All I can say is that this feels exactly like the MK Dons win last year when we all felt it was a defining point in the season. Now for my ratings: Davis - 6 - had to be at his sweeping best today, very contraversial offside desicion when he came wondering too far and handballed outside his box. Made a couple of good saves but didn't inspire confidence from corners today like he so often does. Frazer - 5 - Usually a huge fan of his but just seems to have lost the confidence to whip early balls in like he was just a few weeks ago. Defensively was ok although gave the ball away a bit. Was good in the last 20 when pouring forward though. Jos - 6.5 - SOmetimes made to look a bit slow but his strength and determination really shone through today. A threat in the opposition box too. Fonte - 5 - Caught out of position a fair bit, touch uncharacteristically let him down a few times but very unfortunate with the own goal so his low score is in no way related to that. Fox - 8 - Great delivery from set pieces, pretty good defensively too and loved him getting the crowd up at the end, really showed passion and some leadership qualities that I didn;t know he had. Also played some great balls into Lambert's feet. Hammond - 5 - Great first 20 but faded as Millwall came back into it. Morgan - 8 - Great assist, some great passes but was virtually unnoticable in the last 15 as Nigel sacrificed shape and passing (and midfield) for bodies in the attacking third. Did give the ball away a few times but they really closed him down quickly. Another great performance in tough conditions. Chappers - 3 - I'm sorry to say it but didn't even win his tackles today which is usually a given with him. Looked frankly out of place. Lallana - 6 - Bit like Hammond, was excellent in the first 20 but faded after. Some great link up play with Rickie though. Rickie - 9 - Not just for his unbelievable bottle at the end but had a great early shot and his positional play for the first (hanging intentionally offside before getting involved) was genius. Some of his play when he dropped deep was outstanding although in the 2nd half he was well marshalled. Guly - 7 - Never seen him work so hard. Did not stop running and when put into centre mid he continued to work tirelessly despite clearly being out of place. De Ridder- 6.5 - Came on and attacked the full back as Nige asked (i guess) could have scored straight after hard time but ensured that they had to double up on him giving others more time. Adkins - 10. I was sat there in the last 10 thinking we have no shape and we look a shambles but his decision to overload the box with bodies worked a treat and his desperate pleas (together with Crosby) for Sharp to stay forward at the end ate up priceless seconds. Comments - like the way we kept Chaplow/De Ridder and Lallana up for corners, we often broke out and looked threatening. Genereally we were poor today after the first half an hour and we got lucky. But there is some real passion in this team and it's fantastic to witness a group of players who work so hard for each other!
8 for Fox? Not for me - gave the ball away far too many times - not his best game for Saints. 6 for me. Guly had a very good game for me. He worked his socks off and used the ball well. Rickie gets 10 for holding his nerve - twice!
Davis - 6 - Couple of dodgy kicks but no howlers Richardson - 4 - Really bad game for him. So so so many wasted forward balls and looked dodgy at the back, he was a liability, and I'm usually a huge fan. Hooiveld - 6.5 - Not his best game and looked dodgy a couple of times but ultimately did his job. Fonte - 6 - Much like Hooiveld, just looked dodgier. Fox - 6 - Fewer wasted forward balls than Frazer and better at the back, but still wasted the ball a lot. Hammond - 5 - Thankfully faded out of the game because when he was in it, he offered nothing positive. Morgan - 7.5 - Classy player, kept that up today. Chappers - 3 - What has happened to him? Since coming back from injury he's looked rusty but he was appalling today. Lost out on every tackle, hardly played a pass right and didn't seem to be a Championship level player at all. Hoping it was just a bad day but my word he was terrible. Lallana - 5.5 - Unimpressive. First half, showed some of the talent we know he has but got caught in possession a few times and created little. Rickie - 8.5 - Class player, honestly believed he was going to miss the second penalty. Only rated down because he failed to get the ball away a couple of times but once again what a piece to have in our team. Guly - 7 - Had a few people in the crowd screaming at him all game but I thought he was quite good. Held the ball up brilliantly a few times, but played a few dodgy balls. De Ridder- 7 - Injected some fire into the team which we much needed. Didn't offer much directly but made us look more dangerous. Sharp - 6.5 - Useful player to bring on, very impressed by him taking it into the corner at the end when he could have had a free run on goal. Played it safe instead of going for glory.
True, and like Dan said, he kept his head and he took the ball into the corner to waste time rather than going for goal. I think Crouch(?) went for goal once when we were winning in injury time and it cost us 2 points
Nigel was questioned on Player about playing Guly; the interviewer also mentioned the stick Guly gets (so hasn't gone unnoticed!). Nigel said sometimes you have to have big guys in the team who can head the ball out from the danger area.
The reason I gave him an 8 was largely because I think he's one of our best players under pressure. He doesn't hack it usually but has the presence of mind and the confidence in his own ability to drag the ball back, give himself an extra few seconds and find a pass. Some of his balls into Rickie were top class and his ball over the top for Morgan was spot on. Really was impressed....
Two out of two people rating him a three certainly suggests he had a poor game. Likewise, I haven't been impressed with him at all since his comeback (one home game in particular, Derby maybe?, I thought he was dreadful). But I feared this throughout his injury, and that fear only increased as every extra day that he was out went by. The Chaplow that we had this season up until his injury was simply not the Chaplow from last season. A completely different player, as Claridge has also said a few times before. He was a decent squad player last season, but far from a certain first choice selection and I did have my doubts about how he'd contribute to our Championship campaign. But something happened, and he's been simply immense this season. So the whole time he was out injured, I've been wondering which Chaplow we would get back. Old Chaplow or new Chaplow? Hopefully as he gets more and more game time in his legs, things will change, but unfortunately right now you've got to say that it's the old Chaplow that we've got back. And considering both the options that we now have in the squad, and the requirements needed to secure automatic promotion, that old Chaplow isn't really good enough.
One thing for sure is that Henderson has always been a thorn in our side and whoever was marking him had their hands full!
Sharp changed the game. Fox and Richardson were especially bad. Guly was our best player today, despite being stitched up with several bad passes and 'hospital balls'
Agree Downing scored from 25 yards with his right foot. Hasn't hit a barn door since lol. Always the way with Saints ! edit: can't spell barn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4CV30RGTEo From this terrible season, this is only one of two games I remember actually being at and how I felt. I still feel pretty miserable watching it now.
Very frustrating game and the only positive is that somehow after Leeds we picked up 6 points from our last two away games. What was worrying is that at 1-0 we couldn't of looked more on top, but the og certainly rocked us and we lost our shape and confidence. Fair play though as we dug in and got the win. 9 to go and hopefully they're not all as tense as that.
