Saints 5-3 Huddersfield - Match Thread

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

did you notice how Mara pinned down by two H's players managed to sqeeze out the ball from the tangle of legs for Sulemena? to score

Edozie

[Winnersaint]

1 minute ago, manji said:

Yeah Rothwell was our new scapegoat at halftime. Such a good game in so many ways , breezing every home game not ideal for us Martin and the players will have learnt a lot today

Agreed. The learning is all part of Russell Martin's modus operandi, so that won't have done us any harm at all.

[carljack]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

This is why Leeds will finish second.

🤡

[LGTL]

MK Dons in League 1 moment. 

[OttawaSaint]

@FarehamSaintJames

GIVE US A WAVE!!!

[OttawaSaint]

@trousers

League table please! It's tradition now!

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Games not done yet. Early goal from us in the 2nd half and things change pretty quickly 

Don’t normally do this but……

 

also good stat on the BBC none of our scorers started the game. 

[Winnersaint]

2 minutes ago, carljack said:

🤡

So I was right at HT then, just an infantile knee jerk reaction! 

[The Cat]

Must be some absolutely golden posts in this thread. Don't think I can be arsed to scroll back through it all to find out though.

[CanadaSaint]

Squad depth and a manager willing to re-set are massive assets in this gruelling league, and I think we have the edge on our main rivals in both.

But as much as I want us back in the PL, I’m really enjoying the proper football, proper fans, and down to earth sincerity we’re seeing every week.

[Toadhall Saint]

Just now, The Cat said:

Must be some absolutely golden posts in this thread. Don't think I can be arsed to scroll back through it all to find out though.

Pages 6,7 & 8 are good

[Saint_clark]

Just now, Winnersaint said:

So I was right at HT then, just an infantile knee jerk reaction! 

I bet Martin was going absolutely mental at them at half time, would that have been an infantile knee jerk reaction too? 

[Patches O Houlihan]

18 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

After how crap we were until the 2nd half and how much i expected us to finally lose that was fucking epic

This was me, five times in the second half

[OttawaSaint]

2 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I bet Martin was going absolutely mental at them at half time, would that have been an infantile knee jerk reaction too? 

I think word got out to the players that SNSUN was going to eat his bush if they won...

[stknowle]

1 hour ago, DT said:

This, I’m afraid. Home atmosphere, lots of goals. Are we a play off team? Not sure. Think we need to be four clear of Leeds by the final game, which doesn’t look good at the moment

Always wondered DT, are you a glass half full or a glass half empty man?

[Farmer Saint]

So, been at my sons birthday party in the middle of nowhere, with no reception. I assume we smashed them like we all thought? 

[saintant]

Just now, Farmer Saint said:

So, been at my sons birthday party in the middle of nowhere, with no reception. I assume we smashed them like we all thought? 

Yes, it was a walk in the park with no dramas.

[Dr Who?]

1 hour ago, Dr Who? said:

Still got 45 minutes to rescue something. We know we are good enough to do so. 😊 

Keep the faith all. But also remember we WILL lose again in the league one day, and it will probably be soon, it does not mean we are crap, we are one of if not the best team in this league, and we will bounce back after said loss. I think most just do not understand how big of an achievement this run is. I think we have just beat Fulham’s championship record of an unbeaten run, don’t quote me my son told me. 

[Winnersaint]

This could be a real turning point. One of those games where a good side wins despite not really firing on all cylinders 

Edited 10 February, 2024 by Winnersaint
Post duplicated

[Patches O Houlihan]

15 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

did you notice how Mara pinned down by two H's players managed to sqeeze out the ball from the tangle of legs for Sulemena? to score

Was actually 3 defenders that Mara held off. He's really come of age this week. Loving it

[Winnersaint]

8 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I bet Martin was going absolutely mental at them at half time, would that have been an infantile knee jerk reaction too? 

I bet he was and quite rightly so. Should have multi quoted it for context. Response to a poster at HT said the first half performance was why Leeds would finish second. Turned out alright in the end and that half of football wont be the reason why Leeds may well finish second, but to an extent we are still in the driving seat.

