How many titles/promotions has Adkins won? Many more than a fudd at the Guardian I bet! We should have pumped Blackpool but had one of those days in front of goal and suffered a freak accident in between the sticks. Unless there's a six goal swing in the next game, we'll be top at Christmas. I cannot find fault with that I'm afraid.
The article reinforces the view that other teams now know how to play against us and that we have no other way of playing. Our away form has not been great and the home performances are going the same way. I know we have lost Chaplow and Connolly and I am not sure whether we shall see Barnard play again but what we need is someone on the Pahars mould and some cover for Lambert. Whatever we do we must turn defence into attack more quickly than we are currently doing. To be blunt I think we need to be more direct at times. We need some variety in our play to surprise the opposition as Lambert has said. At the moment teams know exactly what we are going to do and that gives them an edge. We do not see enough of our players running onto a ball passed in front of them when they are facing the opposition goal. This gives them an advantage as the defending players are having to go backwards and gives us speed in attack. Too often our players receive the ball when facing our goal so that they have to trap it and then turn before they have any momentum and that is what is being easily read and defended by other teams. The one thing I like about Guly and Schneiderlin is that both will make one pass when several others will not see the pass and need to make about three or four passes to get the ball to the same player. And I know I have gone on about it for a long time but Hammond does not have the vision to make a telling pass. He constantly plays the safe ball, backwards or sideways and we go nowhere. With Schneiderlin playing at the bottom of a diamond in front of the defence we are a much more enterprising team.
Spot on. If you advocate direct football people think you mean hoofball. Did Hoddle play hoofball? He could pass a ball 70 yards to a players feet while his contemporaries (who won more caps like Brooking) would huff and puff. The most celebrated goal in Saints history came from direct football - McCalliog did not prat about he shovelled the ball forward for Stokes. I love the patterns we create and the interaction stuff, but oh for someone who could make that telling pass that cuts out defenders. We do need cover for Lambert, of course, but how about signing that creative missing link?
Southampton 18 fouls Blackpool 9. This is nothing to do with us playing unfair or overly rough. As a matter of fact it was very much the other way round. Instead the referee went to SMS with the psyche that we must have had some bias refereeing to have amassed 21 wins in a row so went out of his way to give absolutely everything against Saints. And Holloway still has the cheek to suggest they were undone by the big club bias?!? He is a first class tw*t!
So long as we defend well and make full use of the pitch, we'll beat most teams. Mixing it up is all well and good, but switching from one extreme to another in a short space of time will end up as an untidy mess. David Connolly could well be described as the creative missing link. His intelligence and experience help him to be on the same wavelength as Lallana, Lambert and Guly. Advancing years and injury problems aren't on his side though and I think we need a like-for-like replacement. Someone who reads the game well and is a lot more than just a goalscorer. I haven't watched enough of Sharp, Jutkievicz, Maynard, Sordell, Rodriguez or others to know who is best at that. In Adkins' style, every player needs to be a team player. Carrying a poacher like Rasiak or Austin is practically like playing with 10 men until the final ball, which is exactly what we don't need.
As a moderator, you should never undermine the forum. But it's entirely true. As supporters, or viewers even, the club will do what the club will do, nothing more, nothing less. In fact, SFC would probably do best by totally ignoring all our suggestions simply because Cortese is easily the best Chairman Saints have had, from as far back as I care to remember, and Adkins is a perfectly capable manager, so ultimately, they'll make the best decisions, over any suggestions we might make. So we can bleat on like sheep until we think we've made a point and all it will do in increase the wear on our keyboards. I'm not saying people shouldn't make their opinions known, just don't think they carry the slightest gram of weight and influence.
So that means we should now close this forum down as none of us has anything to say that matters one jot in the great scheme of things.
Blimey, Godders. Agreeing with you twice on the same thread! I have been a saint for over half a century and never been asked my opinion by the club, of course. In fact I can't stand the trend to ask consumers for "feedback" on a regular basis. But we can all offer opinions, and if this isn't what this site is about then it should close now.
My personal view is that nothing much needs tinkering with - we just need some extra bodies (of a sufficient quality). We lack pace, and that can be sorted with signings. We lack strength in depth, and that can be sorted with signings. We (slightly) lack in a sufficient number of match-winners, and that can be sorted with signings.
I'm willing to bet that fans have more influence than you might think. The club surely reads fans message boards and those of other teams and consults them when it's useful to do so. Once they sort the wheat from the chaff, there's still plenty of poignant analysis, maybe something that NA or the other staff didn't spot that some eagle-eyed football genius in the crowd did. It's not as simple as "the fans want Maynard, let's sign him", but I'm sure the message boards are consulted.
Much as I love looking at the comments on here we should put thingst into perspective. Fans on here are only a small perecntage of the regualr 25k attenders and I'd be amazed if anyone in Nigel's backroom team give any of our ramblings any credence whatsoever.
Fans on here, ja606, SWF and all the other boards must add up to quite a lot of people. NA says he doesn't read the papers and probably doesn't read the forums either, but some poor sod is probably charged with wading through all the **** to find constructive feedback.
I don't want that job - official. If such a person exists can we start a charity to support him/her when madness finally overtakes them?
I agree. Think Connolly's guile is sorely missed as is Chappers energy and late surges into the box. They also of course have bags of experience. I think we'll be fine, and I'm now looking forward to Jan to see who we sign to freshen us up, and hopefully add that extra quality and steel that we need for the push and beyond. I'm looking forward to what is a challenge now, as the league is proving to be what we thought it would be i.e. competitive.
Having watched the second half on Sky recording, on at least 8 or 9 occasions, either of the Match commentators said the "Referee got that one wrong, soft decision against the Saints", and neither seemed to have any preference for us, both were in agreement that the Lalana appeal was not a Pen, just an awkard challenge, but the shove on Spider would have been cast iron on a different occasion. The added on time was fully justified.
I agree, I just wish Connolly could instil his ability to create space for himself, in to some of our other players.
You don't want to rule out a bit of hoofball, especially if the opposition has a weakness in the air in their defence for whatever reason, with the power of Rickie in the air it can be a lethal weapon, providing the rest of the team are with it and supply good support in the right areas. In the Blackpool game, 2nd half we did mix it up more than usual, not so much of the sideways backwards possession stuff, presumably with Bart have having a bit of a wobbler, they didn't want to be robbed of possession in their own half.
For me the dip came about with the loss of Chappers. When he gets back I expect us to resume our playing with more of a swagger. I would quite happily give Hammond to any team that has a driving midfield player that could improve our squad/team.
