Saints 1-1 West Ham - Match Thread

[whelk]

28 minutes ago, Mr X said:

Yet you posted anyway... The team is embarrassing so yeah South Ham is exactly what we are! 

No but that was my one and only post on this thread

[nta786]

1 hour ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

They play Thursday night and we can but hope they get some knocks and are knackered for Sunday, then at least we might only lose 1-0!

Depressingly even though they play Thursday night, there is no doubt we will look the more jaded and tired team out there. 
I’d like to try and play a 4-3-3 with JWP, Stu, AMN midfield 3, and a front 3 of Armstrong at left wing, Aribo up top (he played ST for Rangers), Edozie right wing. 
Get some blistering pace on there, and stop playing direct long balls.

I think Bazunu’s strength has turned into our overall weakness and has changed the way Ralph now sets us up.

Prediction: Saints 0 West Ham 2

(Paqueta + Bowen to score)

 

[OttawaSaint]

Saw an article with RH saying that Walcott still has a part to play. 

He's sewing the seeds early so expect him to start...

[Toussaint]

14 hours ago, Appy said:

“Just go for it” 

 

By playing a terrible centre back in midfield. 

I don't think he's terrible by any stretch, but what I think is really important for Saints is that he is the only player we have who has escaped the personality bypass surgery, I  don't know how he slipped through the "model son in law" screening process.

Edited 12 October, 2022 by Toussaint

[Saint Fan CaM]

Unless Ralph goes, this will result in a predictable loss and that’s mainly due to lack of tactics leading to no goals.

[Saint Garrett]

9 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Saw an article with RH saying that Walcott still has a part to play. 

He's sewing the seeds early so expect him to start...

Can't do much worse than the others tbf. 

[Daft Kerplunk]

20 hours ago, Atlanta Saint said:

It that with McCarthy up top or Perraud and Salisu up top?

I was thinking of having two left footers up top so we confused the opposition with an imbalanced attack. Genius.

[Pamplemousse]

9 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Saw an article with RH saying that Walcott still has a part to play. 

He's sewing the seeds early so expect him to start...

Hopefully the League Cup against Sheff Wed is what he means...

[Dman]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Can't do much worse than the others tbf. 

Agree. He’s not any worse than Adam Armstrong..

[LeBizzier69]

The fact is that at the moment we find both scoring and defending a bit tricky. Fully expecting a Hammers win (coupled with 90 minutes of nauseating blowing bubbles song sh*te), with queuing for a tepid beer starting on around 38 mins. Hard to see the afternoon panning out any differently right now, but where there's life there's hope.

[Miltonaggro]

1-1 shit game, board will give Hassenhutl another fortnight on the back of it.

[disconnect]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Agree. He’s not any worse than Adam Armstrong..

I'd give Walcott a game now - he's proved it at Champions League level in the past, and when we first brought him back was playing well, was direct and just being fouled continually giving us a lot of freekicks in good positions. Since then he's had a few injuries, but if he's fit, must be worth a go at some stage. 

[SambaMaverick]

We really are fucked if Walcott is the answer

[ally_uk]

Get behind the team and Ralph I think he will do the best he can will the tools we have.... 

Squad is seriously lacking no creative force or strikers that can actually finish..... 

I'd be tempted to get  Ballard and Jimmy Morgan around the 1st team for now and see if they can add something. 

If Ralph makes it to January we need minimum 3 good players in.... 

Def mid absolute unit 

A striker who can finish at this level 

And a creative player 👏 

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, disconnect said:

I'd give Walcott a game now - he's proved it at Champions League level in the past, and when we first brought him back was playing well, was direct and just being fouled continually giving us a lot of freekicks in good positions. Since then he's had a few injuries, but if he's fit, must be worth a go at some stage. 

I'm not sure he'll ever be fit, i think "his legs have gone" and he's past the point of no return. I watched him closely last season and he just couldn't react to situations the way he wanted to. I know it's said he's one of the fastest in the club, but there is a big difference between sprinting and the microsecond reactions required in elite sport.   

[LiberalCommunist]

Great news, WHU play on Thursday.

Bad news. They are already miles clear and their group is dog shit.

Nice rest for the 1st teamers. 

 

[Toussaint]

28 minutes ago, ally_uk said:

Get behind the team and Ralph I think he will do the best he can will the tools we have.... 

Squad is seriously lacking no creative force or strikers that can actually finish..... 

I'd be tempted to get  Ballard and Jimmy Morgan around the 1st team for now and see if they can add something. 

If Ralph makes it to January we need minimum 3 good players in.... 

Def mid absolute unit 

A striker who can finish at this level 

And a creative player 👏 

I think we always go with that intention, but you pretty quickly have the positivity drained from you. I realise it's a bit of chicken and egg, but Ralph and the players need to give us something to feed off, even if its a meaty tackle or two, to show us they care as much as we do.

We've had some poor and struggling teams in the past, but I don't recall one with so little spirit. As for Ralph, I hope he doesn't get grief, that will be counterproductive, its reminiscent of the Branfoot days when I hoped we would lose every time we played to accelerate his demise. I want Saints to win, but I think we need to make some big changes, and Ralph is the obvious starting point.   

