Saints 1-2 Stoke - Match Thread

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, trousers said:

But he'll be good this season because he was good two seasons ago, surely....

(c) MLG 

And Stripey McStripe used to be able to get a hard on...

[saintant]

Just now, Saint NL said:

Armstrong has it on the left and there's noone in the middle.

Oh Will, come on man, sort it out!

[trousers]

Just now, Sheaf Saint said:

Fucking hell this ref! 

That's so obviously a corner FFS 

And yet our players meekly accept the decision... Get in the ref's face FFS...

[trousers]

Dirty northern bastards

[Saint Fan CaM]

At least the Ref knows where his yellow card is.

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, trousers said:

And yet our players meekly accept the decision... Get in the ref's face FFS...

That's what Tessem said.

[coalman]

If Stoke finish with 11 men here it'll be ludicrous

[Andrew Watson]

Start running at the Stoke players on yellow cards and win fouls to earn a second booking.

[benjii]

Load of old shit.

[Saint NL]

Charles was a lucky boy

[trousers]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

That's what Tessem said.

Great minds... 😁

[coalman]

That was nine seconds

[Wade Garrett]

8 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

I think AArm already went for his HT cuppa and no one has noticed.

Predictable.  Would be no loss if we sold him.

[saintant]

Zero shots on target against Stoke tells its own story.

[OttawaSaint]

This is the type of game we lose 1-0 in.

 

[Saint Scott]

1 minute ago, coalman said:

If Stoke finish with 11 men here it'll be ludicrous

You can take the Tony Pulis out of Stoke, but you can't take the Stoke out of Tony Pulis

[coalman]

Ref didn't want us taking a corner there

[danjosaint]

FLEXIBLE 

[OttawaSaint]

Ref tosser! Corner, blows up for HT.

[Saint NL]

Fuck off ref 😂😂😂

[saintant]

Just now, Saint Scott said:

You can take the Tony Pulis out of Stoke, but you can't take the Stoke out of Tony Pulis

Have we been any better?

[tdmickey3]

Just now, OttawaSaint said:

This is the type of game we lose 1-0 in.

 

If we keep playing AA centrally we won't score 

[sockeye]

We haven’t covered ourselves in glory but this ref and Stoke’s players are making the Italian mafia look like Care Bears.

[OttawaSaint]

Just now, coalman said:

Ref didn't want us taking a corner there

He's seen how shit we are at them. He's had enough.

[Disco Stu]

Hate to say it but we're yet to see a good performance from a Will Still team. Get a bit of physicality and a focal point upfront and ditch the back 3.

[Andy Hill]

Still needs to wake up - AA offers absolutely nothing.

[badgerx16]

5 minutes ago, trousers said:

Dirty northern bastards

Midland

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Zero shots on target against Stoke tells its own story.

In one sense it does. But 2 of our shots off target hit the post and were both closer to scoring than anything Stoke have managed so far, despite their overall dominance.

[obelisk]

The corner would have been poor anyway. Get off for the half time orange and a new plan.

[Willo of Whiteley]

This is a really, really, really terrible game.

The tactics are all over the place. No attacking threat. Lots of sideways and backwards passing. Very Russell Martin-esque this performance. We need forwards on.

Stoke spent more time rolling about in the ground, time wasting has been monumental.

Ref has been poor throughout.

Biggest cheer has been the home and away fans being bellends towards each other in the Chapel.

[trousers]

Just now, badgerx16 said:

Midland

Yep, that's north... 😉

[RedArmy]

This proactive football is great isn’t it 

[saintant]

Just now, Andy Hill said:

Still needs to wake up - AA offers absolutely nothing.

Why do managers keep making the mistake of playing AA through the middle? It has never worked and never will work so why keep doing it? Madness.

[badgerx16]

2 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Ref tosser! Corner, blows up for HT.

Saves us chasing back as they break on our goal.

[gio1saints]

First half : 

Stoke aggressive and getting it forward very very quickly. We’ve defended multiple crosses. 

Shea has had a mare. Like the Ref. 

Wee man has done well. Mateus is class. Jay playing decent. Flynn best he’s played in ages. Manning has put some crosses in but we need a taller forward..rest of the team fairly average.  Especially expecting more from Adam Armstrong. 
Our 3cb system is currently working- just. Could be anything second half but I’d say it just favours saints because these have got three yellows already and I don’t think they can keep up this pace all match. Expect late goal or goals and maybe a sending off to help us. 

[Baird of the land]

Just now, sockeye said:

We haven’t covered ourselves in glory but this ref and Stoke’s players are making the Italian mafia look like Care Bears.

Got expect teams with lesser players to lean into physicality

It’s up to still to walk his talk and display his much vaunted flexibility.

[badgerx16]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Yep, that's north... 😉

Might be from Devon. Takes me over an hour driving South on the M6 to get to Stoke.

Edited 23 August, 2025 by badgerx16

[Saint NL]

Stoke had had more possession and more shots.

Surely a change of shape is needed for the second half.

[miserableoldgit]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

Midland

Anything North of the Chilworth Roundabout is the North to me....

[Disco Stu]

2 minutes ago, Andy Hill said:

Still needs to wake up - AA offers absolutely nothing.

He's lethal at this level on the right side of a front 3 but completely ineffective down the middle.

[saintant]

Bring on a big lad up front, ditch the back 5 and go 433 or 4231. If not I'm calling a scrappy defeat here and it will be self inflicted.

[Toussaint]

1 minute ago, Baird of the land said:

Got expect teams with lesser players to lean into physicality

It’s up to still to walk his talk and display his much vaunted flexibility.

That’s the championship in a nutshell. 

[John B]

2 minutes ago, trousers said:

Yep, that's north... 😉

Stoke is in The north Midlands

[adrian lord]

The North begins above a line drawn from the Wash to the Severn estuary. 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Three at the back does not work. It’s very simple. Players are overloaded with sideways options to pass to this not getting the ball up the pitch quick enough; and you lose that attacking threat, thus inviting the opposition to press.

[badgerx16]

2 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

Anything North of the Chilworth Roundabout is the North to me....

Anything south of the Manchester Ship Canal is France according to my youngest son.

[qwertyell]

Don't know how anyone can look at our XI, subs, squad at large and expect us to be anything other than mediocre. 

This is not a promotion-challenging team. 

 

[Baz Fl]

Top 3rd of the pitch is AA with two big centerhalf’s either side of him and no Saints players within 15 yards. No attacking presence with very little chance of scoring. SR need to stop buying strikers that can’t contribute! We have that in abundance already 

[coalman]

6 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Midland

North of Basingstoke = northern

[ally_uk]

Why are we fucking playing Armstrong up top by himself ?

Get Stewart and Downes on 

ASAP!!!!