Saints 1-1 Ipswich - Match Thread

[Hawkswood]

1 hour ago, Maggie May said:

The way I look at it:

Newcastle: unlucky not to get anything. We were the better team. Ultimately, our record at St James’s Park is awful.

Nottingham Forest: fair play, they were the better team. They’ve done very well so far this season and we’ve got a terrible record against them too.

Brentford: our bogey team. Have we got anything from them since they’ve been in the Prem?

Man United: we’ve not beaten them at home in 20 years. Better side until the penalty miss.

Ipswich: on par. Both promoted teams. A point is a valiant effort against a team far superior to us last season. We’ve improved more than them, I’d say.

When you look at that, it’s a better start than the Adkins PL era. It is going to take time to adjust. I don’t think we are as bad as the Sheffield United and Derby teams and I think we’ve shown enough promise to better the points tally from the relegation season.

Now the dust has settled I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I think Archer has shown real flashes of ability and I'm happy to give him time to settle and anyone who thinks keeping Che was a better option clearly hasn't been paying attention for the last few seasons. 

Again, like you, we have to be realistic about this season  and see it as a rebuilding season then when we go down we can bounce up again but with more solidity. I've been taken by surprise how big the gulf is between us and the other established lower half prem clubs even though we've been away only one season.  When you've got the likes of Bournemouth Fulham and forest spending 30 - to 40 mil on players then that gap is going to take some time to bridge. As someone else mentioned earlier, we all want a top notch prem CF, but persuading them to come to us is a hard sell plus there is the financial aspect.

The reality is this.....this season is gonna be a hard slog but its for good reason and not at all surprising. Just need to grit teeth and get thru it and yes before anybody has a dig at me, not leaving a player at the edge of the box is just plain stupid. I used to play CB to a decent level and I was always on the post looking looking out for gaps. That's unforgiveable!

[AlexLaw76]

14 minutes ago, Hawkswood said:

Now the dust has settled I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I think Archer has shown real flashes of ability and I'm happy to give him time to settle and anyone who thinks keeping Che was a better option clearly hasn't been paying attention for the last few seasons. 

Again, like you, we have to be realistic about this season  and see it as a rebuilding season then when we go down we can bounce up again but with more solidity. I've been taken by surprise how big the gulf is between us and the other established lower half prem clubs even though we've been away only one season.  When you've got the likes of Bournemouth Fulham and forest spending 30 - to 40 mil on players then that gap is going to take some time to bridge. As someone else mentioned earlier, we all want a top notch prem CF, but persuading them to come to us is a hard sell plus there is the financial aspect.

The reality is this.....this season is gonna be a hard slog but its for good reason and not at all surprising. Just need to grit teeth and get thru it and yes before anybody has a dig at me, not leaving a player at the edge of the box is just plain stupid. I used to play CB to a decent level and I was always on the post looking looking out for gaps. That's unforgiveable!

Why? We chose to spread ourselves thinly....we chose to spend on quantity and not quality.
unless Bournemouth pay way over £100k per week for many of their players?

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, Maggie May said:

The way I look at it:

Newcastle: unlucky not to get anything. We were the better team. Ultimately, our record at St James’s Park is awful.

Nottingham Forest: fair play, they were the better team. They’ve done very well so far this season and we’ve got a terrible record against them too.

Brentford: our bogey team. Have we got anything from them since they’ve been in the Prem?

Man United: we’ve not beaten them at home in 20 years. Better side until the penalty miss.

Ipswich: on par. Both promoted teams. A point is a valiant effort against a team far superior to us last season. We’ve improved more than them, I’d say.

When you look at that, it’s a better start than the Adkins PL era. It is going to take time to adjust. I don’t think we are as bad as the Sheffield United and Derby teams and I think we’ve shown enough promise to better the points tally from the relegation season.

If a draw at home against a fellow relegation favourite is "on par" then you must believe we are guaranteed relegated.

[East Kent Saint]

Only going by Motd but there were signs of attacking intent , Archer deserves a run in the team , Lallana is a revelation in his new role , the sort of experienced professional Saints require .

[Totton Saint]

1 hour ago, Hawkswood said:

Now the dust has settled I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I think Archer has shown real flashes of ability and I'm happy to give him time to settle and anyone who thinks keeping Che was a better option clearly hasn't been paying attention for the last few seasons. 

