Saints 0-0 Skates - Match Thread

[Forester]

I thought it was a good occasion, and people around me were definitely more up for it than a usual game.

In terms of the game itself, am not surprised it was low on quality but we were even worse in the first half than I expected, and I always thought we would struggle to have a good pattern to our play given change in formation, personnel, international break and the whole pressure of the day.

I actually thought, despite not scoring, that was Archer’s best game for us in terms of workload and trying to do the right thing consistently.  Both centre backs, Bazanu and Charles also good performances and a clean sheet pleasing.

The biggest disappointment first half for me was the lack of any forward runs by either full back.  I sense they were either instructed not to bomb on while adjusting to back four or just lacked confidence.  Either way, net result was that both wingers lacked support to create two on ones, and when people looked up there were too few options to pass to in front of the ball.

Better second half, but ultimately a poor game of football and a fair result.  However I am not panicking and as others have said time now time to bed in new signings, formation and tactics.  

[the colonel]

I don't think today was ever going to be a classic, but that 1st 45 minutes produced was as bad as a performance of any of the last 6 managers. But, so many new additions so late in the transfer window is costing us points, presuming Still will get them to blend well. A run of difficult games coming up to get them playing. Need to pick up max points, Liverpool game is nothing to lose, so might as well get the practice in and go for it.

Home atmosphere pretty good most of the time. I have been at every derby since Moran's winner at Fractured Park, 1984 and I think that skates were as quiet as I've ever heard them. It seemed too easy to nullify 'play up pompey'. 

 

Edited yesterday at 18:57 by the colonel

[Ted Bates Statue]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I'm glad it's not just me who felt the atmosphere was so passive. It felt like a normal league game where I was sat, everyone sat in silence. It was infuriating.

Couple started to get something going a row or 2 below, with your standard chants, but were told to shh and sit down by fans around because of the naughty words they said.

Everything about today was absolutely fucking shit. Fans included.

In Kingsland North it was fine but I got the sense it was the Northam doing the heavy lifting, and generally the people who want to stand and sing the most will gravitate towards the top of the stands. Back of the Chapel was decent last time I was there a couple of years ago, with a decent group of people demonstrating that it was ok to sing there.

Curious to know what block you were in, so I can avoid ending up being in your situation. Guessing it was south of the halfway line?

[gio1saints]

2 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

That’s not entirely accurate. They had circa 70% possession at one point passing it around like they owned the place. OK, our press was almost non-existent, but they had a decent game plan, had decent chances and even hit the bar with dear old Baz beaten. We were strangers.

Pointing to a prolonged period of possession in first half does not make them a top team. or even a decent team. Your proposal is a non sequitur.

We were shocking. I’m not giving them the benefit of saying they are a decent team because we were so very bad. 
 

And dear old Baz did not put a foot wrong today. He is one of the very few relatively immune to being hung drawn and quartered for that pathetic first half non performance. 

[BarberSaint]

Baz - 5.  Did ok with what he had to do.

Mads - 4.  Struggled against Murphy. Wouldn't like to see him against a good player in the league above.

Manning -4.  Too slow on the ball. Needs to be dropped.

THB - 5.  Nondescript. You saw how slow he is a couple of times. Needs to stop playing keep ball for no reason.

Stephens - 5.  At least he didn't get sent off which I thought he would.

Downes - 3.  Drop him and sell him.

Charles - 5.  Was ok. Not very good at doing anything with the ball but that might have been lack of movement around him.

Fellowes - 5.  No support really and his running was mediocre: head down and he's not very solid/strong.

Azaz - 4.  Looks a bit slow. Did drop into space but not sure if he ever let anyone know about it or was it just us failing to spot runs again.

Fraser - 4.  Works hard. Slow, no skill, not good enough. Drop him for Robinson.

Archer - 5.  Occasionally did a little something but for some reason passed when he could have shot and scored (2nd half).

Subs.

Armstrong. 3. Armstrong. Enough said.

Stewart 3. Has very little strength or presence and doesn't strike me as a goalscorer. Perhaps better to leave judging him to the end of the year given his injury record, however.

Robinson 5. Did more in a few minutes than some (Downes) did pretty much all game. Pushing to be a regular starter.

Scienza. 4 Not really on long enough. Likes to roll around with every tackle. Probably has some skill and will look to do things. Could be good.

Jander. 5. Could actually be the intelligent, ball-playing midfielder we've needed for quite a while. Promising and looks to get on with it.

 

As everyone's said, a turgid, bitty first half followed by a little better second half but we look toothless, uninventive and a bit shit.

[Lord Duckhunter]

16 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

We were shocking. I’m not giving them the benefit of saying they are a decent team because we were so very bad. 

