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

[derry]

That was a potential banana skin avoided. Martin seems to have a screw loose. Picking the innocuous Mara was ludicrous. No pace, no dynamism, a stroller no place in this match. Personally in the circumstances Sulemana would have caused WBA problems with his pace if Mara had to be the choice. KWP backed off after he was clattered. Manning passing backwards instead of driving forward negating his only use because defensively he is poor. I prefer the three centrebacks because we need them however Stephens needs a kick in the backside to cut out the casual giveaway.

I thought Downes had a good game, Aribo was Aribo and Smallbone passed well at times but unloads the ball unecessarily and needs to sprint at times rather than stroll. Armstrong worked hard so all in all it was acceptable. McCarthy had his best game in years. Brooks was poor. Stewart looks a decent player finding his way back in.

[trousers]

4 minutes ago, derry said:

in the circumstances Sulemana would have caused WBA problems with his pace

The trouble is, almost every time someone says this after a game he didn't feature in, he then flatters to deceive in the next game he does play in, much more often than not. Apart from Liverpool at St Mary's last season, how many times has he caused an opposition problems with his pace? 

Edited May 12 by trousers

[Midfield_General]

8 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Er…

No, that’s one thing you can’t do.

I'm actually starting to quite admire your stubborn refusal to accept that Bazunu might not be all that good. It's tenacious. Fair play. 

[woodsaint1]

WBA really arent that great. Apart from Mikey Johnston's pace and height at set pieces, they havent got much threat. If we play half decent then we will win comfortably.

This is saints though, so expect an early gifted goal to WBA and us spending most of the game not being able to break them down 🙃

[Oldandtired]

1 hour ago, stknowle said:

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

 

Tbh I thought THB had a bad game, just didn’t seem to be on it.

[aintforever]

Good result, have to fancy our chances at St Mary’s given their away record, especially if Che is back - he was a big miss today. It’s refreshing to have a keeper that actually stops the ball from going in the goal, Stewart looks promising as well so all good.

 

[FarehamSaintJames]

I’ve been working all day, can someone summarise please so I don’t have to scroll through multiple pages.

Did either team play well?

Who looked most likely to score?

Did anyone miss an open goal?

Did Mara actually do anything?

Did Jack Stephens misplace a pass, and where did he play?

Did Alex McCarthy actually keep a clean sheet?

How confident are we feeling ahead of the second leg?

[Harry_SFC]

6 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

Tbh I thought THB had a bad game, just didn’t seem to be on it.

Both were poor. Bednarek was the best of the back 3 by a mile and saved us on a fair few occasions. 

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I’ve been working all day, can someone summarise please so I don’t have to scroll through multiple pages.

Did either team play well?

Who looked most likely to score?

Did anyone miss an open goal?

Did Mara actually do anything?

Did Jack Stephens misplace a pass, and where did he play?

Did Alex McCarthy actually keep a clean sheet?

How confident are we feeling ahead of the second leg?

1. Meh, not really, but it was the away game. We will have to be much better at home

2. Pretty even, both keepers pulled off some good save, but would suggest they had the edge on that front

3. No

4. Nope

5. Lots and left of a back 3-ish

6. Yes and arguably our MoM

7. Pretty confident as I believe WBA can't be much better, where as we can (and need to)

[Charlie Wayman]

What an appalling performance, hang your heads in shame Smallbone, Stephens and Mara. What on earth is wrong with these people that they can't raise their game when it really matters. A goalless draw is not a good enough reason to excuse them for simply shockingly lazy performances. Let's face it the subs weren't much better either, Fraser huffed and puffed a bit but Brooks again did his impression of the Invisible man. More of this on Friday and we can kiss goodbye to any hopes of promotion.

[bangkoksaint]

Just back from the game. I’m sorry I just don’t like how we play and the risk taking at the back. Conversely we rarely take a chance at the other end of the pitch and consequently we’re unbelievably predictable. It’ll be carnage if we get promoted with RM at the helm but I understand the argument that we simply have to go up due to the finances. 

[Toussaint]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

 

As an aside what saints fan dyes their hair blue ? 

I do, but only on my onlyfans  (hairyback.com) cosplay days. Hasn’t really taken off yet, but I’m pretty confident it will as I have manifested abundance and great riches. 

[Suhari]

3 hours ago, Suhari said:

Does Baz save either of those?

 

3 hours ago, James said:

Is that really a question?! 

 

3 hours ago, Suhari said:

MLG to the main board please. That's MLG to the board.

I can do horse-whispering too. And squirrel-tickling.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Russ to the Beeb...

"I’m quite pleased with the result. It was a tight game against a good team in a brilliant atmosphere.

"I would have liked a clean sheet before the game so I’m happy with that. We had to defend well.

