coalman Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 And so we come to the 10th league game of the season. Historically Everton have been something of a bogey team for Saints but they may be starting to feel the pressure of not wanting to be the team that breaks Southampton's non-winning run. A thumping win, and Saints might reach the heady heights of 18th in the table. The stakes couldn't be higher. Russell Martin will have a selection quandary after his team's dominant display against Stoke. Will he be able to fit Stephens back into a side that has actually won a game of football? Will Smallbone be fit? Whatever happens we can expect the usual pot pourri of a team selection enlivened by some truly creative second half substitutions. The good news is (for) Martin that he hasn't won the sack race this year so expect his confidence to skyrocket before the match particularly when coupled with Pep's gushing praise after Man City strolled past us 1-0 last weekend. Expect to hear more about both of these things in the press conference later this week. That is if he's still here. Man United may grow tired in their pursuit of hipster foreigner, Amorim, and go for the brave option of a Russball future. At the very least this is another chance for Martin to stake his claim to one of the top jobs in the game. As for the game itself, Everton have to wonder how they're going to break us down. Defensively we're difficult to come to terms with. On any given day we can gift chances either by suicidal possession, failing to track runners, inability to defend crosses, set-pieces or simply making the mistake of being caught upfield without 11 players behind the ball. A real conundrum for them coming into the game. At the other end their defenders are going to need to stay switched on. Nothing is going to happen in their half for large swathes of the game so they'll have to be alert for a Southampton player forgetting their coaching and attempting to hit a through ball. Admittedly, an attacking player that's been rotated in and out of the team so much that they've puked in the locker room. All in all it's got all the ingredients of a classic. A team we almost never beat. A manager who is more certain his ideology is the way forward with every passing breath against side that is starting to find its own feet this season. A nearly perfect losing start to the season against a team with the beginnings of league form. All that's for certain is Martin will still be there on Monday, win or lose. 1 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Super Saint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 We will dominate the game. Passing will be out of this world. Possession stats will be the stuff of (wet) dreams. Tall Paul hatrick in a 5-0 spanking for the toffees. Stick that in your dugout. COYR. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedWillie Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) What I still can't fathom out is that it's another sell out. We are bottom of the league and playing arguably the worst football I can remember yet it's tickets via the ticket exchange only. We must be deluded 🤪 Edited October 30 by RedWillie Spelling 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 They’re going to pump a lot of balls into our box, and I imagine it’ll be relatively successful. Meanwhile, we’ll have a lot of the ball in our own half and rarely penetrate. We may even score first, before shooting ourselves in the ball bag and failing to win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGTL Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 1 point from 30. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexLaw76 Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 0-2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) 34 minutes ago, RedWillie said: What I still can't fathom out is that it's another sell out. We are bottom of the league and playing arguably the worst football I can remember yet it's tickets via the ticket exchange only. We must be deluded 🤪 It’s EPL soccerball, dude! Where I sit I have dozens of different neutral soccerball fans around me every game. Edited October 30 by Toussaint 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie May Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 3-1 Saints. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Football Special Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) I wonder what Dyche makes of Martin's possession obsession philosophy? Edited October 30 by Football Special 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarberSaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 They're a very poor outfit. 3-0 to us because they can't score goals and if DCL is the focus for their attack then they'll be slow and predictable, which we like. Ashley Young to foul every time he goes near the ball and possibly to dive a lot. Perhaps even together. They travel badly. Don't we usually do well the game after we win in the League Cup (insert sponsor somewhere)? Wolves will be much harder as they'll keep the ball and we'll be confused as to what to do. The crowd will be as energetic as it always is with all those muppets (sorry, "Uber Fans") who like to film the whole game on their phone so they can then post on Utub a video for their mam and pa to marvel at, on a high at how clean their seats are. There will be a commentator who hates us, several who don't know a thing about us but understand we once had Theo Walcott play for us and we're not Arsenal, a referee who'll make it up as he goes along and VAR who will either try to get involved to make the game interesting - Ooh! Controversy! - or will be watching the darts and then just pick something up to show how busy they are. There will be warm beer, cold hotdogs and a lot of grumbling after the game. No one will put it in the mixer - health and safety. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaSaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 What's the point, Martin's shitty tactics, selection, and subs will ensure we lose. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convict Colony Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Fuck it we ride. 2-0 saints Expect lallana to start here with Fernandes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convict Colony Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 4 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said: What's the point, Martin's shitty tactics, selection, and subs will ensure we lose. I've taken the child birth approach to football this season. Pretend the last few league games didn't happen and we should win this one 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 1 hour ago, RedWillie said: What I still can't fathom out is that it's another sell out. We are bottom of the league and playing arguably the worst football I can remember yet it's tickets via the ticket exchange only. We must be deluded 🤪 My bad (and people like me). I’m going, safe in the knowledge it’s going to be as entertaining as watching the dog produce a particularly messy turd on a wet piece of grass in the pissing rain with the added joy of knowing I then need to scoop it up. