Saints 0-1 Ipswich - Match Thread

[saints-til-i-die]

25 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Feels a bit like that.

After what feels like so many years I'm desperate for a team to get behind and enjoy watching again. This football club has been a chore for what feels like a ridiculous period of time now, something has to break this cycle at some point. We've changed managers, spent stacks of money on players, new owners, coaches and just get the same.

I have no idea what we do next. I'm totally at a loss with this club.

THIS

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

"Nothing wrong" tactically this evening apparently...

 

he is trolling the fans now. 

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

I think the captain choice is the least of our concerns. I'm more interested in having a team with our best players in their best positions, the full backs playing at full back, the players working hard and tackling, and being coached so that they can attack/defend/create and look like an actual football team. 

I'm interested in all of that but I do think that appointing Armstrong as captain is an example of wrong headed thinking which is one of the reasons we are where we are. Certain posters don't like it but it may be the case that we didn't push for Piroe because we thought we had Armstrong who is similar. That's an appaling decision. 

[6ft8saint]

What happened to the team who made nearly 1000 passes and had 86% possession.

 

We looked a challenge for the league and now we look like we're hoping to get relegated

 

 

[vectraman]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

"Nothing wrong" tactically this evening apparently...

 

🤡 

[egg]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

just wait till Ross Stewart is fit and raring to go....good should for left wing

Ha!! Don't expect to see him anytime soon though - he's not registered in our 25 man squad. 

[saints-til-i-die]

Supporting this team is a chore. There’s no enjoyment at all. It’s a total mess. Total apathy is creeping in. I was finding myself torn between wanting a heavier loss just to get rid of this waster or hoping for an equalizer. By 60mins I just wanted the match to finish.

[Osvaldorama]

1 minute ago, 6ft8saint said:

What happened to the team who made nearly 1000 passes and had 86% possession.

 

We looked a challenge for the league and now we look like we're hoping to get relegated

 

 

We sold most of the promotion quality players & spine of the team and appointed a total charlatan. 
 

Like everyone else I am speechless with rage.
 

I hate everything about the club at the moment. Driving back stuck in traffic I was wondering why the fuck I bother. 
 

They can’t even do the very basics. Naive, clueless, abysmal, pathetic, gutless. 
 

For Martin to say there was nothing wrong tactically when he played our best DM at centre half and a midfield 3 of Aribo, adama and smallbone… it’s honestly beyond a joke. 
 

He can fuck off and so can the club. Utter fucking cunts. Embarrassing from top to bottom. 

[saintant]

16 minutes ago, Chez said:

not really. 

How are you feeling?

[Appy]

We were in trouble as soon as that starting lineup dropped, it just looked odd, the midfield was non existent yet again and the Adam Armstrong midfield experiment has to end. 
 

Ipswich weren’t great, just on a crest of wave and playing with confidence and took advantage, thought their fans were oddly quiet though. 

[Winnersaint]

I gave up with relegation, fed up with investing emotional capital with these cunch of bunts. Interest now peripheral. Get more laughs watching people losing their shit on here, but that’s not right.

[Smirking_Saint]

It was genuinely terrible tonight, the only positive was it was slightly better than Leicester and Sunderland… a side note, the referee was horrendous, Ipswich were able to carry out little niggling fouls at will

For a possession based team our passing options are terrible.. we look like we don’t want the ball, especially in our own half, its awful

No idea how Aribo got the nod tonight, and certainly didn’t convince anybody he is worthy of another

Smallbone was largely anonymous again, as was Arma… for a team with such quality centrally we are increasingly powderpuff there

It felt like we have now wrecked Shea’s confidence.. no reason why he should have started at CB again tonight, it should have been Bednarek who was excellent when he came on

We’re too easy to play against basically, and Ipswich played EXACTLY as I said they would and low and behold we lost, we have one of the best squads in the league and we’re wasting it propping up Martins stubborn ego

 

[Harry_SFC]

17 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

How the feck did we end up with someone as awful as Armstrong as captain? That's one of many ridiculous decisions, he shouldn't even be a starter. 

