Saints 1-2 Arsenal - Thank F**k it’s All Over Thread

[Saint Fan CaM]

2 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

No.

Meh.

[Zorba]

I hope we invest in some decent substitutes. Ours have been shit all season!

[Gloucester Saint]

23 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

To be fair, Smallbone was never Premier League quality. He did a decent job last year but should have been sold in the summer. 

He could probably do a decent job again next year. But I suspect his confidence is totally destroyed and a move away is probably best.

Yes, and ditto Bazanu, even if both require heavily subsidised loans out (Gavin particularly) to do so until their contract ends.

[notnowcato]

27 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

To be fair, Smallbone was never Premier League quality. He did a decent job last year but should have been sold in the summer. 

He could probably do a decent job again next year. But I suspect his confidence is totally destroyed and a move away is probably best.

To be fair, at a bit past my prime I could’ve stuck one on Odegaard to stop the shot. 

[Wade Garrett]

Why bring Smallbone on.  Ramsdale was furious at him for the 2nd goal.  Hopefully Still fucks him off.

[Saint Fan CaM]

7 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Why bring Smallbone on.  Ramsdale was furious at him for the 2nd goal.  Hopefully Still fucks him off.

If were the players being subbed off I’d be giving him both barrels too after putting in a big shift - then he comes on and basically hands them the points. Twat.

Edited Sunday at 17:36 by Saint Fan CaM

[Oldandtired]

Who knew that a quality ball played into a tall striker in the area can sometimes result in a goal....

also not much impressed me about Arsenal today except Odegard absolutely busted a gut to get forward for his goal. I don't think I saw any of our players do that at any stage today.

Edited Sunday at 17:40 by Oldandtired

[trousers]

34 minutes ago, coalman said:

Looking at today - we had the players to make a game of it in more matches than we did this season. Sure we'd probably still have been relegated but team selection and tactics have been as bad as I've ever seen across all three managers. We recruited so many players who never got a sniff who might actually have sweated for the shirt.

Nope, finishing this season on 12 points was nothing to do with player selection and/or playing to players' strengths...

(c) Saintsweb Intelligentsia 

[Football Special]

44 minutes ago, LeG said:

I’m so glad Smallbone has done that in front of Still. He’s a nice lad and a saints fan and I’ll always wish him well, but enough is enough. If you can’t learn from your mistakes or work on your weaknesses and improve them, then you’ve peaked. 

He's a genuinely nice lad who tries his best for the club he's been at since he's 8 years old, sad when you hear other fans shouting abuse at him, that's not going to achieve anything 

[qwertyell]

Don't be said because it's over, be sad because it happened.

[Give it to Ron]

I thought Taylor had a good game considering he hasn’t played since January….why?

[Football Special]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

Nope, finishing this season on 12 points was nothing to do with player selection and/or playing to players' strengths...

(c) Saintsweb Intelligentsia 

We played some genuinely stupid football with mind-boggling tactics and selections , never gave ourselves a chance. Compared to Luton the year before who were much more pragmatic 

[Football Special]

4 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

I thought Taylor had a good game considering he hasn’t played since January….why?

One of the mysterious plots of the season that I doubt we'll ever find out any more on 

[SWLondon Saint]

Just watched the goals, I mean Smallbone's effort on Odegaard for the winner was absolutely pathetic, you can't do that at any level of football. How all these different managers keep picking him I have absolutely no idea 🤦‍♂️

[Harry_SFC]

15 minutes ago, Football Special said:

He's a genuinely nice lad who tries his best for the club he's been at since he's 8 years old, sad when you hear other fans shouting abuse at him, that's not going to achieve anything 

If he was trying his best when Odegaard walked past him with a walking stick then he shouldn't be playing football I'm afraid.

Edited Sunday at 18:00 by Harry_SFC

[Challenger]

6 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Just watched the goals, I mean Smallbone's effort on Odegaard for the winner was absolutely pathetic, you can't do that at any level of football. How all these different managers keep picking him I have absolutely no idea 🤦‍♂️

He appeared to pat him on the shoulder as he was about to shoot, what a lame, pathetic challenge from a so called professional footballer.

[beatlesaint]

22 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Just watched the goals, I mean Smallbone's effort on Odegaard for the winner was absolutely pathetic, you can't do that at any level of football. How all these different managers keep picking him I have absolutely no idea 🤦‍♂️

How he’s a full international is also a mystery, I know Republic of Ireland aren’t spoilt for choice but even so 🤦🏻

[ant]

Absolutely beggars belief that what was left of our lot clapped & cheered the players round at the end.

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, ant said:

Absolutely beggars belief that what was left of our lot clapped & cheered the players round at the end.

