Aston Villa 1-0 Saints - Match Thread

[Mr X]

2 minutes ago, Gurj said:

100% nailed on. This is why I said at the start of the season, we will go down unless there is a change in manager before New Year. 

There won't be a change, they accept all Ralph's wild inconsistencies for the occasional narrow win over the top six.

He has the safest job in the premier League so no need for him to bust a gut.. all on a 6 million contract 

[stknowle]

6 minutes ago, JRM said:

Bazunu is an inexperienced keeper who has played for Rochdale and lowly league one Portsmouth, we shouldn't expect him to be a Premier league standard keeper straight away unfortunately 

Agreed, was a bit tongue in cheek and I have hopes/expectations he will make it, but his kicking was poor yesterday.

[saintant]

4 hours ago, John B said:

The answer is if you are playing in the PL you get in PL players not youngsters with little or no top class experience and expect them to perform.

 

The squad as everybody is commenting is poor compared with others in the recent past whereas other teams are improving

 

We were poor last season and have lost Tino Broja Redmond  and Romeu who were possibly four  of the better players but have got better options now at CB.

 

 We are unfortunate with Lavia

 

Our attacking quartet is now dire the worst in my opinion we have ever had in the top division since 1966 so the outlook looks pretty bleak and recruiting decent reinforcements looks very difficult

 

So lets hope however that the youngsters gel and perform well but constantly slagging off players and the manager does not help as they all probably know their short comings.

 

In isolation a 1 0 loss at Aston Villa is not that bad a result but having no meaning ful shots on goal is

 

Hampshire CCC which has invested in top class players and has a top class attack hopefully can win the championship for the first time since 1973 and Saints will not go down in 2023 like they did in 1974

 

 

What you mean the team in 1966 that had up front Ron Davies, Mick Channon, Terry Paine and John Sydenham? Different era but they would all walk into the current team.

[Sheaf Saint]

4 minutes ago, stknowle said:

Agreed, was a bit tongue in cheek and I have hopes/expectations he will make it, but his kicking was poor yesterday.

He has shown that it can be much better though, so I'm just gonna put that down to a bad day in the office. He wasn't the only player to have one last night.

Having slept on it, I think I'm now in exactly the same boat as @trousers, I've run out of benefit of the doubt cards with Ralph now. Some of the decision making last night was just indefensible.

How the actual fuck can a supposedly competent, experienced manager continue to persist with Moi when it os so blatantly obvious to literally everyone else that he is hopelessly out of his depth at PL level? It's beyond parody. 

How can he continue to try the JWP/Diallo CM partnership when it has been shown time and time again that they are just far too lightweight as a pair and we just surrender any control of the midfield with them in that formation?

Why take off the only forward player who is likely to make anything stick up front and bring others into play, while keeping the completely ineffective ones on the pitch?

Sorry Ralph. I've been one of your most optimistic supporters for a long time, but you've lost me now. I've finally had enough of you fucking it up, week in week out, while throwing your players under the bus and refusing to take responsibility for your own shortcomings. 

[Totton Saint]

How can 11 players contrive to play so ineptly.

We are allowed5 subs. Why not exploit that to the full?

I was expecting Ralph to be sacked this morning.

[saintant]

Watching last night's tepid, inept performance one thing was blatantly obvious - boy do we miss Lavia. There was a gaping void in front of the back four where he patrols and amazingly nobody was designated to fill it. He is so good at sniffing out danger and snuffing it out. Also he is the glue that holds everything together, the link between the back four and midfield that was so clearly absent last night. Lavia is always available when we play out from the back, he'll comfortably receive the ball from Salisu or ABK in tight areas and move it on to begin attacking play. I lost count of the number of times our two central defenders looked forward for someone to pass to, saw nobody available and had to either launch it upfield or turn and go back to Bazunu who then had little option but to punt a long ball. Making matters worse we have absolutely not a single forward capable of winning the ball in the air. It is no surprise that since Lavia limped off against Chelsea we have barely put together a forward move worth the name nor created hardly a chance of note. He is that crucial to us and it is clear we were foolish to let Romeu leave as he is the nearest we have to Lavia. Maybe AMN is being groomed for the role and that is why Ralph stated he is not ready to start yet. Hopefully the international break gives Lavia time to recover but it was a mistake by those at the club to not have someone available who could do his job because injuries are part and parcel of the game and we are a nothing side without a player capable of covering the role in front of the back four.  We were like a car stuck in neutral with no forward gears. It seems hard to believe we are so reliant on such a young player but last night showed that to be the case. Ralph and the coaching team need to do some serious work during this break because we look nailed on for relegation judging by that woeful performance.   