Isn't he the quietest bloke on the pitch as well? It's just batshit crazy.

You can think what you like about Bednarek but if Stephens isn't on the pitch, then he has to be captain. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

I called it a while back - we’ll be struggling to stay away from relegation and playing the blue phew next season. I’m almost done with it now - it’s just gone on too long. 😩

[Smirking_Saint]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

Isn't he the quietest bloke on the pitch as well? It's just batshit crazy.

You can think what you like about Bednarek but if Stephens isn't on the pitch, then he has to be captain. 

He should have been the captain from the start

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Wasn't there a moment in the first half when Edoize was running forward with the ball, and then just suddenly stopped on the halfway line, before passing it backwards? Watching it, I thought the whistle had gone, but it hadn't. He had acres to run into, yet passed backwards like he suddenly remembered he wasn't allowed to carry the ball into the opposing half. Totally bizarre.

[obelisk]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Wasn't there a moment in the first half when Edoize was running forward with the ball, and then just suddenly stopped on the halfway line, before passing it backwards? Watching it, I thought the whistle had gone, but it hadn't. He had acres to run into, yet passed backwards like he suddenly remembered he wasn't allowed to carry the ball into the opposing half. Totally bizarre.

Right in front of RM so I assume he got an earful telling him to stop attacking them like that. 😐

[Miltonaggro]

12 minutes ago, Smirking_Saint said:

It was genuinely terrible tonight, the only positive was it was slightly better than Leicester and Sunderland… a side note, the referee was horrendous, Ipswich were able to carry out little niggling fouls at will

For a possession based team our passing options are terrible.. we look like we don’t want the ball, especially in our own half, its awful

No idea how Aribo got the nod tonight, and certainly didn’t convince anybody he is worthy of another

Smallbone was largely anonymous again, as was Arma… for a team with such quality centrally we are increasingly powderpuff there

It felt like we have now wrecked Shea’s confidence.. no reason why he should have started at CB again tonight, it should have been Bednarek who was excellent when he came on

We’re too easy to play against basically, and Ipswich played EXACTLY as I said they would and low and behold we lost, we have one of the best squads in the league and we’re wasting it propping up Martins stubborn ego

 

Good summary.

[Harry_SFC]

4 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Wasn't there a moment in the first half when Edoize was running forward with the ball, and then just suddenly stopped on the halfway line, before passing it backwards? Watching it, I thought the whistle had gone, but it hadn't. He had acres to run into, yet passed backwards like he suddenly remembered he wasn't allowed to carry the ball into the opposing half. Totally bizarre.

Yeah it was really odd. Also it's rather odd why Martin keeps taking Edozie off when it seems like he's the only one that is going to make something happen.

[verlaine1979]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

Yeah it was really odd. Also it's rather odd why Martin keeps taking Edozie off when it seems like he's the only one that is going to make something happen.

Can't even claim it's because Pep doesn't play with quick wingers anymore. Doku must be the fastest player in the league and loves a sprint down the wing.

[bpsaint]

Just seen the post match interviews. What’s this “be brave” shit he keeps going on about. “ We’ve got to be brave”. Fuck off, if anyone’s brave it’s the fans spending money on watching that shite.

Little veiled dig about the home crowd again, really think it would do us good to start training at the ground once a week and get used to the place. Strachan did it back in the day to help the team settle in around the time of that witch we bought in to lift the “curse”. Wonder if anyone has her number still.

[saintant]

The appointment of RM was clearly a mistake and now the fans once again have to suffer as he tries to prove that his project is going to work if we only give him time. I'm not sure how the club extracts itself from yet another mess of its own making. RM is a huge gamble because he has no track record to give him any credence so basically we have to just sit back and watch while his experiment unravels. He has just presided over 3 losses on the bounce, two of which were home games and the overall aggregate score was 1-10.  Alarm bells must be ringing for SR but they are still paying Ralph and Nathan Jones. It's a pretty sticky situation and, the way we are playing, it's hard to see where the next win is coming from. Happy days.

