Article: Sunderland v Saints match thread |Southampton FC, Football

I'm sure MP will take this match seriously. I think he wants to win every game as I'm sure does NC. Money from a sell out televiised QF against Mourinho would be nice as well.

 

On Radio 5live this morning the sports reporter said that RVP had missed a penalty and that he was only human.

That must make Lambert and Le Tissier super humans then.

 

Tiss did miss a pen once and he probably still wakes up screaming about it. Personally, I think it should have been retaken as something must have been wrong

 

The thing about that penalty miss is that Tiss wasn't overly bothered about it. What really upset him was the fact that he didn't tuck away the rebound.

 

Probably because he was so surprised he saved it!!!

 

I really hope he rests Morgan, Wanyama, Lallana, rickie, JWP, clyne, Lovren and shaw at least. If any of them picked up a knock because of the league cup I would be gutted to be honest.

 

That's the poser for MP isn't it. We do have an international break after Hull though so think he might risk a bit more.

 

I'd be gutted if any of them pick up a knock anywhere, but I hope that we mix it up a bit, but also put out some strength. This game is bigger than the Hull game for me.

 

Just seen some Saints fans getting on a coach at St Mary's. I was very complimentary about them. I really don't envy their journey back.

 

I couldnt name the full 24


safc.com profiles three of the 24 players to play for both the Black Cats and the Saints.
Stern John
Trinidad and Tobago international Stern John began his career in the MLS with Carolina Dynamo, New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers and Columbus Crew before a move to Nottingham Forest in 1999.
After John joined Forest, the club suffered from financial problems and John was moved on to Birmingham City in 2002.
After playing over 80 games for Birmingham, where he scored an all-important goal against Millwall to send the Blues into the 2002 Championship play-off final, John joined Coventry City and finished as the Sky Blues’ top scorer in his first campaign.
In January 2007, after three years with Coventry, Roy Keane brought John to Sunderland where he scored five goals in 16 games to help steer the Black Cats to the Championship title.
John scored in his final game for the Wearside outfit in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham before moving to Southampton in August 2007.
He scored 20 goals in 52 appearances at St. Mary’s before spells with Crystal Palace and most recently Solihull Moors.
Jimmy Montgomery
Black Cats legend and all-time record appearance holder Jimmy Montgomery played for Southampton towards the end of his time at Sunderland.
The local lad, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday, made 627 appearances for the Black Cats in a spell that spanned over 16 years.
Jimmy moved to the Hampshire club on loan in October 1976 and played five league games as the Saints finished 9th in Division Two.
Still part of the furniture at Sunderland AFC, Jimmy’s 70th birthday was marked last week with the renaming of the Stadium of Light’s Banqueting Suite to the Montgomery Suite.
Danny Higginbotham
Former Manchester United youth Danny Higginbotham joined Southampton in 2002 after spells with Royal Antwerp and Derby County.
During his time with the Saints, Danny made 106 appearances in three and a half seasons at St. Mary’s.
Higginbotham left the Saints for Stoke in 2006 and spent two seasons at the Britannia Stadium before joining Sunderland in 2007.
In just over a year on Wearside, Danny made 22 appearances, scoring three goals – most notably his header in a 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Newcastle United.

 

Sunderland & Southampton have had contrasting starts to the season. On reflection do you see the draw between us earlier in the season as a disappointing one from your perspective?

Ben Stanfield: Personally I think Sunderland probably played Saints at just the right time - our first home game of the season when we hadn't really got going. Having now made our best to start to a Premier League season ever we can't help (selfishly!) but think it could have been even better if we had beaten the likes of Sunderland and West Ham at home - rather than drawing with both.

But having said that we have no right to beat any team we face and Sunderland battled hard for the point they got that day - which was so nearly three - and you have to give credit to them for that. Saints have historically found it hard to break teams down who come to St. Mary's with a game plan to try and frustrate and take away at least a point. Sunderland got their goal early on and did all they could to hang on to it. So I don't necessarily see it as disappointing because you sometimes have to give credit to the opposition when they have worked hard to achieve something.

