Never underestimate tbe number of very negative peoplr among our support. Yesterday I moved across a block and forward a few rows as my son took my usual seat. There was a row of about 5 blokes behind me whose relentless negativity was a constant reminder of the delusions of the modern fan. Apparently, Puel has to go, Boufal is the biggest waste of money in the PL with no redeeming qualities, Forster is the worst keeper in the league and Stephens just isn't good enough. And Puel cost us the game by taking our best player off for Shane Long. At which point I turned round and pointed out that our best player hadn't touched the ball once and in any case had just returned from injury. Having verbally volleyed them I realised I had just started a row with 5 pretty meaty looking blokes - oops. After the third goal went in, they left of course. If I had to sit in front of those guys at every home game, I'd either hang myself or get in a punch up. And I'm sure that's not an isolated pocket; some people - a lot of people - seem to go to football just to vent their frustrations with life.
We have a family area. Why can't the club organise a section of the ground for the never satisfied or perpetual angry? Somewhere a long way from my seat.
I've just watched match of the day. How any one can even consider that a penalty on Sane really needs to start kicking a ball about. Never, ever a penalty. Oh and I think Laces was right, maybe Fraser could have done something with their first.
I saw that, they were taking pictures as Citeh were bearing down for the second goal. Maybe they were trying to put him off with flash photography. Re the support. It was very quiet but having seen the highlights on BBC, I'm of the opinion now that Sky filter out the noise a lot. Also concerning the commentary "bias" that some perceived, Ian Darke did his best but you do know who he supports?
After weathering the storm in the first half, conceding to a goal from a corner was hard to swallow. That shouldn't be happening and ultimately it is down to the keeper because he bears responsibility for marshalling his defence at set pieces. Other than that, Fraser had a good game I thought. The guy behind me was adamant he should have come out to De Bruyne for the second, which is just nonsense imo as he had De Bruyne and Sane (I think) both running at him unmarked. He had to stay on his line to give himself any chance. The save from Sane in the first half was brilliant, but a good call from the ref as it could easily have been given as a pen. At the Etihad it probably would have been
People taking pictures of the City players suggests that they weren't Saints fans....City fans managed to get tickets. Have never ever seen that done before and we've had plenty of famous players at SMS and the Dell.
I still crack up at whoever it was who described his appearance as being like, "a partially shaved bear"
I think that Puel's tactics worked for the first 50 or so minutes even though we rode our luck in some instances. We seemed to rely more on hitting City on the break but you could argue that the way we lined up against them meant that opportunities for us were going to be limited. The substitutions probably helped turn the tide. I agree that Gabbiadini had to come off as he had been ineffectual but although JWP had a poor game by his recent standards, I think that bringing Boufal on was a mistake. Up until the substitutions, I think a 1-0 loss would have been a fair and reasonable result up to that point but the changes seemed to hand the initiative to City. He is incredibly skilled but contributes almost nothing as a team player. Taking Long off due to a misunderstanding regarding his fitness does not reflect well on out technical staff no matter how you play it. For the records, I have never called for Puel to be sacked. Like good proportion of fans, I am somewhat on the fence about his abilities. 17 goals in home league matches this season is a risible record for a team usually associated with free-flowing attacking football. There are moments in recent months where Puel's tactics have been spot on and the football a joy to watch. However, the first half of the season was a massive let down after Koeman and if the club were to decide that the future of the club would be better served by another coach, I would not lose any sleep over this matter. The Saints fans I work and associate with are generally of the same opinion. I would have to say that I have not encountered any fans openly hostile to Puel as per the example quoted above although I would also say that there have been posts on this board where Claude's abilities have been praised beyond what I have encountered when discussing football face to face with fellow Saints fans.
There have been periods when I was disappointed with our style of play....we have been exciting to watch under Adkins, Poch and Koeman....but I have given Puel leeway because of the crowded fixture list and loss of important players through sale and long term injuries. I have seen enough good things to give him the benefit of any doubts and to look forward to his next season after a good preseason with no Europa to prepare for.
Really looking forward to seeing what he can do with pre season & a season under his belt. He has done well. The top six won't get as many points from us next term.
Some of them around me (Itchen North) were wearing saints shirts ... and I don't think it's a match that went to general sale (though correct me if im wrong!)
There appeared to be a lot of Asian people at this game, not sure whether they were Japanese or Chinese but several were wearing Saints apparel and many had some decent Cameras! Have they relaxed the Rules around photography in the Ground, I am aware that at other Grounds people have been warned because of the Premier League Copyright laws?
I can't agree with the red part of the first paragraph. Surely defending corners, and set pieces, is something that is worked on and honed to perfection (or as near as you can get to it) on the training ground. It is then up to the coaching team to look at the opposing team's line up and tell our players who to mark, and how best to stop them. I would also suspect that they look at a compilation of set pieces their opponents frequently use, in order to be as best prepared as possible. Every outfield player should know who he is marking and how best to do it, before they set foot on the pitch, including what to do after substitutions. It also doesn't help that so many of our players are short arses. In my other post, yesterday, I suggested that we bring in a coach to specifically take responsibility for set pieces/corners, as even with VVD in the team, we have frequently looked all over the place when defending them. One change I would make is to leave our quickest striker on the half way line, just to stop our opponents from throwing all but one player forward. That in itself reduces the number of options the opposition has in and around the edge of our box. Mick Channon used to stand on the touchline talking to the fans, at the Dell, probably after race results, but the opposition would keep at least two players back, in case we launched the ball quickly into space.
Saints seemed to have it about right for the first half or so. Then they seemed to sit back a lot more and played a lot deeper.....Gabby had little or no service. Sadly we missed VVD in defence and once the first goal went in we seemed to drop our heads a bit. Having said that city were on fire yesterday and played some excellent football you can't take that away from them. Sadly for us quality showed for once in the city side............Never mind can't win them all.........