[Whitey Grandad]

19 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

How can 11 players contrive to play so ineptly.

We are allowed5 subs. Why not exploit that to the full?

I was expecting Ralph to be sacked this morning.

We used 5 subs?

Midfield is where we lost it. We had no presence there and were peripheral throughout the game.

[Billy the Kidd]

29 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

How can 11 players contrive to play so ineptly.

We are allowed5 subs. Why not exploit that to the full?

I was expecting Ralph to be sacked this morning.

I still am expecting him to go before the Everton game. If not and we fail to win that one, surely he has to be fired.

[Lighthouse]

3 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

I still am expecting him to go before the Everton game. If not and we fail to win that one, surely he has to be fired.

After 7 games, we're currently 12th after a tough set of opening fixtures and you're talking about last chances and must win games?

[beatlesaint]

If you're Maitland Niles and you've sat at home watching that last night and listening to the pillock of a manager say you're not ready to play in that team what the hell must you be thinking ?

The temptation to go into training and say "you want me to play like THAT????" would be too much for me. 

[OldNick]

What a rubbish performance, nothing to hold our heads up about, especially when the world saw that game.

I was pretty upbeat before last night but now am thinking more about a real struggle this season

 

[ally_uk]

Just seem lack any strength and grit in midfield.

Attacking threat? We have none ..... 

 

[OldNick]

11 hours ago, saintant said:

When JWP plays like he has done for most of this season I'm afraid he is a liability.  He is contributing very little and even his free kicks and corners have been pretty average. He's a passenger we can ill afford at the moment - not closing down, getting caught in possession and making poor passes unless they are five yards square or backwards. Not sure if he's carrying a knock but he's a yard off the pace and a player like him can't afford not to be right on his game. Unfortunately there's not much to put in his place but he must be running the risk of being rested although I'm sure Ralph wouldn't consider it.

Tonight we passed the ball around the back until there was no other choice but to lump it upfield to a forward line that do not win headers. It was food and drink to the Vlla defence. Where was our pass and move or players taking up intelligent positions between the lines? It was a bunch of statues with zero movement. I look forward to hearing what spin Ralph puts on this.

We may live to regret failing to get in a big, strong striker during the transfer window as we have no out ball. A better side than Villa would have filled their boots tonight.

Should have sold him when his stock was high.

[InvictaSaint]

I would be interested specifically in the views of those who were there last night to endure that horror show in the flesh. I was at Spurs and Leicester away and support was good at both, even with the ringing at Spurs. Yes, some drifted away early but there was no discernible disquiet or anger like at Brentford away which I also attended. 
What were the in-game and post final whistle reactions to players and manager like last night? 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

With Ralph as soon as he gets a couple of decent results under his belt he reverts back to over thinking and tinkering and bang we go back to the bad old days. With him it’s the odd peak mixed with loads of troughs. We are locked into this mad cycle of a few highs mixed with too many lows. Will we ever escape I wonder? 
Posters claiming Lavia’s return will sort our problems out make me smile, he’s a teenager with 3 PL starts to his name and all of a sudden he has become crucial to our survival. Really? Yes great prospect but to hang our hopes on his slender shoulders is unrealistic. Ralph is Ralph. He’s not going to change. But right now under him we seem to have no cohesive plan or settled tactics. Basunu came in and looked the real deal but after just 7 games he is visibly regressing just as Gunn and McCarthy did before him. It seems players regress after coming here. The situation with Maitland-Niles is baffling. Why sign him if he doesn’t know how to play the way Ralph wants? He’s 25 and coming from Arsenal can’t be that unready surely? He’s been hung out to dry with the manager’s comments. My only hope is SD have the situation in hand. They have shown ambition in the window, but the failure to get in a striker undermines their ability to deliver. Plenty to ponder. 

