Today's game 'A View from the Itchen.

[Dr Who?]

I went to my first game home game of the season today as it takes around 3.5 hours to get down to Southampton with the 3 different sets of roadworks and one being on the M25.

 

Well what I saw was a team that play nice tippy tappy football but seem not to have any fight at all. It was all very slow and lack passion and grit. We were well in control and at times played some good stuff, but what is going on with the lack of finishing? They need some finishing practice at SMS as it seems to be a huge problem. The best move of the game can on 50 minutes, with flowing football which ended with Puncheon somehow putting it over the bar. This I feel could and should have been the turning part of the game.

 

As for Puncheon what has happened with this play. When he first joined Saints he looked really good, and today his touch was terrible and he game the ball away so much and made the wrong choice of ball far to often.

 

Lambert does not look fit, and I know he looks a bit unfit even when we his on fire, but he is off the pace, and it was his terrible pass that lead to the break for Rochdale's first goal. All in all his play just looked off the pace.

 

Connolly does not look fit either, and again when he forst joined he stood out so much as a much better player than this level, but not today looked off the pace and was not hold the ball up that well, and did not seem to bring his shooting boots with him, but was full of running.

 

Fonte, was a class above, apart from backing off on the 1st goal, I though he stood out and looked well in control at the back winning everything and calmly bringing the ball out of defence.

 

The star man in my eyes was Chamberlain. Ok he is not the finished article, but he gave his all, and tried different things all through the game, and looked the likely person to change the game. I think he is going to be a fantastic player in the future. Really do not understand why he was taken off and with it went Saints last chance of doing anything in the game as the game just played out time.

 

Of course this was only from watching one game, but the team seem to lack motivation, and a leader and of course they are. They need someone to take them by the scruff of the neck and get us back on course for promotion.

 

I still think with the right man in charge we can still go up, as we have the players, the best players in this league by far.

[Deppo]

I Fonte, was a class above, apart from backing off on the 1st goal, I though he stood out and looked well in control at the back winning everything and calmly bringing the ball out of defence.

 

Really? I find that incredible and disagree completely.

[kpturner]

....as we have the players, the best players in this league by far.

Personally I am no longer convinced of this

[Ludwig]

Fonte calmly brought the ball out of defence in the build-up to their second goal.

[shurlock]

Fonte was partly responsible for their 2nd, getting pickpocketed after he had dwelt too long on the ball (still a fantastic finish).

[shurlock]

Fonte calmly brought the ball out of defence in the build-up to their second goal.

 

Better put than me

[rocknrollman no2]

I think we are deluding ourselves if we think we have the best players in this league.

A lot of teams have been promoted without spending half of what we have.

[Dr Who?]

Personally I am no longer convinced of this

 

They are the same set of players that we had at the end of last season with a few changes. We won 4-0 at Bristol Rovers last weekend. Whatever the reasons are you cannot say that most of our team could and have played at a higher level if they wanted out. I think the main problem is that some key players are not 100% fit. I stick by Fonte being a class above and is one of the players in our team that could and has played at a higher level.

[SB]

I think we are deluding ourselves if we think we have the best players in this league.

A lot of teams have been promoted without spending half of what we have.

 

That makes no sence..

We do overall on paper have the best squad in the league, however as blackpool and others have shown if you can't gel or produce the best out of these players then they won't perform.

[Dr Who?]

I think we are deluding ourselves if we think we have the best players in this league.

A lot of teams have been promoted without spending half of what we have.

 

We are a club in turmoil, the soon we sort it out the sooner we can get the promotion push back in order. IF we can sort it out.

[kpturner]

That makes no sence..

Now that, folks, is genuine irony

[SB]

I'll grab my coat

[SuperMikey]

Fonte was pretty much at fault for both of the goals, although I agree on Chamberlain. Thought he looked really bright and did very well, probably shouldn't have been subbed tbh, same applies for Connolly.

[Dr Who?]

Well you cannot see everything at the game, I know someone was robbed of the ball at the other end of the pitch for the second goal, but id not see who. I was just stunned by the finish. Looks like I got that one wrong. All I remember seeing in the first half down my end was fonte heading ever ball into the box cleared. The first goal did stem from Lambert giving the ball away in their box which then lead to us being short at the back and back peddling. Fonte was in two minds to if he should go to the ball or stand off and keep an eye on the player overlapping on his right. In the end did neither. BUT Lambert gave the ball away in a goal scoring position, and gave it away far top easy which caught us on the hop!

