Saints 1-4 Man City - Match Thread

[The Cat]

15 minutes ago, Mr X said:

He obviously isn't I guess but to me he looks absolutely dire a real carthorse.... Clueless movement for a striker not great in the air for a giant and easily knocked off the ball... A real panic buy that we paid way too much for, hope I'm proved wrong maybe the championship will be his level, do you think AA is suddenly going to return to being a 20 goal a season striker in the championship? 

Armstrong may come good next season but his confidence is low. Maybe a couple of goals early on will get that back.

No one would have predicted that Tella would have scored as many as he has for Burnley.

Hard to tell with Onuachu, depends who the manager is and whether they want players who can last for more than 55 minutes.

[Convict Colony]

12 hours ago, egg said:

His movement is poor. No amount of games is going to change that. Selles played players who could move their defence around. It didn't work, but we'd have been no better with tall paul imo. 

I've got a solution - dont ask the big lad to run around too much and goal hang as much as possible.

[Convict Colony]

To be fair too all our strikers how often are clear cut chances being presented to them.

We give them shit a lot but look how other teams create chances for their forwards.

We've gone back to breaking with the ball, recycling the ball then crossing it in when the team has everyone back.

I am now sick of 4-2-2-2 we have played it for what 5yrs and had trouble scoring for pretty all of it except 1 exceptional danny ings season.

Whats the newest formation trend for goals, fuck defending as we cant do that.

[beatlesaint]

11 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

I've got a solution - dont ask the big lad to run around too much and goal hang as much as possible.

If he stays Tall Paul will absolutely tear up the Championship defenders IF we find a couple of people who can cross a ball into the area.

[rallyboy]

I can't recall seeing a team so tactically astute at exposing weaknesses.

The way their back four often just stood on the ball in their own half and waited to see what we would do before reacting, then in the blink of an eye with slick passing and movement they were in our box. 

I hate losing to crap teams via scrappy goals, but yesterday was a masterclass, and a clear indication of the difference in quality that we all knew before kick-off.

Anyone who has just decided we are going down as a result of yesterday must have been on the frigging moon for the last three years

 

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

I can't recall seeing a team so tactically astute at exposing weaknesses.

The way their back four often just stood on the ball in their own half and waited to see what we would do before reacting, then in the blink of an eye with slick passing and movement they were in our box. 

I hate losing to crap teams via scrappy goals, but yesterday was a masterclass, and a clear indication of the difference in quality that we all knew before kick-off.

Anyone who has just decided we are going down as a result of yesterday must have been on the frigging moon for the last three years

 

No one has 

[stknowle]

3 hours ago, Dan Johnson said:

We’ve 3 winnable home games in Palace, Fulham and Bournemouth. Plus away to forest.

Thats 12 points and puts on 35, that might keep us up or put us in a position where we need to beat Liverpool on the last day.

Liverpool probably won’t have anything to play for then and have been inconsistent.

it’s unlikely and obviously we need to win all 4 of the games, but it’s not over just yet.

It's only not over because we haven't played any of those 4 'winnable' games yet. We need to win them all for it not to be over. We won't. 

Edited 9 April, 2023 by stknowle

[JohnS]

Expected the loss & no points from that game - like most people I guess!

But as always - I go in to every game expecting/hoping to see clear signs of improvement in areas of repeated weakness & expect the Team to show great fight/spirit (blood/sweat & tears) - especially considering the current position we are in.

Unfortunately, we never get the fight from the majority of our players & very little positivity or urgency.  (Selles is clearly out of his depth & not the answer).

Never seem to have improved in the areas of clear weakness.  Every team playing against us now - just simply need to get crosses into the box, we can not defend for Toffee & our keeper is highly questionable.

How the powers at this club have allowed this rot to continue for such a very long time is so sad, unbelievable & unforgivable!

For the remaining games - can we please at the very least see some true passion/spirit & if we are to go down - let's go down fighting!. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chez]

57 minutes ago, Mr X said:

He obviously isn't I guess but to me he looks absolutely dire a real carthorse.... Clueless movement for a striker not great in the air for a giant and easily knocked off the ball... A real panic buy that we paid way too much for, hope I'm proved wrong maybe the championship will be his level, do you think AA is suddenly going to return to being a 20 goal a season striker in the championship? 

I agree with you on Onuachu. Complete panic buy. 

I don't think AA will score goals next season. His confidence has gone. He dithers and delays and shoots with no confidence. He doesn't get into positions to score and he's not greedy enough. He needs a fresh start.

 

[Nordic Saint]

3 hours ago, Paul Chuckle said:

They only have weeks to come up with something to entertain the crowd at half time and all they can come up with is punting a football at either the cross bar or a coloured zone on the pitch. 