[LiberalCommunist]

No getting away from how toothless that was, but the ref last night was more overawed by the crowd than our young players. Some of the ankle high tackles he let go, would have been looked at by other refs. Letting them get away with the first couple, definitely let them continue in the same vein. 

A very frustrating night. 

[Give it to Ron]

6 minutes ago, InvictaSaint said:

I would be interested specifically in the views of those who were there last night to endure that horror show in the flesh. I was at Spurs and Leicester away and support was good at both, even with the ringing at Spurs. Yes, some drifted away early but there was no discernible disquiet or anger like at Brentford away which I also attended. 
What were the in-game and post final whistle reactions to players and manager like last night? 

Just too pissed off to really do much. The players did start to come over but stopped and a bit of applause. A few small shouts but most just wanted to get out after that shitshow.

[beatlesaint]

9 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

With Ralph as soon as he gets a couple of decent results under his belt he reverts back to over thinking and tinkering and bang we go back to the bad old days. With him it’s the odd peak mixed with loads of troughs. We are locked into this mad cycle of a few highs mixed with too many lows. 

100%. When Ralph has time to think about things it all goes tits up.

The owners have invested a lot in exciting, young players. Last night we play against a team low on confidence and quite frankly, awful. But instead of giving these young players their heads and telling them to give it a go what happens ? We revert to the players who werent good enough last year and leave them on the bench. 

The only one I felt sorry for was Djenepo. He's been covering at left back, learning the job and doing better than anyone expected. So what does Prof. Smart Arse do? Plays him as right wing.......unbelievable. 

He's now got another two weeks to think about things.......Everton away win incoming ? Please God no ! Cant stand them, cant stand Lampard, but expecting Ralph to learn from his mistakes is clutching at straws.

 

[S-Clarke]

I think the most concerning thing for me in the last two games is that the oppo haven't really had to turn up, both Wolves and Villa were shocking on the day yet still had just about enough to beat us. Most Championship teams would have given both of those sides more of a game.

This has been something that's bugged me with us for years - we cannot win 'bad'. We have to be absolutely 100% to win any game, yet teams like Villa and Wolves are able to win bad.

I feel as low about last night as I have about any game for many years. I can't begin to describe how horrific that was.

[Totton Saint]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Watching last night's tepid, inept performance one thing was blatantly obvious - boy do we miss Lavia. There was a gaping void in front of the back four where he patrols and amazingly nobody was designated to fill it. He is so good at sniffing out danger and snuffing it out. Also he is the glue that holds everything together, the link between the back four and midfield that was so clearly absent last night. Lavia is always available when we play out from the back, he'll comfortably receive the ball from Salisu or ABK in tight areas and move it on to begin attacking play. I lost count of the number of times our two central defenders looked forward for someone to pass to, saw nobody available and had to either launch it upfield or turn and go back to Bazunu who then had little option but to punt a long ball. Making matters worse we have absolutely not a single forward capable of winning the ball in the air. It is no surprise that since Lavia limped off against Chelsea we have barely put together a forward move worth the name nor created hardly a chance of note. He is that crucial to us and it is clear we were foolish to let Romeu leave as he is the nearest we have to Lavia. Maybe AMN is being groomed for the role and that is why Ralph stated he is not ready to start yet. Hopefully the international break gives Lavia time to recover but it was a mistake by those at the club to not have someone available who could do his job because injuries are part and parcel of the game and we are a nothing side without a player capable of covering the role in front of the back four.  We were like a car stuck in neutral with no forward gears. It seems hard to believe we are so reliant on such a young player but last night showed that to be the case. Ralph and the coaching team need to do some serious work during this break because we look nailed on for relegation judging by that woeful performance.   

It says it all that we are seemingly so reliant on such a young lad to be our saviour. How come Romeo was good enough last March and then disposed of in the summer?

