WBA 0-0 Saints - SF 1st Leg Match Thread

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, egg said:

He wasn't.

Your post was.

Great to have him out there. 

absolutely. I hope he starts on Fri (if Adams cannot).

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, Mr X said:

Can't remember brooks even touching the ball? 😂

Apart from setting Stewart away and him almost scoring the winner of course.

[farawaysaint]

A solid performance, relatively happy with that; let's see how WBA approach our home leg. 

[Saint NL]

4 minutes ago, Mr X said:

What's your opinion of Ross Stewart? 

Promising signs.

He looks like he'll pick up the ball and shoot. Exactly what we need imo.

Hard to gauge how good he was today because the players supporting him were anonymous. On another day with Fraser and Brooks looking to play him in, we could look very dangerous.

[Turkish]

15 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Play average and dont lose, that was west brom's best chance.

Now we will have a stadium of fit blue haired birds for them to ogle and be distracted by.

As an aside what saints fan dyes their hair blue ? 

WBA won’t be able to cope with the cauldron on Bantz Friday night. The chapel kop sucking the ball into the net or roaring the boys forward. The baggies fans will be like church mice intimidated by the non stop banta in the ground and terrified of running into the DEF off it

 

Edited 12 May, 2024 by Turkish

[saintstowin]

It's a decent result. They have a big gap between their home and away form. Yes would have liked a bit more attacking but this is two games not one and we should be confident to get the job done having kept it to a draw today. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

We looked exactly what we were: a side that has played in a single system for nearly the whole season, and changing it at thecend as we kept conceding and had gone on a decline.

Martin will be happy with the clean sheet. Overall, it was about level, with WBA shading it.

This system highlights some different limitations in the players.

Downes is still key. Today offering driving runs. Bednarek was vital at the back. McCarthy made some saves. He's comfortable doing that. But we kept asking for trouble by repeatedly looking for him to do Rapid passes out from the back.

Stephens was a mixed bag. Some decent moments combined with passes that got us into trouble.

Mara had a few moments where he did the right thing. But even more where he didn't.

Manning offered little protection at the back. For a side offering width and numbers in midfield, we failed to pin them back and use our own attacking skill often. Not much in the way of orchestrated attacking moves either.

We go into the second leg with home advantage and hopefully a fit Che Adams. If it's the same system, it will be a close game too.

 

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

WBA won’t be able to cope with the cauldron on Bantz Friday night. The chapel loop sucking the ball into the net or roaring the boys forward. The baggies fans will be like church mice intimidated by the non stop banta in the ground and terrified of running into the DEF off it

 

Pre-match lights show and freebie red & white foam hands ought to provide the cherry on the top for intimidation factor.  COYR

[grezz]

9 minutes ago, Thereisonlyonemickychannon said:

Stewart was bloody pointless

Pre-injury Stewart starts. He’s just as physical as Che but quicker, moves better and can finish. Post-injury Stewart……who knows.

[saint lard]

Good.Professional. Top draw display. 

[saintant]

1 minute ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

We looked exactly what we were: a side that has played in a single system for nearly the whole season, and changing it at thecend as we kept conceding and had gone on a decline.

Martin will be happy with the clean sheet. Overall, it was about level, with WBA shading it.

This system highlights some different limitations in the players.

Downes is still key. Today offering driving runs. Bednarek was vital at the back. McCarthy made some saves. He's comfortable doing that. But we kept asking for trouble by repeatedly looking for him to do Rapid passes out from the back.

Stephens was a mixed bag. Some decent moments combined with passes that got us into trouble.

Mara had a few moments where he did the right thing. But even more where he didn't.

Manning offered little protection at the back. For a side offering width and numbers in midfield, we failed to pin them back and use our own attacking skill often. Not much in the way of orchestrated attacking moves either.

We go into the second leg with home advantage and hopefully a fit Che Adams. If it's the same system, it will be a close game too.

 

I was happy with that performance. It's a play-off game with a massive prize at stake so no quarter asked or given. We controlled large parts of the game which helped sustain energy to repel everything West Brom threw at us as they tried to take a lead to St Marys. It's not cut and dried but we've given ourselves a good chance to get to Wembley. These games are rarely easy so well played lads.

[Saint Shady]

36 minutes ago, Suhari said:

I apologise for the screams of "GET RID OF IT YOU DICKS!" Ringing out from the depths of Kings Wothy.

Yeah we all heard that down the Charlie 😂

[Sheaf Saint]

Stewart was putting himself about and constantly looking for room to move into, but nobody had the nous to try and put him through - just constant recycling of the ball at the back instead.

Mara, on the other hand, just jogged about and waited for the ball to come to him. Was useless.

I'm happy enough with 0-0 going into the home leg, all things considered. But we need to be more proactive going forward if we want to win the tie. 

[Harry_SFC]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Stewart was putting himself about and constantly looking for room to move into, but nobody had the nous to try and put him through - just constant recycling of the ball at the back instead.

Mara, on the other hand, just jogged about and waited for the ball to come to him. Was useless.

