Swansea 2-3 Saints - Match Thread

[SaintBobby]

Delighted with the grit and determination in the last three matches - a year or two ago we would have lost all three. Seems we have discovered a bit of mental resilience.

[Lord Duckhunter]

21 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

Ha! I'm lesbian my dear, and if you want to see  various phobias in operation you really should look at the threads Turkish starts or comments on in The Lounge. Fortunately these days I miss most of the details if I'm logged on but see enough to know he's still at it. Seeing his 'like' for you amuses me highly.

Keep this pony off the match threads. The lounge is the place for this sort of stuff 

[UpweySaint]

5 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

I agree with MLG

I think it was really soft but Valery has a grab at Obafemi on a yellow and Obafemi has made the most of it. It gives the ref a decision to make and we've seen them given before and will again. Valery is really hit and miss but his decision making is often found lacking.

[The Kraken]

2 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

Yep, me too, the game has completely gone to shit if the slightest contact such as today leads to a second yellow. Obafemi should be ashamed of himself going down like that.

The game has already gone to shit. The second booking was soft as shit but it was an absolutely brainless decision by Valery to put himself in the situation. The Saints players mostly didn’t react all that much to it on the pitch as they knew he was a goner(Armstrong I think had a word but gave it up quickly). Valery himself has admitted he takes responsibility for it, and I haven’t seen Ralph come out and say anything about it yet. Football is littered with decisions like that, and while it’s extremely soft, it’s crap defending and gave the ref no real option after obafemi went down.

[Tamesaint]

45 minutes ago, ant said:

Er... No.

Just from memory, they:

* Listed Tella at CB in the starting lineup graphic

* Claimed we regularly play 3-4-3

* Pre-red card, consistently mixed up Tella and Valery

* Didn't know Ward-Prowse has had a solid number of cameos at right back

* Didn't know whether we had any substitute full backs on the bench

And my absolute favourite - when referring to Ward-Prowse's birthplace, said there can't be many from Portsmouth that have done well for Southampton.

During a bloody FA Cup match... 🤦‍♂️

You are perfectly correct in these errors. They drove me mad and revealed a total lack of knowledge about us.

BUT

I would say that their commentary on the match was fair and complementary to us. Whenever we play a big team like Liverpool on Sky the commentators are so busy having a  wankfest over them that we get ignored. Anything that we do well is because the big team play badly. I was expecting a similar  Swansea / Welsh wankfest and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't happen. 

 

[trousers]

10 minutes ago, UpweySaint said:

Valery has a grab at Obafemi

I didn't see a 'grab', I saw a brush of hand against shoulder.

Edited 8 January, 2022 by trousers

[UpweySaint]

19 minutes ago, trousers said:

I didn't see a 'grab', I saw a brush of hand against shoulder.

I suppose it's subjective. Either way it gives Obafemi a chance to go down and the ref a decision to make irrespective of actual level of contact. Daft on a yellow.

[TWar]

I thought it looked a bit like a grab, not a hard one at all and it was a definite dive but Valery is utterly stupid for even reach out and contacting Oba's shoulder.

There is very little chance the ref will be able to judge the force of contact at full speed from afar. Why give him a decision to make? Very immature play, was right to admit responsibility. 

Not worth focusing on the negatives though. Diallo, Long, and JWP were class and really dug us out of a hole.

Edited 8 January, 2022 by TWar

[the colonel]

1 hour ago, suewhistle said:

Ha! I'm lesbian my dear, and if you want to see  various phobias in operation you really should look at the threads Turkish starts or comments on in The Lounge. Fortunately these days I miss most of the details if I'm logged on but see enough to know he's still at it. Seeing his 'like' for you amuses me highly.

Then 'my dear' you should know better.

There are certain posters on here I learned to ignore years ago.

[Mr Saints]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

It wasn't unprofessional... it wasn't a foul. His hand brushed Obafemi's shoulder and he fell over. It is the refs fault, not Valery.

Pulling on the shoulder or arm is a foul, today's incident was not a pull. His hand brushed his shoulder with no force and Obafemi collapsed to the floor like he'd been shot.

It was the usual brainless shit from Valery and shows everyone his Spurs performance was a one-off. He’ll be gone in the summer thankfully. 

