West Ham 1-0 Saints - Match Thread

[alehouseboys]

I can’t unsee how we did in the ‘must-win’ at Leeds (amongst too many others) so not expecting much but funnier things have happened…

[Millbrook Saint]

1 hour ago, Roboze said:

If we stay up, of course that will be brilliant. but next year will be another spent scratching about hoping for wins, If we go down, next season could be a lot of fun.... what will be, will be 🤷‍♂️

not sure why people think it'll be fun if we go down, it's only fun if you make a promotion push, last time we went down it was horrendous, up until we were in league 1, Markus bought us and we started winning games.  Any league is fun if you win games, even the premier, ask Brighton fans.

Ask Sunderland, Wigan or Bolton fans how much fun they had when they got relegated

[JRM]

I'm afraid the table will look even worse after this weekend ,

Bournemouth to beat Fulham who are missing a few suspended 

Forest to get at least a point v Wolves 

Palace v Leicester- one or both of our rivals to pick up at least a point 

Everton to get at least a point against rudderless Spurs 

West Ham will beat us 2-0 , Ings with at least one of them , we'll gift them one 

 

 

[JRM]

2 minutes ago, Millbrook Saint said:

not sure why people think it'll be fun if we go down, it's only fun if you make a promotion push, last time we went down it was horrendous, up until we were in league 1, Markus bought us and we started winning games.  Any league is fun if you win games, even the premier, ask Brighton fans.

Ask Sunderland, Wigan or Bolton fans how much fun they had when they got relegated

It wasn't hopeless straight away, I'm sure I remember we made the play offs 

[Mattio]

Where are people pre-match pubbing? I thought Liverpool Street as there are no decent boozers in Westfield but I remember there being a decent outdoor area round the ground. 

[whelk]

7 minutes ago, Millbrook Saint said:

not sure why people think it'll be fun if we go down, it's only fun if you make a promotion push, last time we went down it was horrendous, up until we were in league 1, Markus bought us and we started winning games.  Any league is fun if you win games, even the premier, ask Brighton fans.

Ask Sunderland, Wigan or Bolton fans how much fun they had when they got relegated

Or ask Burnley, Fulham and Bournemouth fans?

[whelk]

Going to win this one you pessimistic fuckers

[Berkshire Saint]

56 minutes ago, JRM said:

It wasn't hopeless straight away, I'm sure I remember we made the play offs 

The first season down wasn't great and we drew too much, spent large chunks of it in the bottom half. I think there were very briefly some worries about another relegation but we won five out of our last six at the end to finish 12th. The play off season in 06/07 was generally pretty good, we had a really strong run around the middle of the season, but I think most at the time were disappointed we never seriously challenged for the automatic promotion spots. 

[Convict Colony]

16 hours ago, Saint Gifford said:

For me, the game is won or lost on the starting 11. 
 

Ok cool can you confirm if we will win as soon as the team news is out? Will save us having to watch it.

[Millbrook Saint]

1 hour ago, JRM said:

It wasn't hopeless straight away, I'm sure I remember we made the play offs 

no was ok first season till we lost to Derby (was that the first season?)

1 hour ago, whelk said:

Or ask Burnley, Fulham and Bournemouth fans?

yup could go either way, but people being convinced it will be fun seem to forget it aint always fun, as a Saints fan which way do you reckon it'll go?

[Saint86]

6 hours ago, Roboze said:

If we stay up, of course that will be brilliant. but next year will be another spent scratching about hoping for wins, If we go down, next season could be a lot of fun....

