Saints 2-1 Wrexham - Match Thread

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, notnowcato said:

And when Wellington went off

I thought Wellington looked OK in fairness. Certainly a lot better than Suga on the other side. But Manning was a big improvement.

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I thought Wellington looked OK in fairness. Certainly a lot better than Suga on the other side. But Manning was a big improvement.

Thought Sugawara was poor (as per). His terrible throw was what gave the ball away for the break away for their goal

[notnowcato]

Serious lack of control and composure for most of the first half where it looked like we allowed the occasion to take over. Obviously a good chat at half time sorted things out. Another day, the 5 chances we stuck down Ward’s throat go in. 

Quarshie was sloppy on more than one occasion and could have been smarter with the line he held when Wrexham broke on us. 

Faultless game from Gav, topped off with a tremendous save, delighted for him. 
 

3 points bagged. Love it. Up the fucking Saints. 

[lambtiss]

The goals at the end papered over the cracks. 

Wrexham could have been 2 or 3 up. 

We desperately need a creative midfielder (Spertsyan or Rudoni) and a winger who can beat a man. Fraser is not a number 10.

Charles, Manning, Quarshie, Stephens very good. 

Robinson will be a good player but still young and a little lightweight. 

Very disappointed in Edwards and Sugawara who both gave the ball away too much. 

Finally, Armstrong wasn't, isn't and never will be a number 9. 

We had so much more balance and threat in attack with Downes or Stewart and finally gave their cente halves something to think about other than what they're going to have for dinner.

[Vancouver Saint]

12 hours ago, Hamilton Saint said:

I've switched from FUBO (Premier League games) back to DAZN (Championship games). But DAZN only shows Championship matches that are presented in the UK by SKY Sports. As it stands now, they have ten games featuring Saints scheduled between now and the end of December. Last time we were in the Championship, as I recall, they did not show as many games from January to May. It's an expensive option, therefore. About $250 CDN for the length of the season. For the games not shown on DAZN I listen to the audio commentary done by Adam Blackmore and Joe Tessem. You subscribe to that through the SFC Club website. That's it, I'm afraid. 

Thanks Hamilton. Last time Brave Browser worked with soccer100 to access - worked for me for this game

[qwertyell]

19 minutes ago, Tom57 said:

Edwards did have a very bad game, but he showed last season he can definitely do it in the Championship, and the QPR fans were practically worshipping the ground he walked on

Did he, though? QPR conceded more goals per game after Edwards joined them. 

I just don't see what his defensive qualities are. He's slow and no good in the air. Being half decent on the ball might impress the fans of the team that finished 15th in the Championship, but it's not actual defending. 

[CB Fry]

 

4 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

Did he, though? QPR conceded more goals per game after Edwards joined them. 

He was named their young players of the year and was well regarded by fans and players. Which is probably more relevant information that your pretty shitty attempt of blaming him for all the goals that a below average Championship side let in over the second half of the season.

Edited yesterday at 14:58 by CB Fry

[Vancouver Saint]

Haven't read any posts yet but reckon this win is down to me! Managed to watch from the 35th minute - what I saw from then was Saints in control despite commentators best attempts to convince me Wrexham should have been 3-0 up.
Liked what we were doing. Right substitutions.Amazing free kick goal from Manning (I confess i said 'no chance' to myself as he ran up to take it)...just when it looked like another hard luck story after two appalling non-called penalties from the officials (what are linesmen for if the ref doesn't see it or give it when it's so obvious?!)
Incredible to snatch it at the end. Well played Stephens.
Could this be our season?

[notnowcato]

3 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

Did he, though? QPR conceded more goals per game after Edwards joined them. 

I just don't see what his defensive qualities are. He's slow and no good in the air. Being half decent on the ball might impress the fans of the team that finished 15th in the Championship, but it's not actual defending. 

Edwards had a lot asked of him, Kiefer Moore will work over most Championship defenders. Ronnie also seemed to be asked to step into midfield, maybe too much was asked of him for today’s match. 