 

I think we're all agreed that we'd rather just stare at the people forking the pitch and the sprinklers than the 2 who the club employ to apparently entertain us. 

 

They can't even time the Saints Band before the match right, it's cut off midway through every time. Here's an idea, start 5 mins earlier. Not difficult is it.

I used to find it quite amusing watching Kenzie Benali tottering around the pitch in her high heels, especially after heavy rain, but now she has those big white trainers that all the 'hip' on-pitch commentators wear, even that 'entertainment' has been taken away. The kids' relay race was OK but it could definitely be improved if they accompanied it with the Benny Hill theme tune. There again, so could many of Saints' performances this season,such as the last quarter of yesterday's game when Saints' players were chasing after City players like Benny Hill used to chase after scantily dressed young women without any real hope of catching them.

Edited 9 April, 2023 by Nordic Saint

[david in sweden]

I agree that it's a joy to watch City's  interpassing - except when it's against us, but they really have a class squad.

Interesting comment from Kevin De Bruyne ..who said that " Saints always give City a hard time, but that (Saints) lack a striker .. "or something".

Our problem (for 2 seasons) has been that we lack a striker who can even score " occasionally" .  For all the plaudits that Che Adams gets for

determination, sweat and effort ...he just doesn't do the job, and more or less the same can be said for Adam Armstrong. 

 Even given the enormous gap between Championship and Prem. level , I  don't see how they scored those goals so regularly in the Championship?. 

...and /or .. What sort of formation they played in when at that club ? . 

 

 1). Our most consistent mistake(s) has been signing strikers who did a job at their previous club but then come to us and are forced to play another role.

2). We also lack height and weight in the squad.    Aside from the CB's there are few in the club who are over 6 feet and don't carry any  real " muscle ".

3). Although we have signed some exciting young talents in the last year, the fact remains that for most of them, the Premier League was merely

a  "spectator sport " until last August.    Coming up against  the " real deal " every week has quickly sorted out the " men from the boys ".

4). Yesterday's line-up  started with FIVE young players who had virtually no top-tier experience in any club (in any country)  - and it showed.

Their desire and effort is admirable, but their enthusiasm is " borderline"  and the likes of Alcarez and Mara are just one bad tackle away from a red card.

 

Once again we played a creditable 44 minutes, but I've lost count of the number of times this season that we've conceded in.. 45 mins. " + added time" .  

[jasonbenali]

While we were solid and bright enough in the first half, it only felt a matter of time before City scored. They seemed to be probing for weaknesses and if you give KDB that much time and space with Haaland on the pitch, well, but let's face it they've done it against much better teams than us...

I was left thinking that nearly all the youngsters should be on loan in the Champ or equivalent level smashing it like Tella or finding out that they're simply not up to it. Case in point, did anyone think Sully was going to score, he goes to pieces in front of goal with the pressure? To think he cost more than Ings shows what you get for your money these days...

Final thought, you can get away with playing a false nine if you have goalscoring midfielders. We don't.

[miserableoldgit]

[egg]

3 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

I've got a solution - dont ask the big lad to run around too much and goal hang as much as possible.

This ain't 1984 mate, strikers need to be mobile these days. It also helps if a big lad can jump. He can't. Selles didn't play him cos he's not good enough. 

 

[Viking Saint]

9 hours ago, east-stand-nic said:

Honestly, does anyone on this forum still believe we WILL stay up? I appreciate mathematically we CAN. But does anyone believe we WILL? For me, not a chance in hell and has been that way for a few games now. It's not the points difference or the GD, it is the performances and the fact that I just know they will not improve enough in every game for us to win 4 games. No way.

Nope, I'm afraid we are down. If we had the quality or nous to win games, we would have done it 30 games ago and not waited until now. 

[Viking Saint]

1 hour ago, egg said:

This ain't 1984 mate, strikers need to be mobile these days. It also helps if a big lad can jump. He can't. Selles didn't play him cos he's not good enough. 

 

Based on what? He's hardly had any game time. Nearly scored against West Ham and like all of our strikers, relies on some decent service, which isn't being provided

[saint lard]

I have literally no sympathy whatsoever…..

Highlight of our family holiday to South of England was a trip to see @SouthamptonFC v @ManCity , 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo earlier, apparently seen on camera and when we got to turnstile tickets taken off us and refused entry to home section.Tears all round…

Very disappointed with the stewards who said it's policy and couldn't help us. £190 down the drain but the disappointment and tears from the boys was heartbreaking.…

5 in our group and 4 were going to be supporting Southampton as we are Man UTD/Liverpool fans. The 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo outside. Hoodie and coat on him when entering the stadium.
 

this is creating a stir on twitter. Personally hope it ruined their holiday. 

