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Saints 1-1 West Ham - Match Thread


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17 minutes ago, Saint_lambden said:

He genuinely suggested yesterday that if Ralph was to go that Gordon Strachan could come back in and get the team going. 

He also asked what Saints fans expect and followed it up with "they're not going to win the Premier League"

Thanks for the spoiler Jo. 

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59 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

There were players in their back four who couldn't trap a bag of cement - so for me that was not a great point against a good West Ham side.

They had 2 full backs and 1 CB in a back 3, if there was ever a time to beat them it was yesterday which is the most frustrating thing.

The fact we are now giving Adam Armstrong his longest spell in this team is pretty telling, and no surprise we can't score. We have nothing else.

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2 hours ago, John B said:

He played well some of the time and was better than what we have at the moment

You need experienced pros who are good pros, around the club, especially when you’ve got a bunch of nippers. OR of last season is perfectly capable of coming in & playing the odd game here and there, coming on at the end of games to see them out, but more importantly setting a great example to the younger players day in day out. We’ve got a fucking choir boy as skipper, and we shipped out a player with the correct mentality and professionalism needed. We kept Walcott FFS, keeping a slightly over the hill OR was a no brainer in my opinion. 

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Just now, S-Clarke said:

They had 2 full backs and 1 CB in a back 3, if there was ever a time to beat them it was yesterday which is the most frustrating thing.

The fact we are now giving Adam Armstrong his longest spell in this team is pretty telling, and no surprise we can't score. We have nothing else.

it’s just depressing to watch. armstrong is championship standard and he’s starting, when he gets the ball he just runs himself into a mosh pit of players. he’s the most unselfish striker, can’t remember the last proper chance he had. Is this positioning/ awareness or ability I can’t tell as che gets all the chances? 

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3 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

it’s just depressing to watch. armstrong is championship standard and he’s starting, when he gets the ball he just runs himself into a mosh pit of players. he’s the most unselfish striker, can’t remember the last proper chance he had. Is this positioning/ awareness or ability I can’t tell as che gets all the chances? 

Armstrong has played recently as more of a winger, not a striker.    Yesterday he was clearly our best attacking player.    There's no doubt our striking options are "bare bones" and Adams and Armstrong are not the answer - yet both have roles to play in support of a main striker - someone like West Ham's Scamacca would be just the ticket.

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Just now, austsaint said:

Armstrong has played recently as more of a winger, not a striker.    Yesterday he was clearly our best attacking player.    There's no doubt our striking options are "bare bones" and Adams and Armstrong are not the answer - yet both have roles to play in support of a main striker - someone like West Ham's Scamacca would be just the ticket.

Why not try both down the middle, Adams battles well, holds the ball up ok and wins some bits and pieces. Armstrong can buzz around him, picking up the pieces. I know it’s probably against the Hipsters playbook, but it can’t be any worse than the shambles we’re watching week in week out. 3-5-2 and get it in the mixer a bit more……

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9 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

This. We're absolutely rubbish in possession. Whenever we try and play keep-ball, every single pass is played under intense pressure until it invariably gets nicked or goes back to the defense for a hoof forward. 

That's down to Ralph and his training sessions.

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37 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

it’s just depressing to watch. armstrong is championship standard and he’s starting, when he gets the ball he just runs himself into a mosh pit of players. he’s the most unselfish striker, can’t remember the last proper chance he had. Is this positioning/ awareness or ability I can’t tell as che gets all the chances? 

It's Ralph for some reason making him play on the left. I'm not saying Armstrong is great, but we've rarely played him as a proper striker this season.

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my thoughts on the game and player ratings:

Bazunu : 7 made good stops, distribution good no chance with goal.

KWP : 7 solid defensively, great block in 2nd half but not a lot going forward apart from some good passes down the wing for Adams

Perruad : 8 aggressive and back to his best

Salisu : 7 played well but noticed that he tends to drop deep and got in Baz's line of sight for WH goal

ABK : 7 played ok until off injured.

Cal-Car: 6 looks a bit of a cart horse atm

JWP : 5 boring sideways stuff from the captain.  Just not the same player and no leadership on the pitch, which is what we really need at this time.