[die Mannyschaft]

Rubbish first half, we are not at the required physical level to compete at championship level. Wrexham just knocked us off the ball, I the air up front too. Too much RM football, why can't we buy forwards who sn kick the ball first time. So much messing round, back side nonsense. We need a proper game plan that works,  crosses to very small players when taller players on bench. 

Second slightly better only srated running in last 15 mins. Manning free kick outstanding and Stephens saved the day, he is an example of hiw to run and attack the ball and players. I really hope Still is not another RM tactician. 

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, notnowcato said:

Edwards had a lot asked of him, Kiefer Moore will work over most Championship defenders. Ronnie also seemed to be asked to step into midfield, maybe too much was asked of him for today’s match. 

Agree, especially the way Wrexham played, it was perfect for Moore - it literally was whack it up to the big man...

[Saint Mikey]

Just now, notnowcato said:

Edwards had a lot asked of him, Kiefer Moore will work over most Championship defenders. Ronnie also seemed to be asked to step into midfield, maybe too much was asked of him for today’s match. 

Yeah, I think Edwards was in for his flexibility - moving into midfield and right-back during the game. I think Nathan Wood would have done a better job on Moore, he's physical and athletic, but he isn't as good on the ball and can't really play RB either.

[die Mannyschaft]

8 minutes ago, lambtiss said:

The goals at the end papered over the cracks. 

Wrexham could have been 2 or 3 up. 

We desperately need a creative midfielder (Spertsyan or Rudoni) and a winger who can beat a man. Fraser is not a number 10.

Charles, Manning, Quarshie, Stephens very good. 

Robinson will be a good player but still young and a little lightweight. 

Very disappointed in Edwards and Sugawara who both gave the ball away too much. 

Finally, Armstrong wasn't, isn't and never will be a number 9. 

We had so much more balance and threat in attack with Downes or Stewart and finally gave their cente halves something to think about other than what they're going to have for dinner.

No creativity just stadard playing ball looking for gat that never appears. I don't understand modern managers they all read the same manual and produce robot players. Wrexham hardly did anything but nearly scored 3 from incisive thinking and passing. Has tge market for thinking a midfielder disappeared.

[beatlesaint]

The only thing I couldn’t understand was why, given Still likes crosses into the box as much as possible we had two of Snow White’s seven dwarfs in Fraser and Armstrong through the middle. No height whatsoever.

I did think in fairness to Fraser he had a good game

[Dr Who?]

1 hour ago, benjii said:

VAR is all over that in the PL 😆

100% would have been ruled out in the premier league but oh well, what a comeback ❤️ 

[bpsaint]

On 05/08/2025 at 21:39, Pamplemousse said:

We've got a good omen in the referee - James Bell - 4 times he refereed us two seasons ago in the Champ and we won all 4 games.

This post was going through me head with every poor decision he made.Turned out to be a good omen, but fuck me what a useless wanker he was today.

[Gloucester Saint]

25 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

@Farmer Saint looks older than I thought he’d be

[Turkish]

42 minutes ago, V.Johnathan.Wilson said:

Can't remember the last time we got 27 shots on goal in a game, felt like our frontline weren't used to having this many chances the way some of them were going about their business. 

We didn’t though did we, how many clear cut chances were there? 3 or 4 at best. They put their bodies on the line and got lots of blocks and challenges in, their keeper didn’t really have a difficult save to make. It’s not like we created a hatful And missed them .

[Nolan]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

We didn’t though did we, how many clear cut chances were there? 3 or 4 at best. They put their bodies on the line and got lots of blocks and challenges in, their keeper didn’t really have a difficult save to make. It’s not like we created a hatful And missed them .

Yep, we did.

Edited yesterday at 15:15 by Nolan

[Saint Fan CaM]

Not a straightforward game to analyse…but we won! Didn’t enjoy much of the game really until 10 minutes from the end and then bingo, we score and get the bit between our teeth. I really thought my 0-1 prediction was going to come true, but thankfully it didn’t.

