Saints 1-1 Brighton - Match Thread

[Appy]

Just now, sadoldgit said:

Apparently McCarthy had done his hamstring and JWP was told by the bench to get on the line to help out. 

Pathetic all round not to sub McCarthy earlier and for JWP to be anywhere near the line

[Maggie May]

2 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Apparently McCarthy had done his hamstring and JWP was told by the bench to get on the line to help out. 

That goes against Ralph's post-match interview comments then...

[Bob76]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

Southampton have dropped 71 points from winning points in the Premier League since Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first game in charge in December 2018 – 15 more than any other side.

I don't know how anyone can defend this. Keeps making the same errors.

Time to go in afraid.

[steveo]

Just back from the game, and have not read any posts so far. All I can say is thank you JWP for costing us 2 pts. WTF were you doing with 2 mins left? Meant to be an international and can not clear a ball. 2 pts thrown away thanks to our dead ball specialist. Nuff said

[FarehamSaintJames]

The only player on that team that shouts at his teammates is Oriol Romeu.

JWP isn’t a leader, he’s just loyal, there’s a difference.

Alex McCarthy not signalling to the bench is idiotic, RH scathing in his post match interview. Hopefully that’s his last game for us.

This match is on the players inability and mental fragility. Not Ralph.

Got to utilise the free agent market now.

[CB Fry]

9 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Apparently McCarthy had done his hamstring and JWP was told by the bench to get on the line to help out. 

Except that is the complete opposite of what the manager has said. 

Are you saying Ralph is not in charge of "the bench"?

[Nemi]

1 hour ago, saint lard said:

Since the beginning  of his tenure here,we’ve lost 71 points from leading positions. 
disgraceful.And no sign of letting up either. 
let that sink in…71 points. 
Its farcical. 
And fingers need to be pointed at Ralph. 
 

 

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

 

The only way to know for sure if Ralph is to blame is to compare this record of 72 points dropped in X amount of games since he took over to how many points we dropped in X amount of games before him.

I mean, we already know it's worse than anyone elses in the league - and to be honest after that long in the job, you've had the chance to mould the squad to your liking.

 

Yeah I know it’s a problem, just saying it was already a problem before he joined

[sadoldgit]

17 minutes ago, Maggie May said:

That goes against Ralph's post-match interview comments then...

I read it on another forum so I guess the poster got their information wrong.

Edit- having read it again he was assuming that JWP was on the line because of the injury to McCarthy. My bad. I made the assumption that it was on orders from the bench.

Edited 4 December, 2021 by sadoldgit
Update

[Harry_SFC]

JWP has cost us there and he's been very average this season. We definitely look better with Diallo in the middle of the park. Personally I'd make Romeu captain and sell JWP in the summer. 

[SFC Forever]

Sadly that was not an unexpected way to finish a game. Yes the players were to blame for that terrible defending of their goal. However I also put it on Ralph as he decides how we are to play. Why with our poor record did we try to defend our leading position.

If true that McCarthy was carrying an injury why the hell did he carry on?

Edited 4 December, 2021 by SFC Forever

[JRM]

Points dropped for winning positions becoming a popular stat to quote again. 

 

[badgerx16]

18 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Got to utilise the free agent market now.

How match fit would a free agent be ? Who exactly is there ?

Edited 4 December, 2021 by badgerx16

[LaptopSaint]

Another £150+ on tickets, food, drink, travel for inevitable disappointment. And it really was inevitable. How many times did we give the ball away in extra time? 4? We couldn’t hold a lead even if we ran a dog show. 
Still going to Palace and back at SMS for Brentford though. Mug. 

[John Boy Saint]

Nope - I’ve checked back through my emails and bizarrely I wasn’t asked to register for gift aid when I bought our season tickets!!

If that’s true about McCarthy keeping quiet that’s out of order - the fact Lyanco took a goal kick must have had the players aware of an issue and once Trossard injured himself, they should have managed that game out easily, but no let’s believe we are the Harlem Globe Trotters and faff about.  Absolute brain fart of a ball from JWP to hang Romeo out to dry. 
But even after the whistle the fart was still rattling round JWPs head when that fan run on the pitch and asked him for his shirt and he f**king gave it to him - now we are going to have loads of little rats chancing their arm  at full time.

Is it too much to wish for walking out of St Mary’s with a spring in our step wearing a silly grin - as opposed to tonight still being able to hear Brighton fans singing the 1 nil and…………..up! As you approach Northam Bridge! 
 

ah well hopefully McCarthys actions means that Harry Lewis is dynamite between the sticks and is a threat to him.

