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Saints 4 actual goals vs 0 Blackburn - Match Thread

Convict Colony

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Patches O Houlihan

Patches O Houlihan

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Posted
4 minutes ago, saintant said:

Cheers and yes, it seemed that Edozie and Stu Armstrong had a lot to do with the overall performance. I think Stu is super important to us and if he can put together a run of performances at the levels we know he is capable of it's going to be a real boost to the side.

The other change was that while we still played plenty of straight through balls on the ground there were a few lofted passes, and Stu did the standing lob over a defender into the area for a runner a couple of times. If we can consistently play with that intensity and variety of passing/movement we'll be top or nearly top for points scored in the second half of the season

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Micky

Micky

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Posted

Didn't have time to follow this game at all today, but reading through here it sounds like we put on a proper performance today which is good to hear.  Hopefully keep this level up and see where it takes us, onwards and upwards. 

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BERMUDASAINT

BERMUDASAINT

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Alcaraz’s performance have been nowhere near the level of what Tadic used to do for us, even at this level. He gets criticised because his performances are regularly substandard. He’s young and clearly has talent but it remains to be seen whether he can deliver on that or just be another Mayuka, Juanmi or Griffit.

Alcaraz is young and talented, which we need to encourage to flourish. His penalty showed his character,big balls to step up, cheeky to try the chip, the emabarrasment on his face, and the humbleness to appologise after he thump in the goal from desire to make amends.

As for our other recent additions, I like Mara got to show he is also very talented. He is still raw but his awards and intl games show how talented this kid is.

Edozie showed again he is the best step over, step over, step over...oooops gotcha, step over again... i have seen at his age. Great close controll and a few nice goals.

Airbo, no go.....is no more, now see what we were buying. Over the past few games his size, power, ball shielding, driving forward with pace adds more bully to our team.

STU mom for me, but all played very well.

Well done RM, the style you employ is maturing. We are on a great unbeaten run, looking much more comfortable with all that passing at the back and the forward play is evolving with player more assured of their roles and patrern of play.

We are improving as a team, young talented players to keep improving, i think we can overcome that 10 point gap.

 

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Harry_SFC

Harry_SFC

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, trousers said:

The criticism of Alcaraz reminds me of the type of stick that Tadic used to get from dome fans. It tends to be a vocal minority though. 

Alcaraz was sensational when he came on (barring the penalty miss obviously)

Edited by Harry_SFC
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Tommy Mulgrew

Tommy Mulgrew

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Can’t complain about four goals but no doubt some will.  We relentlessly destroyed them and they resorted to petulant strong-arm tackles late in the game.  Nice almost backheel from Edozie; well taken chances by SA and SM, who were in the right place at the right time; ditto Charley, who I thought was just about offside when Smallone shot his pencil.

P2 is by no means out of reach.

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gio1saints

gio1saints

Posted
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It was boringly predictable football  especially first 40 minutes - BUT we seem to DOMINATE with it. If you don’t like the style don't watch basically. I am getting quite used to Saints being able to do whatever they like wherever on the pitch after years of the opposite. The Northam think so to “ we’re taking the piss” rang out a few times as we watched Blackburn players doing endless doggies chasing our play all over the match. 

Relevant for me was the results Coventry and Watford had. Put our away draws in which we dominated both in- form teams all over the pitch but failed to win into a little better context.  
 

Stu had a superior match, Sam and Bree justified return ms to starting, Mara finally got his goal and Charlie earned a pardon for that penalty fuck up with his goal also. Jack was like a strong new CB who did not miss a beat. Could not have worked out better frankly for getting the squad players interested and involved again! And credit to RM for making those calls. He’ even got a nice song today ( wham last Christmas….🎹 This year,  to save us from tears we got our Russell Martin” which showed some good Northam initiative! 

