Saints 1-0 Everton - Match Thread

[Toussaint]

I was at the game, but I have now just watched the motd highlights . I knew Ramsdale pulled off some excellent saves but didn’t realise just how good they were until seeing them again. It reminded me of Niemi 

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, spyinthesky said:

Looking back on the game, I still have the feeling of delight in actually winning three Prem points for the first time in 20 plus games but reflect on the fact that fortune smiled on us yesterday.
Probably a draw would have been a fair result and it could easily have been another disappointing defeat.
Bothe sides will continue to struggle this season.
My ratings, for what they are worth are as follows:
Ramsdale           9 Some terrific saves
KWP                   8 Yet another top display from one of our consistently good players
Manning            6 Provides an actual left footed option on the left and put in one excellent cross. Played too many passes backwards
Downes             7  Provided energy and ball recycling in midfield. Improved performance
THB                   7  Solid defensive game
Bednerak           7  Ditto
Capt Jack          6 A few misplaced passes that potentially caused problems
Arma                 6.5 An fairly average game but made his run into the box and took his gaol well.
Fernandes          8 Very decent performance from a young man destined to do well in the game. A combination of skill and energy.
Archer                6  One difficult chance for him to score. Didnt seem to cause too many problems for Evertons defence otherwise
Lallana              6.5 As ever, neat and tidy but never going to play the full game. Lost the ball once in a tricky position.
Dibling              6.5 Made an immediate impression and possibly worth a higher rating. Unfortunately he seems to get booked regularly for holding which he
                                needs to improve upon.
Aribo                   6  Did one or two good things and a couple of not so good. However more positive than negative
Sugawara          6.5 Cross for the goal was spot on.
Other Subs               Not rated.

Fair analysis. MOM for me was Fernandes. Easily. He, sadly, looks like he’s too good for our mf. Expect him at a top six club next year for £50m. 
ION Ryan Manning gave us more attacking options on the left than BDD and MC combined have all season. Which is not a good thing but kudos to Manning after all the criticism he’s had, good to say decent job when he’s done alright. I also thought AL was obviously high class. Shame his legs aren’t but his mouth certainly works  and he is a leader for us alright. Gave kwp a bollocking I saw first half for what seemed a marginal mis-positioning situation.👏

Edited November 3 by gio1saints

[Midfield_General]

55 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Gio is like a dog with two dicks at the moment 😂😂😂

Where have all the pissed-up rants from last night gone? It seems he is quite the potty mouth when he’s had a few. 

I hope Hypo is ok after suffering such a vile verbal assault 🤣🤣🤣

[gio1saints]

Hypo? Upset? He was fucking born upset. 😭 .
Saints beating Everton means there’s been a rush on hankies at his local Asda he’s that gutted. 

[Osvaldorama]

I still have serious doubts that this playing style is getting the best out of this squad. Based on the season so far our players are more than a match for Ipswich, Leicester, Everton etc. so we can compete if we stop giving away ridiculous goals.  

We were very poor again for a large portion of that game. But the winning feeling is so good, who cares. 
 

Ramsdale is a sensation. Can’t believe he’s ours. What a keeper. 

[The Kraken]

13 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Where have all the pissed-up rants from last night gone? It seems he is quite the potty mouth when he’s had a few. 

It looks like Lighthouse has saved his blushes somewhat by going on a nighttime vigilante raid and deleted much of the pissed up ranting posts. The silly sod probably doesn’t even remember how much he made an arse of himself, though he doesn’t seem to have cheered up much this morning and has come out of the blocks firing.

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

It's a result of players making mistakes - I'm not really sure how that means he endorses it. He doesn't want players to make mistakes, but all players do.

He endorses the tactic of keeping the ball, yes. He doesn't endorse the tactic of giving the ball away.

But giving the ball away is a direct consequence of trying to keep the ball by passing it around. Doing that at the back also means that when we do lose possession we are in a poor defensive configuration.

By all means pass the ball around (quickly and snappily) when we are further up the pitch but doing it at the back is like dangling a piece of meat over the jaws of an alligator. Sooner or later it will bite your arm off.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

It was a game we could easily have lost on another day. Ramsdale was the difference in the end. The save from Keane was top drawer, even then we had a huge slice of luck with the ball deflecting off Ramsdale and onto the post via Keane again. Another day, that goes in because of the deflection. Credit to Armstrong, was a tidy finish from a difficult chance, he misses easier ones. All in all a welcome three points, but such as the fine margins are, we could easily be sat here talking about another defeat. 

