Saint Fan CaM

Sad thing is, that’s probably a fair summary of RM’s thought process.

RM’s going nowhere. SR have and the club bigwigs have backed us into a corner so that financially it’s nigh on impossible to sack him. Not only that, I’m actually starting to believe that relegation is something they don’t fear with RM at the helm. I’m almost at a point of not caring now…the optimism has been drained from me since the Wembley day out…I watch games with little to no expectation of a win or even a draw. I really do think we’ll go down with the lowest points and worst GD in EPL history - we’re Saints, we love the infamy!

Yep, we’re gonna get mullered. 5-0 City.

Great to be two up but honestly there’s lots of risk building for the second half. Primarily the Ref who seems intent on giving Leicester an advantage by ignoring their shithousery. Dibling is getting frustrated and I think the Ref has his card marked for a second yellow - would put Lallana on for him to inject some experience. It’s going to be RM’s decisions this half that decided whether we get the three points or not. Watch out for a triple substitution on 60 minutes. I do hope he’s paid Taylor a visit during halftime and asked if he might try to protect our players a bit more.

Honestly think this is going to be another shit show. COYR!

Hoping for internet connection and a stream from the Maldives. If RM can conjure up a win or even a draw - bonus.

Fixed it for you…😉

I think Potter would be a good choice if he could be enticed here, which is highly unlikely, especially as SFC will leave it too late to replace RM and our season will be be irretrievable by then. The future looks pretty miserable whichever way you cut it - I’m not particularly relishing the Championship again as it’ll likely be more of the same boring football with our best players gone.

That’s the team I’d be starting and sticking with as a first choice. Really put some concentrated coaching into those guys, in particular how to transition quickly from the back four into the final third…i.e. it’s ok passing out from the back sometimes, but it needs mixing up with other tactics so keeping the oppo guessing and getting some fast paced attacks will be essential to winning games of football. If this team can’t make it work then the rest of the squad don’t stand a chance. Having said that, I don’t think we’ll win…just can’t see RM and his team having the nouse to beat any other team in the Prem. Can see this being 1-3…maybe worse. I just hope Vardy gets badly injured - can’t stand the nasty rat.

Russ learning? Give me a break! Him swapping players around is like changing from a tooth brush to a broom to dust the mantelpiece. He doesn’t know how to utilise the players at his disposal because he’s NOT learnt how to adapt his system to a higher level of performance against tougher opposition. The reason we came fourth and scrapped a promotion last year was because of the players he had at his disposal. They did that, possibly for him, but not because he’s learning. The Prem has exposed him for what he is - a mediocre mid-Championship level manager who relies on keeping players on-side to achieve HIS goals, rather than properly coaching them to achieve the goals of the club and of course the supporters. If anyone like @gio1saints is in any doubt what that looks like (it’s been a long time coming), it’s scoring goals and winning some games of football!

FFS…who are the people involved in this rubbish? I’d love to know what £300 buys you…a drink or two, a packet of crisps, a sausage roll? Does it include a plush seat to actually watch a game of football or do you have to sit on a cold hard lump of plastic? The only upside to this that I can see is that it’s likely there’ll be plenty of space in there. How much does a box for 10 cost these days - £1500? If so, that looks like much better value.

Where to start - difficult to analyse that, but there are some key points. 1. Pairing KWP and Manning was a good move to contain Saka, however inevitably the method broke down at least once and most obviously when they scored when the two of them tried covering the same ground. For me that’s poor preparation and planning. 2. Suga and Downes were our weak links, however in both cases they were often left on their own to cope in situations. Again that’s poor planning. 3. Arsenals press and general defensive setup was the best I’ve seen in ages. Ours is a universe away and another example of poor planning. 4. When TP and Archer came on we looked so much more potent. There seemed to be more belief displayed by the team. Did someone say poor planning? Yep, why don’t we play our best players and best team consistently? 5. Dibling looked like his old self back out on the right wing, but why the inconsistency? So, poor planning and inconsistent team selections. We all know where the responsibility lies. Times up Russ…you’ve had a fair crack and the one thing that is consistent is the manner in which we lose games. You’re not giving our players what they need to score and win games of football. We waste so much time when in possession, it’s little wonder there so few chances created in the final third. Final thought. Such a shame to see Stewart get injured again, but he’s clearly not the answer…not enough dynamic movement on or off the ball. What a waste of money and squad place he has been.

Yep - as I said at the start - anything better than 3-1 and he’s done great. But…9 minutes of extra time??!?!!

And there it is - not enough goals and disarray in defence. Suga’s not been great this half.

Utter bollox VAR - everyone knows it depends when the line gets drawn that determines whether it’s onside or not…they just pull it back half a second.

Well I expect Russ will say the team have executed his instructions to get to half-time without conceding in perfect fashion. We all know how his halftime talks do wonders…I’m now quietly pessimistic rather than suicidal!🤣🤣

Anything better than 4-0 and I guess Russ will be deemed a genius! 😂

Utter joke. Basically surrendering the game early. Clown of Jones proportions.

Even with Dibling we’re looking very, very poor in the final third. That Lallana managed to craft such a lovely assist and Dibling was already in the box and only needed one touch to finish was an event that will likely happen once a season the way we tend to play…perhaps less. Let’s not get too misty eyed - it was one goal, albeit it a nice one - and the reason lies with the manager/coaching team. It needs to be said again - we’ll not know how good this team is until Russ & Co go.

Has he gone yet? 🧐

An ex-Prem Manager with a high level of experience, albeit with no significant success (e.g. titles) out of work for quite some time, if offered a contract to the end of the season with a decent bonus on Prem survival? Not sure, but surely he might be tempted? That would be an ideal scenario in my opinion - give SR / the club time to ponder over ‘what next’…breathing and planning space.

Yep, and there’s no point attacking without varying the manner in which attempts on goal are made. We’re so predictable in our build-up - almost schoolboy level. Whoever coaches this aspect of our play needs a rocket up their arse.

Bizarrely as there’s no chance of winning, this is one game where 70% possession would be a good thing to stop an absolute flood of goals against, so I’m fully on the Russball bus. With no Captain Jack to select we might see the dependable Manning re-introduced as he knows how to pass backwards and sideways very reliably thus proving we have the players to execute Russ’s master plan. Can’t see any hope of us scoring a goal so… 5-0 Arsenal. It’s going to be ugly.

It would be very easy to categorically state that we’re done for if Russ and his underperforming coaching team are left to continue on the same vein. I’d love to think he could turn it round, but I don’t think he’s capable of… (a) picking a consistent best side, (b) coaching the team to defend effectively, (c) coaching the team to play fast flowing attack minded football, (d) motivating the team to achieve anything other than passing backwards/sideways based possession football. Conversely there is every likelihood that there is a manager/coach out there with the nouse to repair the shambles we’re seeing unfold.

See above…^^^