Things aren't as bad as they look!

[Rocker268]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

[eurosaint]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

 

Do you snort or inject ??

[solentstars]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

thats where i think we will finish in the league .

[JohnnyFartPants]

I think we will finish in the bottom half but not in the bottom three.

[scott_saints]

How many "six pointers" do have a season??

[Roman]

How many "six pointers" do have a season??

 

Hopefully many. Then we'll be top of the league in a couple of weeks.

[DT]

We're going down unless we get a defence. Simple as that.

[Scummer]

We're going down unless we get a defence. Simple as that.

 

Not as simple as that really. We've had no defence all season but we aren't bottom of the league. I think we'll come about 14th.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

I think we will finish in the bottom half but not in the bottom three.

 

There you go again, back with your bottom fixation.

[JohnnyFartPants]

There you go again, back with your bottom fixation.

 

I see what you did there!!

[derry]

It was always going to be a performance and result rollercoaster. Some of the players need a wake up call, they need to play with discipline.

 

Defenders who are exposed already by indisciplined forwards not tracking back or tackling like ballet dancers, really don't need to race forward to get into the opponents penalty area, thereby leaving even bigger gaps and massive exposure to counter attack.

[70's Mike]

It was always going to be a performance and result rollercoaster. Some of the players need a wake up call, they need to play with discipline.

 

Defenders who are exposed already by indisciplined forwards not tracking back or tackling like ballet dancers, really don't need to race forward to get into the opponents penalty area, thereby leaving even bigger gaps and massive exposure to counter attack.

 

Sounds like poor management to me

[West End Saint]

The only consistent thing with this young side is they will be inconsistent we will have many ups and downs this year just hope we can improve defensively we are so open it is scary but i think we will end up lower mid table and that is progress if we can keep the team together and push on for next year.

[John D]

Two issues for me here:

1) Will we stay up?

Based on what I've seen I think we will stay up. Yes the defence is suspect at times but hopefully can be addressed on the training ground through better organisation and positioning. I also hope we utilise Thomas and Skacel more as their experience is needed - I do not know what their attitudes / costs involved in playing them are but it may explain why we won't see them

 

I have concerns about our transfer policy - we seem to be stocking up on midfielders and forwards rather than full backs but I hope that this is so obvious that Jan will take action to address

 

We have shown we can play some good footy and I think we will be ok when it comes to scoring goals. We will be inconsistent, we will lose more games but equally I believe win enough to be safe.

 

2) Is that good enough?

Personally I have seen my hopes eroded over the last few years so that this season I will be happy with survival. I can bleat and moan about the failings of Lowe, Crouch, Wilde and Lowe again but the alternatives are not there at the moment.

a) Current economic conditions make likelihood of investment almost zero and I suspect neither Lowe, Wilde or Crouch can afford to put up more cash even if they wanted to.

b) Administration would be a disaster - as we would lose the ground and remaining assets (ie our young players for values below their market value) and suffer at least 1 set of points deduction.

c) Whoever is in charge we have to manage the bank which means more player sales are likely in January simply to avoid administration as I suspect the drop in attendences means we are still loss making.

 

Will I still attend games - yes: I do not like Lowe as I hold him most responsible for our predicament or Wilde as I fell for his bull**** first time round. But my passion for Saints goes beyond who is in charge and not attending will deprive me. The Doncaster and Norwich games were some of the most enjoyable games I have attended in recent years. I know a few fans who have stopped going and can understand why and have full respect for their decision, simply mine is a different one.

[Mole]

We're going down.

 

We're a crock of sh1te now, imagine how much worse we'll be after Lowe has asset stripped the squad in January.

[N/West Saint]

Do you snort or inject ??

 

 

Top reply lol

 

We may play ok against Watford but we have Shef/utd 3 days later they will put a few past us.

[badgerx16]

What happens when the weather takes a cold turn, the pitches rut up, and the frosts set in ? How far will our pretty midfield passing patterns get us then ?

[Ponty]

What happens when the weather takes a cold turn, the pitches rut up, and the frosts set in ? How far will our pretty midfield passing patterns get us then ?

 

TBH, it's not 1975 any more. Most pitches don't turn to **** in the winter like they used to.

