Saints 2-0 Norwich - Match Thread

[The Kraken]

4 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Carragher and Neville dropping some realism in with some fair points, actually. They said the teams above us (maybe Wolves aside) have better teams than us overall (West Ham maybe not?), so Europe would be a stretch given their points advantage over us.

 

Didn't like the 'club that size' lark though, hit a raw nerve hearing their condescending view of us.

It’s true what they said. Even wolves have a better side than us. With this squad we have hit a glass ceiling. It’s just what happens under the new ownership to see if we can go upwards. Financially we’ve got no chance, it’s a loaded game to begin with so finishing top ten these is sadly called a success.

[The Kraken]

16 minutes ago, trousers said:

Shut the f**k up Neville (re: time for JWP to move to a bigger club)

Fairly sure that bigger clubs won’t be influenced by Gary Neville saying one of our players has a higher platform than he is currently at. He’s right.

[LiberalCommunist]

Nice weekend of football with the win safely wrapped up! 

I love it when a plan comes together!

[VictiAbNonem]

I'd hate to be playing us next.

[Teddeer]

As comfortable a win as you'll see. Fraser could have played in his dressing gown and slippers. Stunning goal from Oriel, well deserved...the ball was still rising as it smashed into the back of the net. We had extra gears to go through if needed. Stu getting better and better. Broja not as good as he has been but he's very young and raw.  Good team performance with KWP outstanding again. Spurs fans must watch him and ask themselves how their management let him go. 

[Jack]

They rightly bigged up Romeu and Stu on sky, but KWP was absolutely outstanding again. He’s a top player. 

[Toadhall Saint]

1 minute ago, Jack said:

They rightly bigged up Romeu and Stu on sky, but KWP was absolutely outstanding again. He’s a top player. 

Makes it look easy - sign of a very good player.

[coalman]

I'm not used to being 1-0 up and feeling unworried.

[Dorchester Saint]

12 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Carragher and Neville dropping some realism in with some fair points, actually. They said the teams above us (maybe Wolves aside) have better teams than us overall (West Ham maybe not?), so Europe would be a stretch given their points advantage over us.

 

Didn't like the 'club that size' lark though, hit a raw nerve hearing their condescending view of us.

All true, I’m not a fan of either to be fair (especially Neville who has recently decided to go full champagne socialist) but I respect Nevilles football Knowledge and agree with him that 9th (possibly 8th) is our level right now…..that is still huge praise by the way, when you look at the kind of money that buys you 7, 6, 5, 4 , 3 , 2 , 1.

Right now Saints are doing great….the new owners might even make  us even better!! 
 

GOOD TIMES!!!

 

 

[woodsaint1]

Thats as comfortable as it gets. We should have won by a few more (everything seemed to be straight at Gunn), but a wins a win and an easy chean sheet too.

Ori, Tino, Stu, KWP and Salisu were all excellent. Only downside was how frustrating Broja was again, so many times he could get his head up and get an easy assist, but has the blinkers on. He's very young and still developing of course.

7th/8th place is perhaps not the pipe dream it was a month ago. 

[sfc4prem]

Just popped on to NorthStandChat to see what our closest rivals thought of the game. Many still enjoy calling us 'Stains'. Interesting.

[Dr Who?]

Wow staggering stats and an easy win. Not used to this, 1 defeat in the last 12 since December 11th! 

[Hawkswood]

Solid win against a poor team ,( we also made them look poor). OR was MoM even before the goal. Shouts out to KWP and Stu.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

My dad (A Norwich fan) was in hospital for tests today. So, I did ask if he was sure I should come round and watch this one with him.

We were pretty (very) comfortable. They did have some plans to beat the press we use, but we were pretty secure in dealing with them. Lots of dominance. It looked as though we had other gears to move up to, should we have needed to match any Norwich intensity. But there wasn't really any of that from them. So we had efforts on their goal, but maybe didn't look as though we were really going to score a hatful.

We went to a back three, when 1-0 up. My normal gut reaction to that is "uh-oh". But they know what they're doing, so I get that less and less these days. Had Norwich commited more, we were ready to pick them off.

Adams had yet another great game. He takes up great positions, looking for Broja to get the ball across to him. Broja's form may seem to have dropped a little. but he's young and offers a heck of a lot already, considering the development that's to come.

Stu is clearly encouraged to take as many shots as possible. I might have thought there was a better option for the odd one, but it's something well worth continuing with. it forces our opponents to set up to counter it, offering other options.

JWP, Romeu and KWP immense yet again. Nice to see Long get another cameo. He was taking up good spaces, committing their defenders from the second he came on.

To be able to have such a steady performance, as part of our excellent run, shows just what a good team we have here.

[Dr Who?]

