Stoke 0-1 Saints - Match Thread

[sfc4prem]

What a free kick from Stu, technique brilliant - curling away with pace

[Saint Fan CaM]

Just now, Saint86 said:

That was a second foul on sulemana by the booked Hoover just before half time. Ref bottled that big time.

There’s a lot of football between half and full time. If they’ve got any sense they’ll be getting Sully running relentlessly at Hoover who’s clearly gonna get ‘suckered’ into another yellow. 
 

I’ll get me coat. 🤪

[whelk]

5 minutes ago, trousers said:

Yep, he sucks...

For me the biggest disappointment of that half was the lack of Hoover puns

[Saint_clark]

Just now, sfc4prem said:

Think the studs up challenge from Pearson would've been classed as a pretty great challenge a few years back. 

He got booked for his reaction not the challenge.

[davefizzy14]

3 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

That was a second foul on sulemana by the booked Hoover just before half time. Ref bottled that big time.

He should have been off for that. Ref quite clearly bottled it.

Edited 3 October, 2023 by davefizzy14

[Southner]

7 minutes ago, adrian lord said:

That Hoover bloke is having a mare against Sulemana

Sule keeps leaving him for dust. 

[Block41 Saint]

Hopefully we step it up in the second half as that was a pretty poor performance imo. We created nothing from open play. Fair play to Stu, great free kick! 

[saintant]

1 minute ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

There’s a lot of football between half and full time. If they’ve got any sense they’ll be getting Sully running relentlessly at Hoover who’s clearly gonna get ‘suckered’ into another yellow. 
 

I’ll get me coat. 🤪

He'll pick up in the second half.

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

He keeps getting sucked in.

Sully keeps brushing him off and leaving him for dust.

[Saint86]

Just now, davefizzy14 said:

He should have been off for that.

It should have been a free kick and final warning as a minimum! How on earth did the referee think the ball went backwards 😕

[woodsaint1]

Maybe winning, but that is a really lacklustre half. Goal aside Stu has been very sloppy in possession. Same with Alcaraz and Manning*. Sulemana getting plenty of joy against Hoover but the final ball is lacking. Keeper has had bugger all to do. Can only get better in the second half. We get the next goal and its over.

* we desperately need a new LB in January. Manning gets worse every game I see him. Gets caught in possession two many times, lazy in defence and needs to communicate better with Sulemana in front of him

[Saint_clark]

Just now, Sheaf Saint said:

Sully keeps brushing him off and leaving him for dust.

As they went off the pitch I heard him tell Sulemana "skin me one more time and you're gonna die, son". 

[Ted Bates Statue]

3 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I hear he’s about to sign for Chelsea (I think that meme is older than one of Stoke’s players).

Classic antique meme reference there. Used to be a stock sarcastic response back in the day but seems to have been almost lost from the interenet.

 

[davefizzy14]

We need to up it more in the second half. What a class freekick from Stuart Armstrong! 

Edited 3 October, 2023 by davefizzy14

[sfc4prem]

3 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

He got booked for his reaction not the challenge.

Fair enough, missed that

[Hatch]

AA is just rubbish at kicking.  
Not specific things like shooting or passing.

  He is just shit at kicking 

[trousers]

The worldie free kick aside, that was a pretty ordinary Saints performance against a very ordinary Stoke side. Given our superior quality (on paper) we should be out of sight by now. Let's ditch the tippy-tappy Russ-ball again and give the directness of the first half vs Leeds another crack of the whip. 

Edited 3 October, 2023 by trousers

[Convict Colony]

Breeze block feet armstrong couldnt pass wind but he can bang it in from 20yard freekicks, typical saints.

Thought Downes is having a tidy game, AA and KWP slowing it up a bit on the right, not many triangles being pinged off Charly and yeah Manning is pretty pants.

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Sully keeps brushing him off and leaving him for dust.

He’ll be feeling a Great Depression with his performance so far.

[Yorkshire Saint]

1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

As they went off the pitch I heard him tell Sulemana "skin me one more time and you're gonna die, son". 

10 / 10 for effort. 

[Southner]

2 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Sully keeps brushing him off and leaving him for dust.

He shouldn't worry too much. Things will pick up for him. 

[Saint_Ash]

Stoke are definitely still in this, they are being very direct and getting the ball in the box every time they can. We're doing the tippy tappy stuff around the box and getting nowhere with it, being fouled for the free kick excluded. We need more cutting edge.

[Behind Enemy Lines]

4 minutes ago, whelk said:

For me the biggest disappointment of that half was the lack of Hoover puns

Yeah, it’s been like a vacuum where they’re concerned sadly. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Both teams struggled to get any consistency going there. Stoke looked to be having more of the nearly breakthroughs. We got some passing together, but not for any length of time.

Stu, and Smallbone a little off with the passing. Sule not tracking back too well. We preferred to not try to pick a forward option at times. Not just Smallbone, but as the link player he stands out for that. Yet, on a number of other occassions that was the right thing to do. Because with Alcaraz so deep, we had no one to be on the end of things. Arma and Alcaraz switched better in the last game, providing more of an outlet in the middle. It will develop and the players will learn when to pick the right moments.

