Southampton 0-1 Newcastle League Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

[Pamplemousse]

Personally I think Perraud has been one of our more consistent performers this season. I'd rather have him at full back than Lyanco

[Chez]

6 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

You voiced your negative opinion of him shortly after he arrived, and you've felt the need to do it again and again and again in your torrent of posts. It's like you have this need to prove yourself right all the time. Give it a rest.

Perraud is actually not "incredibly slow" - he's quite fast and skillful getting forward but his big problem is that he's infuriatingly slow getting back. That's coachable because you can't be fast heading north and slow heading south.

His value to me is that he's a left-footed LB, which gives us some defensive balance. We didn't have that today, which caused Salisu to be heroic in covering acres of space. Oršić gave him virtually no help at all. Extremely disappointing.

My fear is that we will not turn the corner until Jones plays a regular back four, powers-up in midfield, and gets the ball forward faster. But I don't think he will because he's besotted with playing three central defenders. And then, to make matters worse, he wants Bazunu to play it out to them even when they're ill-placed to receive it. If we're lucky, they scramble it back to him, and then he does what he should have done in the first place if the pass isn't on - hit it long.

 

If people stop posting bullshit like "he's quite fast" I'll stop responding.

[rooney]

Could not complain about  the effort and we have become a lot tougher. Alcatraz looked quality and it was a shame Adams missed his usual golden chance again. I thought Newcastle edged it though.

[woodsaint1]

20 minutes ago, Chez said:

Lol? What are you, like 12?

You are absolutely right, height is not the be all at fullback, especially if you have other qualities. Ah. I'll rephrase, he's too small for Jones. He says we need extra height (because the team is full of non heading midgets). 

Bednarek scored 4 goals last season. I rest my case. 

I like him. He tries hard. But he is not of a good enough standard to elevate our game. He's cover at best.

Im 13 actually.

And Salisu at LB or Lyanco at RB is going to elevate our game? Square pegs in round holes. A left back who who has contributed to nearly a quarter of our total PL goals this season, but hes cover at best 😂

Righteo we'll agree to disagree

[woodsaint1]

6 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

You voiced your negative opinion of him shortly after he arrived, and you've felt the need to do it again and again and again in your torrent of posts. It's like you have this need to prove yourself right all the time. Give it a rest.

Perraud is actually not "incredibly slow" - he's quite fast and skillful getting forward but his big problem is that he's infuriatingly slow getting back. That's coachable because you can't be fast heading north and slow heading south.

His value to me is that he's a left-footed LB, which gives us some defensive balance. We didn't have that today, which caused Salisu to be heroic in covering acres of space. Oršić gave him virtually no help at all. Extremely disappointing.

My fear is that we will not turn the corner until Jones plays a regular back four, powers-up in midfield, and gets the ball forward faster. But I don't think he will because he's besotted with playing three central defenders. And then, to make matters worse, he wants Bazunu to play it out to them even when they're ill-placed to receive it. If we're lucky, they scramble it back to him, and then he does what he should have done in the first place if the pass isn't on - hit it long.

 

He just hates the French

[John Boy Saint]

5 hours ago, Graffito said:

The Newcastle players celebrating with their supporters at the end. They think they’re through. I trust that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Saints’ players and coaches. It’s only half time. Better teams than Newcastle have fucked up when the pressures on.

 

Sorry to say we are not smart enough to notice that from them. 

We are a soft fluffy puppy and too damn polite,  2 games running we have seen 2 VAR decisions go against us, both seemingly following, what I don’t like in the game, harassing the referee by the opposition players en masse. Your sitting there thinking come on Prowsey or anyone get into that conversation and break up the one way flow of words into the refs ear. You watch the opposition players when one of theirs commits a “crime” they are all around him trying to change the subject. Pope on Djenepo if that was Che on Burn anywhere on the pitch Che would have been pulled up - that was reckless play that ultimately forced a substitution upon us - where were the Saints players in the refs ears nowhere. Like I say I don’t like it but just about every other team is playing the get at the ref card. That Trippier free kick at the end must have taken 4 minutes to be taken and even after the ref had blown they still dicked about.

