Lone ranger

The strangest thing is that 31000 rational human beings turn up game after game to experience misery. If we belonged to a trade union we would be out on strike until management offered better terms. Withdrawal of our labour would concentrate their minds. 
( just watching the fabulously entertaining Notts Forest. Look how they are doing with an average attendance 2000 lower than us.)

1 minute ago, coalman said:

Rusk did better in his games than either Martin or Juric.

Give him the job for the rest of the season. They really played for him. 

13 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

manager than the village idiot he signed for who couldn’t organise Netley Central.

Don’t knock Netley Central! Had some great wins against the Saints on Good Fridays in the 1960s

What a pity we had to put up with an obstinate manager with a crazy game plan for such a long time. I don’t mind if we go down playing proper football. This is so enjoyable. 

All I ask of my football team is that the players give their all and they put themselves on the line to defend their goal. On top of that I would like there to be occasional wins and an entertaining style of play so that match day is looked forward to. The worst situation would be no wins, boring pedestrian football and no determination to keep out the opposition by defending bravely and not taking any unnecessary risks. That’s all I ask. That is the manager’s job to achieve whatever the quality of his team. Does anyone agree?

It seems that no matter how dire our situation the present manager will keep his place. 
so let’s accept that fact and look if there is anything he can do to salvage something. 
I think there are signs of improvement in forward play which needs to be praised. We’ve actually created some chances and scored some goals. This has happened by playing forward at pace through some good passes and energetic running. Keep that up!

But one simple change might save us. Alex is our best goalkeeper so play him regularly but forbid him to do any short clearances. They have caused our bottom position. A well placed clearance gets the team moving forward. Then we can do the passing game RM loved but let’s do it well outside our penalty area. Hope for a miracle from the Saints. 😊

Some on here are trying to wind down the RM obsession and that’s good. He’s just another human being like any of us and should receive respect and love….

However if we deal with facts rather than people the reality is we are bottom of the league with one point, the worst ever by a whole succession of metrics. On the other hand we are second only to Man City in terms of possession and passing. Simple conclusion must be that unless you have players of the calibre of Man City the style of football is totally incompatible with success in the Prem. Further supporting evidence is Burnley FC 2023-4. You don’t have to call RM all those horrible obscenities that now litter this forum. He has said that he is committed totally to his methodology so we must accept that we are going to lose most of not all our PL matches and be relegated. That acceptance brings peace and a reduction of stress. Of course our players might suddenly be transformed into £50m stars but as we continue to buy numerous players in the £5-10m bracket (Why?)  that just won’t happen. 
Hope despite all the contrary evidence we can actually get a point today!

Why would you be praised or even admired for sticking to a principle if the factual evidence, the opinions of experienced experts and the constantly repeated views of a host of supporters agree that it’s the wrong principle. The Man City style of football is essentially boring but when executed by some of the greatest players in the world is fine because it brings top of the table results and the individual players skills are a joy to watch. When the Saints try to copy the style with players who are well meaning and doing their best but essentially of Championship standard we get beaten week after week, rarely look likely to score as opposed to creating a half-chance and have a kamikaze style of defending. Please could we just play simple direct football with commitment, maybe get a few wins and maybe even avoid relegation. Pep’s praise must surely be just kindness to a protege of his style who has failed to deliver a single win in the premier league. Is it too late to play with a view to winning a game?

Can’t SR just buy Brentford or at least their manager. They’ve already got the right shirts! …and they play exciting football….

As a Saints fan for 60 plus years I don’t ask too much. I just want us to be doing OK in whatever league we are in. I like to see the players enjoying their football and when necessary busting a gut for the team. I like there to be one or two flair players who can excite the crowd. I like to see goals being scored. ( by us preferably!) I like to know we have a manager who is respected and knows what he is doing. I don’t expect miracles. Just a competent confident team and management who make the most of the available resources and who play engaging football. When over 30000 fans turn up faithfully each home game, is that all really too much to ask??

9 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Although we never were in this game, it was disappointing how, after getting a goal back, we then hardly created another chance.

It's noticeable that when we get a throw-in, it takes 20+ seconds of fannying around and then it's some crap pass backwards; when we get a free kick 10 yards inside their half, it's a 2 foot tap sideways. Get the ball in the middle. All sorts of things can come of it.