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_SFC Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Ramsdale, KWP, THB, Bednarek, Bree, Downes, Aribo, Lallana, Fernandes, Dibling, Archer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osvaldorama Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 I , for one , am massively enjoying the gallows humour on here. So at least we have that. 0-2 Everton. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiggles31 Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 McNeil is doubtful for them which is a plus. This an absolute must win. Lose this and its curtains for our season and curtains for Martin. 2-1 horrendously stressful win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintant Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 25 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said: I , for one , am massively enjoying the gallows humour on here. So at least we have that. 0-2 Everton. Russell did promise fun 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintant Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 16 minutes ago, Wiggles31 said: McNeil is doubtful for them which is a plus. This an absolute must win. Lose this and its curtains for our season and curtains for Martin. 2-1 horrendously stressful win. Yes and no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 55 minutes ago, Chewy said: My bad (and people like me). I’m going, safe in the knowledge it’s going to be as entertaining as watching the dog produce a particularly messy turd on a wet piece of grass in the pissing rain with the added joy of knowing I then need to scoop it up. Could be worse like that time I took a friend's dog for a walk, it had diarrhoea and I have a very strong gag reflex.. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Everton are currently 5 games unbeaten, technically 6 if you count our cup match as the full time result was a draw, and I don’t see that run coming to an end this weekend. We’ll lose, and Russ will still be manager for the next game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Watched their game against Fulham and they were absolute garbage, so fingers crossed for more of the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Garrett Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Won’t win. Manager is fucking useless, SR a bunch of idiots. Will be there, no doubt frustrated again by slow, ponderous footbal with no end product. Then the idiot will be saying afterwards how brave we are and proud of the players he is. Groundhog fucking day again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 2 hours ago, Convict Colony said: Fuck it we ride. 2-0 saints Expect lallana to start here with Fernandes. We keep a clean sheet? What you been smoking’ hombre? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toussaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 We concede an average of 2.11111 goals per game. So my prediction, Saints 1 Everton 2.111111 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint in Paradise Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 (edited) I expect RM will spout about how "brilliant Saints" won the possession stats by a large margin so it doesn't matter very much that Everton scored a couple of more goals than Saints. 🤢🤢 Edited October 30 by Saint in Paradise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 11 minutes ago, Toussaint said: We concede an average of 2.11111 goals per game. So my prediction, Saints 2 Everton 2.111111 FTFY 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BARCELONASAINT Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 confidence is very low, you can see it in players. Ramsdale is starting to look wobbly and i don't blame him with the defence he has in front of him. Sugawara is another that appears to be conflicted. Is he having his natural game coached out of him? Downes has looked so ordinary and half the player he was last season. Fernandez is excellent but starting to look a very frustrated player. There is so little to be confident about. I cannot see anything but a bad loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suewhistle Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 1 hour ago, suewhistle said: Could be worse like that time I took a friend's dog for a walk, it had diarrhoea and I have a very strong gag reflex.. Don't laugh, Yorkshire Saint, it was when I was visiting a friend up Halifax way.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintant Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Maybe try something a bit radical - ditch the slow, ponderous walking football and get up the field as fast as possible with fewer pointless sideways and backwards passes - seen us play very well many times doing this and I'd bet any money we'll look better and stand more chance of winning this game and a few others. Try it Russ, you might like it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmes_and_Watson Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 9 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said: confidence is very low, you can see it in players. Ramsdale is starting to look wobbly and i don't blame him with the defence he has in front of him. Sugawara is another that appears to be conflicted. Is he having his natural game coached out of him? Downes has looked so ordinary and half the player he was last season. Fernandez is excellent but starting to look a very frustrated player. There is so little to be confident about. I cannot see anything but a bad loss. He absolutely is. If he goes on a run under RussBall, it creates too much space to pass to a team mate expecting a short, sideways pass. As our forwards will have dropped back to collect a pass, none of them will be forward to receive any of his crosses either. So Suga's natural instinct and expectations are going through some changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 If we are going to to turn our season around under Martin, this has to be the game. If we don't pick up 3 points then surely, SURELY he has to go. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErwinK1961 Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Ramsdale, KWP, THB, Bednarek, Taylor, Downes, Fernandes, Lallana, Dibling, Archer, TP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 We go 2 up first half. Lose 3-2 to a last minute goal. Actually got tickets for this one so least will see some goals if this did happen. I really feel if we don't win RM will go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWLondon Saint Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Why on earth are people writing team lists without Cap'n Jack as the first name on? Have you learned nothing! 