[Mowgli]

Sounds like poor management to me

 

Sounds like a young team learning to me

[Windmill Arm 2]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

 

[Mowgli]

What happens when the weather takes a cold turn, the pitches rut up, and the frosts set in ? How far will our pretty midfield passing patterns get us then ?

 

That is a good point but since SMS (and most other CCC pitches) always looks immaculate through the winter and we heavily sprinkle the pitch throughout the year to put a zip on the ball I'm not sure it's much on an issue. Still, we'll find out over the bext couple of months.

[70's Mike]

Sounds like a young team learning to me

 

Would agree if the same mistakes were not being made in every defeat , very little evidence that the errors of their ways are being pointed out to them or corrected

[Phil the Saint]

Before losing to Coventry we were unbeaten in 4 league games and only conceded 2 goals (ok I have overlooked the Rotherham game) - no need to panic off the back of one defeat with a long injury list. Keep the faith.

[Johnny Bognor]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

 

The reason I pick up on the highlighted text is that "4 points off the play offs" sounds really good, however we are 4 points off sixth place, with the best part of 60 points off the playoffs. So with 20 wins, we should make it, but can you honestly see us winning 20 of our remaining 36 games?

[eelpie]

Although the result against Coventry was dissapointing we are still far from doomed as many on here seem to believe, after the performances I have seen at SMS this year I believe that we will finish comfortably mid-table maybe higher, if I am being very optimistic.

At the moment we are joint on points with Watford and only 4 points off the play-off's (if you want a truely positive outlook) The Watford game is now very important to pick up a win at home in a 6 pointer and obviously begin to move up the table. Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league, anything can still happen!

Keep the faith COYR

 

Anything can certainly happen while we persist in playing without specialist defenders, and more clubs suss our gaping weaknesses - ie incapable of defending the far posts and set pieces.

 

THE FORWARDS ARE DOING OK, IF NOT BRILLIANTLY, BUT TACTICALLY IN DEFENCE WE HAVEN'T A CLUE.

[londonsaint1604]

Things don't look that bad though. The Championship is always a tight league and that's why a good surge late in the season can see the likes of Hull secure promotion. This time last year they were in 15th place with only 3 wins in 10. Where are they now? Not saying we'll be winning at the Emirates a year from now but we won't be in League 1 that's for sure.

 

In the last 5 games we've won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 and I don't think that's something to cry about. As long as we improve defensively we will have a much better season than last year.

[Greenridge]

Anything can certainly happen while we persist in playing without specialist defenders, and more clubs suss our gaping weaknesses - ie incapable of defending the far posts and set pieces.

 

THE FORWARDS ARE DOING OK, IF NOT BRILLIANTLY, BUT TACTICALLY IN DEFENCE WE HAVEN'T A CLUE.

 

I think the formation we are playing is compounding the problem. Look back to when Saints were doing so well under WGS and the key factor was 'defending from the front' with the likes of Beattie and Ormerod chasing down and harrying the oppositions defenders. With our 4-2-1-3 or whatever you want to call it formation we are great going forwards but if the wide up-front guys don't track back then we're in big trouble. From what I've seen of Mills and James then they need some help from the team. In fairness any fullback would need this help but James in particular is struggling.

 

It might be time to adopt a more conventional 4-4-2 approach and see how this works. It just might be that the team does fine.

[Foxy]

I think the formation we are playing is compounding the problem. Look back to when Saints were doing so well under WGS and the key factor was 'defending from the front' with the likes of Beattie and Ormerod chasing down and harrying the oppositions defenders. With our 4-2-1-3 or whatever you want to call it formation we are great going forwards but if the wide up-front guys don't track back then we're in big trouble. From what I've seen of Mills and James then they need some help from the team. In fairness any fullback would need this help but James in particular is struggling.

 

It might be time to adopt a more conventional 4-4-2 approach and see how this works. It just might be that the team does fine.

 

But would not 4-4-2 still present the same problem if the wide midfielders just play as 1950s-style wingers and don't help out the fullbacks with the added complication that the 2 CMs get overrun by teams playing 5 across the middle?

[Greenridge]

But would not 4-4-2 still present the same problem if the wide midfielders just play as 1950s-style wingers and don't help out the fullbacks with the added complication that the 2 CMs get overrun by teams playing 5 across the middle?