Again, like you, we have to be realistic about this season  and see it as a rebuilding season then when we go down we can bounce up again but with more solidity. I've been taken by surprise how big the gulf is between us and the other established lower half prem clubs even though we've been away only one season.  When you've got the likes of Bournemouth Fulham and forest spending 30 - to 40 mil on players then that gap is going to take some time to bridge. As someone else mentioned earlier, we all want a top notch prem CF, but persuading them to come to us is a hard sell plus there is the financial aspect.

The reality is this.....this season is gonna be a hard slog but its for good reason and not at all surprising. Just need to grit teeth and get thru it and yes before anybody has a dig at me, not leaving a player at the edge of the box is just plain stupid. I used to play CB to a decent level and I was always on the post looking looking out for gaps. That's unforgiveable!

The penalty box was so crowded with our players Ramsdale could hardy see the ball coming for the  equaliser.

Utter folly not to have a player futrher upfield

[Totton Saint]

14 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Only going by Motd but there were signs of attacking intent , Archer deserves a run in the team , Lallana is a revelation in his new role , the sort of experienced professional Saints require .

Wy cannot Llanla stay on longer? it is not as if he does a lot of running.

[Totton Saint]

12 hours ago, Jack said:

We’re not going to score enough or keep enough clean sheets, sadly 

especially if we cannot score from penalties in the PL

[East Kent Saint]

16 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

The penalty box was so crowded with our players Ramsdale could hardy see the ball coming for the  equaliser.

Utter folly not to have a player futrher upfield

It was a deflection,  Ramsdale stood no chance . The mm of football   slightly more contact and the ball would have been over the bar etc

[derry]

12 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Or both.

There were at least three unmarked Ipswich players around the edges of our penalty box.

Criminal.

I really don't get why we don't do something about that. What the management need to ask themselves is how many of our players in a similar situation are defensively sound. For me that excudes most of the midfielders and forwards. Fraser is good and Stewart is tall. The solution is simple stick a couple up on the halfway line, one on each touchline that will take at least three to cover. That'll take three attackers away, it'll also give a 9-6 numeric advantage in the area and disrupt who is in our box. It's no loss to our defence. Not only that it causes at least one or two to drop halfway increasing the advantage and giving the goalkeeper more space to get out and claim the cross. I've found over the years most attackers are a liability defensively because they don't mark properly, don't tackle or end up fouling and because they are there give the impression we are covering when in fact they are useless defensively so get them somewhere where thay could be some use. Bottom line is the goalkeeper or defender who wins the ball could hit a route one ball into the opponents half allowing everybody to get out quickly probably leaving a few offside.

[derry]

12 hours ago, austsaint said:

Yes, no criticism of RM today for selection and tactics, although I would have preferred Cornet on instead of BBD or Stewart, both of whom look miles off the pace and quality needed - a damning fail of our striker recruitment.

I also wonder about Taylor at LB.  He was solid enough, but not once got forward, and did not deliver a cross for the entire 97 minutes.  Maybe that was his role, but it meant we didn’t create much on our left hand side; a few efforts from Fraser - nothing from Diaz.  In that sense we missed KWPs enterprise, even when playing out of position.  I’m not sure the case for balance with a natural LB was justified today in giving up so much attacking and creative possibilities on the left side of the pitch.

So much to like about the performance though.   What more can be said about Dibling, a totally fearless display of dribbling, run, exquisite passes and a composed finish from the Lallana pass.   He also tracked back well and helped defensively.   His combination with Sugawara was great to watch - Sugawara has proven himself a worthy Prem RB, and along with Fernandes and Les Ugo, are the pats on the back for the recruiting staff as much as the striker/attacking recruits look like dismal mistakes.   Having said that, Archer showed glimpses and created two gilt edged opportunities.    Just needs the confidence boost of a goal or two.

Some have doubted Downes at Prem level, yet I thought he once again proved he’s more than comfortable.   Worked hard at both his holding and box to box responsibilities and covered at times for Lallana who while very good creatively, couldn’t offer the defensive midfield cover to Downes that Les Ugo can and did later in the game.

THB was much improved today and it’s fair to say we looked better with the Bednarek/THB combination rather than Captain Jack.

Gutting to concede so late.   Ramsdale deserved a clean sheet today.   

 

t 

Not being picky but the goal came via Frasers run to the byeline then passing it back eventually to Lallana who found Dibling. I prefer a defender at  full back on his natural side. KWP often leaves us wide open behind him. I prefer a strong back line and with Sugawara pushing forward Taylor was better defensively especially as we have no strong tackling midfielders.

