Spurs v Saints - Match Thread

[Dogs]

Enjoyed the game,thought Gabbi and JWP ran their butts off.

[simo]

Not cool


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Cool enough for them to call themselves it !? Welcome to the snowflake generation everybody

[Chez]

Totally agree that Gunn should get a chance, never been that bothered by McCarthy, was just better then Forster which wasn't hard, and his kicking is awful. Would also bring in Bednerek who is surely an upgrade on this ********.

Bednarek isn't better at all. He just about held his own when hidden in a firman defence, as Target did. Expose either of them in a four and they are not good enough.

[SaintMB]

On the match: Hard to be too harsh on the players. The way the formation and lineup has been all over the place this season, it's not a shock if there isn't much in they way of gelling going on.

[Lighthouse]

I just don't get the constant slagging off of one of our players. He might not be the most mobile of players but he's a goalscorer. He should already have at least 3 goals this season but for a poor referrering decision against Watford. He is quite clearly passionate too.

A shouty post match interview doesn’t make him any more passionate than anyone else in our squad. If he is a goal scorer, why has he just scored his first League goal - in December? It’s his 3rd League goal in 2018, his 15th in 3 years since he signed.

He is not a goal scorer.

[saintwbu]

Could've scored 5 or 6 goals, conceded 3 very soft goals. Pretty much the summary of our season, so good that Ralph got to see it in the flesh I guess. Tighten up that defence and we're on our way, how he does that I don't know but he's paid the money so fingers crossed he knows a way.

[Chez]

On the match: Hard to be too harsh on the players. The way the formation and lineup has been all over the place this season, it's not a shock if there isn't much in they way of gelling going on.

They play together every day...for a living. Don't excuse the players. They are not good enough. Actually don't blame the players, blame the scouts failing us time after time.

[angelman]

Look at this positively....what would have been better for the new manage - to see us scrape a draw, or to let goals in in the normal fashion?? OK the point would have been useful, but at least he can see what's what first hand. Maybe that is grasping at straws, but....

The interesting one for me is Austin vs Gabbi. I know Gabbi started amazingly for us back in 2017, but he has NEVER got into double figures in a league season throughout his whole career. Even Shane Long has managed that in the PL, and he managed over 20 in the Champ. Let's face it, Gabbi isn't good enough and never has been. He has an awful goal scoring record. We should move him on. His one good point though, is that he seemingly doesn't get injured that much.

[Lord Duckhunter]

A shouty post match interview doesn’t make him any more passionate than anyone else in our squad. If he is a goal scorer, why has he just scored his first League goal - in December? It’s his 3rd League goal in 2018, his 15th in 3 years since he signed.

He is not a goal scorer.

What a load of pony. If you asked every neutral fan & every manager in the English leagues, 95% of them would say that’s exactly what he is. Plenty of other faults, but goal scoring ain’t one of them


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[Chez]

Could've scored 5 or 6 goals, conceded 3 very soft goals. Pretty much the summary of our season, so good that Ralph got to see it in the flesh I guess. Tighten up that defence and we're on our way, how he does that I don't know but he's paid the money so fingers crossed he knows a way.

Hypnotism. Only way he will,convince anyone to take Forster off our hands. Do that and we have a **** load of wages available to pay someone that can actually defend.

[shurlock]

Absolutely dire atmosphere. We had some nice moments but ultimately we flattered in the same way we did there last season. We were never really in the game.

[beatlesaint]

A shouty post match interview doesn’t make him any more passionate than anyone else in our squad. If he is a goal scorer, why has he just scored his first League goal - in December? It’s his 3rd League goal in 2018, his 15th in 3 years since he signed.

He is not a goal scorer.

look at his career record and you might just find that actually he is.
And your stat to back it up is ******** considering he missed about half of the previous two seasons.
How many of our other strikers gave scored more than 15 in three years btw ?

[davefizzy14]

look at his career record and you might just find that actually he is.
And your stat to back it up is ******** considering he missed about half of the previous two seasons.
How many of our other strikers gave scored more than 15 in three years btw ?

Exactly this. At least there are some people on this forum who know something about football

[BotleySaint]

Actually think we could have drawn that if the defence wasn't so poor.

