Bournemouth 0-1 Saints - Match Thread

[DT]

1 hour ago, notnowcato said:

What were you expecting last night? A confident, free flowing performance? If our form is to improve it will be gradual with no doubt a few knocks on the way. Last night’s 3 points has bought the team a little time, I doubt we will see any significant changes now before the World Cup. 

I was expecting us to retain the ball much better, and not to just try and defend a 1-0 lead against a really bad Bournemouth team for most of the game. I was expecting JWP to be at least a shadow of his former self, although I guess the loss of his mainstay Romeu alongside him is partially why his game has dropped off. I was expecting the manager to at least instil a bit of fire at half time, but we came out as lackadaisical as ever and were lucky not to be punished. I expected Aribo to be played more centrally, and for his passing to be better than mine. I was expecting better passes in the last third, especially to players in better positions to score. I was expecting us not to look like a mid table Championship team. I was expecting not to be living in petrified fear for the last 15 minutes when it looked like it was only a matter of time before they scored. But yes, I guess it will be a gradual thing and a clean sheet and win - at least on paper - can be assigned to progress, as long as our performance against Arsenal improves. Because it has to, drastically, in terms of the basics.

[eurosaint]

4 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

This used to be a place to avoid when we lost. Now it’s becoming a place to avoid when we win! The perceived wisdom is that we needed at least 4 points from the last 2 games. We have got those yet still some whinge. As someone said we have played better and lost this season but I will take a few ugly wins at the moment if that means it gets us back on track. Che was MotM by a country mile but I thought AA played well last night too. Both worked their socks off. Arma got in behind them several times but we couldn’t find the pass. The subs were well timed and did what was needed to see out the game. AMN still looks off the pace to me and gave the ball away cheaply in dangerous positions a few times. Perhaps a run at RB if KWP is out for a while will help him? 4 tough games coming up and the injuries are mounting so a win and a clean sheet, no matter if it was ugly, was crucial. JWP looks like he needs a rest but he needs to find something extra in the tank to help get us into the WC break in a reasonable position. 4 points from 2 in form teams when we are in a run of poor form is not something to complain about FFS. If Ralph had been sacked and we had got these 4 points under a new manager I expect everyone would be singing his praises and talking about a new dawn!

Well said....

There has been so much negative drivel on this thread and clearly many do not understand the reality of the Premier League !

Below the top 7 or 8 teams (comparatively awash with money !) the margins are incredibly fine and regularly hinge on a key mistake, unlucky deflection, missed sitter, lousy VAR etc, etc.. 

We are currently level on points with WHU (who spent £160mil in the last window) and above Everton, Leeds, Villa, Wolves, Forest and Leicester. In fact, (in the unlikely event !) that we scrape a win over Arsenal we could be in the top half 😉 !

I accept that things will evolve one way or another but predicting us to lose every game, moaning even when we win and demanding the managers head at every turn is draining the life out of us and does not inspire confidence in the youngest team in the league !

COYS 😇

 

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

Well said....

There has been so much negative drivel on this thread and clearly many do not understand the reality of the Premier League !

Below the top 7 or 8 teams (comparatively awash with money !) the margins are incredibly fine and regularly hinge on a key mistake, unlucky deflection, missed sitter, lousy VAR etc, etc.. 

We are currently level on points with WHU (who spent £160mil in the last window) and above Everton, Leeds, Villa, Wolves, Forest and Leicester. In fact, (in the unlikely event !) that we scrape a win over Arsenal we could be in the top half 😉 !

I accept that things will evolve one way or another but predicting us to lose every game, moaning even when we win and demanding the managers head at every turn is draining the life out of us and does not inspire confidence in the youngest team in the league !

COYS 😇

 

Agreed. I woke up this morning and just simply sad "thank you" Thank you Toby, Martin and Ralph for enabling us to be in this league. Its a honour for a club like us to be within 4 points of Brighton, Brentford, Fulham, Palace and Bournemouth, im going to enjoy every moment while this great journey lasts.

