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Watford 1-1 Saints - Match Thread


goodymatt
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Break from the league as we travel to Watford to see if we can keep this unbeaten run going.

I’d expect to see good minutes/starts for the players on the fringes like Alcaraz, Charles, Stephens, Holgate, Rothwell. I wonder if any of our injured players might be back with a few due to return the end of this month?

I think this will be a tough game, but going for a 2-1 win. We definitely don’t want a replay given the fixture schedule in February!

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I think we'll lose this with rotation to be honest. We'll probably see Charles, Stephen and Rothwell play, the first two have just been poor in general and Rothwell doesn't look up to speed at all (hence needing the game time).  

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3 minutes ago, markr27 said:

Lumley 

 

Holgate THB Stephens Meghoma

Charles Rothwell Alcaraz

???? Mara ???

 

Could be anyone. Do you risk Fraser or will there be an incoming winger this week?

God I hope the rotation isn't that bad. We should still be playing KWP and Arma at least, plus one of Downes or S.Armstrong. 

There's another week after the game as well so it's not exactly coming thick and fast.

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2 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

God I hope the rotation isn't that bad. We should still be playing KWP and Arma at least, plus one of Downes or S.Armstrong. 

There's another week after the game as well so it's not exactly coming thick and fast.

Agree would expect a couple of other first teamers in the line up, in fact Watford could be more likely to make lots of changes. 

Interesting we have rearranged our game vs Hull to 20th Feb whereas Watford play Sheff Wed away on Wednesday after (31st Jan) As we have a whole week until our next game at Rotherham less pressure on Martin to rotate. 

Edited by JRM
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Rothwell definitely playing, Martin mentioned it in his interview after the game.

I imagine Watford will rotate too as they have their eyes on the play offs so won't want any injuries or suspensions to key players.

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Martin will be keen to keep the unbeaten run going but I sense the Cup is just a distraction for him. Maybe we can win whilst fielding an ineligible player and go out that way. 

 

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51 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

I would like to see Rothwell instead of Stu give him a rest and Roths pace was a surprise to me . 
Mara will play as will Shea and if Holgate is still here so will he.

Martin said in his post match press conference that Rothwell will play.

I’d have thought the intent would be for Downes and KWP to be rested, but apart from Holgate we don’t have a spare RB. Not even sure Holgate will still be with us by this time next week, so KWP might have to play.

Lumley, Stephens, Meghoma, Charles and Charlie surely will start. Reckon Sam Amo gets a go too, can’t see Downes being included. Out of that it’ll be interesting to see which first teamers get included.

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10 hours ago, The Cat said:

Any chance Bree is back? I thought I heard end of the month for him and Sulemana although not sure if anything has changed.

I think Martin said end of month for Bree, Edozie and Sulemana, not seen any of them training yet though. 

U21s at home to Celtic on Wednesday evening, not sure if over aged players can feature but might get an idea from that game if any get a run out for fitness. 

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10 hours ago, waylander said:

Dibling to start?

I really hope so. Certainly deserves it with his sub appearances so far.

One of the reasons it would have been good if we'd gone 4-1 up yesterday was that we could have got him on the pitch again.

I haven't been this excited about an academy player for a good few years.

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24 minutes ago, The Cat said:

I really hope so. Certainly deserves it with his sub appearances so far.

One of the reasons it would have been good if we'd gone 4-1 up yesterday was that we could have got him on the pitch again.

I haven't been this excited about an academy player for a good few years.

Agree, looks the part already. If he doesn't start then I 'd expect him to get on early second half. Good opportunity for Rothwell to start after another week on the training ground. Would think Lumley starts again too.

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We'll obviously make wholesale changes for this game and rightly so given that the league is clearly our priority and we are not likely to win the FA Cup. As such a loss would not be the end of the world although I'm aware none of us ever like defeats in any competitive games. It's a good chance for others to come in and show what they can do and hopefully ramp up pressure on those regular starters. All things considered I'm quite relaxed about this one. 

