Saints 4-4 Norwich

[HKsaint]

Baz costed us relegation. Please stop him or he will costed us another relegation. 

[saintant]

1 minute ago, James said:

Point is he lacks presence, he puts us under so much pressure. Cowers on his line and his hesitation causes absolute chaos.

He lacks them but he gives them out.

[James]

2 minutes ago, coalman said:

Dives out of the way? That was right in the corner. One before was absolutely belted in the top corner.

In the corner but was in the air for an age and he was still absolute nowhere.

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, James said:

I’m sorry but this Baz apologising needs to stop. The guy is useless and it impacts the whole defence.

Should he have saved any of the goals? 

I'm not his biggest fan, but is he gonna be blamed on here for every goal conceded?

[obelisk]

Every time Norwich get a corner or free kick they can be pretty sure they'll be getting a decent chance. If Saints forwards are expected to score 4 or more to help out the defence then there'll have to be a rethink.

[Convict Colony]

I just see shit inaccurate passing, a weak midfield smallbone is all alone and our wingers running into people rather than around them.

[sydney_saint]

Last season we went against what other clubs do and played a very junior keeper. It backfired and he was one of the worst keepers in the league. This season, we have decided to gamble promotion on the same keeper again. Like come on. What is so special about this kid that we are willing to throw the short term future of the club out the window for him? It's not his fault he's not good enough. But there's barely been a moment since he joined that he has looked the part.

I know the stats say 2 goals in 2 league games. But not convinced by armstrong. Just doesn't have much presence up there. 

Midfield looks okay in possession, but just getting totally cut open when Norwich push forward

Edited 12 August, 2023 by sydney_saint

[Saint NL]

What a strange half.

Defence is absolutely shocking, with such a glaring weakness that the opposition can just pump high crosses in and get a free header each time.

We are slow slow in attack that Norwich can now just sit back. We need a change of shape, bring on Che and move AArmstrong out instead of Edozie.

[Disco Stu]

This was a good test to see where we stand against proven Championship opposition. We've conceded 3 times in one half of football. Big reality check.

We need to sort out our set-piece defending urgently.

Edited 12 August, 2023 by Disco Stu

[CanadaSaint]

Hard to tell from those defensive shambolics but I think it's supposed to be zonal marking. You don't play zonal marking with so many ball-watchers in the team.

[hasper57saint]

Who said Narch ain’t up to much? Perhaps we should accept it’s us! 

[stknowle]

2 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

Baz costed us relegation. Please stop him or he will costed us another relegation. 

Well said HK my old pal.

[bugenhagen]

5 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Just so easy to score against. What do they fucking do in training. 

Baz looks like the goalie from the milky bar ad. Just dives out of the way.

We are not getting promoted with him in nets and the scared of the ball centerbacks we have.

They play against our attackers...

[OttawaSaint]

Makes you wonder what our last 3 managers see during the game and in training. They seem so blind to the obvious.

Another easy gift unmarked header goal. This is fine! Everything is fine! Nothing we could do. Nothing we can change!

[ashnats]

Ken monkou last minute winner?

[Mr X]

Next goal so important If Norwich score the next goal it's all over 

[Edmonton Saint]

Building our team around Jack Liability Stephens and we’re surprised we can’t defend. Hopeless player . Club is stuck in a perennial cycle of poor decisions on and off the pitch .

[Suhari]

Norwich with 32% possession and 4 shots on target.

[santolijador]

that was dreadful. 

fwiw, i think Norwich will be top 6 at least this year

[The Cat]

Reckon we'll have a lot of high scoring games this season.

3 good finishes from them, although assisted by some poor marking for goals 1 & 3.

[James]

Just now, sydney_saint said:

Last season we went against what other clubs do and played a very junior keeper. It backfired and he was one of the worst keepers in the league. This season, we have decided to gamble promotion on the same keeper again. Like come on. What is so special about this kid that we are willing to throw the short term future of the club out the window for him? It's not his fault he's not good enough. But there's barely been a moment since he joined that he has looked the part.

I know the stats say 2 goals in 2 league games. But not convinced by armstrong. Just doesn't have much presence up there. 

This is the point for me. He’s shown absolutely nothing other than being pretty useless. Compare with, for example, Joe Hart when he came through. Made some errors but you could see he was going to be good. With Baz he doesn’t look like making a save at all and still makes all the junior errors. Hard to see why we are persevering other than we massively overpaid for him. 

[Saint Matty 76]

Need Downes in ASAP, midfield so easily overrun with Stu and Alcaraz, clearly doesn’t trust Charles.