"We should have caused a few more problems for them but it isn’t easy.

"The risk outweighed the reward with Che Adams. He has only trained very little, mainly resting and recovering. We are really positive about Friday. Hopefully he’ll be back involved."

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 minutes ago, Suhari said:

And squirrel-tickling.

Red or Grey? 🙂

[Suhari]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Red or Grey? 🙂

Red. I'm not a pervert.

[Zorba]

We are soooo boring to watch!

The only excitement is when we cock up our own endless back passing.

RM & SR won’t be here forever though.. and I’ll be happy to resign this era to a bad memory

Bore draw. Could have been worse. 

Onward and upward.

.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

I'm actually starting to quite admire your stubborn refusal to accept that Bazunu might not be all that good. It's tenacious. Fair play. 

This has nothing to do with Bazunu's qualities, or lack of them.

It’s the hypothetical nature of the question as to how he might have played. We might just as well ask whether Elvis would have got a double hat trick had he played up front. But he wasn’t available either. It’s the pathological obsession with someone who wasn’t anywhere near the pitch today that annoys me.

But thanks, all the same 🙂

[Whitey Grandad]

9 minutes ago, Suhari said:

Red. I'm not a pervert.

That’s not what Mr. Nutkin says.

[St. Neil]

6 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

That’s not what Mr. Nutkin says.

Terry?

[davefizzy14]

Very happy with that today. We had to be solid defensively and we were. Hopefully we can make home advantage count on Friday in the second leg COYR 😊

[Osvaldorama]

15 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

This has nothing to do with Bazunu's qualities, or lack of them.

It’s the hypothetical nature of the question as to how he might have played. We might just as well ask whether Elvis would have got a double hat trick had he played up front. But he wasn’t available either. It’s the pathological obsession with someone who wasn’t anywhere near the pitch today that annoys me.

But thanks, all the same 🙂

He wouldn’t have saved both and you know it. 

Edited May 12 by Osvaldorama

[goodymatt]

I thought we actually edged it on decent chances:

KWP pulling his shot wide, Downes chance that fell to Armstrong that went just wide and Ross Stewart’s deflection 

WBA had Diangana header and the cut back that was straight at McCarthy.

XG was 0.80 - 1.07.

That reaction save to the deflection from Stewart’s shot was easily the save of the game for me.

Overall, 0-0 is a decent result. In our hands at home on Friday. Can’t wait.

Edited May 12 by goodymatt

[Farmer Saint]

So been out for a meal - fucking hell guys, what's the problem - that was a good, professional performance, the type that a lot of you have complained we haven't put in enough this season. 

There is literally no pleasing some of you. 

Edited May 12 by Farmer Saint

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

1 hour ago, Oldandtired said:

Tbh I thought THB had a bad game, just didn’t seem to be on it.

He's had a couple of poor games recently. He worked well with Bednerek when they were our centre back pairing but then if I recall, he played right back to cater for Jack S in the centre, and after that he doesn't seem to know whether his arse is punched or balled. I think it's another example of Jack S upsetting the balance at the back.

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

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

Hobby Horse? 

[Mallagroth]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I’ve been working all day, can someone summarise please so I don’t have to scroll through multiple pages.

Did either team play well?

Who looked most likely to score?

Did anyone miss an open goal?

Did Mara actually do anything?

Did Jack Stephens misplace a pass, and where did he play?

Did Alex McCarthy actually keep a clean sheet?

How confident are we feeling ahead of the second leg?

We set out to not lose and didnt

yes we played well if the above was the main aim. But we could have been a bit more ambitious with the changes to try and get a result. West Brom threw the sink at it start of both halves but for a lot of endeavour didn’t get much joy.

no. chances were slim and no overwhelming clear cut opportunities wasted

No Mara was clearly there in the hope of an uncharacteristic moment of excellence but the emphasis was on containing for at least 70 mins.

There were shaky moments when West Brom inevitably pressed the ‘home’ advantage but nothing to single out JS at CB imho.

yes and made good stops but with the usual occasional wtf punched clearance.

second leg is basically a one shot now, hard to tell with our team. If saints come out confident we will smash them, any doubts in dressing room and we are likely to melt and let them in at the last 5 mins of every half.

 

[Farmer Saint]

20 minutes ago, Zorba said:

We are soooo boring to watch!

The only excitement is when we cock up our own endless back passing.

RM & SR won’t be here forever though.. and I’ll be happy to resign this era to a bad memory

Bore draw. Could have been worse. 

Onward and upward.

.

One person's tatt is another person's gold - and I think this is a good example of this. I really don't think we're boring to watch - I personally like the control we exude over the other team.

