Tranmere post match reaction

[miserableoldgit]

Looks like a good team and don't forget Richardson is now available and we have De Pedro, a luxury player but offeres something different. The only fly in the ointment is Barnard's foolish behaviour the other night.

 

I don`t know about a luxury player, I thought that he was bloody immense today. Both goals came from his chasing, controlling and passing the ball into dangerous areas. He was my M.o.M. today, followed by Puncheon and Lallana although nobody played badly.

[ericb]

One last point, we were effectively playing 4-5-1 for a lot of the game today and i personally think that's our best formation. We look so much more dangerous with players breaking from the middle and it gives the wide players more space since the midfield has more cover.

[trousers]

So, just to clarify......we're not missing Pardew then....?

[70's Mike]

Great Result and Performance.

Throughly enjoyed last two homes, great to break down a team like Tranmere who frankly were p*ss poor

[aintforever]

Easiest 2-0 I've ever seen. Guly MOTM, think Schneiderlin has lost his place.

 

Great stuff!

[John B]

Sumptuous football, the best that I have seen for a very long time. Chaplow was a vast improvement on Schneiderlin, tidied up well and kept the passes simple. There was only one team in it and we should really have had a couple more goals. Guly was a revelation, lovely touches on the ball and a strong physical presence. Looking forward to the next win!

 

Yes things are looking good next weeks game against Huddersfield should be a good pointer to the future

 

 

Lets hope we have no mor injuries or suspensions which clearly will affect the team

[Matthew Le God]

we were effectively playing 4-5-1 for a lot of the game today

 

You must have been watching a different game to me.

[Window Cleaner]

One last point, we were effectively playing 4-5-1 for a lot of the game today and i personally think that's our best formation. We look so much more dangerous with players breaking from the middle and it gives the wide players more space since the midfield has more cover.

 

Tranmere played some sort of 5-3-2 though didn't they?? We'll have to see how well a 4-5-1 system works against a side with a bit more ooomph in midfield.

[70's Mike]

One last point, we were effectively playing 4-5-1 for a lot of the game today and i personally think that's our best formation. We look so much more dangerous with players breaking from the middle and it gives the wide players more space since the midfield has more cover.

 

totally agree , Lallans, Puncheon and Guly need the flexibilty that 4-5-1brings, 4-4-2 makes us to static and does not bring the best out of the players mentioned or Harding

[SuperMikey]

Great game today, this game and Bourney are the best i've seen Saints play in ages. Was a real team performance, sensible passing and incisive at the right moments. F*cking brilliant.

 

Davis 6 - Had nothing to do whatsoever. Distribution was good.

Butterfield 6 - Linked up well, didn't have that much else to do. Still slightly suspect defensively though...

Harding 8 - Marauded forward and solid defensively. Really great performance, it's great to finally have a solid LB.

Fonte 8 - Dominant in the air, passing was very good and sensible. Seems to be really enjoying this passing game, everything goes through him at the back.

Seaborne 8 - Wasn't a fan when he joined, but these past couple of games have been very promising indeed. Very good in the air, and his passing was actually good today, which has been one of my hang-ups on him before.

Chaplow 6 - Ran around a lot, i'm not sure he's the tough tackling midfielder everybody wants him to be, but he linked up well and passed intelligently. Got forward a couple of times dangerously too.

Hammond 7 - Wasn't at the forefront of the game, but he rarely is. Marshalled well, won the ball and made some good passes. Just what we want from him.

Puncheon 9 - Seems to be really in form at the moment, long may it continue! He is a fantastic player when he wants to be, and he seems to be really highly motivated at the moment which is probably down to Adkins.

Lallana 9 - Another glittering performance. He's far above this level, could probably cut it in the Prem on current form. Provides the spark up front that is really dangerous. I LOVE YOU ADAM!

Lambert 9 - That's more like it Rickie! Easily his best game this season, and one of his best peformances since the JPT final imo. I think he should look for the shot more often though, he has the ability to score from long range.

Guly 9 (MOTM) - Wow. Didn't stop all afternoon, showed some fantastic touches, linked up fantastically with Rickie and highly deserved a goal. Shame to see him go off early with cramp, but he did work pretty f*cking hard!

