macca155

Desperate, these tactics are ridiculous. Doesn't matter who you put in defence, none one can consistently play that way against the sort of press Brentford can impose.

Totally self inflicted, there is no need to keep fanning around like this. They aren't very good at it and it is pointless.

Channon going was sort of understandable as Saints were relegated. He was an England regular and needed to keep his place. Chivers was a massive shock. I had his sticker and everything . Gutted

Good to see Adam on Wednesday, I enjoyed that performance, lots of class there. He'll only come on for a few cameos the rest of the season I suspect but hopefully we can enjoy them nonetheless. His priority will be building his coaching credentials and good luck to him. I have never understood football fans getting all hissy and upset when a pro footballer chooses to take an offer of more money to work elsewhere. I got over that when those bastards at Spurs dumped Frank Saul on us for my hero at the time Martin Chivers. If I could cope with that I can cope with anything. If another employer offered to bung you £20k and double your salary, for the same job, I reckon most wouldn't take long to think about it. Especially if your effective working life ends at 35 if you are lucky. You really aren't going to care to much about those you leave behind. I would be like Hasta la vista baby, I've 20K in my pocket and a one way ticket to Rio.

Very much this. I suspect the club would have liked to have kept Jaydon but with Larios still on the books one of them had to go as the club need the cash. This is the consequence of keeping KWP.

ABK when fit (and bothered) is a class above all of our other centre halves. He seems to have more composure and surety of a pass than the others. That sort of timing and natural skill is a rare commodity. If he is here then he has to be used end of story. Problem is that he may not stay fit for very long and then RM has to bring a player back in, who is pretty peed off. Tough one

Everton away ... Memories not all good

These games are always useful to see who can step up. Great shift from Tyler Dibbling. Enjoy him the vultures will be circling. We aren't allowed nice things. Archer and ABK showed their class. They are Premier League players no doubt there. The squad is definitely starting to take shape.

This defence is desperate. ABK in fairness looks a class above but that was never in doubt

ABK is on ... Wow

Got to keep everything in perspective but great start. Really good goal for young Sam

Good grief what a shot Doff cap for that one

Bonkers view minutes

I have a substantial bet on Charlton to be promoted. He's no mug, sound bet imo. I'm not sure we ever had a chance to judge his actual football management. We were so busy watching him self destruct, we never really got that far. He should have stayed at Luton. Too soon to move to Saints and dreadful environment for him. Plus he came across a bit mental which didn't help.

That's because Stephens was the one defender who wasn't losing his head. He isn't top level Prem defender, doubt anyone would say that, but he does at least have experience at this level.He knows what he's doing. He was covering for KWP (what on earth was his role) in the 1st half. With THB having a bad day RM needed him in the middle. The whole sub thing felt and looked like a bit of panic to me. In contrast Santo knew exactly what he was doing.

Agree with most comments. RM was totally owned by Nuno. He made a crucial substitution just before the goal. That involved some changes in their lineup. Almost immediately they nearly scored and the of course did. This is not the Championship. Other teams have good players and can adapt quickly. Downes v Gibbs white was an interesting battle. Took Flynn a while but he won that battle,good for him. I thought Stephens showed a bit of experience in the first half but what on earth was wrong with THB. I just wish we had a tall natural goal scorer on the bench who could cause problems ... oh Dibling should start or at least come on earlier. Long way to go, no need to be disheartened yet.

Well there are idiots at every club but speak as you find. I've been up there three times for games. I've always found them to be both knowledgeable and friendly. My only complaint was they insisted I drink that Newcastle Brown stuff .... urghh. Big difference between real people and keyboard warriors.

Yes fair explanation but it does seem overly cautious. I guess the fact that Saints happily pass the ball around at the back caused some problems with that strategy as it forced Newcastle to go on the front foot a bit. At that point to their credit Saints started playing through your midfield a little and put the left back under some pressure. That sending off really changed the dynamic and it all became a bit of a grind. Oh well it will be interesting to see how the form book unwinds after that game.

That's a bit strong. I think we all agree on AM, that needs to be sorted, I thought Smallbone had an excellent game and once he got going Aribo more than matched them. Neither are in the same league as Joe Linton but it is early days. As for Armstrong, well he forced several saves. Way too early to judge.

What I found surprising was, even before the red card, Howe had you lined up in a rigid 4 5 1 formation, against what is probably the weakest side in the Premier League at the moment. Saints are notoriously weak at breaking sides down, who line up like that. I can't see that tactic working against more established teams. Seems very negative to me.

It's a pain to lose but until they loan in a decent keeper those margins will hit us. AMC actually did ok for the rest of the game but as RM said, that's the narrative. I thought Howe's tactics were a disgrace. He should never be allowed near the England team. Playing a rigid 4 5 1 against us! I was really pleased that an established Prem team like Newcastle were bemused by Saints's style of play. They are so use to absorbing pressure that they didn't know what to do. I'm left with lots of positives. Downes superb why West Ham let him go is beyond me. KWP excellent. Good shithousery from BBD and Armstrong pulled out some saves. Edozie simply doesn't have an end product. SAA was way more dangerous. Dibling was enjoying himself, give him game time and I'm convinced he'll start making a major impact However fairs fair Joe Linton was immense for them. That's what you get for Saudi dollars. Not too bad a day at the office.

I couldn't care less if BBD conned the ref. The guy squared up to him and put himself at risk. Newcastle's nonsense at StMary's with the delayed match plus Murphy .... they deserve it. Good to see our style of football is causing Newcastle some issues.

Agree that's how to ruin a great prospect. He will be targeted very quickly by opposition managers, if Saints constantly channel our attacks through him. However he is a very talented player and I definitely think he'll have a part to play. Probably as a decent sub to start with.

Stuffed with FFP rules and a load of players depreciating while we are unwilling to play them, injured, or cannot sell them. Mara, Sulumana, ABK, Onuachu, Stewart, Larios must be costing the club a packet Teams coming up from L1 like Ipswich tend not to have this problem, they can easily jettison low wage players and buy in carefully. Sadly this is the legacy of the disastrous Ralph (final season), Jones, Selles debacle. Desperate purchases that the club now have to somehow deal with. I'm sure Mara and Sullemana will be shipped off on loan to France before long. ABK may still get a move or the insurers pay up. Stewart and Larios need to get themselves sorted and presumably sent out on loan to get some game time. That leaves Onuachu who I still believe has been badly treated by the club. The man isn't a dud and deserves a decent run out, at the very least whilst Stewart is crocked. Relegation is almost certain this year with the present squad , I'm sure we have all accepted that and will be pleasantly surprised if the quality of Martin's football raises the team out of the relegation zone. As we should always remember Saints are in a league of 6 or 7 not 20. Its not a done deal but likely. I'm not overly bothered about that, the club is clearly planning for that eventuality with some of their deals. If Ballard and Bragg have decent loans they will be pushing for a Championship starting place in 2025. Assuming a 2nd promotion then the club will a lot more competitive next time around. The only worry is that Tyler and Sam will be sold but I guess that's the world Saints are in now. Doesn't mean we can't enjoy the season, Saints will bloody some noses on the way as usual and Leicester, Ipswich, Forest, Everton, and Bournemouth won't be that far ahead of us.

Onauchu has had a bum deal from Saints, deserves a decent run out. Definitely something there. What a terrible friendly, they killed that game with petulance, just horrible. Needed a team to go for us. Oh well Newcastle next