Saints 2-0 Norwich - Match Thread

[JRM]

12 hours ago, Danbert said:

I too thought they were pretty decent against Liverpool - it'll be a tough game

They took the lead at Anfield and were leading with 30 mins to go but fell apart under pressure, definitely think some Saints fans are getting carried away expecting an easy win. 

Norwich are running out of time though and need wins so hopefully will be an open game.  

Another memorable Norwich home game 

 

[100%Red&White]

1 hour ago, JRM said:

Another memorable Norwich home game 

 

That was a cracker - from the DE the week following the spineless showing down the road.

“They had felt so angry after last week's performance against their local rivals. They were hurting and they had been scathing of the players for putting them through it. But there was no hint of recriminations or finger pointing. Instead, just rousing support. The stands were red and white, the atmosphere incredible and the noise unbelievable. Never has St Mary's enjoyed an atmosphere like this one. There's no doubt it helped a team who were surely worried about what sort of reception they'd get after last week's debacle”

SAINTS 4 - NORWICH 3 | Daily Echo

Sha-la-la...

[RedWillie]

11 hours ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Tougher than some think. No easy games in the prem.

Just look at Burnley last night. Spurs beat Man city away and then lose 3 days later at Burnley !

[Toadhall Saint]

4 minutes ago, RedWillie said:

Just look at Burnley last night. Spurs beat Man city away and then lose 3 days later at Burnley !

Exactly. I still think on recent form we will win 2-0 but it won’t be the type of 2-0 we had against Everton.

[eelpie]

Current form and position in the table would suggest an easy 2-0 win.. But the table reflects Saints recent successes in matching and drawing against top teams.. Norwich's position at the foot of the table is a result of terrible early season form and recent bad luck. Norwich are tenaciously fighting to survive, and need a good result.  They are a decent, spirited side who have already beaten Saints..

Saints aren't good against supposedly weaker teams. I'm expecting an exciting game, with shocks!

 2-2 the result. Gunn to make spectacular stops and Tino to save Saints blushes. 

 

[notnowcato]

We should win, doesn’t mean we will. 
Assuming Perraud is available for selection I think it’s only the fullbacks that Ralph has to make a decision over, the rest of the team picks itself. 

[John Boy Saint]

4 hours ago, JRM said:

They took the lead at Anfield and were leading with 30 mins to go but fell apart under pressure, definitely think some Saints fans are getting carried away expecting an easy win. 

Norwich are running out of time though and need wins so hopefully will be an open game.  

Another memorable Norwich home game 

 

That was some game - every emotion at a footie game you could have - at 3-3 somewhere in the 80 something minute the whole stadium stood up to push the lads on, the noise  was quite something  - when that daisy cutter went in for 4-3 reports were the whole city knew we had scored from the huge cheer - the lady who we knew well sat in front of us, turned around tears pouring down her face and buried her head in my chest............ that is still probably the most intense game we've had at St Marys.

As we all know it was to no avail.  

[Teddeer]

2 hours ago, eelpie said:

Current form and position in the table would suggest an easy 2-0 win.. But the table reflects Saints recent successes in matching and drawing against top teams.. Norwich's position at the foot of the table is a result of terrible early season form and recent bad luck. Norwich are tenaciously fighting to survive, and need a good result.  They are a decent, spirited side who have already beaten Saints..

Saints aren't good against supposedly weaker teams. I'm expecting an exciting game, with shocks!

 2-2 the result. Gunn to make spectacular stops and Tino to save Saints blushes. 

 

Thought Tim Krul was back for them.

[Chickendippers]

If we cough up chances like we did against Everton in the first 20 mins then we might find ourselves chasing the game. I think it will be open and they will score (Pukki takes his chances well) but we will out work their midfiled and eventually create enough chances to out score them. 2-1 Saints. Or we could hammer them like Brentford 4-1. Hope this is what happens.

