Saints 1-4 Man City - Match Thread

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, TWar said:

Do you play against prem quality keepers? 

Doesn't matter. He's professional footballer, I'm not. I'm not claiming to be but I'm sure others that play the game will attest, if you're confident then that chance is an automatic goal. 

Sorry if that offends you.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, TWar said:

Not this nonsense again

It’s true though isn’t it

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, TWar said:

Do you play against prem quality keepers? 

Stop digging pal.

[Dark Munster]

2 minutes ago, TWar said:

I didnt say that one was a half chance, I said he hit the post and was unlucky

He completely scuffed it. If it had gone in it would've been lucky.

Edited 20 March, 2022 by Dark Munster

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, Micky said:

Exactly, cup competitions are,  for the large part, very mundane. When was the last time a true underdog won.  Wigan? 

Winning a cup is basically 6 consecutive wins, when was the last time we did that in the top division? If you’re looking for underdog winners it basically just Wigan and Pompey since the Crazy Gang about 35 years ago.

[TWar]

Just now, Dman said:

Fuck me. Absolute rubbish, clearly, you’ve never played the game or just that you’re scrambling to find an excuse to back up your opinion you’re coming out with total nonsense.  
 

If you believe it was intentional for him to do that, crack on. But fucking hell, you’re shot away if so. 

You don't think he was aiming for the corner? He obviously wanted a better connection with more power but he clearly ment to put it out of the keepers reach unlike Che who got a lovely connection straightat the keeper and Broja who didn't get a single chance at all and did absolutely fuck all.

[Sarisbury Saint]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

I didnt say that one was a half chance, I said he hit the post and was unlucky

He didn’t get one shot on target from positions he should have. Fact. Regardless of the opposition.

[Dman]

Just now, TWar said:

You don't think he was aiming for the corner? He obviously wanted a better connection with more power but he clearly ment to put it out of the keepers reach unlike Che who got a lovely connection straightat the keeper and Broja who didn't get a single chance at all and did absolutely fuck all.

He was probably aiming for the corner, but he’s lucky to have even hit the post. His scuffed the shot, if he hadn’t and was aiming for the corner, it would have gone in? 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

It’s true though isn’t it

No, not at all. It's meaningless and unprovable and could be said about anyone.

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, TWar said:

You don't think he was aiming for the corner? He obviously wanted a better connection with more power but he clearly ment to put it out of the keepers reach unlike Che who got a lovely connection straightat the keeper and Broja who didn't get a single chance at all and did absolutely fuck all.

So you don't play then. Fuck me. It's clear who plays and who doesn't, you can watch as many games as you like and get your spreadsheets out but trust me AA is probably inconsolable right now. It's so instinctive to just slide the ball into the other corner in that spot. Sorry.

[Turkish]

Just now, TWar said:

No, not at all. It's meaningless and unprovable and could be said about anyone.

It’s not meaningless. You can tell from your posts and all the nonsense you spout that you’ve never played football at any decent standard 

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, TWar said:

No, not at all. It's meaningless and unprovable and could be said about anyone.

Anyone who thinks that miss was unlucky just because it hit the post and a clean strike would have resulted in the keeper saving it, is a very clear indication of someone who doesn’t know a great deal about football though. 
 

or just so ignorant and unwilling to admit they’re wrong, so continue to dig…. 
 

I think it’s probably somewhere between the 2.

Edited 20 March, 2022 by Dman

[Chez]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

Winning a cup is basically 6 consecutive wins, when was the last time we did that in the top division? If you’re looking for underdog winners it basically just Wigan and Pompey since the Crazy Gang about 35 years ago.

to be fair, you don't have to beat 6 top flight sides or win consecutive games in the cup.

The big sides certainly have dominated though. Leicester beat Chelsea last year, btu were a pretty damn good side. Everton beat United in 94.

[TWar]

Can't believe anyone in their right mind would watch that game and come away from it blaming Adam Armstrong, the striker who had good chances and hit the post, and not like seven of our other players first. Including all three other strikers who either missed bigger chances or weren't good enough to get chances in the first place.

[Baird of the land]

12 minutes ago, Chez said:

poor strike for the 1 on 1. Not really unlucky, just poor striking. It wasn't straight forward though. You are right that the others weren't clear cut, but they were more than half chances, they were decent opportunities, but he just isnt striking the ball well. I like him, but he should not be starting games until he is firing them in right left and centre in training.

Given how poorly Broja is playing i'd be happy enough to see him starting. Only way he's going to get his confidence back is to get a goal.