Anyway, first thing to say is fair play to Baz, Manning and Stephens - despite mediocre performances generally, they were all there when they were needed. Baz did seem to have crisp packet hands for their pen as he reached it but flapped,  he made up for that with a crucial near-post save at 0-1.  Manning scored the free-kick of his life to put us one up and we all thought that was that at 1-1. But no…out of nowhere in a goal mouth scramble Stephens kept his nerve and slotted it in - I guess that’s why he’s Captain.

Top of the league for a little bit. Deserved three points. Feels good.

[V.Johnathan.Wilson]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

We didn’t though did we, how many clear cut chances were there? 3 or 4 at best. They put their bodies on the line and got lots of blocks and challenges in, their keeper didn’t really have a difficult save to make. It’s not like we created a hatful And missed them .

We just gotta aim better next time, hit an opposing defender? Skill Issue. 

[CSA96]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

We didn’t though did we, how many clear cut chances were there? 3 or 4 at best. They put their bodies on the line and got lots of blocks and challenges in, their keeper didn’t really have a difficult save to make. It’s not like we created a hatful And missed them .

We had 10 shots on goal tbf, we did get a hatful of openings 

[revolution saint]

12 minutes ago, Saint Mikey said:

Yeah, I think Edwards was in for his flexibility - moving into midfield and right-back during the game. I think Nathan Wood would have done a better job on Moore, he's physical and athletic, but he isn't as good on the ball and can't really play RB either.

Isn’t that what you would expect of any of the outside CBs in a back three though? I’m not writing Edwards off yet because I haven’t seen enough of him but he hasn’t impressed me when he has played  and I thought he was poor today.

Only other takeaway from today is we can’t be starting Armstrong up front on his own. Stewart should have started today.

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Commentator keeps banging on about Wrexham could have been 3 or 4 up...

The biased cretin really wound me up especially second half when they rarely got out of their own half yet he was still using expressions like "they could put this game out of sight"! Sky should sack the bustard.

[rallyboy]

That ref was a clown, look at me, I want to be part of the fairytale on Netflix, have another free-kick...

Totally inconsistent, as for Moore, really weak for a big guy, falls over a lot.

Felt really sorry for him when he got injured but got over it surprisingly quickly.

Great ending to a difficult game - savour these moments.

[gio1saints]

If we needed any more evidence NOT to play AA as the centre forward the first half sealed it. Anything we sent long just came straight back. Whether AA can start instead of Fraser I don’t know but frankly I’d prefer a BETTER player than either and with Downs ( first choice) or Stewart at #9. 

Wrexham worked themselves into the ground defensively and their game plan to utilise Moore was smart - but we were ultimately fitter and the better team. Sure they had some chances - but so did we- and the ref was an absolute c£nt. So many bad decisions against us it would have been an injustice not to get at least a point. Glad for Will, glad for Captain Jack and glad for Ryan manning most of all to Gav who basically got us the three points with his late save. 

[Saint_clark]

46 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I thought Wellington looked OK in fairness. Certainly a lot better than Suga on the other side. But Manning was a big improvement.

I still hold out hope for Sugawara but based on what we've seen from both of them, Bree should be first choice every time down the right. 

[Farmer Saint]

28 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

@Farmer Saint looks older than I thought he’d be

And far less sexy...

[HarvSFC]

Football is back, after the horror show of last season today feels fantastic. Scar tissue, what scar tissue?

Get the criticisms out of the way. I'm still not a fan of the formation. After the Brighton match last week I posted a team of a back four, as I felt even though we looked good with the wing-backs it was too knee jerk/reactionary to then start it this week on the back of a good 20 minutes. Also didn't think you should play three centre-backs at home against Wrexham. I think today it caused problems at both ends of the pitch. Armstrong, who is now letting another manager know after Hasenhuttl, Jones, Selles, Martin and Mowbray (At West Brom last season) that he's no good as a centre-forward was made to look even worse as he was an isolated figure who didn't stand a chance against the Wrexham centre-backs. While at the back there was always one centre-back either getting pulled out wide, or not really knowing what position to take up, so you see good experienced strikers like Moore breaking the lines. Meanwhile, Sugawara and Wellington, who I think had his worst game in a Saints shirt today were getting rinsed with no support on the wings. Hopefully when we get some new wide players we can go back to a more balanced formation, as we looked better with a few more forwards on the pitch to occupy Wrexham.

