Saints vs Norwich - Build-up

All those who want Redmond dropped for this game are forgetting that Norwich is his old club and ex-players have a habit of scoring against their old clubs. If he is going to be dropped, this is not the time to do it.

He'll be even more "up for it" if he has to come off the bench to prove a point with, say, 30 minutes remaining.

We win and Everton lose.....Happy Days!!

He'll be even more "up for it" if he has to come off the bench to prove a point with, say, 30 minutes remaining.

Quite. And he was really not very good against Watford. Compounded by being mystified why he of all people was being taken off

Works for me.

 

Basically same team but of consider Valery for Cedric, Boufal for Redmond and maybe Long for Obafemi.

 

Redmond, Adams, Romeu Obafemi the main bench options.

 

 

 

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I suspect Redmond is one of the undroppable ones in Ralph's thinking

^^ This

Don't understand those that want Long on the field. He missed two absolute sitters on Saturday. I know Adams hasn't scored but surely he'd have scored those chances, the second one was harder to miss than score, don't know how he managed it.

I do not care so much who plays, besides not knowing the players for years like most of the other forum members here. i think the key issue will be how RH can implement his style into the heads and bodies of his players, taking into account the opponents expected style.

Don't understand those that want Long on the field. He missed two absolute sitters on Saturday. I know Adams hasn't scored but surely he'd have scored those chances, the second one was harder to miss than score, don't know how he managed it.

Yes, but things seem to happen, when he gets on the pitch, and he creates goal-scoring opportunities. The only problem, as you point out, is his inability to get the ball in the net. It's a conundrum.

Don't understand those that want Long on the field. He missed two absolute sitters on Saturday. I know Adams hasn't scored but surely he'd have scored those chances, the second one was harder to miss than score, don't know how he managed it.

Nothing like seeing what you want to see, the first chance was a pass behind him he did well to get something on it and Foster just managed to touch it onto the bar, not too bad an effort at all. The second the ball was shin height and a better touch would have scored. He just didn't make a good enough contact. Ings missed one completely against MU trying to use his preferred foot. It's the way it goes in football.

Good point! Mods, close my one!

Sorry mate. No idea how I missed that!

(Gotta be a joke in there somewhere).

Nothing like seeing what you want to see, the first chance was a pass behind him he did well to get something on it and Foster just managed to touch it onto the bar, not too bad an effort at all. The second the ball was shin height and a better touch would have scored. He just didn't make a good enough contact. Ings missed one completely against MU trying to use his preferred foot. It's the way it goes in football.

Actually that's not true. I like Long, I think he's a good professional and good at pressurizing opposing defenders into mistakes. I just feel that he is missing more and more guilt-edged chances, the kind of which we are barely able to waste. I get your point though, Ingsy missed an absolute sitter to equalize against Liverpool and he's doing great now. I just feel that we need to get Adams in and scoring just in case something happens to Ings. I'm not sure Longy has the legs to do 90 minutes regularly anymore.

Actually that's not true. I like Long, I think he's a good professional and good at pressurizing opposing defenders into mistakes. I just feel that he is missing more and more guilt-edged chances, the kind of which we are barely able to waste. I get your point though, Ingsy missed an absolute sitter to equalize against Liverpool and he's doing great now. I just feel that we need to get Adams in and scoring just in case something happens to Ings. I'm not sure Longy has the legs to do 90 minutes regularly anymore.

Long's top flight days should be behind him now. No other Premier League club would accept him. He gets no goals and no assists and mostly just gives possession away to the opposition. The fact that we have to resort to bringing him on when we need a goal just reflects how poor our squad is.

These are his stats: https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/shane-long/leistungsdaten/spieler/37304

I suspect Redmond is one of the undroppable ones in Ralph's thinking

Don't understand those that want Long on the field. He missed two absolute sitters on Saturday. I know Adams hasn't scored but surely he'd have scored those chances, the second one was harder to miss than score, don't know how he managed it.

Just shows the state of our recruitment that Long is still an option for us. Hes been poor for a number of years, but outside Ings who else do we have? Still believe that Adams can be a good option, just needs a goal or two (and some luck) to get his confidence back. You can apply the same poor recruitment to our defence (still relying on Yoshida and Stephens) and midfield (Romeu). The new recruitment expert (whoever that may be) and Matt Crocker have their work cut out going forward

It is a shame that Armstrong gets injured just as he starts to get a run in the team. He could be an important player for us. Given our poor form at home and the fact that Norwich are showing a bit of form, I am going for a draw.