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43 minutes ago, saintant said:

We'll obviously make wholesale changes for this game and rightly so given that the league is clearly our priority and we are not likely to win the FA Cup. As such a loss would not be the end of the world although I'm aware none of us ever like defeats in any competitive games. It's a good chance for others to come in and show what they can do and hopefully ramp up pressure on those regular starters. All things considered I'm quite relaxed about this one. 

Agree, but it would be a shame to go out due to playing too weak a side, SAA needs to get better in physical contests so not sure if Watford are right opponents for him. Dibling looks better suited for that. 

Our fans definitely seem up for it, we sold out 4,029 in 2 days whereas looking on Watford site they've sold very few home end tickets so far, plenty on general sale for anyone looking for a ticket. 

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I will stick with what I have said before. No need to rotate as there are no extra games for us, just one per week during that period, so strongest team for me to keep the winning feeling and mentality. Try and put the game out of site by 60 minutes or so, then if he wants to rest some of the key players, being on fringe players then.

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Not too fussed if we name a weaker team, think it's far more important that players who haven't played as much recently get 90 mins.

I'm sure Watford will make some changes as well. We have decent squad depth so I back us to ease to a 2-0 win.

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7 hours ago, east-stand-nic said:

I will stick with what I have said before. No need to rotate as there are no extra games for us, just one per week during that period, so strongest team for me to keep the winning feeling and mentality. Try and put the game out of site by 60 minutes or so, then if he wants to rest some of the key players, being on fringe players then.

It's worth repeating that it's not about resting them, it's about avoiding risking injuries to key players.

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1 minute ago, goodymatt said:

Last thing we want is a replay, but with some expected rotation a draw wouldn’t be a surprise.

I know I'm in danger of entering MLG-esque contrarian territory here, but if we are going to continue to use the cup as a means to give fringe players much needed game time, then it could be argued that a replay back at SMS would be a bonus/benefit in that regard.... :)

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1 minute ago, trousers said:

I know I'm in danger of entering MLG-esque contrarian territory here, but if we are going to continue to use the cup as a means to give fringe players much needed game time, then it could be argued that a replay back at SMS would be a bonus/benefit in that regard.... :)

MLG would approve! 😂

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I'm torn on this one.

Watford are obviously a step above Walsall, so too many changes and we risk the unbeaten streak in all competitions, but we also have to give the fringe players minutes.

I'd give it a halfway house. 6 Changes. with the ability to bring on regulars at halftime / 60minutes

                   Lumley

KWP Bednarek Stephens Manning

Charles      Rothwell      Smallbone

       SAA      Mara     Fraser 

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9 minutes ago, Nolan said:

I'm torn on this one.

Watford are obviously a step above Walsall, so too many changes and we risk the unbeaten streak in all competitions, but we also have to give the fringe players minutes.

I'd give it a halfway house. 6 Changes. with the ability to bring on regulars at halftime / 60minutes

                   Lumley

KWP Bednarek Stephens Manning

Charles      Rothwell      Smallbone

       SAA      Mara     Fraser 

I doubt RM will risk Fraser with Edozie injured so will probably give Dibling a start which is no bad thing.  Also think Meghoma deserves another start at left back and we may see Holgate in for Bednarek. Not the end of the world if we lose because we won't be winning the FA Cup.

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11 minutes ago, saintant said:

I doubt RM will risk Fraser with Edozie injured so will probably give Dibling a start which is no bad thing.  Also think Meghoma deserves another start at left back and we may see Holgate in for Bednarek. Not the end of the world if we lose because we won't be winning the FA Cup.

If RF does not start for the good reason you stated do you not think Amo is the more likely replacement rather than Dibling? 

I think it’s nailed on that Lumley, Rothwell, Holgate, Stephens, Meg and Shea will all start. At least six changes therefore to usual starting line up and possibly more of RM fancies giving Tyler and Mara starts also. 
I think six is enough. More than that cannot see value in it. 

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5 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

If RF does not start for the good reason you stated do you not think Amo is the more likely replacement rather than Dibling? 