[S-Clarke]

14 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Or both.

There were at least three unmarked Ipswich players around the edges of our penalty box.

Criminal.

That was shocking, it must be on instruction as I've seen some screengrabs of literally all 11 players inside our own box. 

Of course Ipswich are going to leave players free on the edge, get a header wrong or head it the wrong way and it's done. It was deflected, sure, but that goal was as bad as any goal you can concede at any level of football. Amateur hour. Fully preventable, just needed some brains. It's another tactic we employ which is an absolute freebie for the opposition manager to use.

1) Use our passes back a press activation (Free goal number 1)

2) Sit off and allow us to paly it in between our CB's and close the space in front (Stop us scoring, easy peasy)

3) Leave players on the edge of the box when you have a corner (Free goal number 2)

We're just giving up free goals every game because of that and find it hard to score because of that, opposition managers will love playing us as they have obvious routes to goals before they've even stepped on the pitch. Such an easy-peasy team to score against and prevent, nothing to it at all.

Edited September 22 by S-Clarke

[Whitey Grandad]

10 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

That was shocking, it must be on instruction as I've seen some screengrabs of literally all 11 players inside our own box. 

Of course Ipswich are going to leave players free on the edge, get a header wrong or head it the wrong way and it's done. It was deflected, sure, but that goal was as bad as any goal you can concede at any level of football. Amateur hour. Fully preventable, just needed some brains. It's another tactic we employ which is an absolute freebie for the opposition manager to use.

1) Use our passes back a press activation (Free goal number 1)

2) Sit off and allow us to paly it in between our CB's and close the space in front (Stop us scoring, easy peasy)

3) Leave players on the edge of the box when you have a corner (Free goal number 2)

We're just giving up free goals every game because of that and find it hard to score because of that, opposition managers will love playing us as they have obvious routes to goals before they've even stepped on the pitch. Such an easy-peasy team to score against and prevent, nothing to it at all.

As The Times said about the Forest game, we were:

’Lovely to watch and lovely to play against’

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Whitey Grandad said:

As The Times said about the Forest game, we were:

’Lovely to watch and lovely to play against’

As a fan, I wouldn't even say we're lovely to watch. Frustrating and dull as dishwater at best. Horrendous and naive at worst.

[Whitey Grandad]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

As a fan, I wouldn't even say we're lovely to watch. Frustrating and dull as dishwater at best. Horrendous and naive at worst.

Nor would I. I hate it myself. Death by boredom.

[Saint Billy]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Nor would I. I hate it myself. Death by boredom.

And bloody predictable.

No wonder other sides find us easy to play against. 

[Hawkswood]

4 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Why? We chose to spread ourselves thinly....we chose to spend on quantity and not quality.
unless Bournemouth pay way over £100k per week for many of their players?

TBH I don't know the finer points of our transfer ability like some of the people on here might but I thought we'd be hampered by FFP. Maybe I'm wrong, I just didn't think we could spend it.

[madge]

Southampton women 0 - Blackburn rovers 1 

southampton 71% possession…. Bit familiar. 

[derry]

51 minutes ago, Hawkswood said:

TBH I don't know the finer points of our transfer ability like some of the people on here might but I thought we'd be hampered by FFP. Maybe I'm wrong, I just didn't think we could spend it.

There was an analysis done on our summer availability and we were nowhere near the limit. Discussed on here.

[Hawkswood]

1 hour ago, derry said:

There was an analysis done on our summer availability and we were nowhere near the limit. Discussed on here.

Yeah sorry I don't follow all the chats. Any idea how far short we were ? But also the other point I made was in persuading someone to come to us which I imagine is a hard sell. 

[Hairlesshero]

5 hours ago, derry said:

I really don't get why we don't do something about that. What the management need to ask themselves is how many of our players in a similar situation are defensively sound. For me that excudes most of the midfielders and forwards. Fraser is good and Stewart is tall. The solution is simple stick a couple up on the halfway line, one on each touchline that will take at least three to cover. That'll take three attackers away, it'll also give a 9-6 numeric advantage in the area and disrupt who is in our box. It's no loss to our defence. Not only that it causes at least one or two to drop halfway increasing the advantage and giving the goalkeeper more space to get out and claim the cross. I've found over the years most attackers are a liability defensively because they don't mark properly, don't tackle or end up fouling and because they are there give the impression we are covering when in fact they are useless defensively so get them somewhere where thay could be some use. Bottom line is the goalkeeper or defender who wins the ball could hit a route one ball into the opponents half allowing everybody to get out quickly probably leaving a few offside.