[CB Fry]

Just now, Totton Saint said:

It says it all that we are seemingly so reliant on such a young lad to be our saviour. How come Romeo was good enough last March and then disposed of in the summer?

Getting to a situation where we are saying "boy do we miss" a 18 year old with a handful of senior games under his belt points to something of a fuck up in the transfer window.

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Watching last night's tepid, inept performance one thing was blatantly obvious - boy do we miss Lavia. There was a gaping void in front of the back four where he patrols and amazingly nobody was designated to fill it. He is so good at sniffing out danger and snuffing it out. Also he is the glue that holds everything together, the link between the back four and midfield that was so clearly absent last night. Lavia is always available when we play out from the back, he'll comfortably receive the ball from Salisu or ABK in tight areas and move it on to begin attacking play. I lost count of the number of times our two central defenders looked forward for someone to pass to, saw nobody available and had to either launch it upfield or turn and go back to Bazunu who then had little option but to punt a long ball. Making matters worse we have absolutely not a single forward capable of winning the ball in the air. It is no surprise that since Lavia limped off against Chelsea we have barely put together a forward move worth the name nor created hardly a chance of note. He is that crucial to us and it is clear we were foolish to let Romeu leave as he is the nearest we have to Lavia. Maybe AMN is being groomed for the role and that is why Ralph stated he is not ready to start yet. Hopefully the international break gives Lavia time to recover but it was a mistake by those at the club to not have someone available who could do his job because injuries are part and parcel of the game and we are a nothing side without a player capable of covering the role in front of the back four.  We were like a car stuck in neutral with no forward gears. It seems hard to believe we are so reliant on such a young player but last night showed that to be the case. Ralph and the coaching team need to do some serious work during this break because we look nailed on for relegation judging by that woeful performance.   

I don't think we should pin so much on Lavia, it's not so much the fact we miss him as he's the best player in the world, it's because the quality outside of him as a second 6 is utterly dross (Diallo).

Good players in this side stick out like a sore thumb given what we have to replace them with when they're not available. Personally for me I'd have kept Romeu and used him as a squad rotation with Lavia. They'd both still play games, but it would give us many more options and much more physicality if required. I get the club wanted to 'honour' him by letting him return home, but sometimes it feels like they put the players needs in front of the team. 

[Totton Saint]

Sky should have given a warning that the game should have been given an 'X' certificate. 

 

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

52 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

After 7 games, we're currently 12th after a tough set of opening fixtures and you're talking about last chances and must win games?

Tough set of fixtures, pony. Chelsea & United look by far the weakest of the top 6. Leicester, Villa and wolves are fucking pony at the moment. Leeds finished below us and lost their best 2 players. Spurs, that’s about it. 

[whelk]

On the plus side we may have more Sat 3pms as TV won’t want to touch us after that. Zero entertainment 

[beatlesaint]

6 minutes ago, whelk said:

On the plus side we may have more Sat 3pms as TV won’t want to touch us after that. Zero entertainment 

Long wait though, after Everton our next Sat 3pm game, at home, is 21 January……against Villa 😂

Edited 17 September, 2022 by beatlesaint

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I think it maybe time for a reality check here....