What a load of old pony, you’re making things up, he didn’t claim they were a decent team.He said they had a decent game plan & had decent chances, which is pretty much spot on. 

[Galway saint]

I am not sure how much influence Still has over transfers so this may not be his fault but we have ended up with a manager who likes to play pacy wingers ( presumably to get the ball into the box to try and score) and a short guy up front on his own as our first choice CF.

The back up is a guy who has been injured for several years and looks like Bambi on ice, another short bloke plus Downs and where ( being polite) it’s early days.

Today was poor but we did get some balls into the box into the second half but had no on to attack them and hence didn’t look like scoring from open play. I’m not sure how we correct that with the personnel assembled. 

 

 

 

[beatlesaint]

Am I the only one who thought Wee Man was our best player?

[RedArmy]

12 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Am I the only one who thought Wee Man was our best player?

He has been all season, which no offence to the bloke is why we are 15th. 

[davefizzy14]

The positives from today we looked solid and kept a clean sheet today, our first in the league this season. But we simply have to create more and be ruthless in front of goal. I'm sure it is something Will and the coaching staff will be working on during the week.  Fraser was excellent today, was everywhere. Bazunu, the back four and Charles good too. Wee Man my motm. 

Edited yesterday at 20:45 by davefizzy14

[SouSaint]

A better team thrash us today, we were absolutely pathetic. 

Early impressions of Will Still aren't great. 6 points from the 5 games we've had is a shite return. 

Spending £50m in the Championship and not competing for the League title is failure. We look like a fucking midtable side. 

[Mixedkebab]

17 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Am I the only one who thought Wee Man was our best player?

I agree. Armstrong also very good when he came on, and Shea Charles did well considering he was next to the piss taking lazy  fuckhead Downes who can fuck off back to his beloved cockney cunts West Ham in January 

 

Edited yesterday at 20:06 by Mixedkebab

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

In Kingsland North it was fine but I got the sense it was the Northam doing the heavy lifting, and generally the people who want to stand and sing the most will gravitate towards the top of the stands. Back of the Chapel was decent last time I was there a couple of years ago, with a decent group of people demonstrating that it was ok to sing there.

Curious to know what block you were in, so I can avoid ending up being in your situation. Guessing it was south of the halfway line?

Yeah Kingsland South - I was block 30 or 29 i think, one of those two. For a block right 'next' to the aways, it felt pretty flat.

Probably better Northam end, but I just grabbed whatever ticket I could!

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

3 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I'm glad it's not just me who felt the atmosphere was so passive. It felt like a normal league game where I was sat, everyone sat in silence. It was infuriating.

Couple started to get something going a row or 2 below, with your standard chants, but were told to shh and sit down by fans around because of the naughty words they said.

Everything about today was absolutely fucking shit. Fans included.

To be fair, the Fanzone was pretty good.

Charles was again my MOTM. Thought Azaz was anonymous but then with balls sailing over his head all the time on route to Archer, that wasn't surprising.

Liked Joe Aribo when he came on! Yes the announcer got it wrong but how people could start singing the Joe Aribo song when it was obviously Ross Stewart.

Don't know what the team practised during the international break, but they need to up the tempo and stop those floaty crosses. Would like to see Stewart and Archer start together in the next match.

[Whitey Grandad]

I found it all very disappointing. 

I couldn't find a half and half scarf anywhere 😒

[chownie20]

3 hours ago, skintsaint said:

I agree....but why a nonce?

These are the same fans that burnt down a Paediatricians house in Paulsgrove because they couldn't understand a word that long.

Edited yesterday at 20:34 by chownie20

[lambtiss]

40 minutes ago, Mixedkebab said:

I agree. Armstrong also very good when he came on, and Shea Charles did well considering he was next to the piss taking lazy  fuckhead Downes who can fuck off back to his beloved cockney cunts West Ham in January 

 

They won’t want him

[Suhari]

Disappointed after being pretty fucking excited to play Pompey and see the new guys.

Poor performance.

Will needs to up his game. I'm yet to see real direction or style of play. Expected more of him, following the presentation he did on Sky.

Early days I guess...... but how long for?

[gallaghert366@yahoo.com]

Will Still is going to piss a lot of fans off -me included. He persisted with a game plan, I use the term plan with reservation, for 70 minutes before effecting change. Punting long balls forward or delivering high crosses was ineffective against the Pompey set up  - so revert to plan B or C!

