Saints 0-1 Forest - Match Thread

[Noodles34]

This is it, 3 points or Championship, simple as that! 

[Daft Kerplunk]

Massive match. 

I feel sorry for Nathan Jones. Signs today/yesterday that he is probably a decent manager but he’s joined a club that’s absolutely messed it up royally for too long. 

I hope Nathan keeps us up as he seems like a decent human being, but that Sports Republic then get rid of the current board and replace with people from at least a sport background, preferably football, fully review all of the departments and make cuts where nothing really happens, get rid of all those who block progress, make the club lean and focussed on being more ambitious and less satisfied with its averageness. 

[CityRanger]

Hopefully all our fans can get behind the manager and players in this difficult time  as that’s what’s going to make the difference. We know that from The Dell days, it’s about being united and everyone on the pitch and in the stands giving it 100 %. ( And 2/3 good signings won’t go amiss!)

[Convict Colony]

New year new opportunity.

I expect the players have decided this year we will be a mix of barcelona, real madrid and PSG and go on a run for the ages and we qualify for Champs league.

We easily stroll past forest and their 800 players, i expect a goal fest for us and can only see this ending 7-0.

Goalscorers:

Che 3

Edozie 2

JWP 1

Lavia 1

Edited 1 January, 2023 by Convict Colony

[Toussaint]

7 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

This is it, 3 points or Championship, simple as that! 

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

[JRM]

6 hours ago, CityRanger said:

Hopefully all our fans can get behind the manager and players in this difficult time  as that’s what’s going to make the difference. We know that from The Dell days, it’s about being united and everyone on the pitch and in the stands giving it 100 %. ( And 2/3 good signings won’t go amiss!)

Let's hope so, I think we will but if we go behind could change quickly. Forest have sold out full away end , obviously loads still available in home end but often best atmosphere isn't when sold out anyway. 

Will be interesting to watch Forest v Chelsea later 

[Dusic]

2 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

If we lose its going to be extremely difficult, not least as Forest would be 4 points ahead of us and possibly up to 7 if they were to beat Chelsea today. If that happens no way are we making up 7 points on them in the rest of the season.

Equally, its going to be tough to persuade anyone decent to move to us anyway, let alone if we are a few points adrift at the bottom and have lost 4/4 under a new manager, 3 of which were reasonable to oick up points in.

Its a must win. A bit like the game at Loftus Road in our first season back.

[wild-saint]

7 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

This is it, 3 points or Championship, simple as that! 

This post sums up the weak minded millennials. Apologies if you aren’t about 15 but you should stop acting like one. 
 

The older generation appreciate what is needed to get out of this hole. Back in the day it wasn’t considered a relegation battle until there were circa 10 ganes to go.

For what its worth i fancy us to win against Forest.

[Toussaint]

20 minutes ago, Dusic said:

If we lose its going to be extremely difficult, not least as Forest would be 4 points ahead of us and possibly up to 7 if they were to beat Chelsea today. If that happens no way are we making up 7 points on them in the rest of the season.

Equally, its going to be tough to persuade anyone decent to move to us anyway, let alone if we are a few points adrift at the bottom and have lost 4/4 under a new manager, 3 of which were reasonable to oick up points in.

Its a must win. A bit like the game at Loftus Road in our first season back.

I don’t know what stage of the season we played QPR, was it less than half way through the season and before a transfer window? 

[Noodles34]

24 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

This post sums up the weak minded millennials. Apologies if you aren’t about 15 but you should stop acting like one. 
 

The older generation appreciate what is needed to get out of this hole. Back in the day it wasn’t considered a relegation battle until there were circa 10 ganes to go.

For what its worth i fancy us to win against Forest.

54 mate. Yeah, in reflection you’re right, we’re not in trouble at all. 

[CB Fry]

46 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

If we lose we're down.

To be honest in this scenario Forest win and they are pretty likely to go down as well. Beating Saints will not define anyone else's season (in the same way that losing to Man City doesn't either). 

Personally I think a likely scenario is we win on Wednesday and still go down. Because we're very easily one of the worst three in the league. 

