Games like today happen. I thought it was a pretty even game overall, both teams kept the ball well without ever really doing that much with it. Wigan scored with a good piece of skill and a defensive mistake. In the premiership you get that sort of defeat. However, the negative reactions i've heard (for instance from the people sitting around me at games) really make me sick. I've heard people calling for Adkins head, i've heard nearly every player today called either useless, or not good enough. I even heard somebody at the end of the game saying that it was awful. With all due respect love, three years ago (nearly to the day) I say Saints draw 1-1 at Stockport. THAT was awful. This season is going to be tough. Todays match was always going to be tough. Anybody who thought otherwise, that we would just roll over Wigan, or that this season would be a breeze, is completely deluded. One thing that does annoy me though is Rodriguez getting played on the left. He was getting dogs abuse, but he was being asked to play out of position. Why do you spend £7000000 on a striker who scored 20 goals last season and stick him out on the left? If you want a left winger, then spend £7 million on a left winger.
Playing your record signing out of position, when nobody of note is missing through injury is a sure sign that the squad is not strong enough. Has somebody made that point already?
Hey, it's a learning curve. If we don't learn from it we'll struggle, but hopefully Nigel and the team will see some of the naivity and we will progress ok. Mr mannering, keep hold of your nerves for the time being.
Its not a question of nerve this was always going to be a difficult start for us , its the lack of signings , its the way way we played today against a weaker side whom we shall be fighting against relegation scared me , our home has to keep us up , that performance against that team inspires not , and you get the feelking it did not inspire Adkins . But why were there not more quality signings , QPR and Norwich have been busy buying some quality players in a bid to survive , our we arrogant , loyal or stupid to think our team is good enough , maybe ask the players , they will probably say they need more quality .
Why are some getting angry about a situation Nigel Adkins has publicly acknowledged....let's assess the squad once the window has closed. For what it's worth I thought we looked pretty solid despite our dodgy defense in the 1st half It was a tad concerning that we fell apart after the goal as Nigel tried to change things which again he has acknowledged. Just because Wigan is unfashionable club people think they're a poor side. They are a decent premier league side with a very good manager. Sides will be more open against us in future games which may help.
Decent first half, pants second. Adkins made a big error. He realised that we needed a striker on the shoulder of the last man to be more clinical up top, but changing the shape to make that happen was a call that let Wigan into the game. The 433 served us pretty well up to half time. We weren't demolishing them, but we kept them at bay and fashioned some half chances. We either should have taken Lambert off or even moved him out wide, so that we could have Sharp or Rodriguez playing off the shoulder down the middle. Keeping the team together and keeping the shape is far more important than one or two individuals playing in positions they prefer. They'll get their chances in different positions over the course of the season and they'll have to get used to them. Doing so will make them better players.
Because in fairness he is the boss . He is a professional . He knows the strengths and weaknesses more than we do . So why play a striker on the wing ? Why not strengthen possibly until the last week of the transfer window ? We knew this , did he not know ?
Wigan had done their homework, they nullified Spider and virtually cut out the service from midfield, when we had chances we were simply not clinical enough, we are playing in the big league now, a steep learning curve, and the weeks of transfer speculation must be getting at them too. As supporters we must stay positive, negativity will have a big downer effect, don't let it happen.
Good post IT - none of the positive/negative drivel we have been subjected to since end of game - you have stated your opinion and supported this with sensible reasoning.
Look, you don't just go to the midfielder dealership with £30 million pounds and pick who you like. The other team has to want to sell, and the player has to want to sign. It's a negotiation. And the better the player, the higher the stakes, and the more likely it is to come down to the wire. Maybe two years ago when Saints were the richest and biggest club in League One they could get away with it to some degree, but not anymore. Clearly, Saints are not interested in minor bolstering of the squad just to try and stay up for one year, and then do it again the year after that. They are thinking long-term, going for the young, high potential, big impact players. It's a bold and risky move. I can't say I would play it as aggressively as Cortese/Adkins. But they at least deserve the benefit of the doubt until the transfer window closes, because the kind of players they want won't move until the deadline. And they could win very, very big if they've played this right. Gaston Ramirez could still sign. He's now refusing to play for Bologna. Matt Phillips has handed in a transfer request. These are the kind of players that Saints have been waiting (and wagering) on, and it could still happen. If they can't pull off a couple of big signings in the next 6 days, they'll have blown it. But as this has been their plan all along, I think we need to let them see it through before deciding their strategy was a failure.
Agree with this, but from his interviews you can tell he is frustrated too by the lack of arrivals before the start of the season. Adkins and gomarchin share the same opinion but whilst Nigel does it behind a smile, gomarchin does it with angry sounding typed words. As for Jay Rod on the wing, he has sacrificed a striker to bolster midfield. Which Against the top sides and teams that play like Wigan(would add Fulham to this) its proved to be the right way (1st half showed this). Sadly we are putting square pegs in round holes. Another disappointment was a lack of pace on the bench. Chaplow & De Ridder may not be the best but could of injected a certain something for the last 10 minutes.
After thirteen games last season, Wigan had amassed a total of six points. Less than half a point a game on average.
Today was unfortunate , it would have been good to take something from the game , especially with the tough start we have . I am not worried yet , Adkins is a very good manager ,he will come good . If we happen to get relagated ( i don't think it will happen ) Adkins is the best man to get us back up , just hope Cortese dosn't loose faith in him . we are very lucky to have Adkins . My only concern is Saints are going for unrealistic transfer targets , which is ( in my opinion ) why we haven't seen as much as us fans would like . But we shall see what comes in this week . Hopefully we will have a few quality signings .
