HarvSFC

The most obvious example of trying to play the system was Crystal Palace last weekend, who didn't get their match postponed. They had two matches in a week, Tottenham and Norwich. Which match would they prioritise a win in? Well, that's simple and they applied to get the Tottenham match postponed, assumedly so that they would have everybody fit and fresh for the Norwich fixture. However, they were denied, the Tottenham match went ahead and they named their full starting eleven from their last match against us in their squad. Assuming they put a few more names down as injuries to the league, otherwise why would they try for a postponement?

Given how infectious Omicron is and how Newcastle played Manchester United just three days ago, United should also be missing a tonne of players due to positive tests tonight, right?

Swansea have a “considerable amount”’of COVID cases, according to the club’s website. I doubt they’d also want to play home matches behind closed doors, especially an FA Cup match, given the loss in revenue hitting the Football League already previously. So…

Yep, Rodgers and Benitez have both given pre-match press conferences, complaining about the amount of injuries in their squads and how the Premier League was forcing them to go ahead, then having their matches called off within the next 24 hours. Doesn't mean too much.

Whoever chucked the flare after the disallowed Kane goal must have felt very embarrassed.

We played Newcastle last season with Jack Stephens at right-back and a bench containing Ramsay, Finnigan, Watts, Chauke and N'Lundulu. KWP, Armstrong, Smallbone, Diallo and Walcott were all missing from the match squad. I cannot recall the Newcastle fans believing that match should've been postponed and played at a later date when we had everybody fit. The top comment on that post is "It would be a welcome break and give us time to tie 1-2 signings.This team needs some fresh faces in all areas." That will be exactly Eddie Howe's thinking as well, he'll see us as a winnable match with reinforcements. Clubs who were previously in a dire situation, like Newcastle currently are (1 win in 19) have tried to use COVID to gain an advantage and call for the season to null and void, and that's what's happening here. They lost their two best players to injury on Monday evening and all of a sudden they cannot play anymore, within 24 hours of playing previously. You'd expect Manchester United to now get a tonne of COVID cases, right?

Just got home from the match. Was the ref as abject/one sided as he seemed in the stadium without the opportunity of viewing replays? Seemed totally one sided, barring the Forster "foul" mistake, which should have been a goal to be fair.

Crystal Palace tried to play the system over the weekend, requesting their game be called off against Spurs, despite their entire 11 that started the previous game against us being available and in the matchday squad against Spurs (they made one change with Guehi moving to the bench). Everton/Benitez was also moaning last week that their game was going ahead and that their application for a postponement had been rejected, 24 hours later they pick up some non-COVID related injuries and their match gets called off, while their match on Thursday against Newcastle is so far going ahead after an extended rest period. It wouldn't surprise me that after the injuries to Saint-Maximin and Wilson last night, Newcastle try to get their next few games postponed before they can then sign players.

What is Ralf junior going to moan about post match then? Newcastle only got an eight day break, as opposed to Man United 16 day break, so he should probably stop harping on about that, as Newcastle were playing full of energy, while United looked sluggish with a lack of any cohesion. I suppose he was only able to bring Sancho and Cavani on at half time and wasn't allowed to turn to another three, which includes Shaw, Wan-Bissaka and Van de Beek, who all cost over £20m to sit on the bench, so there's always that.

I don’t know if I’m just being bias, but I thought the penalty was stonewall in real time, and then the replays confirmed it. However, I noticed that Broja was trending on Twitter yesterday, had a look to see if opposition were starting to clock onto how good he is. But, oh no. It’s just West Ham fans thinking the decision for the penalty was one of the worst they’ve seen this season. See replies: Had a look at their forum, turns out the VAR thread is active, like ours is on occasion and instantly see this: “As far as I’m concerned another incompetent or bent VAR /refereeing collusion has cost us today.” So, finally I go to see if David Moyes has said anything/moaned about it… Nothing interesting, but the West Ham website reports the incident as: “However, Southampton went back in front through James Ward-Prowse after Kevin Friend awarded a controversial penalty after viewing the pitchside screen on VAR Craig Pawson’s recommendation, penalising Craig Dawson for a foul on Armando Broja when the initial contact appeared yards outside the penalty area.” Which can be seen here: https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/december/26-december/david-moyes-lots-things-didnt-go-well-wed-have-liked In my view, the only thing controversial about it was that Friend needed a second look to award it. Weird. 🤷‍♂️

It’s what he does, remember when he booted Adams in the head and nothing came of it.