And the referee. Felt like he was playing into the Disney documentary narrative, looking for a part in it and for a time it felt like we playing against one of the big six with the decisions being given. Has it been confirmed the play before the penalty was onside?

Now, onto the positives. A good omen, as we started the last Championship game with a 2-1 win over newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday with a late, although not quite so late goal from Adams. We scored a lot of late goals that season, and I think it's because our depth is just better than most others in the Championship. It happens to us in the Premier League when they have a bench full of superstars, while we had Will Smallbone. While today we brought on Stewart, Archer, Manning and Fernandes who all start for most teams in the division. Superior squad depth will see us through.

Charles looks classy and that cross field ball to Manning for the second goal was huge. A good long ball at the death, which we never saw under Martin despite us all calling for it, so was great to see.

Bazunu and Stephens saved the day. Who'd have thought that before the game. Who shall we all criticise ahead of Ipswich? Manning also very impressive and he was another who looked quite average two years back. Maybe he does have some of Danny Fox's strengths.

At the end of the day, today was without our best four players from last season in KWP, Ramsdale, Dibling and Fernandes for 60 minutes and then THB, Bednarek and Sulemana, who despite his weaknesses was starting every game at the back end of last season and is one of the wide players we're now lacking. These players haven't really been replaced yet and our only starting debutee was Quarshie (Bednarek's replacement) at the back. So, at this stage of the season it's all about grinding out results and getting the first win on the board. It's a lot harder to tempt new signings to the club after a 1-0 defeat against Wrexham, as there may be doubts as to whether we have turned a corner after the horror show of last season. But, a good and battling three points on the board is helpful.

Up the Saints.

 

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

1. Nice to see Saints players fit again after last year's ambling around playing crab football

2. Been Baz's and Stephen's harshest critics so I am glad they both did well and more than happy to credit them

3. Love the result, feels so good to win, especially last minute etc. However, the cracks have been papered over and there is a lot to learn from this game

4. We'll see how WS adapts, but there were some questionable selections and tactics from him. Everyone has mentioned Arma as CF - any saints fan could have told him no. Why not start with a recognised CF? Not like we don't have one or three

5. We ended up kind of playing 2 - 2 - 6 or something like that with forwards getting in each other's way. It worked so credit to WS. However, it did feel a bit like Wuss last season starting with a gameplan and ending up throwing anybody on as he had run out of ideas

Hope this will be a catalyst for the team and bring back some belief.

Let's hope we can get 1 or 2 players in before the next game.

Oh, and special call out for Manning - won the game for us

[Lord Duckhunter]

The comeback glossed over it a bit, we were pretty bang average most of the game. Way, way too pedestrian, with only Robinson and Frasier showing any urgency from the starters. Our passing was particularly poor first half. 

Weird line up, with Frasier & AA. Whereas Frasier played well & proved the decision right, AA was fucking pony. Suga & Ronnie Edwards were also in the pony bag. Jack played well even before the goal, but the big fella was a bit dicey at times imo. 
 

Cleary Manning changed the game, great impact. Even before his goal, he knocked a couple of dangerous crosses in. I also thought Ross Stewart made a decent impression as well,made a few things happen, which is more than can be said of Archer (did he even touch the fucking ball), and the other mush didn’t exactly set the game on fire. 
 

Great result for morale and bodes well for the future. But we can’t play with midgets up front, it fucking limits your out ball and makes the build up too precise and slow. 

[benjii]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

According to the laws he was offside so....

Lol. He was comfortably onside.

[Nordic Saint]

7 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

It will be interesting to find out who we have who can score goals. The only player who really looked a goal threat in pre-season was Jay Robinson.  

Well, we found the answer to that today: Ryan Manning and Jack Stephens. But, can they do it every week?

