Saints vs Celta - Match Thread

Great pass by JWP off the post for the third goal.

Half time relegation certainties. Full time European qualification.

Much better 2nd half when we took the ineffective Long, Davis and McQueen off.

Is it me or are the goals further away from the stands ? I reckon the pitch is smaller.

They have moved the pitch one metre closer to the Kingsland so the subs have more room to warm up. The pitch is exactly the same size (a size the PL demands of all clubs if their stadium is big enough).

Lots of first half bedwetters in this thread!

FT

A good second half performance. Well done lads.

Let's build on that and cut out the silly mistakes at the back, yeah?

Classic SaintsWeb

Really enjoyed that. Best tempo I've seen from us for a long time.

only watched the 2nd half. Enjoyed that.

We look so much more purposeful going forward compared to last season. Massive contrast.

Some good touches by our players and clearly looking to get it forward more quickly.

Armstrong looked very good as did Gabbi, Targett and Hoj.....

I worry like hell when teams counter on us, I think that will hit us.

Balls down the channel between Hoedt and Bertrand........

Exactly.

We are all fart and no shi.te.

If only we had someone who could take the pressure off the defence and score some goals then we might win a few games 3-2.

Looks like the half time cuppa had a laxative effect...

Classic SaintsWeb

Yep; some of our fans are just plain ****ing embarrassing.

Classic SaintsWeb

100% - 3 pages of posts when losing 2-0...only one after we scored our first.

Lol at the bed wetting in a pre season game!

New signings looked great. Austin doing what he does. Good stuff.

Well that’s our comeback of the season used up before we have even started!

All jokes aside, an okay game- we have some lapses of errors within us which need rectifying but otherwise some promising players to look forward to.

Bednarek looked on holiday still, Long’s first touch still atrocious, Davis looked leggy, and Romeu was not his usual self.

Apart from those 4, pleased with everyone else.

Well done to Targett, 2 much neede d assists.

Classic SaintsWeb

The icing on the cake would be a few of them coming back with “it’s only preseason”. Lol.

Classic SaintsWeb

Agreed.

HT: pre seasons don't matter

FT: pre seasons do matter

Lolz

100% - 3 pages of posts when losing 2-0...only one after we scored our first.

Might have something to do with the screen blanking out after 35 mins?

Watched the last 20 minutes.

Not much time to assess, but encouraging. Pretty decent at times. Seem to be more forward-looking, and moving the ball quicker.

Hoedt managed to look wobbly.

Reed busy.

Gallagher mobile.

JWP in central midfield? Wonder how many games he'll really get there?

Lol at the bed wetting in a pre season game!

 

New signings looked great. Austin doing what he does. Good stuff.

Our 'cover at right back' search is still looking a bit rusty.

Update: we've found a good one. (But might be selling him!)

Very good second half and in the flesh we looked like a team with purpose and drive for the first time in a long time. We were never going to correct a series of bad windows over one summer but the new boys and returning loanees did some good work tonight and Hughes will have been pleased. COYR!

Oh and Targett. 2 assists in a 10 minute spell at right back..

Only 9 days left to flog him too

That was a good game. Conclusions:

- We must not sell Targett.

- Good tempo in the second half.

- New signings look sharp.

- Gabbi is really benefiting from not being a lone frontman.

- A few of our older hands need to be moved on.

Might have something to do with the screen blanking out after 35 mins?

I ended up watching it on a dodgy low def Turkish website. Celta gave up fixing their YouTube feed and took it down.

Might have something to do with the screen blanking out after 35 mins?

Or more likely that people prefer to moan. It is the same every game on here - a post match defeat thread is 30 pages, a post match win thread is about 10.

Hoj made a huge difference when he came on - hopefully this will be his breakout season. Armstrong looked good, and if he keeps up the inclination to drive forward in possession, that'll make a nice change. Aside from the tap-in, didn't see a lot from Elyounoussi, either in terms of pace, control or vision, though Tadic would probably have put it wide...

That was a good game. Conclusions:

 

- We must not sell Targett.