29 minutes ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I'd hate to be playing us next.

I seem to know quite a few Villa fans and they seem to think they have ‘winnable’ games coming up against Brighton & Southampton. It seems no matter what we do fans of the opposition see us as a winnable game. They may well beat us, but it is just the way they seem to see names on ‘paper’ and think Saints that’s 3 points. I do think in a way this works to our advantage. 
 

All this after they have just lost at home to Watford! 🤷🏽 

[Toadhall Saint]

1 minute ago, Dr Who? said:

I seem to know quite a few Villa fans and they seem to think they have ‘winnable’ games coming up against Brighton & Southampton. It seems no matter what we do fans of the opposition see us as a winnable game. They may well beat us, but it is just the way they seem to see names on ‘paper’ and think Saints that’s 3 points. I do think in a way this works to our advantage. 
 

All this after they have just lost at home to Watford! 🤷🏽 

Delusions of grandeur with Villa - done nothing for a long time but act like they won the league last week.

[The Cat]

Decent performance. Totally in control save for a 5 minute spell late in the second half.

For once I'm not going to give Romeu MOTM and pick Walker Peters instead. Thought he was superb going forward and in defence tonight. 

Really enjoyed Romeu's thunderbastard of a goal and it got me thinking about how much we are sharing goals around the team. I believe all the regular main players have scored this season apart from Perraud?

Please can we get a chant for Adams? He scored and then people started singing another Livramento song.

Edited 25 February, 2022 by The Cat

[Sheaf Saint]

15 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Wow staggering stats and an easy win. Not used to this, 1 defeat in the last 12 since December 11th! 

We're back to 2020 form.

2021 was just a year-long blip it seems.

[Jimmy_D]

Two great goals for different reasons. Adams reacting extremely quickly in the way he did to take that chance, and Romeu with one of the cleanest and sweetest hits of a football you'll see all season.

Romeu MotM for me, but only just in front of Salisu and KWP.

One of the most comfortable wins we've had since, uh, Everton at home?  

[Saint Fan CaM]

Great win, albeit expected. Slightly frustrating to have so many chances squandered, but got there in the end and Romeu’s goal was sublime. I thought Norwich looked really poor…worse than the last time I saw them and you can’t help feel it’s game over for them

[HarvSFC]

We took a mini-energy gels break when Norwich made a double substitution. Somebody should look into that, that double sub caused the game to stop and is bringing the game into disrepute.

The only thing Romeu was missing from his game was goals. He has now completed football. Astounds me every game these days and seems to get better and better. How that clown at Tottenham kept him or JWP out of the team is incredible.

Usually when we're 1-0 up, it's slightly nervy. But, tonight was as comfortable as you can get a 1-0. 

Broja's not been at the races in recent weeks, but it's testament to the rest of the squad that they're all chipping in and we're running out comfortable victories without him, when in previous years we had relied on Ings a bit too much.

Echo the poster above that Adams needs a song. He's literally an unsung hero at the moment.

 

 

 

[bpsaint]

2 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

What's that chant Saints fans have going now? With Livramento at the end? 

Follow, follow, follow

we’ve got the best team on the south coast,

we wear red and white

we’re fucking dynamite

and we’ve got Livramento.

 

Good atmosphere in the ground tonight, amazing what a good run of form does to the overall mood.

[OttawaSaint]

1 hour ago, VictiAbNonem said:

I'd hate to be playing us next.

Well you're all on your own and not a professional footballer so you'd definitely struggle...

[Saint_clark]

2 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Follow, follow, follow

we’ve got the best team on the south coast,

we wear red and white

we’re fucking dynamite

and we’ve got Livramento.

 

Good atmosphere in the ground tonight, amazing what a good run of form does to the overall mood.

Oh really? That last line kind of let's it down then 😂 

[bpsaint]

Just now, Saint_clark said:

Oh really? That last line kind of let's it down then 😂 

At least we don’t mention Pompey I guess, makes a change!

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Thought we played most of the game well within ourselves, almost felt at times we had a eye on the cup game. The result was never really in doubt, although would have preferred the second to have come a bit sooner. 

[Teddeer]

45 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

Two great goals for different reasons. Adams reacting extremely quickly in the way he did to take that chance, and Romeu with one of the cleanest and sweetest hits of a football you'll see all season.

Romeu MotM for me, but only just in front of Salisu and KWP.

One of the most comfortable wins we've had since, uh, Everton at home?  

Adam's goal was a weird one because the ball seemed to elude everyone and he ended up on the ground yet, from that position, he somehow managed to flick the ball up and over the defender. When I saw it in slow motion I realised it was a far better finish than I initially thought.

Edited 25 February, 2022 by Teddeer

[East Kent Saint]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

How come the on target /off target shots  shots don't add up to total shots ?