[Midfield_General]

13 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But giving the ball away is a direct consequence of trying to keep the ball by passing it around. Doing that at the back also means that when we do lose possession we are in a poor defensive configuration.

Exactly. He’s obviously not telling them to go out and make mistakes, but what he is telling them to do is causing them to make the mistakes because they’re not equipped to do it. So that is obviously very much still his responsibility.

It’s like if someone ordered me to go out and juggle chainsaws - something which I am not equipped to do - and as a result of trying I ended up getting my hands cut off. If they then turned round and said ‘I told you to juggle the chainsaws, not get your hands cut off’, then I would still feel that my calamitous injuries were down to them, to some extent. 

[gio1saints]

Agree. Winning this one when a draw was fairer probably maybe does not make up for losing to foxes or drawing with Ipswich - both unjust on saints and easily draws or home wins there’s a strong case - results been unkind to a degree in that way imo - nor failing to take at least a point at Newcastle. nor missing stupid penalties when on top v Man Utd which changed game tone completely. Boscombe  and forest were just shit. Arse was ah well. It’s small margins in the EPL. Don’t get run of the green you are sacked. Get some luck- you’re a genius. But as Kipling wrote - success and failure are two twin imposters. 
Oh, and haaland would have scored both AA other chances I think - or at least got them on target! 

7 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

It was a game we could easily have lost on another day. Ramsdale was the difference in the end. The save from Keane was top drawer, even then we had a huge slice of luck with the ball deflecting off Ramsdale and onto the post via Keane again. Another day, that goes in because of the deflection. Credit to Armstrong, was a tidy finish from a difficult chance, he misses easier ones. All in all a welcome three points, but such as the fine margins are, we could easily be sat here talking about another defeat. 

[Saint NL]

 

Did Young get booked for that? I can't remember 

[Midfield_General]

2 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

 

Did Young get booked for that? I can't remember 

Nope. But Fernandes got booked for going down. Joke of a decision. 

[charliemiller]

No Fernades did ..................go figure

[thornhill_saints]

15 hours ago, M271 said:

4 points from safety 👍

That'll take another 10 games to close that gap then....

[suewhistle]

11 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Nope. But Fernandes got booked for going down. Joke of a decision. 

I hope that gets rescinded on appeal. Mind you, it does confirm my opinion that AY is a shit.

[John B]

2 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

or, we change the style to suit the players?

That is a possibilty of course but why would they be better with another style 

[Winnersaint]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

Fair analysis. MOM for me was Fernandes. Easily. He, sadly, looks like he’s too good for our mf. 

Odds on Man U?

[macca155]

Bit techy on here today. Saints won. I for one couldn't give a toss how, the three points are very much needed. Saints simply have to beat Derby's 12 points. I cannot endure commentators bringing that up along side the 9 0s.

Ramsdale definitely MoTM yesterday which tells you everything you need to know.

Hopefully they can build on this. If they can beat Wolves then things will look a lot brighter.

I was very impressed with Lallana. He really is a cut above. You can see, and often hear him, organising, cajoling, and reprimanding his fellow players. I never appreciated that part of his game. There is a manager there no doubt.

I thought it was sensible to keep Dibling on the bench. Everton are the sort of team that would target him.

Finally Tarkowski should have gone for that horror tackle. Deliberate malice and intent. Outrageous.

Equally Bednarek would have seen red had THB not been covering.

 

Edited November 3 by macca155

[Whitey Grandad]

15 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

I hope that gets rescinded on appeal. Mind you, it does confirm my opinion that AY is a shit.

No appeal for yellow cards.

[Whitey Grandad]

30 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

 

Did Young get booked for that? I can't remember 

It should have been a red card for Young. The ball is classed as a weapon.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 minutes ago, macca155 said:

It's techy on here today. Saints won. I for one couldn't give a toss how, the three are very much needed. Saints simply have to beat Derby's 12 points. I cannot endure commentators bringing that up along side the 9 0s.

Ramsdale definitely MoTM yesterday which tells you everything you need to know.

Hopefully they can build on this. If they can beat Wolves then things will look a lot brighter.

