trousers

Last ditch block from Bertrand. Saved a certain goal

We're defending well but this has got a whiff of the Arsenal game about it.... Except without our early goal...

Silva out!

He wasn't in the close up shot of our bench just now. Wasn't sat next to Pellegrino, that's for sure

Great save Forster!

How many times do we lose possession when trying to play the ball out of the back in tight little triangles? I've lost count

Or have we reverted to a back four?

JWP to right back one assumes?

Cedric coming off

Or.... (puts on cynical hat).... it *could* have been for disciplinary reasons but Pellegrino doesn't want to disclose that for whatever reason.....

One would hope so. 167 left now. Will probably be down to double figures before it gets opened up to members on Monday. We'd easily sell the additional allocation (c.2k ?) IMO

I couldn't make the game yesterday due to seeing Jon Richardson's stand up show at Glive in Guildford which, given the result, was a blessing in disguise! At least Saints got a mention by Jon Richardson during his show.... he read out a tweet from another Saints fan who was also there instead of the game! Anyhow.... so what the f*** happened last night? How can a team that holds its own against Man City and Arsenal - where we were so close to coming away with 4 points from - then capitulate against a fellow mid-table side? Having recently swung between both the "Pelegrino must go" and "Give him more time" camps, I've now no idea what the best way forward is. Somewhat perversly, I'm thinking it might work in our favour that we've got Chelsea, Man Utd and Spurs coming up in our next 4 games, as I feel more confident getting a result and/or good performance out of those games than if we had more mediocre opponents lined up. There again, a couple of good results vs either of those 3 'top 6' sides might only serve to defer the inevitable. Good job football is only a game otherwise I might be inclined to become slightly depressed by the whole thing

Tick

And we're just 4 points behind Watford (with a game in hand) who only lost one of their first 8 league games. A stat for every occasion....

I've just had a look back through the journo's (Colin Mafham's) previous articles, going back several months, and he doesn't seem to have a track record of 'wild speculation' articles. He's certainly not in the same league as Mr Crook in that department, for example. So maybe, just maybe, there's something in this....

Post #111111 is only 33 posts away. That's gotta be worth some bunting and a few party poppers, surely?

Not much chortle mileage in a 5 year old 3rd tier mid-table football club to be fair

3 points please. I'd start Austin despite the "can't play 2+ games in one week" tag that he's often labelled with. Let's get another 50 - 60 minutes out of him and take it from there. And Lemina has to start (surely?) Forster Stephens* - VvD - Hoedt - Bertrand Hojbjerg - Romeu - Lemina Boufal - Tadic Austin Subs: McCarthy, Yoshida, JWP, Davis, Redmond, Gabbi, Long *assuming Cedric is still injured. Don't think we should have a back 5 at home to Leicester but given Stephen's excellent showing again yesterday I think he can do a job at right back

Yep, my MotM

Under what circumstances do you think Pellegrino would have resorted to bringing on Lemina today, other than to help shore up our midfield when 1-0 ahead vs Arsenal with 15 minutes to go? If it's highly unlikely that Pellegrino was going to risk him then why have him on the bench in the first place? (Not directing that question at you personally per se, just a general think out loud question)

Must be my old age kicking in. Could've sworn JWP played a more advanced position in the first half and Stephens more of a right back. Maybe it was too fluid a set up for me to notice in the first half. Perhaps because we sat back more in the second half it was more obvious we had five at the back second half. Or, as I say, could just be me losing my marbles

We played 4 at the back first half (Bertrand - VvD - Yoshida - Stephens) and 5 in the second half (Bertrand - VvD - Yoshida - Stephens - JWP)

Just back from the game. Was annoyed that we set ourselves up so defensively at the start of the 2nd half. Was convinced we wouldn't be able to see the game out for another 45 minutes but when we got to 75 minutes still 1-0 up I started to eat my own words... that was until we brought on Boufal and Gabbi at precisely the time of the game we should have been bringing on Lemina to shore things up even more (IMO). It baffles me how Lemina didn't get on in that game. Most of us would have been happy with a point before the game but still feel gutted we didn't win. Austin had a great game - he offers so much more than just goal scoring - his presence seems to galvanise the whole team and encourages other players to be more attacking. Special mentions too to Hojbjerg, Romeu, Bertrand, Yoshida and Forster all of whom had good games IMO. But my man of the match goes to Jack Stephens. He had Sanchez in his pocket for most of the game and looks so assured and confident on the ball. Shame that his opportunities are limited given the number of players we have in his position. Another game we can come away with in a positive frame of mind. Bring on Leicester!

...

Great first half from Saints. Only gripe is the usual dead-end football from JWP and Redmond when they receive the ball out wide in advance positions. DT - are you still angry about the starting line up?