Well after all the doom and gloom I felt before the game, I rolled upto the ground expecting fans, players and manager to look anxious, but watching the players warm up they all looked very relaxed which cheered me up- in fact the clouds were darker than the mood but they did deliver a deluge of rain and hailstones. I thought the ground very quaint and the posh fans very nice, But what mostly amazed me was the calmness of our players and fans during warm up. They looked very relaxed. I thought we won the game very comfortably and never seemed to get into top gear - we didn't need to. I was expecting a much more difficult contest. However BBC stats showed they had more shots on target which surprised as I thought we won at a canter. What does everybody else thing?
Great atmosphere at the ground last night. London Road isn't a big ground and we made sure we were heard!
You are so right Ashby, even the hail seemed to put smiles on their faces - the team spirit is there for all to see! We seemed to control it so easy at points but we all went nervous when we conceded, probably down to last years game! Our 3rd was brilliant work from Lambert and Lallana and they seem to be working very well with Sharp now. Roll on Sat!!
I thought Adkins positivity bordered on the manic prior to this game, but it works with the players. He analyzes what went wrong but never shows any loss of confidence. He may not feel it, but he has convinced this team that they are the greatest in the world and that is probably worth a good few points a season.
Adkins i think creates the positivity all round for the players and fans. For instance he very rarely publicly criticises officials as he could have done after the Reading game i dont think he looks for excuses and does not like giving players any excuses for setbacks its always forward thinking and i think this is a great lesson for people in life in general.The onwards and upwards call is his way and this has reflected in the way the team has bounced back after deafeats as was showed last night
The mood was positive even before the match kicked off with the massive cheers every time Guly shot over the bar in the warm up. I don't ever remember enjoying a pre match warm up as much as that before!
I was delighted with the crowds appreciation of Guly and wasn't it great to see him beeping a smile back! Well done everyone for making him feel one of the team again
Yeh but you're forgetting all those "end-of-season-Southampton-are-winning-now-lets-go-and-watch-them" moaning people, who at the next home match will be moaning at Guly.
I must admit, going on your past posts regarding the twists and turns of Saints fortunes, I thought you were being far too anxious about the current situation, and seemed to be looking at it in a very bad light indeed. There's a difference in caution and negativity and you weren't doing yourself any personal favours by feeling the way you were. Don't expect Nigel and the players to feel anything like the same way. That's the mind set to lose everything one has built up. The players and staff are constantly being bombarded with positive thoughts and attitude from our Mr Adkins, as he knows that the difference between a team playing in the middle of the league and one playing for the top can be merely down to confidence levels. So he won't be undermining all the achievements of the past few seasons by feeling negative about a minor setback. Looking at your posts on your personal quake level, as you could take a wee leaf out of the Nigel Adkins book on 'positivity'. It would do you no harm at all. There you go, there's your task for next season, because we'll need everybody pulling in the same direction, come August. BTW, I haven't written this because I think you are being overly critical or negative about Saints. I'm just a little concerned that you may have an unduly pessimistic outlook that doesn't help you to enjoy what is a fantastic time to be a Saints fan. By all means be cautious, but also be confident. The Lads will come through for you.
These are just comments from lazy spectators who put no effort in to analysing the game and who is contributing what. Don't 442 make Guly the 27th best player in the Championship and our fourth. That is probably about right.