 

Subs

Chamberlain 7 - Looked good, showed his pace and skill off. Still think he's slightly wasted on the flank though, he keeps trying to cut in to come centrally which is where he seems to be more comfortable.

Barnard 8 - Only thing that was missing was the ball in the back of the net. Obviously had a point to prove, and he was certainly trying to prove it! Got the best chant of the afternoon too! (He'll see you outside...)

Holmes - Didn't really do anything. Too late to make an impact.

[Appy]

Great stuff from the first few minutes today, could easilly of been 5,6 or 7. Tranmere were possibly the worst team to come to St Marys.

 

Great performances from Guly, Lallana and Fonte.

 

Notable mentions for Hammond, Lambert and Barnard.

[Johnny Shearer]

Think some people at the game still want 'kick and rush' football which is fair enough but I didnt understand some people urging for Saints to kick it up field rather than to hold on to the ball looking for something else to open up.

 

Tranmere were rubbish today! Other teams wont roll over so easy.

[ericb]

You must have been watching a different game to me.

 

The way we lined up was basically a 4-5-1 but the space created meant we shifted to both 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 at times. Of course part of why this could happen was that tranmere were so bad that they let us have massive amounts of time on the ball. But i still think that the space it gave our players to move in was a huge part to how dangerous we were.

[moon monkey]

Blackmore "Was Barnard on the bench because of injury or the incident last weekend?"

 

Adkins "We're trying to win games of football"

 

Blackmore "Were you aware of Bignalls incident?"

 

Adkins "We're trying to win games of football"

 

Give it up Blackmore, stop asking questions you know you won't get an answer to

[ronnie radford's boots]

Now that's what I call football.

The ball was played out from the back on the ground with patience, intelligence and width ( to the extent that Lallana was 6ft off of the pitch at times making the pitch even wider ) and for the first time in a while we created good chances and looked like scoring.

I can't remember the last time we had so many players ( Guly, Lallana, Punch, Harding, Butter, Ox-Chamb ) hitting the goal line and cutting the ball back across/behind.

Guly was outstanding, making both goals. His touch defined his origins. His pace and strength were something else and I loved the way that there was no such thing as a no win ball ( 1st goal anyone ? ) . Can we put the ghost of Antonio to bed now please ?

Finally, I loved the fact that at the final whistle, the four defenders and Kelvin all looked for each other and celebrated together as a unit. Doesn't that say something for the management that we have now ?

Nigel, if you carry on as you've started, I'll be a very very happy man at the end of the season !

[bpsaint]

Probably the miserable arsehole that sits next to me in the Northam, he never sings and just spends his life moaning about Puncheon. I'm starting to think he either has tourettes or maybe Puncheon stole his girlfriend, since he was even slatting him for not crossing it when he sent one of our players clean through on goal.

 

If you're the person and you're reading this, cheer the **** up you miserable bastard and stop talking ****. You're inane ****** is ruining my enjoyment of games.

 

With respect Eric, if the guy who sits next to you is that bad why not have a word with him instead of complaining on here?

[doubleonothing]

Gutted my flight didn't get in till 2 as I was planning on going to this!! Sounds like a good result to me!! Things are looking up!!!

[Matthew Le God]

The way we lined up was basically a 4-5-1 but the space created meant we shifted to both 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 at times. Of course part of why this could happen was that tranmere were so bad that they let us have massive amounts of time on the ball. But i still think that the space it gave our players to move in was a huge part to how dangerous we were.

 

Nope, it was a 442. Adkins even said it was in his post match interview.

 

A 442 rarely ever sees two strikers both on the last defender, Guly was still however playing as a striker alongside Lambert.

 

The 451 of last season that people keep harping on about involved a midfielder (Wotton) sitting and barely moving from in front of the centre backs, with Hammond and Schneiderlin in front.

[thegaffer]

Think some people at the game still want 'kick and rush' football which is fair enough but I didnt understand some people urging for Saints to kick it up field rather than to hold on to the ball looking for something else to open up.

 

Tranmere were rubbish today! Other teams wont roll over so easy.

 

This passing Saints team from defence will win an awful lot of away games IMHO

 

Gully MOM for me.

[up and away]

One last point, we were effectively playing 4-5-1 for a lot of the game today and i personally think that's our best formation. We look so much more dangerous with players breaking from the middle and it gives the wide players more space since the midfield has more cover.