[SaintZamboni]

              Bazunu 

KWP  ABK   DCC  Perraud

       JWP   AMN

Aribo      Stu     A Armstrong

             Adams

As others have said, have to exploit the fact they’re playing Thursday. They can qualify with a win so I don’t think they’ll go fully lightweight. Press and attack with some vigor. 
I saw a match report (guardian?) saying that Ralph was upset with the sideways and backwards passing, hopefully he’s dealt with that during training.

Relentlessly optimistic so going 2-0 Saints. Early goal and a late one.

[JRM]

7 hours ago, SaintZamboni said:

              Bazunu 

KWP  ABK   DCC  Perraud

       JWP   AMN

Aribo      Stu     A Armstrong

             Adams

As others have said, have to exploit the fact they’re playing Thursday. They can qualify with a win so I don’t think they’ll go fully lightweight. Press and attack with some vigor. 
I saw a match report (guardian?) saying that Ralph was upset with the sideways and backwards passing, hopefully he’s dealt with that during training.

Relentlessly optimistic so going 2-0 Saints. Early goal and a late one.

Anderlecht will give them a good game, hopefully a physical contest give them a few knocks, we did well against West Ham last season is another straw I'm clutching at. 

Fairly poor ticket sales for this unsurprisingly, loads of availability all around the ground apart from Northam end, block 1 now closed as well. 

[SotonianWill]

On 12/10/2022 at 01:23, OttawaSaint said:

Saw an article with RH saying that Walcott still has a part to play. 

He's sewing the seeds early so expect him to start...

If you tell Walcott to simply run around like a headless chicken, it’s already double the shift put in by our ‘strikers’. We’ve lost the press. 

[Saint Garrett]

Anyone know of any pubs that’ll be open around 10ish? 

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

47 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

If you tell Walcott to simply run around like a headless chicken, it’s already double the shift put in by our ‘strikers’. We’ve lost the press. 

My concern is Walcott can probably only do that for a few minutes at most, looks like he's running in treacle after that

Sit Adam Armstrong down this week and make him watch Rodriguez and Long pressing for us, they really understood the role

[SotonianWill]

12 minutes ago, Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan said:

My concern is Walcott can probably only do that for a few minutes at most, looks like he's running in treacle after that

Sit Adam Armstrong down this week and make him watch Rodriguez and Long pressing for us, they really understood the role

he can sit out the rest of the season tbh 

[Croissaint]

Hasenhuttl insists Southampton must win games without injured star despite impending return

Headline from the mail relating to Lavia....Real,real shambles, if a premier league club can only win a game when a particular 18 year old is playing, and the manager is making it a target to try and win without him....

Edited 13 October, 2022 by Croissaint

[Saint Garrett]

5 minutes ago, Croissaint said:

Hasenhuttl insists Southampton must win games without injured star despite impending return

Headline from the mail relating to Lavia....Real,real shambles, if a premier league club can only win a game when a particular 18 year old is playing, and the manager is making it a target to try and win without him....

Let's be honest, he was probably asked about him not being fit, and he probably replied saying we shouldn't be relying on an 18 year old to win a game. Then boom, headline.

[warsash saint]

Just had a text for £5 off tickets - obviously struggling to shift tickets

[Micky]

23 hours ago, Dman said:

Agree. He’s not any worse than Adam Armstrong..

Nor am I, and I'm sixty fuckin' five....!

[Saint Garrett]

50 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

Just had a text for £5 off tickets - obviously struggling to shift tickets

Plenty of West Ham fans in the saints end though I would think. £42 is too much money.

[VectisSaint]

On 12/10/2022 at 13:12, LeBizzier69 said:

The fact is that at the moment we find both scoring and defending a bit tricky. 

Coupled with our midfield being shit and our goalkeeping being not up to much things are looking good. If only we still had a radio station to be proud of.

[JRM]

8 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Anyone know of any pubs that’ll be open around 10ish? 

Giddy Bridge probably your best bet, early start to be in there by then fair play. 

Trains once again a complete mess this weekend , Southampton Central closed, bus replacements where they won't have planned for a match day and have enough buses on or run on schedule 

Edited 13 October, 2022 by JRM

[JRM]

5 hours ago, warsash saint said:

Just had a text for £5 off tickets - obviously struggling to shift tickets

Had the same 

Get £5 OFF Saints vs West Ham this Sunday! Use code SOTWHUSAVE before 1pm tomorrow

[Ado]

Anyone know what time the players normally get to the ground? Taking my boy to his first game, he’d love it if he could get a photo or 2

[Saint Garrett]

1 hour ago, JRM said:

Giddy Bridge probably your best bet, early start to be in there by then fair play. 

Trains once again a complete mess this weekend , Southampton Central closed, bus replacements where they won't have planned for a match day and have enough buses on or run on schedule 

Cheers that’s what U was thinking, as much as I hate Wetherspoons. 
 

Yup. We’re getting train to Eastleigh and going to get cabs straight to pub ideally. 

Having a bit of a day out, given the opportunities are so few and far between. 