Last night walking away from the ground - I felt no emotion whatsoever, which for someone who has been going for 45 years through thick and thin is pretty telling.
 

 
 

 

 

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Im 13 actually.

And Salisu at LB or Lyanco at RB is going to elevate our game? Square pegs in round holes. A left back who who has contributed to nearly a quarter of our total PL goals this season, but hes cover at best 😂

Righteo we'll agree to disagree

Sounds good. Have a good one.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Well that’s going to just delay the inevitable pain - we’ll all feel a sense of hope that we can score at St. James but of we won’t. Not great CC getting a red card - thank goodness for Janna B! 🤣 

The key disappointment for me was the two big chances Che once again messed up. We can’t score and when an opposing player puts it in, VAR rules it out…so predictable!

Still need (a) a proven striker, (b) better off ball movement- too many statues and (c) better passing routines in transition.

[trousers]

45 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

We are a soft fluffy puppy and too damn polite,  2 games running we have seen 2 VAR decisions go against us, both seemingly following, what I don’t like in the game, harassing the referee by the opposition players en masse. Your sitting there thinking come on Prowsey or anyone get into that conversation and break up the one way flow of words into the refs ear. You watch the opposition players when one of theirs commits a “crime” they are all around him trying to change the subject. Pope on Djenepo if that was Che on Burn anywhere on the pitch Che would have been pulled up - that was reckless play that ultimately forced a substitution upon us - where were the Saints players in the refs ears nowhere. Like I say I don’t like it but just about every other team is playing the get at the ref card. That Trippier free kick at the end must have taken 4 minutes to be taken and even after the ref had blown they still dicked about.

 

I've been highlighting this for years. It seems we're the only team in the land that doesn't hound the ref over debatable decisions. Name another team that doesn't do this?

I'm not saying I like it... In fact, quite the opposite - I wish refs would book every player who confronts him (other than the captains who are the only players on the pitch entitled to do so?) - but given every team does it, why not us? 

I do have a vague memory of Ralph saying once upon a time that he doesn't like his players confronting the referee and explicitly instructed them not to do so. However, you'd have thought Jones would be the type of manager to instill the opposite behaviour in is players given I believe he's intimated that he wants to make us a more 'nastier' side? Maybe being 'too nice' is so engrained in our players' behaviour that they can't easily change?

I also appreciate there's an argument which says that getting in the refs face doesn't actually influence their decision making nor alter the course of the game, but given the refs are human (well, most of them...) I would argue that they are open to persuasion, subconsciously or otherwise. 

Edited 25 January, 2023 by trousers

[Saint Fan CaM]

8 hours ago, saintant said:

I think Mara has a very bright future but he is not anywhere near to being he finished product. Got to hope he's a quick learner because I see real talent there.

My issue with Mara is he’s too isolated - his excellent goal against City came from good positional sense and an excellent assist…how often do we see that happening? He can’t go past 5 players especially Newcastle’s defence, but that’s what Jones expects him to do it seems!

[Mr X]

JWP wasn't involved in the game enough apart from the final ten minutes... Unfortunately we rely on him almost 100% to create chances for the striker to miss or win free kicks 

[Chez]

1 minute ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

My issue with Mara is he’s too isolated - his excellent goal against City came from good positional sense and an excellent assist…how often do we see that happening? He can’t go past 5 players especially Newcastle’s defence, but that’s what Jones expects him to do it seems!

Yep, he was too isolated last night (and forced to try to beat several players) because Newcastle dominated, forcing the rest of the side back and creating a big gap between midfield and striker.  

The key is for players to be brave, keep possession and dominate opponents ourselves. Tough to do, but Lavia and Alcarez might help a little in the remains games.

[Whitey Grandad]

16 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Well that’s going to just delay the inevitable pain - we’ll all feel a sense of hope that we can score at St. James but of we won’t. Not great CC getting a red card - thank goodness for Janna B! 🤣 

The key disappointment for me was the two big chances Che once again messed up. We can’t score and when an opposing player puts it in, VAR rules it out…so predictable!

Still need (a) a proven striker, (b) better off ball movement- too many statues and (c) better passing routines in transition.

