ago, rallyboy said:

Apologies if someone has said this already but I'm not up for 24 depressing pages....

 

Prowsie's free-kick yesterday was fucking incredible and has sadly been lost in the tide of shit that the week brought.

Absolute world class.

 

No player has scored more than 5 free kicks in a prem season (Beckham and Laurent Robert). JWP is already on 4 for this season. Which is only one less than the rest of the league combined.

[Mltburger]

We have the same core of players going back to Puels time who are by instinct too cautious in mentality. And I don't think it is something that can be coached out of a player either. Sure you can improve players, but it is hard to alter a players DNA.

In particular Romeo, Remond, Bednarek and Ward-Prowse have been in and out of favour over the last 4 years and when all 4 play together they are not quick enough by instinct to get the ball moving forward. (I know fans have differing opinions as to their relative merits, but the single most telling fact, is that no other club have ever showed any serious interest in buying them to my knowledge).

It must be so frustrating for our forwards, as all too often by the time we have a chance to break an opposition attack up, by the time we get the ball to our forwards, even the opposition's most knackered striker has had time to stroll back and get in formation.

Sadly we don't really have anyone over the last 4 years like Jack Grealish or Saint Maximin who are able to retain the ball and draw defenders around them.

Our business model is reliant on being able to sell a player or two for decent money every other year to keep things ticking over. Sadly over the last few years we have bought too many duff players which has broken the cycle. Which means nothing much will change for at least another two years unless the current crop of youngster come good, or we find a hidden gem that no one else has spotted. Or we try a different combination. From what I have seen of Diallio he at least has the instinct to attack, so finding a way of combining him in midfield with Romeo and Ward Prose MIGHT work.

 

[Teddeer]

43 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

& you were saying that 2 months ago???

No because we weren't playing this negative football 2 months ago.

[trousers]

23 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

No because we weren't playing this negative football 2 months ago.

We were playing the same fundamental tactics then as we are now, we've simply lost the best combination of players to execute it during this injury 'crisis', coupled with the likes of Ings having a significant dip in form 

Edited 7 February, 2021 by trousers

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

The critics of the way we play were incredibly quiet during 2020. Can't for the life of me work out why.... Probably nothing to do with football fans being the most fickle creatures on planet Earth....

Bill Shankly called it many years ago. If you can’t support us when we lose or draw, don’t support us when we win. We have had a bad week and haven’t been great this year so far, but most of 2020 was excellent.  We were always likely to run out of gas and the injury list has taken its toll, but we know what this team and manager can do and things will pick up.

[StrangelyBrown]

Having had 24 hours to be a bit more rational about this, I'm surprised Ings isn't getting more grief. He was really poor yesterday - he had 2 chances that he should have put away and his touch was really heavy - if he'd put them away we would have won and we would be having a very different debate on here. He doesn't seem to have recaptured his form and always looks knackered. I'm beginning to think he needed a bit more time before coming back.

Otherwise I wonder if it would have been better for bednarek to start at right back from the start - easy to say with hindsight, but he suffered more than anyone against United and it clearly has impacted his confidence and that change helped the problems with having Stephens at right back.

From a plan b perspective we haven't had one in 3 years so I don't expect that to change any time soon, but we have picked up a lot of points with a very average squad so I'm less worried about that than the whole team's ability to score goals which is my biggest worry at the moment - I just don't see where it goals are coming from without Ings playing well.

[trousers]

6 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Bill Shankly called it many years ago. If you can’t support us when we lose or draw, don’t support us when we win. We have had a bad week and haven’t been great this year so far, but most of 2020 was excellent.  We were always likely to run out of gas and the injury list has taken its toll, but we know what this team and manager can do and things will pick up.

Kindly take your pragmatism elsewhere sir! 

[Chris cooper]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

We were playing the same fundamental tactics then as we are now, we've simply lost the best combination of players to execute it during this injury 'crisis', coupled with the likes of Ings having a significant dip in form 

Those tactics and barebone squad will only give you half a season before the team is ravaged with injury or absolutely knackered.. wen we had Covid break in 2020 we came back in blistering form ..2021 kicked off more or less with little or no break for some and now we are knackered and injured with barebone squad .. high press=high risk of injuries .. look at Liverpool ! Only difference is they have decent cover in Milner etc .. struggling defensively tho same as us !

[SKD]

2 hours ago, Teddeer said:

No because we weren't playing this negative football 2 months ago.

The very reason we lost 9-0 (other than school boy defending) was because we were too attacking.
 