Vestergaard must be playing…

That was ridiculously poor from Walcott. Just puts a very good Redmond cross out of touch. It’s like his pace controlled everything in his game now.

Arsenal have Cedric and Chambers also. After Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain they've enjoyed signing some our average players too. 😂

Yeah, it's a weird thing. I can't recall the club announcing Stephens' contract extension in 2020 either. It was just an exclusive from The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/news/exclusive-jack-stephens-agrees-new-long-term-southampton-contract/bo8LfBeiblPj/

He's also played in both of our 9-0 defeats, but they weren't lot to do with him, like the three wins this season weren't. Before his suspension, which saw him miss the Leeds win, you could have reeled off the exact same stat for JWP too in that we hadn't won for over two years when he wasn't playing. It's more so that both are/were now in Armstrong's case very reliable and injury free for the previous two years, which saw some victories and a lot of losses too. I'm a big Armstrong fan, but I won't deny that I've been disappointed by his showings this season, which is a shame. Whether it's injury, or something else, nobody actually knows, we just hope he can return to previous form where he did make a difference and cause problems in games. But, this season he hasn't got going yet. The Zaha/Palace and Grealish/Villa stats were relevant at the time because they could carry their respective teams. I don't think Armstrong's that much of a game changer for us. He's solid and dependable.

All this moaning about the fixture list is getting nauseating again. How often do Football League clubs moan about playing Saturday-Tuesday most weeks, a 46 game league season, with fewer squad resources and lower quality facilities? A lot of these sides have had a near two week break also. The want for five subs is coming back again, also. Take Liverpool last night as an example, Klopp got his starting line-up all wrong, 3-1 down at half-time, so he brings on Konate, Jota and Milner at half-time, knowing that he has two more available for the latter stages of the match, making the triple half time sub low risk and extinguishing that tactical element from the game. It's a crap rule that favours the big sides. West Ham only used three subs last night, the ones that weren't used were Noble, Fredericks, Kral, Randolph, Alese and Baptiste, so you can see why. While Spurs brought on Alli, Tanganga, Royal, Winks and Son and saw out the match. Chelsea, the same against Brentford, brought on Jorginho and Pulisic at half-time with the score 0-0, then brought on Mount, James and Kante. Can't compete with that and if it gets voted in, the league has an even greater chasm between the top six and the rest than it does already and you can see why the top clubs want it.

Leicester were 3-1 up and comfortable against Liverpool's second team. Brought Vestergaard and Bertrand on in a double swap, went on to draw the game 3-3 and then Bertrand misses his penalty. I think we actually conned them, almost feel bad.

Leicester have been absolutely blessed with a striker like Vardy for near 10 years now. Very envious. He’ll take some replacing when he eventually does call it a day.

And why couldn't Chelsea play this line-up against us?

I wonder if there will be any problems with the hotel the club are staying at, or the team bus getting into the stadium this time. 🤷‍♂️

Didn't realise West Ham play Tottenham on Wednesday in the League Cup, if not postponed. That could be favourable.

They also need a striker far more than they need a right-back, unfortunately. James being one of their outstanding performers this season, while Lukaku is flopping again.

Definite penalty at Newcastle vs Man City not checked.

I hope it isn't the reality, but those at the top will know there's a chance football goes behind closed doors again, which we couldn't afford last time it happened, needing a loan. The joys of the Gao era.