Two yellows is a one match ban so he will sit out Blackpool and should be available for Tuesday. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

Yep, he was too isolated last night (and forced to try to beat several players) because Newcastle dominated, forcing the rest of the side back and creating a big gap between midfield and striker.  

The key is for players to be brave, keep possession and dominate opponents ourselves. Tough to do, but Lavia and Alcarez might help a little in the remains games.

Agreed, so I was surprised (once again) to see Jones not starting Alcarez with Lavia - to my mind a much more dynamic pairing especially at home. But Jones seems to like playing on the back foot and chasing a game.

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 minute ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Two yellows is a one match ban so he will sit out Blackpool and should be available for Tuesday. 

Thanks - I was not so sure of what games he’d miss.

[JRM]

23 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Two yellows is a one match ban so he will sit out Blackpool and should be available for Tuesday. 

There was something about suspensions being competition specific? 

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

Overall I didn't come away too disappointed. Newcastle have won a lot of games this season by doing exactly what they did to us, so we can't take it too hard. I did think we genuinely looked like an improved side. Alcaraz looked very good, took the ball nicely on the turn a few times and seemed to be progressive with his passing and movement. Not sure he gave Diallo the most support at times but Diallo actually had one of his better games for us I thought, just didn't quite have the composure needed for some more intricate passes.

We did lack on the left side at times. Salisu seemed limited at left back, did an alright job tracking Almiron but was getting no help from Orsic who had a poor game. I'd like us to start a more attacking left back with him soon to see how they pair up (e.g. Perraud on the overlap).

They had multiple chances from cut backs so their goal did look inevitable, we never seemed to be tracking Joelinton and Willock.

Adams had the best chance by far and did exactly what we all expect of him by hitting it hard and hoping. I did think, would I rather that chance fell to Mara but I suspect he would have been offside...

There seemed to be some discontent towards the end that we weren't going all guns blazing for a goal (especially bringing on Janny B when DCC was sent off) but I think going into the away leg only 1-0 down isn't the end of the world.

We so obviously need a striker who can actually put the ball away. A more accomplished finisher than Adams or Armstrong and we're 2-1 up going into the second leg.

Final thing to note, Aribo seems to have fallen out of the squad entirely now. 

[eurosaint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

If people stop posting bullshit like "he's quite fast" I'll stop responding.

"He's quite fast" !

[Saintscummer]

I thought we played well. Everyone can see our confidence is shot. I thought Diallo had a blinder and appears to be getting better each game. Mara was really good and if only Che had composure for that chance. 
 

KWP is far better on the right and Perraud will be on the left. It gives balance to the team. 
 

the Defence is important icing all the time too. Alcatraz was excellent and the through ball to Che was superb. Luck will come and it will be tough but if I compare that to the Forest game I see improvement. 
 

fingers crossed we can but a forward. I honestly don’t think anyone else could do more with this squad and the confidence than what NJ is doing. 
 

it’s hard not feeling sorry for ourselves at the moment as our home luck is just not happening. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

9 minutes ago, Saintscummer said:

I thought we played well. Everyone can see our confidence is shot. I thought Diallo had a blinder and appears to be getting better each game. Mara was really good and if only Che had composure for that chance. 
 

KWP is far better on the right and Perraud will be on the left. It gives balance to the team. 
 

the Defence is important icing all the time too. Alcatraz was excellent and the through ball to Che was superb. Luck will come and it will be tough but if I compare that to the Forest game I see improvement. 
 

fingers crossed we can but a forward. I honestly don’t think anyone else could do more with this squad and the confidence than what NJ is doing. 
 

it’s hard not feeling sorry for ourselves at the moment as our home luck is just not happening. 

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

[macca155]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

That's a tad unfair. Diallo had a good game. He constantly broke up play and for once passed to our side. Certainly not a blinder but definitely an improvement.

[warsash saint]

1 hour ago, John Boy Saint said:

Sorry to say we are not smart enough to notice that from them. 

