Saint Fan CaM

Well it's true that no Saints player seemed to appeal which I did find remarkable. Perhaps it was the manner in which the offence took place - the player stuck his hand out (full arm stretch) and then followed through with his head to make it look like legal challenge. I wish I could take a snapshot of the video frame and post it on here - I did try but it didn't work. ):

No, was not at the game and I must have missed the reference in the post match notes, although to be fair that might have been a reference to another incident. So you were pretty certain it was a handball?

I did consider this, but if you pause at the 1:20 you can clearly see the guys arm reaching out and then after the contact, watch the direction the ball heads in...i.e. Rickie didn't get a touch. I am convinced it was a blatant handball.

Has anyone else seen the Huddersfield game 'highlights' on Saintsplayer? I would not bother usually running over a game we've lost, but I'm glad I did on this occasion. Watch the video and pause it at 1:20. What do you see? I'll elaborate - a significant infringement that the officials must have been blind not to spot... Just as Lambert (7) is about to head the ball, the ball is deliberately blocked by the hand of their no.16 - this is inside the penalty area and a nailed on penalty!!! Plus a booking or indeed sending off as the handball stopped a scoring chance. OK - too late now to worry about, but it does go to show how some of these so-called decent teams in this league are able to cheat their way to success and what a poor standard the officials are not to spot something like this IMO. Not only that, but this incident was before their 2nd goal and the course of the match might have been quite different if we'd been awarded a pen. Mind you, didn't excuse ANOTHER rubbish shot from Puncheon sailing over the bar into row ZZ!

Mmm, if it wasn't for Lamberts head injury I would suspect that the above news would have seen the end of his loan with us. As it is, I can see an extension to Xmas.

Mid to late 70's was my first proper era supporting Saints. Missed large sections of the 80's and 90's for a variety of reasons. ):

Genius! lol

Whatever the players names are, something is different and not working thus season in terms of goals scored. You can't get away from the facts - we need more creativity and pace in the team.

Thanks for that. It will be very interesting to see how NA reacts to the performances in terms of changing the team around now he has good options. 1st names on the team-sheet sound as if they will Davis, Butterfield, Fonte, Harding, Schneiderlin, Chaplow, Lallana. Who will take up the remaining 4 places? I think we might see Martin back in defence, Puncheon will still start. So that leaves the two strikers - if Lambert is injured (head wound) then it's going to be Barnard with one of Guly or Bignoll - tough choice for Adkins.

It's not just about Adkins - you would think that the experience that Davis and Fonte have gained would tell them that when passing out from the back every-time is not working, it is time to change the tactic....take responsibility and change. If Adkins has told them "do not change under any circumstances" then he is wrong to do this IMO - players need to be able to make decisions to react to the opposing teams tactics. There is one real problem we have suffered this season since AP left and it's name is Rickie Lambert. For whatever reason he is not the same player as last season and the Manager's insistence in starting Lambert every match is turning him into a slight liability rather the goal machine that he was last season. This is a hurdle that needs to be overcome urgently and perhaps his head injury today might force NA's hand next week by playing Barnard and Guly or Bignoll upfront. Adkins also needs to understand which midfield combination works to achieve a win under different conditions. When all these things are sorted we might just stand a chance of some success this season.

What a clever chap you are.

Looks like Adkins agrees with many of us on here - he messed up his game plan by not altering the manner in which the team played against Tranmere. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2186578,00.html Mind you, I think he's being a little economical with the truth when he says KD only had to make one save! According to Solent KD had made 3 blinding saves in the 1st half alone!

I see very little change other than passing it out from the back more. That works for teams that are playing 4-5-1 or those with immobile forwards, but for teams like Huddersfield where they close down our players very quickly, this tactic alone is just not good enough. Adkins needs to find an alternative method that perhaps does not involve a hoof. Certainly passing it around ad infinitum between defence and midfield is only going to result in most chances going begging and a clean sheet for the opposition.

What was that all about then???

Absolutely correct. That also brings with it the additional advantage that scoring brings pressure from opposition supporters and acts to demoralise the opposition team. Goals are the catalyst to other elements of a successful outcome. On the other hand, no goals makes even a good team look very mediocre indeed. Losing is not a good thing, but a 5-3 loss is better than a 2-0 loss because at least you know that next week that goal scoring ability will probably go unanswered.

I had a phone call this morning from a nice friendly lady who spent a long time explaining how they have sorted out all the problems and would I like to re-register as they had seen that I had not bothered doing so. I explained in a very friendly way that their records were clearly not very good as I had already re-registered for the service. She was very happy that I had done so, as they had done so much to improve the service and she was certain that everything would be fine in the future. Mmm.

Completely agree with this. I feel that we are almost handicapped by our 'big club' status which frankly is just not deserved. If we were still at The Dell, we would be no better than some of the other mediocre teams in this division. This division requires tough, hard working individuals that can score goals - fancy football alone may dazzle the home crowds, but will not win you the league.

The loss today has to be put down to Adkins for not changing the game plan and starting with appropriate players to counter the threat Huddersfield posed. Would have been better to stifle the game into a 0-0 draw. The players can do the business, but if they're told to play in a certain way and then it doesn't work it's the Manager that needs to hold his hands up and say - "my fault". Perhaps Adkins is experienced enough to know how to react, however I am starting to get a little concerned that there is not enough spirit/bottle/drive in the team to battle out of this division. We shall see next week and find out if this was a blip - if not then Adkins position could be looking a bit tenuous around Xmas and then we'll be back to square one and the managerial merrygoround will continue.

As predicted, Saint lose by 2 goals. Poor planning by Adkins I think on this - he assumed his team would be able take on a much better Huddersfield side with the same tactics that hit two against a rubbish Tranmere.

Terrible design, terrible waste of money - how did this guy manage to get so rich with such poor judgement?!

Tough one to call this one. I think there's a good chance we'll show them up a bit. 1-2 loss it is then and back down to earth.

I think I tend towards this point of view. If I had to choose over the two of them, then Guly would get the shout with Barnie off the bench.

When Harding went through a bit of a problem time at the start of the season, Dickson stepped up to the plate and did quite well. This clearly gave Harding the drive to train harder and up his game. Mind you, this is no real revelation - it's just good management practice putting pressure on the team to perform. I expect Dickson will feature again if Harding gets injured or suspended.

The key is a quite simple one - keep possession. If the opposing team do not touch the ball, they cannot score and if they cannot score they cannot win. The worst case scenario is a 0-0 bore draw and a point on the board. That's why 95% of KD's distribution now goes to one or other of the defenders to pass it out and this is working wonders. The ball itself is doing all the hard work for us and the opposition is getting more tired and demoralised chasing shadows, not to mention not being able to get settled into a flow. This is NA's big 'secret' to his success as a Manager. You heard it here first. (: