Match Day Thread Southampton VS Huddersfield: 23/12/17 - 15:00 Midtable Teams Doing Midtable Stuff

Then he later came out of his goal and took a boot to the face. Where you see timidity, I see a man clever enough to understand that the world beyond his line is fraught with boots just waiting for tender face parts to present themselves.

 

Merry Christmas

 

I have that feeling I get at bed time... full of hope, expectation and dreams, usually to met with a wave of negativity. It is Christmas however

 

There is an air of defeatism, negativity and gloom around St Mary's at the moment together with a sense that we are drifting aimlessly that is reflected on these threads. The atmosphere was positively poisonous around where I sat yesterday with many people berating our players, our manager and each other.

The club has a responsibility to address these matters urgently otherwise it will be difficult to break and we WILL be relegated. Just sacking the manager will not address that. I would like to hear Ralph, Les and our new owners state what their ambitions are for the club and how they plan to achieve them. The longer the silence continues the deeper we will fall into this damaging rut and inevitable relegation.

 

I was going to post something very similar to Vin last night but I decided that I would wait until this morning. That wasn't a bad game of football. I have seen plenty of those at St Mary's over the years and that wasn't one of them.

I understand that football is a results business and therefore the calls for a change of manager, but to suggest that there is no difference between Puel and Pelligrino leaves me perplexed. Under Puel there were games where we didn't have a single shot on target. For the neutral, yesterday was an ok game. I remain completely flummoxed by the way, by those calling the game unacceptable and awful- who it then turns out, haven't actually seen the match!!!
As for calling for Les to go, a little perspective. I have seen massive assumptions of how much control he exerts and I feel that some on here think that he hangs upside down in his office during the hours of daylight. Puel produced an ok-ish season if you include the Cup final, but ultimately a very dour brand of football. He went. MoPo2 might go because the results are not good enough. Will his replacement be a top name with a proven record of European success, noted for their swashbuckling brand of football? Of course not!!! We are Southampton. We almost take a punt, just like we did with Adkins, Poch, Koeman and for that matter, VVD, Tadic, Bertrand, et al. Hardly been a disaster thus far.
Maybe I should rage after every setback, make massively pessimistic and sweeping exaggerations about how dire our circumstances are, but I don't think it's me really. Sadly, I don't know more about tactics, or how well the players were in training to gain say the manager, but feel free if it makes you feel better. But there is no doubt in my mind. I was there yesterday. I watched the whole game. That wasn't a great game of football, but it was not the the disaster painted by some, by a long chalk.
One last thing, yet again a significant number of fans booing at the final whistle, including the pillock sat next to me who spent more time looking at the betting app on his phone than watching the game, need to realise how spoilt and entitled they are- that is something that does make me very angry indeed.

 

Watched highlights on this morning's MOTD....I am amazed at myself as I've virtually stopped watching. There were chances for both teams, but we should have won. We are really going to miss Austin...he scored, but was also in place for other good chances and the lob of the keeper was a sign of a confident striker. And confidence like that spreads through the team. I note people have stopped blaming Forster, so must assume things are looking better in that area.

 

It wasn't a bad game,massive improvement on the Leicester effort.didnt hear any moaning where I sit ( until the final whistle when the nutters took over).
Honestly don't think anyone would have complained had we been having an ok season,except for defending of their goal of course.
If I felt the way some of last nights posters claim to have felt then I'd stop going and save a bloody small fortune but of course it was obvious a lot of them were nowhere near St.Marys.

 

It’s not a reaction to a single game though, it’s the season as a whole. I’d say the same to @Beddytare as well. We have one win in ten games. That’s hugely worrying, and I don’t see i team that looks likely to turn that around any time soon.

 

I think it's good to have some positivity from some, as the misery does become almost addictive.

Putting lack of knowledge aside, whether that is the fact that there is always things we will not be privy to, and that we are not football managers, certain facts remain.

The stats and the form are very worrying.

 

Well said Godders, the only thing now is to coax Ralph or Les out of their bunker. How?

 

Totally agree,although some of lasts nights comments were for completely different games.Bit like Monty Python answering the question b4 last correctly.

 

I agree....in a good season no one would think twice about this performance or result. Fans are watching every game with trepidation.....this must be true of the players as well. The coming in to form of Charlie has been a beacon of light for both fans and the other players....he is now expected to be out for a couple of weeks (according to MP2) but I suspect that is being hopeful. A bad blow for us.

Looked at Charlie's kick on keeper a few times. We must remember this all happened at speed not slo-mo. A reckless attempt by a fired up striker to get the ball which was already in the keeper's hands. Misjudged and dangerous, but don't see it as deliberate....what would he gain by risking being sent off. Lucky not to get a card, but I'm guessing the ref saw it at normal speed and considered it a coming together.

 

Thought it was interesting the MOTD guys saying it looked like a lazy flick at the ball. Think I agree with that.

 

Charlie now been charged with violent conduct.

 

Same problem Fats,bit more effort needed on the training ground mate.

 

Does he make cars?

 

Im not sure how you lot saw it,but i thought redmond had a more positive game against huddersfield

 

Channon - who said the match was **** and then said they didn’t see it? I ask because I have said I didn’t see the game. I also made no comment about the game as I hadn’t seen it. I think my only comment on the game was “it sounded horrid.”

 

I have now seen the highlights and I hate people commenting from the highlights, however I saw one thing there really worth mentioning. Nathan broke with the ball and took on the last defender, before squaring to Charlie who should have scored.

That is exactly what I want to seee him doing as I believe he has the ability to do that. He knocked it by the defender and ran. Please do more of that Nathan.

 

Just watched the highlights and I am sure Charlie didn't intend to do it, but he could have avoided it in my opinion. His miss was the turning point too, then the injury made sure he was going to be out for a while. Shane time to shine!
My real gripe is that they still persist in sideways, backwards, when there are forward options, and stupidly losing possession in dangerous areas. I hadn't notice that great early save from Fraser, I thought it had hit the bar. No wide full back runs, limited our attacking movement, Stephens made a couple of surging runs in the first half but it looked like he was told not to in the second half.
On balance we got what we deserved in the end. Redmond had some opportunities to shoot, but looked hesitant to try it, lack of confidence in his own ability perhaps?
Not over impressed by some of the Refereeing, Targett came in for some serious bullying in the first half and stood up to it well, but should have had more protection from Probert.

Tottenham game I don't expect much other than a football lesson, but with the Saints you never know what they are capable of, but I guess another "lottery" team selection will be presented, time will tell.