[kevdoh]

Just seen this quote off the Leeds forum🤣

Southampton riding the wave of an easy run atm ..they have the hardest part of their season still to come

An easy run lasting 20 odd league games 🤣 

Them being one of the victims in that easy run🤣

this team is probably the most mentally strong in my lifetime. We are going up no doubt about it

 

[The Kraken]

4 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Keep the faith all. But also remember we WILL lose again in the league one day, and it will probably be soon, it does not mean we are crap, we are one of if not the best team in this league, and we will bounce back after said loss. I think most just do not understand how big of an achievement this run is. I think we have just beat Fulham’s championship record of an unbeaten run, don’t quote me my son told me. 

Nah not true, Reading did 33 in their 106 season. Lost their first game of the season then didn’t lose again until mid February.

[rooney]

11 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

Squad depth and a manager willing to re-set are massive assets in this gruelling league, and I think we have the edge on our main rivals in both.

But as much as I want us back in the PL, I’m really enjoying the proper football, proper fans, and down to earth sincerity we’re seeing every week.

 No var also.

[carljack]

11 minutes ago, Winnersaint said:

So I was right at HT then, just an infantile knee jerk reaction! 

Sorry ! I missed the game and was reading the match comments,you were not alone.😄

[saintant]

1 minute ago, kevdoh said:

Just seen this quote off the Leeds forum🤣

Southampton riding the wave of an easy run atm ..they have the hardest part of their season still to come

An easy run lasting 20 odd league games 🤣 

Them being one of the victims in that easy run🤣

this team is probably the most mentally strong in my lifetime. We are going up no doubt about it

 

See they have to go to Huddersfield on 2nd March - let's see how easy they find that.

[The Kraken]

1 minute ago, kevdoh said:

Just seen this quote off the Leeds forum🤣

Southampton riding the wave of an easy run atm ..they have the hardest part of their season still to come

That part is very true.

[sfc4prem]

Just now, The Kraken said:

That part is very true.

Will it make or break our season?

[Dr Who?]

Just now, The Kraken said:

Nah not true, Reading did 33 in their 106 season. Lost their first game of the season then didn’t lose again until mid February.

That’s it I’m disowning him. I should have checked really. It is possible though, but we have a couple of tough away games now. I have been saying since Christmas that WBA will be when we lose, just one of those away games on paper that look like a banana skin, but even more so as they are doing ok of late. 

[miserableoldgit]

24 minutes ago, manji said:

Yeah Rothwell was our new scapegoat at halftime. Such a good game in so many ways , breezing every home game not ideal for us Martin and the players will have learnt a lot today

Yes...someone on the Watford Cup thread said that Rothwell should be nowhere near the team. Aren't opinions strange.

[saintant]

7 minutes ago, kevdoh said:

Just seen this quote off the Leeds forum🤣

Southampton riding the wave of an easy run atm ..they have the hardest part of their season still to come

An easy run lasting 20 odd league games 🤣 

Them being one of the victims in that easy run🤣

this team is probably the most mentally strong in my lifetime. We are going up no doubt about it

 

Funny but all games are easy when you keep winning.

[kevdoh]

4 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

That part is very true.

Possibly so but to say nearly half a season of league games unbeaten is an easy run is fucking ludicrous 

[SNSUN]

1 minute ago, The Kraken said:

That part is very true.

Yes but you can still only beat what's in front of you and we're doing that very well.

Equally as harder as our games are getting, Leeds also need to get full points from their "easier" fixtures which is not a definite. (Though they are playing well...)

[Convict Colony]

We had 71% possession according to the BBC that cannot be right

 

[bangkoksaint]

I do think we need a dose of realism and proportion. The team has been fantastic and the squad depth is superb. Realistically taking it a few steps at a time 4 points from the next two games keeps us ticking over.

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, Convict Colony said:

We had 71% possession according to the BBC that cannot be right

 

Huddersfield never had any sustained possession. 

[northam soul]

Downes is going to be a huge miss if he is out for a while.

I don’t think Smallbone is the answer in there as his replacement which just leaves Charles to step up.

Our wide options are ridiculous and god knows who starts on Tuesday.

We cannot be that open in midfield again though as it was bloody ludicrous.

[Convict Colony]

Just now, bangkoksaint said:

I do think we need a dose of realism and proportion. The team has been fantastic and the squad depth is superb. Realistically taking it a few steps at a time 4 points from the next two games keeps us ticking over.