AMN : 7 thought he played ok, made some good interceptions and easily his best game for us.

Aribo : 4 very poor. Offered little going forward and just doesn't know where to be when we don't have the ball - which was quite a lot yesterday

Adams : 7 Usual good hold up play, created a chance for himself which he didn't take - therein lies the problem in his game

Moi : 7 Thought he played well for a long time but faded in 2nd half.  Why did he not play away against Citeh?  He holds his position much better than other mids but doesn't offer so much going forward so strange to play him at home and not away from home.

AA : 6  No lack of effort from him and made runs which passes were never made 'cos we don't do forward passing.

Subs Diallo : 7, thought he played quite well when he came on despite what most people think on here. Mara : 4 non existent. S.Armstrong : 5 meh - just not the same player as a season or two ago - should leave as doesn't seem to want to be here anymore, Edozie : 6 looked ok and had a shot! wish we saw a bit more of him. 

Ralph: 6. Credit to him that he changed thngs drastically when clearly being over run.  However, what is our game plan?  No high press anymore, no high energy anymore, seems we just hit it long to Adams but then don't support him , so lose possession. You would think with no recognised cb's in WH team, Ralph would have told them get crosses into the box early. No ideas, players not playing for him, needs to go but probably when WC break.

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1 hour ago, austsaint said:

Armstrong has played recently as more of a winger, not a striker.    Yesterday he was clearly our best attacking player.    There's no doubt our striking options are "bare bones" and Adams and Armstrong are not the answer - yet both have roles to play in support of a main striker - someone like West Ham's Scamacca would be just the ticket.

This is the prob, we are playing with two 'support' strikers, and no actual clinical striker.

We had that clinical striker with Broja (when he felt like it) and Ings for a prolonged period of time. I don't doubt that both 'could' have a role for us, but it can't be that they're the main man as they're not good enough.

Edited by S-Clarke
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2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

This is the prob, we are playing with two 'support' strikers, and no actual clinical striker.

We had that clinical striker with Broja (when he felt like it) and Ings for a prolonged period of time. I don't doubt that both 'could' have a role for us, but it can't be that they're the main man as they're not good enough.

Yes, agree entirely.   Both Adams and Armstrong did some good things yesterday - but as a strike-force tandem they don't cut it.    Oh for an Ings of 2 or 3 seasons ago or even a one-year-older Broja.    I know players like Scamacca are outside of the Club's range, but a striker of his bracket would solve a lot of problems.

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12 minutes ago, austsaint said:

Yes, agree entirely.   Both Adams and Armstrong did some good things yesterday - but as a strike-force tandem they don't cut it.    Oh for an Ings of 2 or 3 seasons ago or even a one-year-older Broja.    I know players like Scamacca are outside of the Club's range, but a striker of his bracket would solve a lot of problems.

That sort of striker shouldn't be out of our price range to be honest, these clinical strikers cost money and if you want to survive in the league you need to spend the going rates. 

By all accounts we were ready to put down £34m on Gapko in the summer, and Scammaca was around the same figure - so we could do it if we wanted.

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4 hours ago, Saint_lambden said:

He genuinely suggested yesterday that if Ralph was to go that Gordon Strachan could come back in and get the team going. 

No he didnt, he used Strachan as an example of a manager who could get the team fit and motivated, he didnt suggest him as Ralph's replacement.

He talked a lot of crap after the game yesterday but that's one thing you've mis-heard or understood. 

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Decent first half but once again lethargic and clueless second half.
Sadly, we're missing an old calm (bold) head in midfield. As much as I admire JWP, he's not a midfield general.
Lavia might be back soon but at just 18 yo, it would be unfair to expect too much from him.
We don't score enough so a striker is top prio but in our situation I'd look for some steel and presence in midfield

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A frustrating watch for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, we created chances and could have had the game won in the first half if we had better finishers.  Che and AA put in huge effort but just don't have the quality to score often enough.  It was almost a shame that our good chances fell to them as we might have scored more if they had gone to others.  Secondly, we gave the ball away so often in the seond half that we were our own worst enemies.  WHam fans must really feel like that was three points missed.