Not specifically aimed at you robo so i hope you don't take it that way, but i actually hate these particular fan fantasies about being relegated to so we can win. Not only do i not get it, but i also massively disagree with it. It just reads like a big fish / small pond idealism to me.... However, if you follow it to its other quite likely outcome - I.e. we fail to get promoted, the teams quality declines, and we eventually start to struggle in the championship (vs the parachute payment teams and those with owners/momentum)... what will we get? I'd guess that we'd start to lose more fans/atmosphere as the same fair weather romantic ideals resurface in line with the team struggling - this time going on about being relegated to league 1 so we can start to win again. Alternatively, we get promoted and the same fans will be moaning that we're struggling in the prem. I just can't agree with it at all. What is even the point of competing or progressing as a club if we're just going to down tools and look forward to relegation to an easier level? Notably no one was saying this when we were challenging for europe. Equally, the tougher times make the good times more memorable - even if saints' good times are more modest than those of richer clubs. Its true of nearly all fanbases bar a select lucky few (because success is relative), but if all you want to see is a successful football club all the time, i hate to break it to you but you've fallen for the wrong bloody club 😆 - a reality everyone trying to get their kids into saints must surely have considered at some point...

I want to see saints at the highest level they can be at - if that means scrapping away at the bottom of the prem so be it. I enjoyed the times when we had Ostenstadt, Tessem, Kachoul, Berkovich, Tissier etc. and were constantly under pressure fighting away as underdogs 🤷‍♂️. The championship was utterly grim in comparison.

The only merit i can see to ever being relegated, is a chance to rebuild, blood a new team/youngsters, reset a losing mentality, and come back stronger.

Edited 30 March, 2023 by Saint86

[Crab Lungs]

Edit.

Edited 30 March, 2023 by Crab Lungs

[JRM]

[JRM]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Not specifically aimed at you robo so i hope you don't take it that way, but i actually hate these particular fan fantasies about being relegated to so we can win. Not only do i not get it, but i also massively disagree with it. It just reads like a big fish / small pond idealism to me.... However, if you follow it to its other quite likely outcome - I.e. we fail to get promoted, the teams quality declines, and we eventually start to struggle in the championship (vs the parachute payment teams and those with owners/momentum)... what will we get? I'd guess that we'd start to lose more fans / atmosphere as the same fair weather romantic ideals resurface in line with the team struggling - this time going on about being relegated to league 1 so we can start to win again. Alternatively, we get promoted and the same fans will be moaning that we're struggling in the prem. I just can't agree with it at all. What is even the point of competing or progressing as a club if we're just going to down tools and look forward to relegation to an easier level? Notably no one was saying this when we were challenging for europe. Equally, the tougher times make the good times more memorable - even if saints' good times are more modest than those of richer clubs. Its true of nearly all fanbases bar a select lucky few (because success is relative), but if all you want to see is a successful football club all the time, i hate to break it to you but you've fallen for the wrong bloody club 😆 - a reality everyone trying to get their kids into saints must surely have considered at some point...

I want to see saints at the highest level they can be at - if that means scrapping away at the bottom of the prem so be it. I enjoyed the times when we had Ostenstadt, Tessem, Kachoul, Berkovich, Tissier etc. and were constantly under pressure fighting away as underdogs 🤷‍♂️. The championship was utterly grim in comparison.

The only merit i can see to ever being relegated, is a chance to rebuild, blood a new team/youngsters, reset a losing mentality, and come back stronger.

I want us to stay up.

I expect us to go down based on games I've seen in the last 12 months. We generally need a clean sheet to just stand a chance of winning. 

I we do happen to go there are some positives, loads I dislike about the Premier league so won't miss VAR and all that nonsense. 

[Saint86]

On 30/03/2023 at 14:31, JRM said:

I want us to stay up.

I expect us to go down based on games I've seen in the last 12 months. We generally need a clean sheet to just stand a chance of winning. 

I we do happen to go there are some positives, loads I dislike about the Premier league so won't miss VAR and all that nonsense. 

Agree except on VAR - its the officials that are the problem not the tech. I don't miss incidents like the nongoal that triggered Charlie Austin's rant, Gabbi's offside goal at Wembley (that may well have stolen only our 2nd ever cup win), or things like that Doucoure handball goal (that could well have sent us down in another season). To name but a few purely saints related shockers.

