cambsaint

When the going gets tough the Saints .......? My insertion would be capitulate.

Having read the article in The Guardian this morning, I shall be reasonably happy if we don't go up. For instance screwing Everton and Forest in FFP, when their entire team is probably worth less than a coup;e of players from the big boys. Do we really want to be a Burnley? I accept that Brentford have done amazingly well and Brighton and Bournemouth too, but you have to be very lucky to survive unless owned by megawealth.

It's very disappointing of course, but for goodness sake keep some perspective one loss in 25 games!! My worry is that we looked mentally tired unless it was the pitch with so many passes going astray. Friday isn't the best game to recover, and there isn't much chance to get properly refreshed.

From the matches I've seen on TV we are playing against at least 7 defenders packed into the last quarter of the pitch Martin has to counter these stifling tactics how without changing a very successful run I'm not sure. Perhaps we should try going for the jugular immediately and try to score very early which effectively negates the point of the opposition just sitting back. Even Man City are feeling the loss of de Bruyne to find the telling pass. of course we can never hope for anyone so good, but we seem to lack midfield creativity except perhaps S Armstrong.Personally Id start him and take him off at half time rather than the reverse

No VAR, you don't have to wait ages for some minute decision. The offside law should be altered so that there is clear daylight between players, not half a nose, and the sight of players having to have their hand behind their back to me is utterly ridiculous. I'm really enjoying this season, but my Burnley supporting cousin isn't very happy. I'm beginning to wonder whether the "super rich clubs shouldn't be allowed to break away, but it would kill the golden goose of the Premiership

Not strictly on topic but I watched Sunderland v Weat Brom at lunchtime and thought Sunderland looked impressive, definitely a potential promotion challenger on that form.

I'll ask my cousin a Burnley supporter, At the moment I'm enjoying the Championship but when I watch City today I realise that our realistic ambition is to remain in position 10 to 15 if we were promoted. I'll leave the call to those fortunate to be able to attend regularly, although I must admit I'm considering trying to get a home game in this year which I haven't thought worth the considerable expense and effort at my age for many years.

Just goes to show that referees can't win. I too thought the ref penalised Saints for every offence and let Leeds getaway with exactly the same things. Amazed she thought he was woeful. The quality of refereeing is obviously in the eye of the beholder.

I worked in Stoke for a while and enjoyed it, really nice down to earth people. Became friendly with their physio and got free tickets including to the league cup final Saints v Forest. In those days it was a prosperous town then with thriving pottery and mining industries guaranteeing full employment. Those of a certain age might remember the darts from Jollies nightclub with the purple mushroom tablelights. Saw a few big names there. The Wicked Witch soon put paid to its prosperity though. I lived in beautiful countryside just outside, like many northern and midland industrial towns it was surrounded by beautiful countryside and in Stoke's case the peak district. Unfortunately the less said about the company the better, and I left the most beautiful view from my house far too soon. BTW the weather in Stoke isn't too bad, but in the peak district plenty of snow.

I've watched (when possible) and supported Saints for over 65 years. Because of poor health I haven't seen them live for a long time but have paid Sky an extortionate amount to watch them when possible. If we give Martin more time and results carry on getting worse it may be too late. The owners need to make a decision this month at the latest.

Absolutely dreadful. We looked weak and slow most of the time. Their tackling was much better, we left great gaps down both wings on the counter. Very surprised and disappointed that KWP was taken apart by a very young Clarke. A massive hole where JWP would have been directing play. No height for corners and set pieces. Of course Mowbray has loads of experience and tactical nouse and completely out-thought Martin. Don't put so much of, the blame on Bazunu, keeping without a defence isn't easy, he should have saved two, fourth he was completely unsighted for as it looked as if it was going to hit an attacker, he made two or three good saves. While he has faults you really can't blame this sh-tshow on him, I didn't see amyone play really well. We can just hope that Martin has the tactical abililty to sort this lot out in the international break,and not be so predictable

I replayed the game onstage one fast forward. It really shows the skill level and accuracy and intensity of passing. I have a few minor concerns. Defending set pieces against good tall headers of the ball, and lack of height at the back. With JWP accuracy, he should look at the old pairing of Channon and Ron Davies, making separate runs from the edge of the box to a Paine cross. Also the better teams are going to have much better players. Man City have the magic of de Bruyne (best player in world for me) to make the killing runs and passes.We were falling into the high press trap of condensing their team so tightly it was difficult to get the final shot away. however a very impressive start with room for improvement as we improve. Depending on who we lose I think we will go up,hoping JWP will orchestrate our promotion aided by KWP

Hard to believe that for 5 years we had e of the best goalies in the world playing for us -Peter Shilton. Not a chance in hell of similar happening these days. He was just incredible, and I remember a quote from a forwad saying, you manage to beat their defence and then look up and see you've now got to beat Shilton, or words to that effect. Eric Martin was instantly recognisable even after over 50 years ago.

You infer we wanted to sell those players. As i recall they mostly wanted to go to bigger clubs for more money. Imo the biggest mistake was to disregard the fact that Ralph's tactics had been well ad truly worked out he and wasn't getting the best out of our players. We should have started looking for a better manager and appointed him during the break. Second obvious mistake was not to have approached Dyche when things were going bad earlier this season. I agree that the transfers were wrong, and we should have tried for at least one experienced striker. Could we have got Antonio from West Ham at a reasonable price then?

I just hope this isn't a repeat of the thrashing we got at an evening game I was able to attend just before our last Cup Final Appearance 6 down inside 30 or so minutes before they took their foot off the gas. And we had a much better team and manager then.