Saints 0-1 Forest - Match Thread

[Micky]

3 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Thing I've noticed about RM (this season and last) is that he sets up the team into a formation (like any other manager) but then when the subs start coming on we become a mish mash of players. Sometimes it's not possible to tell where players are playing and in what positions. We got away with that last year but we'll get destroyed this year with such "tactics".

True, but the worrying thing is when we are a 'mish mash' of players we look ten times better than when we're playing to his 'plan'.

[Badger]

1 minute ago, Saint NL said:

So the tactic was to have BBD and Armstrong playing really wide, to create space for Smallbone and Aribo to ghost into the box?

That's our attacking plan? Someone tell me I'm imagining it because it can't be real.

The player probably best suited to getting into the box from midfield is the one we're looking to offload. 

[CB Fry]

It's so frustrating that we can't just bring on a proven goalscoring target man to mix things up a bit in the last ten minutes.

If only we had a player like that in the squad.

Edited 24 August, 2024 by CB Fry

[imadirtyurchin]

I genuinely wonder what the odds on saints not scoring this side of Xmas? I’d be tempted to have a punt. 

[saintant]

5 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Thing I've noticed about RM (this season and last) is that he sets up the team into a formation (like any other manager) but then when the subs start coming on we become a mish mash of players. Sometimes it's not possible to tell where players are playing and in what positions. We got away with that last year but we'll get destroyed this year with such "tactics".

You have to remember he's very limited as a coach whatever mumbo jumbo about being ourselves and being brave he comes out with. The Championship is his ceiling.

[stknowle]

35 minutes ago, trousers said:

Things we learned today...

- we STILL need an actual goal scoring centre forward 

- KWP would be mad to stay

- we need KWP to stay

- AA only flourishes when he has space

- AA isn't going to get the space he needs to flourish this season

- Fernandes looks promising 

- With 30 minutes to go, Russ would rather preserve a draw than go for the win. At home. To Nottingham Forest. 

- Big Les needs to start instead of Smallbone 

- McCarthy isn't actually a bad goalkeeper when he's doing normal goalkeeper type stuff 

 

Generally agreed but you missed Dibling looks a very good prospect.

[Morse]

There is not a snowballs chance in hell of us staying up. Russball will be ruthlessly battered in the Prem. 

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, Micky said:

True, but the worrying thing is when we are a 'mish mash' of players we look ten times better than when we're playing to his 'plan'.

Shows how shit his plan is.

[Bewildered]

Poor performance, outside of the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half there was no intensity or pace to our play.

McCarthy - should have called out to Sugawara that he had the ball covered for the goal

Sugawara - promising, but struggled for space going forward as Armstrong wouldn't move inside to create space

KWP - by far our best player, at this stage of the transfer window, we must not sell.

THB - thought he was lousy, especially his passing.

Stephens - was whatever, takes way too long to move the ball on when he gets it.

Bednarek - no comment

Downes - only midfielder who looked up to it at this level, but was often surrounded as Forest knew he is the one who dictates play for us.

Smallbone - a squad player at best in the PL

Aribo - see Smallbone

Arma - doesn't have what it takes at this level. movement isn't good enough.

BBD - stayed out wide  for reasons that are beyond me as he's too slow and lumbering

Subs:

Edozie - hopeless, makes the wrong decision every time

Archer - stayed in the middle, but other than one shit layoff, did he touch the ball?

Fernandes - showed some promising signs

Taylor - looked like he has a decent cross, too bad he only had dwarves to aim at since BBD refuses to actually go central

Dibling - impressive, only attacking player that tried to take responsibility and try and make something happen.

Manager - not really sure what he's thinking with this 5-5-0 formation or whatever it is.

[obelisk]

1 minute ago, imadirtyurchin said:

I genuinely wonder what the odds on saints not scoring this side of Xmas? I’d be tempted to have a punt. 

There's always the chance of an own goal.

[Saint Billy]

20 minutes ago, JRM said:

What's the lowest number of goals ever scored in a Premier league season? 

Can I tell you at the end of the season 

[bugenhagen]

Horrible. Think it was one attack where I thought we did well. Lost the ball over and over when we tried to move the ball forward. Only Downes and Dibling was above average. Arma, Smallbone and THB very poor today. 

[BranfootsLoveChild]

Can someone tell me who this Lucy is? Keep seeing it mentioned 😅😅

[OttawaSaint]

Will Russ be upset or not?

65% possession

But

We weren't "brave" at all. We were timid.

Edited 24 August, 2024 by OttawaSaint

[Galway saint]

We look ok defensively but I think that’s because we don’t provide an offensive offering 

going to be a challenge to stay up with that forward line - it’s very much top end championship and we are crying out for a proper no 9 but we’ve been saying that for two years now 

 

[Yorkshire Saint]

3 minutes ago, BranfootsLoveChild said:

Can someone tell me who this Lucy is? Keep seeing it mentioned 😅😅

Lucy Pinder. 

[Andrew Watson]

When we buy 2 out of 3 of the Sheffield United front players do we really expect to score goals. Very worrying stats as well for the game.