[alehouseboys]

Did it go to general sale? If not, how did 5 northerners get tickets together in the home stands?

[JRM]

27 minutes ago, alehouseboys said:

Did it go to general sale? If not, how did 5 northerners get tickets together in the home stands?

It did, there were thousands available when it went on general so a complete free for all, Semmens dream for most of our crowd being day trippers paying premium prices plus additional spend on refreshments 

Saints mainly just do a short sales window to members, then one for season ticket holders additional seats, then straight to open general sale rather than restricted to people with previous purchases. Very very rarely we do that, I think for Spurs we did and Liverpool soon. 

Edited 9 April, 2023 by JRM

[Badger]

1 hour ago, saint lard said:

I have literally no sympathy whatsoever…..

Highlight of our family holiday to South of England was a trip to see @SouthamptonFC v @ManCity , 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo earlier, apparently seen on camera and when we got to turnstile tickets taken off us and refused entry to home section.Tears all round…

Very disappointed with the stewards who said it's policy and couldn't help us. £190 down the drain but the disappointment and tears from the boys was heartbreaking.…

5 in our group and 4 were going to be supporting Southampton as we are Man UTD/Liverpool fans. The 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo outside. Hoodie and coat on him when entering the stadium.
 

this is creating a stir on twitter. Personally hope it ruined their holiday. 

Good.Not before time. 

Begs the questions 1) how they got tickets in the first place, and 2) if the stewards would have been so insistent if it were a group of five burly blokes. 

[Colinjb]

1 hour ago, saint lard said:

I have literally no sympathy whatsoever…..

Highlight of our family holiday to South of England was a trip to see @SouthamptonFC v @ManCity , 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo earlier, apparently seen on camera and when we got to turnstile tickets taken off us and refused entry to home section.Tears all round…

Very disappointed with the stewards who said it's policy and couldn't help us. £190 down the drain but the disappointment and tears from the boys was heartbreaking.…

5 in our group and 4 were going to be supporting Southampton as we are Man UTD/Liverpool fans. The 5 year old had a Man City Jersey on for a photo outside. Hoodie and coat on him when entering the stadium.
 

this is creating a stir on twitter. Personally hope it ruined their holiday. 

About. F**king. Time.

[Sarisbury Saint]

11 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

I've got a solution - dont ask the big lad to run around too much and goal hang as much as possible.

Works for Halland

[Maury Dyer]

What hurts even more than being down is Brighton and F!!!!ing Bournemouth (probably) wont.....

[Osvaldorama]

22 hours ago, Chez said:

I agree with you on Onuachu. Complete panic buy. 

I don't think AA will score goals next season. His confidence has gone. He dithers and delays and shoots with no confidence. He doesn't get into positions to score and he's not greedy enough. He needs a fresh start.

 

I don’t think Adam Armstrong would score goals in the Vanarama southern league 

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, Maury Dyer said:

What hurts even more than being down is Brighton and F!!!!ing Bournemouth (probably) wont.....

Why?

[Toussaint]

16 hours ago, alehouseboys said:

Did it go to general sale? If not, how did 5 northerners get tickets together in the home stands?

Mate, I had the United Nations sitting all around me near the itchen corner,  all “supporting” city. I don’t mean a few 

[Disco Stu]

1 hour ago, Toussaint said:

Mate, I had the United Nations sitting all around me near the itchen corner,  all “supporting” city. I don’t mean a few 

I had a City fan sat with his Arsenal fan mate near me. The Arsenal fan going on about how Maitland-Niles and Walcott are two of our best players and the City fan joking about whether he would celebrate "when we score" which he did. All within earshot of the stewards.

[The Cat]

53 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I had a City fan sat with his Arsenal fan mate near me. The Arsenal fan going on about how Maitland-Niles and Walcott are two of our best players and the City fan joking about whether he would celebrate "when we score" which he did. All within earshot of the stewards.

Seems weird the club would go to the effort of kicking out a group with a 5 year old who had a Man City shirt but then let others happily sit in the home ends.

Too late now but we need to properly clamp down on it. More controls on sales for teams we know will attract away fans in home ends. Proactive stewards lobbing people out as soon as they get a whiff they support the away team. 

[Pamplemousse]

As a STH, I've bought tickets for mates (neutrals) this season. If I wanted to, it would be very easy to get tickets for away fans in the home section.

Think the real issue will be if it's a team say Bournemouth or Portsmouth where there is real animosity.

I think part of the problem are the ticket prices and where we are in the league, which means more tickets are available for general sale than normal.

