Tonight's match v MK

[Saint Johnno]

Crapabolical! Dire dire dire

[Dr Who?]

What happened in the second half? We lost our shape completely and were playing like it was the first time the players had stepped on the pitch together? Completely fell apart!

[trousers]

What happened in the second half? We lost our shape completely and were playing like it was the first time the players had stepped on the pitch together? Completely fell apart!

 

Indeed. Here was the official saints twitter message at half time:

 

officialsaints: Half time from stadium:mk MK Dons 0-0 Southampton. Somehow level at the break, Saints playing with fire in their bellies! #saintsfc

 

They didn't send one out after the game funnily enough!

[WGC Saint]

Just back from the game and can scarcely believe that pretty much the same eleven players who kicked MK Dons arse just six months ago put in that performance tonight!

 

First half not so bad but second half was absolutely shocking and poor Nigel Adkins has got a job on his hands to motivate that pathetic lot. What really ****ed me off was that when we went one down there was no urgency to get back into the game.

 

I'm afraid in this current financial climate I won't be putting my hand in my pocket to watch saints again for a long time.

 

It's just no fun at the moment. It's embarrassing.

 

Though I would like to go the return match at SMS when hopefully we've turned things around and we'll see if Leven puts his finger to his mouth in front of us when we're spanking their sorry arses.

 

Being a Saints fan is like being in a perpetual nightmare that shows no sign of abating.......

 

Off to bed very unhappy.

[marc_saint]

Just got home and agree with everything thats already been written.

 

That second half performance had no urgency, no cohesion, and no fight. Nobody seemed as if they wanted the ball and panicked when they got it.

 

Every 50/50 ball was won by a Dons player, Lambert and Connelly (and Chamberlain when he went up front) had no support and too many players had off nights.

 

Harding struggled, Morgan and Hammond too deep, Puncheon poor.

 

Very angry and dissapointed.

[St Landrew]

Confidence. Expectation. They're scared.

[saintwiz]

Lambert spent too much time on the wings.

Connelly was the out ball & is not a target man.

Puncheon tricks galore, no end product.

Hammond - my Dad is more mobile than him & hes been dead for 10 years.

CANT ANYONE TAKE A CORNER?

Nothing on bench to change game.

Barnard back Saturday, hopefully will do Lambert's running as he just aint interested at the moment.

I was at the game.

Edited 15 September, 2010 by saintwiz
bud spooling

[Shroppie]

I think we lacked pace, guile, flair, imagination, commitment, passion, organisation in defence, fitness, belief, leadership, determination and sharpness in front of goal (if we ever got in front of goal, that is). Otherwise, no problems. Goodnight.

[Dr Who?]

Lambert spent too much time on the wings.

Connelly was the out ball & is not a target man.

Puncheon tricks galore, no end product.

Hammond - my Dad is more mobile than him & hes been dead for 10 years.

CANT ANYONE TAKE A CORNER?

Nothing on bench to change game.

Barnard back Saturday, hopefully will do Lambert's running as he just aint interested at the moment.

I was at the game.

 

I live 38 miles away... you in Royston. It was not you in that ****ing truck that would not get out my way ha ha ha

[Northampton Saint]

I too was at the game - we should have taken our chances in the first half. The ref was diabolical. In the second half there was too much hoofing the ball forward and losing possession and we just do not seem to be able to deliver a decent ball into the box and have a player there! We made a lot of noise especially in the first half. The MK fans did not make much noise at all until they scored. I would have liked to see Guly come on to play but not to be.

[Shroppie]

Forgot to say no movement off the ball. And yes I was at the game.

[gjphilsaint]

I was also at the game. We were awful... take away Lamberts first half shot over the bar and there was nothing to be proud of. It reminded me of the way we played into other teams hands when we got relegated from the prem. We gave the ball away in our own half far, far to often. We resorted to the hoofing very early on in the game. Too many flicks and not enough heart and soul. Whilst Chamberlain looked lively he was wastefull with his finishing. I cannot remember lambert doing anything in the second half. Both full backs looked as if the were out of their depth. When we actually got possesion we worked very hard to work the ball back further towards our own goal than when we first recieved the ball!!! Then we either hoofed the ball up to an MK player or passed it too them in a threatening position.