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Turkish said:

It’s not meaningless. You can tell from your posts and all the nonsense you spout that you’ve never played football at any decent standard 

I mean, you can't. You just disagree with me and don't have any good arguments so you make stupid asumptions about me as a person.

[64saint]

51 minutes ago, JRM said:

Felt like I was watching a friendly. Crowd were flat, Itchen topping up the tan, we played well in spells but never really looked like winning. Disappointing end to the season. 

Crowd flat,really !!   I thought the Itchen north were loud and proud today, many fans turn on their teams when things go wrong but we stuck with the team today.  Which part of the ground were you watching from

Edited 20 March, 2022 by 64saint

[Dman]

Just now, TWar said:

Can't believe anyone in their right mind would watch that game and come away from it blaming Adam Armstrong, the striker who had good chances and hit the post, and not like seven of our other players first. Including all three other strikers who either missed bigger chances or weren't good enough to get chances in the first place.

No one is blaming Adam Armstrong for the loss. His misses played a part, just like the other 3 you singled out. 
 

You intentionally left him out because you don’t want to admit you’re wrong. 

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, Dman said:

Anyone who thinks that miss was unlucky just because it hit the post and a clean strike would have resulted in the keeper saving it, is a very clear indication of someone who doesn’t know a great deal about football though. 

Yep. From that angle you don't even need to go for the corner, anything back across the keep is in. He panicked and heeled it.

[Baird of the land]

1 minute ago, OttawaSaint said:

Yep. From that angle you don't even need to go for the corner, anything back across the keep is in. He panicked and heeled it.

Don't agree at all. The keeper gets anything that's not in the very corner.

[kyle04]

Good effort, but we're not good enough to trouble the likes of City, who I think only bothered to play for about half the game. Shocking in defense and wasteful up front, does the scoreline seem unfair to some, no it wasn't, City wasted a few chances of their own, it could have been 6 or 7 TBF. Glad RH picked a "strong" team, after all the speculation (bar the 2 up front), but the gulf in quality is almost embarrassing really. The only positives are we didn't concede 2 or 3 more after the 4th went in and kept trying to the end. We've had a go and got stuffed, as expected. When Broja leaves we are really going to struggle for goals, Adams just isn't clinical enough and AA is not a PL striker. 4 defeats in a row now, with tricky games coming up.

[Chez]

 

9 minutes ago, TWar said:

The other three made much bigger mistakes. Adams had a much easier 1v1 being centrally placed and, unlike Armstrong who hit the post and was inches away, was nowhere near scoring putting it straight at the keeper. Stephens passed it to the opposition in our box and Salisu gave away a pen when we were under 0 pressure. Adam Armstrong wasn't perfect but he didn't make any worse errors than most of the team and was a shit tonne more effective than Broja who came on to replace him and did absolutely nothing.

Keep slating Broja for having the temerity to not get a chance and maybe everyone will forget the opportunities Armstrong fluffed. 

Edited 20 March, 2022 by Chez

[Teddeer]

39 minutes ago, Dman said:

Half chance!!? Behave. Any striker of premier league quality should and would have put his first chance away. 
 

The reason he hit the post is because of lack of quality in the strike, hit it clean, it goes in. It wasn’t unlucky at all, it was poor finishing. 
 

His second was also, what I’d consider, a really good chance for someone who’s playing in the premier league. 
 

Agree about his first chance. In fact, he scuffed it so badly it put spin on the ball which is the reason it hit the post - without the accidental spin it would have just bobbled harmlessly wide.

[Chez]

I am wondering if that performance will raise confidence and help with the league. We did OK, but what you do i bot boxes is critical, no matter the opponent.

[eurosaint]

For me Ralph got his selection and tactics right (given the clear difference in quality, known in advance) !

1-1.at HT was a fair reflection of play and gave us a platform to move on with even although we were unable to do it !

Hard to blame the manager for Stephens blunder or the soft penalty and thereafter we were overrun (all of their subs would be first choice almost anywhere else) !

No shame in today’s performance at all, just have to accept that Arab money trumps all 😩 ! 

 

[Teddeer]

26 minutes ago, kyle04 said:

Good effort, but we're not good enough to trouble the likes of City, who I think only bothered to play for about half the game. Shocking in defense and wasteful up front, does the scoreline seem unfair to some, no it wasn't, City wasted a few chances of their own, it could have been 6 or 7 TBF. Glad RH picked a "strong" team, after all the speculation (bar the 2 up front), but the gulf in quality is almost embarrassing really. The only positives are we didn't concede 2 or 3 more after the 4th went in and kept trying to the end. We've had a go and got stuffed, as expected. When Broja leaves we are really going to struggle for goals, Adams just isn't clinical enough and AA is not a PL striker. 4 defeats in a row now, with tricky games coming up.