[CB Fry]

39 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

This post sums up the weak minded millennials. Apologies if you aren’t about 15 but you should stop acting like one. 
 

The older generation appreciate what is needed to get out of this hole. Back in the day it wasn’t considered a relegation battle until there were circa 10 ganes to go.

For what its worth i fancy us to win against Forest.

So "what is needed to get out of this hole" is to just say there's no relegation battle until Easter.

Oh I wish I was as wise and learned as you oh great noble elder.

[AlexLaw76]

56 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

What signs of improvement was there really?  We had a bit of commitment?  awesome.

We are now an ugly long ball side that still cannot get a point.  We are worse now than compared to when Ralph was here.  This entire Nathan Jones experiment is a waste of time. He wont be our manager next season.

Edited 1 January, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[Harry_SFC]

If we are going to go down the long ball route to keep us up then so be it. But we don't have the players for it ffs. You've got to adapt your game to suit what you've got at your disposal. It begs the question. Why was Jones brought in when the transfer policy differs to that of the managers style? 

[SotonianWill]

Did think we’d get smashed but now thinking 4-1 saints, similar to Brentford (H) last year. Will be a massive wtf moment. 

[Turkish]

59 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

This post sums up the weak minded millennials. Apologies if you aren’t about 15 but you should stop acting like one. 
 

The older generation appreciate what is needed to get out of this hole. Back in the day it wasn’t considered a relegation battle until there were circa 10 ganes to go.

For what its worth i fancy us to win against Forest.

Yeah we do as had it every season at the Dell.  Back then we had what it took, now we don’t. 

[kwsaint]

Back in the nineties we had players such as Jason Dodd, Franny Benali, Chris Marsden and MLT.  Players who would roll up their sleeves and get stuck in (apart from MLT and he scored the goals).  Not sure that we have the players now who would battle in the same way.  Heads seem to go down really quickly.  Really not hopeful that we will stay up.  We also played at the Dell and a lot of teams didnt like playing there.

[saintrich]

If Lavia is fit to start then we could see a switch to a back 4?

If we stick with 3 centre backs hopefully DCC will come in for Lyanco.

Stu in for Aribo sounds like a popular decision based on comments I've read about yesterdays game (I was working).

 

[Pamplemousse]

Obviously this is must win, mainly because Forest are easily one of the worst in the league. If we can't beat them, we've not got a chance against any one else.

I think we will win, same as we did against Bournemouth, we'll grind out a narrow win.

[Harry_SFC]

Bazunu; KWP, DCC, ABK, Perraud; Lavia, JWP, Elyounoussi; Stu, Edozie, Adams.

[saint lard]

Searching for one positive….it’s all a bit more exciting than mid table mediocrity. 
reminds of the old days. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Turkish]

52 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

If we lose we're down.

To be honest in this scenario Forest win and they are pretty likely to go down as well. Beating Saints will not define anyone else's season (in the same way that losing to Man City doesn't either). 

Personally I think a likely scenario is we win on Wednesday and still go down. Because we're very easily one of the worst three in the league. 

I don’t think this lot have it in them to win must win games. No real leadership or character on the pitch. As soon as the going gets tough this lot melt like an ice cube on a sunbed. 

[alehouseboys]

I think they've only picked up a couple of points on the road so we really need to be getting something out of this fixture but feel it's a point at best for us.

They'll see this as real possibility for a first PL away win, 3k of their fans will be expectant and well up for it and as usual dominate the support inside St Mary's. Could be a long night.

 

[SotonianWill]

1 minute ago, alehouseboys said:

I think they've only picked up a couple of points on the road so we really need to be getting something out of this fixture but feel it's a point at best for us.

They'll see this as real possibility for a first PL away win, 3k of their fans will be expectant and well up for it and as usual dominate the support inside St Mary's. Could be a long night.

 

It’s alright guys they’ve only scored one away goal all season, should be a piece of piss

[Archers Road Stand]

They've scored 1 away goal all season. 

I'm sure they'll at least double that against our bunch of losers. 

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, Archers Road Stand said:

They've scored 1 away goal all season. 