I second your view. When Leicester won the league they regularly defended corners with Vardy and Mahrez stationed on the halfway line, one on each touchline.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

47 minutes ago, Hawkswood said:

Yeah sorry I don't follow all the chats. Any idea how far short we were ? But also the other point I made was in persuading someone to come to us which I imagine is a hard sell. 

Can't recall seeing any figures.

We will have been paying off previous managers, paying for the bloated squad we have. And we have a substantial loan there too. Lots of clubs carry similar baggage. We also had a lower limit of around 81 over the 3 years, due to our relegation. There might be some thinking ahead to our 3 year limits, if they still apply and we go down again, and manage to come up.

SR do look to limit individual wages to increase selling on, and flexibility. As Sean Dyche said at Burnley, there was never a shortage of clubs and agents desperate to see their talented players play in the PL. Of course, their world beaters would all want as many PL pennies in wages and fees as possible. Since that wrecks wage structures they said no. We would have had to make similar calls.

It is limiting, but also plays into some of the other SR thoughts on transfers. Like young players leaving big clubs, players looking for fresh starts etc.

[Badger]

12 hours ago, Hairlesshero said:

I second your view. When Leicester won the league they regularly defended corners with Vardy and Mahrez stationed on the halfway line, one on each touchline.

I've had this discussion with my sons and have probably bored them with excaliming how fucking ridiculous it is that we don't leave one or two up towards the halfway line when defending a corner, then followed by how in the old days Channon would be by the centre circle,(hands on hips with shirt hanging out), always keeping two opposition players with him. 

Edited September 23 by Badger

[derry]

1 hour ago, Hawkswood said:

Yeah sorry I don't follow all the chats. Any idea how far short we were ? But also the other point I made was in persuading someone to come to us which I imagine is a hard sell. 

I can't remember but we were nowhere near the limit. I think it might be in the transfer 24 thread.

[Osvaldorama]

5 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

That was shocking, it must be on instruction as I've seen some screengrabs of literally all 11 players inside our own box. 

Of course Ipswich are going to leave players free on the edge, get a header wrong or head it the wrong way and it's done. It was deflected, sure, but that goal was as bad as any goal you can concede at any level of football. Amateur hour. Fully preventable, just needed some brains. It's another tactic we employ which is an absolute freebie for the opposition manager to use.

1) Use our passes back a press activation (Free goal number 1)

2) Sit off and allow us to paly it in between our CB's and close the space in front (Stop us scoring, easy peasy)

3) Leave players on the edge of the box when you have a corner (Free goal number 2)

We're just giving up free goals every game because of that and find it hard to score because of that, opposition managers will love playing us as they have obvious routes to goals before they've even stepped on the pitch. Such an easy-peasy team to score against and prevent, nothing to it at all.

Nail on head.. couldn’t have said it any better. 
 

It’s so easy to beat us that we basically beat ourselves every game before the ball has been kicked. Suicidal tactics and naive defending. Also poor subs which make us worse every game. 

[The Cat]

4 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

Nail on head.. couldn’t have said it any better. 
 

It’s so easy to beat us that we basically beat ourselves every game before the ball has been kicked. Suicidal tactics and naive defending. Also poor subs which make us worse every game. 

Apart from yesterday when a manager who everyone was banging on about being better than Martin, and with a team who finished above us last season, had to rely on an injury time deflection to sneak a point?

If Martin was that bad they'd have thumped us 3-0 right?

[Osvaldorama]

2 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Apart from yesterday when a manager who everyone was banging on about being better than Martin, and with a team who finished above us last season, had to rely on an injury time deflection to sneak a point?

If Martin was that bad they'd have thumped us 3-0 right?

They were much better than us for 80% of the game. At home. His subs then made us even worse. 
 

So I’m not sure yesterday is any strong defence of Martin, tbh. 

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

They were much better than us for 80% of the game. At home. His subs then made us even worse. 
 

So I’m not sure yesterday is any strong defence of Martin, tbh. 

If we’d been Ipswich yesterday, all the posts would have been, "typical Russball FFS, we have all the better possession and still end up needing an injury time deflection to get a point." That’s just football sometimes.

[Charlie Wayman]

Just for the record I don't think we will go down.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

Just for the record, Charlie, what gives you such optimism? 👍

And can I have some of what you have been drinking? 👅

🙏

[Oldandtired]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Just for the record I don't think we will go down.