 

Yes and No. Guly drops off, someone takes up the space, very impressive. With the added benefit that Guly has the skill and vision to make everything work. Worth the MOM and I thought Hammond was the glue that held it all together. I don't think Ricky is injured? but he just seems slower to read things that previously he just would "have it".

 

All the problems I have argued against under Pardew are no longer there, but we have not reached the dizzy heights of some of Pardews football. But I would take this every day as it seems repeatable to a level to deliver. If Huddersfield try to play football against us, they will get handed their arses the same as Bournemouth were.

[The Cat]

Quality performance. Tranmere barely touched the ball at times and looked quite confused as to how they'd get it back. Have to say fair play to them for not resorting to just trying to kick us up in the air at any opportunity as some teams will against that style of play.

 

Guly was superb. All those people that were slagging him off earlier in the season have now been shown up to be pretty clueless about football. Once played in his correct position (as he was for the final 30 against Yeovil) he has enormous influence on the game. The first goal was all down to him chasing a wayward pass which looked like it was drifting out for a throw in.

 

Got to say that Adkins has strengthened our team no end, and this without really bringing in any players. Definitely the sign of a manager who knows what he's doing.

 

Liked the way we passed the ball throughout the team, even though Davis did do a couple of dodgy square passes across the box! I'd rather that than the aimless hoofing we saw under Pardew. One reason why Seaborne's distribution has improved is that the midfielders and wingers are giving him options for an easier pass.

 

Noticed that Puncheon and Lallana swapped wings during the game today, something I've been advocating for a while.

 

Pity we didn't score another couple but musn't grumble about that performance.

 

Oh, and is that the first English League game ever played between 2 teams both managed by former physios?

[Matthew Le God]

Noticed that Puncheon and Lallana swapped wings during the game today, something I've been advocating for a while.

 

They have been doing that regularly for the last 10 months since Puncheon joined in January.

[supersonic]

Not much to add as everything has already been said.

Guly, as yet, has nit found his feet. 1 game does not make a player, but he was MOTM today. The football we played was superb today and Adkins looks to be getting better performances out of key players like Fonte, Puncheon and Lambert

[The Cat]

They have been doing that regularly for the last 10 months since Puncheon joined in January.

 

Well if they did it hasn't been obvious and I've been to at least 75% of those games. Pardew always had Lallana on the left and Puncheon on the right, both cutting in and I don't remember them swapping during games.

[simo]

Best performance of the season so far

[Saint_clark]

Well if they did it hasn't been obvious and I've been to at least 75% of those games. Pardew always had Lallana on the left and Puncheon on the right, both cutting in and I don't remember them swapping during games.

 

I can confirm that since Puncheon joined they have indeed been swapping wings.

[Matthew Le God]

Well if they did it hasn't been obvious and I've been to at least 75% of those games. Pardew always had Lallana on the left and Puncheon on the right, both cutting in and I don't remember them swapping during games.

 

I don't see how they could make it any more obvious!

 

They have been swapping sides of the pitch in pretty much every game for 10 months. It is quite noticeable.

[The Cat]

I can confirm that since Puncheon joined they have indeed been swapping wings.

 

Well I'm clearly not watching properly then. I'll go and sit outside Mr Barnard's office and await my punishment.

[The Cat]

I don't see how they could make it any more obvious!

 

They have been swapping sides of the pitch in pretty much every game for 10 months. It is quite noticeable.

 

I think they've been waiting for me to go for a ****, and then doing it. QUICK, HE'S GONE, SWAP WINGS.

 

They should hold up a big sign or something. Maybe play a short burst of music?

[LostBoys]

Excellent performance by the team and my only complaint is that we missed a host of chances. Very enjoyable and I hope we can keep it up against a much better side in Huddersfield next week. Top by the end of October - well thereabouts at least.

[Smirking_Saint]

Great game

 

Great performance

 

Gully had the midas touch today

[Saint_lambden]

Won comfortably without even hitting Top Gear.

 

Could and should have scored more(mixture of our creativeness and Tranmere being awful) - but basically no negatives from that game.