I think it’s nailed on that Lumley, Rothwell, Holgate, Stephens, Meg and Shea will all start. At least six changes therefore to usual starting line up and possibly more of RM fancies giving Tyler and Mara starts also. 
I think six is enough. More than that cannot see value in it. 

I was commenting on the suggested team by Nolan which included SAA which is why I opted for Dibling to replace Fraser. I'm sure SAA will start.

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8 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

We have a week between the cup and league game, let's go strong

We also have 6 games coming up in February (would be 8 games if the 4th round match goes to a replay and we end up going through to the 5th round), so I'd be leaning towards giving several of our regular first teamers a week off somewhere in the sunshine to recharge their batteries.

Edited by trousers
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RM suggested in one of the press conferences earlier this month that both Bree & Edozie could be fit again by the end of January. If they are, I guess it is possible one or both of them could at least be in the squad for Watford even if neither starts. Need to check out the training pictures during the week!

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5 hours ago, trousers said:

We also have 6 games coming up in February (would be 8 games if the 4th round match goes to a replay and we end up going through to the 5th round), so I'd be leaning towards giving several of our regular first teamers a week off somewhere in the sunshine to recharge their batteries.

I never subscribe to this idea of resting players, especially when there's a whole week between games. If anything, the players can get rusty with a couple of weeks off and we shouldn't underestimate the winning mentality. Don't have a problem with Dibling, Meghoma and Rothwell given a start, but it'll be worrying if Jack S and Holgate are our centre back pairing. And judging by THB's reaction to being subbed against Swansea, he for one won't want a rest day.

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Hey guys, I've just been running the numbers. If you look at, say, our last 18 games then you'll see we haven't lost a single match.

So if we take that stat and carry it forward, it turns out we win the FA Cup no problem,as it's only four or five more games or something

COYR

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Regurgitating other comments, but in summary I think there’s no need for “resting” but a definite need for “protecting “. Those I’d like protected are Downes, KWP, ArmA and Fraser.

In addition I’d like Charlie to play and based on RM comments we know Rothwell will. I’d give the nod to Dibling ahead of SAA for the start, swapping them on about 60, so would want/expect something like

Lumley

Stephens Bednarek THB Meghoma

Rothwell Shea Alcaraz (or Smallbone)

Mara Adams (or Alcaraz) Dibling 

Wouldn’t be surprised if Smallbone started and Alcaraz was further up or to see Manning play. No need for changing keepers but it seems to be the done thing. Holgate would probably play if he’s still here I guess.

 

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Also noticed that our stats from then are not the usual obviously superior to opponents we been used to. 

I wasn’t at match but it seems we were not at our fluid best. Can anyone who went confirm (or deny) that? 


And/Or wa. It simply the absence of Flynn? 

Point I’m getting to is might it be an opportunity for RM to change formation up a bit and surprise Watford? 
 

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2 hours ago, Scummer said:

What's the best train route to get to vicarage road? Train sites suggest changing at Clapham and avoiding the centre of London.

Be aware that there are rail replacement buses between Southampton and Basingstoke on Sunday

See info here: https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/61768/a-rough-guide-to-watford-fa-cup-transport-update

Edited by waylander
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17 minutes ago, losgigantes said:

Can we assume that there will be no TV feed of any sort for this game? What about radio commentary?

We will be in the US at the weekend.

It's on a lot of tv channels, not sure if you can zoom in , it's on ESPN in the U.S. , thats from the FA website. 

Screenshot_20240123-185355_Gallery.thumb.jpg.d6a114350c923acdd24c322b26ddde1b.jpg

 

Edited by JRM
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10 minutes ago, waylander said:

Be aware that there are rail replacement buses between Southampton and Basingstoke on Sunday

There are some trains but going long way round via Havant I think,  ridiculous it moved from the Saturday (trains were going to be fine then) 

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10 hours ago, losgigantes said:

Can we assume that there will be no TV feed of any sort for this game? What about radio commentary?

We will be in the US at the weekend.

Nope live on ESPN+ in the US 7 am West Coast and 4 am East Coast I think.

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