[warsash saint]

Just had the misfortune of reading the posts from during game - there really are some fannies on this site!!

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, UpweySaint said:

I suppose it's subjective. Either way it gives Obafemi a chance to go down and the ref a decision to make irrespective of actual level of contact. Daft on a yellow.

This sums it up for me. Any kind of off the ball contact, when an opponent is breaking through almost invariably leads to a booking, sort or not. It’s hard to say from the limited replays in standard def. but it looked to me like he clipped Obafemi’s leg and shoulder as he ran past and was nowhere near making any attempt to play the ball. Brainless and unnecessary.

[CylonKing]

22 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

but it looked to me like he clipped Obafemi’s leg and shoulder as he ran past

Don't think Valery could do anything about that, nothing intentional, just heading to the area of the ball and an innocent coming together that Obafemi then made the most of. Definite foul but very harsh yellow in my opinion. But, it is the refs opinion that only really matters. Just pleased to be in the hat. Hope we can back this up with a decent win against Brentford. So far, it's been a pretty good festive period for Saints.

 

 

 

[HarvSFC]

On a day when the self-proclaimed almighty Newcastle take a defeat to League One Cambridge with their starting eleven, minus Wilson, where Everton with 11 men get taken to extra time by Hull and where Watford get smashed 4-1 by Leicester, I'll take today. Even if I did expect the worst when it went to 2-1, but fortunately that was only for a matter of seconds.

It was too comfortable when we had eleven men, it felt like the typical Southampton first half performance, and in typical fashion we couldn't run out comfortable winners and had to make it a bit more interesting. Shame we couldn't give the youngsters a run out, but the experience of Long became the unlikely hero.

I'm surprised we didn't hear more from Swansea trying to reverse the fixture to be played at St. Mary's given the Football League club's are supposedly feeling the loss of revenue from the last two years hard. I know we're not the glamour tie, but we usually give the whole of the Northam to away fans in the cups and you'd expect them to sell out given Swansea fans can't attend matches at home, but can away matches! Would have been more than what they received today at the least.

But, I have no sympathy for Swansea not playing for a month, even if the commentators did keep crowing on about it. It's their own fault. All football clubs are going through the same situation and we've had a strong consistent matchday squad throughout.

Onto the next round, which is the important thing. I'll take Boreham Wood, or Kidderminster, please.

[Give it to Ron]

6 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

I doubt we'll be signing a 4th natural right back. We'd still have Walker-Peters,  Valery and Ward-Prowse until Livramento is back. What happens to the 4th right back when Livramento is back?

JWP isn’t a natural right back is he, we go weaker when he is out of the midfield. Valery may only miss one game but tonight again showed he is poor positionally and we need better than him.

I did say loan you should read the post!

 

Edited 9 January, 2022 by Give it to Ron

[stknowle]

6 hours ago, Saint_Tony said:

missed the game. Very confused by this threat, the usual non-stop slating of everyone during the game, then praise for a great win at the end of it

If you ever post something like that again I'm going to rearrange the furniture in my living room dressed as Madame Cholet.

[Matthew Le God]

4 hours ago, Give it to Ron said:

JWP isn’t a natural right back is he, we go weaker when he is out of the midfield. Valery may only miss one game but tonight again showed he is poor positionally and we need better than him.

I did say loan you should read the post!

 

I did not say he was.

[Saint_clark]

Having watched the goals back both of theirs come from our centrebacks being indecisive/weak when balls are played in low from wide areas. Stephens should clear the first and Bednarek should clear the second. 

[AlexLaw76]

I hope we get either Boreham Wood, Kidderminster or Hartlepool - at home

I am sure Man City and Chelsea will keep up their tradition of getting very favourable draws

[eurosaint]

All this talk of Valery intentionally 'fouling' Obafemi makes me long for the days of John McGrath, Norman Hunter and Chopper Harris 😇

It's pathetic watching so many of these super fit young men throw themselves to the ground knowing that todays referees will ignore the fact that it's a contact sport and meakly enforce the rules as they perceive them 🙁

Grrr....

[david in sweden]

Good fightback and a worthy result - all things considered.   Our game plan went out the window when Valery left the pitch.