 

Onwards and Upwards - COYS

[red&white56]

Just back from the game and that was a very impressive Saints performance. I enjoyed seeing Saints pass the ball out of defense rather than the hoof to Rickie. Adkins has certainly brought something to the team, we looked quality today. No more of the head tennis in the middle of the pitch which Pardew never seemed bothered about but was really frustrating to watch. Lallana and Guly added something special to the play, they created openings and opportunities for Saints. Some of Guly's flicks were just exquisite.

 

A few posters have commented that Tranmere were poor, well last season they might have got a draw against us. They had some enormous players and they won plenty of the high balls, our route one approach last year might of hit a brick wall and how many times did we complain that Pardew had no plan B.

 

I'm converted, I'm an Adkins fan!

Edited 9 October, 2010 by red&white56
typo

[The9]

So, just to clarify......we're not missing Pardew then....?

 

Any idiot could have managed this side to a couple of wins in this league - thanks to Cortese's actions we'll never know how well Pardew could have done, but the signs last season were enough for the bookies to make us odds-on for promotion.

 

Which is not to say Adkins isn't doing well, just that Pardew might have been doing as well or better.

 

Nice to see all the slowcoaches jumping on the Guly bandwagon as well, what did I say a month or so ago ? Something aong the lines of "He keeps making great runs, but no-one's seeing them to give the ball to him". All credit to him for adding workrate to his obvious ball skills and creativity.

[Torrent Of Abuse]

Tranmere were really very poor. They seemed to start as 4-3-3 but their wingers were so poor (athletic but desperately untalented) that you really didn't notice when they dropped back to 4-5-1. It was noticeable how much time our players had to rob their players of possession - even Lambert, who still seems slow and cumbersome.

 

Guly was skillful in possession. Lallana was a different class. I'd like to see us up against more skillful opponents before I make a judgement about how good we are though. Think it could have been 4 or 5 if our forward play was more confident but I think we are just a little reluctant to shoot at times, which is a confidence thing. Chaplow seemed ok but his first touch let him down after a while as we tired. Good thing that Tranmere were so poor that we could just tackle and get the ball back.

 

Good substitutions too by the way. And congratulations to the Tranmere fans who turned up. You both made quite a lot of noise for the first 20 minutes.

[Dalek2003]

Excellent performance by the team and my only complaint is that we missed a host of chances. Very enjoyable and I hope we can keep it up against a much better side in Huddersfield next week. Top by the end of October - well thereabouts at least.

 

I think it will take a bit longer to reach the top 2. Some very difficult fixtures in November and a draw from some of these would be good. However, play like today and i can see us in the top 2 by early january.

[manji]

Great game. Players seem a lot happier and Adkins is gettting the best out of them i.e. Punch getting his confidence back which is blatently obvious from recent performances. Lambert looking a lot fitter too. The team seems to be a lot more flexible as well , under Pardew we were far too one dimensional.

Cap that with an awesome display by Cortese's inspired signing Guly and things are looking good.

[sidthesquid]

Great win today, but opposition was very poor and had we brought the banjo we could have given that barn-door a good walloping. But we look solid, our confidence is back and we have a whole second eleven - Bartowski Richardson, Dickson, Jaidi, Martin, Schneiderlin, Mills, Holmes, Chamberlain, Connolly, Barnard, (and the great A Pulis jnr as sub) - who didn't even make the starting eleven that would be the envy of any other team in our league. I hope Adkins is grounded enough to keep the workrate up because we are better than any other team in this league and the one above on our day.

[John McAndrew]

some Beckham like long passes today with some great touches to recieve them...loved todays game...whats the words to the Barnard song...couldnt quite work it all out

[Jesus Reigned]

Was very pleased to see Guly do well today; I said to my mate in the first couple of minutes if he keeps his workrate at the same level he'd do well to last an hour, and it was no surprise he went off with cramp.

 

Literally everything good we did going forward went through him; he seems; our first goal owes a lot to him, and also great cross from Butterfield.

 

Also impressed with the Fonte/Seabourne partnership, and the fact that Davis must have rolled the ball out to one of our defenders 80% of the times he had it. I also only remember one "hoof" from us in the entire game, and that was from Fonte with minutes to go.

 

Tranmere were hopelessly outclassed and didn't threaten once in the entire game; fair play for the 200-odd fans who came down, as coming from Merseyside you have to be a true fan to support Tranmere over Liverpool/Everton!!

