Saints 2-1 QPR - Match Thread

[whelk]

Couldn’t see a thread.  If we can’t beat QPR at home then no hope of promotion.

4-0 to us 

[Harry_SFC]

Bazunu; KWP, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning; Charles, Downes (Stu), Alcaraz; Edozie, Tella (SAA), A.Armstrong. 

Presuming that Che is off and we don't bring a striker in before the game. Stu in midfield again if Downes hasn't appeared and SAA on the wing if Tella goes. 

[Chewy]

4 minutes ago, whelk said:

Couldn’t see a thread.  If we can’t beat QPR at home then no hope of promotion.

4-0 to us 

Clean sheet? I’m optimistic about a solid, comfortable win but I wouldn’t go quite that far 😂

[fanimal]

We will win as I will be on a beach in Spain missing yet another home win

[Mustapha Fag]

2 hours ago, whelk said:

Couldn’t see a thread.  If we can’t beat QPR at home then no hope of promotion.

4-0 to us 

You know what, I remember  lots of defeats to QPR at home,  we must have beat them sometimes I'm sure but they always felt like a bogey team

[SaintsFan86]

Bazunu;

KWP, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning;

Charles;

Downes, Stuey;

Tella, Arma, Edozie.

[Andrew Watson]

Perhaps we could put in an offer for Sinclair Gregory,he ran Ipswich ragged for an hour yesterday.

[Baird of the land]

After week 1 was hoping this might be straightforward but feels more challenging now. I’m sure ainsworth will try and exploit set pieces and it will be interesting to see how we cope (as Plymouth were very weak in that regard). Also fingers crossed tella’s injury wasn’t serious.

[Appy]

1 hour ago, Mustapha Fag said:

You know what, I remember  lots of defeats to QPR at home,  we must have beat them sometimes I'm sure but they always felt like a bogey team

I missed the Austin and Pelle game so I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen us beat QPR at home. 

[VectisSaint]

It would be good to replace Manning at LB with Perraud (assuming he is still here and fit), Manning has played midfield about as often as LB, perhaps Russ could fit him in there, at least then we would not be so exposed when he takes corners on the right (used to hate it when Bertrand took corners, it always left him out of position when Redmond inevitably gave away possession). I suspect Alcatraz (again if he is still here/not injured) might replace Edozie. Would actually rather see Sam Ayo-Ameyaw (????) start with Tella on left rather than Edozie. What about if Smallbone is fit? If Che is still here I don't know what I would do, I'll leave that to Russell.

[VectisSaint]

5 minutes ago, Appy said:

I missed the Austin and Pelle game so I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen us beat QPR at home. 

Did you miss the Rodney Marsh and Stan Bowles games as well?

[egg]

8 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

It would be good to replace Manning at LB with Perraud (assuming he is still here and fit), Manning has played midfield about as often as LB, perhaps Russ could fit him in there, at least then we would not be so exposed when he takes corners on the right (used to hate it when Bertrand took corners, it always left him out of position when Redmond inevitably gave away possession). I suspect Alcatraz (again if he is still here/not injured) might replace Edozie. Would actually rather see Sam Ayo-Ameyaw (????) start with Tella on left rather than Edozie. What about if Smallbone is fit? If Che is still here I don't know what I would do, I'll leave that to Russell.

I think we'll see Manning in midfield at times this season. He's versatile, and given our lack of midfielders, his experience in the middle is likely to help us. 

[Maggie May]

1-1

[egg]

4 hours ago, whelk said:

Couldn’t see a thread.  If we can’t beat QPR at home then no hope of promotion.

4-0 to us 

I like your optimism. I'm confident we'll win, but I fancy a tight 3-2. Dunno why, but I think Mara will feature, and score. 

[JRM]

25 minutes ago, Appy said:

I missed the Austin and Pelle game so I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen us beat QPR at home. 