Edited 10 April, 2023 by Pamplemousse

[Convict Colony]

On 09/04/2023 at 14:51, egg said:

This ain't 1984 mate, strikers need to be mobile these days. It also helps if a big lad can jump. He can't. Selles didn't play him cos he's not good enough. 

 

Not in belgium they dont, golden boot winner as well

[Convict Colony]

Would of preferred vithinho who went to marseille and hasnt played for them as he is a pressing mobile forward at least but such is life.

[bpsaint]

3 hours ago, The Cat said:

Seems weird the club would go to the effort of kicking out a group with a 5 year old who had a Man City shirt but then let others happily sit in the home ends.

Too late now but we need to properly clamp down on it. More controls on sales for teams we know will attract away fans in home ends. Proactive stewards lobbing people out as soon as they get a whiff they support the away team. 

One of the issues now is there are multiple secondary sites now selling tickets to our home games. Either sold on by scalpers or our own fans that have access to restricted sales and want to cash in. 

https://www.p1travel.co.uk/organizer/southampton-fc-tickets/?gclid=CjwKCAjw586hBhBrEiwAQYEnHQ6EBO6-ea7ruuIGmZla--3RUq7BGYPQars0_tGy0Hi-zhu2YnxTexoCIDcQAvD_BwE

Take that one for example, states that you have to be a home supporter but that’s just a box tick exercise, they don’t care either way.

[cambsaint]

I am actually appalled by the callousness of that story if its true.

For a start no sane parent would take a 5yo child into the away supporters seats

They don't sit for one thing so he couldn't see anything and he would probably be subjected to a barrage of industrial language

Any caring club would make allowances for this.

The club has to sell its tickets, they are in the entertainment business.

I can't see the problem of sitting next to well behaved away fans anyway, it happens all the time at Test cricket matches.

Surely we don't want to return to the days of hooliganism, which was in reality very unpleasant unless the football was secondary to wanting to figh

In conclusion I really think that this will be the last time I come on this forum

As a mobility impaired elderly man living in (self imposed exile) I used to come on to read the thoughts of those fortunate to watch the game live

That is pretty pointless nowadays as so many of the comments are personal insults against our players.

The last away game I attended was a farce, I can't physically stand for 80 minutes and if it were'nt for a very nice couple giving my son and I their front row tickets The home stewards were most unhelpful . I may go to some local away games if we're in the Championship but unless thee is disabled tickets available in the front row I shall use my home address to get general sales tickets.

Goodbye, this site used to be good.

 

 

[64saint]

11 hours ago, cambsaint said:

I am actually appalled by the callousness of that story if its true.

For a start no sane parent would take a 5yo child into the away supporters seats

They don't sit for one thing so he couldn't see anything and he would probably be subjected to a barrage of industrial language

Any caring club would make allowances for this.

The club has to sell its tickets, they are in the entertainment business.

I can't see the problem of sitting next to well behaved away fans anyway, it happens all the time at Test cricket matches.

Surely we don't want to return to the days of hooliganism, which was in reality very unpleasant unless the football was secondary to wanting to figh

In conclusion I really think that this will be the last time I come on this forum

As a mobility impaired elderly man living in (self imposed exile) I used to come on to read the thoughts of those fortunate to watch the game live

That is pretty pointless nowadays as so many of the comments are personal insults against our players.

The last away game I attended was a farce, I can't physically stand for 80 minutes and if it were'nt for a very nice couple giving my son and I their front row tickets The home stewards were most unhelpful . I may go to some local away games if we're in the Championship but unless thee is disabled tickets available in the front row I shall use my home address to get general sales tickets.

Goodbye, this site used to be good.

 

 

I 

 

 

There is so much wrong with that statement I don't know where to start.  Ok, in this particular case you mentioned it probably does seem callous stopping a little kid wearing an opposition shirt from coming in but at other times how do the stewards at the point of entry on the turnstiles decide if  fans wearing  opposition shirts are going to be well behaved ?

  How do stewards know that home supporters aren't going to give the well behaved opposition fan a load of grief. 

How about big sell out games( ok we might not get many now !!) where home supporters can't get tickets yet away fans are sat in our seats.

Personally like yourself, if an away fan is sat quietly and being discreet I don't have a problem but in reality football fans are slightly different to Test match fans at cricket, who it should also be said sometimes don't exactly behave like well behaved choirboys !!

  

Edited 11 April, 2023 by 64saint

[spyinthesky]

Lets grasp the positives from our 4-1 defeat.

Same result as City's game v Liverpool and the 3 goal difference was the same as the result against Bayern Munich.

We are riding on the shoulders of giants I tell yer.😀