I would be interested to know your reasons for that statement.

Unfortunately at this moment in time I fear the opposite, based on what I've seen so far this season. So unless there is a complete sea change atm I don't see too many grounds for optimism.

However, strangely that doesn't bother me too much, I really enjoyed the championship season.

[Dark Munster]

1 hour ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Just for the record I don't think we will go down.

I like the cut of your jib even though you are stark raving mad!

[austsaint]

10 hours ago, derry said:

Not being picky but the goal came via Frasers run to the byeline then passing it back eventually to Lallana who found Dibling. I prefer a defender at  full back on his natural side. KWP often leaves us wide open behind him. I prefer a strong back line and with Sugawara pushing forward Taylor was better defensively especially as we have no strong tackling midfielders.

Fair enough, all very reasonable points you make.   In an ideal world I too prefer a  FB on his natural side, and Taylor did a reasonable job defensively; would still prefer a Bertrand type (they don’t grow on trees) to give the side more attacking balance - particularly against the weaker sides like Ipswich.  
One thing most of us would agree upon is Sugawara’s playing well enough to keep his spot ahead of KWP.   Does seem bizarre though to have a player of KWPs class sitting on the bench.

[Kermitzasaint]

17 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Disagree with the tactics being abysmal. We weren't overrun in midfield, our defensive shape overall was much better without Stephens constantly being out if position, and we got forward and created chances, which our attackers couldn't convert.

Most of the subs were decent IMO. Lallana and Dibling obviously couldn't continue and needed to be replaced. The only one that really made us worse was Aribo for Fernandes late on, and I'm sure RM would have kept Fernandes on if he could because he was our best player still on the pitch after the previous subs. The fact that Aribo was the only viable option to replace him with rests with our recruitment, not on Martin.

As for the pitiful defensive setup, I thought the overall shape was OK but the way we defended that corner in injury time was abject, looking at the puc someone posted elsewhere. But I'm absolutely certain that is down to players not listening to instructions and poor on-field leadership, rather than intentional tactics from the manager.

So you think it's the players not listening to defensive instructions. OK was that the case at RM's previous teams as well? If so he is really unlucky to always end up with players who can't listen. 

Or maybe it's that RM can't coach a decent defence as his entire career has shown. 

[CB Fry]

6 hours ago, Kermitzasaint said:

So you think it's the players not listening to defensive instructions. OK was that the case at RM's previous teams as well? If so he is really unlucky to always end up with players who can't listen. 

Or maybe it's that RM can't coach a decent defence as his entire career has shown. 

Exactly- three full seasons at Championship level and more than 60 conceded in all of them.

Nothing to do with the manager, no sir.

Edited September 23 by CB Fry

[Whitey Grandad]

7 hours ago, Kermitzasaint said:

So you think it's the players not listening to defensive instructions. OK was that the case at RM's previous teams as well? If so he is really unlucky to always end up with players who can't listen. 

Or maybe it's that RM can't coach a decent defence as his entire career has shown. 

Everybody back to defend corners with no one left upfield. The inability to hold a straight back line and play the opposition offside.

These are basic failings at any level of football.

 

[Dark Munster]

8 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Exactly- three full seasons at Championship level and more than 60 conceded in all of them.

Nothing to do with the manager, no sir.

Which begs the question, why the hell did SR choose him in the first place? Most Swansea fans were happy to see him go.

If they do sack him I have zero confidence that they won’t make the same mistake again. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

Which begs the question, why the hell did SR choose him in the first place? Most Swansea fans were happy to see him go.

If they do sack him I have zero confidence that they won’t make the same mistake again. 

A young manager going up through the leagues

Ambitious

Played in the PL

International

Passionate about his football philosophy

The philosophy happens to match that of Wilcox, and the recruitment can be geared around it

The philosophy also counters some previous defensive issues (if you squint and balance possession against his previous track record)

They could dream of being Man City Lite

Data driven

Style looks to maximise small gains across the pitch and across the game.

Considered to be a good man manager

If this doesn't work then yes they will try it again. And again, until Dragan realises he could have better invested his money in nearly anything else.

[Maggie May]

On 22/09/2024 at 11:39, CB Fry said:

If a draw at home against a fellow relegation favourite is "on par" then you must believe we are guaranteed relegated.

Not guaranteed relegation but I think we’ve shown enough so far that we are going to give this season a bloody good go. I don’t think you can ask for much more from a newly-promoted side, can you? God forbid we’re subjected to the hopeless football in our relegation season.

