Match Day Thread Burnley (H) Sunday 12/08 13:30

I thought that the first half was risible and found it hard to reconcile that performance with what was on offer at the close of last season. It was a huge disappointment even if Armstrong looked like a really good acquisition. I would also have to say that I liked Vestgaard and struggled to se why some people hear were negative about him. I wasn't too sure about the formation and I think we seriously missed Tadic. The first 60 minutes were a damp squib but the substitutions made us look like a different team.

Ings looks like the player we had been missing for the last two seasons and the young Norwegian also stood out for me. Hughes cannot have been unaware of how the changes altered the style of play and I would hazard a guess that the experimentation of the first half won't be seen again this season. McCarthy was my "Man of the match" but I just felt that there was enough about the last half an hour to see Saints as more of a threat this season. I am not too concerned. We always start slow out of the traps and Burnley are not the push over people believe them to be. Had we continued in the vein of the first half, I would have been worried but when we see a spell in the game where Redmond actually starts to look dangerous, you can only be optimistic. The biggest downside for me was Romeu who disappointed throughout the match. Cedric didn't look match fit either. Never mind.

What are the odds on Armstrong being the player of the season in May ?

 

Elyounoussi.

 

Mo.

 

No, pretty sure he works for the club in some capacity

 

Eric B?

I thought he got sacked

 

If I’m drinking reasonably heavily then I usually have to keep topped up or I start to get sleepy.
Personally I don’t drink before football anymore or at least not more than a social one, but I understand the need for that half time beer if you’re on a session

 

Uh, Danny, don't be in too much of a rush to embrace our attacking style...

 

Almost posted the same thing on Twitter. Hopefully Danny managed to catch some of our football from the last two seasons whilst injured : )

The transformation when he came on was startling and the speed with which Gabbi, Mo and Ings brought to the game as something we've rarely seen for two years.

How many times have we pushed teams back or faced deep lying sides and been able to do nothing but pass it around the front of the box? It was so refreshing to see us unlocking Burnley in a packed box.

 

I think that we may have seen the end of Steven Davis as a regular starter for us, i'm grateful for what he brought to us but he has deteriorated for a couple of years now and we have far better options now.

 

What do you mean these ****ing days? They have annoyed me like for ever thanks to two of their players in particular. A nasty fellow by the name of Bailey and a little **** called Heath.

 

Well now that I have a spare minute, I can say that I enjoyed the game, which was like a game of four quarters. Both halves, we started very slowly and improved later on, even in the first half. Main pluses were that there was very little side to side nonsense so it was much better to watch than last season. We made chances, didn’t concede and fortunately now have a keeper who inspires confidence. It doesn’t look like a team that should be troubling the bottom three but then it’s such a strong league. Decent start- we march on!

 

I wouldn’t say we unlocked them considering we failed to score. It wasn’t exactly like they parked the bus, hung on for dear life and were lucky to get away with it, either.

Still, we did at least make them work a bit. Better than last season when in the same situation a team might actually throw on an extra attacker away from home and laugh in our face.

Positive signs, but I still can’t get too excited about us having turned a corner after a 0-0 draw at home to Burnley.

 

Yeah, we were more aggressive about getting into the final third, but we didn't exactly overrun them. Forced a couple good saves, including the clearance off the line, but they still had the better chances in the match, IMO.

 

Yeah, dont mean to overstate the game as a whole. We were woeful, awful, then ok turning excellent for the last 20.

I would say that they did pretty much park the bus at the end and only had one decent chance for Vokes in the final quarter. We didn't score but we were able to get through them and get shots on target. It was looking like a matter of time before we scored and we just ran out of time.

My point was - this was quick attacking play which we haven't seen for many, many months. It bodes well.

 

Shows how the order of things can influence thoughts. Had we been brilliant for the first 20/30 and then poor then I doubt people would be so happy.

 

Oh this is so true.

 

I didn't see the game and have only seen brief highlights so I have no real judgement of the match myself it's just something that I notice quite regularly.

 

we’ve already got a 3 to 7 swing in the transfer window ratings!

 

You can’t mentuon that name