Edited 24 February, 2022 by Chickendippers
too dumb to use a computer

[Wurzel]

By the law of averages there has to be one game when we create loads of chances and actually convert them all*.  Not saying it's going to be tomorrow but the 8-0 Sunderland game does seem a long long time ago now.

*Then again I say that every season

[igsey]

Suspect Redmond will play instead of SArmstrong, maybe a couple of other changes too with an eye on the cup game.

[LiberalCommunist]

There's enough of a gap between these two games to continue with the same team. We should should let the momentum continue. The cup game is massive. We have to put all our eggs into that basket, because we look in a great position to upset a big team. After these games are out the way, then shake the team up for the Villa game. 

This is a massive six days for us. Come out of this well, and we are going to have a very exciting end to the season. 

[fez]

BBC: Early Southampton team news

Southampton v Norwich (Fri, 20:00 GMT)

Southampton

Oriol Romeu is back in contention after suffering with Covid, and there are no fresh injury concerns.

 

I presume they mean Perraud!

Edited 24 February, 2022 by fez

[trousers]

29 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

There's enough of a gap between these two games to continue with the same team. We should should let the momentum continue. The cup game is massive. We have to put all our eggs into that basket

I agree that we should put out our best team in the cup game..... however.... if we play our best team vs Norwich tomorrow, we increase the chances of key players getting injured for the cup game.... ergo.... if we want to guarantee being able to put "all our eggs" in the FA Cup basket then, logically, we should protect our key players by not playing them in the Norwich game... 

Yours logically....

Edited 24 February, 2022 by trousers

[HarvSFC]

Another one for the highlights against Norwich at home. We got relegated with them, they were the strongest team in League One, running away with the title, so it was the toughest fixture you could draw in the JPT back then. They're 2-1 up and with a matter of seconds left of the match Grant Holt has it up by the corner flag, only he then tries to pull one of his cons and goes down looking for the free-kick, doesn't get it and we get possession, boot it straight up the pitch with Papa Waigo, the JPT slayer, scoring with one of the last kicks of the game. Then you've got the drama of penalties, Bialkowski did well against Forster on those and Wayne Thomas bags the winning penalty.

Great evening and we of course go on to Wembley and get a great day out that won't be forgotten.

[waylander]

20 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

Another one for the highlights against Norwich at home. We got relegated with them, they were the strongest team in League One, running away with the title, so it was the toughest fixture you could draw in the JPT back then. They're 2-1 up and with a matter of seconds left of the match Grant Holt has it up by the corner flag, only he then tries to pull one of his cons and goes down looking for the free-kick, doesn't get it and we get possession, boot it straight up the pitch with Papa Waigo, the JPT slayer, scoring with one of the last kicks of the game. Then you've got the drama of penalties, Bialkowski did well against Forster on those and Wayne Thomas bags the winning penalty.

Great evening and we of course go on to Wembley and get a great day out that won't be forgotten.

That was when Forster could get down to low shots in the corner

[jasonbenali]

3 hours ago, John Boy Saint said:

That was some game - every emotion at a footie game you could have - at 3-3 somewhere in the 80 something minute the whole stadium stood up to push the lads on, the noise  was quite something  - when that daisy cutter went in for 4-3 reports were the whole city knew we had scored from the huge cheer - the lady who we knew well sat in front of us, turned around tears pouring down her face and buried her head in my chest............ that is still probably the most intense game we've had at St Marys.

As we all know it was to no avail.  

Just about my favourite Saints game. All that stress built up trying to avoid relegation, the swings in the scoreline and the late winner against a close rival. I remember being hugged by total strangers and running up and down the stairs in the Northam going absolutely nuts. What a day in a bleak season.

[Matthew Le God]

Yet another sellout...

 

[FboroSaint21]

Yet again no train after 10pm back to Basingstoke/Farnborough. How the hell can Southampton Central not have a service later than 10pm heading back north?

Not sure how i'm supposed to get back from the stadium with an 8pm KO and make that train unless I leave well before the end of the game?