He tries too hard to impress.  Looked good as CB v. Spurs, but was lucky not to get a red card for the first foul.  

Some good performances.   Forster continues to make saves with " all body parts "  and really does look better than McCarthy.

I noticed the absence of the regular  Elyounoussi and Long critics on here, but we should be glad they were there.  Good subs. by Ralph.

 

 " Captain Courageous " putting in a big shift  again,  turned up everywhere, and put in a great centre for Long's goal.

Nathan Tella providing a great assist for Redmond to comfortably score, but then got crocked several times for his trouble. 

Tough criticism on Adam Armstrong, who DAJFU (once again) as extra defender.  Hard on him for not scoring more, his time

will come,  but many seem to forget that Che Adams went almost a whole season before scoring his first goal.  

(Someone suggested that Ralph could get a result if we started with 10 men every game. (haha)

 

Swansea really lost the plot.  Having one man extra for 90+ minutes, but they seldom used the one-man advantage effectively.

Overall - a very satisfying result,  and with luck like,  this we might even win ..." The Pot " come May. 

 

[Saint_Jonny]

I am so happy for Shane Long. The man has been at Saints for bloody ages and must have been wondering if he'd ever get a moment like that again before his career is up. Top man Longy! 

 

[david in sweden]

11 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

I doubt we'll be signing a 4th natural right back. We'd still have Walker-Peters,  Valery and Ward-Prowse until Livramento is back. What happens to the 4th right back when Livramento is back?

What do we do with the extra RB ? ...we play him at left back - as usual.

[Sheaf Saint]

Just watched it again on MOTD. For a unit like Obafemi to go down like that from such minimal contact is pretty embarrassing, but that doesn't absolve Valery of blame. From that position there's no way the ref can see how much contact was made so he's always gonna give a yellow for that. Pure stupidity from Valery when he's already on a yellow and Obafemi unlikely to score anyway.

[AlexLaw76]

12 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

I doubt we'll be signing a 4th natural right back. 

yet Ralph has said we might

[sfc4prem]

6 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Just watched it again on MOTD. For a unit like Obafemi to go down like that from such minimal contact is pretty embarrassing, but that doesn't absolve Valery of blame. From that position there's no way the ref can see how much contact was made so he's always gonna give a yellow for that. Pure stupidity from Valery when he's already on a yellow and Obafemi unlikely to score anyway.

Exactly this. I mean, come on Yan - it's Obafemi. Letting him through clean on goal isn't much risk, particularly when there was little chance he'd catch up with the ball. Also, we showed ourselves more than capable of replying with one or two goals of our own. Silly decision from Valery.

[Give it to Ron]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

I did not say he was.

Cover for Tino Livramento could be signed this month should teenager’s meniscus (knee) injury prove to be serious. 

Hasenhuttl says he will seek daily updates on the youngster and if serious #SaintsFC “will have to see what we can do.”
 

Let’s have another of your funny GIF’s for the 4th natural right back

[Totton Saint]

11 hours ago, trousers said:

I didn't see a 'grab', I saw a brush of hand against shoulder.

Yes, his finger tips just brushed O's back - if pulled him back he would have fallen back, not forward. How many times do you see tussles when a corner being taken and not punished

[sadoldgit]

12 hours ago, John Boy Saint said:

Should have been rested when just about everyone of us on here said he needed a rest a few weeks back.

Makes you wonder why the club bother employing highly trained medical staff when all they need to do is to come on here for advice 😉

[Chez]

14 hours ago, Baird of the land said:

First lunge is partially due to forster’s abominable kick.

2nd is stupid but unless there was foot contact I missed, it was the barest of shoulder taps.

valery has looked ok in a back 3 this season and in the past at wing back. So don’t think he should be out of chances completely.

this. Forster's poor kick left us vulnerable and forced his hand to make that lunge to try and prevent the breakaway. He was a fraction too slow and it was an obvious yellow.

It was the barest of taps, but that situation was down to him only, misjudging the flighted ball over his head. It was an instinctive reaction to reach out. I don't blame him for doing that, but make the header or simply defend the subsequent Obafemi run and it doesn't happen. Obafemi made the most of it and the ref had no choice but to give a yellow.