I'm sure they'll at least double that against our bunch of losers. 

what player have they got who is struggling for goals?  Lingard? Johnson?

Get your 50p's on them scoring

[SNSUN]

Baz, DCC, ABK, Salisu, AMN, JWP, Lavia, KWP, Stu, Edozie, Adams.

 

One match does not a season make but it is looking like we could get cut adrift if we don't win this. Thankfully there is a lot of other crud in this league so we aren't far off mid table yet... what we are lacking is 3 worse teams than us presently. We're far from doomed yet but we need to get form and consistency to stay up. Turn losses into draws, turn draws into wins. Simples. 😁

 

It still "feels" like a relegation season but the fact that we're already bottom means there's only one direction to worry about. We just need injured players back and to stay fit then to plug the holes in the squad with signings. 

 

Despite Forest signing a million players they'll still beatable. Defo a six pointer at this early stage.

[badgerx16]

8 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

It’s alright guys they’ve only scored one away goal all season, should be a piece of piss

 

8 minutes ago, Archers Road Stand said:

They've scored 1 away goal all season. 

I'm sure they'll at least double that against our bunch of losers. 

Thing is with our attack, if Forest score 1 they probably won't lose.

[Mr Saints]

Only 3 points will do.

So we’ll draw 1 all after going 1 up.

[Saint Fan CaM]

However much hope there is for a win, the simple fact of the matter is that this team has been incapable of getting a much needed positive result for months. Reckon on a 1-2 loss.

 

[Saint Garrett]

I’m assuming our new striker will start…cos we’ve had 4 months to sign one…

Lavia has to start. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

Guarantee our first signing (if we make one) will be a bang average loan player and they’ll join in the last week of the window. 😅

The Southampton Way

A draw for us at best. I don’t see where another win will come from this season.

[Roboze]

2 hours ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

THIS! if you support the club, SUPPORT it, we are where we are, no one has done this on purpose! up the Saints (at least 3 places) 💪

[Mr X]

Unless our magic dragan is prepared to bankroll our survival by buying pretty much a whole new team bar one or two we are destined for the championship we need more than a new striker, who's going to provide the support and assists? as our players certainly aren't going to be on the wavelength of any quality striker 

[SotonianWill]

1 minute ago, Mr X said:

Unless our magic dragan is prepared to bankroll our survival by buying pretty much a whole new team bar one or two we are destined for the championship we need more than a new striker, who's going to provide the support and assists? as our players certainly aren't going to be on the wavelength of any quality striker 

We need a whole new spine of a team. 20 million each realistically to stay up so around 60 million so won’t happen

[saintant]

Looks like a low scoring draw at best to me.

[FarehamSaintJames]

We don’t do must win games.

We just randomly beat a top six side at the most bizarre moment.

[AlexLaw76]

My team...433

McCarthy (highly unlikely I know, but Bazunu is terrible)

KwP

DCC

ABK

Perraud

Lavia

JwP

Mo

Stu

Edozie

Adams

[Micky]

Nothing I have seen over the last 12 months or so would lead me to think that we could win this game.  I honestly fail to remember the last time that I was confident of getting a result, fully expecting them to blow this one as well. 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

3 hours ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

No one is giving up, more a case of preparing ourselves mentally for what is becoming more likely with every passing game. The last time we were relegated from the PL we had a better record after the same number of games and back then we were on our third manager. 

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, Toussaint said:

It’s a very important game, but it’s not the end if we lose. There were big signs of improvement yesterday, we still have the transfer window to come,  NJ still has work to do to impose his style and there are still  20 games to go after Forest. 
 

I understand the despondency but it’s too soon to give up. 

I don't think people are giving up, we all go into a game with the ill-judged hope that we win it and play well - but the reality tells us otherwise. This isn't just a bad run of form over a few months, this is years of complete and utter trash.

Going by the league table of last year (of all 92 clubs) our players have certainly given up. At least we're not Crewe I guess.

[Eric The Red]

It's a really important game, because not only are Forest one of the (relatively few) teams we can realistically finish above at the end of the season but also because the improved performance from yesterday needs to be followed up with some actual points before we do look like we're adrift.