[JRM]

55 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Ridiculous. Adam is a great commentator and we're lucky to have him. Again, he has made more criticisms of Ralph than anyone. In fact, he was doing it 'before it was cool'

Hello Adam 

[JRM]

10 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

Well said....

There has been so much negative drivel on this thread and clearly many do not understand the reality of the Premier League !

Below the top 7 or 8 teams (comparatively awash with money !) the margins are incredibly fine and regularly hinge on a key mistake, unlucky deflection, missed sitter, lousy VAR etc, etc.. 

We are currently level on points with WHU (who spent £160mil in the last window) and above Everton, Leeds, Villa, Wolves, Forest and Leicester. In fact, (in the unlikely event !) that we scrape a win over Arsenal we could be in the top half 😉 !

I accept that things will evolve one way or another but predicting us to lose every game, moaning even when we win and demanding the managers head at every turn is draining the life out of us and does not inspire confidence in the youngest team in the league !

COYS 😇

 

"Above Everton, Villa, Wolves" 

All teams we have lost to this season!

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, JRM said:

"Above Everton, Villa, Wolves" 

All teams we have lost to this season!

So? We beat Chelsea and we're below them, what's your point?

[Bad Wolf]

11 minutes ago, JRM said:

Hello Adam 

Hi

[eurosaint]

18 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Agreed. I woke up this morning and just simply sad "thank you" Thank you Toby, Martin and Ralph for enabling us to be in this league. Its a honour for a club like us to be within 4 points of Brighton, Brentford, Fulham, Palace and Bournemouth, im going to enjoy every moment while this great journey lasts.

Pray tell what your expectation was / is ?

Ps. I realise that you are taking the piss but reality tells me that we could jump above the lot which you mention but equally could fall below the ones I mentioned, as I said 'fine margins' abound !!

[suewhistle]

29 minutes ago, DT said:

I was expecting us to..

.. lose, wasn't it? You've been saying we look like a Championship team, so why the surprise? 

No, we didn't play well and some of your points would be reasonable if you weren't so constantly and lengthily negative. Watching Saints may not be a great joy at the moment but at least I can enjoy the win, before the inevitability of the comments on here which suck out any last remaining satisfaction.

[John B]

13 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Agreed. I woke up this morning and just simply sad "thank you" Thank you Toby, Martin and Ralph for enabling us to be in this league. Its a honour for a club like us to be within 4 points of Brighton, Brentford, Fulham, Palace and Bournemouth, im going to enjoy every moment while this great journey lasts.

Why do you not just leave the Forum you obviously have little empathy to the situation within the club whereby without a massive injection of cash SFC is going to struggle in the PL and your snide comments may make you feel superior but in reality you appear a bit of a knob

 

I really enjoyed the game last night it was nice to win and hear pisitive comments from Ralph Glen Hoddle Kevin Davies and Germaine Defoe as opposed to what you post

 

It is going to be a hard struggle to remain in the PL but the manager and the players seem to be up to it 

 

It would be nice if all the fans were behind them instead of continually moaning and criticising as I for one would like them to suceed against the odds

 

I think we have a poor squad in comparision to others I have seen over the years but last night they worked hard and got a deserved 3 points

 

 

 

[saintant]

6 hours ago, East Kent Saint said:

Contrasting comments re JWP on here , he got worst player rating on BBC match summary , does he need a break or a bit of therapy ?

He needs better movement and options from the players around him. Time and again he receives the ball, looks up and there is zero movement. JWP is at his best when we are playing quick passes with triangles of players so that there are always a couple of options. Right now we are not showing for the ball and some players seem almost to be hiding. Get the triangles going again and JWP will be back to his best. He always looks poor when we play this way especially with the constant hoof ball and everything done in a rush. Open up the spaces, give him a little more time when he's on the ball and he'll start pulling the strings but this abject style of football does not suit his game - nor anybody else's for that matter.

[Forester]

Firstly a great effort from the Saints fans who created a good atmosphere.  Easy to forget how much this game means to Bournemouth fans which was evident around the stadium.  Very enjoyable walk back to the car!