I hate that the officials make terrible mistakes even with VAR - Mike Dean's VAR red card/penalty decision in the United 9-0 should never have happened, nor should villa have got away with the matty cash diving save vs saints in the 1-0 loss. But those are far smaller errors compared to the ones detailed above - and they remain fundamentally officiating errors, not the fault of the tech. Also, its surely only a matter of time until VAR is in the championship.

Edited 31 March, 2023 by Saint86

[JRM]

29 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Agree except on VAR - its the officials that are the problem not the tech. I don't miss incidents like the nongoal that triggered Charlie Austin's rant, Gabbi's offside at Wembley (that may well have stolen only our 2nd ever cup win), or things like that Doucoure handball goal (that could well have sent us down in another season). To name but a few purely saints related shockers.

I hate that the officials make terrible mistakes even with VAR - Mike Dean's VAR red card/penalty decision in the United 9-0 should never have happened, nor should villa have got away with the matty cash diving save vs saints in the 1-0 loss. But those are far smaller errors compared to the ones detailed above - and they remain fundamentally officiating errors, not the fault of the tech. Also, its surely only a matter of time until VAR is in the championship.

To be honest I just look forward to being able to celebrate a goal properly again 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Agree except on VAR - its the officials that are the problem not the tech. I don't miss incidents like the nongoal that triggered Charlie Austin's rant, Gabbi's offside at Wembley (that may well have stolen only our 2nd ever cup win), or things like that Doucoure handball goal (that could well have sent us down in another season). To name but a few purely saints related shockers.

I hate that the officials make terrible mistakes even with VAR - Mike Dean's VAR red card/penalty decision in the United 9-0 should never have happened, nor should villa have got away with the matty cash diving save vs saints in the 1-0 loss. But those are far smaller errors compared to the ones detailed above - and they remain fundamentally officiating errors, not the fault of the tech. Also, its surely only a matter of time until VAR is in the championship.

Nothing to do with the officials in themselves, it's the whole concept that is wrong. Any technology will always depend on humans for its implementation and they are sitting miles away with a crap view of any incidents. The delays that it introduces are killing any excitement and passion in the game.

It was Bertrand that was offside at Wembley and we managed to let in four goals without the interference of VAR. Mike Dean's red card in the Leicester 0-9 would never have happened without VAR sticking its nose in where it wasn't wanted.

[bangkoksaint]

4 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Not specifically aimed at you robo so i hope you don't take it that way, but i actually hate these particular fan fantasies about being relegated to so we can win. Not only do i not get it, but i also massively disagree with it. It just reads like a big fish / small pond idealism to me.... However, if you follow it to its other quite likely outcome - I.e. we fail to get promoted, the teams quality declines, and we eventually start to struggle in the championship (vs the parachute payment teams and those with owners/momentum)... what will we get? I'd guess that we'd start to lose more fans/atmosphere as the same fair weather romantic ideals resurface in line with the team struggling - this time going on about being relegated to league 1 so we can start to win again. Alternatively, we get promoted and the same fans will be moaning that we're struggling in the prem. I just can't agree with it at all. What is even the point of competing or progressing as a club if we're just going to down tools and look forward to relegation to an easier level? Notably no one was saying this when we were challenging for europe. Equally, the tougher times make the good times more memorable - even if saints' good times are more modest than those of richer clubs. Its true of nearly all fanbases bar a select lucky few (because success is relative), but if all you want to see is a successful football club all the time, i hate to break it to you but you've fallen for the wrong bloody club 😆 - a reality everyone trying to get their kids into saints must surely have considered at some point...

I want to see saints at the highest level they can be at - if that means scrapping away at the bottom of the prem so be it. I enjoyed the times when we had Ostenstadt, Tessem, Kachoul, Berkovich, Tissier etc. and were constantly under pressure fighting away as underdogs 🤷‍♂️. The championship was utterly grim in comparison.

