cf saint

We played the normal formation BUT because DMG played closer to Robertson than most others have done to the centre forward when "in the hole" it could look like 442. Also credit to Robertson, he has the physical presence to play the lone striker role and that was crucial.

I think it sometimes looked 442 because DMG played closer to Robertson Maybe his best position?

Just back, what a great afternoon. We played them off the park in the first half and should have been 2/3 ahead. Then from the second goal til they scored we just ran rings around them - wonderful to watch. Once they scored we sat back and seemed to tire but gradually got some rhythm back to close it out. to those who said it was 442 - it wasn't it was the usual formation but because DMG was playing off Robertson and interchanging so well it appeared 424/433/442/4411 - really excellent movement. Just a joy to watch. My last awayday was Swansea when i feared for the worst because we were awful but today the hope of pre-season is back. Not because i think we will go up but it just showed the kids can put a full game together and beat anyone. Davis 8 very solid, unlucky with the goal cos he made a great initial save James 7 Still not a full back but did well with Lallana Skacel 8 flashes of brilliance going forward (one fantastic cross) and dealt well with a right wing bombardment in 2nd half Perry 8 Really good calming influence Cork 9 my MoM, please can we keep him? Surman 9 Worked hard, great running, seemed everywhere Sneiderlin 8 was my MoM for the first half but then faded. He does seem a key to the side - if he plays well then the side does well. Real class Lallana 8 very skilful, still needs better end product but a joy to watch BWP 8 2 great goals and playing out of position but drifted out of game when the midfield needed help after their goal McG 8 could have been a 9 from his first half play, i think the free role suits him Robertson 7 would have been higher from the first half but seemed to fade. Really held the ball up well in the first half so hopefully will be improve with games Sub Paterson 6 ran well but doesnt look ready all in all great day!

yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss DMG

St Marco, thanks for your well argued posts. I have previously posted warning administration is not the panecea some think but your posts are difficult to fault. In fact you note in this post that getting further and further into debt is not the answer. This is the key point for me; Lowe and Wilde have this season to get close to break even. If they manage this (even if we get relegated) then the club in it's present form survives (good news for shareholders). If not either a cheap sale or admin really is the only answer-despite the pain that will cause with certain relegation and a fire sale of all assets. My only other comment echoes berkhamstead - the world is crazy at the moment so I fear how many people will really want to invest even tiny (by business standards) amounts in a league 1 club? We will get local boys made good (crouch?) I fear. And if the amount is that little don't bet against lowe (after all so many on here say he is driven by ego.....)

Missed this thread and posted on the other one on same subject already but i just love the fact Storrie says..."apparently Spurs is one of the only clubs he would consider leaving for." Even the blue few must now realise the type of person he is. Storrie obviously does. Guess financially they must be in trouble...never mind Sad it needs something like this to improve the weekend...

love the fact Storrie says..."apparently Spurs is one of the only clubs he would consider leaving for." Even the blue few must now realise the type of person he is. Storrie obviously does. Guess financially they must be in trouble...never mind Sad it needs something like this to improve the weekend...

hard to sum up the will to post but here goes.... Agree with Lady Saint about the flat atmosphere....cant remember an away game as quiet especially as 1000+ was an ok crowd. On the game, really two poor sides but they were able to actually put some pressure in the final third whereas on the few times we got there it just fizzled out. Shame Kelvin made such a howler after the way he has been playing and it came during the only time we sort of looked on top. Otherwise Spiderman will be class but i fear by then he wont be with us. Drew tried hard, Cork looked ok. Otherwise very poor and I really feel for James - he is never a right back and for the sake of his career i hope JP realises than soon.

Very well said. being a Saints fan is pretty cr@p at the moment so there is a grasping at straws. I had the misfortune to work in a similar sized company to Saints who went into admin and it was bloody awful. Long term workers sacked, pensions lost, local suppliers hurt and the business damaged beyond belief. Obviously we would be relegated but even if we took the -15 points this season i think we would be in real trouble next year too- curiously a lot of those wishing administration are also those saying the kids are not good enough (on that they may be right...). Well once Kelvin, Drew, Euell, Lallana, spiderman etc have all gone for nothing who do they think we will have playing for us? A bunch of league 1/2 journeymen and the remaining kids who are not good enough to go anywhere else. And as we have seen at Leeds a real chance the same jokers end up back in charge.

Spot on.

Very good point by Armstrong on Radio Hampshire - "what has happened in the last month?" Before the Blackpool game we were the fizzy pop's Arsenal...now we are a poor man's Crewe. Is it the players or JP? Does the stench of death around SMS kill any youthful enthusiasm? Obviously by posting so early I did not see the game but it would seem in a month the playing with pride kids are the same as the losers of last year.... Very hard to keep positive now.

