Saints 1-0 Villa - Match Thread

[Yozzman]

Omg my nerves are shredded.  Where did 7 minutes come from?

[TWar]

That was fucking stressful. Our midfield won it for us, Romeu and JWP were head and shoulders better. Great game management from Ralph, after bringing on a CB and CM they didn't look too dangerous.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

One niiil...to the Southampton!

Our squad depth really is an asset. Villa lost a lot of momentum when they brought the young players on

[VictiAbNonem]

I think Che had an amazing game. He worked his ass off and brilliantly set up our goal as well as being the last man in defence a few times. I think it was close to his best game for us.

[jasonb]

Have a great weekend Saints wherever you are in the world!!!! Up the Saints!!!!

[trousers]

Is it too soon for the annual look back at the threads from earlier in the season for a bit of a chortle?

[saint lard]

Appalling second half of football. 
two sides that were utter shite,battling it out to decide who’s less shite.

we were lucky to hang on to the title of the better of two shite teams.  
 

[OttawaSaint]

AArm sounds a bit like Shearer. 

[Yozzman]

2 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I think Che had an amazing game. He worked his ass off and brilliantly set up our goal as well as being the last man in defence a few times. I think it was close to his best game for us.

Agree 100%.

[Convict Colony]

Salisu has this ability to wrapped his legs around people from random angles to nick the ball away even if he is off balance.

Thought 2nd have we either gave away the ball to easily or we kept smashing it into our own players to launch a villa attack

[obelisk]

Has Tino been told to stop getting forward? A number of times 2nd half he had the chance to get down the wing but kept choosing to turn inside before losing the ball.

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I think Che had an amazing game. He worked his ass off and brilliantly set up our goal as well as being the last man in defence a few times. I think it was close to his best game for us.

I agree, was very good. Thought KWP did very well playing on the ‘wrong’ side. Rom, JWP and AArm also put in a decent performance. Both CBs also generally fine apart from a couple of moments.

[harvey]

4 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Many people moaning on and on but that was a very professional performance. We killed them first half,  they should have been down to 10. They rallied seeing half but we were pretty comfortable apart from that CB cock up.

Enjoy the win!

First half we dominated, but it could quite easily  have ended up being a draw...2nd half we were abysmal.

[woodsaint1]

Get in. Another 3 points, another clean sheet.

People may say the second half was dire, but Villa were always going to throw the kitchen sink at us. McCarthy was barely troubled by a poor Villa side. We really should have been out of sight first half, but thats been our season really.

Positives - KWP was like a man possessed for the first half. Adam Armstong, great goal and made some great runs. Adams, Bednarek and Salisu all solid performances. Romeu doing what he does best. Ralph reacting to the Villa barage and going to 3 at the back and doing it early too. Commentator picked up that its one of his weaknesses which hes now addressing.

Negatives - Bit of a dip from Tino, but hey hes 18 and hes been unreal this season. Salisu nearly giving us a heart attack with no look back passes. McCarthy the same with some suspect kicking. JWPs corner delivery has been poor for a while - too many easy clearances at the front post or collected by Martinez.

Biggest negative - Andy Madley. Stinker

[Ex Lion Tamer]

7 points clear of the relegation zone now. Here's to another comfortable season

[OttawaSaint]

3 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I think Che had an amazing game. He worked his ass off and brilliantly set up our goal as well as being the last man in defence a few times. I think it was close to his best game for us.

I kept an eye on him and he was excellent. He hold it up well, shows great awareness of where Armstrong is and is good at being calm on the ball and using his feet to get some space. 

 

Impressed.

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, saint lard said:

Appalling second half of football. 
two sides that were utter shite,battling it out to decide who’s less shite.

we were lucky to hang on to the title of the better of two shite teams.  
 

I’ll take another 27 games of ‘appalling’ clean sheets please, if you’re offering?

[revolution saint]

Lyanco the difference for me. Different class. Reminds me of every single ballon d’or winner ever. He’s probably the future of football.

[trousers]

3 minutes ago, saint lard said:

Appalling second half of football. 
two sides that were utter shite,battling it out to decide who’s less shite.

we were lucky to hang on to the title of the better of two shite teams.  
 

Cheer up

[stknowle]

Only 1 nil but, apart form the first 15 of the second half, didn't ever really felt that threatened. Would be nice just for once to put a team away really comfortably though.

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, harvey said:

First half we dominated, but it could quite easily  have ended up being a draw...2nd half we were abysmal.

We weren't abysmal. We are streets ahead of that shambles of a team we were after going top last season. 

We seem calmer, more solid and patient. 

[Chez]

won ugly. Well in the second half anyway. 5 at the back slowed them down but also ruined us. Glad we made it. When you look back at  the end of the season all you will see is the 3 lovely points. On anther day we will play well in the second half of a game and get nothing

[trousers]

6 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I think Che had an amazing game. He worked his ass off and brilliantly set up our goal as well as being the last man in defence a few times. I think it was close to his best game for us.

This. My motm

[hackedoff]

8 minutes ago, Yozzman said:

Omg my nerves are shredded.  Where did 7 minutes come from?

I've known a longer 7 minutes.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Great first half

Villa could have had a couple of players shown red cards.

Ralph changed it round when Villa were clearly getting on top.

Solid subs to shore it up at key moments.

Team all worked their socks off, and for each other to.

It was a narrow win, goals wise but Saints were miles clear 1st half and, after a change were solid.

Some really impressive displays all through the team.