• Ralph
  • Before he was our manager we were awful and he transformed the way we play so that we were able to compete in games more often.
  • He has enabled the development of youth and a pathway for them to the first team like no other manager.
  • He is, however, far from perfect and there are better managers.
  • Recently, he seems to have begun to doubt his own methods - which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
    • We have begun to be better at varying our approaches to games which can make it harder for the opposition to know how we will play.
    • On the other hand, we aren't as good as we used to be at what we do well i.e. pressing.
  • Better managers are very hard to attract to a club like Southampton
• Our transfers
  • We have brought in more players than we have in many transfer windows including some players with real promise like Bella-Kotchap and Lavia.
  • Some of the new players will take longer to adjust than others and we cannot expect them all to be instant world-beaters.
  • Younger players bring an amazing potential and energy; however they also bring inconsistency and are less good at the basics when we need to graft.
  • Maitland-Niles - it has been clearly said that he is not ready and that he will be used when he is ready. I don't hear too many people complaining that we did that with Salisu (who still has much room for improvement). He will have his day!
  • The failure to land a quality striker or winger (or both) who is ready to compete at the our level is a massive concern.
• Last night's performance
  • Was clearly awful.
  • Is just one match, though it follows another inept performance in the previous game. Nevertheless, it is not time for panic stations yet.
• Elyounoussi
  • I don't understand how a player who was so out of favour can suddenly become so in-favour.
  • I understand that his work-rate is much better than it used to be and that is great - but it does not transform him into a quality winger. The fact is that he demonstrates less flair and ability to dribble and create opportunities than most other wingers we have had in recent times.
  • Nevertheless, it would be unfair to blame him for last night - the whole team were hopeless with the exception of only a couple of players.
• Djenepo
  • Was one of our better players last night (at least in the first half) and is one of the few players who have stepped up this season.
• Romeu
  • Losing him feels like a massive loss and we could have done with him last night.
  • Don't forget, however, that his performance levels were beginning to drop with age noticeably last season and we have got to move beyond him.
  • Sadly, we only replaced Romeu with one player - Lavia. We still have the same issue of not having a backup in that position.

[saintant]

42 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I think the most concerning thing for me in the last two games is that the oppo haven't really had to turn up, both Wolves and Villa were shocking on the day yet still had just about enough to beat us. Most Championship teams would have given both of those sides more of a game.

This has been something that's bugged me with us for years - we cannot win 'bad'. We have to be absolutely 100% to win any game, yet teams like Villa and Wolves are able to win bad.

I feel as low about last night as I have about any game for many years. I can't begin to describe how horrific that was.

I've said it before, Ralph is scarred from the two 9 nils and other heavy defeats. He therefore sets up to contain the opposition at the expense of our attacking ambitions. Clear as day this tactic is going to lead to many defeats by one nil and we have already suffered 3 in 7 games.

[saintant]

40 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't think we should pin so much on Lavia, it's not so much the fact we miss him as he's the best player in the world, it's because the quality outside of him as a second 6 is utterly dross (Diallo).

Good players in this side stick out like a sore thumb given what we have to replace them with when they're not available. Personally for me I'd have kept Romeu and used him as a squad rotation with Lavia. They'd both still play games, but it would give us many more options and much more physicality if required. I get the club wanted to 'honour' him by letting him return home, but sometimes it feels like they put the players needs in front of the team. 

I think you largely agree with me because I did point out that it's hard to believe we are so reliant on one so young and also questioned the wisdom of letting Romeu leave.

[Billy the Kidd]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

After 7 games, we're currently 12th after a tough set of opening fixtures and you're talking about last chances and must win games?

Yes, yes I am. As this stretches back way further. Seriously all this bollocks of 7 games is a red herring, as when we go on the very occasional good run, people bleat on about it and that is fine to stretch over different seasons. 

Form is a run of games, and our poor form stretches waaaay back, it is negligent (and obviously convenient) to simply ignore and overlook this.

I respect you dont feel the same, maybe you and others alike will be happy to realise he needs to go when we are close to dropping league. Others have had enough.

Seriously, I hope he goes, but feel they will keep him a little longer.

[Billy the Kidd]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Tough set of fixtures, pony. Chelsea & United look by far the weakest of the top 6. Leicester, Villa and wolves are fucking pony at the moment. Leeds finished below us and lost their best 2 players. Spurs, that’s about it. 

Yep, and Utd aren’t even a Top 6 team anymore, and certainly weren’t when we played them.

[SaintZamboni]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Tough set of fixtures, pony. Chelsea & United look by far the weakest of the top 6. Leicester, Villa and wolves are fucking pony at the moment. Leeds finished below us and lost their best 2 players. Spurs, that’s about it. 

Weakest of the top 6 is a ridiculous statement. They’re playing in a different league to sides like us, spending almost as much money in signings as it cost to buy the whole of our club!

Leeds lost two key players sure but how much did they spend replacing them? 100 million.

We’re also ‘pony’ at the moment so losing to Villa and Wolves is frustrating  but to suggest we haven’t had a challenging start is nonsense.

[Micky]

1 hour ago, ally_uk said:

Just seem lack any strength and grit in midfield.