🤯 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 I can't get at all optimistic about this one. Whenever anybody says Everton at home to me all I can see is Peter Crouch shooting lamely at the goalkeeper with minutes to go, and then the inevitable happens. It's like a bad, bad dream. Saints 1 Everton 2. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMrsWallace Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 Bazunu (with crutches to give him better reach) ABK Tall Paul Sulemana Who knows Anyone's guess Prize winner Lallana Stephens Lallana THB (top scorer) Lallana is on both sides because RM has heard that he plays on the left, he plays on the right. Bree is sent down to the U15s for the sin of shooting from outside the box. Saints lose 16-17. Dyche calls us many things beginning with b but not brave. We march on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franniesTache Posted October 30 Share Posted October 30 In a bid to unify and excite the fanbase Lucy Pinder will lead the team out, dressed as a nun (in stockings), but to ensure we are inclusive Craig David will also jointly lead the team out, dressed as a nun (in stockings). In the time between the Stoke game and now Martin will finally have coached the team to resemble the famous Dutch side of the 1970's, this will be no more obvious than the fact that Dibling will now chain smokes 40 a day and Smallbone will have developed a heart problem to mirror Neeskens perfectly. Dyche will be stood on the sidelines of this, the pyros of the Northam Ultras reflecting off his bald dome, shocked and intimidated by the awe inspiring modern football spectacle. He will respond by "getting it in the mixer", encouraging Everton to kick everyone that moves, and most importantly by winning the game, 3-0. The loss will not deter Martin, who will point to the fact that Dibling's new found smoking habit has had the positive effect of stopping him running so much, which means he has to pass the ball more, and the various states of injuries on the players mean they won't do stupid things like trying to actually shoot. Sadly the pyros in the Northam Wall will have resulted in a large number of deaths related to asthma and burns, and whilst this is bad it will be darkly overshadowed by the number of fans who slip into a catatonic coma due to the general boredom at having to still watch RUSSBALL(tm). We will finish the game adrift from safety, a fact Sports Republic will brilliantly deflect from by marking the closest day to fireworks night in the form of burning a 20ft effigy of Adrian Heath in the Northam Fanzone (sadly like everything else they've done this will go badly wrong as Sammy Saint will be trapped inside and burned to death). We March Down 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabrone Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 If we have a pitch Invasion can we get the season cancelled? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 0-2 Everton. Russball will reign supreme once more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Convict Colony Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 8 hours ago, Toussaint said: We keep a clean sheet? What you been smoking’ hombre? Its my annual finally get the score right prediction time, i can feel it ;-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coalman Posted October 31 Author Share Posted October 31 (edited) 9 hours ago, SWLondon Saint said: Why on earth are people writing team lists without Cap'n Jack as the first name on? Have you learned nothing! 🤯 Maybe Russell Martin is just a massive Pirates of the Caribbean fan? If it can happen to Michael Bolton it can happen to anyone. "This is the tale of captain Jack Stephens, defender so brave on the pitch so green, no matter the game he passes it sideways, he doesn't track back with attackers unseen..." Edited October 31 by coalman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coalman Posted October 31 Author Share Posted October 31 (edited) 9 hours ago, OneMrsWallace said: Bazunu (with crutches to give him better reach) ABK Tall Paul Sulemana Who knows Anyone's guess Prize winner Lallana Stephens Lallana THB (top scorer) Worst prize evah. I'm a big fan of playing Stephens in the hole. Admittedly it's a hole he's been pushed into so Martin can't find him to put him on the pitch. Edited October 31 by coalman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 11 hours ago, Chewy said: My bad (and people like me). I’m going, safe in the knowledge it’s going to be as entertaining as watching the dog produce a particularly messy turd on a wet piece of grass in the pissing rain with the added joy of knowing I then need to scoop it up. Get rid of the dog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 9 hours ago, Wade Garrett said: Won’t win. Manager is fucking useless, SR a bunch of idiots. Will be there, no doubt frustrated again by slow, ponderous footbal with no end product. Then the idiot will be saying afterwards how brave we are and proud of the players he is. Groundhog fucking day again. Only in Groundhog Day, things improved slightly every day until pefection was achieved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvictaSaint Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 9 hours ago, saintant said: Maybe try something a bit radical - ditch the slow, ponderous walking football and get up the field as fast as possible with fewer pointless sideways and backwards passes - seen us play very well many times doing this and I'd bet any money we'll look better and stand more chance of winning this game and a few others. Try it Russ, you might like it. As someone who plays WF competitively, I can promise you it’s neither slow nor ponderous! That said, RM’s PB football makes WF look like Formula 1 on acid. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Hill Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 Depends how many Stephens’s we manage to squeeze into the team…..but 0-2 is a good shout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coalman Posted October 31 Author Share Posted October 31 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said: Only in Groundhog Day, things improved slightly every day until pefection was achieved. So we're in Russ's "I told you before, Lucy, call me bronco" phase right now? Edited October 31 by coalman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roo1976 Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 13 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said: 0-2 and we will be lucky to get nil................................ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloucester Saint Posted October 31 Share Posted October 31 The PA should play this as Saints come out onto pitch, to go with the Russball 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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