BTW I think a draw would be disappointing but not disastrous. The QPR game mentioned above was an Autumn game, a more relevant game was the one home to Brighton in January 18, we were in in the relegation zone and battled to a 1-1 draw against one of our main relegation rivals. As I was leaving I heard more than 1 person say, "that's it we're surely relegated". If the same thing happens on Wednesday people would be wrong to think that again, nothing will be decided on Wednesday but we do need to show we're up for the fight and start picking up points sooner rather than later.

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

No one is giving up, more a case of preparing ourselves mentally for what is becoming more likely with every passing game. The last time we were relegated from the PL we had a better record after the same number of games and back then we were on our third manager. 

 

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't think people are giving up, we all go into a game with the ill-judged hope that we win it and play well - but the reality tells us otherwise. This isn't just a bad run of form over a few months, this is years of complete and utter trash.

Going by the league table of last year (of all 92 clubs) our players have certainly given up. At least we're not Crewe I guess.

The giving up part was in direct response to tho OPs statement “3 points against Forest or it’s the championship” I can see our problems as well as the next supporter, I just think it’s too early to call game over if we don’t beat Forest. 

[derry]

I've noticed with the Saints centrebacks, none of them are good in the air, so we rarely attack the one on one situations. Head the ball up in the air ok but don't dominate in the air. Lyanco is particularly poor, no idea at all.  He lacks anticipation and gives too many fouls away. 

Adams needs to get some proper coaching because he has no idea how to take on a goalkeeper one on one. Tella on the other hand the other night showed the way and was under pressure from two defenders and the goalkeeper. His decision making was superb. How many times have we seen Adams one on one with the keeper coming in from the left in a straight line straight towards the advancing keeper and just hitting and no hoping. Tella on the other hand cut across the first defender and made for the penalty area D, that brought him closer to the other defender trying to get back and changed the whole angle for the keeper. The Goalkeeper coming out fast instead of shooting he took it closer to the keeper, feinted to shoot which squared up the keeper and while the keeper was off balance hit it into the corner. Tella by cutting in gave the goalkeeper a much more difficult option as he opened up the whole goal but Adams allows the goalkeeper to dictate by running straight.

We were better yesterday without it being our best team. Bazunu had no chance with either goal and if the hopeless Lyanco hadn't been so stupid wouldn't have given away the penalty which he saved. For those talking about McCarthy, firstly I've never seen him save a penalty let alone go the right way, secondly he is abysmal on his near post. Not for me, I'm surprised he wasn't let go and Forster kept on a new contract.

 

[Miltonaggro]

Battle of the Welsh managerial giants. Will be tighter than Brighton and Fulham between two of the weakest sides in the division. Likely 1-1 or 1-0 either way, perfect ad for the Championship.

[InvictaSaint]

In case of interest....taken from one of my fave sites: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premier-league/. Column with amber shading represents likelihood of relegation at current point.

 

Edited 1 January, 2023 by InvictaSaint

[niceandfriendly]

6 hours ago, wild-saint said:

This post sums up the weak minded millennials. Apologies if you aren’t about 15 but you should stop acting like one. 

Millennials are now aged between 26-41. A 15 year old in 2023 is from Gen Z. 

You're right about knowing what's needed to get out of this hole though. Sadly, we don't have it.

PS. Not 15 either

Edited 1 January, 2023 by niceandfriendly

[whelk]

It is not a generational thing believing whether we will be relegated or not. 

There is the feeble mindset that think it is always going to happen.
Then there is the stupidly optimistic who have faith based on very little.

Then there is majority of rational fans who can see we are on the path to relegation this season unless some massive upturn of which there are currently no signs of that happening.

[LGTL]

Utterly pointless thinking about how big a game this is when you just know NJ will go with Lyanco, change the formation 800 times and lose to a soft goal. 
 

Our bunch of losers don’t have a big game in them. 

[sfc4prem]

Just praying on some luck that sees one or two of our shots deflected massively into the back of the Forest net.

We are owed a win by these players. Just imagine getting paid 60k a week to be shite.