They are one of those teams that we often struggle to beat at home (quite a few of those) 

https://www.11v11.com/teams/southampton/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Queens Park Rangers/

They'll try to frustrate us and nick an away win, first goal important. We're just so used to not winning at home. 

Looks like it will be a big crowd, QPR sold out full allocation,  typically its a train strike again so disruption for those who travel that way. 

Edited 20 August, 2023 by JRM

[Lighthouse]

The miserable, negative, downbeat Saints fan in me says classic banana skin. Trying to be pragmatic though, it’s hard to see us as anything other than big favourites for this one. I’ll say 3-1 and the clean sheet still eludes us.

[Osvaldorama]

Who needs a number 9 anyway? 
 

In RM we trust.  We are gonna fuckin smash them 

E I E I E I O 

[Dusic]

Looks like Sinclair Armstrong went off injured for them, hopefully he doesn't make this as he certainly looks like the kind of player who would cause problems on the counter attack.

Two good away wins so far but would be nice to get a comfortable win at home for once...

[JRM]

3 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Looks like Sinclair Armstrong went off injured for them, hopefully he doesn't make this as he certainly looks like the kind of player who would cause problems on the counter attack.

Two good away wins so far but would be nice to get a comfortable win at home for once...

Have they still got Lyndon Dykes up front as well? He always looks a handful when playing for Scotland 

[Pamplemousse]

If we can't beat QPR at home then our next two home games Leicester in and Ipswich suddenly look rather daunting.

I think we'll win comfortably though, and hopefully a clean sheet. Need to get an early goal and ruin their game plan

[coalman]

We don't win at home. We can't keep clean sheets. We always struggle against teams we're expected to beat. We're selling our best players. All the signs are negative so I'm going for a 6-2 win for Saints.

[suewhistle]

9 hours ago, JRM said:

 typically its a train strike again so disruption for those who travel that way. 

****!

[HKsaint]

13 hours ago, Chewy said:

Clean sheet? I’m optimistic about a solid, comfortable win but I wouldn’t go quite that far 😂

Unless they don’t have a shot on target 😌

[AlexLaw76]

BBC had them starting their last game with 3 at the back. Given how wide we make the pitch, should be an interesting match up. Don't know much about this version of QPR, but believe they have the usual 1 or 2 excellent young players....

[Dman]

23 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

BBC had them starting their last game with 3 at the back. Given how wide we make the pitch, should be an interesting match up. Don't know much about this version of QPR, but believe they have the usual 1 or 2 excellent young players....

Based on the chap who came on TSP - Sounds like they played the first 2 in typical Ainsworth route 1, but they don't have the players for it and on Saturday went to a formation / style that suites their players slightly more. 

Sounds like it'll be a back 5. 

We should have enough, but I've been drilled into just expecting us to implode. 

[Dman]

41 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

If we can't beat QPR at home then our next two home games Leicester in and Ipswich suddenly look rather daunting.

I think we'll win comfortably though, and hopefully a clean sheet. Need to get an early goal and ruin their game plan

I think they'll be the 2 biggest challenges this season, alongside Norwich. 

If we can get through all 3 of those unbeaten at home (I don't think we will fwiw), then We'll have had a very good start. 

[sfc4prem]

This will be an interesting one to see how far we've come under Russell's training regime.

I'd like to see a bit of sense among our defenders, avoiding the idiocy of the Norwich home game. 

What's the news on Smallbone or Downes? Hopefully at least one of them are back to sit in central midfield alongside Charles. That will really help us as its where Plymouth and Norwich found us at our weakest.

Prediction? I predicted a 3-2 win against Plymouth. I'll go for a 2-1 win this time round.

The atmosphere will be excellent again. Is it just me or is there a bit of a feeling that the 'shackles' of the PL have been taken off in terms of fan trepidation before and during games?