 

Yes, would agree with you there Foxy. It has to be a combination of formation and application. At the Norwich game in particular it seemed pretty clear that Roeder had sussed our formation and put two very good 'wingers' out who pushed right up the pitch and virtually every attack was from wide positions and not up through the middle. I would expect other managers to make the similar decisions thus the problem repeating itself.

[Rocker268]

Yes, would agree with you there Foxy. It has to be a combination of formation and application. At the Norwich game in particular it seemed pretty clear that Roeder had sussed our formation and put two very good 'wingers' out who pushed right up the pitch and virtually every attack was from wide positions and not up through the middle. I would expect other managers to make the similar decisions thus the problem repeating itself.

 

I noticed that too playing down the wing Norwich seemed a threat almost every time with little to no help for the full backs, the problem is with attacking wingers supporting the striker its too much to expect them to be defensive as well so I think Jan needs to look at possible new formations to counter this problem

[Wes Tender]

Two issues for me here:

1) Will we stay up?

Based on what I've seen I think we will stay up. Yes the defence is suspect at times but hopefully can be addressed on the training ground through better organisation and positioning. I also hope we utilise Thomas and Skacel more as their experience is needed - I do not know what their attitudes / costs involved in playing them are but it may explain why we won't see them

 

I have concerns about our transfer policy - we seem to be stocking up on midfielders and forwards rather than full backs but I hope that this is so obvious that Jan will take action to address

 

We have shown we can play some good footy and I think we will be ok when it comes to scoring goals. We will be inconsistent, we will lose more games but equally I believe win enough to be safe.

 

2) Is that good enough?

Personally I have seen my hopes eroded over the last few years so that this season I will be happy with survival. I can bleat and moan about the failings of Lowe, Crouch, Wilde and Lowe again but the alternatives are not there at the moment.

a) Current economic conditions make likelihood of investment almost zero and I suspect neither Lowe, Wilde or Crouch can afford to put up more cash even if they wanted to.

b) Administration would be a disaster - as we would lose the ground and remaining assets (ie our young players for values below their market value) and suffer at least 1 set of points deduction.

c) Whoever is in charge we have to manage the bank which means more player sales are likely in January simply to avoid administration as I suspect the drop in attendences means we are still loss making.

 

Will I still attend games - yes: I do not like Lowe as I hold him most responsible for our predicament or Wilde as I fell for his bull**** first time round. But my passion for Saints goes beyond who is in charge and not attending will deprive me. The Doncaster and Norwich games were some of the most enjoyable games I have attended in recent years. I know a few fans who have stopped going and can understand why and have full respect for their decision, simply mine is a different one.

 

Almost exactly my feelings on virtually all aspects that you cover.

[The Tango Man]

Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league....the differences between us and WBA are as follows at this point in the season

They had passion

They had a leader on the pitch..who led by example...

They had a manager who understands what it takes to get out of the league

They had a decent defence

They had a decent keeper

They had strikers who could score goals..

The club had some finacial backing and committment to get promotion.

If only we could some of it right ....

[Chez]

We are playing pretty much to our maximum with next to no talent to come back from injury. Can the same be said of the sides below us? Forrest for example have had terrible injury problems and have been extremely unlucky in several games. They will improve greatly.

[Rocker268]

Last year at this point WBA had only won one or possibly 2 games by this point and then won the league....the differences between us and WBA are as follows at this point in the season

They had passion

They had a leader on the pitch..who led by example...

They had a manager who understands what it takes to get out of the league

They had a decent defence

They had a decent keeper

They had strikers who could score goals..

The club had some finacial backing and committment to get promotion.

If only we could some of it right ....

 

That may be true but I doubt any WBA fans were saying that this time last year whats to say we wont have the same drive? Obviously we wont win the league and I doubt we will get promotion but this league is so close a string of wins can lift you to any position

as for the decent keeper Kelvin has been amazing so far this season so we have some of it right already

[fanimal]

A couple of weeks back I was back in the UK to see my first game for 6 months since an awful 1-0 home defeat in March. I was looking forward to seeing the new team, the 5th or perhaps 6th in 4 years, but particularly because of the new policy and supposed style of football.