We are a soft fluffy puppy and too damn polite,  2 games running we have seen 2 VAR decisions go against us, both seemingly following, what I don’t like in the game, harassing the referee by the opposition players en masse. Your sitting there thinking come on Prowsey or anyone get into that conversation and break up the one way flow of words into the refs ear. You watch the opposition players when one of theirs commits a “crime” they are all around him trying to change the subject. Pope on Djenepo if that was Che on Burn anywhere on the pitch Che would have been pulled up - that was reckless play that ultimately forced a substitution upon us - where were the Saints players in the refs ears nowhere. Like I say I don’t like it but just about every other team is playing the get at the ref card. That Trippier free kick at the end must have taken 4 minutes to be taken and even after the ref had blown they still dicked about.

Last night walking away from the ground - I felt no emotion whatsoever, which for someone who has been going for 45 years through thick and thin is pretty telling.
 

 
 

 

 

Not one Saints player in the ear of the ref after Pope's challenge on Djenpo!  JWP just standing there .... you just know if the other way round all the Newcastle players would have been surrounding that twat Atwell demanding a sending off! 

[LuckyNumber7]

Got back late last night so not read much on here or seen highlights but just a few thoughts.

In the first half we were poor and could barely string two passes together, and time and time again Newcastle seemed to have an overload on our left hand side and were cutting through us far too easily. Not sure why their goal was disallowed but we were lucky to be goalless at HT.

Much improved second half, was nice to see us come out and actually have a bit of a go at them and they kept gifting us back the ball for fun, as we were in the first half. But we really needed to make it count when we were on top, unfortunately it was the same old story with Che unable to score in a brothel. Armstrong actually looked lively and made a decent impact. Again not seen any replay of the disallowed goal but those few minutes where they scored and then ours was chalked off changed the game and all our belief drained away, an all too familiar feeling. Once DCC was sent off it was game over and just trying to keep it at 0-1.

Charly was the big positive, think he will be a very good player for us. Orsic looked a bit lost, hopefully just needs a bit of time to adapt to the faster pace of the English game.

Only one goal conceded again (although they did miss a few sitters) and it does feel like we're getting harder to break down. Sadly we just don't have anything like the quality Newcastle do but I thought we gave it a good go and at least are still in with a small chance.

SFC, PLEASE sign a striker!

[macca155]

59 minutes ago, Mr X said:

JWP wasn't involved in the game enough apart from the final ten minutes... Unfortunately we rely on him almost 100% to create chances for the striker to miss or win free kicks 

He wasn't as involved as Howe ensured the ball was kept well away from him. They ruthlessly attacked where he wasn't. or ran at pace past him.

Yet again Howe's strategy us way above our managers.

[Saintscummer]

9 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Then no big deal but we disagree. I thought he was by far our best player. Read the game well and was always on the front foot. Had a few missed placed passes but easily his best game for us. 

[OldNick]

7 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Anyone surprised that Pope wasn't penalized for charging out and going through Djenepo.

No doubt Baz would have got a red for that...

I thought that even if it was an innocent tackle that putting an opponent in danger was a sending off offence. He should have been sent off

Sky made nothing of it, having 2 Newcastle pundits didnt help. Frannie is too nice, he didnt really fight our corner, no aggression in the studio like he did on the pitch. No passion at all IMO, he is a massive Saints fan but was far too meek in his assessment with Given and Ferdinand giving it big. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Saintscummer said:

Then no big deal but we disagree. I thought he was by far our best player. Read the game well and was always on the front foot. Had a few missed placed passes but easily his best game for us. 

No worries! Game of opinions! 

[Sfcphilc]

26 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Don't know what game you were watching but he was excellent last night. Broke up the play at least 5 times in the centre of the pitch, one of his best games for us so far.

[Give it to Ron]

25 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Think it was you not watching he played well last night.

Only towards end when he was trying to force it he gave away.

Broke up read it well and kept it moving.

Another to agree to disagree with

[austsaint]

12 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Have to challenge you on that assessment.  Diallo had a very good game - one of his best since joining the Club.   Broke up play; tackled and harassed; carried the ball forward with pace and his passing was much better tonight.     Even so, thought he was the second best Saints midfielder on the pitch as Alcaraz stamped himself as a talent - ready made attacking midfielder with run, good vision, touch  and passing and clearly has an eye for goal.  His performance was one of the positives from the defeat.    Not so impressive was Orsic - I suppose he needs to be given time but looked all at sea - replacing him with Edozie was the right decision.    Very pleased for Adam Armstrong tonight - was a handful wide right, with incisive runs and good link up play; a shame there was clear hand contact in the lead up to his goal.

