Match Day Thread +++++Saints v West Brom 31st December 2016 3:00pm+++++

Its never been easy being a Saint but ...

1/1/16 Played 19 Won 6 Drew 6 Lost 7 Points 24
1/1/17 Played 19 Won 6 Drew 6 Lost 7 Points 24

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

But we're 9th this year and were 12th last (YAY!)

 

Strewth we lost......its not the end of the world. Its just the end of our season we will never recover from this it is the end oh woe is me...............!!!!

Come on guys this is where we as fans are needed most. For those that are going to the Everton match. Lets be hearing you roaring the guys on.....it doesn't matter if we take a hammering again. Yes it will disappoint...it will hurt. It won't stop me going to matches and shouting me head off for them to win......and they will. Don't doubt it......you wait and see.......We are Southampton this is what a true fan means through hell and high water..........COYS

 

Saints fans will be Saints fans whatever. When we were in League 1 they were my rubbish team. They are still my rubbish team. If they were in National League whatever, they will be my rubbish team. That's just how it is. Have a moan, move on. Imagine supporting Barcelona and they lost?

 

I was really impressed by Hojbjerg at the beginning of the season and I felt that he looked like another star player in the making. There are elements in his game where is passing is incredible but he seems less impressive with each match. Of all the recruits who came in the summer, he was easily the one who seemed to have the greatest potential.

Boufal does seem really skillful yet he doesn't always make the right choices. There were moments yesterday were he looked our most creative player but, conversely, I felt that there were also moments where he was our most frustrating one. The most surprising signing was Nathan Redmond, another skillful player but miles behind Sadio Mane in the realms of ability.

Everyone seems to have forgotten about Jeremy Pied and I wonder how he will fit back in to the equation with the emergence of the younger full backs from the academy? I can't seeing him featuring much and he already bares comparison with Patrick Collater, another French "star" who was swiftly over-shadowed by Wayne Bridge.

All in all, you can see the logic and potential in these signings yet none have really got anywhere near fulfilling their potential for various reasons.

There was a discussion where I was sitting yesterday concerning the departure of Fonte and Van Dijk and the comment was made that there will be no exodus at the end of this season other than these two because it is unlikely that any of our other players will be really fancied by other clubs. Even Forster seems less impressive this season. If any players leave, I think it is more likely that it will be academy players departing for lower league clubs or fringe players like Martina, Rodriguez. Yoshida, Classie and JWP having been seen to have fulfilled their usefulness to the club.

 

Righto, I won't bother turning up then. Someone tell the team not to bother either

 

Oooh. I wish I'd been here. Sounds a laugh a ****ing minute.

 

Oh no please turn up as I will as well because I always will do no matter what division or how poorly we play,but as I say currently where the two teams stand on form/players/confidence I'm of the opinion that we will not beat them over two legs whether you like my opinion or not that's mine.

 

The point is that if our team was that good, everyone would be fancying our players. Surely I don't have to explain that.

 

I've been terribly disappointed in Pied and his inability to star with only one knee too.

 

West Brom were there for the taking in the first half and we somehow conspired to go into half time 1-1. It was their only shot in the first half. I don't know if it's our game plan to move the ball around slowly and eventually attempt to cross it in, but if that is our tactic, apart from being painfully dull and easy to defend...it makes no sense with the strikers we have (plus we're terrible at crossing for the most part).
Second half and I was still optimistic. We've been dominant, we'll get one more. West Brom get another shot and score. 2 shots 2 goals. Meanwhile any hope that our players had visibly disappeared.

The team is devoid of confidence. Forster is injured but playing and has lost all confidence. I don't feel the team trust him at the moment either (and the fans aren't helping). That's not a good basis to start from but what can we do about it until McCarthy is finally back from injury. Our shots against to goals conceded ratio must be horrendous. Even just the last two games...
Spurs 5 shots on target = 4 goals
West Brom 3 shots on target = 2 goals

Meanwhile at the other end we get very few shots on target per game. There's a lot of pressure at both ends of the pitch and you don't get the impression that many players are enjoying playing in this team at the moment. In the last few games even VVD is looking pissed off, and I don't know whether it's just one too many games, but he's been making a lot more mistakes and seems far more laxidasical in his play. We obviously need to bring some players in, that's been annoyingly obvious since before we lost Pelle and Mane. I don't think the settup, style of play or heavy rotation policy we are employing suits the players that we do have.

On a positive note...my walk home from the game was 20 minutes quicker thanks to my rage marching.
Happy New Year. Here's to an active transfer window (please)

 

Accurate though.

 

But we had a storming 2nd half of the season to finish 6th. Unless that happens again what happened last season is irrelevant.

 

Majority of us thought we'd have a dip and finish about twelfth. We're having a dip and will finish about twelfth.

 

I'm not sure why this statement of the obvious is in any way relevant except to prove my point, which I don't believe you were trying to do
but thanks anyway

I'm not predicting the future, but I will say that everyone that predicted we would finish 6th on 1 Jan 2016, should get in line to tell us what will happen now
Hmmmm that line doesn't look very long now does it

 

Oh how I long for the days when we had two good wingers in Terry Paine and John Sydenham who fired the crosses in for Derek Reeves to score so many goals.

 

I was tempted to mention it in my post. What a film indeed. The best film that almost no-one seems to have seen. Good to find a fellow aficionado.

Vin

 

For sure, no one I know is aware of it.

Me and Mrs Quiz did our usual New Year eve viewing of 'As good as it gets'. Must have watched thar 20 times

 

Speculation

Vin

 

All true but the decision to maintain sustainable growth has been taken so no matter how many think differently it's not going to change anything. We will carry on selling players when silly money is offered. If we didn't we would never have seen the likes of VVD, Mane, Boufal or Tadic ever joining the club.

 

Only problem with that you're luck with players making an impact on your club is a gamble which will run out at some point,keeping what's already in your squad is keeping your better players and certainly not replacing them with inferior hence Wayama.