- Good tempo in the second half.

- New signings look sharp.

- Gabbi is really benefiting from not being a lone frontman.

- A few of our older hands need to be moved on.

Armstrong and the other guy that I can’t be arsed to spell correctly looked decent. Particularly liked the fact they both drove forward with the ball rather than our typical control, turn back and slow the game down. Whilst Tadic was dec t he was tooo guilty of slowing the play down.. be interest to see for a proper game

Enjoyed that - 1st half was OK, 2nd half much better. Missed chances 1st half, created and scored in the second.

Armstrong good, Gabbi looked sharp. JWP & Hoj have to play ahead of Romeu & Davis who looked shockingly off the pace. (or Lemina who didnt play)

We now have a massive defence but I just worry when the ball comes near them - aerially or on the deck. No change there.

Austin scored but did very little else [just like Harry Kane - LOL] perhaps he'll get 20 goals this season if he stays fit.

Gallagher is massive - may be useful this season?

Moi gave the ball away a lot - too early to tell with him. Would prefer Sims (who didnt play) or Redmond (who didnt play)

Well that’s our comeback of the season used up before we have even started!

 

All jokes aside, an okay game- we have some lapses of errors within us which need rectifying but otherwise some promising players to look forward to.

 

Bednarek looked on holiday still, Long’s first touch still atrocious, Davis looked leggy, and Romeu was not his usual self.

 

Apart from those 4, pleased with everyone else.

 

Well done to Targett, 2 much neede d assists.

Agree with this, but would add that the center backs looked slow and ponderous and when our play breaks down in midfield and the opposition counter they all looked out of position. Yes, young Targett looked useful, be silly to sell him. Armstrong is a breath of fresh air when we have the ball - always looking forward. Macca should be looking over his shoulder as Gunn is a very, very good keeper who will play for England at some point and hope it's whilst a Saint. All in all a game of two halves. 1st half started ok then we went to sh it making some very bad errors and were lucky to be only 2 down. Changes for 2nd half made a huge difference and we looked as good going forward as we did before Puel turned up and played safety first. Still a lot of work to do, especially on the defense but at least we don't look so toothless as we used to.

Only caught the first 25 minutes and the last 25 minutes, but thought we looked ok. Only saw the first and last goal so can't really comment to much. I did notice though that we appeared to have lots more efforts from outside of the box, to no effect in the first half, but set up the winner at the death. Perhaps that's something that Hughes has instilled into them, at least get a strike away.

Hoedt worries me when he has more than one touch of the ball, you can hear his brain cells turning over, he's far to slow of thought and ends up giving it away out of position. Just do the basics and give it to somebody who can play.

All in all though, a decent run out for most in the end, with lots of positives. Looking forward to coming down for Moenchengladbach on Saturday now.

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Even though losing at half time the Hughes influence was their for all to see.

Targett coming on as right wing back was a revelation and deserves to be kept here.

Gabbi looked much better as did Charlie.

Vestergard looks like he will do ok for us

Early days and still pre season but feeling happier

match ratings

mccarthy 5

gunn,7 looked very assured in control and a couple of nice saves when needed

bednarek 4, looked unconfident and out of his depth worst of our cbs tonight

stephens 6 looked a lot better then bednarek has a bit of a nasty streak which can also be good,prepared to make a foul if in trouble

vestergaard,7 looked strong and composed and quite comfortable on the ball, like what i saw from him

hoedt,6 not too bad still looks a bit clums at times but won a few headers and distribution reasonably good

bertrand 6 looks fit and ready decentish game

mqueen 4. nothing special really here

targett 8 2 great assists especially the second one, think we may have backup for both wingback positions in one player, boy done well

romeau 7 steady performance from him at times decent balanced performance of good defense and creative at times

davis.5 not really anything special from him meh

hojbjerg.7 i like this guy puts himself about well and has a warrior attitude. always seems fired up and cares alot love the energy he brings

armstrong 9. motm pretty much a vintage celtic highlight performance. is everywhere looks creative and showed his main strength with a well timed run and finish.

