WALK DMC

I don't want to be picky (and clearly about to fail) or to ruin our good luck, but ......... McCarthy was in goal against WBA in the play-off semi which we won 3-1.

I think that the issue can be traced back to Still's obsession with 3 at the back. Rather than start 4 at the back, and push Edwards into DM, he used Finn Azaz as a DM. I think that Azaz will make a big contribution to Saints in the future, but only if they release his creative talent and play him as a 10 just behind the striker. Azaz as a DM was poor (with the odd exception including a fabulous through ball for one of Armstrong's misses), and Blackburn took control in the 2nd half. Still wanted to strengthen the DM area, which is why Stephens came on for Scienza and Azaz played further forward replacing him on the left wing. So, in practice it was a like for like replacement. The fact that it didn't work wasn't a huge surprise (has any one seen Stephens play well as DM ? ), but I actually think that Still had the right idea (strengthen midfield and try and regain control), he just picked the wrong player to put on (& take off). Lastly, is it me, or are Scienza's performances weaker in the 2nd half of games ? He always seems stronger in the first half of matches - I can't say that I have seen enough to be sure, but he could be a player that runs out of steam. However, I suspect that Still will think twice about taking him off in the future 🙂

A fairly reasoned response, although it's the last two paragraphs which are the ones that worry me. I'm absolutely fine with losing Will, but only if we have confidence that his successor will significantly improve what we have. Taking a knee jerk decision to appoint a Manager with a mediocre track record just because they are available (and there is usually a good reason why they are available!) may only perpetuate the downwards cycle that we find ourselves in. I'm not sure what the answer is, I've yet to see a name of an experienced Manager who could transform both the culture and performances of our club. Maybe someone like the unlikable Brendon Rogers, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't consider us anyway. I don't think that we will be relegated this season (famous last words), so we should take our time assessing the market - good Managers do come available during the season. Of course, I'm assuming that Sports Republic will make a good decision even when they take their time ..................

Additionally, we've not scored a goal in the first half of a home game since April (Fulham). And it is now around 372 days since we were leading a league game by more than a single goal (and even then we lost 😞 )

When Ralph came in, we'd gone 12 games without a win. He then proceeded to win 4 of the next 7, a very immediate impact.

Maybe a better question would be how many minutes has Azaz played for Saints. He still has more Championship goals/assists this season than Archer, Scienza, Fellows, Charles, Janker & Downs. Plus the same total as Stewart & Fraser. We're not scoring goals, perhaps we should start playing people who have demonstrated over multiple years the capacity to do so at this level.

It's not just starting with the same formation that is the issue, it's the fact that he can't/won't change it during the game. Both Swansea and Bristol City could have utilised 4-2-3-1 or a variation of 4-4-2, when it was clear that we'd stopped creating in the 2nd half, but he was too slow or stubborn to react. Personally I'd like to see Azaz given more of a chance, he is the type of player who will be anonymous for much of the game but still come up with a goal and an assist.

Nice line-up. I believe that Mads (& Jellert) is injured, so I would go with Ronnie at RB.

I believe that the last we were 2 goals up was just over a year ago against Leicester at St Marys. As I recall, we lost that 3-2. It would a strange feeling now to be leading a game by more than a single goal, would be even nicer to win one by 2 or 3 !

I agree with much of what you say, my main criticism being that he should have gone 4-2-3-1 in the 2nd half when it was obvious that we'd stopped creating. For me, Azaz is best in that formation and he does have the ability to unlock a defence, so worth a try for 25 minutes. I also thought that THB was ok and his passing decent at times - although it was noticeable that playing as LCB meant his passing deteriorated when he was forced to play with his left foot. I'm not sure that Swansea are quite as bad as some people are saying, we actually played really well (at least in first half) and are progressively improving. Swansea's away form is reasonable; they've lost twice 1-0 (away at Boro and Birmingham) and won twice (Blackburn & Sheff W). Plus, they haven't been dominated all season as they were yesterday, so we should take some positives from the game. Of course, we need to start winning. Fingers crossed for Bristol City.

Smallbone was a regular in the Saints team that came 4th in 23-24. He is now a regular in a team that is currently 5th in the Championship. He isn't as awful as you imply. I'll give you Bazunu though....

My optimism hasn't been totally extinguished. Clearly the season so far has been poor, yet we're still only 4 points behind a play off place and 7 points off automatic promotion. If we can put a decent run together (e.g. win 3 games on the bounce), we will start to close that gap significantly. However I agree with many here that Still has been a disappointment and yet to introduce a real style to our play. However I thought that there were phases in our last few games when we started to look better, although the loss of Stewart clearly stunted that improvement. I look at England where Thomas Tuchel didn't seem to improve anything when he first arrived, but suddenly in the last 3 games they look a different team and playing to their true potential. I'm hoping but not necessarily hopeful that things could still change, if Will Still suddenly finds the ingredient that he is searching for and getting this team playing to their true abilities. Fingers crossed.

According to Transfermarkt he is 1.75m tall. In old money that is 5ft 9in, so we can add him to our list of short forwards along with Archer and Armstrong.

I see that Tyler had his first start in the Premier league for Everton today. It didn't seem to go brilliantly and he was replaced at HT. Already some grumbling on the Everton forum about him. I was never totally convinced that he was a £40m player, but at his age it's very difficult to judge. Will be interesting to see how he gets on this season & beyond.

Play two up top ?