Back from the game thread

[niceandfriendly]

Just got back after a fairly pleasant drive through London - something that happens once in a blue moon.

 

Cracking atmosphere today, really enjoyable to be a part of.

 

If we didn't win that game it would have been a travesty. We dominated from start to finish, except for 10 minutes maybe towards the end, well it wouldn't be Saints if we didn't look like we might throw it away would it?

 

When Chamberlain went off we looked a little less threatening going forward, but Guly filled in his place very well and actually that's by far the best I've seen him play in a Saints shirt (I missed the Exeter game so not sure how his performance then compares to today).

 

All three of our goals were brilliant finishes. Lallana on the 'half' over-head kick after a nice set up by Rickie Lambert, Guly's finish was just class, and I'm not sure how Lambert managed to get it up and over the keeper from such a tight angle for our third. If it hadn't gone in we would have been screaming for a penalty - definite hand ball from their defender, but thankfully that extra touch seemed to set Rickie up nicely.

 

We looked solid at the back throughout, just a shame Davis doesn't command his box better otherwise I think we'd have a clean sheet. The ball was in the air so long he should have bloody collected it. Instead, he stayed on his line and they had a free header.

 

Squeeky bum times at the end when their brilliant free kick hit the bar. The fella was already celebrating a goal, thankfully the lino and ref together gave nothing.

 

Good result, good atmosphere, good all round really.

[niceandfriendly]

As for my ratings

 

Davis 5 - Poor kicking throughout, should have come out for their goal. Still like him as a player just not great today IMO

Dickson 7 - Very good going forward, solid defensively

Fonte 8 - Didn't put a foot wrong

Jaidi 7 - Won a lot in the air

Butterfield 7 - Some very good forward passing and he read the game well

Oxlade-Chambo 7 - Great forward running, sometimes took it a little too far but overall a good performance again

Hammond 6 - Did well enough, one or two heavy touches though

Chaplow 8 - Exactly the sort of player we need. Great buy

Lallana 8 - Must keep.

Lambert 6 - Might be a little harsh on Rickie to only get 6, especially as he set one up and scored one. Hmmm... yeah maybe he should have 7

Guly 9 - MOTM. Great tracking back, put in some strong challenges, ran the lines well and scored a very nice goal.

[trousers]

Just back. Played Daggers off the park for first 80 mins. That said, I think we could have pushed harder for the 2nd than we did.

 

Daggers unlucky not to nick a draw at the end and had what seemed to be a nailed on penalty not given by the ref.

 

Man of the match performance by Guly, with Lallana a close second. Guly was all over the pitch, leading the line as well as tracking back to defend. Superb.

 

A plucky comeback by the Daggers but a deserved win for Saints. The difference in class was clear to see.

[trousers]

P.s. The stewards behind Kelvin's goal were saying the Daggers free kick was a foot over the line...

[Jesus Reigned]

P.s. The stewards behind Kelvin's goal were saying the Daggers free kick was a foot over the line...

 

Maybe that evens up Lampard's against the Germans then.

[niceandfriendly]

Maybe that evens up Lampard's against the Germans then.

 

Lol, not for Daggers it doesn't

 

I agree with you trousers, D&G did make a fight of it towards the end and if true about the freekick then they are unfortunate. But in reality, anything other than a Southampton victory today would have been an outrage. It really was all us.

[Chez]

Why on earth do the Daggers put away fans in the new stand behind the goal. Suited us fine as we could really get behind the lads and drive home to them as they came out (the tunnel was in the same stand) and back into the changing rooms how much we wanted them to win here...and boy did they respond.

 

On a very bad pitch that restricted football we did everything possible to get it down and play. Our link up play with Guly, Lambert and Lallana was absolutely oustanding. Lambert had his best game this season and him and Guly worked well together for once.

 

With all due respect the opposition were obviously not the greatest, but they battled hard especially the lad Green (who is decent) and their left back (who gave Chamberlain as tough a game as anyone this season). On a different day they might have actually grabbed a draw. At 1-0 they had a stonewall pen (the words of two Daggers fans walking in front of me) denied that saw pretty much every outfield Dagger moan at the ref. We immediately went up the other end and scored. Then at 2-1 they had a freekick that seemed to do a Lampard (it was at the other end so Saints fans just held their breath). We then went up the other end and scored. But don't get me wrong that would have flattered them massively as we ran the game from start to finish.

