Normally when we concede our heads go down and we collapse. Today we conceded early and never gave away any more goals and that is a huge positive for me. I don't think Manning or Stephens played badly today either.
Yeah, Manning has been pretty good since he came into the team and Jack was pretty solid today but they are percieved Martin favourites so get judged a little harshly imo.
Okay, couple of little snippets from my chat: Both realise the importance of getting through the first year back into the PL, and both aware that’s obviously looking tricky. There’s a real will to work with and develop RM who is still “learning and a young manager”. Players are all very committed RM and enjoy working with him. So there’s a balancing act going on between these two points. Lallana is playing way more than they expected when they bought him and there are some weeks where he just can’t play, let alone 60 or 45. He’s also perpetually angry and ranting. Don’t expect to see ABK any time soon, for the reasons which have been vaguely well reported on here, re attitude. Don’t really want to say too much more than that, but they’re frustrated by the on pitch results, of course (though also recognise we’ve had some bad luck with decisions, crap individual errors etc) and like us they want this to work, but there’s a realism about whether or not it can continue in the same vein.
I wonder why Adam is ranting, perhaps at heart he wants to win. I can understand some of his frustration, he probably remembers the attacking intent of 2014 Saints
On the game, I was sitting next to ex City manager Brian Horton, which was pretty interesting too. I thought we defended really well on the whole - I know people are saying Manning was decent, but honestly there were a few occasions where a move broke down because he just doesn’t have the right pace of pass on him, and things went wrong because his ball was a touch too slow, which allowed a City player to intercept or make a tackle. It was really noticeable. Being behind the benches it’s interesting how much RM is involved in cajoling and encouraging from the sidelines. Far more than Pep. The worrying part of that is how much he’s instructing players on what they should be doing during the game too. Far more than Pep, because the City players knew what they were meant to be doing.
Okay okay - this is now the second time you've felt it necessary to have a little dig at one of my posts, is this personal? Am I upsetting you that much? So I going to ask you very nicely - please put me on ignore or failing that just don't respond to any of my posts. Thanks
This for me is the one thing that I cling onto for hope. If the players are so committed that they are willing to stick together for another season in the Champ, then that's a significant reason for keeping RM. Because if we hire someone else - who also turns out to be crap - and the players aren't committed to him, then we are truly f*cked.
Whilst I agree with this I think the problem is that commitment won't last if we keep losing every week. Players will get frustrated and start to lose faith. If we get good results from the next two then I can see it possibly playing out that way but if we only manage 0-2 points I just don't see a way he can survive the season. Also, with my cycinal hat on, if some players are already at that stage I highly doubt the CEO is going to mention it to a fan at a game.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/videos/clyg5e7yj02o The Pep love in. Though the headline is more than a bit misleading.
It won't be personal mate. This is a forum after all and posters will have different opinions. You will find we are generally a good bunch really.
In addition I’d just like to note that the social media team have referred to the result as a ‘valiant effort’, so I feel the next two results are absolutely guaranteed now.
If we'd beaten Ipswich and Leicester we'd be very proud of this result. It's just difficult at the mo as the "easier" games aren't working out. What I'm taking from this is we need to approach every game in this manner with dogged disciplined defence. Keep clean sheets and we get points and less messy pants.
