Saints 0 Newcastle 0 - Post Match

Like a pub team. Same as us. Worst two premier league teams on one pitch at the same time. The board are asleep at the wheel and hoping three times are worse than us is where we are. Shambles.

Trouble is though that Cardiff, Huddersfield and Fulham have all on occasion shown a bit of spirit and fight, qualities beyond most of our gutless crew, certainly for all of them to show it in the same match. Fulham will no doubt find the form they've been lacking against us late November, possibly with a new manager. Cardiff will see the home fixture in December as a "must win" and be up for it.

We are the 2018 version of Sunderland. Bloated squad of overpaid average players. Relegation looks likely. Two or three seasons at a lower level to sort out the financial mess. Owner needs to sell. Top brass need to be fired. Depressing.

Match of the Day highlights can be very misleading, did you see the whole game?

I was there and it honestly wouldn't have looked out of place in League 2, two utterly appalling teams, we were just slightly less appalling than they were.

You say the strikers have to take some blame and that is true, but it's the manager who keeps picking the same failing players week in week out.

 

The fact there are still four teams below us shows how garbage this league really is.

Couldn’t agree more. Some moments of comical Sunday league play at times too, although that really does a disservice to those who are involved in Sunday league football. Going has started to feel like an inconvenience which is something I hate to admit.

The three points would have been in the bag if Redmond either had a football brain / was a team player. Austin would have had the easiest of tap-ins, had Redmond played the easiest pass to Austin who was standing just a few yards to his left clear of any defenders. Instead Redmond thought the easier option was to go for goal when their keeper had his near post well covered and with a tight angle to the far post. There were several other half chances which could have been converted with the rub of the green, but Redmond's was the gold plated one, and I hope that his team mates gave him a rollicking for not allowing Austin to take it for the team.

The three points would have been in the bag if Redmond either had a football brain / was a team player. Austin would have had the easiest of tap-ins, had Redmond played the easiest pass to Austin who was standing just a few yards to his left clear of any defenders. Instead Redmond thought the easier option was to go for goal when their keeper had his near post well covered and with a tight angle to the far post. There were several other half chances which could have been converted with the rub of the green, but Redmond's was the gold plated one, and I hope that his team mates gave him a rollicking for not allowing Austin to take it for the team.

Les, it was Moi, not Redmond who failed to square the ball. Sounds like you’ve been too busy watching Pat Condell videos than paying attention to the game pal

The three points would have been in the bag if Redmond either had a football brain / was a team player. Austin would have had the easiest of tap-ins, had Redmond played the easiest pass to Austin who was standing just a few yards to his left clear of any defenders. Instead Redmond thought the easier option was to go for goal when their keeper had his near post well covered and with a tight angle to the far post. There were several other half chances which could have been converted with the rub of the green, but Redmond's was the gold plated one, and I hope that his team mates gave him a rollicking for not allowing Austin to take it for the team.

Wasn’t as bad as elyounoussi not squaring to Austin first half.

The three points would have been in the bag if Redmond either had a football brain / was a team player. Austin would have had the easiest of tap-ins, had Redmond played the easiest pass to Austin who was standing just a few yards to his left clear of any defenders. Instead Redmond thought the easier option was to go for goal when their keeper had his near post well covered and with a tight angle to the far post. There were several other half chances which could have been converted with the rub of the green, but Redmond's was the gold plated one, and I hope that his team mates gave him a rollicking for not allowing Austin to take it for the team.

Not defending Redmond at all, but if we're going to assign blame for a player not passing to a team-mate in a much better position, then surely Mo's failure to square it to a completely un-marked Ings for the easiest of tap-ins in the first 10 minutes is far more damning.

Match of the Day highlights can be very misleading, did you see the whole game?

I was there and it honestly wouldn't have looked out of place in League 2, two utterly appalling teams, we were just slightly less appalling than they were.

You say the strikers have to take some blame and that is true, but it's the manager who keeps picking the same failing players week in week out.

The fact there are still four teams below us shows how garbage this league really is.

That's part of the problem though you look through the whole squad and you realise their aren't really any major upgrades throughout the squad just a lot of players who are all pretty average. We all have our own ideas of best squad and formation but since Puel we've tried a lot of formations and almost ever member of the squad has had chances to make an impact and all have pretty much failed to do so. For example everyone is calling for Gabbi over Austin (no complaints from me) but you just know if Gabbi does get a run he'll still end up doing sweet FA. The only position in our squad that feels good enough for the PL is goalkeeper where we have two very good options now.