The only merit i can see to ever being relegated, is a chance to rebuild, blood a new team/youngsters, reset a losing mentality, and come back stronger.

Saint……..I don’t necessarily agree with you. I remember the pain when we last went down (twice) but I do recall the two promotions, the JPT win, the elation of seeing us win, having the ability to compete (ultimately!) and being able to attract players like Ricky and Jose. When we bought the former for £1M it was more than what the rest of the league put together spent on transfers - we then followed that up with signing Jose for another decent sum. We were the Man City of L1 and I have to say it was fun. I recall going to Oldham on a wet cold winter night and seeing us dismantle them 6-0 - that night we had the likes of Ricky, Lallana, Morgan and AOC to name but a few.

if we stay up (personally I don’t think we will) then next year will offer up much of the same as this season and we haven’t even touched on VAR.

Im a Saints supporter. I want to see my team win and have that feel good factor at 5:50pm on a Saturday. I want to be able to afford to go to games, be able to get tickets when I want them and not to have a moment of celebration ruined by VAR. I’m not a fan of The Prem and quite frankly it’s too rich for us. Yes we’ll lose players if we go down but we lose them anyway as we always have done so nothing changes in that respect.

I know opinions are split on this issue and I respect everyone’s view but in summary if we’re playing Championship football next season, as I believe we will be, but have the potential to be pushing top 6, then for me that will be more fun and far better than what I’ve been spending my hard earned cash on for the last few years.

[SNSUN]

Thought I posted on here, but I'll say it again.

Must win of all must wins. To be out of the bottom 3 by the end of Sunday would be huge psychologically. And no, a draw is not good enough now.

Will we? No i think theyll be too strong. I think West Ham are in a false position because they've had their European exploits and they still have good players. Draw at best.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, bangkoksaint said:

Saint……..I don’t necessarily agree with you. I remember the pain when we last went down (twice) but I do recall the two promotions, the JPT win, the elation of seeing us win, having the ability to compete (ultimately!) and being able to attract players like Ricky and Jose. When we bought the former for £1M it was more than what the rest of the league put together spent on transfers - we then followed that up with signing Jose for another decent sum. We were the Man City of L1 and I have to say it was fun. I recall going to Oldham on a wet cold winter night and seeing us dismantle them 6-0 - that night we had the likes of Ricky, Lallana, Morgan and AOC to name but a few.

if we stay up (personally I don’t think we will) then next year will offer up much of the same as this season and we haven’t even touched on VAR.

Im a Saints supporter. I want to see my team win and have that feel good factor at 5:50pm on a Saturday. I want to be able to afford to go to games, be able to get tickets when I want them and not to have a moment of celebration ruined by VAR. I’m not a fan of The Prem and quite frankly it’s too rich for us. Yes we’ll lose players if we go down but we lose them anyway as we always have done so nothing changes in that respect.

I know opinions are split on this issue and I respect everyone’s view but in summary if we’re playing Championship football next season, as I believe we will be, but have the potential to be pushing top 6, then for me that will be more fun and far better than what I’ve been spending my hard earned cash on for the last few years.

Well said sir. 
 

in the good old days we used to have the feel good factor at 4:50pm on a Saturday but with VAR it can take that long before you feel like celebrating ;(

[Dman]

Groundhog Day. 2-0 West Ham. Any hope of survival all but gone. 
 

We don’t win these big 6 pointers, too weak mentally. 

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I've just got a few comments to make...

