Sure, but there's an element of conditioning there. We don't make many risky forward passes; when we hit a rare, risky forward pass and it doesn't connect, people react poorly. If we were 2016-vintage Leicester, where those passes were the norm, the fans would react differently. I do not for a nanosecond believe that the fan reaction has any impact on the number of risky passes we play. We're all in agreement there. Pellegrino isn't. Throwing on another player whose duties were solely in the attacking half would detract from our ability to cover counter-attacks.
Game will be very close and will turn on a moment. We don't often win those moments. But today is our day.
Feeling very pessimistic about today. I have managed to stay relatively positive throughout this season but i just cant see where the next win is coming from. Massive game today, hope the travelling support are in good voice up there!
As Adam says, respect to MP for answering the questions without taking offence. I think that we may ultimately disagree with his analysis, but to call him clueless is clearly ridiculous- he has thought things through very carefully. On a personal level, I like him, but... he has to start winning football matches. Over to the lads to do the business, really.
I hadn't realised that press conferences went on so long. Still going at half past eight after starting at 3.30. What do they find to talk about? The match isn't that long!
Matchday. Massive game. I've done the opposite to normal this week for a big game, normally I'm full of confidence all week then lose it all on the day of the game. This week I've not fancied us at all but woken up utterly convinced that we're going to win. Up the ****ing Saints.
Every game gets more important as opportunities for points become fewer. You have to think that we must win a game sometime.....don't we?
A rare game where I'd suggest that the opposition are under more pressure than us. If it wasn't for Rafa, I'd have Newcastle as my second-favourites for the drop after WBA. They have back-to-back home games against us and Huddersfield. If they fail to win either, I'd suggest they'd be in even bigger trouble than us if we were to fail to win either of our two away games. (We've both got relatively similar run-ins in April and May. A home game against Chelsea, away games to Leicester and Everton, a match against Arsenal, one solitary must-win home game, one match against a current member of the top four. Plus away to Swansea for us, and away to Watford for them.)
Disagree completely. Maybe you have to be at the ground, to witness the extent to which crowd reaction inhibits play. I hold a section of our "fans" hugely responsible for Nathan Redmond going backwards at Saints. You could argue that had he been mentally stronger he'd have shrugged off the groans and jeers, but that's another issue.
Ok, it's a new match and a chance to win 3 massive points, what's happened before has gone and I keep praying that it will suddenly click together and we see an improvement but this just might be the anti-lergy medication i'm currently dosed up with talking!... I'm going for a 2-1 Saints win with Carrillo breaking his duck....COYR!
100% this. Questioning the bloke's approach is fair enough. Condemning him as an idiot betrays ignorance on the part of the accuser. Ultimately he has to win games, that's inarguable - and time is running out on that score. Let's hope that changes today.
Almost the words I was going to use. Redmond is the perfect example. He used to run at opponents and, as expected, occasionally lose the ball. The crowd got on his back mercilessly. So he changed and, faced with an opponent, stopped and passed it back safely. So the crowd (and some people on here) got on his back for that. It's no coincidence that his move back into the squad started only in away games where the crowd is more supportive. And before anyone says he should be stronger, he's a 24-year-old kid doing his best. Why should we assume he'll be resilient? And anyone who says "because he's well paid" knows nothing of human nature (or empathy, for that matter). Vin