I was very impressed with Lallana. He really is a cut above. You can see, and often hear him, organising, cajoling, and reprimanding his fellow players. I never appreciated that part of his game. There is a manager there no doubt.

I thought it was sensible to keep Dibling on the bench. Everton are the sort of team that would target him.

Finally Tarkowski should have gone for that horror tackle. Deliberate malice and intent. Outrageous.

Equally Bednarek would have seen red had THB not been covering.

 

That Tarkowski tackle was as red as they get.

[Toussaint]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

Hypo? Upset? He was fucking born upset. 😭 .
Saints beating Everton means there’s been a rush on hankies at his local Asda he’s that gutted. 

Pot / kettle situation here

[Oldandtired]

14 minutes ago, macca155 said:

Bit techy on here today. Saints won. I for one couldn't give a toss how, the three points are very much needed. Saints simply have to beat Derby's 12 points. I cannot endure commentators bringing that up along side the 9 0s.

Ramsdale definitely MoTM yesterday which tells you everything you need to know.

Hopefully they can build on this. If they can beat Wolves then things will look a lot brighter.

I was very impressed with Lallana. He really is a cut above. You can see, and often hear him, organising, cajoling, and reprimanding his fellow players. I never appreciated that part of his game. There is a manager there no doubt.

I thought it was sensible to keep Dibling on the bench. Everton are the sort of team that would target him.

Finally Tarkowski should have gone for that horror tackle. Deliberate malice and intent. Outrageous.

Equally Bednarek would have seen red had THB not been covering.

 

Re the Tarkowski tackle I thought it looked bad at the game but seeing it again on MOTD I really did think it was a red card all day long. 
 

One other thought, judging from what I saw yesterday next year's Oscars should be full of Premier League players.

Best actors on the planet.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3 by Oldandtired

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

That Tarkowski tackle was as red as they get.

I thought any number of things were going to go the other way yesterday.

Tarkowski's challenge which absolutely took out our player.

I thought Bedders was going to get his marching orders.

I thought Young was going to get booked. AA ended up picking Fernandes up out of pity.

I thought they'd managed to bundle the ball in, when it had just gone wide.

I thought Beto's header was going in. 2 games in a row he's been in tears, it means that much to him.

I didn't think their effort was onside, but expected VAR to adjust the lines accordingly.

Lots of drama, and lots of relief to get the points on the board.

[Whitey Grandad]

22 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

I thought any number of things were going to go the other way yesterday.

Tarkowski's challenge which absolutely took out our player.

I thought Bedders was going to get his marching orders.

I thought Young was going to get booked. AA ended up picking Fernandes up out of pity.

I thought they'd managed to bundle the ball in, when it had just gone wide.

I thought Beto's header was going in. 2 games in a row he's been in tears, it means that much to him.

I didn't think their effort was onside, but expected VAR to adjust the lines accordingly.

Lots of drama, and lots of relief to get the points on the board.

That’s football in a nutshell.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

That’s football in a nutshell.

You'll note I used "their effort" rather than "offside goal" after last night's posts. 🙂

[Whitey Grandad]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

You'll note I used "their effort" rather than "offside goal" after last night's posts. 🙂

Very wise 😉

I noticed on MOTD that Adam Armstrong used “offside goal” in his post match interview. Who’s going to have a word with him?

[SWLondon Saint]

Watching the highlights, we were really lucky not to lose to be honest. What is going on with the set piece defending - when they hit the bar the first volley back across was completely unmarked then same for Beto with the header? Keane totally unmarked when that cross came in for the Ramsdale worldie save too, that was after a corner had been half cleared if I remember right?

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

That Tarkowski tackle was as red as they get.

Straight through and over the ball - a really bad challenge all round.

[warsash saint]

3 hours ago, Oldandtired said:

Inasmuch as it might extend the tenure of this manager I, for one, possibly a tad yes. 

Wanting Saints to lose?  Proper weirdo!!

[Midfield_General]

2 hours ago, suewhistle said:

I hope that gets rescinded on appeal. Mind you, it does confirm my opinion that AY is a shit.

Fernandes did go down like a sack of spuds and was obviously playing it up - to the extent that Armstrong lost patience with him and picked him up himself - but as we saw with the Onuachu shirt pull against Leicester where he stayed up and as a result got nothing, honesty gets you absolutely nowhere in the modern game because the refs aren’t competent enough to spot it unless you go down. 