[Graffito]

56 minutes ago, FboroSaint21 said:

Yet again no train after 10pm back to Basingstoke/Farnborough. How the hell can Southampton Central not have a service later than 10pm heading back north?

Not sure how i'm supposed to get back from the stadium with an 8pm KO and make that train unless I leave well before the end of the game?

I emailed south western rail this week. No reply so I rang this afternoon. The short answer is they won’t be putting on an a later train to get us home after the match. I pointed out that they put on a later train in the opposite direction for the Tottenham match recently but I was told they won’t be changing the timetable this late in the week. It will be interesting to see what they do for next week’s match against West Ham. If it goes to extra time they could have a few hundred angry hammers to deal with down at Central. So it’s either leave early or drive or get the coach back.

[JRM]

4 minutes ago, Graffito said:

I emailed south western rail this week. No reply so I rang this afternoon. The short answer is they won’t be putting on an a later train to get us home after the match. I pointed out that they put on a later train in the opposite direction for the Tottenham match recently but I was told they won’t be changing the timetable this late in the week. It will be interesting to see what they do for next week’s match against West Ham. If it goes to extra time they could have a few hundred angry hammers to deal with down at Central. So it’s either leave early or drive or get the coach back.

There used to be a 22.30 and 23.00 train back to London as part of normal timetable, loads of Saints fans used to be on it going to various place on the way to Waterloo , rubbish service from SWR removing late ones. 

They are supposed to be running a late one especially for the West Ham game, with 7.30 kick off that should allow for ET 

 

[Chris cooper]

5 minutes ago, Graffito said:

I emailed south western rail this week. No reply so I rang this afternoon. The short answer is they won’t be putting on an a later train to get us home after the match. I pointed out that they put on a later train in the opposite direction for the Tottenham match recently but I was told they won’t be changing the timetable this late in the week. It will be interesting to see what they do for next week’s match against West Ham. If it goes to extra time they could have a few hundred angry hammers to deal with down at Central. So it’s either leave early or drive or get the coach back.

There’s a 1030 train laid on for cup game but if e/t and pens still be to early to catch ..hope who ever has to catch it the game is done in 90 

[Graffito]

11 minutes ago, JRM said:

There used to be a 22.30 and 23.00 train back to London as part of normal timetable, loads of Saints fans used to be on it going to various place on the way to Waterloo , rubbish service from SWR removing late ones. 

They are supposed to be running a late one especially for the West Ham game, with 7.30 kick off that should allow for ET 

 

Thanks for the info about the rail service for the West Ham match. 22.30 is better although I see this is the 22.00 service departing at 22.30 not an additional train. And they’re 10 carriage trains often seem magically to turn into 5 carriage trains by the time they get to Central. I wonder if this reduced timetable is more about cost cutting than covid.

[Dorchester Saint]

4 hours ago, igsey said:

Suspect Redmond will play instead of SArmstrong, maybe a couple of other changes too with an eye on the cup game.

Why?? The cup game is almost a week away!

[FboroSaint21]

2 hours ago, Graffito said:

I emailed south western rail this week. No reply so I rang this afternoon. The short answer is they won’t be putting on an a later train to get us home after the match. I pointed out that they put on a later train in the opposite direction for the Tottenham match recently but I was told they won’t be changing the timetable this late in the week. It will be interesting to see what they do for next week’s match against West Ham. If it goes to extra time they could have a few hundred angry hammers to deal with down at Central. So it’s either leave early or drive or get the coach back.

I’ve decided to drive down and stay in Jury’s. It pisses me off and is probably the only downside of coming to Southampton from Farnborough. The amount of £95 taxis I’ve had to get home is really pissing me off. 
I reached out to them on Twitter and they basically came back and said we’re increasing back to pre-Covid levels but not the 11pm. Utter shit.