Is the gulf in the value of the squads also almost embarrassing or is it not relevant?

[Whitey Grandad]

5 hours ago, cloggy saint said:

It's spineless to blame the ref before a ball's been kicked.

But they were right, weren’t they?

[cloggy saint]

2 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But they were right, weren’t they?

Err, no, they weren't.

[OttawaSaint]

3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But they were right, weren’t they?

Dean was fine. What did you see?

[Saint Matty 76]

I like Armstrong's movement but watching him strike a ball makes me gobsmacked that he hit 29 last year. It could all be down to confidence of course but he's so snatchy. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

How can you start AA and freaking Shane Long in a game like this???

If anything I thought we looked better before they were subbed off.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Baird of the land said:

It was a penalty regardless of whether Dean was ref. Needless stupidity by Salisu

More dive than penalty. Was it more of a penalty than the shove on Long?

[The Kraken]

Yes. Yes it was.

[Baird of the land]

8 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

I like Armstrong's movement but watching him strike a ball makes me gobsmacked that he hit 29 last year. It could all be down to confidence of course but he's so snatchy. 

I'd definitely say it's confidence. Early in the season he was striking much cleaner.

[Whitey Grandad]

12 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Dean was fine. What did you see?

I didn’t see a penalty for City. The push on Long had a better claim.

And two minutes extra time. Really?

[Baird of the land]

4 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

More dive than penalty. Was it more of a penalty than the shove on Long?

Yes it was more of a pen by prem standards. He makes the most of it sure but you'll see that given as a penalty pretty much always whereas you'd never see the long contact being given.

[jawillwill]

Just now, Whitey Grandad said:

I didn’t see a penalty for City. The push on Long had a better claim.

And two minutes extra time. Really?

Two minutes added time did seem low, given the time wasting, subs and goals.

 

However, the penalty for City was about as stonewall as you'll ever see. And the Long one clearly wasn't a pen.

[woodsaint1]

Simple really. For all our endeavour we cant afford to have defensive lapses against sides like City and not expect to get punished. Stephens should do much better to clear his lines for the first, Salisu with an absolute brain fart for the penalty and Salisu again for the third needs to do better than head it straight to Foden on the edge of his own box (although the finish was top class).

Sadly its been a common occurence in recent games and our defensive weakness has coincided with Salisu's drop in form.

[Harry_SFC]

Personally I thought it was a penalty. Salisu is really clumsy and needs to calm down in the challenge. That's two or three times he's cost us this season.

Stephens clearly isn't the answer next to him. I'd like to see Valery given a proper chance at CB given he's looked pretty good when he's played there previously. 

Adam Armstrong does have good movement and seems to be an intelligent player but his finishing is very poor. It's almost as if he tries to hit the ball too hard. 

At least there were a few positives - I thought Stu was very good as were Livramento and KWP. Need to stop the rot against Leeds in a couple of weeks. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

7 minutes ago, jawillwill said:

Two minutes added time did seem low, given the time wasting, subs and goals.

 

However, the penalty for City was about as stonewall as you'll ever see. And the Long one clearly wasn't a pen.

Agreed. Once Salisu puts his hands on Jesus,and he feels the contact,only going to end one way. Such a needless challenge to make. The Long shout is never going to be given in my opinion 

[warsash saint]

£100mm for Grealish though🤣🤣

Edited 20 March, 2022 by warsash saint

[Baird of the land]

2 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Personally I thought it was a penalty. Salisu is really clumsy and needs to calm down in the challenge. That's two or three times he's cost us this season.

Stephens clearly isn't the answer next to him. I'd like to see Valery given a proper chance at CB given he's looked pretty good when he's played there previously. 

Adam Armstrong does have good movement and seems to be an intelligent player but his finishing is very poor. It's almost as if he tries to hit the ball too hard. 

At least there were a few positives - I thought Stu was very good as were Livramento and KWP. Need to stop the rot against Leeds in a couple of weeks. 

Yeah was nice to see Livramento back to levels of the early season.

Also agree might be wise to give Valery a go and see if he can really make a go of CB.

[John Boy Saint]

9 minutes ago, jawillwill said:

Two minutes added time did seem low, given the time wasting, subs and goals.

 

However, the penalty for City was about as stonewall as you'll ever see. And the Long one clearly wasn't a pen.