[revolution saint]

4 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Just seen the post match interviews. What’s this “be brave” shit he keeps going on about. “ We’ve got to be brave”. Fuck off, if anyone’s brave it’s the fans spending money on watching that shite.

Little veiled dig about the home crowd again, really think it would do us good to start training at the ground once a week and get used to the place. Strachan did it back in the day to help the team settle in around the time of that witch we bought in to lift the “curse”. Wonder if anyone has her number still.

Haven't seen the interviews but he's basically David Brent, isn't he?

[hypochondriac]

We'll win more than we will lose is what Martin said. Well currently that is not the case. 

[bpsaint]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

We'll win more than we will lose is what Martin said. Well currently that is not the case. 

He also promised a reaction after the Sunderland result. That went well.

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Just seen the post match interviews. What’s this “be brave” shit he keeps going on about. “ We’ve got to be brave”. Fuck off, if anyone’s brave it’s the fans spending money on watching that shite.

Little veiled dig about the home crowd again, really think it would do us good to start training at the ground once a week and get used to the place. Strachan did it back in the day to help the team settle in around the time of that witch we bought in to lift the “curse”. Wonder if anyone has her number still.

Don't be so cynical. If we just out our hands together and believe hard enough, it will work, and if it doesn't it's the fans fault for not believing hard enough and maybe the fans will get another chance the week after. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

22 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Just seen the post match interviews. What’s this “be brave” shit he keeps going on about. “ We’ve got to be brave”. Fuck off, if anyone’s brave it’s the fans spending money on watching that shite.

Little veiled dig about the home crowd again, really think it would do us good to start training at the ground once a week and get used to the place. Strachan did it back in the day to help the team settle in around the time of that witch we bought in to lift the “curse”. Wonder if anyone has her number still.

What the fuck does being brave actually mean? None of the players we have are brave, they all hide when the going gets tough. They all hide behind playing five yard passes to the nearest team mate as they haven't got the balls to try and make anything happen. We are weak and get bullied and pushed around every game. Lightweight just about sums us up.

[die Mannyschaft]

26 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

He also promised a reaction after the Sunderland result. That went well.

It's impossible to win more games than you lose if the plan is possession football with no natural forward. Its only 5 minutes out of 97 mins where we have a chance to shoot. About 11 million people play football in England and we can't find 2 or 3 forwards who can shoot instinctively from 1 yard or 25 yards without thinking I must pass first. 

[Bad Wolf]

There must be a factor that's contributed to our poor last 6 years.

Changed manager

Changed owners

Changed players

Nothing's working. We've been better away than at home in all that time too. I don't get. There must be something that's been a constant through all the changes and is more prominent at home than away...What could it possibly be...?

[hypochondriac]

7 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

What the fuck does being brave actually mean? None of the players we have are brave, they all hide when the going gets tough. They all hide behind playing five yard passes to the nearest team mate as they haven't got the balls to try and make anything happen. We are weak and get bullied and pushed around every game. Lightweight just about sums us up.

It means he wants them to pass it around at the back, even if their instinct tells them not to and even when the opposition know that is what is going to happen and specifically press in those areas to counter it. It's somehow brave to pass it around almost every time rather than mixing it up a bit and going long when it is warranted to prevent yourself from having to do a piece of skill to keep the ball or simply giving it away. 

Edited 20 September, 2023 by hypochondriac

[bpsaint]

44 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Haven't seen the interviews but he's basically David Brent, isn't he?

 

Got the hair and beard for it tbf

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

There must be a factor that's contributed to our poor last 6 years.

Changed manager

Changed owners

Changed players

Nothing's working. We've been better away than at home in all that time too. I don't get. There must be something that's been a constant through all the changes and is more prominent at home than away...What could it possibly be...?