[Saint NL]

I didn't think it was a great performance today, but having watched the other play off game, I can imagine fans of all four teams feeling the same - we didn't enough today, but need to be better for the second leg. So we're pretty much par for the course.

[Whitey Grandad]

22 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

He wouldn’t have saved both and you know it. 

Don’t be so silly. Of course we don’t know.

[LaptopSaint]

Good day out - great atmosphere, especially the nonstop OWTS from 50-60mins. 
I thought Downes and Bednarek were our best players and I’d quite like a keeper with Macca’s hands and Baz’s feet. 
Definitely not the best game but a decent result away from home. Glad all the negative shite on here doesn’t actually get reflected in the stadium. 

 

[The Cat]

3 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

Good day out - great atmosphere, especially the nonstop OWTS from 50-60mins. 
I thought Downes and Bednarek were our best players and I’d quite like a keeper with Macca’s hands and Baz’s feet. 
Definitely not the best game but a decent result away from home. Glad all the negative shite on here doesn’t actually get reflected in the stadium. 

 

Just back myself and flicked  through some of the comments. Completely agree with you.

We were fine. We weren't brilliant but did what we needed to against a team who are hard to play against.

Best away atmosphere I've been at for a while. Well done to our fans.

[The Curse of St Mary's]

I thought we were really passive at times today. Most of the pressure from WBA was a result of us not getting into them and allowing them to cross the ball unopposed especially Manning. We handled most things thrown at us and we had a keeper who did his job today which was a pleasant surprise. In attack we lacked creativity yet still had a golden chance to score with Downes. Obviously Che was a massive miss today. Arma was poor but he was alongside Mara who is appalling. So lazy and ineffective it's embarrassing RM continues to give him chances.

Hopefully Che back Friday and our more creative players will have the ball in more dangerous areas. 

Downes was decent and Bednarek covered some inadequacies shown by both THB and JS today. McCarthy did his job well enough bar one brain part moment. Smallbone should not be taking set pieces. They really are horrific. 

[RobJones1971]

4 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

FT.

WBA were aggressive in the press, fair play

We were crap. I felt the formation/set up did not do us justice this game. Jack 'the shoehorn' Stephens was crap but Bednarek and McCarthy were great, Not sure I can recall Baz putting in a commanding performance like that against a good side...

Sorry cannot agree with this at all. It is knock out football. We were no way crap. Play the game and what is front of you and do what is needed to win. We controlled the game away from home and put ourselves as favourites to win. Not guaranteed to win, of course but still in a great position after the away game .

We are Saints, not Man City, RM …

 

 

 

 

[lambtiss]

22 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

Good day out - great atmosphere, especially the nonstop OWTS from 50-60mins. 
I thought Downes and Bednarek were our best players and I’d quite like a keeper with Macca’s hands and Baz’s feet. 

 

Knowing Saints we will get a keeper with Baz's hands and Macca's feet. 

[RobJones1971]

4 hours ago, saintant said:

Thought Downes was superb. Must have watched a different game.

He was absolutely top. Those that can’t see that I think are watching another game! 

[SaintBobby]

2 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

What an appalling performance, hang your heads in shame Smallbone, Stephens and Mara. What on earth is wrong with these people that they can't raise their game when it really matters. A goalless draw is not a good enough reason to excuse them for simply shockingly lazy performances. Let's face it the subs weren't much better either, Fraser huffed and puffed a bit but Brooks again did his impression of the Invisible man. More of this on Friday and we can kiss goodbye to any hopes of promotion.

Good trolling. I nearly fell for it 😂😂

A perfectly satisfactory result. Not our best, but more than okay.

Stephens was good. McCarthy exceptional.

We surely won’t play 3-5-2 on Friday?

 

[Zorba]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

One person's tatt is another person's gold - and I think this is a good example of this. I really don't think we're boring to watch - I personally like the control we exude over the other team.

I don’t see control or dominance though. I see a team that dicks around with the ball for too long in dangerous areas and gets itself in trouble far too often. I get the concept but it’s flawed. You need Sheik Yamoolah’s cash to buy the type of players capable of playing well this way.. especially in the Prem. I don’t know what the answer is but this style of play will make for a pretty miserable season next year if we do get promoted. I don’t foresee many wins against far better opponents.

 

 

 

[Harry_SFC]

37 minutes ago, SaintBobby said:

Good trolling. I nearly fell for it 😂😂

A perfectly satisfactory result. Not our best, but more than okay.

Stephens was good. McCarthy exceptional.

We surely won’t play 3-5-2 on Friday?

 

Agree with this apart from Stephens. Gave it away so many times and just seems to be a few seconds behind everyone else on the pitch. He needlessly dallies on the ball which puts himself in trouble. It cost us a goal against Leeds last week and almost cost us another today.

