Back From The Game. Southampton Away

[West_Reading]

I expected to struggle


but didn't expect our two "star buys"(Pog & Guthrie) to be kept out of the squad

or Gorks to fall apart

or Pearce to be dropped

or our new LB upgrade to appear not quite good enough

or Roberts to start injured and not look quite so keen any more

or last year's excellent keeper to gain weight and lose confidence
and then our up and coming star to get injured for a whole season

or Karacan to get injured

or Kebe to leave (he has left, hasn't he?)


We counter that by Morrison stepping up.

So we are WEAKER at keeper, both CBs, have been in-and-out at RB, weaker in midfield

It's a miracle we have 9 points.

What planet are you on? Shorey has been our best player all season. He is one of maybe two or three who clearly looks comfortable at this level.

[handbags_harris]

The style of play needs to change, that much is obvious as many have pointed out, and to do that you need different personnel with different footballing qualities. Unfortunately this means that, in a standard 4-4-2, my gut feeling is that Tabb would need to be shifted out because otherwise we'd be ridiculously lightweight in the centre of the park. Up front the most effective pairing has been Pogrebnyak and Hunt, and McLeary also needs to come in because McAnuff is so way off form.

So in a 442 you would ship out the most attacking of our 2 midfielders, who is often getting in and around the box..... in favour of a midfielder who sits incredibly deep, doesnt tackle, and only plays short passes (who is he going to pass to if Legs is sat deep with him?)

He may well be our best midfielder at the moment but it would be suicide to play Tabb and Guthrie together. Combined height of an average central defender. You need many qualities in a good, functional midfield and physical presence is one of them. Tabb may well be the more attack minded, but please give me the statistics for assists and goals from him so far this season. Leigertwood, for all of his faults, is the only player we have who offers physical presence who is fit and, whilst clearly not Premier League quality, isn't generally as bad as most of the doom-mongers are making out. That said, I'd have Karacan in like a shot as soon as he was fit though.

Sometimes, in order to accommodate certain players, other players have to be sacrificed for the good of the team.

[No Fixed Abode]

So, who were the helmets before the game in the concourse throwing beer over everyone ?

[Snowball]

I expected to struggle


but didn't expect our two "star buys"(Pog & Guthrie) to be kept out of the squad

or Gorks to fall apart

or Pearce to be dropped

or our new LB upgrade to appear not quite good enough

or Roberts to start injured and not look quite so keen any more

or last year's excellent keeper to gain weight and lose confidence
and then our up and coming star to get injured for a whole season

or Karacan to get injured

or Kebe to leave (he has left, hasn't he?)


We counter that by Morrison stepping up.

So we are WEAKER at keeper, both CBs, have been in-and-out at RB, weaker in midfield

It's a miracle we have 9 points.

What planet are you on? Shorey has been our best player all season. He is one of maybe two or three who clearly looks comfortable at this level.

My bad, I meant RB, Gunter

[Snowball]

BTW I quite like Gunter, think he's OK, but it's not quite happening for him ATM

[melonhead]

So, who were the helmets before the game in the concourse throwing beer over everyone ?

traditional saints game beer party kes

[No Fixed Abode]

So, who were the helmets before the game in the concourse throwing beer over everyone ?

traditional saints game beer party kes

oh right. I feel like I missed out there.

[Man Friday]

No you clearly can't read.....he is not entirely culpable. They all are.

It is the "Brian is the guy that got us promoted bit" that annoys me.

The players got us promoted.

Then it's the players, not Brian, who are to blame for our current plight.

You can't have it both ways.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

You can't have it both ways Avon. If the players got us promoted then this situation is all down to the players isn't it? So why do you want Brian out?[/quote]

That's exactly what I said........

