What if....

[Tamesaint]

What if we put out a strong team aagainst Liverpool and beat them? Unlikely I know but no replay and penalties after 120 minutes even the odds a liitle in our favour. We are a confident team and I relish the challenge to see if we really are that  good. 

Would that be good for our season and promotion hopes or would it scupper them? Would the confidence that we would gain from such a result smooth us through the Championship matches or would a cup run just be a huge distraction? 

I am undecided if we want a potentially memorable cup run? I guess that it depends on who we would draw in the 6th round. Man City (forgetting last season's Carabo cup) no thanks but yes please if it was just the winner of Coventry v Maidstone who stood between us and a Wembley semi final. 

 

 

[Saint_clark]

It'll be interesting to see how we do and for that reason I think it's important we go full strength. We need to get some idea of whether or not this style of play is feasible against Prem sides with our level of resources. 

Getting a result would be absolutely epic in these circumstances and of course with it being the FA cup, you can't help but hope. Make no mistake all the pressure will be on them - but will they be fully focussed or will they be going all out to win the league in Klopps last season? 

[Toussaint]

I shall be watching from behind the settee with a cushion over my eyes. I’m just going to continue to enjoy the ride the season and long may the good form continue.
 

I fear there are light years between the championship and the premier league now. But, who knows?

[Turkish]

 

[egg]

I'll settle for no injuries or suspensions, and giving them a good game. We won't win, absolutely no chance, and it'll be interesting to see how we get on chasing the ball. 

[The Cat]

They'll surely make a load of changes which gives us a vague chance if we go strong.

There's a bunch of games before then so selection will be dictated by what happens with those and what injuries we pick up.

[CB Fry]

The good news is that Leeds are in this round too, so it's not like they get a rest while we don't.

All we can do is go for it, Martin will be playing a decent 11 because he will want the test. And it's a one off game.

If we win it will be nothing but a positive, we would get a huge boost from it.

Either side we are home to Millwall and away to Birmingham so really we should be able to get what we need from those relatively straightforward ties.

That particular week is more straightforward than next week which feels much more challenging.

 

[Hatch]

The 'first 11' will all be desperate to play in a game like this I would imagine,   reckon he will put out our strongest side,  

[Harry_SFC]

I'd stick out as close to our best 11 as possible and make a few changes at home to Millwall if necessary. 

[Dusic]

We should have Bree, Edozie and Kamaldeen as starting options by the time this comes around so could make changes and still pick a relatively strong side.

Doubt Liverpool will be full strength given their run of games around then too but even so its a free hit for us.

[david in sweden]

Forget the league tables, but if Saints can play as they have done in the last 4 months, then nothing is impossible. 

There aren't 3 points to lose at Anfield,  and  the players have the chance to express themselves at their best. 

[Doctoroncall]

All about game and player management so this game doesn’t affect what needs to be done for promotion. RM and the coaching staff have shown great ability to do that, been impressed with their level of commitment and professionalism. 

[Turkish]

Hopefully Brooks gets the full 90 mins, be great to see him up to speed in Russbaall against premier league opposition

[northam soul]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

 

I was at that game and it was pandemonium at the end.

Proper shit weather on the drive home if I remember correctly.

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I'll settle for no injuries or suspensions, and giving them a good game. We won't win, absolutely no chance, and it'll be interesting to see how we get on chasing the ball. 

Judging by their performance on Sunday, I hope Van Cunt starts for them.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, northam soul said:

I was at that game and it was pandemonium at the end.

Proper shit weather on the drive home if I remember correctly.

wish i had been. I was 15 at the time and it was one of the first games i remember us being on Sky. Not that many people i knew had Sky in the those days so watched it at my mates house, we went mental at the end jumping round the living room. We were so crap back then too which was when you think how of the players we had Flowers and Kenna who would go on to win the league with Blackburn, Ruddock who went to Spurs then Liverpool, Shearer and of course MLT as well as Adams, Horne, Gray all decent premier league players. The thing i remember clearly is a young Ryan Giggs doing keepie uppies on the way to take his penalty then missing. 