[davefizzy14]

Downes was class as usual today 😊 McCarthy was excellent dominating his area and made two very good stops 😊 Bednarek was very good too 😊 Jack made some very important interceptions 😊 the whole team were solid today 😊

Edited May 12 by davefizzy14

[S-Clarke]

It was somewhat what I expected, very cagy, neither team really pushing too hard. Second leg will be totally different.

WBA lost a lot of players through injury during that game, doubt they'll recover for Friday - so they will probably be depleted. 

It's very similar to the Norwich v Leeds game - both Norwich and WBA will be kicking themselves, In my opinion both sides missed their chance here - and it's now on ourselves and Leeds to take the control in the 2nd leg, which we should do in my opinion. I don't expect anything less as WBA are pretty shit and very limited.

Defensively we were ok today, Bednarek the pick of the bunch. Downes decent as usual. McCarthy made saves, I can't remember the last time I saw our GK make saves - so that was a refreshing change. The week is going to drag like crap though, but I think we're in a strong position and I think WBA blew their chance today.

[Cabrone]

0-0, I'll take that. If we don't bottle it on Friday we should be able to get through.

Shame we didn't see much more of McCarthy this season but better late than never.

If Ches is out Stewart should get the nod.

Mara should be nowhere near the first team.

[bpsaint]

6 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

Anyone on here know the blue haired bird in the Saints end? She was the highlight of the match for me. 

https://x.com/bryaniekeatos_7?s=21&t=DalIrD9C5GmDN2DHJfNY7Q
 

was it her? 😂

Happy with that result all things considered. Would have certainly taken it before the game and apart from that chance from Stewart wouldn’t really say we did enough to win, but we know West Brom are a tough side given their league position.

Hopefully the fans rise to the occasion Friday night.

[warsash saint]

My random thoughts following the trip to WBA

• Fantastic atmosphere created by both fans - credit to baggies fans really backing their team / Saints fans also in great voice for the 90 mins  - the 20 min version of OWTS
• As i said after Leeds, we need to move heaven & earth to keep Downes
• Add THB to that list
• Keep everything crossed that Che is fit for Friday as Mara offers nothing
• The Hawthorns has to worst ground i have been to for getting away from in a car!!

[Forester]

Good day up there, and am satisfied with that result.  We have played teams in third and fifth this last week and conceded just one goal.  The back 3 really helps, and makes it harder to press us as often an outlet is available.  It was noticeable how we ran into more problems playing out when we went back four late on, which I found puzzling.

McCarthy has regained the form he had when late on in that season a few years back he helped keep us up under Hughes.  Long may it continue.

Fingers crossed Adams is fit Friday.

[SaintTex]

all the fannying about with passes across our own goalmouth, while 2 or 3 opponents are lurking in our penalty box, is going to be the death of me.

[Toussaint]

I’m not sure why all the focus is on Jack’s performance. If I was singling out anyone it would be Mara for putting in a Mara performance, Manning for doing the same, Snallbone for going right into his shell, and that’s being kind and AA wasn’t at his sharpest by any means, his firs touch was way off, leading to a few opportunities missed.
 

Having said all that it was mission accomplished, we didn’t lose and I’m sure that was Martins main focus.
 

I’m looking forward to Friday and I think we’ll blow them away convincingly, with the caveat that Che is back or Ross can play a bigger part in the game. Of those named and shamed above, Mara is the only one I don’t want anywhere near the team. Surely even Dibling running around, chasing down and being a nuisance would be more effective?

Edited May 13 by Toussaint

[Saint_clark]

9 hours ago, bpsaint said:

https://x.com/bryaniekeatos_7?s=21&t=DalIrD9C5GmDN2DHJfNY7Q
 

was it her? 😂

Happy with that result all things considered. Would have certainly taken it before the game and apart from that chance from Stewart wouldn’t really say we did enough to win, but we know West Brom are a tough side given their league position.

Hopefully the fans rise to the occasion Friday night.

That's a funny shade of blue  

It looks similar but can't really tell. I was only kidding but kudos on the stalking effort. 

[The Cat]

9 hours ago, warsash saint said:

• The Hawthorns has to worst ground i have been to for getting away from in a car!!

20 minute walk to the car and back on the motorway a couple of minutes later. All depends whether you know where to park!

[Convict Colony]

9 hours ago, bpsaint said:

https://x.com/bryaniekeatos_7?s=21&t=DalIrD9C5GmDN2DHJfNY7Q
 

was it her? 😂

Happy with that result all things considered. Would have certainly taken it before the game and apart from that chance from Stewart wouldn’t really say we did enough to win, but we know West Brom are a tough side given their league position.

Hopefully the fans rise to the occasion Friday night.

Now i know why she dyed it blue, that looks like a red fraggle shat on her head