Not defending Redmond at all, but if we're going to assign blame for a player not passing to a team-mate in a much better position, then surely Mo's failure to square it to a completely un-marked Ings for the easiest of tap-ins in the first 10 minutes is far more damning.

It was an unmarked Austin, not Ings.

The three points would have been in the bag if Redmond either had a football brain / was a team player. Austin would have had the easiest of tap-ins, had Redmond played the easiest pass to Austin who was standing just a few yards to his left clear of any defenders. Instead Redmond thought the easier option was to go for goal when their keeper had his near post well covered and with a tight angle to the far post. There were several other half chances which could have been converted with the rub of the green, but Redmond's was the gold plated one, and I hope that his team mates gave him a rollicking for not allowing Austin to take it for the team.

Redmond has apparently created the most goal scoring chances in the squad this season and has zero assists... maybe he figured it was a waste of time trying to tee it up for our useless strikers to smash into the corner flag or row z....

That's part of the problem though you look through the whole squad and you realise their aren't really any major upgrades throughout the squad just a lot of players who are all pretty average. We all have our own ideas of best squad and formation but since Puel we've tried a lot of formations and almost ever member of the squad has had chances to make an impact and all have pretty much failed to do so. For example everyone is calling for Gabbi over Austin (no complaints from me) but you just now if Gabbi does get a run he'll still end up doing sweet FA. The only position in our squad that feels good enough for the PL is goalkeeper where we have two very good options now.

Frankly I would try Lemina behind Ings. He played further upfield at Marseille and is the one player who looks dynamic and dangerous in space.

Redmond has apparently created the most goal scoring chances in the squad this season and has zero assists... maybe he figured it was a waste of time trying to tee it up for our useless strikers to smash into the corner flag or row z....

Or Les has got himself in a muddle as the only goldplated chance with an unmarked Austin involved Moi, not Redmond in the first half.

Yes, you're right. I got the impression that on MOTD they had said it was Redmond, but having seen the highlights on the Saints site, it was clearly Elyounoussi. As I said earlier, what exactly is the point of him? Redmond should have made the return pass to Ings though when he was in space central to the goal, but he shot over instead.

Frankly I would try Lemina behind Ings. He played further upfield at Marseille and is the one player who looks dynamic and dangerous in space.

When you have both Hojbjerg and Lemina available, both are equally adept at roving forward and Hojbjerg also looks dynamic and dangerous in space, with probably the better shot from distance on him.

Frankly I would try Lemina behind Ings. He played further upfield at Marseille and is the one player who looks dynamic and dangerous in space.

Good shout

When you have both Hojbjerg and Lemina available, both are equally adept at roving forward and Hojbjerg also looks dynamic and dangerous in space, with probably the better shot from distance on him.

Lemina is the more creative player. Frankly I would have Hobjerg and Romeu sit with Lemina further upfield in the old Davis role (Hoj would still have licence to make runs). Maybe that’s why we brought Armstrong in but he hasn’t shown enough. I’d rather play our 11 best players and trust their versatility (and Lemina has played virtually every position in his career) than go with downgrades (esp up top) just to fit a formation.

Yes, you're right. I got the impression that on MOTD they had said it was Redmond, but having seen the highlights on the Saints site, it was clearly Elyounoussi. As I said earlier, what exactly is the point of him? Redmond should have made the return pass to Ings though when he was in space central to the goal, but he shot over instead.

Wes, Ings was slightly behind him and so may not have seen the player, also had he passed it would have been wrong as Ings had 2 players by him.

It seems to me that the players had been instructed to shoot if in a position to

Have you ever watched a L2 game?

 

I was at the game too. Apart from commitment and determination in the final third, and composed finishing, we were ok.

 

Not brilliant, but not bad either.

 

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We'll have to disagree then, yes I have seen L2 games before and some of the stuff we saw yesterday was on a par. Panicky sliced clearances, aimless hoofs and plenty of wayward passes not to mention the awful finishing and decision making in front of goal. Two very poor teams, although we still should have won.

That's part of the problem though you look through the whole squad and you realise their aren't really any major upgrades throughout the squad just a lot of players who are all pretty average. We all have our own ideas of best squad and formation but since Puel we've tried a lot of formations and almost ever member of the squad has had chances to make an impact and all have pretty much failed to do so. For example everyone is calling for Gabbi over Austin (no complaints from me) but you just know if Gabbi does get a run he'll still end up doing sweet FA. The only position in our squad that feels good enough for the PL is goalkeeper where we have two very good options now.

I agree to a point, although if Gabbi was starting every game I bet he would get more goals than Austin and Long combined (not hard I know). Not saying he's amazing but imo he is our best striker, yet hasn't been given a proper run in the team for nearly two years now, it's hardly surprising his shooting is a bit rusty when he comes on for cameos here and there.