[Bexy]

look at his career record and you might just find that actually he is.
And your stat to back it up is ******** considering he missed about half of the previous two seasons.
How many of our other strikers gave scored more than 15 in three years btw ?

He knows where the net is and has a decent shot on him, and if you give him a chance in the box he is far more likely to score from it than any of our other profligate lightweights. That much is true.

But his ability to find that space for himself in the box is severely hampered by his lack of mobility, which has only got worse since he joined. Add in his inability to hold the ball up and bring others into play, his overall contribution to the team this season has been very poor.

[saintwbu]

look at his career record and you might just find that actually he is.
And your stat to back it up is ******** considering he missed about half of the previous two seasons.
How many of our other strikers gave scored more than 15 in three years btw ?

Agree completely, forced his way into the team the last two seasons under managers that didn't fancy him to begin with - and without him and his goals we'd have been relegated in both the two previous seasons. Amazing how quickly a fanbase can forget stuff.

[CanadaSaint]

Look at this positively....what would have been better for the new manage - to see us scrape a draw, or to let goals in in the normal fashion?? OK the point would have been useful, but at least he can see what's what first hand. Maybe that is grasping at straws, but....

I'm with you on this. Trying to detach from the natural game-to-game mentality for a minute (mostly negative because of the never-ending bad results), I'm wondering what the hell has actually happened. Have we really spent a p*sspot full of money on bad central defenders (who were hitherto well regarded enough to play for their national teams). Or have we turned decent defenders into error-prone disasters with our system? Today's errors were a barely tyro level, ball-watching embarrassment.

It almost looks like we get caught in a void between man-to-man and zonal marking, with nobody ever seeming to know what "mode" we're in - until it's too late.

I've always liked Yoshida but he has been awful for several games, and his ball-watching/back turning performance today was dire.

I guess we'll soon find out whether we really did buy crap CDs or whether the defensive system has actually been at the root of their errors.

A fresh set of eyes and all that ...

[trousers]

Whilst accepting that Spurs had several gears they could have moved up into, if we'd had the rub of the green (e.g. 3 strikes against the woodwork) then a draw wouldn't have been a totally outrageous result IMO.

That said, with the usual schoolboy errors in defence, and our cutting edge up front being blunter than a sponge, Ralph has certainly got his work cut out if he's going to haul us out of this relegation scrap.

[SuperSAINT]

That said, with the usual schoolboy errors in defence, and our cutting edge up front being blunter than a sponge, Ralph has certainly got his work cut out if he's going to haul us out of this relegation scrap.

What Trousers said. It's so hard for us to build any sort of winning platform when our defence is so rubbish.

[shurlock]

Whilst accepting that Spurs had several gears they could have moved up into, if we'd had the rub of the green (e.g. 3 strikes against the woodwork) then a draw wouldn't have been a totally outrageous result IMO.

That said, with the usual schoolboy errors in defence, and our cutting edge up front being blunter than a sponge, Ralph has certainly got his work cut out if he's going to haul us out of this relegation scrap.

We were pretty poor tbh. I left after 70mins (something which I rarely do) because I knew all the propaganda football in the world wouldn’t make up for the fact that we weren’t really in the game when it mattered.

[Mr Saints]

They were clinical, we were not. We created chances but same old story in front of goal. Still not sure how yoshida managed to re-direct the ball backwards when on the goal line. There were positives it we simply have to start winning soon

[DT]

We were pretty poor tbh. I left after 70mins (something which I rarely do) because I knew all the propaganda football in the world wouldn’t make up for the fact that we weren’t really in the game when it mattered.

Haven’t heard that phrase since old Strachan


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[trousers]

Spurs fan on the radio just now: "Southampton played well. They were unlucky not to get something out of the game. The scoreline flattered us"

[Lighthouse]

look at his career record and you might just find that actually he is.
And your stat to back it up is ******** considering he missed about half of the previous two seasons.
How many of our other strikers gave scored more than 15 in three years btw ?

1. ... that actually he WAS
2. So he rarely scores because he's never fit. That's no defence of a player.
3. Gabbiadini has 13 in 2 years. Ings has 4 this season. Austin has only outscored the hopeless Shane Long.

[Forester]

Left after 89 min so missed our goal!

Played some good stuff, hit the woodwork twice and numerous chances. Davis excellent in getting our creativity going.