We have always been rubbish at throw ins. Nobody ever comes to receive the ball and the thrower is left having no idea who to throw it too. Kills the momentum. 

5 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

This set up could be a little narrow. Despite his sub par performances in recent games, I would still like to see KWP in the team with his ability to run down the wing.

KWP is not a very good defender but he’s a great winghalf /winger. Let him do what he’s good at. Horses for courses!

8 hours ago, Suhari said:

 

Just watched MOTD.

WTF is Russ talking about?

Danny Murphy's comments short

 

I may be pretty thick but I never understand what the manager is talking about. He uses a lot of key words such as brave and love but his actual sentences don’t make any sense and his analysis seems to bear little or no relationship to what we have all watched. Clarity of thinking and expression inspire confidence in a manager. Does Mr Martin really know what he is doing? Keep it simple stupid is a good slogan which we would do well to follow. I would like to see Lallana Dibling Downes Fernandez Suga start every game - together with a revitalised KWP attacking on the right side( his defending is not so hot). We made a crass error yet again in not buying a quality central striker but maybe Archer can step up. I am sort for Bednarek who is a good defender with a strong partner. Hopefully THB can get over this poor patch. 

On 25/08/2024 at 10:46, RTW Saint said:

o learn the lessons and get it right. I think most people in whatever profession they work have to find their feet when they take on a bigger role/ more responsibilities and that is what RM is going through here. I say we get behind the team, keep fingers cro

I’m sure we all want RM to succeed even if we find his style of play boring and not like the Saints of old. For me his problem is that we do not have a star player or two to excite the crowd and we only have a couple of definite PL quality players. Why we have been buying more championship quality players I really don’t know. Surely almost the entire fan base is calling out for a top quality striker. We can’t all be wrong. That’s where the money should have been prioritised. As for GK Alex is clearly not comfortable with his feet but he’s a reasonable goalie and has saved us on quite a few occasions. I think we’ve all been a bit harsh on him. I’m management surely you don’t get your people to do things they are no good at unless you invest a great deal of time and effort in training them and even then it may not work. RM needed to instruct Alex to boot it upfield to one of the team unless r has no opponents near him. 

2 hours ago, Saint NL said:

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/evan-ferguson-linked-with-a-move-away-from-brighton-in-final-days-of-transfer-window/a477185851.html

 

We should be all over that

Yes we should if we have £30m going spare. 

Delusional. 
De lose em all. 
struggle to think who would entice me to go and watch if I was not a supporter

who could go in that great list of reasons to go to the game which for me begins with Paine and Sydenham, via Ron Davies, Shearer, Channon, Le Tiss, Lambert, Mane, chives, and many many others but in the present team ……

struggling to think of any one. 

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

As you say.... We're "almost there" although I'm still concerned that we might be going into yet another season without a Lambert / Pelle / Ings type striker... i.e. a centre forward whose main attribute is their clinical finishing.  Is Archer that man...? I'm yet to be convinced...

Exactly that. Just how many new midfielders do we need? Between them we could have paid for a half decent striker. Sigh. 

18 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

It's depressing because everybody was predicting McCarthy would gift them a goal before the game. We played very well at times and it was all undone by a predictable mistake. Replacing him really is a matter of survival.

I don’t think it’s fair to blame McCarthy. He’s good in a number of skills but he is poor at playing out with his feet. It’s unfair to make him play that system because he just can’t do it and every time the ball is played back to him and he’s not allowed to belt it upfield (eg Jordan Pickford style) you know he’s giving the opposition hope and all of us kittens. It’s down to the manager to reduce risk by banning back passes to him except in extremis. 
At the other end of the field we have needed a quality bustling central striker for years. Like an injury free Danny Ings. They cost big money which we don’t have….or rather how many £5-15m players have we signed lately?  I’d sooner we did without so many lower calibre additions and put the money together for a real star, someone who excites the crowd and strikes fear in the opponents defence. 

Other than that we played well today and could have won if we didn’t let our goalie face situations he can’t handle and if we had someone capable of putting the ball between prem league goalposts. 

Which five adjectives from these ten apply to our team unDer the present manager?

exciting

predictable

boring

toothless

determined

skillful

pedestrian

inspiring

lacklustre

organised

I know my five!

it can only get better!!