[Highfield Saint]

8 minutes ago, northam soul said:

I was at that game and it was pandemonium at the end.

Proper shit weather on the drive home if I remember correctly.

I was there but missed the first half. 
 

“always look on the bright side of life”

😂

[JRM]

Hope Chelsea push them all the way in the league Cup final on Sunday before  , extra time etc. 

All helps us to keep the score down,  try to stay in the game. They'll try to press us see how we cope. Play Sulemana he would be back to the form of last seasons 4-4 draw. 

Let's not get all giddy about playing playing at Anfield though, we've been there every year for the past 10 seasons plus the league Cup, no doubt the away end will see the return of the half and half scarf wankers we'd got used to in the Premier league  taking pictures of the Kop. At least Matt Gills Liverpool supporting Dad can get a ticket, in our end no doubt. 

[CB Fry]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

wish i had been. I was 15 at the time and it was one of the first games i remember us being on Sky. Not that many people i knew had Sky in the those days so watched it at my mates house, we went mental at the end jumping round the living room. We were so crap back then too which was when you think how of the players we had Flowers and Kenna who would go on to win the league with Blackburn, Ruddock who went to Spurs then Liverpool, Shearer and of course MLT as well as Adams, Horne, Gray all decent premier league players. The thing i remember clearly is a young Ryan Giggs doing keepie uppies on the way to take his penalty then missing. 

Our penalty takers were perfect - Ruddock, Shearer, Horne, Adams - we won a shootout at OT and Le Tiss didn't even have to take his one.

Like you watched on Sky - was a mini golden age for Saints on Early Sky as our ZDS run was well covered as well around the same time.

[JRM]

2 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Our penalty takers were perfect - Ruddock, Shearer, Horne, Adams - we won a shootout at OT and Le Tiss didn't even have to take his one.

Like you watched on Sky - was a mini golden age for Saints on Early Sky as our ZDS run was well covered as well around the same time.

Same, was only 11 then but that win started believing we might go on and win it. Bolton in the next round was another classic  , quite like the blue flame admiral kit due to those memories I think. 

[Miltonaggro]

2 hours ago, Turkish said:

 

Was there for that. Great night! 

[Turkish]

 

15 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Our penalty takers were perfect - Ruddock, Shearer, Horne, Adams - we won a shootout at OT and Le Tiss didn't even have to take his one.

Like you watched on Sky - was a mini golden age for Saints on Early Sky as our ZDS run was well covered as well around the same time.

 

11 minutes ago, JRM said:

Same, was only 11 then but that win started believing we might go on and win it. Bolton in the next round was another classic  , quite like the blue flame admiral kit due to those memories I think. 

Yep ZDS cup final that season, remember seeing our game against Chelsea on Sky too.

The path to Wembley in the FA Cup was open for us that year, beat Bolton then got Norwich at home, we'd have played Sunderland in the semi final who were the league below so would have been favourites. Of course we messed it up, drew at home to Norwich then lost the replay in extra time after going 1-0 up. Think Horne and Le Tiss both got sent off too.

That season could have been a Saints v Pompey final.  they had Forest at home same day we played Norwich, they beat Forest 1-0 and played Liverpool in the semi and lost the reply on penalties. 

Edited February 7 by Turkish

[macca155]

I suspect it will be a rather alarming reality check.

Premier League teams relentlessly press, the players are hyper fit, and they'll be enough X Factor to stretch Saints all over the pitch.

No way will Liverpool allow Saints to meander around playing short passes. Diaz, Jota, Nunez and Salah will certainly test our defence, that's for sure.

However confidence does amazing things to teams. All is not lost.

I was at the Dec 22 game. A real low point imo. Looking at the team then and the team now. Saints have definitely improved. JWP is definitely missed, but good grief that defence, (DCC ABK Salisu Perraud Elyounoussi), plus Amstrong on his own up front.

Saints have improved on that side at the very least.