When Long was questioning Dean as to why it was no pen, Dean held up his thumb and forefinger motioning how close it was to being a penalty.

[Whitey Grandad]

Just now, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Agreed. Once Salisu puts his hands on Jesus,and he feels the contact,only going to end one way. Such a needless challenge to make. The Long shout is never going to be given in my opinion 

Yes, it’s all about opinions, but what is the basic difference between the Long and Jesus incidents?

For the record I didn’t think either was a penalty but was Jesus pushed, tripped or otherwise fouled? Fouled enough for him to stop and throw himself to the ground?

I haven’t looked at the incident since but I can’t stand this modern interpretation of the Laws of Football. Thirty years ago he would have been laughed off the pitch.

[Micky]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

Winning a cup is basically 6 consecutive wins, when was the last time we did that in the top division? If you’re looking for underdog winners it basically just Wigan and Pompey since the Crazy Gang about 35 years ago.

Exactly.  A team like us, or any team outside of the top six, needs the draw to be very kind to you in order to get close to winning a cup.  We are a one cup in a lifetime team...!!!

[Chez]

10 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

I'd like to see Valery given a proper chance at CB given he's looked pretty good when he's played there previously. 

He's got as many ricks as Stephens in him, is lightweight in the air and positionally suspect. I don't see him improving us at all.

We don't have the answer at the club, but I worry we won't actually be looking for one.

[WokingSaint]

37 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

More dive than penalty. Was it more of a penalty than the shove on Long?

It was a penalty with the laws as they are. It wasn't a strong enough a challenge to bring him down but there was 'contact' and Referees will penalise it. Players go down at the slightest touch and it needs a complete rethink on this  sort of thing.

[DT]

2 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Easy to say in hindsight. It was 1-1 at half time, and it was Salisu who did that stupid little shove to give Jesus the opportunity to dive for Mike Dean. At that point Adams and Broja were warming up, to about to come on.

He should have changed it at half time. He didn’t. He shouldn’t have selected those players in the first place. We didn’t ‘go for it’ at all. We were timid, and didn’t believes in ourselves, fannied around with it at the back, Stephen’s gave them their first goal, Salisu their second and we missed too many chances with Armstrong’s scuff ‘shots’. Bit mostly it was about selecting the wrong team. Bizarre. Ralph is in one of those phases where he picks the wrong team as part of some hair brained strategy. Long? What on earth was he thinking? They were rattled at half time thanks to our flukey equaliser. That was when he needed to change it. Is it contractual that it always happens at 60 minutes? So odd. No denying City we’re quality but they were there to be pressed and harried. We barely tested them. 

[OttawaSaint]

20 minutes ago, DT said:

He should have changed it at half time. He didn’t. He shouldn’t have selected those players in the first place. We didn’t ‘go for it’ at all. We were timid, and didn’t believes in ourselves, fannied around with it at the back, Stephen’s gave them their first goal, Salisu their second and we missed too many chances with Armstrong’s scuff ‘shots’. Bit mostly it was about selecting the wrong team. Bizarre. Ralph is in one of those phases where he picks the wrong team as part of some hair brained strategy. Long? What on earth was he thinking? They were rattled at half time thanks to our flukey equaliser. That was when he needed to change it. Is it contractual that it always happens at 60 minutes? So odd. No denying City we’re quality but they were there to be pressed and harried. We barely tested them. 

I see it a bit differently. I think we did harry and press them. We created some excellent opportunities that AA scuffed, Long got in SAs way and Adams hit too close to the keeper. 

We didn't fanny around at the back but 2 brain farts (JS and MS) killed our chance.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean about contractual. Who's contract? RH is contracted to make a sub on 60? Long contracted to play 60? I don't think anything like that is in anyone's contact. 

Edited 20 March, 2022 by OttawaSaint

[Sarisbury Saint]

20 minutes ago, DT said:

He should have changed it at half time. He didn’t. He shouldn’t have selected those players in the first place. We didn’t ‘go for it’ at all. We were timid, and didn’t believes in ourselves, fannied around with it at the back, Stephen’s gave them their first goal, Salisu their second and we missed too many chances with Armstrong’s scuff ‘shots’. Bit mostly it was about selecting the wrong team. Bizarre. Ralph is in one of those phases where he picks the wrong team as part of some hair brained strategy. Long? What on earth was he thinking? They were rattled at half time thanks to our flukey equaliser. That was when he needed to change it. Is it contractual that it always happens at 60 minutes? So odd. No denying City we’re quality but they were there to be pressed and harried. We barely tested them. 

We definitely tested them to be fare.