Saint86

Awful corner by Smallbone, but makes up with it with that cross. Perfectly placed for che (even if he did almost fall over!!)

If you could spend your time slagging off bazunu and manning we might keep some clean sheets!! 🤣 Great goal by brooks though!!! As others were calling for... he had a go!

Disagree. For basically every loss we've made 4-5 changes, most unforced, and we've broadly decided to line up with no CDM, or with just one defensive player and the other 5 midfield/attack players being just CAMs/wingers/strikers... absolutely zero defensive shape. Totally lost the plot and unsettled team. Our defensive woes come because defensively, the central 3rd of the field just hasn't existed. Look at the vast majority of the goals, the other team goes straight through us.

He says this shit every week. Fields a team with far better players, then says we've had a few chances and should have been out of sight. As if that in someway excuses the frankly appalling defensive balance to the side.

Isn't mates with the manager though is he.

Manning went for that header even though bednarek went for it, and then wasn't ready for what happened. Basic stuff.

Good run and effort by Smallbone there.

We really should be winning this today. Perhaps naively, i still expect us to, and for it to be relatively easy by the end. Dropping more points would be absolutely unacceptable however.

Its more that we play a highly drilled style of football, and then we unsettled it by going out and signing a load of players mates from Bompey and putting them straight into the team, whilst also loaning out Alcaraz, and not signing sufficient cover for CDM/RB, or just a first team LB. But its okay guys, we've got £170M burning a hole in our pockets ready for the prem, and we absolutely won't regret selling JWP over having that £27M.

Goes without saying sadly. But Rothwell is mates with AA, Stephens, and brooks... Whilst Martin didn't really fancy alcaraz. On the face of it though, it was a silly bit of business that one, at least from a squad quality and balance perspective. I know I've said it before, but that loan could have been used to get cover at full back or at cdm...

Oh pull the other one ffs. Why are people making so many excuses for last nights limp display, was very poor from us. Kelleher (aged 25, backup keeper and behind baz for ireland) Quasah (21... was at least getting a few minutes of men's football at bristol rovers last year) VVD (32, the bulk of their starting 11's average age covered in one player - proceeded to play for 45min before being replaced). Tsimikas (Squad player, hasn't feature for more than 1 minute in the last 8 league matches!) McDonnell (19... Has 3 appearances total of senior football, a smattering of minutes...) Gomez (Not a first 11 player but is covering for Matip. Played as CDM, which he isn't, to cover for their much weakened squad) Clark (19 years old, has 27minutes of first team football in the league this season). Elliot (20year old squad player, but granted he'd get into our team like as not). Gakpo (Squad player for them, starting because of injuries but suffering horrendous low confidence / form and not playing at all well - looked far far worse that mara last night which says a lot). Koumas (18, near as i can tell, that was his first ever appearance at senior level). As for some of their subs: Kaide Gordan (19 - No minutes in the league this season) - Came on for Gakpo Jayden Danns (18 - 1 minute in the league this season) - Came on for Koumas Trey Nyoni (16 - First senior appearance) - Came on for Elliot MacAllister - did at least strengthen them (not that they needed it...) by coming on for McConnel Konate (came on for VVD at half time). Fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of this comparison given both of them walk into our team. "Top of the premier league" Quite - We lost to (and were comfortably outplayed by) a bunch of kids with basically no senior football experience. Incredibly poor by us, and worrying how all the confidence has drained out of us.

We aren't getting automatics. So trying to win a winnable game was the correct thing re stopping the rot. If you read my post, i have said playing charles as a defensive mid is the correct thing, my issue is that the other 5 players are all being asked to do attacking roles. We need a conventional CM alongside the anchor man, and then a more attacking CM. The last game we did that we won (smallbone, charles, stu vs west brom - clean sheet). The other issue is that he's just making too many changes per match, which hes committed to now. Would have been better to have started making 1-2changes and giving players a rest over a longer period without unsettling the side as much, as it is we're consistently making 3-5 changes every game, and its clearly disjointed our play. We are where we are now, but he needs to get this sorted by the playoffs, and right now i can't see us beating the likes of hull or ipswich via the playoffs. 1 Win and 5 losses in 6, with 13 goals conceded in 5 of those games. 3 against an u18s side (anyone comparing ages is ignoring minutes played and experience) and two vs a terrible millwall side at home on the weekend. We're in freefall currently.

You know we were in white right?

Just watched that down the pub in Bristol, with a liverpool supporting mate. We were basically the only ones in there, such was the pulling power of Liverpool's C team. And honestly, what an embarrassing performance - We were playing against children and really should have been up for that game and all over them. Yet they outplayed us comfortably for most of the match. Very worrying!!! Martin once again set us up with 5 attackers in front of the defence and just one player assigned to defensive duties in midfield. We have got to start playing with one CDM anchor and one all around CM imo. The last time we started with that we won.... so be it Charles and Stu, or Charles and Smallbone etc. I don't care, but we need that more regimented and solid CM. For me, Rothwell offers nothing defensively (at least the way he's being instructed to play), and similarly Aribo is not sitting back either. We basically have no balance playing like this, we aren't keeping possession well enough, there is too little support or depth behind the attacks, and when the other team break we are wide open to it. And once again, Martin set us up, we played well for 15min, then the opposition manager countered us and it was basically one way traffic from then on - Minimal adaption from us, lots of suicidal football with a much changed side, and basically no real threat 2nd half. It just isn't good enough and worrying he's showing no real signs of learning - just the same thing on repeat with different players. What's even more concerning is how low on confidence the team appears to be atm. It shouldn't be this way after 25 games unbeaten. If we can't beat (or barely look up for beating) Liverpool's 18 and 16year old kids in a very winnable cup tie (lets be honest, thats probably the best chance our players would ever have had to win at Anfield) then I can't see us getting through the playoffs atm. Serious improvements needed.