• I don't think West Ham v Saints is exactly a MUST-WIN game in the big scheme of things - at least it is not any more important or winnable than any other games.
• On the other hand, however, a win would be massive!
• If we go down we won't suddenly be in some amazing dream scenario where we are one of the dominant teams in the Championship winning most of our games. The fact is that we will lose a lot of significant players as well as a lot of other staff; the club will find itself reeling from the impact and confronted by a post-relegation wave of depression. It will take time to turn that around. Relegation does not guaranteea glorious winning season next year!
• I don't accept that relegation is a foregone conclusion; we are one of the form teams in the bottom half of the table (especially in terms of the past six league fixtures) and our fixtures are no more difficult than those faced by Bournemouth, Forest, Everton, Leeds and even West Ham. Crystal Palace have got the easiest run of fixtures on paper, but they also have the worst form and have just sacked a manager who some believe has equipped them to perform beyond their true capabilities.
• Matches against relegation-threatened teams are also not necessarily the easiest fixtures at this time of year. An ideal fixture would be one against a team who have no threat of relegation and no hope of Europe. No-one is yet in that category with European football still a possibility for Villa, Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford and not just the teams above them.

[Forester]

1 hour ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I've just got a few comments to make...

• I don't think West Ham v Saints is exactly a MUST-WIN game in the big scheme of things - at least it is not any more important or winnable than any other games.
• On the other hand, however, a win would be massive!
• If we go down we won't suddenly be in some amazing dream scenario where we are one of the dominant teams in the Championship winning most of our games. The fact is that we will lose a lot of significant players as well as a lot of other staff; the club will find itself reeling from the impact and confronted by a post-relegation wave of depression. It will take time to turn that around. Relegation does not guaranteea glorious winning season next year!
• I don't accept that relegation is a foregone conclusion; we are one of the form teams in the bottom half of the table (especially in terms of the past six league fixtures) and our fixtures are no more difficult than those faced by Bournemouth, Forest, Everton, Leeds and even West Ham. Crystal Palace have got the easiest run of fixtures on paper, but they also have the worst form and have just sacked a manager who some believe has equipped them to perform beyond their true capabilities.
• Matches against relegation-threatened teams are also not necessarily the easiest fixtures at this time of year. An ideal fixture would be one against a team who have no threat of relegation and no hope of Europe. No-one is yet in that category with European football still a possibility for Villa, Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford and not just the teams above them.

Good post

[obelisk]

Five wins out of ten games is required to be sure of avoiding the drop. Can anyone remember the last time Saints displayed that sort of form? Pandemic in front of empty stadiums is my guess.

Get a win at West Ham and I'll start to hope again. Anything else and you'd better pray for nun pics.

[SaintTex]

13 hours ago, JRM said:

yeah, but previous to last weekend... Leeds probability was like at 62% and they got 1 win, just 1.. and look what happened.

the table is so tight just one win can turn that probability number greatly .

[Weston Super Saint]

2 hours ago, SaintTex said:

yeah, but previous to last weekend... Leeds probability was like at 62% and they got 1 win, just 1.. and look what happened.

the table is so tight just one win can turn that probability number greatly .

It's the hope that kills.

[ExSholingSaint]

I bumped into Ruben Selles in Windsor last weekend, he was full of optimism about us staying up & after speaking to him I feel we will get something from this game. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

Anything other than a win will continue to make me and all the betting fraternity believe that we’ll be relegated. With 10 games to play and at least 4 wins needed to survive, the significance of this one cannot be underestimated in the slightest…a win throws down the gauntlet and puts pressure on the other teams. It is our cup final.

Unfortunately the last two years suggests a capitulation is on the cards which is going to be very difficult to stomach. Let’s hope Selles really is the difference for the teams mindset, our players put everything on the line on the pitch and the SMS faithful roar us to a victorious win. COYS!

[jasonbenali]

22 hours ago, JRM said:

It wasn't hopeless straight away, I'm sure I remember we made the play offs 

Too soon 😂 - I still haven't got over that game v Derby and the penalty shootout

[The Kraken]

11 hours ago, obelisk said:

Five wins out of ten games is required to be sure of avoiding the drop. Can anyone remember the last time Saints displayed that sort of form? Pandemic in front of empty stadiums is my guess.

Get a win at West Ham and I'll start to hope again. Anything else and you'd better pray for nun pics.

I see that as over estimation. Yes, it’ll be as sure as we can be that it would be a safe points haul. I also think it’ll be a few more than is actually required.