 

Davis 7 - Nothing to do, one easy save. Kicked a little short on occasions but set uo a great chance in the opening minutes with a great long ball to Lambert. No doubt the clueless will say his kicking was bad when in fact it was fine and on occasions like the one I mentioned first class

Dickson 8 - Very very competitive, good going forward, solid defensively, never beaten ever. Brilliant reaction having been dropped

Fonte 8 - I criticised him in the last game but excellent today

Jaidi 9 - Won almost everything in the air despite Savage being massive. Hard to fault him and perfect selection for this long ball type game. Not sure who was to blame for their goal.

Butterfield 6 - Beaten by their pacey winger in the second half a few times. Near the end especially our right side was opened up and he didn't get tight enough. Our weakest link today, but still not terrible.

Oxlade-Chambo 7 - Great battle between him and their pacey fullback, he gave it all and came out on top, just. A handful. Just what you want out wide. Didn't like seeing him come off as Guly is not a wide player (despite him scoring from there) and shows we need a right midfield added to the squad.

Hammond 7.5 - Midfield was bypassed a lot, but when it did go through the middle Hammond was right there.

Chaplow 7 - Quiet game for him due to reason above. Some quality touches though, this is the reason we are dominating games right now as our central midfield three have stepped up to the plate.

Lallana 10 - Believe me I don't always give Lallana a good score. I must have given him about ten 5 out of 10s last season, but he was immaculate again and caused D&R all sorts of problems. I don't remember him losing it once.

Lambert 8 - Best game for bloody yonks. Won headers that then went to a white shirt, linked the play brilliantly and his goal was simply divine.

Guly 9 - Tremendous display again. Link up play was very good indeed and D&R found him a real handful. Grat focal point of our attack and I was dissapointed to see him moved out wide. But he even did OK at right midfield and took his goal very well.

 

Barnard 7 much better than the Exeter game. Touch improved and more effective.

Rchardson We came under pressure when he came on and our right side looked a little weak.

Edited 3 January, 2011 by Chez

[david in sweden]

Lol, not for Daggers it doesn't

 

I agree with you trousers, D&G did make a fight of it towards the end and if true about the freekick then they are unfortunate. But in reality, anything other than a Southampton victory today would have been an outrage. It really was all us.

 

.......and 19 shots (Saints)... to 6 (D&R) that was pretty convincing .

[niceandfriendly]

Chez, I agreed with everything you said up until you called me clueless for slating Kelvins kicking. Unless you were at the bar or similar it would have been impossible not to notice his dreadful goal kicks in the second half. There were 3 on the trot which went straight out of play on our left hand side.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am a Kelvin Davis fan. But there is no denying that his kicking has been poor for years, and his commanding of the area leaves a lot to be desired.

 

I am really looking forward to when Bart takes over though. Not because I don't rate Kelv but because I think Bart could be our number 1 for many years to come. To have 2 keepers as good as we do I think we are very lucky.

 

Oops, not forgetting wonderboy Tommy Forecast.

[Chez]

I am not going to apologise for calling you clueless. I actually missed the first minute or so of the second half (getting food not drink) thankfully returning just as we opened the scoring (might see myself on TV as I was the only one standing between the cornerflag and goal), so these three incidents of kicking straight out may have happened then - otherwise I didn't see them. They did not happen in my mind - hence my response.

 

Kelvin gets far too much stick for his kicking. Yes at times he kicks poorly, but other times his kicks are actually brilliant long balls and he never ever gets credit for those.

 

I must admit there is a bloke a few seats to the right of me at SMS that berates Kelvin from start to finish and he is an absolute ****ing **** with zero knowledge of the game. He does my head in so much that I may be going too far in my praise for Kelvin, but even if I do I still think he is often judged by what he did before and not what he does in a particular game. His kicking was fine today, if a little short at times.

 

By the way he came out three times to make catches, called well and swept adequately.