However, regardless of what Ralph does to our attacking play we WILL go down unless he either can:

1. Coach defenders to actually defend, get touch tight and be aware of movement in the penalty area, or
2. Sign at least three new defenders in January

You cannot be required to score three or four every week to take any points from the game. Shame really as between the two boxes we look good but points are not won or lost there

[LaptopSaint]

Probably the worst stadium atmosphere i’ve ever seen in the Premier League. At least we had a laugh in the away end.

We played like a team waiting for a new manager. Should’ve scored at least one more but Spurs stopped playing after our third basic defensive mistake.

A step backwards from Fulham and Man U for me. All yours Ralph. COYR.

[SuperSAINT]

Probably the worst stadium atmosphere i’ve ever seen in the Premier League. At least we had a laugh in the away end.

We played like a team waiting for a new manager. Should’ve scored at least one more but Spurs stopped playing after our third basic defensive mistake.

A step backwards from Fulham and Man U for me. All yours Ralph. COYR.

The good thing is Ralph would have seen in this game our season in a nutshell.

Concede silly goals. Can't score enough goals.

[Dusic]

At least RH saw our biggest problems.

We are so nice to play against. Rarely make crunching tackles, lightweight CBs, had Targett and JWP marking Kane and Dier at corners.

We are a really poor side in both boxes and Hasenhuttl has his work cut out.

In attack, Redmond got better as the game went on and showed he can beat a man - need him in a central position.

Yoshida was absolutely dreadful, equally as bad as anything Hoedt has shown this season IMO.

Can we stay up without signing a good CB in January? I'm not sure we can.

[SuperSAINT]

At least RH saw our biggest problems.

We are so nice to play against. Rarely make crunching tackles, lightweight CBs, had Targett and JWP marking Kane and Dier at corners.

We are a really poor side in both boxes and Hasenhuttl has his work cut out.

In attack, Redmond got better as the game went on and showed he can beat a man - need him in a central position.

Yoshida was absolutely dreadful, equally as bad as anything Hoedt has shown this season IMO.

Can we stay up without signing a good CB in January? I'm not sure we can.

Would you add a striker to that list?

[woodsaint]

Bertrand has his critics on here but hes head and shoulders above Targett

[scotty]

Comedy defending apart, I actually thought we looked decent in the second half. The type of run we're on you never get the run of the ball, we were unlucky not to score at least one more and probably two. What was it, three strikes on the woodwork plus a couple of wonder saves from the world cup winning keeper?

[Mosin]

Good game, a lot of chances created, poor defending as normal, we had the more chances with JWP creating the most on the pitch...…… WOW for such a crap player he creates a lot of chances...… Spurs just took the chances they had and we hit the woodwork 3 times...…. Not happy with the defeat, but was happy with the overall performance

[whelk]

Who was MOTM? Lloris
We couldn’t have been hang bad then. Storms off

Big Ron interview after Saints v Coventry

[Lord Duckhunter]

Comedy defending apart, I actually thought we looked decent in the second half. The type of run we're on you never get the run of the ball, we were unlucky not to score at least one more and probably two. What was it, three strikes on the woodwork plus a couple of wonder saves from the world cup winning keeper?

Easy to play when you’re 3 down and the other side are going through the motions.

When it mattered we bottled it. Had we got to 3-1 earlier or 3-2 they’d have stepped up and our soft mentality would have kicked in.

People shouldn’t kid themselves, we were a million miles from getting anything out of this.


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[doddisalegend]

Bertrand has his critics on here but hes head and shoulders above Targett

its not Bertrand's ability that has ever been in question its his commitment to the cause.

[HedgeEnder]

Good game, a lot of chances created, poor defending as normal, we had the more chances with JWP creating the most on the pitch...…… WOW for such a crap player he creates a lot of chances...… Spurs just took the chances they had and we hit the woodwork 3 times...…. Not happy with the defeat, but was happy with the overall performance

Agreed. Thought saints played pretty well and the atmosphere in the away end was generally positive throughout the game. We were unlucky not to get something out of the game. Dreadful home support but at least made it easy getting away from Wembley!