Attacking threat? We have none ..... 

Which has been plain to see for ages.  This should've been the number one priority in our so called 'good transfer' window.  But, again, we blew it.  Yes lots of promising youngsters, but the number one priority, that we could all see was needed, was ignored.  I am absolutely bemused by the Adam Armstrong experiment,  I just do not see a player in there, never mind a premiere league striker that is going to score enough goals to keep us in this league.  He is just another mediocre player who offers pretty much nothing else on top of his poor goals return.   Early days this season, but I think we are in the shyte, January (not a good time to get players in blah blah blah) will be very interesting. 

Edited 17 September, 2022 by Micky

[BotleySaint]

Depressing weekend ahead after that dire performance. At least we're not Leicester! That's the only positive I can find 😌 

[sadoldgit]

24 minutes ago, Micky said:

Which has been plain to see for ages.  This should've been the number one priority in our so called 'good transfer' window.  But, again, we blew it.  Yes lots of promising youngsters, but the number one priority, that we could all see was needed, was ignored.  I am absolutely bemused by the Adam Armstrong experiment,  I just do not see a player in there, never mind a premiere league striker that is going to score enough goals to keep us in this league.  He is just another mediocre player who offers pretty much nothing else on top of his poor goals return.   Early days this season, but I think we are in the shyte, January (not a good time to get players in blah blah blah) will be very interesting. 

Our so called good transfer window was so called because it was good. We clearly didn’t ignore the need for a striker and tried from the start to get someone in but it didn’t work out. We have signed some quality players. We have cleared out a great deal of dead wood. Losing Lavia so soon had been a blow. We were very poor last night I agree, but that had nothing to do with the transfer window. Most of the team didn’t show up, for whatever reason. It didn’t helped that Villa kicked anything that moved from the start and got away with it. Villa are a poor side. We were poor last night but can and will play better.

[Lord Duckhunter]

26 minutes ago, SaintZamboni said:

Weakest of the top 6 is a ridiculous statement. They’re playing in a different league to sides like us, spending almost as much money in signings as it cost to buy the whole of our club!

Leeds lost two key players sure but how much did they spend replacing them? 100 million.

We’re also ‘pony’ at the moment so losing to Villa and Wolves is frustrating  but to suggest we haven’t had a challenging start is nonsense.

If you think we’ve had a tough start you’re deluding yourself. Take off the red and white specs and open your bins. We couldn’t have faced Chelsea at a better time, Utd had a poor start as well. Boscombe have the same points and they’ve faced Liverpool, Man C and Arsenal (as well as Newcastle today).  
 

Typical Noddy mentality some of our fan base have. If we’re saying we can’t compete with Leeds, we really are fucked. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

6 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Our so called good transfer window was so called because it was good. 

Called good by whom? One eyed saints supporters.

The keeper costs us goals, Moi and Adam Armstrong are in ahead of some of our signings, we’ve lost OR and we haven’t addressed the glaring lack of a striker. Fuck me if that’s good, I dread to think what you consider average. 

Edited 17 September, 2022 by Lord Duckhunter

[StrangelyBrown]

Having thought overnight I'm now of the opinion that we are really missing a leader on the field (I know this has been said many times before on here - perhaps I'm just catching up :)). Ralph and the players comments are about a lack of intensity and it was there for everyone to see. What I didn't see was anyone leading on the pitch - we desperately lack a Jimmy case type of player who can drive the youngsters to up their game. Instead we have JWP who leads by example, but when his example is shit, we also seem to be shit.

I'm not excusing Ralph for this... He should make sure he has a proper leader on the pitch

[OldNick]

Redmond doesnt look so bad now, does he At least he would have run with the ball and as per last season actually made chances (on par with what JWP did last season)

Where are we going to find the striker from? 

We seemed to get the ball and pass backwards constantly for the keeper to lash up field and then lose possession.

The commentators or any on here haven't picked up on Ashley Youngs studs down the leg of Moi, it was a very cynical thing he did, very well disguised, IMO Im sure he meant to do it.