[Whitey Grandad]

33 minutes ago, FboroSaint21 said:

I’ve decided to drive down and stay in Jury’s. It pisses me off and is probably the only downside of coming to Southampton from Farnborough. The amount of £95 taxis I’ve had to get home is really pissing me off. 
I reached out to them on Twitter and they basically came back and said we’re increasing back to pre-Covid levels but not the 11pm. Utter shit.

Can't you drive back to Farnborough after the match?

[waylander]

19 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Can't you drive back to Farnborough after the match?

I presume beers may be involved

[nta786]

19 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Can't you drive back to Farnborough after the match?

Depends if he wants to drink right  

[nta786]

I wonder what this is about - drug abuse or inappropriate chants?

On your best behaviours tomorrow though lads

[FboroSaint21]

44 minutes ago, nta786 said:

Depends if he wants to drink right  

Yeah, beers will definitely be involved from late afternoon! It is a Friday after all! 

[Whitey Grandad]

46 minutes ago, waylander said:

I presume beers may be involved

 

46 minutes ago, nta786 said:

Depends if he wants to drink right  

Ah, of course.

I tend to drink at home. I like bottled craft beers and I keep a few so that when Saints win I can have a celebratory glass. Before this season they used to go out of date before I could drink them.

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, Dorchester Saint said:

Why?? The cup game is almost a week away!

It's not about fatigue, it's about trying to avoid possible injuries. I certainly wouldn't want/expect a Coventry-type crap starting line up against Norwich, but if any key player has the slightest twinge or niggle I'd swap him out with someone expendable (e.g. Walcott).

[woodsaint1]

Whats this about us being poor against supposedly weaker sides? Of those below us in the table, we've beaten Watford, Leeds, Everton, Brentford, Villa and drew with Palace, Newcastle and Burnley (should have won that one). Yes the only defeat against those 'relegation' sides was Norwich, but we gifted them two silly goals (McCarthy effect), missed good chances and Norwich had the new manager bounce at the time. They've had a few good results recently, but only against poor sides around them - Watford and Everton (who still had Ranieri and Benitez in charge at the time).

We've had a full week to prepare, have a near fully fit squad to choose from and we're at home - I expect us to win. Dont let me down boys

[Dorchester Saint]

44 minutes ago, Dark Munster said:

It's not about fatigue, it's about trying to avoid possible injuries. I certainly wouldn't want/expect a Coventry-type crap starting line up against Norwich, but if any key player has the slightest twinge or niggle I'd swap him out with someone expendable (e.g. Walcott).

Walcott is shit and I don’t want us to do the ‘Saintsy’ thing of losing to Norwich after beating Everton & Spurs and drawing with all of Manchester. I want us to keep climbing the table and get ahead of Brighton with a win tomorrow night. Injuries can and will happen regardless, but if a full starting 11 is available, that’s what Ralph should field. 

Edited 24 February, 2022 by Dorchester Saint

[trousers]

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

[nta786]

14 minutes ago, trousers said:

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

Stephens two games in a row? Valery tomorrow night? Djenepo/Long/A Armstrong? 

I think with that team we’d be extremely underestimating Norwich.

My preference is to go full strength tomorrow, if we go up 2/3-0 by HT then by all means take Broja, Romeu and Stuart Armstrong off, but we have a solid 4 days off before WHU and for me match fitness is more important than any risk of injury from playing tomorrow. 

[Dellman]

30 minutes ago, Dorchester Saint said:

Walcott is shit and I don’t want us to do the ‘Saintsy’ thing of losing to Norwich after beating Everton & Spurs and drawing with all of Manchester. I want us to keep climbing the table and get ahead of Brighton with a win tomorrow night. Injuries can and will happen regardless, but if a full starting 11 is available, that’s what Ralph should field. 

He will (I hope)

[Roger]

45 minutes ago, trousers said:

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

You must be mad 

[Appy]

52 minutes ago, trousers said:

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

Thank Christ Ralph has more sense 

[captainchris]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

The league should prioritise so full strength against Norwich …

[CanadaSaint]

I think it would be very cool if our fans with yellow and blue stuff would wear or take it tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that Norwich are yellow - the evil shit going on in Ukraine is far more important.