And why not give Gallagher a chance? Again he couldn't possibly do worse. Hughes is just picking the same failures again and again and hoping it will come good, as Pellegrino did.

Frankly I would try Lemina behind Ings. He played further upfield at Marseille and is the one player who looks dynamic and dangerous in space.

Or Armstrong. Armstrong is clearly an attacking midfielder behind the striker kind of player swapping to 4-4-2 has left him without a role in the team.

edit. just seen your next post.

I’m still trying to work out how Austin managed to tackle Ings not just once, but twice during the game. Comical stuff.

Lemina is the more creative player. Frankly I would have Hobjerg and Romeu sit with Lemina further upfield in the old Davis role (Hoj would still have licence to make runs). Maybe that’s why we brought Armstrong in but he hasn’t shown enough. I’d rather play our 11 best players and trust their versatility (and Lemina has played virtually every position in his career) than go with downgrades (esp up top) just to fit a formation.

I would have Romeu as the midfield backstop with Lemina and Hojbjerg as attacking midfielders ahead of him. My only reservation is that Romeu is sometimes prone to giving away free kicks on the edge of the box. Lemina also lacks consistency, sometimes very good, sometimes seeming to not bother that much. But if you have all three on the pitch, with two strikers, where do you play a creative player? That is more a problem when you have a more talented player like Tadic, rather than Elyounoussi, Redmond or J W-P. I would feel inclined to believe that both Lemina and Hojbjerg are better able to win the midfield and then put through the balls to the strikers than the others.

It could work with a 4-3-3, Romeu sitting deeper than Lemina and Hojbjerg, with Ings in the middle of Gabbiadini and Redmond/J W-P.

As it stands, Armstrong hasn't yet proved to be Davis' replacement, Elyuonoussi isn't a Tadic replacement, Vestergaard or Hoedt don't replace Van-Dijk, Redmond doesn't really replace anybody, and we have't after all this time properly replaced Pelle, even with Ings in my opinion. The only areas where we have par arguably, is with Lemina and Hojbjerg against Wanyama and Schneiderlin, and by taking Crystal Palace's reject goalkeeper McCarthy and a rookie good prospect youngster, Gunn, we have two better goalkeepers than Forster.

Just watched the highlights(?) on MOTD. The players should be made to watch it and listen to Jermaine Jenas's comments. He actually made some really good points about their decision making and lack of composure. There are clearly communication problems between players.

Hughes spunking in his pants over how well our defence did, Newcastle didn’t even bother to attack, soon as we play half decent side, Hoedt will become a liability once more. Mess.

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We'll have to disagree then, yes I have seen L2 games before and some of the stuff we saw yesterday was on a par. Panicky sliced clearances, aimless hoofs and plenty of wayward passes not to mention the awful finishing and decision making in front of goal. Two very poor teams, although we still should have won.

 

 

 

I agree to a point, although if Gabbi was starting every game I bet he would get more goals than Austin and Long combined (not hard I know). Not saying he's amazing but imo he is our best striker, yet hasn't been given a proper run in the team for nearly two years now, it's hardly surprising his shooting is a bit rusty when he comes on for cameos here and there.

 

And why not give Gallagher a chance? Again he couldn't possibly do worse. Hughes is just picking the same failures again and again and hoping it will come good, as Pellegrino did.

The weird thing is that Hughes in his post match Solent interview paraphrased Einstein’s supposed quotation about the definition of madness being doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results - and yet he still picks Austin.....[emoji849][emoji849][emoji848]

Hughes spunking in his pants over how well our defence did, Newcastle didn’t even bother to attack, soon as we play half decent side, Hoedt will become a liability once more. Mess.

 

 

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Your obsession with Hoedt is just odd

Infuriating, athough I thought there were mostly OK performances with the exceptions of Austin, Bertrand, Romeu and Mo.

Hughes made big errors not starting JWP and Long / Gabbiadini. JWP isn't a dynamic player, but he is a lot more creative and likely to create an opening than Romeu. And elsewhere we decided to lump balls down the channel for Austin, which is hardly his game. Poor gameplan, and worrying times.

Perhaps Tadic is more of a loss than we thought it might be. But of a creativity desert, St Mary's. But I think it goes deeper. The training and coaching set up appears all wrong, with no expertise. If we change the manager, the new one should be able to bring in an entire back room staff. And I think we should do this now. Who is another matter.

