Elmore Saint

Watching this one live at Saint Mary’s again. Totally dominating the game but with little end product. Wee man ruining their right back every time. Either no-one or six players trying to get on the end of his crosses. You can tell it’s a bit of a scratch team today. We also seem to be playing like we are 3 up, but need to be simpler and more go forward in our play. Even RM is telling the team to get it forward faster than they are!!! A good talking to and an orange and let’s see if we can be a bit more ruthless in the second half…

Pretty much the same for all of the BBC and R5 output - all the good non-sports presenters jumped ship to Times Radio a long time ago.... and as for the callers, well....

Ref needs to get a grip on this. I'm all for good strong physical football, but Norwich are getting pretty agricultural with their approach.

As a member of the keepers union, we just do strange shit sometimes. This was such a moment…..

Back home after the game. First one for me for a while because of a number of life interruptions, but a really good fun evening. For all the howling on here at our players during the match, the result was never in doubt. Yes, we could and should have scored more, yes there were a few missed chances, but the performance was totally dominating. Yes it was a silly goal to give away, but that doesn't happen if it was 1-0, and who cares in the end anyways. It was fun and a real tonic to be back at it in-person, and will be going more and more in future. Reading some of the in-game comments, seems like a few here could do with the same medicine. With the other results, a fine evening all around. COYS!

Sat at the game with Mrs Elmore Saint. Solid half with everything but the end product. Ref a bit all over the place. Confident that we’ll get it in the 2nd half. Big shout to the chapel lads with their singing and all.

Too easy - Shamrock Rover's top scorer, Paddy Fields...... next!

Also amazing to think that in that list are 6 current PL teams....

Three recurring themes.. 1. Toothless up front 2. Susceptible to a counter attack 3. Shite after the break

Absolute legend and brought us the best times in our history. Happy to be there and along for the ride in those days 🙂 Was also able to get consistently high performances out of a group of older and experienced players in a way that few, if any, managers are able to do today.

Good result in the end but it was the Russballtime that nearly screwed it up for us. The first half mix of Russ and Ralph ball looked a cut above and suited to this squad. More of that please. Although we were helped by Birminghams lack of pace and pressure.

The ponderous passing around the centre circle seems to have made its customary reappearance…

Ffs. How have we gone from sharp to shit so fast?

When you have as many managers in such a short space of time - and they roll out the belligerent "my way or highway" crap in press conferences, it's no wonder the fans get despondent and frustrated when they see what gets served up in their name. In these situations fans' patience shortens with every subsequent appointment, and ours is heightened by the fact we've also rumbled the clowns running the show too. Can we give this condition a name..... Scar Tissue?

Been working on an avant garde line-up for the weekend after last night's show.... not bazunu kwp bazunu bazunu bazunu bazunu bazunu bazunu sunemala bazunu Loch Ness what could possibly go wrong?

Actually Vectis, I thought she read it and called it for what it was. She called out the ponderous possession based crap early on for what it was and how we were/did get punished. Additionally, she made a comment indicating the fan disquiet about the tactical approach and "style". Almost as if she has had a good look over this forum....

I wonder how long it would take Eustace to get a tune out of our squad....

As cato mentions - a striker will help for those situations when Sulemana lights the burners and gets into good wide positions. Everything else - you are spot on regarding our ponderous play. For a good few games now, I try and keep a mental tally of the number of opposition players between the ball and goal when we are in possession. We often gain possession with 6-8 in front of us, piss around it until all 11 of theirs are back in place and then piss around some more, getting to 5-6 in-front (in most cases) before losing the ball / trying a long effort. This is not how I want to watch football, but with the turgid tippy-tippy shit, it occupies the rest of my overactive brain in the meantime.

but 3G killed wappers (very geeky comms industry joke - apologies, but couldn't resist)

An old military adage -“all best laid plans only survive until first contact with the enemy” implying that you must adapt to the changing situation in front of you. Lego’s one-dimensional plan seems to last for 90 minutes, until someone takes ownership for the added time period.

And rugby have recently changed the rules to allow this to happen. Previously it was non-reversible once the conversion was taken. All the interventions today were sensible and clear, as was the conversion between referee and TMO. If only……

Just listening to the audio tells me how fucked up the implementation of VAR is. Look at how many people are involved- ref, 4th, VAR, 2 assistants and a vtr operator. No wonder they got their knickers in a knot! Too many voices, no clear question asked Other video review implementations have clear, short points of contact between on field and video review. Cricket is a good example of clarity of communication. To add to an already well worn phrase- football is a simple game made more complicated by managers and a fuck-ton of FIFA officialdom….

Watched from 20 mins in through to half time, then came on here. Am I on the wrong stream? Thought we were pretty tidy, in control and running them around a lot. Light in the final third granted, but tire them out and the opportunities will open up.

Totally get you on the culture change - That cannot come soon enough. As for the audio, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that. Of there will always be debate and contention over decisions, but a “monthly VAR show” just gives the impression of glossing over things. Transparency in its glorious and inglorious form matters.

Come on Fabrice, the dialogue is far more nuanced than that. I try to refrain from comparing footy to rugby (2 sports that I share a love of), but over there, the refs and TMO are in regular contact and the ref asks clear questions of them “can I award the try”, and also receives clear notifications from upstairs, “I’m looking at possible foul play here….” As for no one wanting to hear it, what then is the reason that ref radios sell out at a fiver a go? Even if the commentators get to hear the conversation, why can’t we? Transparency matters..