Our defending is definitely an upgrade on last season and encouraging to see a clean sheet without Gavin having too much to do.   DCC did well, and thought that in front of him AMN gets better each game.  Four points a tidy return so far this week.  Still feel we need to eek out five or six points before World Cup 

[saintant]

52 minutes ago, DT said:

I was expecting us to retain the ball much better, and not to just try and defend a 1-0 lead against a really bad Bournemouth team for most of the game. I was expecting JWP to be at least a shadow of his former self, although I guess the loss of his mainstay Romeu alongside him is partially why his game has dropped off. I was expecting the manager to at least instil a bit of fire at half time, but we came out as lackadaisical as ever and were lucky not to be punished. I expected Aribo to be played more centrally, and for his passing to be better than mine. I was expecting better passes in the last third, especially to players in better positions to score. I was expecting us not to look like a mid table Championship team. I was expecting not to be living in petrified fear for the last 15 minutes when it looked like it was only a matter of time before they scored. But yes, I guess it will be a gradual thing and a clean sheet and win - at least on paper - can be assigned to progress, as long as our performance against Arsenal improves. Because it has to, drastically, in terms of the basics.

Agree with much of what you say but in all honesty Bournemouth never looked like scoring.

[Turkish]

17 minutes ago, John B said:

Why do you not just leave the Forum you obviously have little empathy to the situation within the club whereby without a massive injection of cash SFC is going to struggle in the PL and your snide comments may make you feel superior but in reality you appear a bit of a knob

 

I really enjoyed the game last night it was nice to win and hear pisitive comments from Ralph Glen Hoddle Kevin Davies and Germaine Defoe as opposed to what you post

 

It is going to be a hard struggle to remain in the PL but the manager and the players seem to be up to it 

 

It would be nice if all the fans were behind them instead of continually moaning and criticising as I for one would like them to suceed against the odds

 

I think we have a poor squad in comparision to others I have seen over the years but last night they worked hard and got a deserved 3 points

 

 

 

Glad you enjoyed it, must have been a release from the pent up aggression that's spilling out this morning,

[Turkish]

26 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

Pray tell what your expectation was / is ?

Ps. I realise that you are taking the piss but reality tells me that we could jump above the lot which you mention but equally could fall below the ones I mentioned, as I said 'fine margins' abound !!

It is unreasonable to expect better than 15 points from 23 games with a succession of abject performances?

[notnowcato]

52 minutes ago, DT said:

I was expecting us to retain the ball much better, and not to just try and defend a 1-0 lead against a really bad Bournemouth team for most of the game. I was expecting JWP to be at least a shadow of his former self, although I guess the loss of his mainstay Romeu alongside him is partially why his game has dropped off. I was expecting the manager to at least instil a bit of fire at half time, but we came out as lackadaisical as ever and were lucky not to be punished. I expected Aribo to be played more centrally, and for his passing to be better than mine. I was expecting better passes in the last third, especially to players in better positions to score. I was expecting us not to look like a mid table Championship team. I was expecting not to be living in petrified fear for the last 15 minutes when it looked like it was only a matter of time before they scored. But yes, I guess it will be a gradual thing and a clean sheet and win - at least on paper - can be assigned to progress, as long as our performance against Arsenal improves. Because it has to, drastically, in terms of the basics.

Fuck me you’re expecting a lot to change in the space of 3 days. 
The level we have dropped to will not change overnight. 
For me, the positives from last night:

- DCC was ok, first time I’ve had a proper look at him. I like his character at the back. 
- AMN is getting fitter, and showed signs of being a good enough midfielder for us. 
- Baz is growing in confidence, spilled a cross at the end but I’m confident he’s premier league quality. 
- We scored a really nice goal. 
- We limited the chances of a team that has been in good form. 
 

Green shoots? Maybe, maybe not. 

[DT]

11 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Fuck me you’re expecting a lot to change in the space of 3 days. 
The level we have dropped to will not change overnight. 
For me, the positives from last night:

- DCC was ok, first time I’ve had a proper look at him. I like his character at the back. 
- AMN is getting fitter, and showed signs of being a good enough midfielder for us. 
- Baz is growing in confidence, spilled a cross at the end but I’m confident he’s premier league quality. 
- We scored a really nice goal. 
- We limited the chances of a team that has been in good form. 
 