Newcastle just looked a superior attacking unit most of the night and the arrival of Saint-Maximin and Isak highlighted their edge.   Good second half from Saints though - there's still a flicker of hope left in this season - especially if a long awaited/needed striker arrives

[Fan The Flames]

Yeah I thought Diallo was good last night.

Orsic look fast but rarely beat his man, may just need time to adjust.

[OldNick]

1 minute ago, Fan The Flames said:

Yeah I thought Diallo was good last night.

Orsic look fast but rarely beat his man, may just need time to adjust.

Trippier had him in his pocket and thought we should swap the wingers, put Moussa across and he may have caused  Trippier more problems

[OldNick]

Jacob Ramsey is now added to the list of players I detest. He should have been booked how he waved off Carr. He was not only doing it to Carr but us

[Charlie Wayman]

10 hours ago, Chez said:

Worse than Ely. Total non entity. He ain't saving us that's for sure. 

Bloody hell! This was only his first game. Give it a break.

[wild-saint]

40 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Another one to add to the "hasnt got a fucking clue" list. 

Diallo has improved the more consistent game time he has played. Goes to show some of the players that have largely been discarded as not good enough have improved with regular minutes. 

Alongside Alcaraz he was responsible for the defensive side of the game, breaking up play, winning the loose ball, interceptions, tackles in the middle and did it well. Towards the end he seemed to get tired and sprayed a few loose balls but overall i thought he played well. Lets hope he maintains that form over the rest of the season. 

 

[Appy]

6 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Jacob Ramsey is now added to the list of players I detest. He should have been booked how he waved off Carr. He was not only doing it to Carr but us

I was more annoyed with him being fouled for the disallowed goal on Saturday.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

10 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Jacob Ramsey is now added to the list of players I detest. He should have been booked how he waved off Carr. He was not only doing it to Carr but us

Before you despatch the assassination squad............. it was Murphy

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

Another one to add to the "hasnt got a fucking clue" list. 

Diallo has improved the more consistent game time he has played. Goes to show some of the players that have largely been discarded as not good enough have improved with regular minutes. 

Alongside Alcaraz he was responsible for the defensive side of the game, breaking up play, winning the loose ball, interceptions, tackles in the middle and did it well. Towards the end he seemed to get tired and sprayed a few loose balls but overall i thought he played well. Lets hope he maintains that form over the rest of the season. 

 

Hasn't got a fucking clue list? Like i said above, game is about opinions, you have your one, I have mine. 

Football and discussion boards would be pretty shit if everyone agreed all the time.

 

 

[saintwbu]

If someone showed you a video of Diallo’s ball winning last night only, you’d have thought he was the best CDM in the league, it was superb. But he still gave the ball so often, which is why some won’t have seen him as having a good game. If he could be more decisive on the ball, he’d be a great asset to us. He has always shown glimpses of being a real good player. 

[Chewy]

Post match thoughts

Uninspiring debut by Orsic but isolated (no support from Salisu who isn’t a left back) and up against Trippier so not going to write him off just yet.

Excellent full debut from Alcaraz - did well to last the 90, especially with a yellow card (his only real mistake).

Thought Diablo did quite well until he lost all passing ability with about 10 minutes left.

Djenepo was awful, KWP had pretty much his worst 30 mins in a saints shirt at the start (not helped by Djenepo being awful in front of him and Lyanco being awful next to him). Lyanco can’t play centre back (kept being sucked in and turned), DCC had no option but to take chances on those challenges due to errors by Salisu and Diallo respectively.  
And our front line is sh1t … but we know that. Mara was ok but isolated, Edozie doesn’t convince me - beats a man occasionally but little end product although he’s young and raw still. Armstrong looked really lively, though. Less said about Adams the better.

I am encouraged by the prospect of a midfield three of JWP, Lavia and Alcaraz for the rest of the season - they have awareness, energy, composure and technique. They’ll help us control games between now and May.