Regardless of whether Fernandes went down easily, Young deliberately hit him in the face. That’s at least a yellow if not a red, and to not even book him for it, while booking Fernandes, must mean that the ref missed it and he thought Fernandes simulated all contact? 

In which case VAR should be spotting that mistake and telling the ref to review it at the screen. I don’t think you can appeal yellows after the fact though. 

Edited November 3 by Midfield_General

[Lord Duckhunter]

59 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Straight through and over the ball - a really bad challenge all round.

Dear god. 

It’s a man’s game. Yellow all day long, nothing more

[Oldandtired]

39 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

Wanting Saints to lose?  Proper weirdo!!

Nowhere near as weird as wanting Martin to cling on to the job. 

[stknowle]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It should have been a red card for Young. The ball is classed as a weapon.

So is Ashley Young

[StrangelyBrown]

I'm enjoying the winning feeling while it lasts - I'm not sure we will get many more this year.

Hopefully we can build on the few moves where we attacked with real intent and put in a more convincing performance against wolves.... I should know better than giving in to hope

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Dear god. 

It’s a man’s game. Yellow all day long, nothing more

Not for the last 10 or so years it hasn’t been. Jimmy Case would never stay on the pitch long enough to see half time these days

[derry]

I saw the Fernandes - Young incident live. Young recklessly pushed the ball into Fernandes's face with both hands. Never mind the yellow card to Fernandes Young should have been sent off. It was violent conduct. Andy Madley made a poor decision. VAR should have intervened.

[benjii]

1 hour ago, derry said:

I saw the Fernandes - Young incident live. Young recklessly pushed the ball into Fernandes's face with both hands. Never mind the yellow card to Fernandes Young should have been sent off. It was violent conduct. Andy Madley made a poor decision. VAR should have intervened.

And Calvert Lewin grabbed the ball to concede a handball. Clear yellow. 

The Tarkowski tackle was never a red though. 

The Bedders yellow could have gone either way, so overall I don't think we can complain much on this one.

[InvictaSaint]

On 02/11/2024 at 14:22, LGTL said:

I actually have it on pretty decent authority that Martin has these two games. In other words, Martin will be gone by the international break. 

Interesting info - thanks. Out of interest where does this come from? And do you mean he has 2 games irrespective of how well we do? If so makes this comment by RM at the post Everton press conference intriguing….

Edited November 3 by InvictaSaint

[tdmickey3]

24 minutes ago, InvictaSaint said:

Interesting info - thanks. Out of interest where does this come from? And do you mean he has 2 games irrespective of how well we do? If so makes this comment by RM at the post Everton press conference intriguing….

Well, a lot of it is a drag for us fans bar a few

[austsaint]

14 hours ago, Toussaint said:

I was at the game, but I have now just watched the motd highlights . I knew Ramsdale pulled off some excellent saves but didn’t realise just how good they were until seeing them again. It reminded me of Niemi 

Loved Niemi and Ramsdale is every bit his equal in my view.  With a different Manager (soon) and a tweak in defence and midfield, Ramsdale could still be our keeper 25/26.    

[Chewy]

15 hours ago, derry said:

I saw the Fernandes - Young incident live. Young recklessly pushed the ball into Fernandes's face with both hands. Never mind the yellow card to Fernandes Young should have been sent off. It was violent conduct. Andy Madley made a poor decision. VAR should have intervened.

I saw it live too and thought Fernandes’ reaction was embarrassing. I’d have booked Young for being a plonker, but “reckless”? ‘Violent conduct’?  Absolutely not IMHO.

What caused it though was the ref and his assistant getting the throw in wrong - Fernandes was grappling to get the ball back because he knew it was our throw, unaware the ref had wrongly called it for them. 
 

That linesman was dreadful BTW. They got 2 corners which should have been offsides to us - it’s like linesmen have been told to never raise a flag in case they get it wrong. Fair enough if it’s a ‘goal’, you can let VAR do its thing as obviously happened later, but to ignore every offside because it didn’t lead directly to a goal is not what the modern rules were meant to do. Drives me nuts.

