malcolm waldron

Hopefully Wellington boots it forward early rather than playing round at the back. Sorry if thats an old one - havent gone back and read from the start.

If true then yet again poor and weak decision making from SR. It should have been done 30 mins earlier after the 3rd goal went in....

I didnt think we were bothering much with that this season. Wasn't it all about the vibes and the moments...?

Frannie Benali and James Ward-Prowse to name but two. (I've discounted FB's loan spell at Forest and as soon as JWP left us I declared his career officially over in my mind. If ever I met him I would tell him that.....).

Thank you - couldn't agree more with this. Defensively we're a mess - especially given what 8(?) goals conceded from trying to play out from the 6 yard box - and sadly we haven't got a potent enough strike-force to compensate. All very well if we're winning 4-3 and losing by the same, or drawing 3-3 - but we're not. And therein lies the biggest problem I have with what we're trying to do - it's massively high risk with the quality we have, and there doesn't appear to be a huge upside because we don't score many. From the second goal yesterday and the Everton winner we look a threat on the counter - so should we not play to our strengths rather than exaggerate our weaknesses?

Don't disagree with the sales figure being necessary but those GK, fullback and midfield positions look a weakness to me.

I remember coming away from this one gutted at how we'd given 3 points up to a poor Watford side so easily. Didn't Ralph start Smallbone who had a poor one if it's the game i remember? Anyway, saying all that - watching the highlights makes me yearn for quicker, more incisive forward passing with crosses into the box again.

Couldn't agree more with you - but we saw this time and again last season. Notable games that are sadly lodged in my mind are Rotherham (home), Huddersfield (a) and Watford (a) all drawn, where we'd regain the ball on the edge of our box (because the opposition weren't great) and then very slowly pass the ball in a U shape between CBs and full-backs. Meanwhile the opposition are sprinting back to get in shape meaning 2 mins later, when we've crossed the halfway line, there's nowhere to go because the space is now covered. Hence more possession in our own half and no goal threat. I honestly don't know what we're trying to achieve with this, particularly against better, stronger, fitter more technically capable opponents.

Couldn't agree with this more. I'm really pleased we squeezed through but yet again I'm wondering what exactly it was that we were trying to do with our extremely slow tempo game. Shortly before they scored we'd had ~80% possession, most of it in our own half, yet they'd already had 2 or 3 corners (from 20% of the ball). Two passes after we'd lost possession deep in their half they had a 4th (?) corner - which they scored from. So, although we were dominating the ball it was with no real tempo or threat, and yet they were creating the better chances. It feels like we've been like this for the 4 league games this season so far and for fair few games last season, albeit against teams without the quality to punish us. I'd really like RM to explain why we play the game at such a slow tempo - that simply allows the opposition to regain their shape.

Didn't he take his spreadsheet and contacts list off to Chelsea by the end of the year...??

But as we've said previously, it was fairly obvious to us as fans who have watched these players play at this level previously (that they weren't good enough). And I get the loyalty aspect but all that means is that we've blown some points this season in (at least) two games where we would have expected/hoped to get a result - turning it into a 35 match season. I haven't highlighted Armstrong above because I'm still hoping once he gets a goal he'll come good.....

But shouldn't this have all been sorted out in June, or at least after the more difficult pre-season friendlies. It's no surprise that midfielders are being overrun by pace, power and technical ability this season. I think we knew that was a very high risk when we were all waking up with sore heads on the 27th May. I can understand trying to be loyal but look at the examples of Dean Hammond and Billy Sharp back in 2012. Crucial players the season before, but both thanked and swiftly moved on upon promotion (right at the end of August if sources are correct). Two weeks for management to make some harsh but fair decisions.

But we saw this all the way through last season. I think Rotherham at home (second half) was when it became apparent that, for reasons unknown, there's a collective foot off the pedal phase where we simply shuffle the ball around between CBs and fullbacks, while the opposition sprint back into defensive shape. Huddersfield away and Watford away also stand out - after that I gave up remembering. So doing that got many wins and some frustrating draws. This season's version looks like many defeats and the odd frustrating draw unless we up the tempo significantly. 2nd half against Newcastle was an example of not upping the tempo.

Someone on Twitter apparently

Ipswich bid of £5.25M rejected this morning apparently.....

I don't know - I thought his debut against Villa was pretty decent....

Going to Ipswich apparently if my source is correct

Perhaps he meant that the club have agreed terms with the Personnel Department at Espanyol (maybe in Spain they've yet to change to HR, or the even more recent 'People' department 🙄) to agree to gazumping Arsenal's offer.....

Couldn't help but notice that both Liverpool goals last week came down his side so - correct - make him defend and minimise the goal threat at the other end of the pitch (how that shot beat Bazunu back in April still annoys me).

I like the look of that - but I have to say that I'm disappointed it didn't develop into a fully blown bout of pugilism - in line with our newly stated ambition (quote RM) to stop being seen as a team that are nice to play against. So does anyone who watched Feyenoord regularly know how handy he is when it gets a bit tasty?

One of the most dispiriting performances in a long list of them over recent years. If my memory is correct we played about 35 mins against 10 men, and then the last 15 or so against 9 - and spent most of that time passing the ball between whoever it was playing at the back - Vestegaard and Bednarek??

As you've hinted at - when you can sell a hotel connected to the stadium to a 'company' related to the football club for £76.5 million, then it frees up a lot funding to bend PSR rules. Mind you, didn't Derby sell the ground back to itself for something like £80 million a few years back......

I've only seen the brawl once but for anyone that saw it live, can you share any information on who looked handy (i.e. good combinations, effective body position, positive agression levels etc) and, perhaps more importantly, who didn't (i.e. hung around in our half for a bit to make sure that when they sprinted in it had all got sorted out). I'm expecting this season to be nothing more than a long hard fight and so want to know who we can rely on when things get a 'bit tasty.'

Didn't they use 1000 brave Portsmouth dock workers to build the Pyramids and Sphinx, but they ended up going on strike 'because of health and safety' and so the Egyptian authorities bused in 200 men from a Southampton historic artefact building company to break the strike? I'm pretty sure Sky Sports used this in their introduction before the 2005 league game....?

"I raise you Colin Clarke, Iain Dowie, Kerry Dixon, Joe Jordan, Neil Shipperley ... I think at least some of those were no 9s." It's gone a bit quiet on old Shippers over recent years. Anyone know what he's been up to.....?