Only Spider seemed to care, trying to gee the players up.. none responded.. not one! This was an abject performance..... We were beaten by a very ordinary side tonight. And yes.. the ref was almost as bad as we were!!! This was my first game "in the flesh" of the season and I was really looking forward to it... I wish I hadnt bothered... that isnt right is it???

 

PS: I didnt think the NA got a particularly warm reception at he start from our end either... not snubbed or derided as such.. more .. rather.. ignored or not recognised.... strange!

[ladysaint]

I cant even blame the white shirts tonight for that performance, we cant just do the basic things like take a decent corner, still trying to walk it in, Morgan had a 2 or 3 shots from range on target but other than that cant really say much about the game at all. Connolly obviously cant do the 90 so was subbed by Mills and Holmes came on in the last minute of the game, we dont seem to have anyone on the bench who can turn the game around. Very very disappointed.

[dickyhale]

Just home from tonights game. Frist half okay,second half was shocking. The MK subs chanced the game. Very poor

[1976_Child]

Lambert spent too much time on the wings.

Connelly was the out ball & is not a target man.

Puncheon tricks galore, no end product.

Hammond - my Dad is more mobile than him & hes been dead for 10 years.

CANT ANYONE TAKE A CORNER?

Nothing on bench to change game.

Barnard back Saturday, hopefully will do Lambert's running as he just aint interested at the moment.

I was at the game.

 

That sums up Puncheon at a stroke. He has no finish.

[saintrich]

First half we showed potential - knocked it about well, got to the byline a few times and actually had people like Hammond busting a gut to get in the box. All of which we hadn't recently.

 

Key man of the first half: schneiderlin

concern of first half: tried playing splitting through balls from defence, dangerous.

 

Second half we just lost all momentum, lost shape and interest and generally everyone was poor - there were no positives.

[LA77]

we are weaker than we were last season. No Papa or Antonio to bring on. The depth isn't there, and boy do we miss Lallana and Barnard. First half was alright. Decent football. 2nd half was useless. We look weak down the flanks both attacking and defending. I really think Harding needs someone in front of him (Dickson or mills). Puncheon needs to make way in the starting line up. Dean hammond needs a kick up the arse as well. All I can say is FFS

[stanthemanfairoak]

may as well drop punc bring in holmes drop hammond bring wotton HEA!

[slickmick]

3 left sided midfielders on the bench ?? Then brings on toothless Mills ?

[jasoneuelllfanclub]

So we have our bogey team colchester on Sat who will no doubt sit back and let us try and break them down! Oh dear going to be 5 w/o scoring i reckon!

 

Once I knew Seabourne was playing I lost any ounce of confidence I had.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Must admit last night was sobering. I was looking forward to some improvement with the "new manager" syndrome kicking in but it was more of the same a la Swindon.

By the end we were almost a rabble and only Chamberlain last night came up to par.

Bringing on Mills for Connolly at 0-0 was Adkins first mistake - Connolly was doing nothing but Mills is very limited going forward.

 

We were talking last night about how incredible it is that we should go from firm favourites to also rans in one month - something went very wrong in the summer. Not pointing any fingers because it seems the truth is wrapped up in mystery but in the close season this club lost all the impetus built up last season.

Last night it was quite shocking to see the decline in the players who served us so well. Schneiderlin and Hammond are so one dimensional, Hammond is now a hoofer, Connolly looks like he's never played at the highest level, Puncheon was shocking, his shooting wayward and his judgement non-existant. Lambert was a shadow, Seaborne raw and out-of-his-depth while Davis (shot stopping aside) unable to come of his line for crosses. Well-beaten by an ordinary side.

 

The ref was one of those you thought would make a terrible decision against us any minute - awful and so was the ginger linesman who irritatingly only put his flag up after the ref had made the decision.

 

Nigel Adkins really has his work cut out and when I looked at the bench to see the options it was almost unbeleivable how few we had.

Something has gone wrong, it means no promotion this year which is making the original 5-year plan look wildly optimistic imo.