[Appy]

2 hours ago, JRM said:

Have they still got Lyndon Dykes up front as well? He always looks a handful when playing for Scotland 

He went off injured too 

[PJ]

Even if we get Downes agreed on Monday, I think it's a risk him playing this weekend. He's (supposedly) been off for food poisoning, which must have quite an impact on cardiovascular fitness. I'm guessing he didn't feature much in West Ham's pre-season? He wasn't in their squad v Bournemouth on 12th August. It must have been ages since he played any competitive minutes. Despite looking thin in midfield, I'd not put him in the 11 for QPR...

[waterlooville saint]

I'm looking forward to this one. I know I'm about to give us the kiss of death but really think this will be our first home win. I'm going 3-1 as I still can't see us keeping a clean sheet.

[Saint Matty 76]

                      Bazunu
KWP - Bednarek - Stephens - Manning
               Downes - Charles
            SAA - Alcaraz - Tella
                        Arma

I'd say it's probably about time to give SAA a chance from the start, especially as we won't have any more opportunities to do it in the cup against lower opposition. It may be the case that both he and Edozie are better suited to the last 20 minutes against tired legs, but that's doing a disservice to Amo-Ameyaw as we haven't seen him have a go from the start yet. As per before, Stu in for Downes if he's not yet available and a more conventional 433 shape, or in for Alcaraz if he's not yet fit again.

Can't make this one due to the train strikes unfortunately. Hopefully not the first of many of that again this year. 

[Osvaldorama]

1 hour ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

                      Bazunu
KWP - Bednarek - Stephens - Manning
               Downes - Charles
            SAA - Alcaraz - Tella
                        Arma

I'd say it's probably about time to give SAA a chance from the start, especially as we won't have any more opportunities to do it in the cup against lower opposition. It may be the case that both he and Edozie are better suited to the last 20 minutes against tired legs, but that's doing a disservice to Amo-Ameyaw as we haven't seen him have a go from the start yet. As per before, Stu in for Downes if he's not yet available and a more conventional 433 shape, or in for Alcaraz if he's not yet fit again.

Can't make this one due to the train strikes unfortunately. Hopefully not the first of many of that again this year. 

I’d be leaving SAA as an impact sub off the bench for a while personally. 
 

As good as he is, he’s only 17 and the championship is full of players that will kick him up in the air.  No point in rushing him  

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

Mmm, if Che goes that’s going to mean less goal threat and we need to keep the momentum going…big plus when it comes to repairing the losing mentality of the last 3 seasons. If Tella goes then overall quality is diminished further - Edozie is not really ready to step into his shoes, although SAA could become the man if he gets the starts. A new striker ready to hit the ground running (sic) is going to be so important.  Get Downes in for a start (unlikely) and the chances of a win go up.

Overall not hugely confident the side is settled enough to produce consistent wins and losing our main goal threats is key. Think it’s 0-1 or 1-1 at best.

[Saint Matty 76]

34 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’d be leaving SAA as an impact sub off the bench for a while personally. 
 

As good as he is, he’s only 17 and the championship is full of players that will kick him up in the air.  No point in rushing him  

 

None of them have got close enough to even try so far!

Fair enough, could definitely be too soon but he just looks so impressive.

[saintant]

This is a game we should win with some comfort as confidence should be high and things are going well. Another 3 points would give us 10 out of 12 which would represent an excellent start to the season and RM's reign. 

[Baird of the land]

3 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’d be leaving SAA as an impact sub off the bench for a while personally. 
 

As good as he is, he’s only 17 and the championship is full of players that will kick him up in the air.  No point in rushing him  

 

Yeah i don't get the calls to start him unless people are missing. If he was scoring goals in these cameos then i might have a different opinion but right now he's just showing promise for me.

[Miltonaggro]

Predicted the results at Sheff Wed and Plymouth so far, and only a lunatic would have gone for an eight goal draw with Norwich.  However, I am optimistic we will incrementally improve against QPR so the prediction is 3-1, which would do nicely!

[Chris cooper]

2-0 saints .. Adam Armstrong and stu Armstrong 

[Gingeletiss]

5-1 Saints………2-1 at half time.