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Patches O Houlihan

Patches O Houlihan

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19 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

 

It was boringly predictable football  especially first 40 minutes - BUT we seem to DOMINATE with it. If you don’t like the style don't watch basically. I am getting quite used to Saints being able to do whatever they like wherever on the pitch after years of the opposite. The Northam think so to “ we’re taking the piss” rang out a few times as we watched Blackburn players doing endless doggies chasing our play all over the match. 

Relevant for me was the results Coventry and Watford had. Put our away draws in which we dominated both in- form teams all over the pitch but failed to win into a little better context.  
 

Stu had a superior match, Sam and Bree justified return ms to starting, Mara finally got his goal and Charlie earned a pardon for that penalty fuck up with his goal also. Jack was like a strong new CB who did not miss a beat. Could not have worked out better frankly for getting the squad players interested and involved again! And credit to RM for making those calls. He’ even got a nice song today ( wham last Christmas….🎹 This year,  to save us from tears we got our Russell Martin” which showed some good Northam initiative! 

I agree with all of that, but it's Ralph's song, and always will be.

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Dark Munster

Dark Munster

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Saint NL said:

Imagine the play off final, Charley steps up to take the penalty and does that 😱

That's exactly what I was thinking as it sailed over. Let's hope RM has them all practising penalties well before the playoffs.

But I'm delighted he got that late goal though, it will help with his confidence, and help lessen the embarrassment of that awful penalty.

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hypochondriac

hypochondriac

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Block41 Saint said:

Great performance. Deserved smashing. 

I'll say this, fuck Alcaraz with that penalty. He's put self gain over the team with that abysmal penalty. Arrogant.

He's a young kid who made a mistake and hopefully learns a lesson from it. He even apologised after scoring. Give the guy a bit of slack. 

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Oldandtired

Oldandtired

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Posted

I enjoyed that. I always think that players need game time and remain convinced that the likes of Edozie, Aribo and Mara will provide us with plenty of entertainment if given that. Tbh, without the penalty miss and some top class saves from their keeper it could have been 7, all in all a very satisfying watch.

 

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markr27

markr27

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Posted (edited)

Certainly the most enjoyable game at St Marys for some time. 

Ideally same starting XI next week, but I believe both Downes and Smallbone will be suspended so Alcaraz/Fraser slot in along with Charles... therefore, there could be a few goals in the game again :)

 

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Danny R

Danny R

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

 

It was boringly predictable football  especially first 40 minutes - BUT we seem to DOMINATE with it. If you don’t like the style don't watch basically. I am getting quite used to Saints being able to do whatever they like wherever on the pitch after years of the opposite. The Northam think so to “ we’re taking the piss” rang out a few times as we watched Blackburn players doing endless doggies chasing our play all over the match. 

Relevant for me was the results Coventry and Watford had. Put our away draws in which we dominated both in- form teams all over the pitch but failed to win into a little better context.  
 

Stu had a superior match, Sam and Bree justified return ms to starting, Mara finally got his goal and Charlie earned a pardon for that penalty fuck up with his goal also. Jack was like a strong new CB who did not miss a beat. Could not have worked out better frankly for getting the squad players interested and involved again! And credit to RM for making those calls. He’ even got a nice song today ( wham last Christmas….🎹 This year,  to save us from tears we got our Russell Martin” which showed some good Northam initiative! 

Brilliant post, agree with every word. 

Edited by Danny R
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Harry_SFC

Harry_SFC

Posted
Posted
25 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

He's a young kid who made a mistake and hopefully learns a lesson from it. He even apologised after scoring. Give the guy a bit of slack. 

Agreed. He's an idiot for trying it but let's not be too harsh on him, at the end of the day it didn't affect anything so learn the lesson and move on. 

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waylander

waylander

Posted
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9 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Hm! We've got ourselves in a rut of negative football and without Alcaraz or Sulemana to inspire a more determined approach I don't see how we get out of it especially as Martin professes himself very satisfied and happy with our mid-week performance. Until he stops condoning mediocrity things won't improve. A wake-up calls is needed badly.