I hope people are joking about KWP and Luton. Why in the world would he make such a move? He’ll be back in Championship next season watching us doing OK in the Prem. He has given an enormous amount to our club and if he got a move to a top club I would be very pleased for him…but not Luton!!

Nice to see doe long balls and a direct approach

Watched highlights of Newcastle 2 Saints 1 on Sky last night (2022) Even though Jones was in charge it was actually enjoyable to watch. Fast forward focused football. Of course the defence was weak ( but not as hopeless as this season) but it was actually enjoyable to watch. How we have declined. 

50 minutes ago, Chewy said:

Slept on it again before posting and it’s still too depressing.

Im going to try and balance the rest with some positives - the performance generally was better; first half until the goal we controlled and that was despite playing with ten men (I refer to Aribo). Second half after we moved Charles into midfield was an improvement in intensity and intent. Bazunu played well again. KWP played better when playing as an attacking full back. Shea played well in midfield. I think that’s it.

Negatives? 
Leadership - like last season we have none. After Sheas mistake the only person offering him a supporting pat was THB - a kid. Where was KWP, Aribo, Fraser, Adams, Manning or captain ArmA? We have so few leaders and characters which is mostly on the recruiting but we do have Jack (injured) and Jan (not selected) Why wasn’t he playing? That is on Martin. 
Character - as above, mentally weak, allowing a goal to knock us so heavily. We’d controlled until then and then went to pieces and we’re lucky not to concede more. 
“Bravery” part 1. The defensive spine of gk, cbs and dm have an average age of 12. You, Russell, are not being brave by hanging kids out to dry - you are damaging them. Your tactics and demands on how they play are placing them under enormous (and unnecessary) pressure and they’re visibly wilting. See how much better THB was alongside some experience? How much better Shea was with the added freedom in midfield?

Bravery part 2 - Our football isn’t brave - we play all our football in front of our own goal, miles from theirs. If it works it’s too far away to penetrate, if it doesn’t the opposition are straight on top of our goal. We controlled most of that game and a fair score line on chances would have been 3-0 to them. It’s not brave football, it’s f4cking thick.

Part of football is making life difficult for the opposition- we are completely the opposite. Turn up to St Mary’s and be vaguely organised and just wait to be gifted your handful of chances. Fans are weak, opponents are weak, you’ll barely break a sweat.

Best Players - play them, and play them in their best positions. KWP - best attacking right back in the league. Sh1t midfielder. 4 exciting wingers in the squad. We don’t send it wide and ask them to attack their man. Defenders who want to defend (see Jan enjoying it v Charles hating it). Midfielders who want to dominate (see Charles loving it, especially that massive tackle v Aribo being a statue and last man to arrive both in defence and attack- some feat!). At one point in the first half Charles and Smallbone had to swap for 10 seconds but Shea made it last another 30 seconds as he was just itching to get involved properly.

Stu, Charlie or Aribo? We all knew when the team sheet was announced - no one would pick Aribo with that choice. Literally no one. God knows what Stu and Charlie were thinking sat watching the statue for 45 minutes. And he’s wasn’t even removed at half time???

So apart from the wrong tactics, playing our football on the wrong part of the pitch, playing either the wrong players or the right players in the wrong positions, having no character, no leadership, no plan to play to our squad strength (wingers) and putting all the pressure of your “brave” tactics on a bunch of kids while letting the adults amble about up top … apart from that it was a good showing. 
And the fans should be more supportive. 
Hmm

We’ve had enough upheaval for me to call for more, but someone needs to take responsibility for telling Martin a few home truths pretty quickly. The squad has enough about it to be pushing for at least play-offs. Yes it lacks a goal scorer (as I’ve been vocal about for 2.5 years) but that’s probably even more reason to not play a system that gifts the opposition goals. 
Currently we are miles off play offs and with our fragile mentality it could get even worse!

The perfect analysis. RM please study sitting alone in a locked room for several hours and then accept its wisdom and act upon it. Otherwise please hand in your resignation. 

5 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

Its on nowTV for anyone who has it -  right at the bottom - I almost missed it !

Thanks. I did miss it and paid 10 quid for a saints sports pass. Bad move. 

I have great respect for KWP and am very glad we still have him. He is an excellent right winger- dribbles well, cuts in well from the wing, crosses well. Unfortunately he is at best an average full back.