Green shoots? Maybe, maybe not. 

I sincerely hope you're right, and those were positives. I have my doubts though - we have had false dawns before after wins, and this one was very poor in terms of team unity/technique. And I think that could be improved with a new manager in charge.

[DT]

PS another positive was Lyanco, who has something about him. I hope we use him more. One tiny part of quality in the game, that turn, late on.

[saintwbu]

Gonna take a hell of a run from a very average squad to overturn last years terrible run of form, so personally not bothered by this ‘4 wins in 23 games’ or whatever it is people like to shout.

I see 11 points from 11 games from this new team - less than i’d have hoped, not the worst I could have imagined. Probably would’ve been a couple more if Lavia hadn’t got injured but that’s football. Sunday will be tough, but 3 points from the next 4 would put us in an okay position going into the World Cup break, anymore and i’d be happy, any less and i’d be concerned. 

[LaptopSaint]

 

Objectively, it's absurd how much we miss an 18 year old that most of us had never heard of before we signed him. But without Lavia's ability to play through the lines (yes, football hipsters, I speak your language) we had no way to relieve the pressure that a piss poor Bournemouth were putting on us. 

But let's face it, we just needed a win, and we got one. Even when it felt like we were under pressure and defending too deep, Bompey never looked like scoring. We were solid at the back, with ABK and Tino - two of the best young defenders in Europe - both coming back. 

It wasn't pretty, but there were some things to love. 

Che, and his all round performance. I only wish he'd taken out the TV camera, as well as their defender, when he ran straight at it. 

Perraud, and his impression of a Yorkshire terrier. Impressing me more and more now he's fit. 

Lyanco, for taking one full in the face, and then using a bit of Brazilian magic to get out of a tricky spot.

Adam Armstrong, for his ability to spin away from his man and run (but not, sadly, for his ability to figure out what to do next). 

AMN and DCC for fitting in well, looking up for it, and adding to our league-leading collection of double-barrelled names. 

Baz - for getting a well deserved first clean sheet in the league. He's the youngest first choice goalie in the Prem by how much? 

Still going to be a long season, and a bit of a struggle. COYR. 

 

 

 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Absolutely amazing how an ugly win can change perspectives. The manager has to be judged not on his last game but over a period of time. For me 2022 is a good benchmark to gauge him on and our appalling home record in that period. Yes we are all thankful we added 3 valuable points to our haul because we all know we are going to need them but the fact remains we are playing dreary negative football, we lose more than we win and aren’t really showing signs of an upturn anytime soon. A defeat in our next two matches will have all those making positive noises this morning gnashing their teeth again. We are going around in ever diminishing circles with this manager and the odd good result should not be allowed to camouflage the fact. 

[saintant]

14 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

 

Objectively, it's absurd how much we miss an 18 year old that most of us had never heard of before we signed him. But without Lavia's ability to play through the lines (yes, football hipsters, I speak your language) we had no way to relieve the pressure that a piss poor Bournemouth were putting on us. 

But let's face it, we just needed a win, and we got one. Even when it felt like we were under pressure and defending too deep, Bompey never looked like scoring. We were solid at the back, with ABK and Tino - two of the best young defenders in Europe - both coming back. 

It wasn't pretty, but there were some things to love. 

Che, and his all round performance. I only wish he'd taken out the TV camera, as well as their defender, when he ran straight at it. 

Perraud, and his impression of a Yorkshire terrier. Impressing me more and more now he's fit. 

Lyanco, for taking one full in the face, and then using a bit of Brazilian magic to get out of a tricky spot.

Adam Armstrong, for his ability to spin away from his man and run (but not, sadly, for his ability to figure out what to do next). 

AMN and DCC for fitting in well, looking up for it, and adding to our league-leading collection of double-barrelled names. 

Baz - for getting a well deserved first clean sheet in the league. He's the youngest first choice goalie in the Prem by how much? 

Still going to be a long season, and a bit of a struggle. COYR. 