Hey Ho - let’s get pissed 😁

[nta786]

I think this just confirms how mentally fragile we are but also the lack of nous in seeing games out.

Any other team, if the GK is injured, would waste time or the GK will be on the floor or would signal an injury, anything to take the sting out of the game.

Our bunch of nice guys though allow the opposition to take the free kick in a dangerous position.

So frustrating. 

[RedWillie]

2nd half shit show. Down right disgrace,  no shots on target, piss poor  all over the pitch. JWP has to be relieved of armband. 

[trousers]

4 minutes ago, nta786 said:

I think this just confirms how mentally fragile we are but also the lack of nous in seeing games out.

Any other team, if the GK is injured, would waste time or the GK will be on the floor or would signal an injury, anything to take the sting out of the game.

Our bunch of nice guys though allow the opposition to take the free kick in a dangerous position.

So frustrating. 

Yep, I've been saying for yonks that we're shite at the gamesmanship side of the game. It's an ugly part of the game but everyone else does it. We are indeed far too nice. 

[Umlaut]

12 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

JWP has cost us there and he's been very average this season. We definitely look better with Diallo in the middle of the park. Personally I'd make Romeu captain and sell JWP in the summer. 

Overreaction in my opinion. If JWP wants to be at Saints I think he's worth having around. 

But when performance drops he should still be benched. Along with Livramento which seems like an immense talent, who needs a small break. We have enough cover in KWP, Perraud and Diallo to do so. 

That goal was inevitable though. Getting bored of it.

[wooley7]

10 minutes ago, nta786 said:

I think this just confirms how mentally fragile we are but also the lack of nous in seeing games out.

Any other team, if the GK is injured, would waste time or the GK will be on the floor or would signal an injury, anything to take the sting out of the game.

Our bunch of nice guys though allow the opposition to take the free kick in a dangerous position.

So frustrating. 

De Gea went down during an Arsenal attack! Surely there was a chance for McC to go down and get some treatment. Did the magic sponge come out for him at all?

Edited 4 December, 2021 by wooley7

[The Kraken]

7 minutes ago, trousers said:

Yep, I've been saying for yonks that we're shite at the gamesmanship side of the game. It's an ugly part of the game but everyone else does it. We are indeed far too nice. 

Not sure I agree. JWP in particular is pretty ‘good’ at slowing the game down when we make a foul, we get away with kicking the ball away more often than we likely should when we’ve turned over possession with a foul. I just think the team is mentally weak and know that unless they’re a few up, they’re going to give something away. 

[Streaky]

25 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

JWP has cost us there and he's been very average this season. We definitely look better with Diallo in the middle of the park. Personally I'd make Romeu captain and sell JWP in the summer. 

Struggling to remember what prowse has done this season. Think we would sell to be honest if he's not scoring 7 or 8 free kicks every season I don't see what else he contributes to this team. Diallo is a far better footballer.

[Whitey Grandad]

The chap sitting next to me was from Norway, from Sarpsborg where Elyounoussi came from. He had his sister with him and said that he had been following Saints for twenty years. He used to sit next to Moi’s sister at school.

They came to the Leicester game to and I suggested that he go down to the pitch side after the game and see if he could get Moi’s shirt. He had a Sarpsborg scarf which he held up but I don’t think that Moi noticed.

[OttawaSaint]

1 hour ago, Baird of the land said:

Cannot it not be both. If McCarthy told him he couldn’t surely a sensible person would tell him to go down and get treatment.

Go down, sub keeper if need be. Kills time, momentum, get words to players to not be cunts. Easy stuff. We are so nice. Oh no, poor BHA we'd better not keep them waiting. Ugh!

[OttawaSaint]

57 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Apparently McCarthy had done his hamstring and JWP was told by the bench to get on the line to help out. 

Bizarre. We had a sub left. Only Saints. Shades of MLT on the line and Festa equalizer for 9 man Boro. These twats have been torturing us for decades. 

[OttawaSaint]

I wonder if the players let each other have it in the dressing room. Hopefully Salisu fucking butted JWP for that, 

[macca155]

That was just so inevitable. Why can we not close our these games. Just felt so depressing.

Brighton are an efficient boring side, it was never going to be an easy win. However, having got our noses in front that win should have been secured.

What's particularly annoying is that yet again  it was game management, fitness management, and leadership on the pitch that cost us. The latter is the major one for me. None of that costs money.

Some of this is on Ralph, some on the players. Monday morning should be about reflection, diagnosis, and how to put it right.

A draw isn't a disaster so move on to the next game.