That draw came at St Mary's. Are Southampton better at home or away this season, or has the venue not really impacted on your form?

BS: With the well documented high-pressing game that Saints now employ, it's a tactic that seems to be easily implemented both home and away. It's a clear plan really - if you have the ball, pass it and keep it and, if the opposition have the ball, chase them down as high up the pitch as you can to win it back. Its not rocket-science but it does rely on a very fit team who can work hard for each other and that's what Saints have now built.

If you look at our results this season - which are fairly spread points wise both home and away - you would probably say our away form has actually been slightly more impressive due to the calibre of teams we've played. We beat West Brom first game of the season and, whilst we did lose to Norwich narrowly thereafter, we have since gone on to win at Anfield and draw at both Old Trafford and Stoke. None of these grounds are easy so to come away with 8 points out of a possible 15 is a pretty good return I think.

There is no doubting though that more testing times are around the corner (I think something like 8 of our next 10 games are against teams currently in the top half of the league?) so it will be interesting to see how results carry on. For now though there seems to be no doubt that playing either at St. Mary's or away from home holds no fears.

On the basis of league form, you'd expect Southampton to progress comfortably, but the League Cup often presents a chance for fringe players, making it a little bit . What sort of side has Pochettino used in previous rounds?

BS: You're right, notoriously the League Cup has always been given negative press for manager's and their ‘second string selections' but with so much pressure (particularly financial) its no surprise that it happens more and more these days.

Saints have indeed played a mixture of fringe and young players so far in the competition (against Barnsley and Bristol City) but I guess as you make further progress in the tournament you start to see manager's recognising there may be a chance to win the trophy and start considering selecting more senior players.

It's hard to know what Pochettino will do but, with a very winnable league fixture against Hull City at St. Mary's next weekend, I fully expect him to again go with a lot of the players who have already featured in the competition this season.

This will mean the likes of Jos Hooiveld, Maya Yoshida, Gaston Ramirez, Steven Davis, Jack Cork etc. all getting a run out. We are very lucky at Saints at the moment in that we have almost two quality players for each position and (touch wood) not many injuries. Therefore it does mean that, should he want to, Pochettino can really select from 22 players if he wants to.

Alongside the above I fully expect Kelvin Davis to be in goal so that regular number one, Artur Boruc, can have a rest (especially after conceding from 100 yards at the weekend!).

Davis has been a very loyal and committed servant to Saints but I'm well aware that there is a lot of negativity in relation to his time on Wearside - both felt by Kelvin himself and the Sunderland fans. I think it's fair to expect that, should he play, he'll be very quickly made aware of what the locals remember of his performances during his time at Sunderland!

Similarly to Sunderland, Saints have progressed against lower league sides so far. How would you gauge the performances compared with league games?

BS: The performance away to Barnsley was very good - we scored 5 goals and played very well. At home to Bristol City in the last round wasn't so cut and dry. We got a fairly early goal and played well in the first half but Bristol City came back in the second half and had several good chances to equalise before we wrapped the game up with about ten minutes to go.

Due to the start we've made in the Premier League the League Cup performances seem to have paled in to insignificance a little but there is no doubting that both the fringe and young players that have played in those matches have performed admirably and I'm sure have given a lot of food for thought for Pochettino when he has been selecting teams for league games.

Have you seen enough of Sunderland to suggest there's anything you need to be worried about from us this week, bearing in mind there are likely to be changes from the weekend's Premier League game?

BS: I've not seen enough of Sunderland this season to really comment intelligently on their threats to Saints. But no game is easy and I know that, whoever is selected for Sunderland, it will be a tough match for Saints. I honestly think it's a fixture that really could go either way - depending on how ‘seriously' each manager takes it with their selections.