[explorer saint]

Fonte was at fault for 2 goals but was still one of our best players says it all really, thought Butterfiled did well again and some bizzare sub decisions, why take oxo and connoly off when we are chasing the game take it wilkins got a text from corstese to get guly on quick good decision mmm

[Dr Who?]

Fonte was at fault for 2 goals but was still one of our best players says it all really, thought Butterfiled did well again and some bizzare sub decisions, why take oxo and connoly off when we are chasing the game take it wilkins got a text from corstese to get guly on quick good decision mmm

 

Now the Guly part of this, I really would not be suprised if this is what happened. I though oxo as you call him was brilliant, and stood out from the rest by far.

[Didcot Saint]

Cortese is a *****. He helped save our club, now he is trying his hardest to ruin it again. If AP was in charge, we would have won today. He should either come clean and tell us why he sacked him, employ a proven Manager or **** off out of it. As fans who pay good money it's the least we deserve.

[MarkSFC]

We certainly do have the best players in this league, almost in every position and more than one in some.

 

The trouble is they are not a team and miles from the team they were last year.

 

And the only way you get a group of individuals is to get someone to motivate, organise, and manage them.

 

Until that happens today will be repeated....

[S-Clarke]

Cortese is a *****. He helped save our club, now he is trying his hardest to ruin it again. If AP was in charge, we would have won today. He should either come clean and tell us why he sacked him, employ a proven Manager or **** off out of it. As fans who pay good money it's the least we deserve.

 

calm down slightly, he's not out to ruin the club - he is just making silly inexperienced decisions. I'm hopeful he will learn and hopefully by the middle of the week we'll all be pulling in one direction again.

[saint lard]

We are ordinary.

That is all.

[dronskisaint]

...And you need to get your car looked at - it took me four hours from Great Yarmouth & I go through Royston!

[ALWAYS_SFC]

We are a club in turmoil, the soon we sort it out the sooner we can get the promotion push back in order. IF we can sort it out.

 

Agree totally

 

We are a complete mess....................AGAIN

 

The longer this rudderless ship of a team continues with someone who is clueless the worse it will get..

[Dangerous Albert]

I think we are deluding ourselves if we think we have the best players in this league.

A lot of teams have been promoted without spending half of what we have.

 

Most of the teams in our division have spent virtually nothing

[Toadhall Saint]

Our midfield need to be introduced to our center forwards cos at the mo they look worlds apart. 10 yards from defence to mid field - 50 yards from midfield to center forwards is not the best way to build a cohesive team unit.

[Dr Who?]

...And you need to get your car looked at - it took me four hours from Great Yarmouth & I go through Royston!

 

You must have left much earlier than me, and I have moved just up the road to meldreth. I left at 11.00 and arrived at 14.30 which is 3 hours. The M25 is bloody terrible at the moment, also queues because of something going on at Duxford took half hour to get down to Royston on the A10!! Then at Winchester services to the M27 West was stacked up. Does not really bother me as need to do the trip a lot as family are down their still, but will be glad when road works are finsihed on that stretch of the M25! Alway worth it if we take the 3 points!!

[benjii]

Fonte was partly responsible for their 2nd, getting pickpocketed after he had dwelt too long on the ball (still a fantastic finish).

 

The ball actually went out of play during that tussle so we were shafted by the lino.

 

FFS - lino, give us our club back!

[Wade Garrett]

I thought Fonte was bullied by their big centre-forward, and Martin handled him better when he had the chance (ie. he went right through him, and wasn't intimidated).

[benjii]

Now the Guly part of this, I really would not be suprised if this is what happened. I though oxo as you call him was brilliant, and stood out from the rest by far.

 

 

Seriously?

 

EDIT- I am referring to the Guly bit, not the O-C comment.

Edited 5 September, 2010 by benjii

[benjii]

I thought Fonte was bullied by their big centre-forward, and Martin handled him better when he had the chance (ie. he went right through him, and wasn't intimidated).

 

O'Grady - he looked good. I am going to google him.

[benjii]

Right - I can confirm that he scored 22 league goals last season in 43 league starts.