We will lose today because honestly Martin seems to have lost the plot and some of the players have stopped listening.

0-3 will certainly be different but probably not in the way you maybe hope!

This one aged well!

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Chewy

Chewy

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Well that’s nice - walking away from st Mary’s full of joy, happiness and festive cheer. Best result in god knows how long, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Except the penalty, obviously. Literally, wtf????????

In a way the two late goals only brought a fair balance to the score - we were that convincing and in a different league. One free kick aside, and Blackburn offered nothing until we were chasing a third later on.

But … and I will sound like a moaning tw4t … for 40 minutes we played beautiful football without looking like scoring, because it all happened outside of the box and down the flanks, with no one in the box. Stu, Smallbone and Aribo kept finding space and then turned backwards because they want to naturally drop deep. So every attack went back in on itself. It was beginning to get quite dull if I’m honest.

A somewhat fortunate goal from a corner got us ahead - without it I wonder what it might have taken to break them down.

Second half was helped by an idiotic red card, but in fairness we also looked intent on being more compact in attack and I think we’d have scored more without a man advantage. 
Baz was very good, growing in confidence every game. Defenders all very good, special mention to Bree for another solid display. KWP excellent as he has been since the end of the transfer window.

Downes is different class - we are so better balanced when he plays. Aribo was very good, as was Edozie. Arms a bit quieter and isolated out wide, especially first half. Smallbone was fine but nothing special. Which just leaves Stu who was rightly MOTM. I’ve always been a fan and thought he was poor on Wednesday - this was him near his very best.

Subs all competent (except at penalties) and good subs at good times. Great to see Jack back. Fraser was very bright.

So much to like and enjoy today. I still think we need a forward to occupy defenders and make naturally forward runs that our midfielders just can’t do. But it’s a small negative amongst a whole load of positives this evening. 
Well done to all, congratulations and keep it up. And never let Charlie take a penalty ever again.

 

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LaptopSaint

LaptopSaint

Posted
Posted

Enjoyed that, totally dominated, four goals, and some balls-of-steel passing around our own penalty area from Baz. 
 

Can we just stop singing that embarrassing ‘ten more years in league one’ song a) because it again references that twat Westwood who is best ignored and b) because they’re now 8 points clear of third place and very probably getting promoted. Sing about our own players/city/fans ffs (although not that cringey ‘we’re the Northam’ bollocks either).

God I sound like a miserable bastard - but it was actually a very good day out! 

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OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

My excuse is that I was working abroad when Jay Rod was at his best. I associate the song with Ralph turning us round at Christmas time after Puel, Pelligrino & Hughes. 

Totally agree and remember singing it at Villa when we won 3-1.

Comprehensive win today but they were awful. Understand all the positives here but left the ground feeling less excited than I would have expected for a 4-0 win. We were good value in the second half, but couldn't help think Edozie's goal just before half time changed everything. Going in 0-0 might have got a different audience response.

As a tip to our set piece coach, we need to stop doing those short corners and pump the ball in the middle and when we get a free kick on the edge of their penalty area, don't do the short pass.

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fanimal

fanimal

Posted
Posted

What would we have done to them with KWP on the right, a decent left footed left back and a centre forward actually in the middle not on the wing?? So annoying Ross is injured because when they went down to 10 we were pulling them all over the place and there was an enormous hole  in the middle just begging for a mobile number 9 in there!

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breeza

breeza

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, markr27 said:

Certainly the most enjoyable game at St Marys for some time. 

Ideally same starting XI next week, but I believe both Downes and Smallbone will be suspended so Alcaraz/Fraser slot in along with Charles... therefore, there could be a few goals in the game again :)

 

Didn't the 5 yellows reset after the first 19 games?

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FarehamSaintJames

FarehamSaintJames

Posted
Posted

Fantastic result today.

I was not sold on the “no striker, three midfield to station” tactic and thought we were very nothingy in that central front third for the first 35 minutes.