[Convict Colony]

guys missed the game due to numpties.

good to hear Captain Jack saving the day, his haters are on suicide watch 🤣🤣🤣 

will watch the replay tomorrow but until then fuck the Welsh sheep shaggers.

[Convict Colony]

1 hour ago, Vancouver Saint said:

Thanks Hamilton. Last time Brave Browser worked with soccer100 to access - worked for me for this game

guys you need to use NBM (ex smarters tv) I get every sport and normal tv, movie and tv for 50 quid a year and I'm abroad.

[HarvSFC]

Must also give props to the team for not giving the ball back after Coady's time wasting "injury". Usually we're far too nice and sportsmanlike. But, this is the character we want to see. You kick the ball out to waste time, as your player will just run back on the pitch in 30 seconds, which Coady did, then we'll keep the ball. They had players going down afterwards, but they didn't kick the ball out again to stop the play after that.

[OneMrsWallace]

Mixed feelings. Still buzzing from the result but we still seem to be patched together at the moment so the next two or three games will be a rough ride. RB position looks weak and who's going to replace Charles and Downes if injured? We've got plenty of strikers but is there a 20 goal player there. I guess/hope these type of things will be addressed over the coming weeks. Appreciate AA was a mistake but that aside, plenty to ponder still. That said, they'll be confident going to Ipswich. 

[gio1saints]

Manning = JWP 😇
https://x.com/SkyFootball/status/1954171213896454620?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1954171213896454620|twgr^|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=about%3Ablank

Edited yesterday at 16:05 by gio1saints

[Farmer Saint]

I don't think we were anywhere as near as bad as a lot of people are making us out to be. After about half an hour we absolutely dominated. Yes, we were poor defensively, but we have been poor defensively since Puel left.

I've been watching Soccer Saturday and flicking between the Championship games on Sky, and fuck me this league is utter horseshit. Wrexham will be a top 8 team this year, and we had nearly 30 shots on goal.

We need to sort the defence (although that will come with time and coaching) and we need some more creativity. But apart from that, I think we've got more than enough, and I think it'll be good when we're a bit more settled with the squad come September - uncertainty is good for no-one.

I was watching with a Villa supporting mate, and he thought apart from Armstrong we were strong in general.

[Convict Colony]

does look good fitness wise having 2 late goals 

[Farmer Saint]

8 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Manning = JWP 😇
https://x.com/SkyFootball/status/1954171213896454620?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1954171213896454620|twgr^|twcon^s1_c10&ref_url=about%3Ablank

That was a proper hit. No keeper is saving that.

[Whitey Grandad]

42 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

 

And the referee. Felt like he was playing into the Disney documentary narrative, looking for a part in it and for a time it felt like we playing against one of the big six with the decisions being given. Has it been confirmed the play before the penalty was onside?

I'm just going through the recording now. Comfortably onside by a couple of yards.

There was nothing wrong with the refereeing. His job wasn't helped by the players throwing themselves to the ground whenever possible. 

[hypochondriac]

23 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I don't think we were anywhere as near as bad as a lot of people are making us out to be. After about half an hour we absolutely dominated. Yes, we were poor defensively, but we have been poor defensively since Puel left.

I've been watching Soccer Saturday and flicking between the Championship games on Sky, and fuck me this league is utter horseshit. Wrexham will be a top 8 team this year, and we had nearly 30 shots on goal.

We need to sort the defence (although that will come with time and coaching) and we need some more creativity. But apart from that, I think we've got more than enough, and I think it'll be good when we're a bit more settled with the squad come September - uncertainty is good for no-one.

I was watching with a Villa supporting mate, and he thought apart from Armstrong we were strong in general.

Yep. Nothing up front but statistically by far the better team. But dodgy at the back still and lacking creativity but if we can get a couple of smart signings we should win a lot of games. 

[Saint_lambden]

We (as fans) deserved that after the shit we had to endure last season. Nice to experience some limbs after so long without any! 

Didn’t feel like it was falling our way for so much of that game but got the job done in the end. Suspect it will be a bit like that for a few weeks like at the beginning of the last Championship season where futures of certain players are up in the air, we’re adapting to a new style etc so if we can grind out results whilst things settle then great. 
 