This team would wipe the floor with 2022-23. 

[The Cat]

2 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Most Swansea fans were happy to see him go.

That's just not true though. I spoke to a load of Swansea fans since he left them and at worse a couple were ambivalent and the rest wanted him to stay.

I also went to actual Swansea last season and their actual fans in the actual ground clapped him after the game. That doesn't smack to me as "most" of their fans being happy to see him go.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

21 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Just for the record I don't think we will go down.

So do I. Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling, Suguwara, Downes. We've got the nucleus of a good team and we're improving all the time. I feeling quietly confident and there's also so many other teams struggling.

While I've not exactly put my house on it, I've also taken up Bet365's 7/4 offer of us staying up!

[CB Fry]

2 hours ago, Maggie May said:

Not guaranteed relegation but I think we’ve shown enough so far that we are going to give this season a bloody good go. I don’t think you can ask for much more from a newly-promoted side, can you? God forbid we’re subjected to the hopeless football in our relegation season.

This team would wipe the floor with 2022-23. 

The point is you described a home draw vs Ipswich as "par". ie in normal circumstances we would not win that match, we'd draw it.

What matches will you pick out as "par" for us to actually win? 

 

Edited September 23 by CB Fry

[Saint Fan CaM]

I remain of the opinion that while we’ve not exactly got a team of Worldbeaters, there’s enough there with the right tactics and coaching to survive. Unfortunately I’m not sure Russ and his team have shown enough to provide confidence that they’ve got the solution(s). A big telling point for me will be if he picks a consistent starting 11 for the next game. And also makes some more sensible sub decisions - 57 minutes is too early to change a winning side and then pulling the trigger on 2-3 subs at a time, provides the oppo manager with clues on where to target our more tired players / weaker areas.

We’ll see, but I’m not hopeful.

[AlexLaw76]

12 hours ago, Maggie May said:

Not guaranteed relegation but I think we’ve shown enough so far that we are going to give this season a bloody good go. I don’t think you can ask for much more from a newly-promoted side, can you? God forbid we’re subjected to the hopeless football in our relegation season.

This team would wipe the floor with 2022-23. 

You are joking….right?

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

You are joking….right?

Honestly don't know what people think they are seeing.

By September 2022 the apparently "hopeless" team had won twice already.

Edited September 24 by CB Fry

[Turkish]

28 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

You are joking….right?

We’re already 1 point better off than what’s expected after just 5 games as remember we are in the 10 game adapting to the premier league phase. Anything other than 10 defeats is a bonus. Imagine if we keep improving like we are how ahead of the pacing we’ll be after 10 games. 

[OldNick]

On 23/09/2024 at 07:44, CB Fry said:

Exactly- three full seasons at Championship level and more than 60 conceded in all of them.

Nothing to do with the manager, no sir.

CB, do I take it you dont want RM as our manager?

[OldNick]

On 22/09/2024 at 20:25, Osvaldorama said:

They were much better than us for 80% of the game. At home. His subs then made us even worse. 
 

So I’m not sure yesterday is any strong defence of Martin, tbh. 

Problem is the circumstance. Lallana will not make more than 60 minutes, we need to wrap him up. Dibling also.

It is the same as has been for a few seasons, we dont kill games off, thats the problem. RM not giving himself the chaos option of Tall Paul late in games is a mistake IMHO

[davefizzy14]

We were so close to getting our first win league win of the season, just really frustrating we couldn't wrap up the game a bit earlier. The pass from Lallana and touch and finish from Dibling were exquisite 😊 Ramsdale made some great saves 😊 including the finger tip one in the first half. Archer was so unlucky not to get a goal, it will come, he's got great movement and has shown he can finish. Fernandes was class as usual 😊 Everyone played really well. My MOTM was Dibling, he's just a sensational talent 😊 Its a point and something to build on. There were plenty of positives to take from the game. 

Edited September 24 by davefizzy14

[Tommy Mulgrew]

1 hour ago, davefizzy14 said:

There were plenty of positives to take from the game. 

But only one point.  And accumulating points is the whole, ahem, point of EPL games.  Our opponents were just about the weakest team in the league and, like us, acclimatising themselves to life in the top league.  We could not even beat Ipswich at home.  Unfortunately, that takes the gloss off the positives you mention.  We need to do almost everything an awful lot better if we are to get enough points to stay up this season.  Starting next Monday.