[niceandfriendly]

I am definitely not that bloke of which you speak. Kelv has been a great servant for us, and I'd still have him as number one this season

[shirleysfc]

Why on earth do the Daggers put away fans in the new stand behind the goal. Suited us fine as we could really get behind the lads and drive home to them as they came out (the tunnel was in the same stand) and back into the changing rooms how much we wanted them to win here...and boy did they respond.

 

On a very bad pitch that restricted football we did everything possible to get it down and play. Our link up play with Guly, Lambert and Lallana was absolutely oustanding. Lambert had his best game this season and him and Guly worked well together for once.

 

With all due respect the opposition were obviously not the greatest, but they battled hard especially the lad Green (who is decent) and their left back (who gave Chamberlain as tough a game as anyone this season). On a different day they might have actually grabbed a draw. At 1-0 they had a stonewall pen (the words of two Daggers fans walking in front of me) denied that saw pretty much every outfield Dagger moan at the ref. We immediately went up the other end and scored. Then at 2-1 they had a freekick that seemed to do a Lampard (it was at the other end so Saints fans just held their breath). We then went up the other end and scored. But don't get me wrong that would have flattered them massively as we ran the game from start to finish.

 

Davis 7 - Nothing to do, one easy save. Kicked a little short on occasions but set uo a great chance in the opening minutes with a great long ball to Lambert. No doubt the clueless will say his kicking was bad when in fact it was fine and on occasions like the one I mentioned first class

Dickson 8 - Very very competitive, good going forward, solid defensively, never beaten ever. Brilliant reaction having been dropped

Fonte 8 - I criticised him in the last game but excellent today

Jaidi 9 - Won almost everything in the air despite Savage being massive. Hard to fault him and perfect selection for this long ball type game. Not sure who was to blame for their goal.

Butterfield 6 - Beaten by their pacey winger in the second half a few times. Near the end especially our right side was opened up and he didn't get tight enough. Our weakest link today, but still not terrible.

Oxlade-Chambo 7 - Great battle between him and their pacey fullback, he gave it all and came out on top, just. A handful. Just what you want out wide. Didn't like seeing him come off as Guly is not a wide player (despite him scoring from there) and shows we need a right midfield added to the squad.

Hammond 7.5 - Midfield was bypassed a lot, but when it did go through the middle Hammond was right there.

Chaplow 7 - Quiet game for him due to reason above. Some quality touches though, this is the reason we are dominating games right now as our central midfield three have stepped up to the plate.

Lallana 10 - Believe me I don't always give Lallana a good score. I must have given him about ten 5 out of 10s last season, but he was immaculate again and caused D&R all sorts of problems. I don't remember him losing it once.

Lambert 8 - Best game for bloody yonks. Won headers that then went to a white shirt, linked the play brilliantly and his goal was simply divine.

Guly 9 - Tremendous display again. Link up play was very good indeed and D&R found him a real handful. Grat focal point of our attack and I was dissapointed to see him moved out wide. But he even did OK at right midfield and took his goal very well.

 

Barnard 7 much better than the Exeter game. Touch improved and more effective.

Rchardson We came under pressure when he came on and our right side looked a little weak.

 

Agree with all you ratings except Hammond who I would have given 6.

 

For me he played far too deep and too many times got in Jaidi's way when he was trying to clear the ball. Add to that his air kicks and mispaced passes and it was a pretty poor performance.

[trousers]

Why on earth do the Daggers put away fans in the new stand behind the goal?

 

Was with a Daggers fan today and I asked the same question. The answer was that it is the only side of the ground where it is easy to segregate away fans. He also said (perhaps tongue-in-cheekly) that there is a new bar area in there which they can make some money out of the away fans from

[niceandfriendly]

Was with a Daggers fan today and I asked the same question. The answer was that it is the only side of the ground where it is easy to segregate away fans. He also said (perhaps tongue-in-cheekly) that there is a new bar area in there which they can make some money out of the away fans from

 

Facilities under that new stand were good. A million miles better than the shed down the road, which is bloody hilarious.

[Chez]

Agree with all you ratings except Hammond who I would have given 6.