Edited 4 December, 2021 by macca155

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, trousers said:

Just in case anyone needs cheering up...

 

The skate equaliser was clearly offside in this as well 🤣

[OttawaSaint]

I'll just file that under "Saints capitulate". Ugh, says I need more hard drive space...

[Killers Knee]

Sell the slow sideways passing and crap at corners JWP, and buy a keeper.

[OttawaSaint]

No doubt we'll be fed a gallery of Elyanoussi and AA scoring worldies. JWP having a laugh with Ralph. 

Now we face Arsenal away with no Salisu, no Romeu, probably no Macca or Fraser either. And if McSicknote can't get his calf sorted out, him too.

Oh joy!

[DT]

3 hours ago, Baird of the land said:

Personally thought we played ok for most of the second half.

the problem is instead of taking advantage of them going down to 10 we froze and hit the self destruct and the manager just watched them freeze.

 

This is it. He’s just no good at running down the clock. I was panicking he’d bring on Walcott. But actually I think Che should have made way. Broja owed us. And was a handful. Tbh we played pretty well in that game though, and I thought Redmond was excellent. Tino was pretty poor. Messed up a lot of good positions. And why don’t we shoot more? JWP I thought played like his mind was elsewhere. Funny feeling he’ll end up at Villa. He offers very little in the midfield to be honest. And that brain fart at the end was calamitous. We just seem so naive in areas of the pitch. And that is a managerial matter as much as it is a player one. Brighton were there dor the taking. Ralph always wants to try and sit on a lead, goes defensive, and just ushers them on. Disappointing. But at least we didn’t lose. 

Edited 4 December, 2021 by DT

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, Killers Knee said:

Sell the slow sideways passing and crap at corners JWP, and buy a keeper.

Wish he'd slowed it down and passed sideways in 97th minute. Now's not the time to try something James, you plank!

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

No doubt we'll be fed a gallery of Elyanoussi and AA scoring worldies. JWP having a laugh with Ralph. 

Now we face Arsenal away with no Salisu, no Romeu, probably no Macca or Fraser either. And if McSicknote can't get his calf sorted out, him too.

Oh joy!

and maybe Bednarek?

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

and maybe Bednarek?

He's shit anyway...

[Chewy]

Our captain isn’t a leader - our midfield looked stronger when he was suspended, with the added benefit that Diallo sometimes goes forward … I’d forgotten what that was like.

I’m not anti JWP overall, but on current form he’s weakening the team.

 

[S-Clarke]

8 minutes ago, Chewy said:

Our captain isn’t a leader - our midfield looked stronger when he was suspended, with the added benefit that Diallo sometimes goes forward … I’d forgotten what that was like.

I’m not anti JWP overall, but on current form he’s weakening the team.

 

He's kind of captain by default really. Bit of a symbol for the academy etc and good PR all round in that respect.

I don't think he's a bad player, far from it, but he's never been a leader in my eyes. The problem is we don't have anyone else who is that mould and we haven't for many, many years and that's why we are where we are. We lack leadership at critical moments, we lack professionalism and experience. When your captain is doing what he did in the last 2 mins it shows up everything that is wrong.

There's some real quality in this team, but it's a little bit rudderless and extremely naive at times. Sometimes we're screaming out for some experienced heads at crucial moments, and we're really just a bunch of kids.

Edited 4 December, 2021 by S-Clarke

[SalisburySaints]

If we have a keeper, who does not tell the manager he is injured to the point that his is practically immobile, a management team that don't notice when the keeper is not taking goal kicks, nor ask why even if they do, and a captain trying to manage the situation on the pitch himself without talking to the touchline, our problems are far bigger than conceding an injury time equaliser. 

[beatlesaint]

8 minutes ago, SalisburySaints said:

If we have a keeper, who does not tell the manager he is injured to the point that his is practically immobile, a management team that don't notice when the keeper is not taking goal kicks, nor ask why even if they do, and a captain trying to manage the situation on the pitch himself without talking to the touchline, our problems are far bigger than conceding an injury time equaliser. 

Yep, absolute shit show all round. I do wonder if Ralph has thrown McCarthy under the bus to deflect the blame yet again. 

[Pilchards]

1 hour ago, OttawaSaint said:

I wonder if the players let each other have it in the dressing room. Hopefully Salisu fucking butted JWP for that, 

Probably would of butted sideways just like his two lame headers in the last 10 minutes.

Honestly Salisu brain farted more than any of them.

