Agreed. We missed Che, but I thought Mara did what was asked of him well enough, and Stewart looks like he’s going to be useful when properly fit.
Well that was ****. Once again playing ourselves in to trouble for no reason at all. Barely any aggression or attack.
It was a typical cagey first leg. Neither side wanted to lose the game. We're backing ourselves to win at home and hopefully Che will be back.
Not so much 'Glass half empty', more "Where's my f'ing glass?". Still, if we were 4-0 up after today, no-one would turn up on Friday...
That brief period of pissing around at the back was awful. Downes then McCarthy gave away the ball in the box.
It was cagey as ****, although I think Leeds - Norwich was even worse. Will absolutely take that clean slate back to St Mary's, add Adams back in and I think it should just about give us the edge. It was never going to be easy, this is not a bad result.
For me, home or away doesn't matter in these games. In two games the better side should win. In one game it's much more of a lottery. We've now effectively lost one of those games*. So I actually feel the odds are slightly less in our favour. Che being back is massive though. *I don't mean we lost, lost. I mean 'lost' as in we don't get to play that game again.
Stewart did look quite bright when he came on. He made a well timed run which led to his deflected shot which could have gone in on another day. He could have a big say on Friday.
Especially second half when no one was offering themselves up for a pass out from the back, which piled even more pressure on us. Might be the difference on Friday, at both ends of the pitch.
If any manager other than Martin had set us up like that people would be raging. There was absolutely no desire to win that game from Saints. We rode our luck in and around our box and McCarthy had to make 2 good saves. You reckon we'll be better in a sold out St Mary’s in a must win game? Not a chance. We've brought nothing with us for the 2nd leg
Just about on track to be somewhere approaching full match fitness by the final should we get there....
We didn't get a mention in the Sky post match round up! Mac was my MoM but it was a WBA player that got the award.
Not Bazunu bashing but I don’t think he would have coped as well with the crosses as Macca did, especially when he had to force his way through a crowded box.
People think Mara did well? Wtf did he actually do!?! Stewart did more in 20 mins and he's probably more unfit than I am!
This is what sort of bugs me the most. Not so much the possession or passing with it at the back. It's the lack of commitment. West Brom started the game all guns blazing, while we looked kind of shell-shocked. It's a f*cking playoff semi-final lads. Look like you want it.