Blackburn were poor even before they went down to ten men, it was a very dominant performance.

We’ve been due a result like that for some time, we just need to start doing this more often and earlier on in games.

A number of times today players had the opportunity to shoot but opted to make that one extra pass, which was I needed when a shooting opportunity presented itself, that’s maybe where we need to be braver.

Alcaraz’s penalty was piss poor, hopefully he never takes one again. 
Mara didn’t really do anything, he was very slow in passing and shooting, but nice goal tap in I suppose.

None of that starting eleven had a bad game today. I thought Baz, KWP, Aribo and particularly Stu Armstrong were excellent!

Just need to continue this ruthlessness.

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SNSUN

SNSUN

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Blackburn are the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde side recently, win one minute, lose the next.

They won their last game so...... 🤞

Bosh. Watford are in for it next week! 😁

Two points gained on Leeds and Ipswich. Onwards and upwards. Pleased to hear people say Aribo had a good game. Maybe finally fulfilling the reason we signed him. Looking forward to the highlights. 

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Jack

Jack

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Posted

Though thoroughly dominant possession-wise in the first half, I thought we were pretty ineffective in terms of goal threat. There was a big gap where you’d want a striker in the box, Aribo seemed to be tasked with arriving late but we never seemed to find anyone. Stu’s curler was the closest we got and the goal from a corner was a bit of a surprise. 
 

Came out with way more intent and ideas 2nd half and looked like we’d turn it on and create better chances even without their stupid red card. 
 

Great to see Stu have such a good game and deserved goal, Alcaraz can stay on the bench for that shocking cocky penalty, Smallbone had a great game, nice to improve the GD. We’ll have much tougher tests and I think we need to up our game in terms of goal threat, which is weird to say after a 4-0 victory. 

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S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well that was enjoyable, reminded me of the games at home in our promotion seasons - so dominant and never in doubt.

I thought we were a bit slow in the first half, it was turning into a bit of a frustrating game until Edozie popped in front of their goalie to stab that in. That changed the entire complextion of the game, it's a great time to score.

We came out in the second half as good as I've seen us all season. People will speak about how 'poor' Blackburn were, but we didn't give them a chance to do anything. We were all over them when we came out after the break, penned them in and pressed them like animals. Their goalkeeper was their best player in that second half, and they still lost 4-0.

The best player on the pitch was Stu, he was full of energy and his touch and movement on the ball were way too good for this Blackburn team. They couldn't get near him. He did tire, which he sadly seems to do, so the sub was a fair one.

Now onto the subs....they all added some extra to us and impacted the game, that is a mega positive for me. Fraser is turning into a bit of a Super-Sub, I'm sure he won't like that description of him, but having a player like him on the bench to come on against tiring teams is brilliant. It's not just his pace/movement, but it's his speed of thought which catches teams out who are tiring.  Alcaraz was a bit of an idiot with the penalty, he'll never do that again, but in terms of what he brought to the game he was excellent. Pressing, energy, winning the ball back, playing on the half turn - and eventually a goal to top it off.

Pleased for Mara as well, he probably should have had one before that - but it's nice to see him on the scoresheet. We do seem to have some genuine depth when we can bring onto subs who also go on to score.

I still stand by what I said the other day - the September defeats have skewed our season, in terms of GD and how far we are off the top. But in any normal season that September wouldn't have been as damaging as it has been, so putting all that to side I think the run we're on now and how we've recovered from September is nothing short of amazing. None of these players deserve any criticism right now as they are playing as well as this football club has played for many, many, many years.

14 games undefeated, 5 wins on the bounce at home, 42 points, joint third. In any normal season this is comfortably auto promotion form, but sadly the two top this year have set some freakish targets.

Let's keep going though and see where it takes us. You can see the league almost starting to take shape though - a gap is starting to form between 4th and the rest, Ipswich being the anomaly in all of this though.

Edited by S-Clarke
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