Hampshire was never the most ambitious place. I often thought Rod Bransgrove had the drive he did for his adopted Hants CCC coming from somewhere else (Kent). The people most ambitious for Saints have come from North East England, Norfolk and overseas. 

[Graffito]

Context. I’ve no doubt Will Smallbone’s challenge was poor (haven’t seen it), because he can’t tackle but with 60 goals conceded it’s not like the rest of the team knows how to defend. From day one it’s been as plain as day. This squad, with few exceptions, was never good enough for the PL. A better manager would have got a few more points but relegation was inevitable. 

[HarvSFC]

Well, that's that thank God. Arsenal only had the 23 shots to our 7 today. You'd have thought a new manager watching may have motivated the team, but it wasn't to be. Another half arsed display from many. We got the goal back, but surrendered into ourselves after that and went back to the strolling around on the ball and off the ball play.

Individual performances, Ramsdale stopped it from being a lot more than it should have been once again. Shame that for the first time since Forster's injury (2015), we've had a good goalkeeper. Nine years it took us to sign a good goalkeeper, and the rest of our team is shite, so we only get the one season from him.

Robinson's a direct runner. Still far from the finished article and very raw. But, the Sunderland youngster showed yesterday that direct running and a bit of luck can work wonders in the Championship. He should be around the first team squad next season.

Smallbone, as we know is pathetic when he has any instruction to defend. In that situation, you have to either give away a foul, or win the ball. He did neither and Odegaard isn't going to pass up that situation.

Neither full-back did too well at stopping the crosses from coming in today.

Onto the summer. We've got Still. We now need to thank Rusk and Lallana and say our good byes, the same way we did Selles. The tactics under them haven't given much, if any joy and you can't see any thing from Pochettino, Klopp or De Zebri that Lallana could have picked up from in the way that we've played. I know it's hard to judge coaches, but 12 points and 30 losses in 38 games says it all. Everyone at the club should hang their heads in shame and that includes the coaches. Both Rusk and Lallana have been over promoted also due to Martin and Juric being abysmal. Rusk is an U21s coach and Lallana should be working his way up in the same way Surman and Lancashire are.

Then we need a new captain. Stephens hasn't led the team at all this season and standards on and off the pitch must have been horrific for such a low points total. He should've been the one telling his mate, Martin that himself and the other centre-backs can't play his way in the Premier League, but he never did, and yeah, he might care, but that's easy to do. Actually applying yourself and making sure others know what it means to play here is the job of the captain, and that hasn't been seen.

Then it's the departure lounge. I think we need to sell whoever's in the last year of their contract this summer. McCarthy, Stephens, Aribo, Smallbone, Stewart, Bree, Taylor, Onuachu and ABK all will walk away for free next year, unless we start offering new contracts. McCarthy's due another one. Onucahu and Stewart could probably fetch us a few million. Thank you Stewart for scoring today. Both can be nuisances, but then both aren't very consistent and their all round game is quite poor. Aribo and Smallbone can probably be sold for a million each. Sure Sheffield United were linked with Smallbone for £7m two years ago. We aren't getting that now, but £1m will do. Then Stephens Bree and Taylor will all be under a million. God knows what happens with ABK.

KWP's gone, Ramsdale will be soon after and Bednarek and Dibling. Can probably look at £50m for those three. Which hopefully gives us enough money to ask Fernandes to give us one season in the Championship. Fellow countryman Ruben Neves did a season in the Championship, although that was heavily down to Jorge Mendes. But, it is still somewhat of a reputable league. Leeds got one more season out of Summerville and Rutter when they went down.

New GK

New RB - Edwards - New CB/THB (If he stays) - Wellington

Downes - Charles

New RW - Fernandes - New LW

New ST

A busy summer. A lot of change. And a lot of change is needed after this shitshow. We went down without a fight two years ago, all seemed okay again last season, but largely a lot of the same players have once again gone down without a fight and now it's time to say goodbye, rather than thinking oh, they can do a job for us in the Championship again.

Edited Sunday at 18:58 by HarvSFC

[S-Clarke]

Thank goodness that is over, the most miserable and demoralising season in my supporting life. But this season is now in the past, we now need to use what went before to create something brand new. There's nothing here to salvage or to work with, we just have to start all over again - in a way, that's kind of exciting and I'm intrigued for what the summer and next season brings.

I think we all appreciate how grossly unprepared we were for the PL, we started the season weaker than we finished the Championship season and that should be a sackable offence for everyone involved - and it seems as if it was deemed as a sackable offence, as we've had a churn in coaching, management, scouts etc since that ill-fated summer.

I'm glad we're not pissing around in the first few weeks of pre-season with a who will it be manager debate, we know who that is, we know who the scouts are, we know who the DoF is - there's nothing to wait for, we've got everything in place to now start reshaping this team from the ground up.

