Vancouver Saint

Well a good win in the end despite the 'we couldn't show more we don't care about this game' selection - Saints Young Boys beat Leicester's old boys. Leicester must really be sick of the sight of us - gotta love it! Positives - Edozie, Bragg, Larin, pretty much all the youngsters that cam on gave a good account of themselves. Jelert grew into the game before going off. Romeo got some decent minutes in without incident and one great goal-saving tackle. Negatives - Archer, seriously, what a waste of a shirt - what has happened to him? George Long less than convincing, Quarshie and Woods showing why they are second-stringers with lots of mistakes better sides would have punished.

OMG - did that just happen?!

Only saw the last 15 minutes...was nervy conceding corners but for once we held firm. I did say give Larin the benefit of the doubt - he's played really well for Canada in the past. He looked fitter and better than I expected with a good touch - but I guess he's only been on for a few minutes. It makes such a difference to have a goalkeeper!

Let's give him a chance for goodness sake. He had a good spell in the Canadian national team a while back...he has a physical presence and fits that 'big striker target' description which is clearly the new strategy (that being going forward and putting crosses into the box to someone tall enough to head it.

Yet another bloody midday kickoff I won't be watching at 4.30am Pacific time! Does anyone have stats for our performances at midday kick-off games? It seems to me we lose most of them, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Bloomin' heck - what's with it with all these 12.00 noon kick-offs? - that's 4.00 am in the morning for me. This team not worth the effort...although I'm hoping with Stewart and Charles back this could be the start of a revival...

OMG how bad are we? Masters of PPP - Ponderous Pointless Possession. Win all the stats except the one that matters. Eckert out of his depth. Such an obvious mistake to hire him. Not fair on him, the players or the fans. Whoever made that decision needs to be accountable - bowed to pressure way too early and unnecessarily. Meanwhile Danny Rohl burning it up at Rangers (for those that remember the Will Still vs Danny Rohl debate...I do think we tried to get him in fairness). No energy, urgency or belief in this team - even when we pull a goal back. Just awful. Fans leaving with 5 mins to go says it all - we all know we aren't going to create any last-minute chances. Watched listening to the Hull City commentators who were very fair - Southampton 'not exactly pushing on after scoring' the understatement of the day. Questions to answer please: 1. Was that first goal Ryan Manning's fault for an unnecessary and bad back-pass or Quarshie for not 'taking control' - obvious answer is a bit of both, but I thought it was more on Manning when it happened. Eckert obviously blamed Quarshie 2. Was the second goal the goalies fault - he started coming for the ball then changed his mind - or just poor defending at the back post (again)?

I just watched my Scottish team Hearts beat St Mirren playing with 10-men vs 11 from the 15th minute. They won 2-0. Played with spirit and courage. Played as a team. Had enormous energy. Fought for every ball. Ended up with 7 shots on target vs 2 from their opponents. The second time in four days they've won playing with 10 men. So the opposite of the spineless, gutless, structureless, leaderless, second-to-every-ball, where's my paycheck mentality of this current Saints team it's unbelievable. A joy to watch and a reminder of just how low I've sunk my expectations from Saints. So not interested anymore. Until the next game of course. Sad old addict 😳

I missed the first half - started watching from the second half - OMG, we seriously didn't touch the ball for the first 20 minutes, Doncaster scored twice...with our new goalie nowhere near clearing from a corner right under the bar (was he impeded?) then a statue for the second...I'm thinking well there's a lot of work to be done there if he's going to be any good. 'Southampton have been terrible in the second half' quote from the commentator. We didn't even get into their half let alone their box for that time - again the half-time team talk must have been 'We've won this, just mince about and don't bother, it's cold...here's a nice cup of tea'. We look terrible in defence for anything hoofed high or long, or for corners or free kicks into the box - seems rare we get a defensive head to the ball first. On the positive side...Scienza and Stewart made a big difference. The new keeper made a couple of good reaction stops at the end and showed enough to suggest he's already a much better goalkeeper than Bazunu (not difficult) - he'll learn not to get bullied in his own 6-yard box. Wellington much better than Manning. Quarsie needs more confidence with the ball at his feet. We still need more control of midfield. A win is a win - we squeaked through as the commentator said. Against a team struggling in L1. But I was pretty underwhelmed again from what I saw. Am I wrong?

No leadership. No heart. Either on or off the pitch. I said it at half-time, our players look disinterested...they're at walking pace for throw-ins, corners...there's no sense of love of the game and wanting to play football. 56 years I've been following the Saints and never have I been so disinterested and detached myself. Honestly, I wanted 'boro to add a fifth and sixth (which they should have) to dispel any myth that this game was anything but an utter embarrassment that shows just what we are - a shambles of a collection of players. We are not close to being a team. How can this be the same team and manager that beat Charlton 5-1 away?

Does anyone else think our players look disinterested? Slow, slow, slow for everything. Some really good chances to score - Azaz, Downes and Fellows should have all done better. One passage of play summed it up for me. Our free kick middle of our half left side - instead of playing it forward we play it backward and pass it sideways until we give away a throw-in 20 yards closer to our goal. We need to bolster the midfiled and pass it through the middle. 4-3-3 or or 4-4-2 or 4-5-1...anything but this 3 CBs at the back that can't control the ball well enough.

Is this deal done or not?

Ha! Didn't realise the game was on today and missed it completely - sounds like I missed nothing. I've been a Saints fan for 58 years - I never thought I'd be so disengaged in this club. From a quick scan let me say let's get real on the Bazunu thing - two good saves in two games does not make him the top-of-the-Championship quality we need. No doubt this will give the management team a reason not to follow-through on getting the new 'keeper we so desperately need...unless someone tells me that deal has already been done?

Well - we can't complain about taking just a point from that. Birmingham the better team for 60 minutes. Terrible goal to concede (four headers before a poncy header in) - as normal really poor defending. For once we were the better team in the last 20 minutes - much better energy and chances - fair credit, saving Scienza to come on as the impact sub against tired legs a good mix-up plan. I thought the substitutions were good. Still don't like our three at the back...when the wing-backs don't get in behind as was happening first half (Fellows not 100%? - Robinson did okay but was cutting inside not running past defenders) the formation doesn't work and we give up the middle of the field where the most danger comes from. We are still bang average without a better goalkeeper, commanding CB and killer target striker. Stewart coming back would be a boost.

Poundshop Prima Donnas - brilliant Milton. Love the name btw...takes me back to when I first watched the Saints, partly for the footie and partly watching the 'Come-and-have-a-go-at-the-Milton-agg-a-ro' crowd! Have never made it to St Mary's yet living in Canada but suspect there's nothing similar tolerated anymore...