 

 

 

Lavia or anyone else can't play through the lines unless the players looking to receive the ball take up positions between the lines. Not enough of our team do this and it's why we struggle to find the pockets of space the better sides operate in. Lavia was coached at Man City who are masters at playing between the lines. He is a great all round talent and his passing ability means that he will pick out players if they have the nous or they are properly coached to take up positions between the lines of the opposition defensive set up. It shouldn't be beyond the means of Ralph and his coaches to drill this into our players but, until they do, we'll continue with this dire football.

Edited 20 October, 2022 by saintant

[Totton Saint]

12 hours ago, danjosaint said:

Ralph still has too go, the tactics all wrong, about 70 mins in AA was just stood on his own while play went on around him, we dont need tp play 2 up top, 4231, 451 wouldve controlled midfield better, bournmouth had the most shots theyve had in epl this season, against better opposition we'd been hammered, we couldnt string 2 passes together, looked really disjointed again no cohesion, the club really need a fresh face in charge and Ralph also needs fresh change, were a really hard watch at the moment and if he remains in charge we will go down

[LuckyNumber7]

On 17/10/2022 at 12:30, DT said:

2-0 to Bournemouth. We'll say surely he should be sacked now. They won't sack him. And the cycle starts again. Pull your effing finger out, board.

 

On 19/10/2022 at 11:00, DT said:

Terrible performance. He has to go. Sorry, getting ahead of myself. 

 

1 hour ago, DT said:

I was expecting us to retain the ball much better, and not to just try and defend a 1-0 lead against a really bad Bournemouth team for most of the game. I was expecting JWP to be at least a shadow of his former self, although I guess the loss of his mainstay Romeu alongside him is partially why his game has dropped off. I was expecting the manager to at least instil a bit of fire at half time, but we came out as lackadaisical as ever and were lucky not to be punished. I expected Aribo to be played more centrally, and for his passing to be better than mine. I was expecting better passes in the last third, especially to players in better positions to score. I was expecting us not to look like a mid table Championship team. I was expecting not to be living in petrified fear for the last 15 minutes when it looked like it was only a matter of time before they scored. But yes, I guess it will be a gradual thing and a clean sheet and win - at least on paper - can be assigned to progress, as long as our performance against Arsenal improves. Because it has to, drastically, in terms of the basics.

Judging by your posts before the match you weren't expecting any of those things, but hey any excuse to moan and slag off Ralph...

I think we can all agree we weren't brilliant last night but neither were we as bad as some are making out. I'd love to see us playing attacking free flowing football and winning games 3-0 but realistically we don't have the players capable of that. Despite the number of shots Boscombe had I never felt that worried about them scoring and in the end thought we saw the game out quite comfortably. In fact we had the better chances to score again. And Bournemouth may be a bit crap but they were still unbeaten in their previous 6 games. 

I still think we need a change of manager but ffs enjoy the wins when they come. With or without a new manager we have a largely Championship standard squad so it could be a while before the next one.

[Totton Saint]

we did string Quite a few passes together. Look at the build up to Chez's goal for example. What sort of fan are you?

[Bad Wolf]

I agree that it's probably time for a change but Ralph clearly didn't get it all wrong because we won. If you're going to base things on the actual manner of the result rather than the result itself, would that not mean he got Everton right?

[LaptopSaint]

19 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

Absolutely amazing how an ugly win can change perspectives. The manager has to be judged not on his last game but over a period of time. For me 2022 is a good benchmark to gauge him on and our appalling home record in that period. Yes we are all thankful we added 3 valuable points to our haul because we all know we are going to need them but the fact remains we are playing dreary negative football, we lose more than we win and aren’t really showing signs of an upturn anytime soon. A defeat in our next two matches will have all those making positive noises this morning gnashing their teeth again. We are going around in ever diminishing circles with this manager and the odd good result should not be allowed to camouflage the fact. 

It hasn't changed my perspective at all. It's obvious we haven't been good enough over the course of 2022, and I think a new manager (if it's the right manager) would bring new ideas and give us a boost. But I'll support the players when they're on the pitch and give credit where credit is due. 