[Lighthouse]

Back to back, 2-0 home wins, who can argue with that. Decent performance all round and we can enjoy the rest of the weekend knowing we’ve already done our job and gone home. Thought KWP, Salisu and Rom were excellent once again. Broja not a Chelsea player on that showing but hardly a poor performance.

[kyle04]

Blocked shots (+6) ?

[Jimmy_D]

4 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

How come the on target /off target shots  shots don't add up to total shots ?

Shots blocked by defenders don’t go in either.

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

Back to back, 2-0 home wins, who can argue with that. Decent performance all round and we can enjoy the rest of the weekend knowing we’ve already done our job and gone home. Thought KWP, Salisu and Rom were excellent once again. Broja not a Chelsea player on that showing but hardly a poor performance.

Still better than Lukaku's 'performance' last weekend. 

[CanadaSaint]

There are numerous candidates but a lot would have to change for my POTS to be someone other than Romeu. Every game he’s breaking stuff down, knitting things together, bringing controlled physicality, and cleaning up after the errors of others. JWP’s free kick goals are sexy but Romeu is the glue that binds this team together.

Edited 25 February, 2022 by CanadaSaint
Typo

[East Kent Saint]

5 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

Shots blocked by defenders don’t go in either.

Thanks ! This Saints run is such a boost with all that is going on , I know " It's only football " but it's great to be a Saints fan . Roll 1976 replay of FA Cup .....

[Toadhall Saint]

19 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

There are numerous candidates but a lot would have to change for my POTS to be someone other than Romeu. Every game he’s breaking stuff down, knitting things together, bringing controlled physicality, and cleaning up after the errors of others. JWP’s free kick goals are sexy but Romeu is the glue that binds this team together.

Another one like KWP makes it look easy/effortless 

Edited 26 February, 2022 by Toadhall Saint

[davefizzy14]

Such a comfortable victory tonight for us and up to ninth in the table, we really are in top form Romeu's performance was outstanding and capped off with a wonder goal - my MOTM he really does knit the team together. Closely followed by KWP who was absolutely class again and Salisu who is top notch  Che's finish was delightful too  onto the cup next week- exciting times COYR

Edited 26 February, 2022 by davefizzy14

[S-Clarke]

A really, really comfortable win. I don't particularly think we went above 2nd gear, but we still had too much for an absolutely inept Norwich team who look destined to drop without much of a fight.

First half was better than the 2nd half, midfield dominated it throughout. Romeu was a class above. I think if we were a tiny bit quicker in our build up we could have scored a bucket load. Elyounoussi in particular struggled to find space and was ineffective most of the night I felt as he lacked the pace to really stretch it. Tonight is the sort of game where we needed a bit of pace in the number 10 roles in order to stretch the game a bit and pull Norwich around.

Broja was really poor I thought. I go back to what I said a few days ago...if he puts in those sorts of performances for Chelsea he is dropped straight away and would struggle to get back in. We give him the opportunity to have these 'spells'. He's clearly got ability and talent but he's still young and he has a lot to learn and I still say we're the best place for that, hopefully he see's that and isn't blinded by the dollar or a 'promise' of Chelsea involvement.

We're in a really good place, certainly back to 2020 kind of form. We can enjoy the battle at the bottom from afar and look up for a change. I don't think we'll get European or anything like that, but a top 10 finish and beating our points total from last year has to be our target now given our run.

[Whitey Grandad]

I’ve not been back long from the game but I’m still buzzing about it. There was a real carnival atmosphere around the stadium this evening. The place is filled with hope and expectation, something that has been lacking up until only a few months ago.

I like it 🥳

[Turkish]

37 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

A really, really comfortable win. I don't particularly think we went above 2nd gear, but we still had too much for an absolutely inept Norwich team who look destined to drop without much of a fight.

First half was better than the 2nd half, midfield dominated it throughout. Romeu was a class above. I think if we were a tiny bit quicker in our build up we could have scored a bucket load. Elyounoussi in particular struggled to find space and was ineffective most of the night I felt as he lacked the pace to really stretch it. Tonight is the sort of game where we needed a bit of pace in the number 10 roles in order to stretch the game a bit and pull Norwich around.

Broja was really poor I thought. I go back to what I said a few days ago...if he puts in those sorts of performances for Chelsea he is dropped straight away and would struggle to get back in. We give him the opportunity to have these 'spells'. He's clearly got ability and talent but he's still young and he has a lot to learn and I still say we're the best place for that, hopefully he see's that and isn't blinded by the dollar or a 'promise' of Chelsea involvement.

We're in a really good place, certainly back to 2020 kind of form. We can enjoy the battle at the bottom from afar and look up for a change. I don't think we'll get European or anything like that, but a top 10 finish and beating our points total from last year has to be our target now given our run.