 

Edited February 7 by macca155

[saintant]

7 hours ago, Tamesaint said:

What if we put out a strong team aagainst Liverpool and beat them? Unlikely I know but no replay and penalties after 120 minutes even the odds a liitle in our favour. We are a confident team and I relish the challenge to see if we really are that  good. 

Would that be good for our season and promotion hopes or would it scupper them? Would the confidence that we would gain from such a result smooth us through the Championship matches or would a cup run just be a huge distraction? 

I am undecided if we want a potentially memorable cup run? I guess that it depends on who we would draw in the 6th round. Man City (forgetting last season's Carabo cup) no thanks but yes please if it was just the winner of Coventry v Maidstone who stood between us and a Wembley semi final. 

 

 

Winning breeds winners and confidence. Keep beating whoever is put in front of us although admittedly this one may prove a step too far. We go there in a confident mind set so let's play relaxed football - we needn't worry about losing this game unlike Liverpool.

[coalman]

It's a free hit. Nobody expects us to win. The Scousers will be over their initial drama queen mourning over Klopp leaving. We're a totally different side to this time last year - in a good way. They'll have rolled over Chelsea the week before to get their consolation trophy for the season and it will be billed as Liverpool just having to walk onto the pitch.

I like our chances.

[beatlesaint]

Klopp wants the League, so with a full strength team out for the Cup Final Sunday then a full strength out for the visit to Forest the followig weekend theres every chance he will make changes against us. Whether that benefits us or not is anyone's guess but it will be interesting to see how we go against a top Prem team.....pity it wasnt at home really but never mind.

Edited February 7 by beatlesaint

[Saint Marky]

Just got totally unbelievable, out of this world odds on Brooks to get a hat trick against the scousers, life changing money if it comes in, get on this quick boys before the bookies realise their mistake 💰💰💰

[Saint Keef]

Can we get Shane Long back for this one? We'll soak up pressure for 89 minutes, only for Shane to race away and score an unlikely winner in the dying seconds.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Great Beyond, the diminutive figure of Bobby Stokes rushes onto a through ball and neatly slots it home beyond an advancing Alex Stepney in goal.

Still meanwhile. Somewhere in the Austrian Alps, a nattily dressed chap (in stylish waistcoat) watches the action unfold on a dodgy ITV feed, and upon hearing the final whistle drops to his knees, weeping at the utter joy of it all. 

This sort of thing doesn't happen in real life.......or does it?

Right - back to bed - the drugs are wearing off. 

Edited February 7 by Saint Keef

[Toussaint]

25 minutes ago, Saint Keef said:

Can we get Shane Long back for this one? We'll soak up pressure for 89 minutes, only for Shane to race away and score an unlikely winner in the dying seconds. This sort of thing doesn't happen in real life.......or does it?

Need that titchy winger back as well who’s name escapes me.

[Saint Keef]

1 minute ago, Toussaint said:

Need that titchy winger back as well who’s name escapes me.

Sorry Toussaint, I was "editing" my post when you replied. I think I may have covered your point. Cheers.

[trousers]

The more I think about it the more I conclude that there are pros and cons for either approach to this game...

1) Playing a full strength side...

Pros: best chance of getting a result; less chance of getting hammered; huge morale booster if we were to win

Cons: if we were to lose fairly heavily (e.g. 3-0 and beyond), that could dent the confidence of our core starting 11; increased chance of injury to key/core players, thus potentially denting promotion chances

2) Maintaining our existing rotation policy for cup games...

Pros: reduces expectation of winning to practically zero, therefore a fairly heavy defeat wouldn't have a significant impact on morale of core starting 11; loyalty to cup squad/fringe players helps with squad unity

Cons: increases chance of upgrading a 'fairly heavy' defeat to a humiliating defeat (e.g. 9-0); core/key players might get miffed for missing out on playing

 

So, on balance, I think I'll leave it up to Russ to call this one....  

 

Edited February 7 by trousers

[redkeith]

I think we will put a strongish team out for this one, purely because it is in the middle of a run of 2 games a week .