Again, name the fan base that has gone through the last three years that saints have - particularly at home - and wouldn't react in the manner our fans do. I think we have forgotten some of the stuff they have had to endure over that period, it's truly shocking and I think at one point we were second bottom of the entire football league in terms of points won. 

[OttawaSaint]

Someone needs to get brave in training and lamp him. Tell him we're not playing nonceball...

[maysie]

I don’t know the answers but we did go long at times today and it was equally crap

[Vancouver Saint]

When RM says we have the squad to take us out of this division I thought he meant promotion not relegation. But I get what he means now - Doh!

[Professor]

I’m so sick of Martin I didn’t think it could get worse but his press conference was awful. Talking about the ‘negative energy’ in the stadium while pretending he wasn’t blaming the fans when he was absolutely doing that. Also still harking back to Swansea, where he didn’t actually achieve anything. As far as I’m concerned, I wish they could take him back. Adam Blackmore asked a good question which Martin refused to answer. It was ‘How much longer?’

[Professor]

Just watched the Martin interview. Blaming everyone, players and fans but taking no responsibility himself. Even the players who have left were blamed because of relegation.  
The squad has some very good players but Martin doesn’t allow them to play their natural game. He always knows better.  
Sports Republic need to recognise the serious mistake they made. 

[yarb101]

I don't normally post on here as I don't live in Southampton and go to games, so don't really feel I know enough first hand knowledge to make any constructive comments.

However it is blatantly obvious that RM doesn't have any clue on how to organize the team for matches, especially after reading some of the constructive remarks on here on how the team and players should be deployed.

What amazes me is how long will it be before Sports Republic actually chooses a manager who knows how to manage the team. They have had 3 attempts so far and failed bloody miserably. Isn't it about time that Rasmus Ankersen takes his head out of his ass and finds a manager that actually has the necessary skill sets to manage a team rather than the 3 absolute clowns he has recruited so far.

I was planning to watch them away at Hull on next month, my first game for 20+ years, but do I really want to waste my time and money knowing full well that if things don't change soon, a defeat at Hull will be a 100% certainty. 

 

 

 

 

[Kenilworthy]

There is every possibility of losing at Boro and then Leeds at home. Five in a row would surely end Martin. To the people who told us how great it would be to play at a lower level where we could compete - how's that going?

[Matty's Caddy]

A tiny improvement on last game. Stop fucking about at the back. Let AA make the tea. Midfielders in midfield. Just about bought himself another week. Big test Saturday 

[HarvSFC]

We were supposed to get relegated so that we could reset the squad, win more games and play more Saturday 3pm kick offs.

Instead, we got left with a lot of the dross from previous seasons, decided to spend money on just two players, one being injured while losing our poster boy and captain to West Ham. Won 3/7 league matches and played just 2 of those 7 at 3pm on a Saturday.

[saints-til-i-die]

6 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

There must be a factor that's contributed to our poor last 6 years.

Changed manager

Changed owners

Changed players

Nothing's working. We've been better away than at home in all that time too. I don't get. There must be something that's been a constant through all the changes and is more prominent at home than away...What could it possibly be...?

Picking the wrong manager again and again. Jones was a disaster. They trapped themselves into the Selles corner. Martin was a gamble. Terrible defensive records. He had a terrible run with Swansea - just a good end to the season to sadly get him the job here.

Such poor managerial appointments. Some poor recruitment on top of that. Even if we did go up with Martin, this football will fail in the Prem. He’s never going to last. 

[Katalinic]

15 minutes ago, saints-til-i-die said:

Picking the wrong manager again and again. Jones was a disaster. They trapped themselves into the Selles corner. Martin was a gamble. Terrible defensive records. He had a terrible run with Swansea - just a good end to the season to sadly get him the job here.

Such poor managerial appointments. Some poor recruitment on top of that. Even if we did go up with Martin, this football will fail in the Prem. He’s never going to last. 

