LiberalCommunist

If only Sports Republic read this thread, they would have saved a lot of grief and money. So many of us were saying the same thing.

Calum Chambers just scored in successive games for the first time in his career. Now there's a proper defector, before it was cool.

I reckon we'll start really slow, concede really fast and have a entirely shit day.

I was genuinely excited about Romeu's return, I'm not going to hide from that. I knew he wouldn't be the same player that left us, but even if he was 70% the player we all loved, then having him around a squad that has become increasingly disconnected with us fans, would surely have a benefit. OR is a great pro, and clearly enjoyed his time here with us previously. What I have seen since his second coming is kinda confusing. On the pitch he's been so far off it, that his presence is a liability. Ouch, that stung a bit. But its the off the pitch I cannot fathom. In a squad with no leaders, why is he so quiet? Where's his input? Was Tonda perhaps unhappy with the signing? Has he been deliberately subdued and nullified by lack of appearances and performances? Can see him mutually ending this adventure before the month is out if I'm honest. And that leads to my final point. We are really in the shit with bloated unbalanced mess of a squad and piss ant leadership. Good times.

I don't know how long its been. But during Russell Martin's time here I noticed defeats didn't sting much, and the enjoyment was diluted from wins (its the wins which made me take notice in case you are wondering why I didn't name Pelligrino ect). It goes back further, but that is when I started to notice I was not the same Saints fan as I used to be. Christ, I remember back when a defeat would effect me terribly, and also the elation of an important win would have me buzzin' for days! I actually don't think I'm capable of those emotional swings anymore. Life can be somewhat, difficult without sport throwing a Molotov spanner in the works.

This move is intriguing. Will be paying close attention, even after people tell me to move on.

JPT with my old man. That memory gets sweeter by the year. 96/7 final day drama. Not cried tears of joy many times. And a shout out to Lambert held high after beating Coventry. Lets tribute smash 'em this weekend!

That season now feels like some wispy dream.

Millwall, missing a raft of players destroy us. Wba, depleted squad give us a big scare. Norwich, with key personnel missing make light work of us. Full strength, fully functioning Coventry are in massive trouble this weekend. 0.2 Saints Easy win.

Glad there's credible rumours, no time for sentiments. Lets bin off some players who are dragging us down.

He did take a right kicking today. Didn't look fun.

The last two teams we have faced have used the battering ram tactic on us, and its worked incredibly well. I'm kind of happy Coventry will want to play football. It can't be any worse than watching some right cloggers who have had an appalling season, look like scoring at every attack like they did today. Bring it on.

More of our fragilities exposed today, but oh what might have been. Had Leo's shot gone in, and Adam tucked away the pen. But he didn't. And from then on it was carnage. It suited them not having Sergeant playing today, instead they could just bully everything through the middle and over the line, and they did well at that. Pitiful defending from us, yet again. No leaders, no composure. Same strategy that doesn't take the pressure off. Why are we not learning? Its so frustrating having the same problems. Poor teams find workarounds, yet we don't seem able to, even with some really good talent sprinkled into the team. Not happy.

You know what's really wild about Tom Fellows injury/concern situation right now? In October a fully fit TF could barely get in the team while we were floundering around doing fuck all. Exactly what sort of system makes this guy not perform. That's some special shit right there. Well done Will. Nice guy, but damn those results were so crap.

Fellows came off with Scienza as a planned sub midweek. He took a few whacks in that game, but no reason to think this is really serious. Fingers crossed.

Congrats to Cam Bragg. Now take your place in the team. Make that position yours to keep. And in doing so, stop someone who does not deserve to be in the matchday squad.

Massive. Prediction breaking almost.

Not saying we'll get an auto place, but we will finish above Boro and Coventry. Just putting it out there.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. The contrast between the first and second period, was probably the biggest I've ever seen. Subbing Scienza and Armstrong exacerbated this, but did not start the drop off. Clearly Tonda expressed a different tactic during his halftime talk. Whether that was to conserve energy or help rotate players to protect them. It didn't work. Getting Leo and Adam off the pitch may well have stopped them getting injured, but the team got a proper kicking which will have left a lot of mental scars. As a fan base who has suffered some real shit over the last few years, we are all fairly expectant of the mental weakness that often leads to our downfall. Watching the last 20 minutes of that game expecting WBA to equalise as if its inevitable allows us to store and generate a nervous energy. A energy that we transmit to the team, and they have become very accustomed to harness and give back to us, mainly by playing dangerous passes between our subpar goalie and the nearest clogger who's being charged down by the opposition. Tonda is learning, he clearly listens and understands, or he wouldn't have got this group playing for him, when so many others have failed before him. But he should skip the first half highlights, and dissect what happened in the second half. We lacked everything. But having no leader was more damaging that having no plan. I honestly feel Jack Stephens would have made that second half performance slightly better, and I don't say that often. If the best form of defence is attack, then its time to risk keeping our best players on the pitch. If the drop off is going to be that severe, we may well want to risk injury and suspensions instead. We were lucky to escape with the points, but don't discount the mental damage that ending will have caused. A good result and performance against Norwich can erase it, but please, lets not repeat it. Ever.

Lovely, fluid movement, clever pass, great finish. Lovely.

That's a good sign. Shoot on sight. More of that please.

Wild out there today. Stay safe everyone. And hopefully this is gone by kick off.

WBA are going to sit back and defend in numbers. Crucial we score first, and don't get towards the end of the match needing to break the deadlock. Or this could be a very frustrating game. This will not be a cake walk.

Home tie would be preferable. Waste as little time as possible on the downgraded competition.

Quick fire game. Hopefully the game management subs pay off for us. On the flip side; 23, J. Wildsmith Number4, C. Styles Number2, C. Mepham Number5, K. Bielik Number6, G. Campbell Number10, K. Ahearne-Grant 39', Yellow Card at 39 minutesTammer Bany 93', substituted for Tammer Bany at 93 minutes Number27, A. Mowatt (c), Captain Number8, J. Molumby Number11, M. Johnston Number19, A. Heggebø Number9, J. MajaI. Price 64' Ryan Mason hates using subs.