We've given nine new players first team debuts over the last 11 games, six of them aged 20 or under, and no one else in this league has done anything remotely similar with players that young. It will take a little time to settle, and the World Cup break will be brilliant for Saints. We could have an exciting future, and that fact shouldn't be camouflaged either. 

Edited 20 October, 2022 by LaptopSaint

[Andrew Watson]

Delighted to be proved wrong reference result. Not so happy the yellow bellies running the club, have a further get out of jail card,  with regards to sacking the manager.

[trousers]

10 minutes ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

Judging by your posts before the match you weren't expecting any of those things, but hey any excuse to moan and slag off Ralph...

I've stopped nibbling on his bait over the last few weeks in the hope that the lack of attention would curtail the incessant negativity routine but, alas, the dreary act continues unabated. Hey ho. 

[Totton Saint]

1 hour ago, Forester said:

Firstly a great effort from the Saints fans who created a good atmosphere.  Easy to forget how much this game means to Bournemouth fans which was evident around the stadium.  Very enjoyable walk back to the car!

Our defending is definitely an upgrade on last season and encouraging to see a clean sheet without Gavin having too much to do.   DCC did well, and thought that in front of him AMN gets better each game.  Four points a tidy return so far this week.  Still feel we need to eek out five or six points before World Cup 

I thought Salusi had a good game as did Pereu.

[Totton Saint]

12 hours ago, suewhistle said:

Some random thoughts, now I've been down to ageing parent in my village, checked on them, cheered them up and breathed a few beer fumes over them..

No doubt about MotM in Adams, some superb hold up play and took his goal really well. Some of our play in the first half in our defensive third was just inviting trouble: back, back, back and a little nick forward to JWP who always makes space but is sometimes under a load of pressure. Fortunately we improved as the game went on.

Although we were all worried (hand up the liar who wasn't..) we weren't in too much danger from a frankly poor Bournemouth side, and I really don't understand why they are above us. There was plenty of effort put in but a lack of confidence is still evident. MN and Perraud when they came off looked completely *ucked, which is both a good and a bad sign.

Towards the end we were in control, and although still worried here that was just the standard default for a Saints fan. Let's hope the 3 points gives us a bit of confidence.

 

 

 

I also noticed how tires Peraud looked as he came off. It was understandable. Played his socks off. 

[Super_Uwe]

All about the 3 points, a scrappy win will hopefully do the players' confidence good. 4 points from W Ham and Bournemouth exactly what we needed.

I really want us to do well under Ralph, I like the bloke. Just so frustrating that he struggles to put together a team with any sort of consistency.

[Convict Colony]

As wins go that was like getting a shag and impressing your mates after a dry spell but not telling them it was with miss piggy.

[Dman]

26 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I agree that it's probably time for a change but Ralph clearly didn't get it all wrong because we won. If you're going to base things on the actual manner of the result rather than the result itself, would that not mean he got Everton right?

Incredibly simplistic way of looking at things. 

We went to a back 5 very early on, despite looking relatively comfortable. We invited pressure and on another day, could have easily conceded. 

We battled well and that was great to see. Adams was fantastic and set the tone, but Bournemouth were very poor imo. It seemed the occasion got the better of them, they looked more interested in kicking us in the first half, than trying to get on the front foot. 

For me, we won in spite of Ralph rather than because of him. 

[Bad Wolf]

11 minutes ago, Dman said:

Incredibly simplistic way of looking at things. 

We went to a back 5 very early on, despite looking relatively comfortable. We invited pressure and on another day, could have easily conceded. 

We battled well and that was great to see. Adams was fantastic and set the tone, but Bournemouth were very poor imo. It seemed the occasion got the better of them, they looked more interested in kicking us in the first half, than trying to get on the front foot. 

For me, we won in spite of Ralph rather than because of him. 

That's because it is simplistic. The object of the game is to score more goals than the opposite. If you do that, you've got it right regardless of how close it is (not very on this occasion because I wasn't panicked once and I always fear the worst)

[eurosaint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

It is unreasonable to expect better than 15 points from 23 games with a succession of abject performances?