Not breaking down 9 men camped inside their box and defended for their life isn’t negative, we’ve always struggled to break teams down and will continue to do so until we get a proper creative CM. 
 

we also miss our RB, who offers us balance going forward and defensively hugely. 
 

if there is anything you could question Ralph on is his lack of a plan B. Not negative football...
 

[saint lard]

I think Diallo would’ve created so much more and a lot more urgency yesterday. 
really hope he’s back soon. 

[BotleySaint]

17 minutes ago, saint lard said:

I think Diallo would’ve created so much more and a lot more urgency yesterday. 
really hope he’s back soon. 

I am surprised Ralph didn't make more changes yesterday.
We had Djenepo on the bench who likes to run and beat players to create things for example.

He only made one sub the entire game, N'Lundulu who is frankly the slowest footballer I've ever seen.

Tella might have injected some pace into proceedings.

Edited 7 February, 2021 by BotleySaint

[trousers]

14 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

I am surprised Ralph didn't make more changes yesterday.
We had Djenepo on the bench who likes to run and beat players to create things for example.

He only made one sub the entire game, N'Lundulu who is frankly the slowest footballer I've ever seen.

Tella might have injected some pace into proceedings.

I suspect the waterlogged conditions may have played a part in Ralph's thinking.... whilst taking into account how seemingly prone Djenepo is to picking up injuries. Can you imagine the hoo-haa from the hindsight brigade on here had he got injured after coming on, and the conditions had played a part in it?

Edited 7 February, 2021 by trousers

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Chris cooper said:

Those tactics and barebone squad will only give you half a season before the team is ravaged with injury or absolutely knackered.. wen we had Covid break in 2020 we came back in blistering form ..2021 kicked off more or less with little or no break for some and now we are knackered and injured with barebone squad .. high press=high risk of injuries .. look at Liverpool ! Only difference is they have decent cover in Milner etc .. struggling defensively tho same as us !

Fair points 👍

[Badger]

1 hour ago, StrangelyBrown said:

 

From a plan b perspective we haven't had one in 3 years so I don't expect that to change any time soon, but we have picked up a lot of points with a very average squad so I'm less worried about that than the whole team's ability to score goals which is my biggest worry at the moment - I just don't see where it goals are coming from without Ings playing well.

A lot has been made of the 'plan B' , but in truth I can't remember when we last successfully implemented one, even Poch and Koeman were criticised for this no matter how good and attractive their 'Plan A was'.

Going back Adkins tried to influence games in the Championship when we had a decent bench by the standard of the division we were in at the time. But I recall a lot of dissent on the mongboard and Radio Solent when he tried to make three changes during the second half whilst losing 1-0. The "tinkerman" label was bandied about for a few days, and Merrington accused him of 'confusing the players' by changing tactics.

Hoddle had a reputation for being able to spot and change things as a match progressed, but I'd suggest that failed pretty spectacularly and was blown apart at Tranmere.

Yes, I too think we should be able to adapt and see a game out more often than we do, but its not a new or just recent failure.

As for goalscoring, I suspect Ings getting a couple again - post yesterday - might see a return of confidence and some goals again.

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, Badger said:

 

 

Edited 7 February, 2021 by Badger
Double post, and total cock up

[DT]

29 minutes ago, trousers said:

I suspect the waterlogged conditions may have played a part in Ralph's thinking.... whilst taking into account how seemingly prone Djenepo is to picking up injuries. Can you imagine the hoo-haa from the hindsight brigade on here had he got injured after coming on, and the conditions had played a part in it?

'Hindsight brigade' - are you Boris Johnson. or something? Some of us were saying that Redmond should have been subbed for Djenepo most of the second half, as you know. Fail to see how a waterlogged pitch would deter him any more than it would Redmond. Using your logic he'll never play him again for fear that he might get injured. Bizarre.

[sadoldgit]

30 minutes ago, trousers said:

I suspect the waterlogged conditions may have played a part in Ralph's thinking.... whilst taking into account how seemingly prone Djenepo is to picking up injuries. Can you imagine the hoo-haa from the hindsight brigade on here had he got injured after coming on, and the conditions had played a part in it?

My thoughts too. Moussa plays like Bambi on ice at the best of times!

[trousers]

7 minutes ago, DT said:

Hindsight brigade' - are you Boris Johnson. or something?

Bugger, was trying to keep that under wraps

[trousers]

9 minutes ago, DT said:

Some of us were saying that Redmond should have been subbed for Djenepo most of the second half, as you know. Fail to see how a waterlogged pitch would deter him any more than it would Redmond. Using your logic he'll never play him again for fear that he might get injured. Bizarre.

Yeah. Fair point. Probably best if I stick to congratulating you on pointing out how rubbish Armstrong is on a regular basis...