I haven't read all the posts on this thread but for me this isn't about MP nor about NA... it is about our transfer dealings. I am trying to remain calm and objective about this, but having seen at least a point thrown away at Newcastle by poor defending and similar today, the question has to be asked. I am struggling to remember two worse defenders than Fox and Yoshida at Saints. Yet our January solution to this was Forren, who as yet hasn't made the team. Please can someone help me because I really don't understand why we have recognised this and plugged the obvious gaps. In every match you feel we are only one moment away from another cock up at the back. Our only hope is that three out of the four teams below us are worse than we are.
All three defeats under MP could easily have been draws on another day. The two draws could easily have been wins on another day. I'm worried about our current points tally, but I'm not worried about MP. Poor performance us today, even though I felt we had control of the whole game, and in fact it was just a shocking game all round. Two poor teams. QPR were stronger than us, we were better at retaining possession, QPR gave our defence more problems than we gave theirs, we have more chances. But ultimately, QPR scored more than us. If we're to survive (and contary to how some people have been acting since we beat City, we are still very much in a relegation battle - god, I remember some people suggesting that a Villa win in the recent Villa-West Ham game wouldn't neccessarily be the worst result for us!!), then we will need to vastly improve on today. But thankfully, I know that we can play better. A whole lot better. That said, I do look at our next three fixtures with fear. We could easily lose all three. That would be five straight defeats and, unless we're exceptionally lucky, it would see us in the bottom three. In fact, all three of Wigan, Reading and Villa could have overtaken us - and I wouldn't be at all surprised if QPR were within striking distance (I've said pretty much all season, that I can see them staying up). So whilst our remaining fixtures after that are very, very favourable on paper, and give us the opportunity to get these three (or maybe four) required wins, I do fear about a drop in belief and confidence - both in the players, and in us the fans. And that could make winning those games a whole lot harder. Fonte, Cork, Lallana and Jay all played ok today. Can't say that about the rest of them.
I can't say I can agree with this. Saints were dire but Redknapp got his tactics spot on and totally out-smarted Poch. I would be interesting to have seen if Adkins would have faired any better but , in all honesty, Redknapp is a wily old fox and most Saints would have to concede that his tactics to press and hit Saints on the break paid off. I think we were actually lucky to only lose 2-1 and Fonte nearly brought down one of their forwards right in front of where I sit and there was contact. I should have been a penalty. The equaliser also looked off-side but I await to see it again on TV. From the QPR persepctive, they were much better than I imagined and certainly far more capable than Reading who are the worst team I've seen at St.. Marys. QPR will clib clear of the drop zone of they put in performances like that again and they have an easy run-in against tteams who are around them. I can't see Rangers going down and Redknapp looks likely to pull off the great escape 2. I hate him but you can't deny that he is the best English coach in the game. I thought Samba was man of the match and the two central defenders effectively had Lambert in their pocket all game. Green's save was also amazing. We were shocking but I think it is unfair to take credit away from a dogged R's performance.
And what will you say IF we beat Norwich next week? We could then likely be up 7 points from 18. Why even bother with all of these what-if scenarios? Whether we like it or not we've got Pochettino now, and as of yet I think it is way too early to draw any definitive conclusions over whether he is good or not, much less compare it to some hypothetical situation involving Adkins.
No they are not CBK.........however you have taken upon yourself to remind us..........A pity you didn't have the good grace to tell us how well the team played against City. Even the Newcastle fans were saying we played well up there and we just didn't get the result. It is very noticeable how you like to come on and tell the fans how bad they played but are conspicuous by your absence when we actually get a result. Your opinion I'm afraid is always negative you cannot seem to see anything positive......whether it be about the players or the manager. As bad as they played today I would never turn against my team or the manager as you seem constantly to do. You should be ashamed to call yourself a saints fan with an attitude like that.
Fox is hilariously bad. Yoshida was also terrible. Though, in fairness, they all were other than Morgan and Jay. But hey, we gave Portsmouth a little ray of sunshine last year so it makes sense we'd do the same for Pompey 2.
If you're refering to Fonte on Hoillet in the second half, right in front of the Chapel stand, then yes I called a penalty straight away. Clear contact in my mind, just Hoillet stayed on his feet (to his credit). I look at the incident, and the lack of a penalty award, and it doesn't surprise me that so many players fall to ground easily. As for our equaliser, I instantly looked over the linesman to check for offside. But I honestly don't know either way (unlike the penalty appeal, which evidently I do have an opinion on). So I too await to see it again on TV.
Just back...only good thing is that we have not lost ground (have to wait for Aston Villa result on Monday). Worst I've seen us play for a while, though perhaps credit should be given to QPR who did what they had to do. I thought we would win it once we equalised after a poor first half, but, although we had spells when there were flashes of skill, we couldn't string much together. It was a shame that Fox had to come off for Shaw as he didn't look fit. A win today would have opened up a gap, but at least we are not worse off. I had a little thought about how we would have done under NA, but I squashed it as we will never know. We haven't got the points that we should have done against Everton, Wigan, and Man U, people say we played okay against Newcastle, and gained three points unexpectedly against City. This was a poor result, but I am not going to judge Mauricio on one poor game. We all know the defence isn't strong enough, but that is not MP's fault. This has been an ongoing problem for which Forren is apparently not the answer. We mustn't be too hypocritical as we have been happy with Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida and Shaw when results go our way. I am going to consider this as just one of those things (remember QPR also beat Chelsea) and move onto the next game. I just hope we continue to tick over with 3 points here and 1 point there and not get dragged down. Not panic time yet.
Norwich up next, after todays mauling they may be a bit low on morale and could be vulnerable if we turn up and play as good as we can, they could be the team to fail if they can't pull themselves together.
Sorry, but I have said for some time that with Yoshida and Fox featuring regularly in our side we will struggle to stay up. We played well at Wigan and Newcastle but it cannot be said we "deserved" more because we actually defended poorly.
I don't think you can ever really get too down at losing at Old Trafford, no matter what the score. Personally, I think Norwich will be right up for it. This is their chance to secure the PL status for next season, pretty much. 35 points from 29 games would be a very nice position to be in. The hard work would be done, and they could even afford to just limply fall over the line of they wanted. There just would not be any chance of them going down with 35 pts from 29 games. Moreover, with Reading and Villa playing each other and Wigan not playing (FA Cup), beating us would see them go more than 10 points of the bottom three - and again, I couldn't see any chance of that being thrown away.
If you're talking about the incident I think you are than Fonte was about half a foot away from touching him, lunged in scarily but pulled out of the challenge.
What a shocker, that was a dreadful performance against the same inept team we destroyed at Loftus Road and they ain't got no better since then either. Total lack of desire and energy and that concerns me. QPR were not good. Maybe being a tad harsh in the heat of the moment but I'm not convinced our Argentinian colleague has a plan B.
It surprises me that Yoshida used to be a defensive midfielder; he has no composure with the ball at his feet.
Yeah there wasn't contact, I watched on a stream and he pulled out of challenge with plenty of room to spare, Hoilett's 'stumble' notwithstanding. Also, the equaliser wasn't offside.
We have played well in 4 games since MP came (Everton, Wigan, ManU and City) with only 5 points to show from it. Not sure about Newcastle, but others have said we played ok. We played poorly today, but still plenty of points to go for. I know that each loss will mean there are fewer games left to get the points we need, but don't book for Dignitas yet. Not too high when you win, not too low when you lose.