[VictiAbNonem]

45 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

I think it would be very cool if our fans with yellow and blue stuff would wear or take it tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that Norwich are yellow - the evil shit going on in Ukraine is far more important.

Would be fine with Norwich away kit

https://cdn.footballkitarchive.com/2021/11/16/lzi2kuRzG0dpJc5.jpg

[CanadaSaint]

If Norwich are wearing that I’d love us to wear the yellow & blue.

[CB Fry]

7 hours ago, trousers said:

The team I'd select for the Norwich PL game:

Forster

Valery Stephens Bednarek Perraud

JWP Diallo

Redmond Djenepo

Long A.Armstrong

 

The team I'd select for the West Ham cup game:

Forster

KWP/Tino Stephens Salisu Perraud/KWP

JWP Romeu

S.Armstrong Elyounoussi

Adams Broja 

The League starting 11 needs more 16 year olds.

[StDunko]

6 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

I think it would be very cool if our fans with yellow and blue stuff would wear or take it tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that Norwich are yellow - the evil shit going on in Ukraine is far more important.

I came on here to post this.

I couldn't give a fuck if the usual idiots on here start squinning about virtue signalling. There is little else we can do apart from show the world that acts of agression are not just accepted and ignored.

[Chewy]

This talk of resting/prioritising is bonkers IMO. We have a 5 day gap, so fatigue/recovery isn’t an issue.

Yes injuries are a risk, but players can get injured in training or catch covid. Or we could demolish West Ham and get drawn at Anfield next round and be out of the cup next round anyway.

If West Ham was just 48 hours later I’d get it, we’d have to make a couple of decisions. But with the gap between the games we play our best available team tonight and do the same in the week.

Edited 25 February, 2022 by Chewy
Changed issue for option

[WALK DMC]

1 minute ago, Chewy said:

This talk of resting/prioritising is bonkers IMO. We have a 5 day gap, so fatigue/recovery isn’t an option.

Yes injuries are a risk, but players can get injured in training or catch covid. Or we could demolish West Ham and get drawn at Anfield next round and be out of the cup next round anyway.

If West Ham was just 48 hours later I’d get it, we’d have to make a couple of decisions. But with the gap between the games we play our best available team tonight and do the same in the week.

I agree, the bigger issue will be Villa next Saturday who will be fully rested and our match on Wednesday could have gone to extra time, so more likely that some changes will need to be made. However, the same team was played for Tottenham/Man U which was also Wednesday/Saturday so maybe there will be minimal changes - particularly if no extra time. Villa aren't in great form at the moment so it is a winnable game and hopefully we can have close to our best team playing. 

[lambtiss]

9 minutes ago, StDunko said:

I came on here to post this.

I couldn't give a fuck if the usual idiots on here start squinning about virtue signalling. There is little else we can do apart from show the world that acts of agression are not just accepted and ignored.

Well said 👍.

[lambtiss]

6 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

I think it would be very cool if our fans with yellow and blue stuff would wear or take it tomorrow. It doesn’t matter that Norwich are yellow - the evil shit going on in Ukraine is far more important.

Great suggestion

[malcolm waldron]

Interesting to see if the third Dean Smith games follows the pattern of the other two.  In the first one, my memory is that we could have been out of sight in the first half (and Villa down to 10) - but that the second half was pretty uncomfortable for us, especially the first 15 mins or so.  At Norwich I think we were less dominant in the first half but let in a poor goal just after we scored to keep Norwich in the game. The second half Norwich came out going for it and my sense in the away end and from those around us was that if a goal was coming - it would be a Norwich one.  Step forward Alex to give them three points.  Did Theo miss a great chance in stoppage time having said all that?

I feel we're now moving on from Ralphball 1.0 (first half great, second half poor) but tonight will be a big test as Norwich are desperate for a result.