With 11 points from 11 games so far this season (with 10 new players) surely that is a sign of improvement over 4 points from 12 games at the end of last season ?

 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

With 11 points from 11 games so far this season (with 10 new players) surely that is a sign of improvement over 4 points from 12 games at the end of last season ?

 

The direction of travel is encouraging, but one swallow doesn’t make a decent pint of beer.

[The Cat]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

It is unreasonable to expect better than 15 points from 23 games with a succession of abject performances?

Why use that timeframe? I prefer to look at it as 4 points from 2 games which is Champions League qualification form.

[saintant]

56 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

we did string Quite a few passes together. Look at the build up to Chez's goal for example. What sort of fan are you?

Not been mentioned as far as I'm aware but AMN brought the ball out of defence and played a great ball to Elyounoussi in the build up to Che's goal.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Why use that timeframe? I prefer to look at it as 4 points from 2 games which is Champions League qualification form.

I did above. If you exclude the city game in our last 5 matches we’ve got a defensive record which would have been 3rd best in the league in 2021/22. Ralph has made us tougher to score against. We’re now on a great run

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

13 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

With 11 points from 11 games so far this season (with 10 new players) surely that is a sign of improvement over 4 points from 12 games at the end of last season ?

 

Apart from the odd half here or there, the performances have been some of the worse I have seen. Mind numbingly dreadful.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

17 minutes ago, eurosaint said:

With 11 points from 11 games so far this season (with 10 new players) surely that is a sign of improvement over 4 points from 12 games at the end of last season ?

 

“ Clutching at Straws” new single by the Ralph Cult Band”

[Bad Wolf]

5 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

“ Clutching at Straws” new single by the Ralph Cult Band”

How's that clutching at straws? It's factually correct. If you're going to use those kind of stats against him, why can't it be used for him?

[skintsaint]

Just now, Bad Wolf said:

How's that clutching at straws? It's factually correct. If you're going to use those kind of stats against him, why can't it be used for him?

Lies, damned lies and statistics. 

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, Convict Colony said:

As wins go that was like getting a shag and impressing your mates after a dry spell but not telling them it was with miss piggy.

To be fair to miss piggy; her form has been pretty decent of late so to get our proverbial leg over her, on her home patch and leave without any obvious rashes or itching should be applauded (quietly). 

Edited 20 October, 2022 by notnowcato

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Incredibly simplistic way of looking at things. 

We went to a back 5 very early on, despite looking relatively comfortable. We invited pressure and on another day, could have easily conceded. 

We battled well and that was great to see. Adams was fantastic and set the tone, but Bournemouth were very poor imo. It seemed the occasion got the better of them, they looked more interested in kicking us in the first half, than trying to get on the front foot. 

For me, we won in spite of Ralph rather than because of him. 

For the life of me I can’t think what you would write if Ralph had left the formation as it was and we’d conceded. 
 

You can’t have it both ways. 

Edited 20 October, 2022 by notnowcato

[Lighthouse]

Apart from Spurs and City, we’ve still had a result on the table going into stoppage time of every game. Generally speaking we’ve been competitive, if not pretty. Compared to last season’s 4-0 at Villa, 3-0 at Brentford, 4-1 at Leicester and that embarrassment at home to Chelsea we’ve certainly been better this season. Not great but better.

[Lord Duckhunter]

I thought it was a decent away performance against an in form team. Good tactical set up from Ralph & I liked the way we seemed to go a bit longer. The key to that was Che, who was outstanding, proper centre forward play. For once the substitutions were perfect and helped us see out the game (particularly SA). No complaints from me, proper performance. 

[Bad Wolf]

30 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Apart from Spurs and City, we’ve still had a result on the table going into stoppage time of every game. Generally speaking we’ve been competitive, if not pretty. Compared to last season’s 4-0 at Villa, 3-0 at Brentford, 4-1 at Leicester and that embarrassment at home to Chelsea we’ve certainly been better this season. Not great but better.

Nail.On.Head

[FarehamSaintJames]

It’s always the usual people on here that need to cheer the f*** up. 🙄😅