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Hughes spunking in his pants over how well our defence did, Newcastle didn’t even bother to attack, soon as we play half decent side, Hoedt will become a liability once more. Mess.

 

 

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We kept Bournemouth out, many teams this season have failed there, defensively we’re actually doing OK. Obviously Man City will be a different story

Haven't scored since Long and Ings started together agaimst Brighton. Shocked we haven't gone back to that since and we absolutely need to if we are to stand any chance of getting out of our half against City next week.

We kept Bournemouth out, many teams this season have failed there, defensively we’re actually doing OK. Obviously Man City will be a different story

Looking at Hughes, he was sacked at Stoke after they lost the plot defensively, It seems to me that he is now over compensating for that by focusing on defending with us to the detriment of attacking. It's the only part of the pitch where he seems to have found something that in any way works and he has been quite brave in dropping our main summer defensive reinforcement to do it.

Highlight of yesterday was getting home firing up the Woodburner and pouring a glass of Red.

I have seen some crud over many years of watching Saints, but that yesterday was bouncing along the bottom (the odd moment when football broke out being the top of a bounce!). Newcastle were woeful and we weren’t far behind. You certainly have to question what the dickens they do in training all week as the amount of times the player with the ball looked up and no bugger was showing for them, summed up perfectly when Jack Stephens hoofed one right up in the air and whilst the ball was in flight just shouted and looked at his team mates with the body language of WTF are you doing?!!! Amazingly Charlie Austin did actually win the ball as it returned to earth.

Once again you have to ask the question as to how is Ryan Bertrand Captain? Certainly we get odd flashes from him, but in reality these are peppered with half baked trotting back into defencive positions with a very laissez faire attitude.

Without doubt we missed PEH yesterday.

There have been comments about Hughes not bothering to watch academy games and not willing to give a nipper a run in case it goes wrong and reflects badly on him - keep rolling out the same forward line every damn week and, pay off aside, persisting with what you have been up front will reflect badly on you anyway matey.

Wes, Ings was slightly behind him and so may not have seen the player, also had he passed it would have been wrong as Ings had 2 players by him.

It seems to me that the players had been instructed to shoot if in a position to

This may be to the detriment of the strikers, midfield not creating for them with movement and forward bursts but bypassing them instead with aimless (!!) shooting, hence 20 odd shots but only half a dozen on target.

Highlight of yesterday was getting home firing up the Woodburner and pouring a glass of Red.

 

I have seen some crud over many years of watching Saints, but that yesterday was bouncing along the bottom (the odd moment when football broke out being the top of a bounce!). Newcastle were woeful and we weren’t far behind. You certainly have to question what the dickens they do in training all week as the amount of times the player with the ball looked up and no bugger was showing for them, summed up perfectly when Jack Stephens hoofed one right up in the air and whilst the ball was in flight just shouted and looked at his team mates with the body language of WTF are you doing?!!! Amazingly Charlie Austin did actually win the ball as it returned to earth.

 

Once again you have to ask the question as to how is Ryan Bertrand Captain? Certainly we get odd flashes from him, but in reality these are peppered with half baked trotting back into defencive positions with a very laissez faire attitude.

Without doubt we missed PEH yesterday.

 

There have been comments about Hughes not bothering to watch academy games and not willing to give a nipper a run in case it goes wrong and reflects badly on him - keep rolling out the same forward line every damn week and, pay off aside, persisting with what you have been up front will reflect badly on you anyway matey.

Its time to give Gallagher a go. Our experienced strikers can't do it, if Gallagher fails it won't be any worse than Austin, Long and Gabbi. Put Gallagher out there with Ings and see what happens. Unfortunately the real problem again is our creatiive midfields, Redmond and Moi realy are creating very little quality ball, but our strikers are clearly not up for it when they do deliver. The annoying thing is that we don't have any options for Redmond/Moi, though I would be tempted to try Targett out there ahead of Bertrand.

Perhaps Tadic is more of a loss than we thought it might be. But of a creativity desert, St Mary's. But I think it goes deeper. The training and coaching set up appears all wrong, with no expertise. If we change the manager, the new one should be able to bring in an entire back room staff. And I think we should do this now. Who is another matter.

 

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Quite a lot of us fully expected him to be a big loss.

Too much being made of our 'defensive' performance yesterday. We were up against a team who didn't attack us, didn't push us, didn't commit and run at us.

We didn't have to defend. If we had conceeded yesterday then we should have just given up and gone home, given that they didn't really want to score.

Too much being made of our 'defensive' performance yesterday. We were up against a team who didn't attack us, didn't push us, didn't commit and run at us.

