That did make me chuckle. It's a persuasive argument you have there, especially about Mane only getting himself really geared up for showcase matches. He actually did look slightly bored yesterday during one or two close-ups, although I may have been mistaking it for the inner calm that he undoubtedly has. Never mind, one of the celebrated three had a cracking 45minutes, at least, and the one of the other two provided him with the usual very accurate cross to score.
Although the second half was a perfect opportunity for a Saints counter-attacking performance at home. We were like the away side. Mane did get dispossessed at least once in a very promising position of possession.. That for me was the disappointing aspect of that second half - we did regain possession on a number of occasions, and did absolutely nothing with it. No attacking players in support, getting easily dispossessed, being sloppy with the ball. That frustrated me from the point of view of sitting through such a turgid half - would have been nice to at least scored and made the whole thing look like a gameplan. Very happy with the result, and performances in general, though.
Don't put yourself down, Fran. I can see you coming down from the stands, jumping the barriers, and getting between the sticks to hoof out a clearance off the line if Saints really needed it. Your anticipation would have to be first rate, of course, but you could still do it. Out of interest - maybe Tom could answer this - what does the ref do should that happen? A fan makes a goal line clearance, or, say, tackles an opposing player clean through?
I'm going to suggest a theory [because it doesn't even begin to shred my nerves as you suggest] that those who have played the game for much of their lives can detach themselves from watching and playing easier. I know there is nothing I can do because I'm a watcher. I get a tad fidgety, but that's about it. When I played the game it was different, but I was so concentrated on doing my thing that I barely had time to be nervous. Before a game, sure, but during, barely ever. Just read that back and there may have been a suggestion of condescension. There wasn't meant to be. If I had time I'd phrase it better, but I'm off to work. Cheers
Yes, and I love Mane regardless - it's the anticipation of what he may do that gets me excited. Even if he leaves us waiting a few games.
I thought he (like everyone) was very good first half yesterday. Again, like everyone, he lost his way in the second a bit and was doing a slightly unfamiliar job post Vic-gate!
I should also add that I was suffering from the availability bias when I wrote what I did. I only remembered the second half (it's a common form of irrationality). In the first half he was, in fact, bouncing with energy, so my comment did him a disservice. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa Vin
I like what Fonte said. Words were said about the second half and I suspect the point was made. Ron will add his words during training. We will see if it works this week I suspect.
Hands up....I was one who thought we had missed our chance last year, because I couldn't see top clubs being as poor...never saw Chelsea dropping so many points this season. I think the Leicester result affected how we played yesterday....Leicester scored because we still tried to play our usual game and try for a third goal. The team were determined to avoid that happening which was bound to make them more defensive.
No, he would stop the game. However, technically if a fan came on and nodded in a goal before the referee noticed him he should award a goal. The unwritten rule of refereeing though is to use your common sense and if that were me I'd find some excuse to disallow the goal and restart with a drop ball. Most players don't know the laws properly anyway.
Sounds more plausible than mine Not sure they would disallow a goal, maybe let the other team walk one in, as they do if there is an unjust thing nowadays such as giving the ball back ending up in the net.
If a goal was scored, the ref could speak to the players and the opposition could get a walk in. That's happened before.
I am a qualified ref too (although I haven't actually 'reffed' for a while). I tend not to bang on about it too much although like Tom it does give me a bit more empathy with the much abused refs. The problem with refs at the top is that it is very unlikely that they have ever played the game as an adult. So sometimes they will heavily penalise a slightly mis-timed but genuine tackle, and gloss over a cynical shirt pull or something that doesn't involve a player ruling around in 'agony'.
After the match yesterday, Bournemouth's Adam Smith handed his shirt to a 12 year old boy in the away end. He then had the shirt ripped off him by another Bournemouth fan (an adult as well). Smith heard what happened through social media so the boy is now going to meet all the Bournemouth squad and get another shirt at the same time.
The referee should stop the game to allow the stewards to apprehend the fan. A drop ball to restart the game.
