Although the Wigan team were a credit and see them playing in the Championship next season, I must say the pitch is a disgrace. Hardly any grass, covered in sand and no bounce caused by the volume of sand. Watching players taking corners trying to deal with the sand castles was amusing Good luck to the Latics, looked really good
So, enough of this positive chatter. We were a bag of ****e and we're going down with this numpty for a manager. Does statement give me entry into the SMS Whine club? As a number have said, this was a huge banana skin to be avoided. Wigan reminded me of Saints when we were in Div 1. Some of the fine arts may be missing, but they were brash, confident and very cohesive. Luckily for us, they somehow conspired not to score, and overall they didn't look the threat that we used to pose which, given that the Div One Saints had Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin et al is hardly surprising. Yes, we were lucky not to be at least 1-0 down at half time, and then .. oh then the sun came out. Sparky gently reminded them that they were the Premier League side, and suddenly Bertrand was in the game, Boufal was committing their defenders and even in my hyped up telly watching mode I could begin to relax. I had never been convinced that this was the "ideal game" for Hughes to start his time with us. We got some luck, and it went like a dream. "Lads, you were ****e first half", he might have said, "now this is what you are going to do." It was like a mirror image of that infamous 4-3 at Tranmere where the teams seem to swap shirts at half time. Watching a game on the telly is the pits for me. Well for those around me. When I'm at the game I'm fine, because after all my Pavarotti like rendition of OWTSGMI will ensure we win. But on the telly, OMG. However, one good thing about it was hearing the travelling 4000. Superb support.
I'm hoping for a miracle, but not necessarily expecting one....but isn't it great to just feel hopeful again. Does anyone else feel like Mark Hughes just belongs? I have fully accepted him after one match and a couple of interviews. He should milk it for all it's worth....football fans can flip just like that.
I fear the hope. And I have it back in bundles. But, if we can just express ourselves and perhaps not win, then that is far better than the road we were travelling.
I got quite a lift seeing him all animated on the touchline at one point yesterday He's like an angrier Nigel Adkins.
He came out fists pumping to the fans yesterday and that brought a smile to my face. He seems assured in interviews and seems to care and have a clue. Not the messiah, but given me a little hope. I was 90:10 in favour of relegation this time last week, now 60:40 in favour of it. A win at West Ham and I may start to believe.
"We're about 90 minutes from home, see you soon." .....Three hours later and a dead phone..... For me, the first half was a team badly lacking in confidence. We didn't really make any glaring errors, and I'm not sure it was a case of not being up for it, but - possibly as a consequence of the Newcastle result and performance - so many of them seemed almost scared. Possibly the worst 45 minutes I have seen from Cedric btw. Second half was obviously totally different, and hopefully we can now see that from the start. Possibly the best 45 minutes I have seen from Cedric btw. Five points to raise: 1. How great is it to see defenders and midfielders playing the ball forward? Yes at times it was a little more direct than ideal (although I wouldn't go as far as to say hoof ball), but it was a little bit like watching Shelvey: pick the ball up, try and pick out a striker straight away. Obviously Redmond's pass for Gabbi's penalty was the prime example. Who else did it remind me of? Ron. Reduction in the possession stakes (I see that Wigan actually had more than us), but do more with it, when we have it. Ditch the possession for possession sake mentality. 2. All three of Hughes' subs were spot on for me. We take the lead with less than half an hour to go; Wigan will now have to come at us. What is the best way to win the game from here? Score a second. What is the best way to do that? Hit them on the counter as a result of them coming at us. So, Redmond you're on straight away. No messing about, no waiting, straight away. Later on - Wigan legs are tiring, the counter attack is still on for us; Long, you're on for the far less mobile target man. And towards the very end (but not too early) - we're still leading; Romeu, you're on to sit in front of the defence and see us to victory. 3. Hoedt my Saints MOTM. Probably the only player who impressed me over the full 90 minutes. Including putting the ball into the stands when required. He's not always done that to date in his short Saints career. 4. Despite all the positivity - winning the game, playing two up front with two creative players out wide - I would be concerned if we lined up exactly like that in the PL. For me, we afforded Wigan far too much space between our midfield and defence (mainly in the first half, but also in the second half too). Our remaining eight opponents - even West Ham and Swansea who are down the bottom with us - our good enough to exploit that. I suggested before the game of maybe playing the diamond, as a way of getting two up front, without leaving us too exposed the other way (and at the end of the day, our defence isn't what it once was). I'm even more convinced now after yesterday. Stick Romeu in there behind Lemina and PEH (and conversely, tell Boufal - or whoever plays at the top of the diamond - that they don't need to track back. Stay forward, ideally in a pocket of space somewhere, so that we do always have three attackers in place). Cedric and Bertrand should be good enough to give us width (especially with one, usually two, CMs being back at all times, to assist in covering for them). 5. That's the first time that I've felt negativity around Carrillio. With a second striker (and lesser opposition) he was somewhat involved for once - which was good. But what I saw did not impress me. If Charlie is fit to start against West Ham (or whenever he is fit to, if not), then I know which of the two forwards I would leave out.
What a difference a win makes? This time last week I wasn't to taken with the new boss, but he could just be the perfect fit for us short and long term? The semi is going to be the perfect incentive for the players to earn the shirt, we all believe this team is to good to go down, so if Sparky can get the belief back we might just start to surprise a few people?
He's a fierce competitor, has an air of authority and is capable of a stern word and an arm round the shoulder Just what we need in our current plight I hope and pray it's enough to keep us up
* as long as we can start scoring goals given doubts over Carillo, Gabbi pen and goals scored by players who won't be doing it very often
I’ve seen plenty of negative comments about Carillio, which whilst I can understand the context, ie no goals etc, let’s see how things go with MH in charge before reaching too many conclusions. With a different approach and the fact that MH was a great forward himself, I think he could come good for goals. I don’t detect a lack of effort or interest overall in his play.