In terms of today's game, I find it really, really hard to read much into it - much like the City game, it's an irrelevant result really. Both teams were on the beach (we've been on the beach all season) and it was just a glorified friendly. The couple of special mentions go to Taylor, out in the cold but brought back in and I thought he was alright - I don't think Arsenal tested him a great deal, but he didn't let himself down and it begs the question why the hell Juric and Martin didn't even consider him as an option.

Pleased for Stewart to get a goal, from a pure personal point of view that must mean so much to him. I'd really like to stress caution to the club though, we cannot use these end of season cameos as evidence that we don't need a striker. We do. He will potentially be a decent squad option for us next season, but we simply HAVE to plan for a new striker(s), and if we don't then we're stupid and we're still making the wrong decisions.

Anyway, season over, summer upon us and let's see what it brings. This is the end game for Sports Republic, they have one last chance to get this right. I'm sure their intentions are entirely right and they want to get this right, but we just need their decision making to improve. Let's see where we are in a few months.

Edited Sunday at 18:57 by S-Clarke

[danjosaint]

1 hour ago, Football Special said:

One of the mysterious plots of the season that I doubt we'll ever find out any more on 

Didn't it come out he'd had a bust up with lego 

[Wade Garrett]

Taylor put in a better defensive performance today than THB, Bednarek and Stephens have put in all season.  Absolute criminal that he hasn’t played more this season.

[Maury Dyer]

That's that then. Worse Saints I can remember.

Effing Rednapp, effing 2005 here we  are again.

[Toussaint]

14 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

Didn't it come out he'd had a bust up with lego 

I think that was the suspicion but I don’t recall it ever being confirmed. 

[Matthew Le God]

4 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Taylor put in a better defensive performance today than THB, Bednarek and Stephens have put in all season.  Absolute criminal that he hasn’t played more this season.

Taylor was playing as a left centre back in a three today. Without the ball Downes was playing as a right centre back and stepping into midfield when we won it. I don't think many fans on the forum want us to continue playing with a back three. Taylor wouldn't work well in a two centre back system and doesn't really do want Still would need as a full back. 

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, Maury Dyer said:

That's that then. Worse Saints I can remember.

Effing Rednapp, effing 2005 here we  are again.

2008/09 was a worse team in terms of quality.

[Wade Garrett]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

Taylor was playing as a left centre back in a three today. Without the ball Downes was playing as a right centre back and stepping into midfield when we won it. I don't think many fans on the forum want us to continue playing with a back three. Taylor wouldn't work well in a two centre back system and doesn't really do want Still would need as a full back. 

Why can’t he play in the centre of a 4?

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

2008/09 was a worse team in terms of quality.

For sure, less quality, but to end any season on 12 points, 30 defeats out of 38 and with a -60 GD has to be the worst effort of a team ever - irrespective of the level you're at. It's hard to really live that down.

I know we're not officially worse than Derby, but I don't think there's anything in it really. The way the club celebrated 12 points showed how out of touch they were. We've got the 'most defeats ever' award in our bag though, so that's something.

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

Why can’t he play in the centre of a 4?

His ability on the ball doesn't make for his lack of physicality for the role of a centre back in a pairing. It is less of an issue in a three centre back system and often fullbacks can be used in that role.

[Give it to Ron]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

His ability on the ball doesn't make for his lack of physicality for the role of a centre back in a pairing. It is less of an issue in a three centre back system and often fullbacks can be used in that role.

Did you go today?

[benali-shorts]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

Why bring Smallbone on.  Ramsdale was furious at him for the 2nd goal.  Hopefully Still fucks him off.

And not only bring him on, but move Fernandes over to the right to accommodate Smallbone in the middle. Madness.

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, Give it to Ron said:

Did you go today?

Yes

[benali-shorts]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

His ability on the ball doesn't make for his lack of physicality for the role of a centre back in a pairing. It is less of an issue in a three centre back system and often fullbacks can be used in that role.

I thought he attacked the ball well today, and anticipated better than our CBs generally do. He wasn't out-muscled to any extent. He didn't over-commit and lunge in like our usual CBs which was a refreshing change. Weird to think he hasn't been tried in either a CB or LB / LCB role in the Premier League, despite the utter and repeated  incompetence of those picked ahead of him. 

[Give it to Ron]

1 minute ago, benali-shorts said:

I thought he attacked the ball well today, and anticipated better than our CBs generally do. He wasn't out-muscled to any extent. He didn't over-commit and lunge in like our usual CBs which was a refreshing change. Weird to think he hasn't been tried in either a CB or LB / LCB role in the Premier League, despite the utter and repeated  incompetence of those picked ahead of him. 

Exactly his reading of the game and positioning was far better than anything else this season.

