And that number two.... ...thought it was Carlton Palmer for a minute! Same ball control! You know, I don't think we were a lot better last night. Higher intensity, pacier attacks. That seemed to throw Watford a little. Much better discipline (communication from keeper??) at the back. Unlike WHU, Watford did not have a plan B to deal with us second half so we carried on as we left off the first half. Saturday will be much tougher but now you can see the confidence returning. Good to see some papers giving Matty Targett MOTM. #academyrules
It all comes down to finishing. I don't think we have been that dreadful recently, but we couldn't score and we kept letting the opposition score with a rare shot(s) on target. It couldn't go on for ever....even though it felt like it. Any win will do, but I did like it when we played beautiful football
There was a brief moment quite early in the 2nd half when I thought "this is going to be like the 2nd half against Leicester/Bournemouth/West Ham" but that didn't last long. Just like on Boxing Day, we kept winning our 50/50 battles, and played for 90 mins.
Clasie still looked shattered to me for most of the second half/end of first half so maybe we'll go with Vic/Romeu to start Edit-Wrong thread
Go back pre-2009 and Saints were endlessly plucky. Almost anyone had an off-day if we beat them. It was wrong then and even more so now. Granted, it's the way the media works. They can't get it into their heads that there is a large football club on the South Coast.
Can't agree strongly enough. A team in a crisis wouldn't have spells of dominance and clear chances throughout the game as we have. The finishing has been pretty terrible - the shots to on target ratio has been embarrassing.
We play well in first half and the box gets well worn. Second half the opponents get the lions share and the same box gets all the action and so that box looks more worn. No?
You know what, I can't remember the point now.!?! So much has happened since yesterday. I went to the funeral of a beloved friend and mentor who was 91 when he died just before Christmas. A smashing bloke and yesterday I got to meet all of the other people he helped during his lifetime. There were dozens and dozens of people there. Typically, they were all undoubtedly better for the experience of knowing this man. When one's faith in human nature becomes knocked askew, it's good to know there are good people about. John was a great one. Sorry about that. Off-topic. EDIT: Oh yes, both goalmouths show signs of wear!
Commiserations TSS. If you can draw any comfort from such a sad occasion, at least you know that so many people will remember your friend with love, just like you will.
Thanks chaps. It was actually a very nice ceremony. John was brought up in a Scottish Presbyterian family, but realised that being a better human was what was important, not following any religion. And that's the way he lived. He married his childhood sweetheart, sent his kids to university, and because he was never able to further his own personal education, he taught himself. He eventually came South and ran motivational courses for young people whose dreams had died or had never been aloud to start, because of their upbringing or heritage. I bumped into him during this time and became a friend. Everybody liked him, even the ones who first thought he was too good to be true. A few years later I bumped into him again when we both worked for STC. Years would pass. I lived in different parts of the globe, but every time I bumped into John he was exactly the same. It was if I'd seen him only the previous day. He became a councillor for Hythe and Dibden Purlieu and was the Chairman three times. He wrote poetry and ran poetry and book reading clubs [just like the BBC Book Club only locally] and did Nordic Walking two or three times a week [not Rambling like me] in the New Forest because he could feel the onset of arthritis. When his wife died he missed her greatly, but still ran his clubs because everyone in the community depended upon him. He also organised U3A events right up to the last year. Typically, when he wanted some technology organised he called on me and I'd spend 6 hours with him rather than the half-hour required. We'd talk together of times past and the future of which he was just as excited. He was never less than positive and he totally believed in the ultimate goodness in people. If you wish to understand people as much as you wish to be understood, you'll be fine, he would say. Consequently, he was fantastically patient with others. His was a pretty good way of life.