Saints fan in peace. So we both had bad results yesterday but you must be confident of getting a result against us next week. We badly need a home win to get us back on track and possibly keep our manager in a job! Your away form has been pretty good this season so I'm feeling very jittery! What do you all think?
Im surprised at your form as out of all the promoted teams you had the most talent and held your own agaisnt city and utd, which means next week will be a tough game for us. However i have to say adkins is either a genius or just out of his depth as his attack minded style is resulting in you being thumped yet clearly he believes the team will adapt and soon climb the table. Or he is simply out of his depth and hasnt a clue on how to deal with premier league teams. Adkins out...redknapp in?
I think you'll benefit from us playing in Slovenia on Thursday in so far as travelling, etc goes. However, IF we win there that might help restore morale amongst our players. No-one on here can predict with any confidence the team you're likely to face, from goalkeeper to striker(s) there's a massive debate as to who should play. Dembele and Bale were big misses for us yesterday, I presume Bale at least will be back to face his old club, which will add another factor into the equation. How is Lambert doing? I hope Dawson is back for Spurs to face him, but we may be moving JV into the middle.
After yesterday's result I'm not sure what to think. Southampton isn't a place which is easy to go to and can spring surprises. I'm just waiting and seeing. If we lose it then we have more problems than you.
Yes, we ought to win, and I would expect us to. However, I have kept the jury out on AVB until Christmas, and at the moment, from what I have witnessed, my view on him could tip either way. The match at Saints could prove to be a pivotal point for me.
No disrespect to Southampton but it's a game we should be looking to win, particularly given your form so far this season. If we don't bring our best game then I think Southampton will have every chance of causing us problems but you'll need to stop falling apart in defence.
All depends on Spurs IMO. You'd imagine Bale would be back but he's not their biggest asset, right now Spurs are in dire need of Kaboul and Dembele. I'd expect Lambert to run G*llas ragged so it'll very much depend on how well Lallana is able to link up with him. Both teams to score is a certainty although I fear Spurs will have too much. I'd go for a 4-2 score line, but this time in Spurs favour
I never like to be too overconfident but I agree with this. I like Southampton, but if we're on form we should outmatch them.
Yesterday in the late kick off is a reminder that anything can happen. I think it'll be a great game, shame its not on Sky but there are enough big games in that day already
He's clearly struggling but has shown in the past that he's a quick learner. Had some bad luck with injuries at the back as well. Agree with some others that Bale will be a massive influence. Just hope he's distracted!
If we get Benny (or hell even Naughton, anything to get Gallas out of the team) back then Verts will move into CB you would assume. Or rather I would hope so, but I could see Gallas keeping his place to captain the team if Lloris plays as Brad has stood in before as captain. In fact the only issue I can think of regarding dropping Gallas is that of captaincy, but thats a discussion for another thread I guess. If we win against Maribor then we should have some confidence back in the squad and I would be reasonably confident of a result at Saints. That said they have some quality there and there are definitely goals in the team as we have seen against City and Utd already this season. So we'll have to be careful, and if we lose at Maribor then I won't be nearly as confident. Should be a good game, at least for a neutral....
Is he learning? all I heard from Adkins is "we will have a go" "we're here to attack" how much longer can you keep on getting thumped? Take a look at west ham, your squad is as good as theirs in terms of quality, yet they have a manager that knows what to do, knows how important it is to be tight at the back. This attack minded approach of your manager, is going to get you relegated! ps. which now means you will beat us next week
Adkins comes across as a great guy and I don't know enough about him to pass judgement but first impressions are that he is tactically inept. His tactics in the United, Fulham and West Ham games were just... bizarre. Firstly you'd have beaten United had he not taken off all 3 of Lallana, Lambert and Puncheon. They were tearing United a new one and you could almost see Rio and Evra breathe a sigh of relief when they came off. Lambert going off meant you had no attacking outlet and just couldn't push out leading to attack after attack. You were on top up until that point as well and looked more likely to go 3-1 up than United did to go 2-2 level. Secondly the Fulham game, again a game that was easily winnable and Lambert goes off.. 5 minutes later Fulham equalise and to be frank could and should have won. The West Ham game was also made for Lambert to start. The Spammer CB's IMO are poor. Seeing the way Arsenal exposed them proved that. However you can't legislate for some of the mistakes Southampton have made. If you can't keep clean sheets in this league, it's very tough. If you can't beat Wigan OR Fulham at home then I think the warning signs are there. I still think you'll give Spurs a great game and won't write you off yet but Reading I think are gone.
Score draw for me. Both teams can't defend but will always score against teams. Hopefully we will have some more defensive options so we can drop Gallas and Walker after their horror shows against Chelsea.
i don't think it will be a goal less draw,and i think we might have a bit to much for you,if we play as we have been,last couple of games.
Adkins saying they had written off the first few games and expected nothing was the sort of thing you never want a manager to say, especially as he said it after their humping at the Emirates - it's the sort of comments heard from Aidey Boothroyd at Watford and Paul Jewell at Derby (or Henry James Redknapp at Southampton...) every week as they shrugged their way back down, as it's giving the players license to fail.
Bring in Dawson for Gallas and make him captain. Lloris instead of Friedel and Naughton/Smith instead of Walker. Of course we may play JV CB and BAE LB, then make JV captain. But whatever, please let us drop Gallas.
See how we go in the European game first. I'd like to see a few changes for that and Villas-Boas should use it as an opportunity for some players to make a point.