He could play in the centre in a 4 if we recruit well for Bednarek and THB.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

I thought he attacked the ball well today, and anticipated better than our CBs generally do. He wasn't out-muscled to any extent. He didn't over-commit and lunge in like our usual CBs which was a refreshing change. Weird to think he hasn't been tried in either a CB or LB / LCB role in the Premier League, despite the utter and repeated  incompetence of those picked ahead of him. 

He wasn't playing in a two today, nor was he up against a striker that would test him for aerial balls. In a three a fullback can potentially would as a centre back, many struggle in a two due to lack of physicality. Some can get away with it if exceptional in other areas of their game.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Exactly his reading of the game and positioning was far better than anything else this season.

He could play in the centre in a 4 if we recruit well for Bednarek and THB.

He'd be exposed in a two vs certain types of strikers. In a three it is easier for a fullback to cinvert to as he'd have more support.

[Give it to Ron]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

He wasn't playing in a two today, nor was he up against a striker that would test him for aerial balls. In a three a fullback can potentially would as a centre back, many struggle in a two due to lack of physicality. Some can get away with it if exceptional in other areas of their game.

If we recruited a Wanyama type and a Tangana are you saying he couldn’t play in a 4?

[Give it to Ron]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

He'd be exposed in a two vs certain types of strikers. In a three it is easier for a fullback to cinvert to as he'd have more support.

As would nearly all our defenders!

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, Give it to Ron said:

If we recruited a Wanyama type and a Tangana are you saying he couldn’t play in a 4?

Yes

I'd rather see us use Edwards, Woods, Harwood-Bellis (if he stays) and Kayi Sanda as centre backs in a back four.

[Give it to Ron]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Yes

I'd rather see us use Edwards, Woods, Harwood-Bellis (if he stays) and Kayi Sanda as centre backs in a back four.

Don’t agree one not played or tested - another who looked dodgy Woods and one who has no real physical attributes but did well at QPR over an experienced player which is something we lack .

But it’s immaterial if Spors gets our recruitment right.

Edited Sunday at 19:46 by Give it to Ron

[Saint_clark]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Yes

I'd rather see us use Edwards, Woods, Harwood-Bellis (if he stays) and Kayi Sanda as centre backs in a back four.

I think THB is convinced he's the finished article already, he seems very arrogant. Wouldn't be against him leaving. 

Also wouldn't be against Taylor being tested at CB throughout pre-season with a view to him being used there next season. It's been a while since we had proper experience at the back. 

[The Kraken]

Charlie Taylor did well today but I’m not convinced having a 5 foot 9 player as a main CB is a great idea.

[benali-shorts]

21 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

He wasn't playing in a two today, nor was he up against a striker that would test him for aerial balls. In a three a fullback can potentially would as a centre back, many struggle in a two due to lack of physicality. Some can get away with it if exceptional in other areas of their game.

I understand we weren’t playing a defensive 4 today. Thank you for feeling you needed to clarify that for the group though. I am only able to judge him on the game he played today, given his scant appearances this season - and on that basis, I remain surprised he hasn’t played more in either a 4 or a 5. His limitations seem no greater than the other ones we’ve played there, who have each displayed significant weaknesses of their own. He might struggle aerially - but given his lack of appearances, we don’t have the physical proof of that either way. 
 

I hate myself for engaging with you. 

[Give it to Ron]

7 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Charlie Taylor did well today but I’m not convinced having a 5 foot 9 player as a main CB is a great idea.

Ronnie Edwards is 5ft 10 we all need another inch or so 🙂

Im not advocating he is the main centre back but alongside someone like Tangana could be useful with his reading, experience and positioning 

[SWLondon Saint]

The irony is that actually I think height for a CB is probably less of an issue in the Prem than in the champ. Apart from Wood, I can't think of any other strikers whose main threat is in the air? While I would guess there are more physical strikers in the Champ...

[lambtiss]

https://www.google.com/search?q=odegaard+goal+vs+saints&oq=odegaard+goal+vs+saints&gs_lcrp=EgxlZGdlX2FuZHJvaWQqBggAEEUYOTIGCAAQRRg50gEJMzAzODVqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:620f5af3,vid:Q9ovUNmGlYI,st:0

 

I was at the match but hadn't realised how poor Smallbones attempt to tackle Odegaard was, until I saw this.

[die Mannyschaft]

Very disappointed, no pitch invasion or open top bus for achieving 12 points. 

Next seasons target 23 points. As soon as Saints reach in relation to 46 games played we will know what improvements have been made at the club. 

Possession football OUT, being back direct football. 

 

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, benali-shorts said:

And not only bring him on, but move Fernandes over to the right to accommodate Smallbone in the middle. Madness.

Exactly, Smallbone telling Matteus to move out to the right was a real for fucks sake moment.