I saw the Ipswich 2-2 and then the appalling Barnsley 0-0. What upset me most was the lack of effort, aggression and passion in that game, besides just poor professionalism from all 30 guys on the field, refs incl!

This was after a big build up from the Birmingham game as well. Then we go and win 2 games when I am not there. 4 games unbeaten could easily have been 1 or 2 defeats instead, that is why I did not get carried away and was not in the least surprised when I watched the first half v Coventry in a bar in Bodrum.

How can you play a mere kid at left back in this League, with no midfield cover? We are so fragile and lacking in strength individually, as a team, and with no leader.

We have a surplus of midfield and strikers if you include all the injuries (how many more seasons must we use that as an excuse?) but where are the defenders FGS?!

Why can we all see it but those in charge are oblivious?

And then the apathy, the lack of spirit in our fans, so sad, it has been beaten out of us i have to say in the last few years with so many disappointments and sheer lack of entertainment.

But I keep on praying......

[SNSUN]

Need a fit defence, some more height and pace, and a regular goalscorer if we want to avoid a relegation battle. I'd be more gutted to see these youngsters get relegated this season than I would have been had we got relegated last season.

[qwertySFC]

When is the penny going to drop ...we are doomed

[Roger]

leon crouch would make it better as he was starting to do last time

[grasscutter]

What assets ?

[Long Shot]

Why? We're not in the relegation zone are we? Why therefore should our form get worse? We might improve, sign new people or merely see improved form. To think it's fact that you'll go down in october when not even in the drop zone is ridiculous.

 

Is this going to happen every time? We thought we'd struggle, many thought we'd go down, so surely that means losing games. Therefore why is there shock and anger when we lose? We expected it didn't we? As it stands surely we're doing better than many of you thought as we have a fantastic chance of staying up.

 

 

To answer your first question - I can now report back to you from Planet Earth. YES WE ARE!

[Window Cleaner]

Course they are, no money, can't score, can't afford to pay anybody who might score. No defence ,so can't even count on a draw because we'll always concede.

 

I tried to rest supportive as always but after today I can't be bothered any more;

 

Our debts and our shiny new plastic stadium,for which we have insufficient hard core fans, will drag us down into oblivion.

 

Doesn't matter who's at the helm (unless they're prepared to put up sizeable dobs of moolah from their own pocket). We can't afford to pay players, we don't have many decent ones left and we're still losing money.Have been for yonks, we sell players for sums which have vastly outweighed what we buy, rash as spending 7 million might be, we made 9 million or so profit on players at

the end of that season.

We can't afford to play football at a decent level any more.We got too big for our boots with the stadium and the academy and now that we're not in the top flight any more ,they'll be the death of us.

[rocknrollman no2]

Things arent as bad as they look????

Shouldve gone to Specsavers!!!!!

[Snowballs2]

They are even worse, no hope, no experience, no leadership, no management, no tactics, no decent directors

[rocknrollman no2]

They are even worse, no hope, no experience, no leadership, no management, no tactics, no decent directors

 

Add to that soon...no fans.

[Leicestersaint]

Things are looking bad in my view

[ottery st mary]

Course they are, no money, can't score, can't afford to pay anybody who might score. No defence ,so can't even count on a draw because we'll always concede.

 

I tried to rest supportive as always but after today I can't be bothered any more;

 

Our debts and our shiny new plastic stadium,for which we have insufficient hard core fans, will drag us down into oblivion.

 

Doesn't matter who's at the helm (unless they're prepared to put up sizeable dobs of moolah from their own pocket). We can't afford to pay players, we don't have many decent ones left and we're still losing money.Have been for yonks, we sell players for sums which have vastly outweighed what we buy, rash as spending 7 million might be, we made 9 million or so profit on players at

the end of that season.

We can't afford to play football at a decent level any more.We got too big for our boots with the stadium and the academy and now that we're not in the top flight any more ,they'll be the death of us.

 

keep your chin up fella. I am talking to some good person called Sam Aritan

who has been very supportive.. Got the number if it would help..

Sam mentioned that some geezer called Lowey had been on before me talking double dutch and how no one listens to his team talks.

 

Keep smiling.. I am on for a tenner in the lottery tonight.

[ottery st mary]

I think we will finish in the bottom half but not in the bottom three.

 

Things should bottom out sooner or later then?