But Stu did pick up good spaces, offered direct movement and support. He's technically one of our best, and overall it shows. Sulemana's pace is already a mark of fear for defences, and he had some lovely moments, and Smallbone was all over the park keeping that passing going. Lovely track back and a really good block too this half, after I felt this was a little lacking in his game.

One up off the back of few chances. Let's hope the players' scar tissue isn't going to cause a problem when dealing with the dizzy heights of beiong a goal ahead this time. We've done a lot right, so the second half is a chance to build on that.

[RedArmy]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

He’ll be feeling a Great Depression with his performance so far.

Vacuuming jokes only please 

[sfc4prem]

Just now, trousers said:

The worldie free kick aside, that was a pretty ordinary Saints performance against a very ordinary Stoke side. Given our superior quality (on paper) we should be out of sight by now. Let's ditch the tippy-tappy Russ-ball again and give the directness of the first half vs another crack of the whip. 

No I think tippy tippy stuff would work here. Two issues are:

 

- not enough energy in our movement off the ball in making runs, making themselves available to receive the ball, and pulling their players out of position

 

- out passes have been too tentative, underhit quite a lot, taking the pace out of our attacks.

[Convict Colony]

5 minutes ago, whelk said:

For me the biggest disappointment of that half was the lack of Hoover puns

suck it up 

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, whelk said:

For me the biggest disappointment of that half was the lack of Hoover puns

dam, you're right.

[Saint NL]

Half time stats show that saints committed one foul.

That's got to be a record, surely

[bobby_charles]

right anyone got any streams? Everything just died on me even my iptv

[saintant]

We're winning but in all honestly we have not kicked on from Saturday's good performance. Ball retention has been poor as has movement. Need to see a big improvement in the second half.

[Saint Matty 76]

THB been absolutely class tonight, thought his start to the season was a bit shaky but really seeing why he was being lauded tonight.

Won everything. Exactly what we needed.

Edited 3 October, 2023 by Saint Matty 76

[Southner]

2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

He’ll be feeling a Great Depression with his performance so far.

Keep it clean, mate. 

[NewYorkSaint]

I enjoyed that...  A lot.  Yes, some annoying give-aways, but also a few electrifying breaks.  The 'method' slowly gained control over the half.  Provided we concentrate first 10 mins second half, I think we've got this.  0-3. first clean sheet in forever.   you read it here first.

[The Cat]

Presumably the get it forward merchants would rather we played like Stoke?

There's a clear gulf in technical ability between the teams. Our touch and movement is far superior to theirs. Need to make it count and see this one through for the 3 points.

Thought we were ok really. Some silky mistakes here and there but otherwise alright. 

I wonder if they'll start pressing us higher up, they didn't seem bothered about trying it too much in the first half.

[Lighthouse]

Just now, RedArmy said:

Vacuuming jokes only please 

Sorry, thought I’d add a bit of a variety.

[whelk]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

dam, you're right.

Nice twist

[adrian lord]

10 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

That was a second foul on sulemana by the booked Hoover just before half time. Ref bottled that big time.

To be fair, he made a Miele of it. 

[RedArmy]

1 minute ago, Saint NL said:

Half time stats show that saints committed one foul.

That's got to be a record, surely

Probably because I’ve bet on half the team to have 1 foul. 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

Vacuuming jokes only please 

Agreed. Anything else should be filtered out.

[Elmore Saint]

Watched from 20 mins in through to half time, then came on here. Am I on the wrong stream?

Thought we were pretty tidy, in control and running them around a lot. Light in the final third granted, but tire them out and the opportunities will open up. 

 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

Thought Sule was getting too much bad press from the commentary for his defensive mistakes given he looked our most likely person to create something in that first half. Central defense has been excellent. Midfield looks stronger and Alcaraz having a good game. 

Just stay positive second half and don't go in to the shell.

[Galway saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

THB been absolutely class tonight, thought his start to the season was a bit shaky but really seeing why he was being lauded tonight.

Won everything. Exactly what we needed.

agreed he looked very good 

[Jimmy_D]

Aside from being a little untidy in possession at times, we’ve had a pretty good grip on the game, limiting Stoke to very little. If we can clean that up we’ll hopefully be able to make the second half pretty comfortable.

Stoke complaining about the ref picking up fouls that they normally get away with is amusing  

What a free kick that was!

[Chez]

got to say that we look miles better than them, but just haven't quite got it right in the final third. Sulemana looks a fucking nightmare to mark. They have done just enough to contain him, but only just.

Brilliant free kick. Hope we can get this wrapped up with an early goal in the second half. Can't let games like this slip away.

[davefizzy14]

THB been class

[Saint Matty 76]

Never known a player to get dispossessed in his own half as much as Manning

[RedArmy]

Sitter

[SNSUN]

Oof !free' header stu

[saintant]

That's better football!