Ok, three games in and from what I have witnessed i'm now pretty sure that we are not a bad team but i'm still yet to be convinced that we can become a good one. We have learnt to start the game quicker and on the front foot and outplayed a top ten team for an hour and then scored. It is difficult to comprehend how we could shoot ourselves in the foot three times and go on to end up with nothing from the game. I truly hope that this was a hard lesson learnt too and that it never happens again, we scored and the team visibly dropped their energy level like it was job done instead of taking the confidence from the goal and trying to kill the match off. Cedric's dithery defence for their equaliser was inexcuseable and Pierre's attempt to con the ref was embarrassing and I hope he has learnt a personal lesson too. I hope that this does not cost him a chance to start regularly because his energy and control was a big factor in why we dominated for the first 60 mins. I liked the shape of the team yesterday and hope to see the same formation moving forward but Gabbi and JWP getting a start and maybe Stu too. I still have a lot more hope for this season than I had for much of the last one.
Sammy the Saint with his ****ing drum is ****ing annoying and I wish it would stop. utter utter cringe.
Surely, for varying reasons, our last 2 haven't gone well. We brought Sparky in to do a job and he did it, whatever you say, we improved. So to then sack him and bring in another unknown quantity would seem flawed reasoning. We didn't exactly look like a big shining opportunity this summer, having a moderate squad that only just scraped through a relegation battle. I think we looked a lot different when we got MoPo and we need to re-build to stand any chance og getting MoPo v2. I'm not sure whether people are really being objective when dissing MH. He took on a dire and phenominally dull team (Err that's Stoke, not us ) and provided some entertainment and top 10 for 3 years. So, something went wrong last season, who knows what, but managers that guarantee success are as rare as hen's teeth (opr non-existent?) and EPL history is littered with the carcasses of previously successful managers who then failed. The proof of Sparkies pudding is in the eating and that's more than 3 games. You accuse those of us who want to give him a chance of being 'typical football fans' but surely that moniker goes with wanting to sack the manger 3 games in
No I am not saying sack him, he is here now and does deserve longer than 3 games. I just don't think he should've been appointed in the first place. The initial agreement was a contract til the end of the season with a nice bonus for him if we stayed up, that for me is where it should've ended. I saw quite a few fans hailing him as a miracle worker for keeping us up, which I don't believe is the case, but fair play he did what he was brought in to do. People also talk about him being a good manager for some stability, but I don't see that either. Stability doesn't exist in football look how close all the teams are outside the top 6 and very small things throughout a season can have a huge impact on whether you finish 8th/9th or relegated. I would've liked to have rolled the dice on a younger manager who we had identified as someone who would suit us. Sure it could've turned out badly but it could also have worked out well, with Hughes I think you are limiting yourself with how well it can go. But as I say he is here now and deserves more time before there is any talk of changing manager, I just find it hard to get enthusiastic about him or a team managed by him.
I A drum is fine if A) they are a good drummer and B) if it's not at the opposite end to the singing part of the ground. Sorry but the clapper things are utterly dreadful.
Very true and can I add with the boards propensity to stick with a manager ie MP2 last season, Hughes would have to make a right royal balls up of things to get sacked. The only way he leaves is if he walks. The odds of 7 - 1 at the beginning of the season for Saints to be relegated are fair reflection of what the form guru's think.
We are no longer a top 8 team, fine lines but we are not. Other clubs that just avoid relegation have gone down the following season, Sunderland, Swansea. Although we have not played one of the top 6 you could say we have played the next 3 best teams. We have a manager and team capable of turning this around but we must somehow sort our terrible home form out.
In all honesty who do people think we could have got instead of MH? The last two appointments were wrong because we always go cheap......so who could we have got instead?
Steve McClaren But we are a Premier League club, we should be in a position where we have a recruitment team monitoring what is going on worldwide in football. Both with players and managers, if none of us could name a suitable manager then that doesn’t mean the club shouldn’t be able to
I really hope we beat a top 6 side this year, it's one of the few things I enjoy about the Prem and the last time we did it was under Ron. I'm not fussy who it is mind. Liverpool in a few weeks will do.
OK so with the Northam silent, it is back to the library scenario? That's not going to encourage any kind of revival.
Big fat finger pressed "like" by mistake but I unlike your post. Diving is cheating in any event and if the ref sees it it should result in a yellow. Regretfully I have several RU fans and I get get embarrassed by soccer divers especially when it's accompanied by feigned writhing around in supposedly severe pain. On subject of Saints there are signs of more positivity this season, let's not get too depressed about it.
This diving issue, the thing that gets me, is Chilwell was diving throughout the game and picking up free kicks. Moss was not consistent yesterday and favoured Leicester in the 50/50 decisions.
I haven’t read any post match comments so don’t know what the general consensus of opinion is. Mine for what it’s worth is. My first match watching from the Northam end. There may be a case for the return of standing at football matches, but it’s not for me. A guy standing behind me, a few rows back, could do with extending his vocabulary to enable himself to stop saying “effing c” every few seconds. The game itself. Pierre, Redmond and Long all started very well and I felt that, in the first half, they lifted the entire team, with their positivity and energy, giving us the edge . Long was unlucky to not have two goals. An early header, he met perfectly and had on target, only for it to hit the back of McGuire’s head who had jumped out of hope (good defending I suppose) and had the good fortune to deflect the ball wide. The second time was when Schmeichel saved from Ings and scooped the ball just behind Long. Had he followed in a fraction slower it would have been a 3 yard tap in. Second half, watching from behind the goal, so to speak, gave me a perspective I haven’t seen since my early days of watching at The Dell. When Austin and Long were together, looking over the shoulder of the midfielder on the ball, you could see just how few options the strikers gave them. There were times when it looked as though they were playing statues, giving the midfielder no option other than to play sideways or backwards. For me, I would like to see Ings and Gabbiadini paired together for several games, as I believe they would give the midfielders far more options. Disappointed that their two goals were both assisted by Saints players. I actually said to my son, as soon as Cedric headed the ball, “He’s bringing it down for Gray. Throughout the game, I think Puel had marked Cedric out as the weak link, because pretty much every time they launched the ball long, it was over Cedric’s head, or in his general direction. Lemina was unfortunate to win a tackle, only for the ball to go straight to McGuire, but how did the shot go through both Romeu and Vestergaard? All in all, in general, a good performance, but not sure how much of it was down to us imposing ourselves on Leicester and how much of it was down to them being poor, until after they had equalised. Once they upped their pace, and closed us down more quickly, we struggled to keep good possession. For all that, though, it was really good to see us dominating a game for the entire first half.
I agree with much of what you have said on this, only issue is we can all identify managers but it’s a different matter getting the ones you’d want. I appreciate that’s down to the club but it seems they think Hughes will stabilise. I agree this league that is almost suicidal.
The foul on Long on the edge of the box 1st half right in front of the ref was a particularly bad miss from Moss.....terrible.
I admittedly don't go to many home games but I thought the atmosphere was relatively decent yesterday. As for a revival, it simply won't happen without changes.