elyoounossi 6. was gonna give him a 5 as thought he was pretty poor end product wise and didnt really do a lot, lost posession a lot when in threatining areas.

ward prouse 7. looked sharp and pinged the ball around nicely when he came on, decent shot at end to creat the winner for elyououssi

gabbiadini 8. awesome game from him i thought . super movement and link up play looks like he can strike a good ball from distance decent link up play and hardly lost ball

austin 7 good header for goal decent showing, some good link up with gabbi

long 5 pretty poor for the most part bad defending for second goal.

gallagher,7 pretty impressed actually, can see what people are seeing in him, very decent physical presence and pacy to boot. has all the attributes

only watched the 2nd half. Enjoyed that.

 

We look so much more purposeful going forward compared to last season. Massive contrast.

Some good touches by our players and clearly looking to get it forward more quickly.

Armstrong looked very good as did Gabbi, Targett and Hoj.....

 

I worry like hell when teams counter on us, I think that will hit us.

Balls down the channel between Hoedt and Bertrand........

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Interested with Targett at RWB. When him and Shaw were coming through we were always told that Targett had the better technique and crossing.

100% - 3 pages of posts when losing 2-0...only one after we scored our first.

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FT

 

A good second half performance. Well done lads.

 

Let's build on that and cut out the silly mistakes at the back, yeah?

Yes, we looked a much better team in the 2nd half. The substitutes certainly made a difference. Good to see Charlie Austin scoring again. Targett was a revelation. His loan spell at Fulham has certainly done him a lot of good. Armstrong looks useful too. Some promising signs there.

Watched the last 20 minutes.

 

Not much time to assess, but encouraging. Pretty decent at times. Seem to be more forward-looking, and moving the ball quicker.

 

Hoedt managed to look wobbly.

 

Reed busy.

 

Gallagher mobile.

 

JWP in central midfield? Wonder how many games he'll really get there?

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I ended up watching it on a dodgy low def Turkish website. Celta gave up fixing their YouTube feed and took it down.

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Classic SaintsWeb [emoji38]

You sound surprised?

100% - 3 pages of posts when losing 2-0...only one after we scored our first.

And all the same moaners as usual

Some excellent performances and some who are never going to be good enough.

Those being McQueen, Romeu who needs far too much thinking time and generally lacks skill, Davis is completely finished now but then most of knew that.

Target, Gabbiadini, Austin, Prowsy and most of all Armstrong, Holg, all were class. Gunn looks cool too.

Thought JWP was good.

 

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Yes, a few of our players looked stronger, more confident and more effective than before, including Ward-Prowse, Stephens and Targett.

Really enjoyed Gabbi's performance. In fact, I think he's looked pretty sharp all pre-season. I think we all know that there is a clever player in there, so hopfeully we can see a bit more of that.

Armstrong looks quality, for very little outlay, he is exactly what we wanted when we signed Gaston and Boufal. Looks a really good fit for us.

Really feel uncomfortable watching Hoedt though.

Gabbi looks good, shock. Enjoyable game, plenty of positives and negatives. Typical pre season game. Looking forward to season

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A much improved second half, maybe the first half was exactly what we needed to get it out on the table for Hughes and the players. Still a week and a half to go of ore-season, and a win is better than a loss any day of the week.

Looking forward to singing that Enola Gay song a lot this coming season - Armstrong looks a very tidy player. And his hair is very fine too.

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Thought JWP was good.

 

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Yes. He looked tidy, sharp, some decent stuff. I wonder if he will feature in CM and make a starting place his own?

As i mentioned before, I really like Austin and Gabbi together up front. They link up pretty well, and both are a goal scoring threat (unlike a Redmond or Long). I think a 3-5-2 with Austin and Gabbi, Armstrong, MoEly, and Lemina may be the ticket.

Sign Sisto.

What was the problem with watching it on Saints' feed?

 

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It gave me a geo error when I tried it. The club’s streams don’t always work when you’re watching from abroad, unfortunately.