saintant

We can't have nice things can we 🙂

As you were - he's just been removed from their radar.

I take your point about injuries but I think Millwall have had it worse than us.

Listen, he's got us 12 points out of 15 with a combination of luck, very good play, poor opponents and periods when we just looked hopeless. The points tally is great but after the setback today it's quite tricky to work out whether he's as clued up as many of us were saying (me included) just yesterday. A defeat off the back of another good performance today would have been acceptable but now I'm just totally confused. What does Spors do now because we were led to believe Tonda was going to be given 5 games including this one? He's got 4 wins which is hard to argue with. I think he'll be told to carry on and see how we do against Birmingham but he needs a bounce back after today.

The stats show Millwall were content to let us play a form of Russball which we've not been doing under Eckert. Too much pointless possession and negative passing. Their manager has done his homework and worked out how to stop our fluid play. I guess it's now a question of how Eckert reacts after his first setback and I'm sure he found today a tough lesson.

Tonda has 12 points from 15 which is a great return. However, many of us believed he'd turned us into a winning machine but it would seem today was a very sub standard performance. Ok Scienza was a big loss but Millwall have had lots of players missing. It's really disappointing - not so much the loss but the drop in performance. Be interesting to hear Tonda in his post match press conference because to date he's always been able to talk about wins.

Is this the old weaknesses resurfacing? Sounds like it. Late equaliser then can't hold on. Big learning curve here.

Doesn't sound good today so I'd settle for a point unless Tonda can work some magic.

Yes, that's not a stat we want because it is based on lots of meaningless passes between defenders and I thought we'd cut that out in favour of playing in vertical lines.

I'm not watching but the stats are mainly in our favour according to BBC. Are we really playing as badly as it sounds on here?

So, all the goals in the second half today? 🙂

Is he definitely out? If so, yes, of course he'll be a big miss but we are hardly a one man team and should cope without him.

They lost 2-1 and are now just 3 points ahead of us.

Their stand out player looks to be Femi Azeez so we'll need to keep an eye on him.

Yeah, I think I'm right in saying he never collected two yellows in one match during his time with us.

I agree with much of this and I was very sceptical of Tonda based on him being only 32 and the coach of our U21s. My sceptism has been replaced by respect and admiration after our performances in the last two games. Of course it could be a false dawn but I don't think it is. The clever tweaks he has made all over the pitch have worked brilliantly. His attention to detail is clear and it is obvious he works tirelessly to get the team playing how he wants. In a few short weeks we have gone from a ragtag bunch who had zero cohesion, no shape and a look that they weren't enjoying playing to a well drilled unit in which everyone knows his role. The players are smiling again and the team spirit is back in abundance. Some of the football has been a joy to watch, fast, creative and with a clear aim to get the ball up the pitch and not constantly recycle it. We all know it could come crashing down but it doesn't have that feeling so I'd like to thank Tonda for giving me back the feeling of enjoyment and excitement when watching Saints play which has been missing for so long - I'm certain many others think the same and, if it goes pear shaped, at least we've had our hopes raised for now. Our long suffering fans deserve this to be the real deal.

I've a feeling Tonda may start Oriol for this one. He'll have now had a good look at him on the training pitch and maybe he's seen enough to decide he can trust him alongside Caspar with Downes suspended. He did give quite a big smile when Adam Blackmore asked if it was good to have Oriol in the dressing room and his reply was along the lines of 'it's good to have him on the pitch also'

Maybe I'm reading the room wrong but I don't buy into Tonda needing an old head to assist him. He'll have made many contacts in the game so, if he's given the job, I think he should be allowed to select his own team some of whom may be guys who have worked with him for the U21s. There will be people he knows and trusts who he thinks would be the right fit for him, let him decide.

Tonda loves London. His 3rd win there in a row coming up. 3-1 Saints.

He's already a Saint.

Under Tonda we've scored 13 goals in 4 games - keep that up and Baz will be more than adequate 🙂

It could be that the new work permit he'd need to become our manager is holding things up.

Tonda must be on Liverpool's radar right now 🙂

Is he any good with his feet?

Nothing whatsoever to do with Southampton FC.