[Dellman]

8 minutes ago, StrangelyBrown said:

Having thought overnight I'm now of the opinion that we are really missing a leader on the field (I know this has been said many times before on here - perhaps I'm just catching up :)). Ralph and the players comments are about a lack of intensity and it was there for everyone to see. What I didn't see was anyone leading on the pitch - we desperately lack a Jimmy case type of player who can drive the youngsters to up their game. Instead we have JWP who leads by example, but when his example is shit, we also seem to be shit.

I'm not excusing Ralph for this... He should make sure he has a proper leader on the pitch

The problem wasn't the leadership on the field , the problem was that they played as if they had never seen each other before. No one knew where to pass it and when they did pass it, it was passed straight back to them. The problem was preparation off the field followed by maximum confusion when they got on the field. Well, that's what it looked like to me. JWP looked as confused as any of them.  

[OttawaSaint]

10 men Wolves giving it a real go...vs City. Made a few decent opportunities.

Not difficult is it Ralph?

[cloggy saint]

5 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

10 men Wolves giving it a real go...vs City. Made a few decent opportunities.

Not difficult is it Ralph?

Don't really see your point here. Wolves are comprised of 11 (10 now) different players to Southampton.

[Dellman]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Called good by whom? One eyed saints supporters.

The keeper costs us goals, Moi and Adam Armstrong are in ahead of some of our signings, we’ve lost OR and we haven’t addressed the glaring lack of a striker. Fuck me if that’s good, I dread to think what you consider average. 

The new signings will come good. Settling into new team and new League is never easy. The question in my mind is whether this manager is capable of  blending them--no sign of it last night. What is Poch doing? These youngsters would love his style

[CB Fry]

22 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

10 men Wolves giving it a real go...vs City. Made a few decent opportunities.

Not difficult is it Ralph?

I wish we could be three nil down.

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, CB Fry said:

I wish we could be three nil down.

1-0, 3-0. They had a go at least. We don't even try to score. You can't win if you don't score!

[OttawaSaint]

18 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

Don't really see your point here. Wolves are comprised of 11 (10 now) different players to Southampton.

My point is that we are the most negative team in the whole division. I have a subscription to fubo so I watch as many games as possible and only Saints do that ponderous sideways back and then wait for the other team to get set before passing straight to them. Sometimes I need to check that the game isn't on fast-forward because Saints play so slowly. That's down to RH.

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

My point is that we are the most negative team in the whole division. I have a subscription to fubo so I watch as many games as possible and only Saints do that ponderous sideways back and then wait for the other team to get set before passing straight to them. Sometimes I need to check that the game isn't on fast-forward because Saints play so slowly. That's down to RH.

We have certainly become more negative this year, much more direct, bypassing the midfield and going straight for the front.

My issue with that is that we don't have the players in attack to play that way. If we had a Pelle up top and some pace in and around him we may get ourselves free kicks, runs in behind, flick ons etc - but we're targeting Adams and he cannot be expected to be a focal/hold up striker. The guy is a support striker who needs someone better alongside him, he can't do it all himself as he's not good enough.

Edited 17 September, 2022 by S-Clarke

[East Kent Saint]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Called good by whom? One eyed saints supporters.

The keeper costs us goals, Moi and Adam Armstrong are in ahead of some of our signings, we’ve lost OR and we haven’t addressed the glaring lack of a striker. Fuck me if that’s good, I dread to think what you consider average. 

No in the guardian round up of how well prem clubs did in the window . On here we were similar apart from where's the new striker (or scorer of goals !)

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

We have certainly become more negative this year, much more direct, bypassing the midfield and going straight for the front.

My issue with that is that we don't have the players in attack to play that way. If we had a Pelle up top and some pace in and around him we may get ourselves free kicks, runs in behind, flick ons etc - but we're targeting Adams and he cannot hold a ball up. The guy is a support striker who needs someone better alongside him, he can't do it all himself as he's not good enough.

Yep or the ball finds its way to Moi and his brain short circuits. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

6 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

No in the guardian round up of how well prem clubs did in the window . 

The Guardian? It was probably based on diversity rather than ability to play football then. 
 

If it was so good, why are we shite?