Go up? Absolutely no chance. Sport Republic have been a complete disaster - it takes some doing to get so many key decisions completely wrong, and then keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

[Dman]

20 minutes ago, saints-til-i-die said:

Picking the wrong manager again and again. Jones was a disaster. They trapped themselves into the Selles corner. Martin was a gamble. Terrible defensive records. He had a terrible run with Swansea - just a good end to the season to sadly get him the job here.

Such poor managerial appointments. Some poor recruitment on top of that. Even if we did go up with Martin, this football will fail in the Prem. He’s never going to last. 

This is the biggest thing for me. He's not a long term solution, his record is patchy, at best, in the championship - there is no way this gungho style will last in the PL. It'll be a complete shitshow. 

[madge]

That post match interview was dreadful and to blame the scars of last season.. oh just piss off, embarrassing. The hangover from last season doesn’t affect the teams organisation on the pitch, nor does it affect new players who’ve joined us.

SR just seem totally inept in running football clubs, I see their Turkish venture seems to be turning to shit.. 3 years of absolute dross..

back to the manager, nah, not for me,  we need someone who’s been there and done it.. someone who understands the fundamentals of not conceding and then build from back to front.

[FarehamSaintJames]

First match I’ve seen in person this season - and most likely will be the last.

That team selection after the Leicester match said it all. Poor tactics. Poor decisions. Absolutely fucking boring football.

Ive never known a team have an opportunity to counter, stop, wait and then pass the ball backwards.

Manning and KWP kept pushing inside to CDM roles.

Charles - once again has proved he isn’t a defender.

Smallbone was crap, not a forward pass all night.

I have no idea what that midfield was, or what formation it was meant to be. How Stu and Alcaraz didn’t start that game I’ve no idea.

Sulemana didn’t look interested, but then if he’s being told not to run with the ball then I’m not surprised.

Poor team and decisions, we won’t go up with RM at the club. His interview further pissed me off - palming it all off on the scars of last season.

Edited 20 September, 2023 by FarehamSaintJames

[Fan The Flames]

8 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm interested in all of that but I do think that appointing Armstrong as captain is an example of wrong headed thinking which is one of the reasons we are where we are. Certain posters don't like it but it may be the case that we didn't push for Piroe because we thought we had Armstrong who is similar. That's an appaling decision. 

Maybe Piroe didn't want to come here, maybe he didn't want to play for Martin again.

[Lord Duckhunter]

The space we gave Leicester in the middle of the park was unbelievable, to go and do exactly the same thing a few days later is fucking criminal. It strikes me as arrogance in the extreme. A worse a set up than Jones or Selles ever delivered, Hughes & Pelegríno set us up miles better that & a it’s million miles away from what Ralph or Claude did tactically. It was probably the most incompetent tactical performance that I’ve seen from a manger in over 45 years of supporting Saints. How anyone can watch us against Leicester & then come to the conclusion that playing Joe Aribo in the centre of the park will address the problem.
 

He’s been smoking his own dope, putting his own ego above the needs of the club, and it looks like it’s only heading one way. Im not a great fan of this particular brand of football when it works, when it doesn’t it’s fucking horrendous. 
 

 

Edited 20 September, 2023 by Lord Duckhunter

[Sunglasses Ron]

8 hours ago, saints-til-i-die said:

Supporting this team is a chore. There’s no enjoyment at all. It’s a total mess. Total apathy is creeping in. I was finding myself torn between wanting a heavier loss just to get rid of this waster or hoping for an equalizer. By 60mins I just wanted the match to finish.

Yup, both a chore and an embarrassment.

I loathe match days approaching but no longer entrust this bunch of clowns to make or break my weekends.

[FarehamSaintJames]

It’s hard to back a manager when he plays a midfielder in defence, a striker in midfield, an attacking mid further back down the pitch and still insisting on the same tactics and style of football, i.e inverted wing-backs, wingers playing so wide one is in Asia and the other is in America and a general rule of “absolutely no passing forwards under any circumstances”.