3 shots on target 3 goals, don’t know if any of them were particularly his fault but it’s not surprising any more is it.

Either way, most fun at St Mary’s for a while!

[pimpin4rizeal]

2 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

Baz costed us relegation. Please stop him or he will costed us another relegation. 

Can’t understand why we don’t just sign a solid already in his prime normal  goal keeper instead of getting teenagers, obscure choices or past it old men .. really doesn’t cos that much to just sign a decent proven keeper 

[The Cat]

2 minutes ago, Chez said:

Should he have saved any of the goals? 

I'm not his biggest fan, but is he gonna be blamed on here for every goal conceded?

Seemingly yes. None of those were his fault whatsoever. 

[adrian lord]

Sounds like an absolute fiasco so far. 

[OttawaSaint]

1 minute ago, Mr X said:

Next goal so important If Norwich get the next shot on target it's all over 

Fixed!

[Yorkshire Saint]

Kamakaze football. Reminds me of the Nicholl era a little which fits with the kit. Bederak absolutely woeful ... I can see us winning 5-3 or losing 7-2 its that crazy. 

[Micky]

I won't refer to it as 'defending' because that would be an insult to professional defenders, but our attempts to stop the opposition scoring are frankly laughable.  On this showing, not a hope in hell that we are anywhere near promotion, time to focus on some basics, never mind playing out from the back and worrying about possession, possession wins nothing, goals do.  We look as if we've learned nothing from last season, just as soft on the pitch and mentally. 

[saintant]

Just now, Chez said:

Should he have saved any of the goals? 

I'm not his biggest fan, but is he gonna be blamed on here for every goal conceded?

But his stats last season were the worst in pretty much the whole world. Why does anyone think he'll do any better this year? He cannot do the basic requirement which is to save the ball from going in our net. We need a keeper who will make brilliant saves - all of the reasonably competent ones do so but Baz doesn't. It's not all at his door because he has some terrible defenders in front of him What an absolute shit show. Jason Wilcocks is going to be very busy once we have the funds from JWP and Lavia.

[James]

1 minute ago, The Cat said:

Seemingly yes. None of those were his fault whatsoever. 

Surprising how many on here are happy with a keeper who concedes every shot that hits the target. 

[NewYorkSaint]

I'm not sure if I'm more frustrated by the football or the fact that neither official audio nor video passes purchased from the site are working. that's really terrible customer service.  I ended up buying a pass on the Norwich site and the stream there is working perfectly well, thank you Norwich. Still, missed the first four goals.

 

[adrian lord]

Why did they think that this manager was going to be the messiah? What was the evidence?

[Bad Wolf]

On the bright side, I used a £1 free bet on a 4-2 Norwich win...

[Convict Colony]

3 minutes ago, Edmonton Saint said:

Building our team around Jack Liability Stephens and we’re surprised we can’t defend. Hopeless player . Club is stuck in a perennial cycle of poor decisions on and off the pitch .

Look i get the people in the team who get exposed most for goals are defenders and goalie's but jesus i've never seen such poor tackling and desire from the forwards/midfielders, looks like our high point was sheff, then shit at gillingham and shitter today.

[James]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

But his stats last season were the worst in pretty much the whole world. Why does anyone think he'll do any better this year? He cannot do the basic requirement which is to save the ball from going in our net. We need a keeper who will make brilliant saves - all of the reasonably competent ones do so but Baz doesn't. It's not all at his door because he has some terrible defenders in front of him What an absolute shit show. Jason Wilcocks is going to be very busy once we have the funds from JWP and Lavia.

Stats this season will hardly have improved. 100% record so far…

 

1 minute ago, saintant said:

But his stats last season were the worst in pretty much the whole world. Why does anyone think he'll do any better this year? He cannot do the basic requirement which is to save the ball from going in our net. We need a keeper who will make brilliant saves - all of the reasonably competent ones do so but Baz doesn't. It's not all at his door because he has some terrible defenders in front of him What an absolute shit show. Jason Wilcocks is going to be very busy once we have the funds from JWP and Lavia.

 

[sydney_saint]

2 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Can’t understand why we don’t just sign a solid already in his prime normal  goal keeper instead of getting teenagers, obscure choices or past it old men .. really doesn’t cos that much to just sign a decent proven keeper 

I don't understand this either. Keepers don't go up massively in value. You can pick up a solid reliable one for about 8-10 million which is less than what we paid for Baz. We would need Baz value to go up to around 40m to compensate for all the mistakes he has made. If you are a 40m keeper, you are one of the best in the world. That's a huge gamble that we think he will be one of the best in the world.