 

For me he played far too deep and too many times got in Jaidi's way when he was trying to clear the ball. Add to that his air kicks and mispaced passes and it was a pretty poor performance.

really? I'm a massive fan of Morgan so was very interested to see how Hammond would perform on his return and I felt he had a pretty good game if unimpressive. It was tough for both central midfielders as the ball was in the air a lot in the first half. I didn't see too many air kicks, or misplaced passes.

[Appy]

Was pretty much a non event in the first half and all of a sudden a fantastic goal by Lallana opened it up.

 

Lambert was excellent, really led the line well and scored a fine goal.

 

I'm warming to Guly, he seems really passionate now and was good to see him chasing and tackling back.

 

Hammond wasn't great today, i think maybe Morgan was unlucky to be dropped or rested or whatever it is called.

 

Great Atmosphere from the away fans, quite a friendly place around the ground all in all.

[niceandfriendly]

Hammond wasn't great today, i think maybe Morgan was unlucky to be dropped or rested or whatever it is called.

 

Despite only giving Hammond a 6 in my ratings, I think playing him was absolutely the right decision purely based on the conditions and opposition. I think he played alright, pretty good at times but nothing spectacular. Good that we have Hammond, Chaplow and Schneiderlin putting in strong cases that they should be in the starting 11.

[Appy]

Despite only giving Hammond a 6 in my ratings, I think playing him was absolutely the right decision purely based on the conditions and opposition. I think he played alright, pretty good at times but nothing spectacular. Good that we have Hammond, Chaplow and Schneiderlin putting in strong cases that they should be in the starting 11.

 

Yeah i did think that when i saw Hammond was playing that today would suit him, but he just seemed off the pace, not sure if his flu hasn't completely gone.

[shirleysfc]

really? I'm a massive fan of Morgan so was very interested to see how Hammond would perform on his return and I felt he had a pretty good game if unimpressive. It was tough for both central midfielders as the ball was in the air a lot in the first half. I didn't see too many air kicks, or misplaced passes.

 

From where I was it looked like hammond completely missed the ball in the second half giving them a shot on goal which ended up going just over the bar. As for the miss placed passes, for me several times he played quick balls without looking/thinking often trying little flicks.

 

Don't get me wrong I think we played well today but at times we needed our middle two to take the pressure off and put their foot on the ball rather than always looking for a killer pass/flick.

[georgeismyname]

Unlucky not to score first half as the Daggers defence looked quite solid and put in some very good blocks on some good opportunities. Rickie perhaps should've scored with his free header late on.

Second half very entertaining as we were on top for the most part (apart from the 10 minute spell around their goal) and we actually played some good football on what was a difficult pitch.

As I said at half-time: "these are the games we need to win if we're going to win the league" and thank god we did!

 

Davis - 7 - Didn't really have much to do but did come out to claim crosses very well.

Dickson - 8 - Looked solid defensively and very threatening overlapping Lallana and putting in good crosses

Jaidi - 8 - Dominated in the air as against Huddersfield and seemed to control Bas Savage in the 1st half when we were defending the away end

Fonte - 7 - Usual controlled self which is maybe why I only gave him a 7 cos we're so used to seeing him do well

Butterfield - 7 - Solid enough although seemed to be over-run down his side during that 10 minute spell of pressure. Did play a fantastic cross-field ball though.

Lallana - 10 - Absolutely fantastic for the whole 90 mins. Looked dangerous everytime he got the ball. Great goal as well which he looked genuinely made-up to get.

Hammond - 7 - As others have said, game sort of passed by our central midfield but can't remember any real mistakes.

Chaplow - 7 - As above for Hammond.

Chamberlain - 9 - Looked dangerous as usual but did seem to overdo it with regards to beating the full back at times. (Although that may have been just a good performance from the full-back)

Guly - 10 - Fantastic. Best game in a Saints shirt and I'm starting to change my opinion on him now. Looked dangerous, worked hard and even tackled back. Took his goal brilliantly and was very cool. My MOTM in the vote on the coach on the way back (although it was sort of a draw between Guly, Lambert and Lallana)

Lambert - 10 - Best game of the season so far from Rick. Thankfully looks like he's starting to get back to his best. Linked up well, won his headers and took his goal sublimely.