Honestly, you guys just don't get it. Getting rid of alcaraz and using up the last loan spot to sign Rothwell was an absolutely inspired bit of business by the club. He's best mates with Stephens and Armstrong don't you know? And all this chat about manning being a weak link, or no cover for kwp, or needing CDM cover etc., Its all nonsense, because Rothwell is the answer; he will be our key signing, the lynchpin for the team no less - Just watch as he carries us to Wembley glory 🙌🙌🙌. (I don't dislike Rothwell, but was a pointless signing imo. Alcaraz is a better player and actually our asset to develop, and the squad clearly needed strengthening elsewhere).

And agree with this. It's a little embarrassing to see posters blaming Stephens for today. I think it's debatable whether we should actually be playing him with kwp (at least until bree is back fit) in most games atm. Would make the defence a bit more stable and simplify the tactics. Plus Manning can be an absolute liability at times. It's that or Meghoma plays at LB for me. Its been said to death, but the reason we're losing imo is because Martin has developed an allergy to a balanced and settled midfield 3. We need a holding man, and we need a all around cm imo... We can't keep going every game with smallbone as the holding man, and then effectivley 2 CAMs... Its completely imbalanced both in and out of possession. Add to that the frankly constant level of changes between the two other midfielders (smallbone is at least constant) and the 3 attackers, and is it really any wonder we've lost all flow and tempo with our attacking play? I don't think he knows what best side is at all atm, and the side feels like very unsettled - I wouldn't bet significantly on being able to name our starting 11 in a given week out it that way!... And opposed to the classic "if it ain't broke don't fix it", he's gone full Rasmus recently!

We scored 1 goal vs a relegation threatened side at home. In all seriousness, I don't think Millwall could have asked for an easier game vs a side chasing automatics...simooy not good enough... Leeds would have absolutely murdered them!

Id far rather have Ralph as manager this year than any of the 3 that have proceeded him... Should not have been sacked imo. But obviously that doesn't fit with Sport Republic's vision (possible wet dream in fact) of having the highest possession stats in the football league (sadly). Outside of the whole martin debate is where people sit on SR if we don't go up this year... especially given the club's ever darkening prospects the longer we stay at this level. Buck ultimately stops at the top.

Only small silver lining i can think of, is that playoffs are basically assured, so if we're going to miss automatics maybe its better to have a blip now and sort it all out. The alternatives would be to potentially burn ourselves out chasing automatics only to lose form going into the playoffs, or potentially lose out on the final day.

Should have been 5 points of top after Hull and Millwall, instead we're 5 points off 3rd. Absolute bottle.

Was thinking Liam Rosenior has done an impressive job at Hull. Wouldn't be adverse to him if we don't go up.

He'll be manager until the end of the season regardless. But if he can't get this side promoted this year he certainly won't manage it next year - and for all our games unbeaten, we were rarely convincing (enough) to seriously justify the difference in squad quality vs the opposition. Next year he/we won't have that advantage as we will lose so many players that have been carrying us this year through individual quality. What's worrying me, is that he's repeating the same patterns he had at Swansea and MK (before that), with runs of poor form multiple times per season - where (with us at least), he has seemingly lost the plot and started tinkering and unbalancing the side too much. He needs to badly get his shit together and get his tactics and selections back on track. He is still a young manager and saints are a step up for him... but we've had too much change and poor balance in recent weeks and its showing. Its almost certainly cost us automatics, but we really should still be going up through the playoffs. Earlier in the year, it would have been ridiculous to sack him (and i voted to keep him at that time). But honestly, if we fall out of the race for automatics and then don't get promoted, he's got to go in the summer imo. Sadly though, i think the club's future will be pretty bleak (promotion wise) at that point regardless, and it will be the last throw of the dice for a swift return to the prem next year. What i do not want to hear from him is, "proud of the players, they're so brave, its my fault but i'll learn" etc. he needs to shove the fake humble bollocks about "being so grateful yada yada", and just sort it out on the pitch.

The most damning thing about him actually is that I don't have any faith that he will learn. This is his ideal football. For whatever reason, he really didn't fancy Alcaraz, but its a shame because he was a real creative player in the middle of the pitch; always getting his head up to run and drive forward, picking a pass, and able to finish. Sure it didn't always come off, but he had something a bit different that we badly miss. Without him, our creativity is limited to when stu gets a bit of space, and outside of that its just pass pass pass and wait for a run in behind.

Alcaraz scores that all day long, and we could have had a full back or CDM covering player in the squad 👿

So so easy this, for a side at the bottom of the table ffs.