Great thread, I do wonder if the Man City deal will be seen as the tipping point for the premier league, mainly bcause the cosy top 4 will be upset. The champions (sic for UP ) league surely can't take 5 English clubs and a G14 club won't tolerate UEFA cup football for long. So maybe (hopefully) the franchise clubs can feck off into a pan euro league soon. That doesn't mean I don't want better for saints but the premier league is a perversion of a real league.

Thanks- quite understand your approach- it was more a thought that even IF average wages were higher it still wouldn't bridge the gap.

Thanks a lot for this - really interesting My only comment would be to wonder if we may be a little better off re wages given that our reported loss last season infers we were one of the higher paying clubs hence the £6K average may be a little light. A small point because even if that were light it doesn't close the gap you identify. I fully expect some of the other senior players to go out on loan because I am sure the hope was at least one or two others would have been sold. Getting rid of a BWP is about the same as gaining a 1000 on the gate i presume.

A Gecko Saint special

There is a piece in Private Eye about it - VERY carefully worded but infers like crazy.....shame heh

For the first time since the MLT days we are worth watching because something special may happen, only this time it is the team rather than one man. In recent years going to games has been almost a trial of what it means to support Saints, now, even when losing in the last minute as at Cardiff, I feel proud of the team and that means a hell of a lot. I am not deluded, we will get worked over by a physical team more than once this season and on wet winter days the passing game may be harder, but if JP gets our team to mid table playing like this i will be made up...and just hope we can keep most of the team together for a year or two to get back to the prem. Anything more is a bonus - the best part is simply feeling good after games again!

Great work, thanks a lot

It seems we are gradually getting to play 90mins, when we do and can play our football we will be a great side to watch and to be proud of. interesting article about Wenger in the Independent today...he is basically trying to do on a large scale the same as we are trying. Arsenal maybe have £70M to spend but it is not his way. Now we are about £95M worse off but if we are the poor man's Arsenal this year I wont be unhappy. [ignoring that they are losing at Fulham...] Great result today - But irrespective of the results this team is becoming one to be proud of.

Not sure this forum does credit LSC....can you imagine how many post match posts there would have been if we lost?? Didn't sound a great game but seemed in control most of the second half. We didn't look great defending set pieces on saturday and got them feeling was the same tonight so guess we need to work on that. But the main thing is a win, because we have a very hard first few games in the league so confidence is important.

Spot on....on that see my comments on the other thread. Overall I thought we played well, Cardiff probably just the better side but when we passed the ball we looked superb.

Kelvin was excellent today, kept us in it before half time when Cardiff put us under pressure. And he was working hard to dominate the box. Only downside was his kicking from hand. But at least two good loud chants of "super kelvin" shows you that those who saw the game realised he was playing well

I could have written the likely comments from certain posters before actually having read the reactions thread...but from one who was actually there... We started very well, in awful weather we played great football and for 25minutes had all the play without really getting and opening. Cardiff then got back in to it and we defended too deep so the goal was not a shock, in fact it should have come sooner but for Kelvin. Saints then upped the game again and our goal was really well worked. Second half we gave the ball away too often, sometimes pushing for the wonder pass, other times not looking up. But we didn't really look under too much pressure other than from corners. Towards the end it began to look like we were pushing for the winner so their goal was a sucker. I didn't think it went in but hard to tell from behind the goal - all i would say is the linesman who gave the goal was shocking all game. Overall, Killer and Perry were very solid, James looked better than Surman. In the middle Gillet was all over the place winning the ball but maybe not the greatest distribution. Spiderman was good in patches but i think the speed on league football caught him out on occasions (some great passes though). Thompson started well but faded and it was no surprise he went off first. Holmes looked good, a little surprised he came off TBH. Lallana played well but got taken out when flying a couple of times - we need refs who will watch this. McGoldrick worked well, gave one of the best CBs in the division a hard time. Of the subs, Wooton looked all at sea although he did mark boothroyd well. BWP was ok, not involved too much. Dyer had a couple of good runs but seems to be lacking confidence. So not a bad performance against a good side, when we put some passes together it was superb, but still patchy. Really unlucky to lose at the end even if Cardiff did have the better chances and more possession (dont believe we only had 32%).

Despite some of the replies, the thread actually asked if people were EXCITED about the new season and yes i am-we look like we will play open fast attractive football in our best traditions. I am also nervous that confidence will be brittle and the youngsters are just that-young. But i think we will stay up and given where we are financially if we do that playing good football it's fine by me.

Well done, £5 about to be paid, I never realised how often i checked the forum til this weekend