Edited 13 October, 2022 by Saint Garrett

[Saint Fan CaM]

Marked lack of activity on this thread given the importance of the game…is there an apathy creeping in? Wouldn’t surprise me to be fair…just look at the dire football being dished up by Ralph and Co.

Apparently Ralph was angered by the sideways and backwards passing in the last shambolic performance(s). Well what is he - the Manager - doing about it I wonder? There doesn’t appear to be any answers and my bet is that there’ll be none on display at Wet Spam either. We have been consistent in displaying all the attributes of a relegation bound team.

[sfc4prem]

Easy 2-0. For West Ham.

[The Cat]

1 hour ago, Ado said:

Anyone know what time the players normally get to the ground? Taking my boy to his first game, he’d love it if he could get a photo or 2

Used to be around 1130 for 3pm kick offs but it's been about 5 years since I've done that.

[verlaine1979]

Often looked like men against boys when we've played them over the past few seasons. Suspect it'll be more of the same this time.

[rooney]

3 hours ago, JRM said:

Had the same 

Get £5 OFF Saints vs West Ham this Sunday! Use code SOTWHUSAVE before 1pm tomorrow

Probably a scam.

[JRM]

5 minutes ago, rooney said:

Probably a scam.

Definitely works as I mentioned to a mate who got a £35 one for £30 in Block 15. All helps I suppose. 

[WestMidSaint]

1 hour ago, rooney said:

Probably a scam.

The scam is that it’s only a fiver off and you’ve still gotta pay the other £30 odd quid to watch us get bullied 

[benjii]

We either need to go 3 at the back or play 3 in CM with someone sitting deeper. We concede every single match, so we need to protect the back line more. Letting in the odd goal wouldn't be a problem if we were regularly scoring 2 or 3.... 

Has Caleta-Car ever played midfield? If not, I think JWP should sit deep, without Lavia around.

 

--------------Bazunu------------

KWP-----ABK-----Salisu-----Djenepo

---------------JWP---------------

-------Stu Arm---------AMN--------

Edozie------------------------Aribo

---------------Adams-------------

 

[West end Saints]

50 minutes ago, benjii said:

We either need to go 3 at the back or play 3 in CM with someone sitting deeper. We concede every single match, so we need to protect the back line more. Letting in the odd goal wouldn't be a problem if we were regularly scoring 2 or 3.... 

Has Caleta-Car ever played midfield? If not, I think JWP should sit deep, without Lavia around.

 

--------------Bazunu------------

KWP-----ABK-----Salisu-----Djenepo

---------------JWP---------------

-------Stu Arm---------AMN--------

Edozie------------------------Aribo

---------------Adams-------------

 

https://www.footballfancast.com/southampton-fc-news/stuart-armstrong-premier-league-southampton-manchester-city-performance

 

This sums up what I have been saying for the last year, and it felt like the emperors new clothes with people moaning that Stu wasn't given enough chances. 

Unless he plays better than he has for the last three seasons we will lose if we play him. 

[Saint Garrett]

I’d have Elyounoussi back in for this. 

[Billy the Kidd]

12 hours ago, rooney said:

Probably a scam.

I think having SAVE in the code, for a team that simply cant keep a clean sheet, is taking the piss. 

Our marketing department must be pissing themselves.
 

[JRM]

2 hours ago, West end Saints said:

https://www.footballfancast.com/southampton-fc-news/stuart-armstrong-premier-league-southampton-manchester-city-performance

 

This sums up what I have been saying for the last year, and it felt like the emperors new clothes with people moaning that Stu wasn't given enough chances. 

Unless he plays better than he has for the last three seasons we will lose if we play him. 

S. Armstrong looks completely lost of confidence/ motivation this season , shame to see as I think he's been one of our best players previously. 

Your comment did make me laugh though as we haven't won a game without him either since 2019! 

[Saint Garrett]

2 minutes ago, JRM said:

S. Armstrong looks completely lost of confidence/ motivation this season , shame to see as I think he's been one of our best players previously. 

Your comment did make me laugh though as we haven't won a game without him either since 2019! 

Apart from our last win vs Chelsea

[JRM]

2 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Apart from our last win vs Chelsea

We've beaten the curse at last! I hadn't noticed that at the time, good we can move on, Lavia has taken the lucky mascot title 

[Turkish]

7 minutes ago, JRM said:

S. Armstrong looks completely lost of confidence/ motivation this season , shame to see as I think he's been one of our best players previously. 

Your comment did make me laugh though as we haven't won a game without him either since 2019! 

He's been one of my favourite players of the last few seasons, really makes a difference. He's not been the same since he was out for a while with that weird " injury" that stopped him playing for us but not for Scotland. All very strange that.

[FarehamSaintJames]

2-0 or 3-0, to West Ham.

We’re the easiest team to play against as things stand. They’ll be lining up to have a shot at goal.

[Sfcphilc]

Last 10 Premier League results at St Marys:

Won 2, Drawn 1, Lost 7.

Goals for 10, Goals against 20.

Obviously I want us to win, but I can't see it happening against a physical team like West Ham, even with them playing last night thrown into the mix.