Five wins and five defeats gets us 38 points. 5 wins and 2 draws gets us 40 points. In the past 10 years the 18th placed side in the PL had the following number of points: 35, 28, 34, 34, 33, 34, 37, 35, 33, 36.  So, in very simplistic terms, get more than the 18th placed side and you stay up.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that we could potentially stay up by getting 3 wins and 4 draws. That would give us 36 points, and would’ve been enough to stay up in at least 8 of the last 10 seasons. 4 wins and 2 draws gives us 37 points, that stayed up at least 9 of 10 times.

Personally I don’t see us getting much more than 2 wins and a few draws. But we need to be a bit realistic about just how tight it is down at the bottom of the table. There’s still only 4 points between Saints and Palace, who are 12th (effectively 5 points really due to our risible goal difference), so the notion of getting to 38 points or whatever may be exaggerated. We won’t know until the end of the season of course, but there’s enough of a possibility to stay up. That said, I just don’t think we’re good enough to get to mid thirties of points, but remain hopeful of an upturn nonetheless.

[Wade Garrett]

Hopefully, the West Ham players will down tools to get rid of Moyes.

Doubt it though, can’t see us winning.

[Nolan]

I see more reason for optimism than pessimism this weekend.

We've had a good run on training after our comeback against Spurs.
I think the squad will be pumped for this one. 

I think it would be easy to make the Hammers fans nervous with a quick start.

 

[DT]

On 30/03/2023 at 10:24, JRM said:

I'm afraid the table will look even worse after this weekend ,

Bournemouth to beat Fulham who are missing a few suspended 

Forest to get at least a point v Wolves 

Palace v Leicester- one or both of our rivals to pick up at least a point 

Everton to get at least a point against rudderless Spurs 

West Ham will beat us 2-0 , Ings with at least one of them , we'll gift them one 

 

 

This has the ring of truth to it. If we do beat the Hammers I think Moyes will be toast, and then Rafa will come in. Just a hunch. But yes I think Bournemouth will win - just hope Leicester win too as Palace more likely to go down than them (or maybe we should hope for a draw). Think Everton will beat Spurs, who are in all sorts of trouble off the field. I think the Hammers will win 2-1

[DT]

I think we also have too many players including the captain who have their eyes on where they will be playing next season, rather than fighting for this. Only takes a tiny percentage of one's application - avoiding that nasty challenge, not quite busting your gut - to get exploited and be on the end of a bad loss. Also, if we have a manager who is cautious rather than going for it (Selles fits that, I'd say) it offers the opportunity for other teams with more balls to go for it from the off and gain the upper hand. Perhaps when we are further adrift this attitude will prevail, to our benefit; ie when we have to go for it. Because we need to be safe before Brighton, in my view, otherwise we're down, and they will be delighted to be the ones to confer Championship status on us.

[Chez]

On 30/03/2023 at 11:30, Berkshire Saint said:

The first season down wasn't great and we drew too much, spent large chunks of it in the bottom half. I think there were very briefly some worries about another relegation but we won five out of our last six at the end to finish 12th. The play off season in 06/07 was generally pretty good, we had a really strong run around the middle of the season, but I think most at the time were disappointed we never seriously challenged for the automatic promotion spots. 

...and having way overspent in that second season, and the parachute payments ending, we were suddenly financially fucked and had to let our talented young (and cheap to pay) players leave to try to balance the books. This left us with a load of overpaid, middle of the road dross, which was supplemented by more dross.

It was downhill fast from then onwards.

We probably should have gone down in the 07/08 season, and then with the money problems sumounting and the prospect of administration looming, the following season was basically a procession to the third tier, with 21 defeats, 15 draws and only 10 wins.

Those two seasons were terrible. Anyone that says otherwise is kidding themselves and wasn't at SMS on the 3rd February 2009 with me and about 10k others (not a chance there was 13k there) watching us lose to Sheffield United, or at Bristol four days later to see one of the most spineless displays in our history (the day I wrongly decided Morgan Schneiderlin would never make it as he spent the afternoon bottling out of tackles).