With the Covid situation we need bodies, so doubt we will let him go this window, but as a right back he just doesnt cut it at the top level.

[whelk]

18 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Makes you wonder why the club bother employing highly trained medical staff when all they need to do is to come on here for advice 😉

Info about that hotelier buyer has reinforced how important all these opinions on threads are and have potential to influence the future of the club

[Chez]

21 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Makes you wonder why the club bother employing highly trained medical staff when all they need to do is to come on here for advice 😉

he had a 11 day break before the West Ham game.  He may not have been firing on all cylinders in the games beforehand, but it's hard to say he wasn't rested enough before that specific game, after which the injury was revealed.

[The Left Back]

12 hours ago, UpweySaint said:

I think it was really soft but Valery has a grab at Obafemi on a yellow and Obafemi has made the most of it. It gives the ref a decision to make and we've seen them given before and will again. Valery is really hit and miss but his decision making is often found lacking.

I see it like this.   It was a poor decision by Valery but I hope Ralph doesn't throw him under the bus like some on here are doing.  He's developing and if he's fixed his off-field issues he's could be a useful member of the squad going forward.

10 hours ago, warsash saint said:

Just had the misfortune of reading the posts from during game - there really are some fannies on this site!!

Agreed, It's boring and entirely predictable.  The rush to write players off completely is just bonkers in my book.  Those who have already thrown Perraud and A Armstrong in the bin are no doubt the same characters would have exited Adams and Salisu this time last year. 

2 hours ago, Saint_Jonny said:

I am so happy for Shane Long. The man has been at Saints for bloody ages and must have been wondering if he'd ever get a moment like that again before his career is up. Top man Longy! 

 

Me too, can't help smiling every time I think of him coming on and winning the game for us.  He's not great, and obviously near the end of his career, but I can't help liking him. I hope he has a couple more swan songs in him before he goes.

Overall I really appreciated our character and mental strength last night.  We managed the game pretty well considering (although Swansea weren't great) and although the quality of our play wasn't at its best (missed chances and wayward passes), we looked psychologically resilient and physically very fit. No stand out performances, but agree with those who thought Diallo and JWP were our best two.  

As to the coverage, the camera work stood out to me as being the worse aspect - I keep looking out the side of the TV to try and catch up with the ball.  The commentators were clearly biased but in quite a sweet way, and felt they were towards us (if not accurate with some of their statements).  

[trousers]

11 hours ago, warsash saint said:

Just had the misfortune of reading the posts from during game - there really are some fannies on this site!!

Disagree. Watching the premature judgement brigade post their usual nonsense is highly entertaining IMO.

Edited 9 January, 2022 by trousers

[East Kent Saint]

2 hours ago, Totton Saint said:

Yes, his finger tips just brushed O's back - if pulled him back he would have fallen back, not forward. How many times do you see tussles when a corner being taken and not punished

In the Everton match their forward had his arm pulled , shirt grabbed outside the box and an arm across him . Went down in the box but no foul and no card . Quite a contrast ! !

 

[John Boy Saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

he had a 11 day break before the West Ham game.  He may not have been firing on all cylinders in the games beforehand, but it's hard to say he wasn't rested enough before that specific game, after which the injury was revealed.

Pretty certain in the West Ham game he was wearing that funny muscle support tape on one of his legs - so there was obviously an issue then.

[Sarnia Cherie]

I hold my hands up and admit I have not been very complimentary about Shane Long on here. I was just getting over the shock that he assisted Elyounoussi's goal when he scored what turned out to be the winner!

[Verbal]

3 hours ago, trousers said:

Disagree. Watching the premature judgement brigade post their usual nonsense is highly entertaining IMO.

You can never go wrong with hindsight

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, John Boy Saint said:

Pretty certain in the West Ham game he was wearing that funny muscle support tape on one of his legs - so there was obviously an issue then.

It sounds like an injury he picked up in the last game from a kick on the knee. He had cartilage damage and some fluid on the knee which is now showing a tear in the cartilage which will either repair itself or need surgery. From what Ralph is saying it sounds like he fears that surgery might be needed.