We wont be able to pick the same 11 every week, like we can at the moment. There will inevitably be a lot of rotation, depending on knocks, injuries and sports science warnings. 

Also, it could well be a step too far for some of the youngsters. Megohma had a good game at Watford, and again last night by all accounts. The next step of his development should probably be a start against Millwall, rather than against Mo Salah. 

[northam soul]

3 hours ago, Turkish said:

 

 

Yep ZDS cup final that season, remember seeing our game against Chelsea on Sky too.

The path to Wembley in the FA Cup was open for us that year, beat Bolton then got Norwich at home, we'd have played Sunderland in the semi final who were the league below so would have been favourites. Of course we messed it up, drew at home to Norwich then lost the replay in extra time after going 1-0 up. Think Horne and Le Tiss both got sent off too.

That season could have been a Saints v Pompey final.  they had Forest at home same day we played Norwich, they beat Forest 1-0 and played Liverpool in the semi and lost the reply on penalties. 

Now I never take a woman to football ( yes haters pile on) but on the evening of the ZDS 2nd leg at the bridge I had mistakenly arranged to go out for the day with this hot chick I had been after for ages.

Picked her up early morning and asked her if there was anywhere she fancied going ?

Up to you was the response so I said how about London for the day.

She seemed a bit surprised but much to my delight agreed.

We spent hours trawling round the usual places then amid afternoon I sprung it on her.

I knew she didn’t mind football but she had never been to a game so I asked her if she wanted to go and watch Chelsea play.

I thought you were a mad Saints fan she said?

Now the day had gone really well from a trying to impress the hot bird perspective and I was thinking oh shit here we go.

I am I said they are actually playing Saints.

Its the ZDS semi second leg and we don’t need a ticket we can pay on the gate.

I then struggled for the next couple of hours to get our blossoming date back on track.

But as we stood on a cold terrace with me going mental and her looking at me a bit bewildered at times I just didn’t care less.

After that day we spent 7 years together and had a fantastic daughter together so all was not lost.

But please don’t take your bird to football 😉

[SNSUN]

Klopp will want to win the cup in the year he leaves, so I think they’ll name a strong side. That said, how sweet it would be to beat them and see his angry toothy grimace. 
 

That said, I don’t think it will happen, but it’s a good test to see where we are, how our style and personnel do against the big boys and how far we’ve come from last season’s shambles. Our last result against them was 4-4 with Sulemana getting a double and we’re arguably a better, tighter unit now so we can dream…

[saintant]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

The more I think about it the more I conclude that there are pros and cons for either approach to this game...

1) Playing a full strength side...

Pros: best chance of getting a result; less chance of getting hammered; huge morale booster if we were to win

Cons: if we were to lose fairly heavily (e.g. 3-0 and beyond), that could dent the confidence of our core starting 11; increased chance of injury to key/core players, thus potentially denting promotion chances

2) Maintaining our existing rotation policy for cup games...

Pros: reduces expectation of winning to practically zero, therefore a fairly heavy defeat wouldn't have a significant impact on morale of core starting 11; loyalty to cup squad/fringe players helps with squad unity

Cons: increases chance of upgrading a 'fairly heavy' defeat to a humiliating defeat (e.g. 9-0); core/key players might get miffed for missing out on playing

 

So, on balance, I think I'll leave it up to Russ to call this one....  

 

I seem to recall Burnley getting hammered 5-0 by Man City in the cup quarter final last season and they still finished top.

[Chez]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

Yep ZDS cup final that season, remember seeing our game against Chelsea on Sky too.

The path to Wembley in the FA Cup was open for us that year, beat Bolton then got Norwich at home, we'd have played Sunderland in the semi final who were the league below so would have been favourites. Of course we messed it up, drew at home to Norwich then lost the replay in extra time after going 1-0 up. Think Horne and Le Tiss both got sent off too.

That season could have been a Saints v Pompey final.  they had Forest at home same day we played Norwich, they beat Forest 1-0 and played Liverpool in the semi and lost the reply on penalties. 