 

We didn't have to defend. If we had conceeded yesterday then we should have just given up and gone home, given that they didn't really want to score.

Highlight of yesterday was getting home firing up the Woodburner and pouring a glass of Red.

I only do that when we win.

My wood burner is covered in spider web and my Red has gone off.

For me the most telling post on here is the one where a person quotes parents of a new player who are purported to have said that training is like a holiday camp compared to his last club. If true this speaks absolute volumes as to why we are so poor. You cannot possibly expect to compete at this level unless you do the hard work in training and are professional about it. Prime examples of managers who understood this are Strachan and Pochetino. No surprise that they produced good sides. If the coaching staff allow the players to treat training like a holiday camp they cannot expect to compete with sides who are fitter and better prepared. They will be found out every time. I'm not suggesting this is our only problem but it is one that is of our own making if the quote is true and there can be no excuses for this when you consider the amount of money these coaches and players are paid. They are cheating the fans.

Looking at Hughes, he was sacked at Stoke after they lost the plot defensively, It seems to me that he is now over compensating for that by focusing on defending with us to the detriment of attacking.

This is complete pony. We’re not particularly defensive at all. We should have won the last 2 games, created enough clear chances to win them, particularly at Boscombe, but our forwards are duds and our midfield don’t score goals. Replacing Lemina with Armstrong at Boscombe & OR with JWP is not the actions of a manager over compensating defensively. Not at 0-0, it’s not.

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For me, with the personnel we have, I would pick the following team. That leaves the likes of Ings, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Long, to make an impact from the bench. Cue the abuse!

Gunn

Cedric Stephens Vestergaard Bertrand

Romeu Hojbjerg

Ward-Prowse Lemina Redmond

Gabbi

you watch us flop about with 3 at the back against city with Austin leading the line

For me, with the personnel we have, I would pick the following team. That leaves the likes of Ings, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Long, to make an impact from the bench. Cue the abuse!

 

Gunn

Cedric Stephens Vestergaard Bertrand

Romeu Hojbjerg

Ward-Prowse Lemina Redmond

Gabbi

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you watch us flop about with 3 at the back against city with Austin leading the line

Not a chance, Hughes isn't that stupid. Austin will be dropped for a centre back, Ings up top.

I’ve just seen the league table, I think Hughes has got it right.

Don’t score and don’t concede any goals will see us safe.

Quite exciting really knowing we will stay in the premiership for another year.

I’ve just seen the league table, I think Hughes has got it right.

Don’t score and don’t concede any goals will see us safe.

Quite exciting really knowing we will stay in the premiership for another year.

Better adjust your criteria to fire up the woodburner and get some more wine in!!

For me, with the personnel we have, I would pick the following team. That leaves the likes of Ings, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Long, to make an impact from the bench. Cue the abuse!

 

Gunn

Cedric Stephens Vestergaard Bertrand

Romeu Hojbjerg

Ward-Prowse Lemina Redmond

Gabbi

What has McCarthy done to be dropped?

What has McCarthy done to be dropped?

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For me, with the personnel we have, I would pick the following team. That leaves the likes of Ings, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Long, to make an impact from the bench. Cue the abuse!

 

Gunn

Cedric Stephens Vestergaard Bertrand

Romeu Hojbjerg

Ward-Prowse Lemina Redmond

Gabbi

Two clean sheets so you drop Hoedt, McCarthy has done nothing wrong, JWP is stealing a living. I do however like this formation and would like to find space for Ings and Gabbi

Hughes is just picking the same failures again and again and hoping it will come good, as Pellegrino did.

The weird thing is that Hughes in his post match Solent interview paraphrased Einstein’s supposed quotation about the definition of madness being doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results - and yet he still picks Austin.....[emoji849][emoji849][emoji848]

This is my frustration as well. Hughes doesn't think we are doing anything awry. He thinks we are just unlucky and that we should keep on doing what we have been doing all along and over time it will come right. What's that comment about give a team of monkeys enough time and enough keyboards and one day they will knock out the complete works of Shakespeare?

Its time to give Gallagher a go. Our experienced strikers can't do it, if Gallagher fails it won't be any worse than Austin, Long and Gabbi. Put Gallagher out there with Ings and see what happens. Unfortunately the real problem again is our creatiive midfields, Redmond and Moi realy are creating very little quality ball, but our strikers are clearly not up for it when they do deliver. The annoying thing is that we don't have any options for Redmond/Moi, though I would be tempted to try Targett out there ahead of Bertrand.

Agree completely. Unfortunately Hughes seems to think the continually useless long deserves a million chances whereas Gallagher has had 20 bright minutes in the league cup.