I’m not sure if this is true, but I have read tonight that Pellegrino now: - has a worse win % than Wotte and Poortvliet - we are in our worst run of form in 14 years Pretty good going if actually true.
At this point, I am tired of pointing fingers and trying to suss out what is happening. Also, I think we have seen enough of this team to make some general but vitally important assessments. 1. We are legit crap. Sure we have some players who are good on their day and maybe on a man for man basis we are not totally outmatched. But look at the team as a whole. Is there anyone who is really like, top 5 at their position? I don’t see it. We’re mostly pretty average. Bad teams are often more notable for their lack of good rather than their abundance of bad. We are one of those teams. 2. There are a lot of crap teams in the PL right now. We are no worse than at least 6 other teams... 6 other teams that do not have potentially 60m to spend on improvements. 3. We need to play boring survival football. Whoever is the manager, the focus should be on grinding out points even if it means playing for draws. We do not have a coherent tactic out there now, it’s all too unorganized. So we need a philosophy and that philosophy should be survival. 4. The good news is, because we suck we might be able to keep our players for once. And I do think we have some good young players who if given a chance to learn and bond, can take a step up next year. If the club can honestly assess where they are at and adjust their goals accordingly, and we bring in the right players in the January window then we can put together a decent second half which will also be a solid building block for next year. We are not in bad shape, all things considered. Cutting it closer than we’d like for sure, but staying up should be easily doable. Even a mid-table finish. But if we screw up, and continue on this same path then yes we could be relegated. We’re at a crossroads. That’s better than our fate already being sealed.
Video of part of the post-match press conference here, courtesy of ESPN. 'Pellegrino doesn't fear relegation battle' http://www.espn.co.uk/video/latest-videos/600/video/3333929?ex_cid=fw_affid178
Looked like 4 or 5 knob head teenagers to me.... think they made it as far as Bertie and one went slip sliding on his ass by the tunnel.... Stewards on the pitch looked uninterested and none of them really noticed them on the pitch.... don’t think the lads thought they’d get close enough to worry about what they’d do if they got there....
Draws are not survival. Only one club has more of them than we do, and they're in the relegation zone. We need wins. Look at Watford: more losses than we have, a goal differential nearly as bad, and they're five points and seven spots beyond us. Let's take a scenario where we win all of our remaining home games against teams outside the top six, and successfully work draws in every single away match against the non-elite. That would give us 3 wins and 8 draws...good for a mere 37 points on the year and in need of either good fortune or results against the top six to stave off relegation. Play for wins. We're only in this position because we do not win enough, and we'll only get out of it if we get back to winning.
Really pissed off. Just got in from work, and watched the match. Why oh why, didn't we push on, after we scored? Palace where there for the taking, in the 1st half! How was it, me thinking 1 goal is not good enough, for our performance? Yet the team didnt figure it out! How many times, have we lost now, from a guy taking a chance outside the box! We are in deep trouble. And management, need to realise it!
They are given a role to play, the overall performance is the managers. I’m not absolving any player of responsibility but reading the thread everyone saw the same thing, the game changed against us, we weren’t containing them and it wasn’t up to the players to change formation or bring on a sub. He had Lemima and Davis on the sidelines but didn’t make the sub and then it was too late. Same story every time. So he has to send the kids back to the bench and bring on gabbi.
The issue is and always be those that enforce the rules. The authorities that should be insisting that officials enforce the rules of the game and when necessary alter the rules to help enforcement. Someone was moaning the other day about the Lincoln v Accrington game where they were falling all over the place but the ref was giving the decisions so of course they kept doing it. Players don't make the decisions and there is nothing at all stopping FIFA>FA abandoning the whole concept of not questioning devisions made nor looking at things retrospectively. While you can get away with this stuff then it will continue to happen. Enforce it and it will eventually stop. Referees SHOULD be blowing up for fouls and not contact. Contact does not mean a foul has occurred and a foul doesn't need contact to be made. They are 2 entirely different things. Doesn;t matter what the media lot say because they aren't the ones making the decisions. The reason that these media types bang on about "entitled to go down" is because the referees don't give the fouls when they stay on their feet, thus it is the referees fault this happens. Defender fouls attacker, play advantage, if no advantage give the free kick/penalty. If the attacker is fouled but then rolls all over the place clutching his leg from the slightest knock award the penalty AS WELL as booking for simulation. Same as shirt pulling. yellow card if you pull a shirt to hold someone back on the rest of the pitch. Instant yellow and penalty. Every time. Same with the bear hugs in the penalty box. ZERO TOLERANCE.
Kick-off was 23.45 here so did not watch the game: not sure what was more surprising; the defeat or Long scoring a goal. New owners need to step up and bring in new management at board level. RK and LR have reached the end of their respective shelf lives and have become liabilities. MP2 seems out of his depth at this level and has failed his probationaey period. FLT needs to continue producing his Star Wars match day threads; this is the only glimmer of joy l have experienced this season as a Saints fan. End.
Two positives from last night`s match ! Long gets the goal monkey off his back, and surely now there can`t be anyone of a Saints persuasion (board included) who thinks Pellegrino can still turn things round. One convincing win all season, LC exit at home to Wolves second team, umpteen points dropped from winning or drawing positions, clueless tactics, baffling subs.... With Hoedt and Lemina arriving, and fully fit team to play with (I`ll ignore Dick VD), we should be stronger than last year.
Although guans posts are long winded and miserable they are worryingly accurate. I keep thinking one positive of losing is it may force the board to take action. For a start we need Pellegrino to go. Get a firefighter, anyone. SKD. I don’t care. He can’t motivate the team. Put out a 2nd string for Fulham. Send the boys on team building weekend. Anything to lift morale. Buy a couple of players with some steel, we are in a scrap.
Well ..... a large section of fans at the end of last season wanted “more excitement and goals” from the games. They certainly got that in spades. The board shouldn’t have caved to the pressure put on the team and manager by the atmosphere at St Mary’s. I said at the time that I was concerned that the “excitement” might come from the visitors scoring more goals than us. Now we’re in a fight and there are no decent managers (imo) around, so we’ve got to get behind the team (like the Palace supporters who never gave up even went ages without a point) and keep the faith. I don’t know if MP needs to go or not, I just can’t see an adequate replacement who might get us out of this. We’ve got good players, they need to be used properly, I agree. Anyway, I have bigger issues than football at the moment - I’m desperately disappointed that we didn’t win last night, but it won’t stop my support for the team and the players (and even the board and manager). There’s still plenty of time and teams around us who aren’t as good .......
There are plenty of better replacements around mate, don't buy into that narrative. More importantly, hope your issues resolve themselves quickly.