Unfortunately they’ll all be sold in June when we’re relegated because we haven’t signed a striker. 

 

[Appy]

Personally I thought what Murphy did was pretty funny, roles reversed we’d be lapping it up. 

[saintant]

8 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Anyone surprised that Pope wasn't penalized for charging out and going through Djenepo.

No doubt Baz would have got a red for that...

Disgrace that. It was dangerous play and an outfield player doing it would have conceded a free kick and been booked as a minimum. Referee bottled that by not even awarding a free kick.

[austsaint]

16 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Jacob Ramsey is now added to the list of players I detest. He should have been booked how he waved off Carr. He was not only doing it to Carr but us

Yes, that was a low act by Murphy.  He's high up on my list of complete wankers.

[Harry_SFC]

27 minutes ago, Sfcphilc said:

Don't know what game you were watching but he was excellent last night. Broke up the play at least 5 times in the centre of the pitch, one of his best games for us so far.

I've been a big critic of Diallo but he had a very good game last night. His passing was a bit wayward (as usual) but off the ball he was as good as I've seen him so far. Hopefully he builds on that because he's been so inconsistent.

[whelk]

3 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

I've been a big critic of Diallo but he had a very good game last night. His passing was a bit wayward (as usual) but off the ball he was as good as I've seen him so far. Hopefully he builds on that because he's been so inconsistent.

Passing wayward is not a minor issue when playing that role

[whelk]

Does anyone know if any of the bare chested twats ended up in the General with hypothermia?

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan said:

Overall I didn't come away too disappointed. Newcastle have won a lot of games this season by doing exactly what they did to us, so we can't take it too hard. I did think we genuinely looked like an improved side. Alcaraz looked very good, took the ball nicely on the turn a few times and seemed to be progressive with his passing and movement. Not sure he gave Diallo the most support at times but Diallo actually had one of his better games for us I thought, just didn't quite have the composure needed for some more intricate passes.

We did lack on the left side at times. Salisu seemed limited at left back, did an alright job tracking Almiron but was getting no help from Orsic who had a poor game. I'd like us to start a more attacking left back with him soon to see how they pair up (e.g. Perraud on the overlap).

They had multiple chances from cut backs so their goal did look inevitable, we never seemed to be tracking Joelinton and Willock.

Adams had the best chance by far and did exactly what we all expect of him by hitting it hard and hoping. I did think, would I rather that chance fell to Mara but I suspect he would have been offside...

There seemed to be some discontent towards the end that we weren't going all guns blazing for a goal (especially bringing on Janny B when DCC was sent off) but I think going into the away leg only 1-0 down isn't the end of the world.

We so obviously need a striker who can actually put the ball away. A more accomplished finisher than Adams or Armstrong and we're 2-1 up going into the second leg.

Final thing to note, Aribo seems to have fallen out of the squad entirely now. 

You can't just count our misses when you say we could have gone into the second leg 2-1 up - if you include Newcastle's misses they'd probably be going into next week about 5-2 up.

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Diallo had a blinder?? Not sure what you were watching, but he was awful. Broke the play up on the odd occasion, passing was absolutely woeful. He sums us up at the moment, limited player in a limited team, playing for a limited manager. 

Diallo was not awful last night, he was actually very good. Think you weren't actually watching last night but just going on past performances. I was expecting him to be poor and was distinctly annoyed when he was named ahead of Lavia, but he surprised me.

[VectisSaint]

16 minutes ago, Appy said:

Personally I thought what Murphy did was pretty funny, roles reversed we’d be lapping it up. 

Surprised, but relieved, that CC did not lump him. 

[saintant]

58 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

Not one Saints player in the ear of the ref after Pope's challenge on Djenpo!  JWP just standing there .... you just know if the other way round all the Newcastle players would have been surrounding that twat Atwell demanding a sending off! 

Not only surrounding the ref, our players should have been squaring up to Pope and letting him know what they thought of that reckless challenge - imagine what the Newcastle players would have done if one of their's got clattered like that - look how they reacted when Bruno got a few digs that were minor in comparison. We are just not nasty enough and so get bullied.