I went to all the FA cup games in 1991. Great times. We were utter shit in the league, but despite that you always thought we could beat someone on our day. The game at Old Trafford was like a strange dream. I still don't know how they equalised. Brilliant game, even better outcome. I didn't think Timmy would get near any of the pens, but Giggs fucked it.  Bolton away was some game too. Another massive away support considering the distance. The fans really loved the cup back then. We were absolutely cruising at half time, but in the end just scraped a draw. The noise from the home fans was immense. Burnden Park was weird, with a supermarket taking up half the away end and huge floodlight pylon in the middle of the other half. I think the Bolton replay is the most packed I have seen the Dell (not old enough for the Channon testimonial). What an electric atmosphere. We were so lucky to get through. That Bolton side was tremendous at the time. I know it's a cliche, but it felt like our name was on the cup. I can't remember the Norwich home game, I am guessing it was 0-0? The replay was another amazing atmosphere, but a massive nightmare of a game. Saints fans were not happy, especially with the ref, Ruel Fox for taking the piss and the police for keeping us in the ground afterwards. Sunderland and John Burn were absolutely flying and may well have beaten us, but you have got to fancy your chances. I can't imagine what it would have been like to get to the final and play the skates. It would have been absolute carnage.

[woodsaint1]

Dont see how our performance will be any worse than what was dished up the second half of last season or the end to the previous season under Ralph where we didnt win for months. I literally lost the will to watch Saints last season and would find things to do to avoid games. However hope has been restored this season.

Yes theres a risk we'll get caught overplaying it and could get beat 4 or 5, but I'd rather we stuck to our principles than try to shut up shop for a draw. We're not going to win the FA Cup so lets just have a go at the scouse twats

[Chez]

1 hour ago, northam soul said:

 

But please don’t take your bird to football 😉

took mine to Norwich away about ten years ago as we were visiting friends in that area. I didn't tell her we were going to the game beforehand. It was bloody freezing. Bitter. And it snowed. When we arrived she didn't want to get out of the car. In the ground, everyone stood for the entire game. She sat down the entire time, didn't watch the game and just tried to keep warm. She has never been back. Fine with me. 

[Chez]

Just now, woodsaint1 said:

Dont see how our performance will be any worse than what was dished up the second half of last season or the end to the previous season under Ralph where we didnt win for months. I literally lost the will to watch Saints last season and would find things to do to avoid games. However hope has been restored this season.

Yes theres a risk we'll get caught overplaying it and could get beat 4 or 5, but I'd rather we stuck to our principles than try to shut up shop for a draw. We're not going to win the FA Cup so lets just have a go at the scouse twats

Yeah, we could easily get smashed, but there's no point in worrying about that, we've been smashed by them many times when we had top flight players.

The key is to play our normal game and see if we can actually get between their lines and cause them problems. It will be very difficult to do that, but we have to attempt to dominate the ball from the off. I fear we will be chasing shadows

Not sure Liverpool lose to lower league opposition very often. They don't lose at home full stop. Great to be the underdog for once though and what a thrill if we take the lead or dare I say it get a result. 

[Whitey Grandad]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

 

Name dropping..

I watched it at home on Sky and invited my neighbour Ivan Golac round to watch it with me. He didn’t have Sky Sports.

[trousers]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

I seem to recall Burnley getting hammered 5-0 by Man City in the cup quarter final last season and they still finished top.

 Did they put out a full strength side, i.e. their core starting 11 in the league? (Genuine question, I've no idea)

Edited February 7 by trousers

[coalman]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

 Did they put out a full strength side, i.e. their core starting 11 in the league? (Genuine question, I've no idea)

Yes. Though City didn't skimp - Haaland, de Bruyne, Foden, Alvarez, Laporte, Dias, Walker, Mahrez, Rodri isn't too shabby. The others were the reserve keeper and Rico Lewis.

[Challenger]

Just rejoice and be grateful that our little club will play some part in the final English season of the greatest and most popular ever football manager.