As for the game …

Two poor sides, pretty much balanced out by their different incompetencies. Fernandes (embarrassing reaction aside) was my MOTM; Ramsdale also excellent. ArmA showed good endeavour and really pleased for him to get the goal. Lallana was excellent first half; Downes had his worst 45 minutes in a saints shirt - somewhat better second half. Aribo very good, and good impacts by Dibling and Sugawara.  Archer also continues to impress me.

Delighted we got the win, obviously. Maybe we were slightly fortuitous but I feel like we’re due a bit of luck after Ipswich and Leicester (ok, our marking is terrible but 3 dropped points deep in injury time is part unlucky as well as part incompetent).

Wolves will strangely be under more pressure than us next week so we do have a chance at getting more points there … before we hit a set of fixtures that’ll have us back hiding behind the sofa. I’m delighted with the win but we’re not very good, and there’s no way we stay up unless we get markedly better than we were on Saturday. 3 welcome points but let’s not kid ourselves!

[SotonianWill]

18 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Dear god. 

It’s a man’s game. Yellow all day long, nothing more

Blue Card and side of pitch sin bin. 

[OldNick]

 

[Suhari]

On 02/11/2024 at 14:22, LGTL said:

I actually have it on pretty decent authority that Martin has these two games. In other words, Martin will be gone by the international break. 

Only just clocking this comment - suddenly I feel more positive. Really hope it's true.

The Everton win was nice, but I don't see it as suggesting that it's all suddenly going to click. We were dull and ponderous for much of the game (in line with much of last season and this); only looked dangerous in the very few times we moved the ball forward quicker (which we almost never do in RussBall), and the defensive issues are still there.....a little luck, the crossbar and Ramsdale (who was excellent) got us over the line. I still believe this squad is capable of much more than they've shown so far.

Hope the win does not change any decision that may have been made by the club. Get him gone.

Edited November 4 by Suhari

[OldNick]

Thought it was 2 poor teams. Everton unbeaten in 5 points to how poor a lot of the teams in the PL are.

KWP , and Dibling were doing well on the right and causing problems. RM then took off Manning and moved KWP across to the left, meaning the balance was disrupted and it took time for us to adjust.

It seems too often we make 1 sub and the team is then shifted around, rather a player for a player.

Ramsdales save fantastic, a little lucky when he was in no-man's-land and Harrison nearly clipped it in.

Dyche said that possession means little, as we didnt cause any problems apart from the goal, and with less they created most of the chances Pickford not called upon at all.

Aribo did well when he came on and helped our midfield. First half it was difficult to tell what the formation was with Downes being pushed out to the wing and Jack in the middle. 

Anyway a win was fantastic and the Northam did brilliantly getting the crowd going. 

 

 

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, Chewy said:

I saw it live too and thought Fernandes’ reaction was embarrassing. I’d have booked Young for being a plonker, but “reckless”? ‘Violent conduct’?  Absolutely not IMHO.

Imagine if he wasn't holding the ball and pushed his hands into Fernandes' face with the same force. He would quite rightly have been sent off.

But yeah, it was dreadful officiating all round because it was quite blatantly our throw in. 

Edited November 4 by Sheaf Saint

[tdmickey3]

17 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Thought it was 2 poor teams. Everton unbeaten in 5 points to how poor a lot of the teams in the PL are.

KWP , and Dibling were doing well on the right and causing problems. RM then took off Manning and moved KWP across to the left, meaning the balance was disrupted and it took time for us to adjust.

It seems too often we make 1 sub and the team is then shifted around, rather a player for a player.

Ramsdales save fantastic, a little lucky when he was in no-man's-land and Harrison nearly clipped it in.

Dyche said that possession means little, as we didnt cause any problems apart from the goal, and with less they created most of the chances Pickford not called upon at all.

Aribo did well when he came on and helped our midfield. First half it was difficult to tell what the formation was with Downes being pushed out to the wing and Jack in the middle. 

Anyway a win was fantastic and the Northam did brilliantly getting the crowd going. 

 

 

And that is the crux of the matter, against a better side we would have lost.....

A win is always good but the same issues are still abundant and will be exposed against better sides

[coalman]

Was nice to have a lot of things go in our favour for once. Can we have that referee every week? Hopefully the win and clean sheet is something we can build on.

My god it's hard watching us slowly trundle the ball about though. And keeping passing back into dangerous areas when there's a chance to break. We had so much more zip when Dibling came on, well briefly.

[Pamplemousse]

 

This is an amusing watch. 46 mins for our goal