Relegation is not something to look forward to.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Nolan said:

I see more reason for optimism than pessimism this weekend.

We've had a good run on training after our comeback against Spurs.
I think the squad will be pumped for this one. 

I think it would be easy to make the Hammers fans nervous with a quick start.

 

...and we have won the odd game there too, so not impossible to get a draw or a win.

[Chez]

13 hours ago, obelisk said:

Get a win at West Ham and I'll start to hope again. Anything else and you'd better pray for nun pics.

Get a win at West Ham and the league table is going to look very different.

[The Left Back]

45 minutes ago, DT said:

I think we also have too many players including the captain who have their eyes on where they will be playing next season, rather than fighting for this. 

On what basis are you making this claim?

 

On 30/03/2023 at 10:24, JRM said:

Palace v Leicester- one or both of our rivals to pick up at least a point

That doesn't really count as a prediction unless the game gets abandoned for terrorism, snow or a more likely a waterlogged pitch

 

21 hours ago, JRM said:

To be honest I just look forward to being able to celebrate a goal properly again 

Agree with this.

 

6 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

It's the hope that kills.

It is indeed. 

[ChadsaSaint]

When does the presser come out for Sunday games? Is it always 24hrs before or the Friday before the weekend?

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, DT said:

I think we also have too many players including the captain who have their eyes on where they will be playing next season, rather than fighting for this. Only takes a tiny percentage of one's application - avoiding that nasty challenge, not quite busting your gut - to get exploited and be on the end of a bad loss. Also, if we have a manager who is cautious rather than going for it (Selles fits that, I'd say) it offers the opportunity for other teams with more balls to go for it from the off and gain the upper hand. Perhaps when we are further adrift this attitude will prevail, to our benefit; ie when we have to go for it. Because we need to be safe before Brighton, in my view, otherwise we're down, and they will be delighted to be the ones to confer Championship status on us.

How do you explain the spurs result?

[Nolan]

10 minutes ago, ChadsaSaint said:

When does the presser come out for Sunday games? Is it always 24hrs before or the Friday before the weekend?

 

 

[DT]

16 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

How do you explain the spurs result?

Spurs being shit and us having a lot of luck

[Toadhall Saint]

14 minutes ago, DT said:

Spurs being shit and us having a lot of luck

Spurs bottling it and us not giving in you mean?

[Toadhall Saint]

29 minutes ago, Nolan said:

 

 

Thanks - I like RS 

[Saint86]

19 hours ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I've just got a few comments to make...

• I don't think West Ham v Saints is exactly a MUST-WIN game in the big scheme of things - at least it is not any more important or winnable than any other games.
• On the other hand, however, a win would be massive!
• If we go down we won't suddenly be in some amazing dream scenario where we are one of the dominant teams in the Championship winning most of our games. The fact is that we will lose a lot of significant players as well as a lot of other staff; the club will find itself reeling from the impact and confronted by a post-relegation wave of depression. It will take time to turn that around. Relegation does not guaranteea glorious winning season next year!
• I don't accept that relegation is a foregone conclusion; we are one of the form teams in the bottom half of the table (especially in terms of the past six league fixtures) and our fixtures are no more difficult than those faced by Bournemouth, Forest, Everton, Leeds and even West Ham. Crystal Palace have got the easiest run of fixtures on paper, but they also have the worst form and have just sacked a manager who some believe has equipped them to perform beyond their true capabilities.
• Matches against relegation-threatened teams are also not necessarily the easiest fixtures at this time of year. An ideal fixture would be one against a team who have no threat of relegation and no hope of Europe. No-one is yet in that category with European football still a possibility for Villa, Chelsea, Fulham and Brentford and not just the teams above them.

Agree with all of that! 