I get persevering with the likes of Edozie. A young player can go on a run, score 7-8 goals in similar amount of matches, and then you can charge huge money for them. But with keepers, there are very few worth big big money.

[OldNick]

1 minute ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Can’t understand why we don’t just sign a solid already in his prime normal  goal keeper instead of getting teenagers, obscure choices or past it old men .. really doesn’t cos that much to just sign a decent proven keeper 

we destroy all our keepers. McCarthy and Davis both players of the season over the years and got continually panned. I dont get the modern goalkeeper / defender how he has to be able to have ball skills rather than defend and allow the midfield and attackers to do the creative stuff. 

 

[BotleySaint]

Just now, adrian lord said:

Why did they think that this manager was going to be the messiah? What was the evidence?

Too early to start on the manager. More disappointing is the squad is still the same gutless bunch who got us relegated. The rot is still there. 

[The Cat]

Just now, James said:

Surprising how many on here are happy with a keeper who concedes every shot that hits the target. 

From what I read most people want another keeper. How many people exactly are you talking about?

You have to apportion blame where it's due at the time. He's done nothing wrong today. Would be much more prevalent to be having a go at the defence in front of him for allowing 2 free headers and an unchallenged shot.

[Baz Fl]

Martin’s Swansea team conceded 5th highest amount of goals last season, this half shouldn’t surprise anyone. We’ve conceded easy goals for 2 years and have only got weaker. 

[captainchris]

4 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Need Downes in ASAP, midfield so easily overrun with Stu and Alcaraz, clearly doesn’t trust Charles.

3 shots on target 3 goals, don’t know if any of them were particularly his fault but it’s not surprising any more is it.

Either way, most fun at St Mary’s for a while!

It’s more tactical strategy than midfield personnel. We have no one in the middle of the pitch and it is so easy to spot but we insist on repeating the mess of tactical set up. 

[saintroyt]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

No chance will Saints go up this season..doubt we will make the playoffs. The style of play is just easy for half the division to play against.

 

Once again board happy to bank transfer money without replacements lined up.Transfer policy? is fucking joke I can’t see us in top 6 if we carry on in such enept incompetent way .Welcome league one😩

[BranfootsLoveChild]

What the hell has Bazunu got in his contract that the Saints managers that they have to play him every week. He's useless. I know some of the players are bad but he is a liabilty!

Edited 12 August, 2023 by BranfootsLoveChild

[Challenger]

15 minutes ago, The very right reverend said:

If anyone thinks Bednerek and Stephens are good enough even for this league they're solely mistaken, and the goalkeeper? What does the club see that the fans haven't seen for years, the centrebacks and goalkeepers have been our weakest link for 3 seasons, why hasn't this been addressed?

Abject naivety by those running this club.

[sydney_saint]

1 minute ago, The Cat said:

From what I read most people want another keeper. How many people exactly are you talking about?

You have to apportion blame where it's due at the time. He's done nothing wrong today. Would be much more prevalent to be having a go at the defence in front of him for allowing 2 free headers and an unchallenged shot.

I think his positioning was off for the first goal. You don't see solid keepers essentially get lobbed off a cross like that.

[Saint Billy]

The problem is that we have got two central defenders that we were happy to see leave on loans because they were utterly useless now back playing in central defence. We have a right back who wants to leave and a goalkeeper who loves sky diving........in goal. No need to scratch our heads.

[OttawaSaint]

That goal Baz conceded vs Leeds last season should have been it for him. Weak shot right at him and somehow he managed to just let it go through him. Lost a crucial game 1-0 and any confidence we'd gained from beating Chelsea was gone.

[The Cat]

Just now, saintroyt said:

Once again board happy to bank transfer money without replacements lined up.Transfer policy? is fucking joke I can’t see us in top 6 if we carry on in such enept incompetent way .Welcome league one😩

How do you know we have no one lined up? Do you work for the club?

[The very right reverend]

8 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Every time Norwich get a corner or free kick they can be pretty sure they'll be getting a decent chance. If Saints forwards are expected to score 4 or more to help out the defence then there'll have to be a rethink.

Who in the club thinks Bednarek, Stephens and Bazunu are good enough even for this level is frankly far more worrying than the standard of players themselves. Truly awful players who make Danny Fox seem like Pele.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

It's going to be another three weeks until we know what our squad is for the coming season, and another month after that before we have any idea who our best team is.  We'll be up and down until then.  Burnley started terribly last season and it turned out ok for them.

This is just a dose of reality of a club mid-transformation and having to get used to a lower quality of footballer on the pitch at St Marys.  I'm still quite positive about our prospects this season.  At least we have a clear identity and some intent.