[melonhead]

players seriously let brian down there imo
same team that were cutting united apart at the back could barely put a pass together.
has to be a mental thing / not dealing with the pressure. they simply couldnt get to that lsame evel again, and ended up looking as diheartened and lacking in confidence as the fans currently are.
just not acceptable.

id expect brian to make some changes for this tuesday, in tactics, and personell
and if we lose i would not be at all surprised to see AZ move to replace him. which imo would be the wrong move, (buttotally understandable if McD was offered more budget and refused to spend it-which isnt what it sounds like from interviews so far)

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think we need to find a way of playing 5 in the middle & maybe stick Mariappa in there on the basis Morrison can play on Tue. He looks decent on the ball & has pace.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

So, who were the helmets before the game in the concourse throwing beer over everyone ?

traditional saints game beer party kes

oh right. I feel like I missed out there.

Kes in never attending football games shocker.

[ManchesterRoyals]

I think we need to find a way of playing 5 in the middle & maybe stick Mariappa in there on the basis Morrison can play on Tue. He looks decent on the ball & has pace.

But BM wont do it

We take the lead, in stead of shutting up shop brian still plays 4-4-2 and its cost us as we run out of steam

Ive said it all season when we take the lead protect it and go 4-5-1 but Bm seems to grasp this idea

[St Chalet]

Saints fan here in peace. Live in Reading and have watched you guys a few times in the Championship over the years.

Yesterday you tried the same game plan that worked well against us last season, basically to setup very tight and hit us on the counter.

There were some subtle differences from last years game though. Firstly Jason Roberts bullied Fonte all night in April, looks like our CB recovered from the ordeal and left Roberts to throw himself on the floor everytime he got close. Elbowed our teenage left back in first 30 seconds, classy.

Secondly we now have a left-back you can defend. Whilst Fox is ok going forward he has been shown how to defend by a 17 year old lad fresh from the academy. Fox was at fault for your first goal with a Hollywood ball.

Thirdly, you didn't take your chances, last season you mugged us by scoring with every chance you had. Robson-Kanu header onto post and header at the end (I forget who) were wasteful.

Fourth, bringing on Hunt and surrendering the midfield was criminal, we are so poor at closing out games this season and you let us roll the ball around in the last 10. Would have been better bringing in Guthrie who can at least pass - he was a quality player when on loan to us in 2007. The hoof hadn't worked for 75 minutes, why not try something else?

Positives, you made it very hard for us to break you down. The back 5 looked ok as a unit. You can put it right Tuesday.

Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.

Fans were quiet on both sides, quietest I have heard St Mary's for a while.

[Haag Royal]

[i]Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.[/i]

Plan B mate would be a luxury.... we don't even have a plan A

[Ian Royal]

Jobi just let Clyne go for the goal there.

And Tabb didn't track Puncheon. Plus Morrison didn't come across quick enough to cover his run. And there was nothing wrong with his first goal. But don't worry, we could have had two soft penalties so it's ok.

For a guy who gets constant praise for his terrier-like attributes, Tabb was pitiful for the goal. Can't really blame Morrison in my view. Our supposedly defensive midfielders really don't know how to support our defence. I thought the back four largely did a good job in difficult circumstances and for the most part nullified the effect of Soton's midfield superiority. Shorey was a bit off his oats, but I thought Cummings had one of his best games for us.

I think the problem is our midfielders need to be switched on the entire time and they cover so much ground that they run out of steam and lose concentration. All it takes is failing to track one runner and it's good night. Even the best teams struggle with it occasionally.

I thought it was one of Tabb's weaker games this season - plenty of mistakes and yet he was still better than most of our players.

[Ian Royal]

[i]Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.[/i]

Plan B mate would be a luxury.... we don't even have a plan A

We came with a plan?

[St Chalet]

[i]Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.[/i]

Plan B mate would be a luxury.... we don't even have a plan A

We came with a plan?

Soak up the pressure and hoof the ball down the middle at every opportunity, it looked like a plan as everyone was following it!

[Rex]

[i]Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.[/i]

Plan B mate would be a luxury.... we don't even have a plan A

We came with a plan?

Even Baldrick would have sussed it out.

[Haag Royal]

[i]Basically you came with a plan, it was busted when we scored and you appeared to have no plan B.[/i]

Plan B mate would be a luxury.... we don't even have a plan A

We came with a plan?

Even Baldrick would have sussed it out.

What, you mean on 70 mins, Hunt on and Mcanuff moving to CM? You must have secret source of info.....