There isn't going to be an easy answer to the problems that we face at least until January.  We are just going to have to grind out performances and hope that we can scrape some 1-0 or 2-1 wins and as many draws as possble against teams around us.  if we can keep out points tally around 1 per game until January and then find a stiker who can score, we should be OK.

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7 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

They had 2 full backs and 1 CB in a back 3, if there was ever a time to beat them it was yesterday which is the most frustrating thing.

The fact we are now giving Adam Armstrong his longest spell in this team is pretty telling, and no surprise we can't score. We have nothing else.

They had Craig Dawson and the cat kicker (Zouma) missing, having spent £160mil in the summer window I would hardly use that as a stick to beat the Saints with 😬

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On Balance it’s a decent point but we look disjointed.

Been really disappointed with JWP form this season, he’s looked off the pace and hasn’t imposed himself on any game so far, we couldn’t move the ball through the middle of the park fast enough and that transition from defence to attack seems cumbersome and predictable and often breaks down because we have players taking 3/5 touches when 1/2 will do. Elyounoussi, JWP, Aribo all cumbersome at times, our wingbacks seem like the only ones willingly releasing the ball quick enough to form dangerous attacks leaving us vulnerable to counter attacks. That’s what Lavia did so well in the first couple of games, released the ball quick and kept the attacks looking dangerous. The minute you play a sideways ball allow opposition defenders to reset is the minute you make it 10 times harder to break opposition down.

Che had a few good opportunities, fashioning them himself through his strength but otherwise he seems isolated. We should be playing off him more, drawing in defenders with his strength, back to goal with runners off him. 

Salisu is a good defender but a very raw Footballer, he can make some cracking tackles/blocks but often that hard work is undone by a sloppy 5 yard pass straight to the opposition! 
 

I’ve not been happy with Ralph’s performances as manager but the players naivety (brought on by their young age) is allot to do with those poor performances.  

 

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9 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

That sort of striker shouldn't be out of our price range to be honest, these clinical strikers cost money and if you want to survive in the league you need to spend the going rates. 

By all accounts we were ready to put down £34m on Gapko in the summer, and Scammaca was around the same figure - so we could do it if we wanted.

said it most of the summer, should have been in for Scamacca. Scored a shed load of goals last year and has the physical attributes needed to succeed in the Prem. Mind you, why would he ever have joined us instead of West Ham?

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11 hours ago, SotonianWill said:

it’s just depressing to watch. armstrong is championship standard and he’s starting, when he gets the ball he just runs himself into a mosh pit of players. he’s the most unselfish striker, can’t remember the last proper chance he had. Is this positioning/ awareness or ability I can’t tell as che gets all the chances? 

he's looking to make a pass when he should be shooting on sight. I thought he worked really hard, can't fault him for that, but we need a forward that is brimming with confidence, and hitting absolutely everything for anywhere first time. He's not missing chances, but he's not taking opportunities either. It's on him to create half a yard and smash it in the to corner. He can do it. He did it at Blackburn, but his confidence was sky high then. That has long gone.

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23 minutes ago, Chez said:

said it most of the summer, should have been in for Scamacca. Scored a shed load of goals last year and has the physical attributes needed to succeed in the Prem. Mind you, why would he ever have joined us instead of West Ham?

He, or someone like him, would transform us.

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On 16/10/2022 at 17:39, FarehamSaintJames said:

I think you’ve completely misread the point.

Getting rid of Ralph isn’t an instant guarantee of us playing better, nor is Selles being in charge.

We will still be playing shite, we will still have the same poor players, same players out injured. Etc.

My point is more for those that have suggested in the past weeks they’d like to see Selles takeover the role permanently. THAT specifically I see no benefit.

Yeah I get that and agree to a point. Thing is, we’ve no guarantees any new manger, temporary or otherwise, will be bring about the improvements we all want. The important thing for me is that we have enough evidence now to suggest that keeping Ralph will mean more dismal performances and likely end in relegation. I just don’t think Selles would be a bad caretaker manager choice to shake things up a bit.

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1st half on sunday was very good- we go ahead through a Perraud strike which took a slight deflection.

2nd half we dropped too deep and invited pressure on. I was glad we got a point at the end but it could and should have been more. We move onto the next game on Wednesday COYR :)

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