[stknowle]

4 minutes ago, saint lard said:

Appalling second half of football. 
two sides that were utter shite,battling it out to decide who’s less shite.

we were lucky to hang on to the title of the better of two shite teams.  
 

I've noticed how positive you generally are so no doubt you'll understand how concerning it is for me to read this......

[Saint_clark]

Sky not even trying with this analysis. Just endlessly showing the goal so far.

[VictiAbNonem]

I also thought Elyounoussi looked well worth his place in the starting 11 tonight. He worked so well with KWP first half, and certainly no longer an obvious weakness.

[bpsaint]

Over the moon with the win of course, and again it’s a better result than the corresponding fixture last season so another step in the right direction.

in all seriousness though that second half performance needs analysing and fixing. We were lucky Villa we’re pretty toothless but better sides would have put us to the sword.

[Le Timmier]

4 minutes ago, trousers said:

This. My motm

Mine too. He was superb

[Baird of the land]

I'll take these scrappy 1-0 nil wins but i'd like to see us nail a team or two this season.

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

Cheer up

He can’t. It’s another abysmal victory for the second worst manager in Saints history.

[OttawaSaint]

Hope Danny's enjoying that fat bank balance...

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 minutes ago, Chez said:

won ugly. Well in the second half anyway. 5 at the back slowed them down but also ruined us. Glad we made it. When you look back at  the end of the season all you will see is the 3 lovely points. On anther day we will play well in the second half of a game and get nothing

This is right. The formation/personnel made it hard for us to play in the second half. But it also stifled Villa

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I also thought Elyounoussi looked well worth his place in the starting 11 tonight. He worked so well with KWP first half, and certainly no longer an obvious weakness.

Yep, played well first half.  A few mistakes crept in second half

[woodsaint1]

10 minutes ago, saint lard said:

Appalling second half of football. 
two sides that were utter shite,battling it out to decide who’s less shite.

we were lucky to hang on to the title of the better of two shite teams.  
 

Good thing we were superb in the first half. Cheer up fs

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 minute ago, OttawaSaint said:

Hope Danny's enjoying that fat bank balance...

Not that I think Villa will go down. But if they did, and his pay gets cut as part of a contract clause, I wonder if he'd be on less than Saints were offering. And a division lower down.

[VictiAbNonem]

I've gone on about how good their keeper was tonight, but I've got to say McCarthy was busier and faultless.

He's looking more confident every game.

[OttawaSaint]

Interviewer just asked  Smith  about a shirt pull on Mings for a penalty. Smith said 100% pen, 😆.  

[LuckyNumber7]

We sure do make it hard for ourselves! We need to be better in the second half of games. Relieved more than anything.

Romeu MOTM for me and Moi very good too, especially first half. Impressed with Lyanco again, I'd have him in over Bednarek any day.

Well done Arma on a cracking goal, hopefully he can go on a run now.

COYR!

[Minsk]

Fuck me we made hard work of that. But we showed a great improvement on last season in grinding out the win. Good tactical subs from Ralph. I was calling out for Diallo to come on when he went for Lyanco and the change in formation. Then brought Diallo on to shore up further (when I was calling for Broja to take the game to them). Can't argue with the changes he made. They worked. Level on points with Everton and Leicester and up to 12th, for now at least.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. I will be hoping for wins for Spurs, Arsenal, Wolves, Norwich and Leeds (or for them to at least draw with Leicester). Wouldn't mind a Brighton win either.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

Interviewer just asked  Smith  about a shirt pull on Mings for a penalty. Smith said 100% pen, 😆.  

Was he asked about the red cards for his players?

[harvey]

8 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Has Tino been told to stop getting forward? A number of times 2nd half he had the chance to get down the wing but kept choosing to turn inside before losing the ball.

Agreed, I think he's been 'Saints coached'...when Djenepo first came here he was exciting, you never knew what he was going to do...but now he's been coached to be too defensive.

[OttawaSaint]

Those of you getting the hump with the 2nd half, we won, enjoy it. After these last few years you never know when we'll struggle again. 

 

No but but but...we held on,  we won! 

[Baird of the land]

1 minute ago, Minsk said:

Fuck me we made hard work of that. But we showed a great improvement on last season in grinding out the win. Good tactical subs from Ralph. I was calling out for Diallo to come on when he went for Lyanco and the change in formation. Then brought Diallo on to shore up further (when I was calling for Broja to take the game to them). Can't argue with the changes he made. They worked. Level on points with Everton and Leicester and up to 12th, for now at least.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. I will be hoping for wins for Spurs, Arsenal, Wolves, Norwich and Leeds (or for them to at least draw with Leicester). Wouldn't mind a Brighton win either.

Yeah was shouting for Diallo constantly to come on because Elyounessi was very poor once we switched shape

[Totton Saint]

7 minutes ago, Le Timmier said:

Mine too. He was superb

Nice partneship forming between AA and Che

[Hawkswood]

I see lots of people voted Ely MoM. I really dont get it. Can someone please explain to me why ? Im really not sure what he adds and was in the second half always making the wrong decisions.

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Yeah was shouting for Diallo constantly to come on because Elyounessi was very poor once we switched shape

First half Bailey was on a different planet, leaving Cash on his own to deal with KWP and Moi, which obviously gave them space to create stuff. Second half we didn’t have that and he was ineffective, good decision to take him off.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Teally tough for MotM. Could be half a dozen.

[harvey]

12 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

We weren't abysmal. We are streets ahead of that shambles of a team we were after going top last season. 

We seem calmer, more solid and patient. 

I disagree, we were awful again...we we need to sort our second half performances out.