[BranfootsLoveChild]

2 minutes ago, Yorkshire Saint said:

Lucy Pinder. 

Of course!! Cheers!

[SaintBobby]

Well that was dire. On the upside, we managed one shot on target - one more than when we last lost to them at home 0-1?

Can’t see Smallbone staying in the starting XI, he was truly awful.

[manji]

2 hours ago, trousers said:

We're missing a Stuart Armstrong type presence... Someone who can link midfield and attack. KWP the closest to fulfilling that role at the moment... Dibling maybe...?

O'Riley was called the new Stuart Armstrong but fitter. It was obvious to me why we were after him. Fairly irrelevant know sure.

[stknowle]

4 minutes ago, Galway saint said:

We look ok defensively but I think that’s because we don’t provide an offensive offering 

 

 

I found today’s offering thoroughly offensive (winky smiler emoji)

[verlaine1979]

Our possession-first tactic looks a little pointless when the likes of Forest look so much better at keeping the ball in tight spaces when they needed to. Tapping the ball between statues before turning back at the half way line is the definition of propaganda football.

[Jack]

We were screaming for a back 4 and extra man in midfield at HT, then Sugawara gets hooked and Captain Jack to LB for a bit, THB off, Edozie on who’s far worse than SAA. 
 

BDD obviously had instructions to loiter on the touchline offering fuck all as there’s no other reason to be there. The first time he strayed inside we actually created something. 
 

Russ must see loads in training that we don’t 

[hypochondriac]

Where are all the posters dismissing me for saying we needed to replace Smallbone in the starting lineup

[Galway saint]

5 minutes ago, Andrew Watson said:

When we buy 2 out of 3 of the Sheffield United front players do we really expect to score goals. Very worrying stats as well for the game.

Does seem odd to have signed two thirds of the blades forward line and who went down without a whimper. You wonder why the club thought this season there would be a different output from those same players in the same league 

All a bit depressing really as we are clearly going to struggle to compete at this level with the current squad.

including our final two friendlies we have scored 1 goal in 4 games….

[gio1saints]

16 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Shows how shit his plan 

FWIW Forest deserved the three points. But we did not deserve to lose that second half, if anything we were better than them second half and a 0-0 draw would have been ok.  Our play was not a “ shit plan” because it was same as what got us up - the only thing shitty is the speed at which you’ve turned on your own manager. 

[bpsaint]

8 minutes ago, SaintBobby said:

Well that was dire. On the upside, we managed one shot on target - one more than when we last lost to them at home 0-1?

Can’t see Smallbone staying in the starting XI, he was truly awful.

I wish you were right, he’s far too lightweight for this league, as he was last time he played in it. However as with Jack Stephens I fully expect him to be one of the first names on the team sheet each week as long as Russ is in charge.

[goodymatt]

Smallbone’s worst on the ball performance today. The one thing he excels at, precise one touch passing was nowhere to be seen. 

Fernandes and Dibling looked encouraging.

Our three goal scorers all look very toothless. Not sure in this system that Archer offers us anything different than the other two.

THB uncharacteristically off the pace too, looked nervous. He was so good last week and all of last season, just an off day hopefully.

[egg]

42 minutes ago, Doctoroncall said:

So if you think he’s crap in the Championship you think he’s a league one level player?  That’s a bit harsh. 
 

If he could finish better he would a decent Championship player but as he cannot he’s your mid table performer to me. 
 

Eh? I've said nothing about his level, and I don't care what it is. I'm only interested in whether a player is good enough for our team. 

He wasn't good enough last season. He's been poor this season. He doesn't play with his head up, has never had an end product. 

Upgrade him. What level he goes to, not my concern. 

Edited 24 August, 2024 by egg

[macca155]

Agree with most comments. RM was totally owned by Nuno. He made a crucial substitution just before the goal. That involved some changes in their lineup. Almost immediately they nearly scored and the of course did.

This is not the Championship. Other teams have good players and can adapt quickly.

Downes v Gibbs white was an interesting battle. Took Flynn a while but he won that battle,good for him.

I thought Stephens showed a bit of experience in the first half but what on earth was wrong with THB.

I just wish we had a tall natural goal scorer on the bench who could cause problems ... oh

Dibling should start or at least come on earlier.

Long way to go, no need to be disheartened yet.

[egg]

1 minute ago, macca155 said:

Agree with most comments. RM was totally owned by Nuno. He made a crucial substitution just before the goal. That involved some changes in their lineup. Almost immediately they nearly scored and the of course did.

This is not the Championship. Other teams have good players and can adapt quickly.

Downes v Gibbs white was an interesting battle. Took Flynn a while but he won that battle,good for him.

I thought Stephens showed a bit of experience in the first half but what on earth was wrong with THB.

I just wish we had a tall natural goal scorer on the bench who could cause problems ... oh

Dibling should start or at least come on earlier.

Long way to go, no need to be disheartened yet.

Agree with that. I'm not sure what the Stephens bashers today were watching. 

Dibling isn't a starter yet for me, but he needs half a half to make a difference imo. 