I suspect Redmond is one of the undroppable ones in Ralph's thinking

You're probably right, but that doesn't stop it being absolutely mental to have 'undroppables' in a team that has had such a rubbish season. Twelve league games, 1 goal 0 assists and his best performance was a cameo as a sub in the cup against Pompey.

agree with the calls for boufal to start for redmond, hehas been terrible lately. no threat whatsoever, cutting in and skying it into the crowd. but he has been linking up well with bertie

id play boufal keep obafemi, give him one more game to score. adams got like 8 and didnt score. but what is it with our strikers minus ings being so inconsistent. but got the feeling ralph loves redmond too much and we will end up with the same **** first half

McCarthy

Valery Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

JWP Armstrong Hojbjerg

Redmond Ings Djenepo

I prefer Boufal off the bench as he is a great 'impact sub' but has often disappointed when starting !

Only IMHO !

McCarthy

Valery Yoshida Bednarek Bertrand

JWP Armstrong Hojbjerg

Redmond Ings Djenepo

 

I prefer Boufal off the bench as he is a great 'impact sub' but has often disappointed when starting !

Only IMHO !

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Long shouldn't be anywhere near starting, I don't begrudge him being used in that sort of role, impact sub to cause problems with his running and physicality, plus by all accounts he is a well liked member of the squad and I think with morale as fragile as it is there would be nothing gained from sidelining him, but he consistently misses good chances that is the issue.

Boufal a non starter for Norwich as hes still experiencing a toe injury, which got worse after Watford game.

Boufal a non starter for Norwich as hes still experiencing a toe injury, which got worse after Watford game.

Bugger

Boufal a non starter for Norwich as hes still experiencing a toe injury, which got worse after Watford game.

Jesus.

How hard did he kick that table FFS!?

Probably go with the same team again. Somehow if we can win then we would be right back in the mix. Norwich can be dangerous, but seem to have rolled over against the lesser sides. Just difficult to see us winning a 2nd consecutive home win.

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Just shows the state of our recruitment that Long is still an option for us. Hes been poor for a number of years, but outside Ings who else do we have? Still believe that Adams can be a good option, just needs a goal or two (and some luck) to get his confidence back. You can apply the same poor recruitment to our defence (still relying on Yoshida and Stephens) and midfield (Romeu). The new recruitment expert (whoever that may be) and Matt Crocker have their work cut out going forward

To be fair the lad gets about 10mins on the pitch about every fifth week or so, so not sure how he is supposed to get match fit and sharp from those few limited opportunities.

Jesus.

 

How hard did he kick that table FFS!?

We've all been there, stubbed toes on doors that sort of thing. They never heal that quickly. Ralph has probably compounded the problem by using him on Saturday but some may say it was worth it as he helped secure our win. Defo Ralph will not want to make matters any worse for the lad os no bench even for Boufal tomorrow.

Anybody doing the game on Amazon Prime?

agree with the calls for boufal to start for redmond, hehas been terrible lately. no threat whatsoever, cutting in and skying it into the crowd. but he has been linking up well with bertie

 

id play boufal keep obafemi, give him one more game to score. adams got like 8 and didnt score. but what is it with our strikers minus ings being so inconsistent. but got the feeling ralph loves redmond too much and we will end up with the same **** first half

Sadly, Obafemi was not great even in the U23's , very one dimensional and un imaginative so difficult to understand where Ralph is coming from persisting with the guy. who Really needs to go out on loan to a League 1 outfit.

Would be really disappointed if he doesn't try Adams from the start here, thought he was impressive against Sheffield United and drastically unlucky not to score.

We've all been there, stubbed toes on doors that sort of thing. They never heal that quickly. Ralph has probably compounded the problem by using him on Saturday but some may say it was worth it as he helped secure our win. Defo Ralph will not want to make matters any worse for the lad os no bench even for Boufal tomorrow.

 

Anybody doing the game on Amazon Prime?

yeah, gonna see how it works for one of the games tonight as well.

Armstong is not fit

Should be a really open entertaining games this with a few goals, just what you need on a cold evening a good old fashioned football game.

On the other hand, two nervous teams again, not wanting to lose, play riddled with mistakes, luck wins it

This is huge. 3 points here and things will look much better. Really hope Ralph gets them up for it and they keep a quick, high press. Has to be same commitment to get the win and go up to 15th?

This is huge. 3 points here and things will look much better. Really hope Ralph gets them up for it and they keep a quick, high press. Has to be same commitment to get the win and go up to 15th?