 

Overall very good at a difficult place to go to. However I do wonder why Rickie always seems to be out wide putting in crosses rather than in the box getting on the end of the crosses. Maybe explains why he hasn't been scoring as much this season (as well as his lack of form)??

[benjii]

I am not going to apologise for calling you clueless. I actually missed the first minute or so of the second half (getting food not drink) thankfully returning just as we opened the scoring (might see myself on TV as I was the only one standing between the cornerflag and goal), so these three incidents of kicking straight out may have happened then - otherwise I didn't see them. They did not happen in my mind - hence my response.

 

Kelvin gets far too much stick for his kicking. Yes at times he kicks poorly, but other times his kicks are actually brilliant long balls and he never ever gets credit for those.

 

I must admit there is a bloke a few seats to the right of me at SMS that berates Kelvin from start to finish and he is an absolute ****ing **** with zero knowledge of the game. He does my head in so much that I may be going too far in my praise for Kelvin, but even if I do I still think he is often judged by what he did before and not what he does in a particular game. His kicking was fine today, if a little short at times.

 

By the way he came out three times to make catches, called well and swept adequately.

 

Quite right, the accuracy of his kicks from ground is usually as good as or much better than any Saints 'keeper I've seen (Flowers onwards). He usually puts it straight on Lambert's head from 70 yards - something a lot of outfield players at this level would struggle to do.

Edited 3 January, 2011 by benjii

[shirleysfc]

I really want Hammond to be the midfielder he's trying to be but at the moment I think the arm band gets him selected over his ability. Morgan and Chaplow played well against Huddersfield and Exeter and I definitely stick with them as the centre two.

[ManorHouseSaint]

I agree with the majority of the comments on here. I was also in the Dagger's end and I made Guly my MOM. Dagenham should have had a stonewall penalty though, and the ball did look as though it crossed the line from the free kick, and I also thought Ricky was offside for his goal. Saying that, we totally dominated the game and it would have been farcical had we not taken all 3 points. The biggest highlight for me today was the battling spirit that we showed. We all know we have got technically gifted players in the team who can win games for us, but those players also showed a lot of mettle today too. Special mention to Guly for that. These are generally the sort of games where we would have previously not put in a good performance and lost, so I was very pleased in that respect.

 

My only disappointment was Chaplow today. He did a couple of nice passes here or there, but I think the game largely passed him by. I can see the reasoning behind starting him ahead of Morgan for a game like this, but he struggled. Morgan had just been regaining some sort of form in the last 2 games as well.

 

Great atmosphere, and fantastic support from the Saints fans that I could hear from the other stand. All in all a great day out! COYRs!

[trousers]

I agree with the majority of the comments on here. I was also in the Dagger's end and I made Guly my MOM. Dagenham should have had a stonewall penalty though, and the ball did look as though it crossed the line from the free kick, and I also thought Ricky was offside for his goal.

 

It was close but he wasn't offside. I was level with play at that point and he timed his run to perfection. One of the few referee/lineman decisions that my Daggers friends agreed with...!

[ManorHouseSaint]

It was close but he wasn't offside. I was level with play at that point and he timed his run to perfection. One of the few referee/lineman decisions that my Daggers friends agreed with...!

 

Fortunately for us I wasn't Lino then!

[Guest Dark Sotonic Mills]

P.s. The stewards behind Kelvin's goal were saying the Daggers free kick was a foot over the line...

 

I was sat in row A of the main stand right on the goal line. The ball bounced off of Kelvin's back and he swung round and grasped it. The ball was at no time over the line and the assistant referee was also right in line. Luck, yes.

 

However, I was about three yards away from the corner flag and Lallana's corners in the first half were woeful. I don't know why; they just never seemed to be high enough or direct enough.

[LVSaint]

Just got back. Great day out and performance almost ruined with their freekick at the end which we thought was a goal.

 

Their keeper was a good laugh!

[Saint Charlie]

On Daggers forum most of their fans saying it didn't cross the line but that Davis was lucky.

[Appy]

On Daggers forum most of their fans saying it didn't cross the line but that Davis was lucky.

 

Had no chance with the free kick but i agree he got lucky that the ball didn't come back off him and go in.

[Griffo]

Whose flag was that? Looks quality. What was the 'two oranges' thing about?