Wrexham will be fine this year if they can keep Kieffer Moore fit (got an ankle ligament injury today however), have Windass playing off him and O’Brien driving them forward from midfield. Should’ve put the game to bed with the two one-on-ones they had but brilliant save by Bazunu on Hardie’s one and O’Brien took too long on the other. Luck evened itself out in the end thankfully. 

Mixed bag of performances from us. Bazunu, Stephens, Manning, Robinson, Fraser and Charles decent but Sugawara, Damion Downes, Wellington and Quarshie all looked rusty. Fernandes wasn’t great either but suspect he’s not 100% mentally. 

Only criticism I would have of Still was not sacrificing a centre-back earlier to bring on another striker. It worked in the end but wanted him to make some changes earlier, even at half-time. 
 

Still missing creativity in central areas so Spertsyan signing can’t come soon enough really. 

[SNSUN]

59 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

If we needed any more evidence NOT to play AA as the centre forward the first half sealed it. Anything we sent long just came straight back. Whether AA can start instead of Fraser I don’t know but frankly I’d prefer a BETTER player than either and with Downs ( first choice) or Stewart at #9. 

Wrexham worked themselves into the ground defensively and their game plan to utilise Moore was smart - but we were ultimately fitter and the better team. Sure they had some chances - but so did we- and the ref was an absolute c£nt. So many bad decisions against us it would have been an injustice not to get at least a point. Glad for Will, glad for Captain Jack and glad for Ryan manning most of all to Gav who basically got us the three points with his late save. 

Once we have the new wingers in place that I’m pretty sure we’ll get, I wouldn’t actually mind seeing a 442 type formation with a little and large partnership (Downs, BBD or Stewart with AA or Archer). I know the formation is nearly dead in the modern game but I do think it could work. I suppose 433 wouldn’t be too dissimilar but I’m not sure Archer makes a good wide player quite like AA. I don’t like 3 CBs but, as I said earlier, we are so stocked in that position it did make sense to start it today. THB, Stephens and Quarshie should be decent at this level. 
 

Also, 2 goals in injury time… all credit to Still for getting the lads fit. 

[Chez]

2 hours ago, V.Johnathan.Wilson said:

Been pissing me off, totally ignored the excellent reaction save from Ward and the post strike + goal line clearance as "nothingburger" chances. There's wrong and then there's just obvious "paid off" speech. 

Both teams should have scored more goals. That's the difference. In the PL we'd have conceded four...and gone home depressed.

Armstrong alone had four decent chances. Last time in the championship he scored early and never looked back. I wonder if this was a very decisive match or he will get another crack.  At least we created something today.

[Saint Mikey]

1 hour ago, revolution saint said:

Isn’t that what you would expect of any of the outside CBs in a back three though? I’m not writing Edwards off yet because I haven’t seen enough of him but he hasn’t impressed me when he has played  and I thought he was poor today.

Only other takeaway from today is we can’t be starting Armstrong up front on his own. Stewart should have started today.

I don't disagree and thought he was poor across the three roles, just musing that it may have been why he was selected.

I think Wood may get the nod on Tues and could start against Stoke, if he does well and if we stick to three at the back. I think this is likely until we get more creativity further up the pitch - assuming the players on the sidelines leave.

If THB is back that makes things different and I can see a Stephens - THB - Quarshie back three. Stephens can play RB and we all know how capable he is as a holding midfielder! 😉 

 

[Chez]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Thought Sugawara was poor (as per). His terrible throw was what gave the ball away for the break away for their goal

Three shit throws in a row at neck height. How Downes is meant to control them I don't know.

[Challenger]

Pleased with the three points and the contribution from Baz, Manning and Stephens.

Delighted that the Wrexham jizz fest got royally pissed over.

Disappointed with the rest.

[Chez]

 

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

I still hold out hope for Sugawara but based on what we've seen from both of them, Bree should be first choice every time down the right. 

A new right back would be nice, but unlikely.