Not sure how you've worked that one out, we'll be 17th at best.

Have you seen our goal difference!?

Not sure how you've worked that one out, we'll be 17th at best.

 

Have you seen our goal difference!?

ah. you're right. my bad. still big though. ;-)

Not sure how you've worked that one out, we'll be 17th at best.

 

Have you seen our goal difference!?

You never know, we might win 9-0!

The craziness of the League - Palace have just had a player sent off. If they lose tonight, and we win tomorrow, we are only 3 points behind them - and they are having a decent season! Ok, a couple of "ifs" there, but still important to get 3 points tomorrow, especially as it would spread confidence for the 3 winnable games following. I've been saying if for a few months, our attack is better than our defence. I was worried when we went behind to Watford, but with a bit of luck, and a bit of skill, we ended up victors. The Djenepo handball miss by VAR could be the turning point of our season.

The craziness of the League - Palace have just had a player sent off. If they lose tonight, and we win tomorrow, we are only 3 points behind them - and they are having a decent season! Ok, a couple of "ifs" there, but still important to get 3 points tomorrow, especially as it would spread confidence for the 3 winnable games following. I've been saying if for a few months, our attack is better than our defence. I was worried when we went behind to Watford, but with a bit of luck, and a bit of skill, we ended up victors. The Djenepo handball miss by VAR could be the turning point of our season.

Palace 1-0 up with 10 men...win puts them 5th. Crazy!

Palace 1-0 up with 10 men...win puts them 5th. Crazy!

Don't forget its a 7.30 kick off.

I don't know how we create without Boufal. Is Armstrong fit?

 

I'd still drop Redmond to make sure we don't spend 70 minutes just focusing on the left and getting nowhere. He just needs time out the team. Assuming Boufal and Armstrong are out I'd go with this. We need JWP for set pieces but can't rely on him in the middle so bring Romeu back. Not even bothering with defence as it's ****e regardless. Just have a feeling Adams will score in a game like this. He played against this team last season so there's no better chance.

 

Romeu Hojbjerg

JWP Djenepo

Ings Adams

What you say makes a lot of sense - but I'd be inclined to play Redmond for the "play well against your old Club effect". I still think Ings, Djenepo, Boufal and Redmond is the best attacking quartet - with Armstrong, Adams, Obafemi and Long (reluctantly) as back up. Is Sims eligible to play? Speed in attack is the key to staying up. I take your point about JWP, but a two man midfield (without Romeu) could be very risky against better sides.

Our last two matches, which have shown signs of a small upturn in performance, have coincided with the dropping of Romeu. I haven't seen either match, should I read anything into that? Or is it mostly other factors?

Our last two matches, which have shown signs of a small upturn in performance, have coincided with the dropping of Romeu. I haven't seen either match, should I read anything into that? Or is it mostly other factors?

Romeu is not mobile enough for our style of play, the sooner we get a quicker defensive mid who can cover a lot of ground the better we will play.

Norwich 10/3. Best odds for a while

dont think they will be as wasteful as Watford

Tricky game this. Anything but a loss, but they are much better than this forum seems to think. I think maybe a 1-1

Tough one this. Split between thinking it might be easier against a team that will be a lot more open and leave gaps, or struggling against a team that plays attack minded and could test our shakey defence.

Think it is so important for us to go into half time having actually played well. Bournemouth, Everton & Watford all in the first half we’ve been lucky to not be 0-3 down each time. The nervousness at the back is so obvious we need to get rid of that tonight. And you know, taking the lead would be nice too.

Real shame Armstrong and Boufal wont be playing. Think it’s time Adams get’s another go tonight, this is the type of game I think his physicality and pace could be really effective.

McCarthy

Cedric – Stephens – Bednerak – Bertrand

Djenepo – JWP – Hoijberg – Redmond

Adams - Ings

Tricky game this. Anything but a loss, but they are much better than this forum seems to think. I think maybe a 1-1

Sounds about right.

Tricky game this. Anything but a loss, but they are much better than this forum seems to think. I think maybe a 1-1

They've scored three away goals all season

They've scored three away goals all season

Watford had only scored iirc 8 all season home and away , we are just easy fodder

My only reservation about this is that our great 'Non Friend' Kevin is in the middle. I want a win and Everton to lose but it will depend entirely who actually turns up for us.

They've scored three away goals all season

I would be amazed if they don't increase that tally tonight, wouldn't you?

If Boufal's out wonder if that might mean Sims making the bench.