Edited 4 December, 2021 by Pilchards

[Forester]

Hugely frustrating and sounds as if McCarthy, who had actually been very good throughout, was unprofessional in not asking to come off with our third sub unused.

 

I thought that was as good an attacking display in the first half as we have seen this season, but everyone around me said the same…”will we regret not being further ahead having dominated”!  We just can’t kill teams off when we play well and while the specific circumstances today at the end were farcical, in general hanging on to 1-0 with so little momentum in the second half just invites these situations.

 

On the plus side I though Salisu, Romeu and Redmond were excellent and Broja continues to improve.  He is a real handful.
 

 Next week looks tough but that is what we have a squad for.

Edited 4 December, 2021 by Forester

[Cabrone]

First game I've seen in a while and it was reasonably predictable. We should have won it but in the last 10 minutes we looked like a team that had been instructed to actively throw it away, JWP finally executing the game plan.

What I saw was 2 lightweight outfits passing the ball around in pretty patterns but having little or no goal threat. Both teams looked fairly anonymous.

Brighton in 9th is hilarious, you'd think they'd be half decent but they are as transparently thin as they come.

The prem really has become a league of haves and have nots now.

[nta786]

58 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

He's kind of captain by default really. Bit of a symbol for the academy etc and good PR all round in that respect.

I don't think he's a bad player, far from it, but he's never been a leader in my eyes. The problem is we don't have anyone else who is that mould and we haven't for many, many years and that's why we are where we are. We lack leadership at critical moments, we lack professionalism and experience. When your captain is doing what he did in the last 2 mins it shows up everything that is wrong.

There's some real quality in this team, but it's a little bit rudderless and extremely naive at times. Sometimes we're screaming out for some experienced heads at crucial moments, and we're really just a bunch of kids.

Yep agree with this.

I think part of that problem is exacerbated by our transfers. Other clubs buy a Jonny Evans, a Craig Dawson, a Gary Cahill etc etc, defensive players who don't entirely need pace but have a leadership quality picked up over the years that can galvanise and organise a team.

We bought Theo Walcott ffs whose ability is waning.

[St Steve]

 

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Awful in every way from JWP. Shit corners, sideways and backwards unless it’s the 8th minute of stoppage time against 10 men, not making a call on McCarthy. Move the armband to Romeu and sell JWP in January. Something has to change and if it isn’t Ralph, after 72 points lost from winning positions, you have to look at who is leading on the pitch.

[MAY-Z]

3 hours ago, steveo said:

Just back from the game, and have not read any posts so far. All I can say is thank you JWP for costing us 2 pts. WTF were you doing with 2 mins left? Meant to be an international and can not clear a ball. 2 pts thrown away thanks to our dead ball specialist. Nuff said

I don’t blame JWP, think about every game you have watched under Ralph, doesn’t matter what the situation how often have you seen our players just boot the ball? It just doesn’t happen, so it must be instructions to not do it, the instructions come from Ralph

[Teddeer]

Watching Brighton's goal again the decision by JWP to go back towards the goal line looks more ridiculous than ever even if McCarthy was carrying an injury. The wall did its job and Maupay would have been caught offside but for that stupid action. What on earth did JWP hope to achieve? Schoolboy error.

[Kingsland Codger]

5 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

AA for Broja.

Was this a wise substitution? A like-for-like substitution when we are 1-0 up with 10 minutes to play? Why not shore up the midfield or defence? Diablo maybe?

[MAY-Z]

3 minutes ago, Teddeer said:

Watching Brighton's goal again the decision by JWP to go back towards the goal line looks more ridiculous than ever even if McCarthy was carrying an injury. The wall did its job and Maupay would have been caught offside but for that stupid action. What on earth did JWP hope to achieve? Schoolboy error.

McCarthy couldnt move sideways so if it had gone over the wall it’s in, unfortunately JWP couldn’t wait to see if it cleared the wall before moving back

Edited 4 December, 2021 by MAY-Z

[obelisk]

1 minute ago, MAY-Z said:

McCarthy couldnt move sideways so if it had gone over the wall it’s in, unfortunately JWP couldn’t wait to see if it cleared the wall before moving back

If McCarthy couldn't move sideways he shouldn't be on the pitch when a substitute is available. Putting a defender on the goal line when defending a free kick is asking for trouble.

[Teddeer]

3 minutes ago, MAY-Z said:

McCarthy couldnt move sideways so if it had gone over the wall it’s in, unfortunately JWP couldn’t wait to see if it cleared the wall before moving back

So you believe if the shot had gone over the wall on the side JWP was defending he'd have been able to get up and head it away? He's not 6'4"!