Midfield_General

Great team performance. Adam Armstrong the stand-out, not just for the goals but for working his socks off, but special mentions to Charles, Manning and Aribo, three players who have (quite rightly) taken some stick in the past but who all put in a great shift today. Aribo in particular looked a different player to the one who's previously been strolling about. On another day that's five or six nil, against a perfectly respectable side. Best performance of the season so far for me.

I mean that would put anyone off, to be fair

The timing of our second goal absolutely floored them. We were a boxer on the ropes at that point, clinging on under a flurry of punches and then blam, sucker punch out of nowhere, put them on their arse. You could see it just completely deflated them. Love it.

Morph was a genuinely interesting one. Highly active around the takeover times, it felt like he was one of the key figures involved, or if not was being deployed by one to drip feed information on their behalf. Always dropping teasing little morsels, more than the average punter would know but never enough to give himself away. Posted sparingly enough that it didn’t feel like he was just a wind-up merchant or bullshitter (although he could have been for all I know), it always felt very targeted. Always very refined and careful with his posts too, until that time he got wasted and went on a rant about Andrew Cowan, of all people. Disappeared once we got bought, I think? All IMHO of course.

Grinding out a result away with a 93rd minute winner - so satisfying, whatever moans there might be about the performance.

You're so right! I think someone who's being paid to co-commentate and give their opinions throughout the game should just sit in silence for 90 minutes. Commentators commentating, I mean who do they think they are?

Especially when we literally have one of the world’s fastest players to have running into space behind.

He doesn’t do himself any favours does he. ’Hopefully most people will have enjoyed seeing their team so dominant’. Christ. Read the room.

I literally said I was only commenting on the last week, so yes, with that comment I was taking those three games in isolation. Compared to the shite that had gone before and how badly we’d been playing, getting 7 points from 9 in a week and ending up 3 points off third is something I would have taken if it was offered before those three games were played. I’m far from a happy clapper and I’m far from happy with Martin overall. I hoped we’d be doing much better than we are, and I thought the manner of the defeats in that previous sequence was absolutely unacceptable. Today was disappointing too. But overall I’m just looking at the practical reality of the situation. Despite not winning a game today that clearly we should have won, I still think that over the course of the season we should be good enough for the play-offs. That doesn’t mean I’m happy with it, or him. I absolutely think that with this squad we should be challenging for the automatics.

I’ve got some good news for you

I accepted that automatic promotion wasn’t happening after the four defeats on the bounce. So, while that’s a real anticlimax this early in the season and with the resources available to us, the realistic goal has to be to get promoted through the play-offs. 3 points off third place at this stage suggests a play-off place is totally achievable. Over the course of the season we should have enough to finish in the top six. Who knows what happens from there. If we don’t, then that really does have to be considered a total failure by all concerned, and should have the appropriate consequences.

Classic Saints. Incredibly frustrating and of course we should have won that, but 7 points from 9, and 3 points off third place - I would have taken that a week ago.

Never heard of him

Anyone know why the second half hasn't started yet?

The European games in the week were using the largely automated version of VAR for offsides, the same system that was used in the last World Cup. Seemed much quicker and clearer in getting to decisions, with much less deliberation and the image then shown quickly to prove the decision in the 3D/ Hawkeye style, rather than the flat lines drawn on the pitch. Seemed loads better, quicker and clearer, presumably because it takes out a lot of the human involvement and discussion out of the process. If that software is good enough to use in World Cups and the Champion’s League, then surely there’s a strong argument to use it in the PL next season. It seems streets ahead of the ‘human’ version.

Standard reporting that Brentford are sniffing about and might still go for him in January: https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/brentford-fc-carlos-alcaraz-southampton-crystal-palace-b1111814.html

Saints' very own Francis Begbie. The wee lassie's got glessed, and nae cunt's leaving the Saints Bar corporate hospitality area 'til I find oot which cunt did it

Stoke claiming that the PGMOL have apologised and said it should have been a pen: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/23837440.pgmol-tell-stoke-penalty-southampton/

Whenever I think of Stoke I think of Cameron fucking Jerome. He’s not playing, is he?

Well that was a pleasant surprise. Actually looked like a football team, with a shape and a defence. Thought Bednarek was excellent. Good positioning, calm under pressure and some good interceptions. Bazunu didn’t have a huge amount to do but couldn’t do anything for the goal and his distribution was superb. All three goals really well taken. Nice to see Adam Armstrong starting to thrive and look confident. It might be his level but if he keeps this up there’s no reason why he can’t have another 20 goal season, and I never thought I’d be saying that. Not perfect by any means - we still gave the ball away way too much and looked weak in the tackle in midfield at times - but it felt pleasingly back to basics, which it needed to after the car crash of the last few weeks, and damn it feels good to win at home. Leeds were shite, mind.

Might be a few other lines from that sketch that will come in handy watching us at the moment. As Smallbone slowly knocks the ball square five yards for the hundredth time with no urgency or pace - “Faster! Faster you bitch!”

If I could give you an extra like for the team talk, I would

Lads. He’s on a £10m a year pay off for the next four years and he’s already turned down two Champions League clubs - Lyon and Rangers. He is not coming to the Championship. I think the sooner everyone accepts this, the easier it will be to take when we appoint the Man City ladies youth coach to replace Rusty.

No no no, they’re the problem, didn’t you know?? Not Martin or SR or Wilcox or the players - no, it’s all the fans fault that we’re an absolute embarrassment.

I don't believe you There's no way you've got any mates