 

Puncheon seems to be getting back to what we saw when he first joined, and I can see him taking off once he gets a goal.

 

Also good effort from Chaplow; we didn't miss Morgan at all.

 

Very pleasing performance, and the "Ole"s were fully deserved.

[rallyboy]

met Nigel Adkins today and I have to say he's a top bloke - and he's delivering on the pitch.

As one who was quietly underwhelmed at his appointment, I think I was wrong and Cortese has got this one right.

 

In Nicola we trust.

[Nexstar]

Absolutely controlled the game from start to finish and didn't even get out of second gear. Probably the most one-sided game i've seen at St. Mary's, Tranmere played non-stop long ball from the 'keeper and were truly awful.

 

Guly was fantastic, nobody had a bad game and we could have had a hatful of games. Now let's push on and look to win at the Galpharm.

[SuperMikey]

some Beckham like long passes today with some great touches to recieve them...loved todays game...whats the words to the Barnard song...couldnt quite work it all out

 

Lee Barnard, Barnard

He's short and he's f*cking hard

He's wanted by Scotland Yard

Lee Barnard, Barnard

 

or

 

Lee Barnard

He'll see you outside

(repeat)

[teamsaint]

Guly was brilliant.

 

 

 

BBC site has posession as 53% Saints, 47 % Tranmere........ would love to know how THAt was calculated !!

[Matthew Le God]

BBC site has posession as 53% Saints, 47 % Tranmere........ would love to know how THAt was calculated !!

 

It is clearly wrong. Tranmere hardly touched the ball.

[Nexstar]

Guly was brilliant.

 

 

 

BBC site has posession as 53% Saints, 47 % Tranmere........ would love to know how THAt was calculated !!

 

That surprised me too, thought it would have been closer to 70-30!

[doddisalegend]

Good game best we've played this season. looks like 2-0 might be this seasons 3-1

 

Plus points for me where

 

Hammond - thought he had his best game in a long time

The passing was good - nice to see the ball actually going to a saints player after the last few weeks

Lambert's goal - how happy did Rickie look (in fact his whole game looked better today)

Guly - finally got to see him have a good run out and he looked good if he plays like that every week it would be great for saints

 

Downside

 

Why do a lot of our players still look to scared to shoot? The number of times players got into great postions to day and then tried another pass or another touch when just blasting the ball towards goal would have been the best option. We could have won by a cricket score today with a bit more confidence in front of goal.

 

All in all very happy tonight

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Got to really praise Saints today - they played well even taking into consideration the poorness of the opposition.

And Do Prado was simply superb. It may have been a fluke but his flicks and lay offs were world class. He looked a very talented player and his influence rubbed off on all the rest.

NA seems to be taking us in the right direction.

[Tony F]

It seems to me that Adkins has outlawed any sort of passing/distribution that could be described a s speculative. I can confidently say that I did not see Kelvin kick the ball aimlessly upfield ONCE - not once - in the first half. Every time he had the ball it went along the ground to one of the back four and then to midfield (often as not to Hammond). It was excellent to see such confident and effective football without any of the hoofing which seems to lead to losing the ball more often than winning it.

 

I noticed that, when Fonte tried a couple of long "up and over" passes which ended up missing their target or being intercepted by the opposition, he was rollocked by Kelvin (which is quite ironic really!). Only in the second half did Kelvin kick any beyond the defence and that was when Tranmere sussed our system and actually started marking our back four when Kelvin had the ball!

 

End result - an excellent game of football, real confidence builder. Onwards and upwards? OH YES!

[rocknrollman no2]

Good game best we've played this season. looks like 2-0 might be this seasons 3-1

 

Plus points for me where

 

Hammond - thought he had his best game in a long time

The passing was good - nice to see the ball actually going to a saints player after the last few weeks

Lambert's goal - how happy did Rickie look (in fact his whole game looked better today)

Guly - finally got to see him have a good run out and he looked good if he plays like that every week it would be great for saints

 

Downside

 

Why do a lot of our players still look to scared to shoot? The number of times players got into great postions to day and then tried another pass or another touch when just blasting the ball towards goal would have been the best option. We could have won by a cricket score today with a bit more confidence in front of goal.

 

All in all very happy tonight

 

Totally agree with this.

Im very happy tonight,not just because we won,but the way we did it.Today we looked pure class.