[Lumypie]

Have been to all home games and Swindon MK Dons away and have seen team effort slowly diminish, pace is non existant, fitness poor, passion gone. It was all summed up last night by the following 2 bits of action

1) Harding runs to line to take throw in near half way line with usual urgency screaming at ball boy for the ball - looks up and Mills is wide open down the line with no defender near him, send him away i scream, NO he stop takes an age and then throws it back to Seabourne and then geuss what it ends up with Davis to punt it forward aimlessly AGAIN

2) Connolly made a good run into space and there was a gap big enough to dive a bus through and he would have been in on goal but no thats to easy a pass l;ets put our foot on the ball have a cup of tea think about it a little bit and then effing hoof it AGAIN

Now i kow its easier to see these things from the stand but these sort of things didnt happen last year and also agree with previous post re: strength on the bench looked at them warming up and thought our only option would have been to throw Jahidi on up front as another target man not good.

whilst i am venting my splean what is wrong with Hammond dont think he touched the ball in a consturctive way in either the last 2games the match just seems to pass him by if i were to change the midfield he would be the casualty IMO.

[saintwiz]

I live 38 miles away... you in Royston. It was not you in that ****ing truck that would not get out my way ha ha ha

 

Not guilty!

I was heading towards Buckingham/Banbury.

[saintwiz]

Have been to all home games and Swindon MK Dons away and have seen team effort slowly diminish, pace is non existant, fitness poor, passion gone. It was all summed up last night by the following 2 bits of action

1) Harding runs to line to take throw in near half way line with usual urgency screaming at ball boy for the ball - looks up and Mills is wide open down the line with no defender near him, send him away i scream, NO he stop takes an age and then throws it back to Seabourne and then geuss what it ends up with Davis to punt it forward aimlessly AGAIN

2) Connolly made a good run into space and there was a gap big enough to dive a bus through and he would have been in on goal but no thats to easy a pass l;ets put our foot on the ball have a cup of tea think about it a little bit and then effing hoof it AGAIN

Now i kow its easier to see these things from the stand but these sort of things didnt happen last year and also agree with previous post re: strength on the bench looked at them warming up and thought our only option would have been to throw Jahidi on up front as another target man not good.

whilst i am venting my splean what is wrong with Hammond dont think he touched the ball in a consturctive way in either the last 2games the match just seems to pass him by if i were to change the midfield he would be the casualty IMO.

 

I forgot that one.

Very true, team seemed to fade, as they did v Swindon.

Also theres no C.U.N.T. about the team, Easter (I think!) made a nuisance of himself.

[sandwichsaint]

What an absolute shocker! First game I’ve seen this season and I don’t think anything I’ve seen or read on here had quite prepared me for how poor we were. Call me naïve but I was expecting to see some sort of ‘new manager reaction’, I’ve seen a dead cat bounce higher.

All the usual factors were there in spades: lack of FITNESS, lack of pace, lack of desire, lack of leadership, lack of communication, lack of cohesion. An absolutely clueless, rudderless performance and we looked genuinely nearer to relegation than promotion on that sort of form.

Shocking legacy from AP and NA clearly has his work cut out and I just hope he is given time to do the job properly. He had absolutely nothing to work with last night, the players he has inherited are not fit and a lot of them look completely disinterested.

I’m not sure when the loan window opens or where we go from here but I would expect some big changes on Saturday – Dickson surely has to play LB, Harding very poor (again) and seems to have, unsurprisingly(?) completely lost all confidence since we bought Dickson. Centre-mid was a disgrace yesterday, we barely won a tackle all night, created nothing, and both their goals started from mistakes in that area of the pitch – hopefully we will have a look at Guly in there and spin a coin as to which one of the current misfits goes to the bench.

Oxo did OK for 20 minutes but it was real men against boys stuff and he was constantly hassled out of things, needs to be coming on from the bench rather than starting. I didn’t think Punch was as bad as some people said, he looked reasonably mobile and willing but often let down by his decision making and his final ball – is this the same player who took Huddersfield apart last season? Maybe Holmes left side if fit and Punch to strengthen the bench options?

Front two were **** poor from start to finish, Connoly huffed and puffed but never looked like scoring, Lambert didn’t even do that! Lambert needs to come out of the first team until he is physically and mentally ready to play for us, whether that’s 2 weeks, 4 weeks or 6 weeks, and if he’s still not up for it after that then we need to get shot in Jan and start again.