Spot on. You summed up my view perfectly 

[washsaint]

As comfortable a win as Saints will ever have.  As others have said, it felt as though Saints were playing well within themselves and, if needed, the pace and slick passing seen the last couple of months could have been raised a notch or two.

2 home games, 2 clean sheets and 1 shot on goal in those games.....this is a very different Saints side these days and long may it continue.

The 2 full backs were exceptional, Che worked his butt off and, as said last weekend, is there a better midfield partnership right now than Romeu and JWP?

Thought Broja was very poor again and should have squared for Che instead of going for goal.  He really would benefit from staying at Saints (loan or buy) as he is still very raw and, while having incredible potential, needs to be at a club where he can learn and improve without the big club pressure.

Lets hope this run continues until the end of the season!

[John B]

4 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

Thats as comfortable as it gets. We should have won by a few more (everything seemed to be straight at Gunn), but a wins a win and an easy chean sheet too.

Ori, Tino, Stu, KWP and Salisu were all excellent. Only downside was how frustrating Broja was again, so many times he could get his head up and get an easy assist, but has the blinkers on. He's very young and still developing of course.

7th/8th place is perhaps not the pipe dream it was a month ago. 

That is usual with young players they are generally inconsistent

[Convict Colony]

went to bed at half time i was so confident of the win.

[Singapore Saint]

14 hours ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Delusions of grandeur with Villa - done nothing for a long time but act like they won the league last week.

I hope they go into debt paying Coutinho's wages and win nothing 😆

Edited 26 February, 2022 by Singapore Saint

[JRM]

Good comfortable win, felt like we were coasting at times and 2nd half drifted for a bit , hopefully we work on our finishing as could have had a few more goals. Superb run of form, for once Saints season ticket holders are getting good value for money seeing home wins. 

It will also be interesting to see Russia's response , I fear the behaviour of some of our fans will make Southampton a target should Putins soldiers make it this far west, Putin you're a c*nt,  stand up if you hate Putin and 10 Russian bombers in the air all sung in the 2nd half, not sure what the point of all that was myself , going to football should be an escape from global politics 

 

[rooney]

What a super controlled performance. JWP and Romeo controlled the midfield and Romeo's MoM from Sky richly deserved even before that wonder goal. I word too on KWP. He is such a versatile player and the way he dribbled through Norwich players on at least 3 occasions was breathless. He could well join JWP in the England Squad.

[steve green]

7 hours ago, adriansfc said:

It's hilarious that KWP is exactly the player Spurs need now. 

But not according to most of their 'fans' on fighting cock. Never good enough to be a spurs player apparently.

[John B]

8 minutes ago, steve green said:

But not according to most of their 'fans' on fighting cock. Never good enough to be a spurs player apparently.

I was a bit sceptical when I first heard he was coming to SFC but when I was him playing in his early days I realised he was the real deal nd he had so much energy

[Give it to Ron]

That was such a comfortable win last night really never looked in danger Norwich so poor and never understood tactics.

I thought they would have a real go but stop Pukki they have nothing else.

As others have said Broja was poor but the rest were good. KWP probably my MOTM but because most weeks I give to Romeu 🙂 A real pleasure to watch at moment long may  that continue 

[fanimal]

Brendan Williams or Tino????

 

[Chez]

Very enjoyable evening at SMS.

No idea what Norwich thought they were doing. They have some very average players at the back with the ball, know we press, yet continued to play it short from the keeper which eventually lead to a hoof to an isolated Pukki. The played completely into our hands. The only issue we had was finding a way past 10 men in their box. Once we scored it was game over. Norwich did up their game after the double substitution and Hanley perhaps should have scored with the headed chance. It would have been a total injustice though.

They are doomed. We are on roll. This is THE year for us in the cup. Playing like this and with the threat we have up front. I'm excited again.

Very few negatives. Broja seemed slightly out of step with the rest. Part of the issue was a lack of space and also the slowish building up. Ask him to lead the line and make things happen when we are up against it and he's your man. But when its all tight and you are watching the play all night (a la Lakaku), and he struggled. Bednerek made some poor choices (which went unpunished, but Salisu pointed out the error of his ways) and Pukki made him look like a carthorse in the first half when burning past him.  Forster struggled to get air with his long kicks...boy I'm scraping the barrel now to find a negative. We were that dominant. I guess you could say we got a little casual in the second half, but there was just no opposition. 

I thought Eli had a good game. He could have scored hattrick with a little more luck/better finishing, but he was heavily involved and made a lot of very good runs, Gave us nice balance. KWP and Livramento were bloody great. 

Romeu. He's some player.

Happy days.