I'm happy enough with 0-0 going into the home leg, all things considered. But we need to be more proactive going forward if we want to win the tie. 

Mara has played too many games for us for my liking. Absolutely terrible player. We need to move him on ASAP.

[Vancouver Saint]

Well that was dull. Cagey. Nervy. We did okay and I'd definitely have taken a 0-0 after the first 15 minutes onslaught from West Brom. After that we looked comfortable and in control for long periods of the game but we are slow and ponderous going forward. We missed Stuart Armstrong's creativity and forward movement and Che Adam's industry. Jack Stephens always with a mistake in him but recovered well. McCarthy MotM for me.

We will need to be more creative and clinical at home on Friday. Good to see Ross Stewart back. At least we've got someone who is direct and willing to take a shot on goal.

[Patches O Houlihan]

3 minutes ago, saintant said:

I was happy with that performance. It's a play-off game with a massive prize at stake so no quarter asked or given. We controlled large parts of the game which helped sustain energy to repel everything West Brom threw at us as they tried to take a lead to St Marys. It's not cut and dried but we've given ourselves a good chance to get to Wembley. These games are rarely easy so well played lads.

To be fair a lot of those WBA players were subbed looking wrecked, or carrying a slight injury; a definite bonus for the Russball playing style in hot conditions. You'd fancy our players to be in better physical shape on Friday in comparison. 

Adams then Stewart, or Stewart then Adams up front in the return leg for me. Depends on Che's fitness, but Stewart looked fit, found some good positions and his shot was powerful, kept low and was on target - unusual traits for Saints strikers of recent years. 

[The Kraken]

Just now, Harry_SFC said:

Mara has played too many games for us for my liking. Absolutely terrible player. We need to move him on ASAP.

Tbf he only started 4 league games all season. 24 as sub though, 3 goals. I’m not sure what his best position is, but on todays display it’s definitely not as a centre forward.

Sulemana is even worse, 10 starts 15 subs and zero goals. 

Thats what, nearly £30m spent on two players who don’t cut it at championship level.

[Whitey Grandad]

33 minutes ago, RobJones1971 said:

Can’t believe the negativity here. After first 10 minutes we have controlled this game. Totally removed the impact of their crowd. Yes, there are players we all do not like and some disagree with the style of play, but every team playing away would be happy with the score and 64% possession. 
 

What are people expecting, us to batter them 5-0 with 99%!!

Possession figures are an irrelevance.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Patches O Houlihan said:

To be fair a lot of those WBA players were subbed looking wrecked, or carrying a slight injury; a definite bonus for the Russball playing style in hot conditions. You'd fancy our players to be in better physical shape on Friday in comparison. 

Adams then Stewart, or Stewart then Adams up front in the return leg for me. Depends on Che's fitness, but Stewart looked fit, found some good positions and his shot was powerful, kept low and was on target - unusual traits for Saints strikers of recent years. 

Decent point that. Got to get to the playoff final here. WBA played very well, where we can be miles better

[pimpin4rizeal]

The joys of having a real goal keeper in goal .. we lose that game if bazunu was playing 

[SaintsFan86]

Really pleasing result, Such a tough place to go and we didn't conceed. Glad we aren't chasing a goal down, let's win at home 3  - 1

[Whitey Grandad]

3 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

The joys of having a real goal keeper in goal .. we lose that game if bazunu was playing 

We shall never know, shall we?

[pimpin4rizeal]

4 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We shall never know, shall we?

McCarthy made at least two saves bazunu would never have stopped 

[egg]

1 minute ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We shall never know, shall we?

Indeed. I think we'd have conceded less, but scored less. One reason we've gone 3 at the back will be because Baz ain't there to move the ball about, but that has nullified our attacking threat. On balance, I reckon we'd have been nudging Ipswich if we'd use McC all season, but it's speculation, and we are where we are. 

[egg]

14 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Possession figures are an irrelevance.

Pretty much, yes. Where they mattered today is that they ran themselves ragged pressing, and chasing the ball. O-O is the important stat. 

[waylander]

Advantage SFC

West Brom's away form last season was poor, won only 6 games.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

54 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

What a terrible advert for the playoffs these two games have been.

Got to agree. Dull. Lack of ambition. No-one wanting to make a mistake. First leg playoffs don't have to be that way as shown by the League 2 games. And there's no way Mara was going to score, so 0-0 looked likely from the moment of team selection.

Thought Downes was excellent. Macca was superb but other than that, there were a lot of average performances.

Definitely our advantage but we'll need to show more ambition. Fuck the 'bravery' crap, 'ambition' is the key word.

[Mr X]

4 minutes ago, waylander said:

Advantage SFC

West Brom's away form last season was poor, won only 6 games.

Means. Nothing against us though 

[saintant]

If we go up wouldn't mind us trying to sign their keeper.

[Pamplemousse]

That was a stressful watch but a draw a decent outcome. 

Friday is going to be massive.

[Toadhall Saint]

27 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We shall never know, shall we?