[SNSUN]

11 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’d be leaving SAA as an impact sub off the bench for a while personally. 
 

As good as he is, he’s only 17 and the championship is full of players that will kick him up in the air.  No point in rushing him  

 

Yep especially while the transfer window is still open! He's already shown how good is though, he will have a part to play this season even if it's just as an impact sub/injury cover. Likewise Edozie - he's been decent but he's still very raw and lacks end product - I like him but I don't think he's be in my best first XI right now. (Baz, KWP, Bednarek, Stephens, Manning/Perraud, Charles/Smallbone, Downes, Alcaraz, Tella, AA, Adams is possibly our best line up right now pending any departures but it does show we're starting to get strength in depth). 

[macca155]

It will be exactly like every other match in the Championship. They'll look to expose weaknesses, be physically intimidating, throw bodies at every attack, try and counter higher skill levels with hard running, and see a draw as a good result.

With no Adams Saints will be further weakened. This will be a tough game, especially with the current dismal home form

Saints should have enough to win, but with outgoings, no incoming, and injuries they are vulnerable. Should have enough but certainly won't be easy.

Suspect it will be the same team as Saturday, with Mara in for Adams.

Martin will probably be aiming to give Downes a decent run out as a 2nd half sub.

Wouldn't be surprised at a draw, I can live with that in current transfer chaos.

 

 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, macca155 said:

with Mara in for Adams.

Mara is an absolute waste of a shirt. I'd rather push Tella further forward.

[JRM]

1 hour ago, macca155 said:

It will be exactly like every other match in the Championship. They'll look to expose weaknesses, be physically intimidating, throw bodies at every attack, try and counter higher skill levels with hard running, and see a draw as a good result.

With no Adams Saints will be further weakened. This will be a tough game, especially with the current dismal home form

Saints should have enough to win, but with outgoings, no incoming, and injuries they are vulnerable. Should have enough but certainly won't be easy.

Suspect it will be the same team as Saturday, with Mara in for Adams.

Martin will probably be aiming to give Downes a decent run out as a 2nd half sub.

Wouldn't be surprised at a draw, I can live with that in current transfer chaos.

 

 

Agree, how many home league games have we won in the last year? Need to break that cycle of failure that is so entrenched at St Mary's,  we're just so used to not winning there. 

[Appy]

15 minutes ago, JRM said:

Agree, how many home league games have we won in the last year? Need to break that cycle of failure that is so entrenched at St Mary's,  we're just so used to not winning there. 

Two

[east-stand-nic]

Well, I might just have to make my first WIN prediction of the season here. With Flynn Downes now in, we should have a stronger backbone, but to be ultimately confident, I would like to know if Alcaraz is back.

This is usually the sort of game we come unstuck and they were a little unlucky at home to Ipswich. Still, all things considered we really need to be winning this and starting to turn St. Mary's into a fortress and make teams fear coming here. Unlikely we will keep a clean sheet so going to a really wild 5-2 Saints.

[Mustapha Fag]

Charles Downes Alcaraz is definitely a stronger midfield 

Guess it's Ballard as sub striker unless one arrives pretty damn quick, he needs minutes in the first team to see if he can step up

[coalman]

1 minute ago, Mustapha Fag said:

Charles Downes Alcaraz is definitely a stronger midfield 

Guess it's Ballard as sub striker unless one arrives pretty damn quick, he needs minutes in the first team to see if he can step up

I really like the Charles Downes Alcaraz setup in midfield. Gives us a decent base and Charly can maraud further forward 

[whelk]

@Turkish Southampton Pride on Saturday so the Cultural Quarter will be vibrant and awash with colour and life. Hope you can make the game?

[Turkish]

49 minutes ago, whelk said:

@Turkish Southampton Pride on Saturday so the Cultural Quarter will be vibrant and awash with colour and life. Hope you can make the game?

Got my bondage outfit ready for the occasion pal 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[whelk]

19 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Got my bondage outfit ready for the occasion pal 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