[Lone ranger]

Delusional. 
De lose em all. 
struggle to think who would entice me to go and watch if I was not a supporter

who could go in that great list of reasons to go to the game which for me begins with Paine and Sydenham, via Ron Davies, Shearer, Channon, Le Tiss, Lambert, Mane, chives, and many many others but in the present team ……

struggling to think of any one. 

[gio1saints]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Where are all the posters dismissing me for saying we needed to replace Smallbone in the starting lineup

 Who scored a vital goal at SMS last time we played? And yes he had a very bad game today and I’d drop him for Cardiff - but you cannot, without expecting derisory laughter, claim him starting was the reason we would lose ahead of the match. It was obvious he was playing badly first half and ideally should have been hooked at ht. but before the match- you’re just being opportunistically OTT on him because it’s an easy target. 

[goodymatt]

1 minute ago, Lone ranger said:

Delusional. 
De lose em all. 
struggle to think who would entice me to go and watch if I was not a supporter

who could go in that great list of reasons to go to the game which for me begins with Paine and Sydenham, via Ron Davies, Shearer, Channon, Le Tiss, Lambert, Mane, chives, and many many others but in the present team ……

struggling to think of any one. 

Downes is by far our best player, but he’s not making that list! Sign of where we are at the moment, trying to build back to being able to find the next one for your list.

[revolution saint]

Thought we were second best virtually everywhere today.

First time I’ve really seen Dibling and he looked good. Fernandes looked ok and has a decent eye for a quick pass. That’s about the only positives I’ll take from that game 

[Disco Stu]

1 hour ago, petermcpete said:

Not only a crap result but what a boring game to watch.

Echoing others though, Dibling looks a good positive player, with driving forward runs like Alcaraz. Would love to see him start although not convinced his style (like Alcaraz') fits Martinball.

I'm not convinced Martinball fits the Premier League.

[Saint NL]

I thought the 'false number 9' was a maverick move.

But the 'false front three' is a real big balls move.

[Give it to Ron]

Why didn’t Martin at least try Diaz in middle with Archer behind him just stood out wide offering no threat.

It’s ok calling out the crowd after game. what bravery did manager show today! Swapping full backs did bugger all especially again taking off Sugawara who was best player first half with nothing ahead of him. 

Edited 24 August, 2024 by Give it to Ron

[Saint_clark]

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I'm not convinced Martinball fits the Premier League.

Unless you can spend a billion quid like City, no you can't be playing this way.

[East Kent Saint]

It feels like it's going to be a long season for Saints fans 😐

[Viking Saint]

1 hour ago, obelisk said:

It's taken some youngsters to come on and show any sort of attacking intent. They obviously haven't been listening to RM.

That's them not being selected for the next game then

[PerthshireSaint]

THB had a mare 

[lambtiss]

48 minutes ago, saintant said:

You have to remember he's very limited as a coach whatever mumbo jumbo about being ourselves and being brave he comes out with. The Championship is his ceiling.

And you know that after 2 matches. Well done 

[Disco Stu]

They don't come much easier than that yet Forest were better than us in every department. They thorough deserved their win.

We were slow, predictable and generally easy to defend against. Sloppy in possession and afraid to shoot on the rare occasions we reached the edge of their box. Utterly toothless. That was everything I was afraid Russball would be in the Premier League.

I'm not sure starting with 3 centre half's was the best option at home. Nothing "brave" about doing that. We could have played another hour without scoring.

Armstrong and BBD were playing too wide to make any kind of impact. There was nobody in the middle to hold the ball or cross to. Lacking quality all over the pitch.

Very concerning performance.

 

Edited 24 August, 2024 by Disco Stu

[sfc4prem]

There's a lot being said that all seems very definitive and finite.

Lots of conclusions.

Hopefully they're seen as pessimistic come the end of the season...

[hypochondriac]

21 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

 Who scored a vital goal at SMS last time we played? And yes he had a very bad game today and I’d drop him for Cardiff - but you cannot, without expecting derisory laughter, claim him starting was the reason we would lose ahead of the match. It was obvious he was playing badly first half and ideally should have been hooked at ht. but before the match- you’re just being opportunistically OTT on him because it’s an easy target. 

He's not good enough for the prem. You have to be ruthless if you want to stay up. He can be a squad player but he shouldn't be starting games for us. 

[Danbert]

That was poor - Smallbone was particularly poor. Downes, Sibling and KWP were good.

We had teething troubles at the start of last season, I'm hoping we'll pull through this time as well. We can't keep playing like we did today and expect to stay up.

[Mr X]

53 minutes ago, Saint Billy said:

Can I tell you at the end of the season 

I know the lowest points ever in a premier league season is derby with 11 I'm sure we can break that record though 😂

[Pamplemousse]

That was shit, didn't test their goalkeeper once. Simply not good enough, from the players or from the manager.

The one positive is I don't think we're a million miles off, both games have been narrow defeats. Think we need to be more effective on the counter attack, we can't just rely on passing it through teams.

[beatlesaint]

That little 5 minute rush of subs where RM did all he could to keep Stephens on the pitch was very strange. Take off a full back, move Capt Jack to fullback. Sees the Forest winger tear him a new one so brings on a proper full back and moves Capt Jack out of harms way. Just creepy.