NA has got a massive job on and he knows it, Pardew’s complacency culture and his old pals starting X1 is now broke and completely unfit for purpose and no amount of ‘we were unlucky’, ‘we only need a break’, ‘win the next one and we are X points behind’, will fix that.

Hopefully NA can get it fixed in time but don’t hold your breath – on last night’s showing ‘events’ have pretty much wrecked the 125 party season before it’s even begun – shame really.

[SaintRichmond]

I cant even blame the white shirts tonight for that performance, we cant just do the basic things like take a decent corner, still trying to walk it in, Morgan had a 2 or 3 shots from range on target but other than that cant really say much about the game at all. Connolly obviously cant do the 90 so was subbed by Mills and Holmes came on in the last minute of the game, we dont seem to have anyone on the bench who can turn the game around. Very very disappointed.

 

I can

 

Saints colours are RED AND WHITE STRIPES

 

Bring em back

[Sour Mash]

We were the better team in the first half and looked decent without being great, if we'd scored I'm confident we'd have gone on to win and it would have kick started our season.

 

2nd half MK Dons came out a lot stronger and our confidence drained away. Certain players clearly lack confidence or focus and are just generally not tuned in, Lambert certainly isn't the player he was last season and I don't think it is a fitness issue.

[BJBSAINTS]

Absolute shocker last night.....

 

Having seen both last night and saturdays performances first hand, I can hardly believe we are the same team which finished last season as the form side in the division. We have no one in the 11 or on the bench who can pick a pass in the final third, no pace to get in behind the oppositions back 4 (although we insist on hoofing it down the channels at every opportunity???), no one who looks like they really care if we lose or not and too many defensive (in the loose sense of the word) players who when they have the ball look petrified and either smah it up field in the hope of finding a saints shirt or give it back to Davis who does exactly the same.

 

Adkins has a massive job on his hands, I am 100% behind him and hope that he can lift us all off the floor beacuse it really can't get any worse than the last two performances.

 

Does anyone know if Aaron Martin was injured last night? Arguably our best player sat replaced by the woeful Seaborne who in my opinion looks like he would be out of his depth playing for Eastleigh .....

[dellboypete]

Have to say that the seats were very comfortable though!! And I really liked the concourse which looks out over the pitch. Toilets were pretty good too. And the bar code entry was novel.

 

Pity about the game

 

Ist half was positive and I really thought at half time we would go on and win this. 2nd half was dire - it's as if something was said at half time and most of the saints players came out with their heads down.

 

Can't wait for colchester!

[Viking Warrior]

This is the first time in a while that I felt very saddened by the inept second half display. Im not sure if its because my mind has become infected by MR Toblerones constant negativity but we had no idea in the second half . so many things wrong. Crosses from the wings were too long ( When the happpened) We tried to take that extra step too many and were closed down Thank god barnard is back on saturday.

 

The first half was fine and if only we could find the net it will give us so much confidence.

Some other observations particularly the second half. When they scored the first goal our heads visibly dropped. We are scared tp put a crunching tackle in the box and gave their forwards far to much room . We are disjointed , I think its time to give a couple of the youngsters a rest and bring back some hardened experience.

 

The referee and the lino at the saints fans end of the ground was diabolical how they managed to miss so much man handling of rickie and OXO is beyond me.

I thought Mills was hopeless and I see no future for him at the club. Still I will try and remain optomistic for saturdays game. I am still seething at lastnights second half performance. Im normally so optomistic but the second half was pitiful.

[jjsaint]

Even by League 1 standards the refereeing was poor.

 

I hate everything about Milton Keynes and I don't like giving money to that club. Hopefully they will go out of business sooner rather that later and their 200 fans can go back to supporting Man U.

 

What worries me is the fact that we haven't scored in four matches. We need Barnard back, hopefully will make a difference for the Colchester match.

[dan17]

Have to say that the seats were very comfortable though!! And I really liked the concourse which looks out over the pitch. Toilets were pretty good too. And the bar code entry was novel.

 

Pity about the game

 

Ist half was positive and I really thought at half time we would go on and win this. 2nd half was dire - it's as if something was said at half time and most of the saints players came out with their heads down.

 

Can't wait for colchester!

 

I thought this happened at both matches I have seen this season....very odd