Gus Poyet has history with Saints (in fact once saying, when in charge of Brighton, that we played the same style of football as Dagenham and Redbridge!) so I'm sure he will want to get one over on us again if he can.

If the likes of Steven Fletcher, Adam Johnson etc. play then it could be very worrying night for Saints but, on the flip side, if there are lots of changes and Sunderland perform like their results suggest they have the majority of the season (I appreciate some results may not have been completely fair on Sunderland), then Saints clearly have every chance of progressing from the fixture.

Likewise, who should Sunderland fear from the Saints' likely lineup?


BS: As mentioned earlier, I think that Pochettino could well change the entire line-up from Saturday's game at Stoke. So, assuming that this does happen, the player that I would suggest Sunderland fans should ‘fear' is Gaston Ramirez.

Ramirez was signed just over a year ago from Bologna but has struggled to really live up to his expectations. There is no doubting that he has incredible technical talent but the issue has been more around his commitment and desire to perform - doesn't that happen with a lot of foreigners these days!?

Whilst a cold, November night away to Sunderland in the Cup probably isn't the sort of fixture that will make him jump out of bed in the morning with anticipation, there is no doubting that, should he perform like he has shown in patches at Saints, then he can definitely cause Sunderland problems.

He is deceptively quick, has a beautiful touch and is able to pick a pass. He is definitely the sort of player that can unlock a defence. It really just depends whether Ramirez wants to actually get involved in the game himself or not!

Given that Chelsea are up next and will be a stern test for either team, are you bothered about progressing or would you rather focus on the league at this point?

BS: These sorts of questions, when raised by the media/fans etc., always cause a quandary don't they?

We all know that the Premier League is where the main revenue streams are these days. So, whilst having a good Cup run is nice, I don't think there are many Clubs (this doesn't include fans I should add!) that really see it as a priority.

Even if we do beat Sunderland and get to face Chelsea in the next round - we know that they will have a fringe side out as that was shown in their game against Arsenal last week. Does this make it more winnable? With their strength in depth (the likes of Juan Mata, Demba Ba etc.) probably not!

So, if you offered me a chance to win the League Cup or finish in the top 6 of the Premier League this season then of course I would go with the latter! Although both would be nice of course!!

Finally, a prediction please?


BS: I'm afraid that I think it could be a long, cold night in store for all of us attending! I can genuinely see it going to extra-time, if not penalties. So, with my bias hat on, I'll say that Saints will nick it with the odd goal in extra-time but I can't say I'm brimming with confidence!

The other prediction is that I hope Kelvin Davis will be leaving the Stadium of Light with a smile, and not egg, on his face!

Cheers to Ben for once again providing us with the Saints' view ahead of this weekend's game. Why not give him a follow on Twitter @BenStanners and read his work over at TEAMtalk.

 

Link for the match fellas, hope you dont enjoy it too much, good luck for the season after tonight and when we play you at home of course

http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=229159&part=sports

 

Cheers TME!

 

There is commentary of this game on 5 live sports extra as well.

 

Cheers TME. I do smile to myself when fans generously, and honestly, wish other fans good luck for the season. I've done it myself many times, but it got me to thinking there has to be three teams you absolutely don't wish good luck on! I think mine would be West Sam, Newcastle (it's a Pardew thing) and, sorry to say this as it's nothing to do with the team or the fans and EVERYTHING to do with Poyet, Sunderland.

 

I will always class Stern John and Nigel Pearson as two of my favourite people associated with Southampton for that final day victory over Sheffield United to keep us up. Was a great day.

 

West Ham (fat Sam and Nolan) and Arsenal (Wenger!)

 

Sorry, but there a fair few managers in this league worse than Wenger.

 

Maybe Tom but I just dont like him. Always an excuse rarely praises opposition always whining etc etc

 

Interesting how in the main perception of a team is coloured by their manager. I don't dislike any team themselves in particular. Bar Leeds.