This is saintsweb - these things are banned 🤣

[kevdoh]

I think brooks coming in and mara starting to gain confidence with more minutes is going to keep us fresh. There's a lot of competition for places now, everyone needs to be on their toes and that can only be a good thing. Will have to check odds if it's worth backing us to win it now but I really think we will. Our bench is so strong nowadays and that means a lot 

[Convict Colony]

Just now, northam soul said:

Downes is going to be a huge miss if he is out for a while.

I don’t think Smallbone is the answer in there as his replacement which just leaves Charles to step up.

Our wide options are ridiculous and god knows who starts on Tuesday.

We cannot be that open in midfield again though as it was bloody ludicrous.

I think rus gambled with smallbone as DM today and got away with it. 

Honestly I'd like to see Charles and Rothwell in midfield and also S Armstrong, Che defo should be looking over their shoulders.

Also cant wait for Breezy to come back.

[Toadhall Saint]

17 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Was actually 3 defenders that Mara held off. He's really come of age this week. Loving it

The most impressive part for me - showed great strength and still had the mind to toe pick it to SE.

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, northam soul said:

Downes is going to be a huge miss if he is out for a while.

I don’t think Smallbone is the answer in there as his replacement which just leaves Charles to step up.

Our wide options are ridiculous and god knows who starts on Tuesday.

We cannot be that open in midfield again though as it was bloody ludicrous.

Yeah agree, if Downes is out for a while we have no natural drop in replacement who gives us what he does. Hope it's nothing serious. We'll just have to outscore every opponent like we did today.

[BallBoy]

Tha thing that pleased me most about this win was the word CHARACTER. Never thought they were beaten.

Edited 10 February, 2024 by BallBoy

[Toadhall Saint]

6 minutes ago, northam soul said:

Downes is going to be a huge miss if he is out for a while.

I don’t think Smallbone is the answer in there as his replacement which just leaves Charles to step up.

Our wide options are ridiculous and god knows who starts on Tuesday.

We cannot be that open in midfield again though as it was bloody ludicrous.

Think SA came off feeling his hamstring too.

[saintant]

Just now, Toadhall Saint said:

Think SA came off feeling his hamstring too.

I think we can live with missing Stu for a few games as we have cover for him.

[Sheaf Saint]

37 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

Mental that we play again on Tuesday, then Friday. 

I choose to believe that this is why we played well within ourselves in the first half. Lots of fixture congestion coming up so we need to conserve energy.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Master Bates said:

Sensational

This is worth a bump. Never get bored of watching this goal.

[bugenhagen]

5 minutes ago, BallBoy said:

Tha thing that pleased me most about this win was the word CHARACTER. Never thought they were beaten.

I have to admit that I was lacking that around 70 mins. Thought about turning off the telly and giving up. Scarred by the last couple of years (and a bit of a temper when losing) but thought "this team is different - I might miss a great comback"

[LuckyNumber7]

One of the weirdest and most incredible games I've been to. 

First half was as bad as we've been all season, we looked half asleep and Huddersfield totally deserved their lead. Whatever Russ said at HT worked and two brilliant strikes by Rothwell to level. But even then at 2-2 and then 2-3 I thought Hudders looked more likely to score again, they really had our defence unsettled. Edozie and Mara both had really positive impacts from the bench (really think Mara deserves a start ahead of Adams)

Think today really showed the character in this squad and what they are made of. First time in a long time we've had a bit of adversity and a challenge and they absolutely rose to it. To play that poorly for large chunks of the game and still end up winning and scoring 5 has to be a good sign. 

Want to give credit to Huddersfield too, they really went for it and forced us into a lot of errors. Probably the best side I've seen at SMS this season aside from maybe Leicester, but we just had too much for them in the end.

The scenes in the stands after the goals were great, absolute limbs! Need a lie down after that...

[Wade Garrett]

Fully deserved to be 2 down at half-time.  Che, Stu A, Adam A were poor today.  Fraser poor after a good first ten minutes.  The difference was that our subs were brilliant to a man.  They couldn’t handle us and they tired quickly.

Don’t like the way our full-backs stand off and give the opposition too much time though.