[Fan The Flames]

7 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Just watched it again on MOTD. For a unit like Obafemi to go down like that from such minimal contact is pretty embarrassing, but that doesn't absolve Valery of blame. From that position there's no way the ref can see how much contact was made so he's always gonna give a yellow for that. Pure stupidity from Valery when he's already on a yellow and Obafemi unlikely to score anyway.

People use the word embarrassing in this situation but is it. He took advantage of the situation for the best for his team and it worked, I don't like it but it's not embarrassing, if Valery doesn't touch him it doesn't happen. Embarrassing are the twats that go down holding their faces when a hand has brushed them, or the pricks that dive when there is no contact. 

[Totton Saint]

9 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Having watched the goals back both of theirs come from our centrebacks being indecisive/weak when balls are played in low from wide areas. Stephens should clear the first and Bednarek should clear the second. 

How you can pick out individuals to slag off when as a team and unit we won when playing with ten men for so long is beyond comprehension.

[Saint_clark]

13 hours ago, Totton Saint said:

How you can pick out individuals to slag off when as a team and unit we won when playing with ten men for so long is beyond comprehension.

I forgot that a win means no individual mistakes were made and there is no room for improvement.

Even though we conceded twice.

To a poor Championship team.

....and both goals came from balls across the box that our centrebacks should have dealt with.

[Totton Saint]

On 09/01/2022 at 12:13, East Kent Saint said:

In the Everton match their forward had his arm pulled , shirt grabbed outside the box and an arm across him . Went down in the box but no foul and no card . Quite a contrast ! !

 

Antonio was throttled by a Leeds player and only a free kick awarded!

[spyinthesky]

For those of us who thought Obefami might make the grade here would be pleased that the  club managed to off load him for a couple of million.

I thought he was bang on Championship level average, or a bit below, yesterday.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Commentary team mentioned a couple of times that it was just as well for him that we went down to 10, as Obafemi wasn't doing his defensive job when we had 11.

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Commentary team mentioned a couple of times that it was just as well for him that we went down to 10, as Obafemi wasn't doing his defensive job when we had 11.

Generally I thought he was absolutely horrific though, even when we were against 10. Nothing has really changed in his game, attributes such as pace and power but no touch or refinement.

He might end up getting a few goals in the Championship over the course of his career, but I think he's pretty crap and another player we probably held onto a little bit too long.

Edited 10 January, 2022 by S-Clarke

[Dr Who?]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Generally I thought he was absolutely horrific though, even when we were against 10. Nothing has really changed in his game, attributes such as pace and power but no touch or refinement.

He might end up getting a few goals in the Championship over the course of his career, but I think he's pretty crap and another player we probably held onto a little bit too long.

Was talking to an Arsenal and Cambridge fan about our game today (so I was somewhere in the middle), and they pick him out as being poor. One of them is a coach at Carlisle Utd. On another note they were say that with 10 men for that long we looked like the team with 11 against 10. 
 

but the Cambridge fan seemed to be floating around 😂 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

7 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Generally I thought he was absolutely horrific though, even when we were against 10. Nothing has really changed in his game, attributes such as pace and power but no touch or refinement.

He might end up getting a few goals in the Championship over the course of his career, but I think he's pretty crap and another player we probably held onto a little bit too long.

 

True. He got a little more space as we fell back. But he didn't do much with it. He's still young, so regular Swansea appearances might help his game. It was probably a good call all round for him to move on, especially as we got some pennies.

[HnycS]

5 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

For those of us who thought Obefami might make the grade here would be pleased that the  club managed to off load him for a couple of million.

I thought he was bang on Championship level average, or a bit below, yesterday.

Agreed, for a player with a chance to stick it to his former employer, he could not have looked less interested or motivated. Strange.

[david in sweden]

On 09/01/2022 at 17:28, Fan The Flames said:

People use the word embarrassing in this situation but is it. He took advantage of the situation for the best for his team and it worked, I don't like it but it's not embarrassing, if Valery doesn't touch him it doesn't happen. Embarrassing are the twats that go down holding their faces when a hand has brushed them, or the pricks that dive when there is no contact. 

.... and those who clearly "dive " in the penalty area, yet don't get booked for it  !