I am in complete agreement. This and WhatsApp for me. I leave the rest to my and daughters, who are singularly distraught without their fix of social media.
I'm probably a few steps behind you on that path but I find myself on it. I was open to needing time after all the crap of the previous season(s) but you need to see consistent steps towards the end goals to keep the belief going and we seem to be going in a circle at the moment recycling the same output, littered with individual issues at both ends of the pitch. If we had scored any of the slight / half / blatant open goal chances we'd had in the last games perhaps it begins to impact confidence but it's still the same players in the same formations with the same directions from the manager. Something has to change soon or SR will have to force a change and historically that's not been a positive thing. And no Ange is not the answer we need to any question we have.
I think the fact we're desperately scrabbling about for names is testament to the position we find ourselves in here!
I don't think there is anyone out there who doesn't hit the same brick wall as Will Still at the moment. Plan B has just joined Rangers.
Part of me wants Plan A (as he actually was) to fail at Rangers to make me feel better about life, but then that would mean I really don't have a Scooby about managers, because he's the one I wanted from the start.
Funnily enough Jones would be a good appointment for us now. But he was an atrocious appointment for us then, the job he is doing at Charlton in 2025 doesn't change that.
Tbf he must be having a smile at our dilemma and relieved he’s not here. I’m almost of the opinion that whatever happens in the next 4/6 games we need to stay with the manager we have and see if we can get through this season with one manager and remain in the Championship, even if we finish just above the relegation zone because nothing convinces me that revolving door appointments work. Probably not a popular view but there it is.
Honestly, torn on this. There are signs to me that Still is OK and it’s just the players letting him down. (Opta stats show we should be second based on expected goals). However, he doesn’t really have the CV to suggest he’s the man for such a difficult job. We’ve been terrible, I hate his substitutions and his 5 at the back system. I agree that we can’t just keep swapping managers though. We just get worse with each one. Maybe this is the time the club just backs the manager 100%, removes any players that cause issues etc.
I know possession doesn’t win matches but we had 67 percent out of that we managed to generate 14 attempts with seven on target + 1 that hit woodwork. They had 33 percent with 13 attempts with 4 on target. We had more than twice the number of passes and better accuracy. Defensively stats are similar although clearances are double for them at 29. I wasn’t at the game but just looking at the stats suggests to me that we are too slow and piss around far too much and can’t finish from anywhere on the pitch. Is that a fair assumption
Chance conversion and stupid defensive mistakes are our two biggest problems. We have created enough to win most of our games this season, our players have been woeful in capitalizing. See Jander and Armstrong against Swansea (more the shot before Jander which should have been a goal in itself) and Archer last night.
I’m with @tomw24. And if Baz had made those blunders a number of posters on here would be losing their minds over it
Agreed. I think I said that failure to score was an issue but not just by our strikers. There should be players scoring outside the box and from set pieces.
Absolutely fair. Lots of that possession last night though was constant sideways passes while City just packed the midfield and waited for the right moment to tackle/intercept. We'd pass to the wings for it to be passed back to Charles to pass to the other wings. The one time a decent ball was played we scored with it. As soon as they equalised we were back to hit and hope long balls over the top to no one in particular. When Manning came on we tried crosses. To help this genius tactical plan, Still had to bring DD on with results which surprised absolutely no one. None of this was effective or played at a speed above pedestrian. Most of our shots on target were straight at the keeper and very comfortable saves. My biggest criticism, and what we've seen since game one (in my opinion anyway) is a real lack of football "intelligence." Whilst its clear Still doesn't have a philosophy, we sure as **** have 3 distinct styles during a game. -Really slow sideways passing with less penetration than the films they used to show on men & motors -Long balls over the top to strikers who are about as tall as a primary school year 6 team and which just gets headed away by defenders -Crosses to aforementioned strikers who surprisingly are out jumped and out muscled every ****ing time. This is utterly utterly miserable. No one, fans, players or managers alike want to be here. Buckle in lads because this is going to get way worse before it gets better
This weekend is a big game tbh. If we lose to Blackburn then we have to accept we might be in a relegation fight for real. Even I didn’t expect things to be this bad . As usual saints are worse than even the most negative posters could predict.
If Will Still came to manage Saints because he could help support his wife through her illness better. He must be feeling pretty crap now. For his and her health I hope he pulls through