True that but (and I’m not one to knock a player) I felt a lot more confident with mccarthy coming for the high balls/ long throws than Baz 

[Mr X]

We didn't really fully turn up today, there can be no excuse for not going for the jugular at home! 

[stknowle]

1 hour ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

No-one wanting to make a mistake. 

 

Jack Stephen’s seemed to want to make lots of mistakes tbf.

 

Edited 12 May, 2024 by stknowle

[ErwinK1961]

17 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Got to agree. Dull. Lack of ambition. No-one wanting to make a mistake. First leg playoffs don't have to be that way as shown by the League 2 games. And there's no way Mara was going to score, so 0-0 looked likely from the moment of team selection.

Thought Downes was excellent. Macca was superb but other than that, there were a lot of average performances.

Definitely our advantage but we'll need to show more ambition. Fuck the 'bravery' crap, 'ambition' is the key word.

A fair bit more at stake in these playoff games compared to league 2 matches

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, Mr X said:

We didn't really fully turn up today, there can be no excuse for not going for the jugular at home! 

We were missing our centre forward and had no adequate replacement. These games are notoriously tough. If we hadn't turned up today we'd now be 2 or 3 goals adrift going into the second leg. West Brom were never going to roll over today. We handled a very hard fought game with relatively few dangerous moments. If we'd not been on it and allowed them to take the lead the outcome could have been a different story. It was a good performance from us other than a few mistakes and we were right not to go gung-ho because that might have handed them the place at Wembley.

[Bushey Saint]

1 hour ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Seriously need Che to be fit for Friday, bloody hell

Still, got to be confident going level into the home leg

If Che is the answer then I don’t much like the question!

[saintant]

Just now, Bushey Saint said:

If Che is the answer then I don’t much like the question!

We all know he's not a clinical finisher but we are a far better side with him in the starting eleven as proved again today.

[saintstowin]

Will we be more likely to play 4 at the back at home?

[lambtiss]

1 hour ago, Saint NL said:

Agreed.

Sky gave it to Tom Fellows

Hard to judge whether he played well, he was up against Ryan Manning

[Saint NL]

6 minutes ago, saintstowin said:

Will we be more likely to play 4 at the back at home?

Doesn't matter if one of those 4 is called Jack Stephens....

[Andrew Watson]

Going to be very nervy unless we take control early,we certainly need to create alot more going forward. Too close to call,their away record counts for nothing in the play offs.

[Oldandtired]

54 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

We shall never know, shall we?

But I think you can make a pretty good educated guess….

[Harry_SFC]

13 minutes ago, saintant said:

We all know he's not a clinical finisher but we are a far better side with him in the starting eleven as proved again today.

As has been proven every time he doesn't play. Some people just can't support the guy because he isn't a natural finisher. He's a very good championship player that has always tried his best for us. On the other hand you have guys like Mara and Sulemena who have never broken out of a jog. 

[Dark Munster]

17 minutes ago, saintstowin said:

Will we be more likely to play 4 at the back at home?

I hope not, it makes us much more solid and gives the fullbacks more license to roam. We were toothless today because Mara was up top, not because of the back 3.

[sambosa75]

Tell you what, thank god Bazunu wasn’t playing.

[waylander]

48 minutes ago, Mr X said:

Means. Nothing against us though 

You reckon? It that was our away record, people on here would have been pissing all over our chances today

[trousers]

41 minutes ago, Mr X said:

We didn't really fully turn up today, there can be no excuse for not going for the jugular at home! 

There's a circus act on before the game?

[Matty's Caddy]

1 hour ago, Mr X said:

What's your opinion of Ross Stewart? 

There’s no way this bloke is gonna fit our style. 
did you see him have a pop at goal?

RM must have been fuming

[Whitey Grandad]

24 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

But I think you can make a pretty good educated guess….

Er…

No, that’s one thing you can’t do.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, The Kraken said:

Tbf he only started 4 league games all season. 24 as sub though, 3 goals. I’m not sure what his best position is, but on todays display it’s definitely not as a centre forward.

Sulemana is even worse, 10 starts 15 subs and zero goals. 

Thats what, nearly £30m spent on two players who don’t cut it at championship level.

We seem to want a hard running, high intensity central player. One who drops back to create angles for others, but is also capable of knowing when to move up to support the attacks down the flanks or in stages through the middle. Oh, and a player with clinical finishing. Not only the normal stuff, but against the teams we've allowed to reset.

Quite an ask.

And I think Che has tried very hard to do his best to meet a lot of that. Gets his head down, happy to work from deep, has scored instinctive goals from preferred spots and normally puts some work in.

Mara is a low intensity forward, who would much prefer to do work in the final third. He's off the pace for anything else through a combination of lack of experience, instinctiveness, and it not being a system he's fully adjusting to.

Watching him, he can take up finisher positions. Today was on the back post for a blocked ball across the box. But he's not the player to have been there following winning it back in midfield and busting a gut to get there. He had a few good touches today, and did drop back from which we got a chance. But was missing on other occasions. Ironically, being elsewhere when a finisher was needed.