[Barry the Badger]

The first goal was entirely Fonte's fault, for not trusting Martin. They had a man each and you could see Martin pointing, telling Fonte to stick with his man and leave the man on the ball to him. Instead Fonte came rushing over, leaving his man in space, the rest is obvious.

 

Hopefully they just need to play together more.

[Dr Who?]

The first goal was entirely Fonte's fault, for not trusting Martin. They had a man each and you could see Martin pointing, telling Fonte to stick with his man and leave the man on the ball to him. Instead Fonte came rushing over, leaving his man in space, the rest is obvious.

 

Hopefully they just need to play together more.

 

Do not agree with this, it was Lamberts lazy pass that led to the counter attack. Stupid ball from a goal scoring chance for us, turned into a goal for them within 10/15 seconds.

[benjii]

Do not agree with this, it was Lamberts lazy pass that led to the counter attack. Stupid ball from a goal scoring chance for us, turned into a goal for them within 10/15 seconds.

 

You can't blame a striker for losing possession in the opponent's box whilst trying to create a goal for a goal conceded. You can blame him for not scoring or creating a goal if you want but not for the rest of the team failing to defend a counter-attack. Ridiculous point of view, really.

[Barry the Badger]

Do not agree with this, it was Lamberts lazy pass that led to the counter attack. Stupid ball from a goal scoring chance for us, turned into a goal for them within 10/15 seconds.

 

Regardless of how the counter attack started. It was still only 3 on 3 and we should be able to cope with that, in fact we looked like we were until Fonte decided he didn't trust Martin with the man on the ball and came rushing over.

 

I've played with defenders who don't listen and take it upon themselves to try and defend everything single handedly, it's admirable in a way, but a complete nightmare to play with.

 

I think Fonte was awesome last season, love the guy, but I've noticed this twice this season. The other time was Plymouths goal when Butterfield was up against a one of their players for a header at the back post. Rather than keep himself free in the centre, Fonte decided to go across and try and win the header himself, which led to us being stretched and eventually the goal (although he certainly wasn't the only one at fault).

 

He's still our best defender but I do think he needs to trust his fellow players a bit more.

[up and away]

Cortese is a *****. He helped save our club, now he is trying his hardest to ruin it again. If AP was in charge, we would have won today. He should either come clean and tell us why he sacked him, employ a proven Manager or **** off out of it. As fans who pay good money it's the least we deserve.

 

Pardew is the main responsibility as to why we are playing like this at the moment. I don't want to be too hard on the players because it is not entirely their fault, but our shape goes completely and we don't end up attacking or defending with two banks of four. We get stretched out in a line across their or our 18 yard line, leaving space to counter attack or strike from just outside the box. Admittedly it was not so obvious with Pardew, but nigh on as bad and the basic fault that causes all our problems. Get the amount of attacking players we have on the bubble and their defence cannot cope, get out of shape and dont put in the quality and our arses are left bare.

 

Bearing in mind the players we did not have available and the form / fitness of others, what muppet believes Pardew would do that much better. If we were to sit back defensively and let them come onto us a bit, the prospects could be different. But at home where we have to try and generate the pressure it is a repeat of the previous games. For the moment I would go 451 and use Fonte as the holding midfielder in an attempt to plug up the holes and give us a base to play from.

[Dr Who?]

You can't blame a striker for losing possession in the opponent's box whilst trying to create a goal for a goal conceded. You can blame him for not scoring or creating a goal if you want but not for the rest of the team failing to defend a counter-attack. Ridiculous point of view, really.

 

I seem to remember Peter Crouch getting slated for not taking the ball to the corner while we were winning a game in the relegation season, I think against Everton? He desided to take a shot and it went straight to the keeper. The keeper then pumped the ball down the field one bounce and Bent smashed the ball in the net. Now Crouch is a striker and I think that goal was a little more costly on the scale of things.

 

If you look at it as a team they were both at fault and probably two of our best players on their day. Shame as the rest of the game Fonte was really good. No one on here seems to want to blame lambert for anything!

[Alan56]

Takes me two and a bit hrs from Nth Beds but always go up to Northampton and down A43/34.

 

Kelvin?? Passed his best before?? Poor distribution. Too keen to hoof the ball over everyone and frankly, in a game when he was really only called on twice, failed miserably.