[doddisalegend]

Good game, a lot of chances created, poor defending as normal, we had the more chances with JWP creating the most on the pitch...…… WOW for such a crap player he creates a lot of chances...… Spurs just took the chances they had and we hit the woodwork 3 times...…. Not happy with the defeat, but was happy with the overall performance

We only created chances because spurs where coasting along in first gear with the game all sown up. If we had shown any sign of getting into the game they would have gone up a couple of gears and smashed us. As it was this was a nice easy game for them after some tough fixtures and with big games coming up...spurs probably haven't had an easier games than the one tonight all season.

[Mosin]

We only created chances because spurs where coasting along in first gear with the game all sown up. If we had shown any sign of getting into the game they would have gone up a couple of gears and smashed us. As it was this was a nice easy game for them after some tough fixtures and with big games coming up...spurs probably haven't had an easier games than the one tonight all season.

We matched them in the first half and played the better stuff 2nd half. hit the woodwork 3 times, we more than deserved a point and played very well all game apart from the poor defending.

[Lord Duckhunter]

We matched them in the first half and played the better stuff 2nd half. hit the woodwork 3 times, we more than deserved a point and played very well all game apart from the poor defending.

Wake up man. It’s easy to play when the games lost. They were playing in their arm chairs.


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[Dark Munster]

Actually think we could have drawn that if the defence wasn't so poor.

If hitting the woodwork was counted as a goal we would've drawn 4-4.

[SaintStinger]

1. ... that actually he WAS
2. So he rarely scores because he's never fit. That's no defence of a player.
3. Gabbiadini has 13 in 2 years. Ings has 4 this season. Austin has only outscored the hopeless Shane Long.

Gabbi has 12 in 3 years. Or will be 3 years in Jan.

[ericofarabia]

Comedy defending apart, I actually thought we looked decent in the second half. The type of run we're on you never get the run of the ball, we were unlucky not to score at least one more and probably two. What was it, three strikes on the woodwork plus a couple of wonder saves from the world cup winning keeper?

Woodwork 3 times, couple of great saves from the keeper (although simple dinks over him would have done the job twice), 2 glaring misses by Armstrong (although offside each time) a WTF was Davis thinking when he passed instead of shooting and Yoshi doing a better job of defending at the wrong end by clearing JWP's free kick off the line ......

BUT and a very big BUT .... you just felt if Spurs needed to they could have shifted up a few gears and scored more easily!!

[Toomer]

Watched the game on line if we had not gifted them goals and could score it could have been a different outcome.

[doddisalegend]

Watched the game on line if we had not gifted them goals and could score it could have been a different outcome.

ermmm so if we had played better and they played worse we'd have won. for me at least it seemed like spurs never got out of second gear it always felt like they could take up a few more notches if we actually started to get into the game but they never needed to.

[JustMike]

True to form - a shed load of chances, missed them and conceded ****e goals from defenders watching the ball. Over to you Ralph...

[Cabrone]

Nothing unexpected in that game, Spurs hammered us in the 1st half and then went on cruise mode in the 2nd. Glad Ralph was there, I just hope he knows of a few decent cheap strikers and CBs - we are in big need.

Would be tempted to pick Charlie on Saturday, his entire worth is in goals and having finally gotten one I'd like to see if it triggers a little run. Up till now he's not really been worth a place in the team but a burst of Austin goals over the next month could be the difference between staying up and going down. It's not as if any of the others are scoring is it.

[Bexy]

Gabbi has 12 in 3 years. Or will be 3 years in Jan.

No it won't. He joined in Jan 2017. Shortly before the cup final.

[beatlesaint]

2. So he rarely scores because he's never fit. That's no defence of a player.

Not defending him, just pointing out how your stat to beat him with is very flawed

[trousers]

ermmm so if we had played better and they played worse we'd have won. for me at least it seemed like spurs never got out of second gear it always felt like they could take up a few more notches if we actually started to get into the game but they never needed to.

The thing is, even when a team goes up a few gears there's no guarantee that they'll convert the increased number of chances they'll get. There are plenty of games like last night where the team coasting along get pipped by the team going full tilt depending on the rub of the green. All ifs and buts I know but the bottom line is we had enough decent chances and near misses to nick a point, despite Spurs not being in top gear.

[DT]

We desperately need a coach who knows about defending to join the management team. My nomination is to lure John Terry


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