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, The Kraken said:

I see that as over estimation. Yes, it’ll be as sure as we can be that it would be a safe points haul. I also think it’ll be a few more than is actually required.

Five wins and five defeats gets us 38 points. 5 wins and 2 draws gets us 40 points. In the past 10 years the 18th placed side in the PL had the following number of points: 35, 28, 34, 34, 33, 34, 37, 35, 33, 36.  So, in very simplistic terms, get more than the 18th placed side and you stay up.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that we could potentially stay up by getting 3 wins and 4 draws. That would give us 36 points, and would’ve been enough to stay up in at least 8 of the last 10 seasons. 4 wins and 2 draws gives us 37 points, that stayed up at least 9 of 10 times.

Personally I don’t see us getting much more than 2 wins and a few draws. But we need to be a bit realistic about just how tight it is down at the bottom of the table. There’s still only 4 points between Saints and Palace, who are 12th (effectively 5 points really due to our risible goal difference), so the notion of getting to 38 points or whatever may be exaggerated. We won’t know until the end of the season of course, but there’s enough of a possibility to stay up. That said, I just don’t think we’re good enough to get to mid thirties of points, but remain hopeful of an upturn nonetheless.

I reckon 34-35 points will be enough. It may even be lower given how many teams are down there and the fact they'll take points of each other. 

3wins and 2 draws takes us to 34 points. Just don't give any points to our direct rivals and I have a sneaky feeling that will be enough, albeit squeaky bum time. 

Edited 31 March, 2023 by Saint86

[JRM]

So no ABK, Salisu and Adams are doubtful from what I hear, do we try AMN at centre back again? 

I think Adams is a big miss if he does miss out, not sure if we go with Tall Paul , Armstrong or Mara 

[Turkish]

Just now, JRM said:

So no ABK, Salisu and Adams are doubtful from what I hear, do we try AMN at centre back again? 

I think Adams is a big miss if he does miss out, not sure if we go with Tall Paul , Armstrong or Mara 

Mara has been the best of a bad bunch out of those 3.

DCC should play really. 

[Pamplemousse]

On 30/03/2023 at 14:14, JRM said:

All very interesting, but then again, according to the data, Nathan Jones was the best manager in world football

[Patches O Houlihan]

9 hours ago, The Kraken said:

I see that as over estimation. Yes, it’ll be as sure as we can be that it would be a safe points haul. I also think it’ll be a few more than is actually required.

Five wins and five defeats gets us 38 points. 5 wins and 2 draws gets us 40 points. In the past 10 years the 18th placed side in the PL had the following number of points: 35, 28, 34, 34, 33, 34, 37, 35, 33, 36.  So, in very simplistic terms, get more than the 18th placed side and you stay up.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that we could potentially stay up by getting 3 wins and 4 draws. That would give us 36 points, and would’ve been enough to stay up in at least 8 of the last 10 seasons. 4 wins and 2 draws gives us 37 points, that stayed up at least 9 of 10 times.

Personally I don’t see us getting much more than 2 wins and a few draws. But we need to be a bit realistic about just how tight it is down at the bottom of the table. There’s still only 4 points between Saints and Palace, who are 12th (effectively 5 points really due to our risible goal difference), so the notion of getting to 38 points or whatever may be exaggerated. We won’t know until the end of the season of course, but there’s enough of a possibility to stay up. That said, I just don’t think we’re good enough to get to mid thirties of points, but remain hopeful of an upturn nonetheless.

Since Selles took charge we’ve played 6 league games. 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses. If we maintain that form over the next ten games that suggests 13.3 points. 13 points gets us to 36 in total. If we keep doing what we’re doing it could be enough. Saints have an ‘average’ difficulty run in, according to stats I saw in the week. Palace and Leicester are the teams with the easy run in. It’s tough, and 36 might not do it, but if we get a big lift (like a win on Sunday) then the confidence boost could be enough. 
 

Anfield have a motto written above the gates. For Saints it would be: 

“It’s the hope that kills you”

COYS