Match Day Thread Manchester United vs Plucky Little Upstarts from the South Coast. Sat Feb 12, 12.30

So, after the excitement of last nights well deserved win versus some potato based club from North London, Dave “Reverse the Mechanism” gets to do his <gasp> 3rd thread in a row. This is ridiculous - come on Saints! Back to normality, please. The moaners don’t know what to do with themselves. Ralph out? Well, I’d like to hear what some of them say now …… probably “well, we knew he’d come good eventually ….”

On to the thread ……
Manchester - oh yes ….. I’ve just spent nearly 7 weeks there as they have quite probably the best cancer hospital in Europe, if not outside the U.S.A. And, of course, unlike the US, it’s all NHS run - and amazing. Can’t praise the staff highly enough - and nearly all I met were City fans (which made me smile).
Manchester - from a civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort of Mancunium in AD79 (about when United won their last silverware …. Oh no, sorry, that’s Spurs ….)
It became a centre of textile manufacturing during the industrial revolution but declined after WW2. Manchester residents still argue with Birmingham over which is the 2nd city in the U.K. (personally I think it’s Birmingham)
A lot of famous bands came from Manchester - with, undoubtedly, the amazing, fantastic Van Der Graaf Generator topping that list. Others include The Hollies, Hermans Hermits, the Bee Gees (yes they grew up in Chorlton), 10cc ……
I suppose I ought to mention Oasis, but better bands include Joy Division, Stone Roses, New Order, Elbow, Buzzcocks and the band I was dragged to see live by my then wife when we lived in Stockholm, Simply Red, who since then have been known by me as Simply Crap …..

So … on to our opponents. Manchester United. One of the richest clubs in the world. One of the most widely supported - though not in Manchester funnily enough. The highest earning club in the world in 2016/17 and the 3rd most valued club at £3.2 billion - and how much of Saints was bought for £100 million recently? 80%? That’s values us at £125 million. Man U bought Harry McGuire for £80 million!
I will confess that I was a bit of a fan in 66 when my sister was at Manchester university and lived in a flat above George Best (and Mike Summerbee) - she got George to autograph a poster of himself which she gave me for Christmas. Wish I still had it …..
Anyway, all that changed when I went to my first game at the Dell in 67 ……
Manchester United have had 2 successful managers - Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson. Since Fergie, they have tried many different managers but with pretty ordinary results. They still lie 11 points ahead of us in 5th, but their fans say they’ll win their game in hand and end up in the Champions League …. Which,to be honest, with the players in their squad, they should have no trouble. However, good old Ralf Rangnick seems to have the same issues as Ole, how to get 11 prima donnas together to actually play as a team.
Of course, the most discussed statistic for the pundits will be the last game at Old Trafford on February 2, 2021, where, thanks to the ineptitude of Mike Dean and VAR, Saints came off as unlucky 9-0 losers - which, alone, should be enough for this years Saints to raise their game - if that’s possible after last night! Come on Ralph - show them this video before we go out on to the pitch and remind them that we can win there ….

 

I thpught we stood no chance against Spurs but that this was a good opportunity. Seeing how we did against Spurs this should be a walk in the park!

3-1 Saints!

 

I have just heard that this game has been postponed.

Utd have several players down with covid and have asked that the game be cancelled until they have Pochettino in post and he has had the opportunity to strengthen their squad.

The game is therefore being earmarked for next season.

Expect this underhand trick to be played by other sides over the remainder of the season.

 

Nothing less than thrashing them 0-10 will be good enough after last night Dave, you have set yourself a very high bar!

By the way, you forgot some of the greatest musical talent to come out of Manchester, notably Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds, George Formby, the fabulous John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, and some obscure guitarist called Billy Duffy.

 

Said obscure guitarist (along with his mate Johnny Marr) will be very much on our side come Saturday.

 

Before this double header of away games I, along with most others was thinking that our greater chance of points was Man Utd. However, now that we've gone and performed well and got a win at Spurs I'm now less confident that we'll get anything against Man Utd. Is this just being a Saints fan or have I been hanging around with Mark Lawrensons logic too long?

 

I like Simply Red, even if Hucknall is a bit of a knob. And I like playing this lot, something about them brings out the best in us (no one mention the 9-0, and we won't mention the grey shirts at half time).

 

I think, based on recent performances from both teams, this will have the home side more worried than the away side. And rightly so.
I am trying to stop my own expectations from rising too high, after last night’s stunning performance.

 

Just moved some money around - should be good for the bet on Utd to win once we go one up.

You're welcome.

 

My way of moving money around is to put the piggy bank in a cupboard where the wife doesn't see it...

 

Well, I think United will be taking us seriously after last night. We are more than capable of getting a result.

 

Stick with the same team, or switch a few tired legs?

For me, Prowsie, Romeu, KWP, Salisu, Stuie and Broja are the undroppables.

 

I'll be fascinated to see how Ralph sets us up on Saturday. After all United now play 4-2-2-2 which is Ralph's favoured formation.

 

Saturday 12th February 2022 12:30 KO -

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Referee: Stuart Attwell.
Assistants: Adam Nunn, Nick Hopton.
Fourth official: David Coote.
VAR: Jarred Gillett.
Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.

 

On current form i would argue Perraud is undroppable too.. He has been immense for a while now.

 

I agree, and I would argue that Tino should be on the bench for Saturday for that reason,

 

An injury to Perraud would mean KWP moves over and Tino comes on or if tactics dictate he comes on, as many of us would to see, on the right ahead of Kyle.

 

I think they ditched that idea pretty quickly when they realised they didn’t have the players. And the players didn’t have the interest

Seem to be back to a 4-2-3-1

 

Same team again for me, the confidence and team spirit should be enough to see us through the 90 odd minutes. This is the game that we need redemption from last season's result, hopefully that will be good motivation for the lads.

 

KWP with Stuey ahead of him is our best option for the right side.