[Winnersaint]

Midfield need a reset. Downes and Charles doesn't work. They get a foot in as they should and recycle, but but the next bit is where it comes unstuck. Our back four sitting so deep didn't help them and it stifled or capacity to bring Azaz and Fellows into the game particularly in the first half hence the long ball shit to a midget. It seemed like we were playing a double pivot against inferior opposition when we were crying out for more creativity and with both pretty much doing the same thing in similar spaces everything coming through midfield was turgid to say the least. I thought Charles was the better of the two, Flynn Downes? He can fuck off, doesn't seemingly want to be here

[richie]

4 hours ago, bpsaint said:

Fuck me that’s embarrassing. How did this bloke end up becoming our Westwood.

Has he been going to games for long? I saw his dance 2 or 3 years ago.... as a one off it was bearable. Now its just odd. Never seen him before that.

[woodsaint1]

Cant have been a surprise that Pompey got in our face, were physical, were direct and just tried to stop us playing.

Yet we had no answer. Too slow and ponderous in the final third, too many hopeless high balls up the pitch or into the box. Set piece deliveries were pathetic too - lost count of the amount of times Manning couldnt beat the first man.

I must have watched a different game to those who said that Fraser was one of our best performers. Its the same every week from him - he doesnt have the pace to beat a full back, yes he creates a half yard to get a cross but its nearly always a loopy ball into the box which is no good for anybody. We have Scienza and Robinson out that side so he shouldnt be getting a look in.

It was always going to be a scrappy game but I expected so much more from us. Willing to give WS the benefit of the doubt in that hes inherited a team on its arse confidence wise and we've alot of new players to integrate. But if we havent closed the gap to the automatic spots after the next 5 games then serious questions will need to be asked

[Saint Fan CaM]

3 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Pointing to a prolonged period of possession in first half does not make them a top team. or even a decent team. Your proposal is a non sequitur.

We were shocking. I’m not giving them the benefit of saying they are a decent team because we were so very bad. 
 

And dear old Baz did not put a foot wrong today. He is one of the very few relatively immune to being hung drawn and quartered for that pathetic first half non performance. 

Didn’t say they were a top team - but ignoring that they played better than us (they even contained us sufficiently in the 2nd half) and remain above us in table, is closing your eyes to the mediocrity that has pervaded the club for many seasons now.

[Rivers]

Truly abysmal.  

For the Club to make such a point in the build up of assuring us of the lengths they have gone to in driving home just how momentous an occasion this was, and how much it means to our fans -- and then proceed to serve up that sickening shite of a first half performance, is unforgivable.

In hindsight, I am now supremely grateful that Dad had the good sense to make his departure before having to witness the abject dross delivered by Saints in this massive game, because that first half would have killed him.
 

Where to even begin with dissecting such incompetent drivel.

First things first, as much as I fucking hate the cunts, it is only fair to say how well p*mpey played the occasion. They are a limited side in terms of quality and technical ability, yet supremely well set up, with everyone knowing their roles and duties like the back of their six-fingered hands. Fair play to the cunts. They had clearly done their homework, and properly did a number on us.

If you are going to press high, right up the pitch and pen the opponent in, you have to truly commit to it. And they surely did. Four, five, even six skate cunts, constantly applying frenetic pressure against our back line from the moment the ball was released in the first phase of the build up, and immediately forming two banks of three outside our box as soon as the ball evaded the initial trigger from Colby Bishop.

This is exactly how we should be pressing ourselves, but instead we get treated to a pathetic, halfhearted effort, with just two players ambling their way toward the ball-carrier like stoned fucking crabs, whilst everyone else stands completely off, leaving the pressers completely isolated. Eastleigh Under 8's could avoid our "pressing". We are playing our bitter, hated rivals you useless cunts. Put some fucking effort into it, eh?

I get leaving it 10-15 minutes to see if it is just the sheer opening frenzy of the first few minutes of a local derby and see if things settled down, but to keep repeating the same basic tactical mistakes for an entire forty-five minutes is just fucking criminal game management.

P*mpey's highly effective and well-drilled press, coupled with basic tight man-to-man marking of our midfield receivers continually forced us into clearing long under pressure, to a lone striker utterly unequipped at holdup play, and possession was repeatedly given up meekly, time after time again. Fucking embarrassing.

That leads to the next basic issue. The huge gaping distance between our lines. If you are going to hoof long to effectively the opposition Centre Backs heads, you absolutely MUST push your midfield up to contest the dropping ball. What do we do? Stand off and let their midfield have all the time in the world to collect the ball unchallenged, turn, and attack. That placed us under relentless pressure, and gave us no foothold in the game to build from. Then just rinse and repeat every time. Utterly infuriating!

Two basic changes would have nullified their game plan. Our back line was sitting so deep they might as well have been in goal with Gavin Bazunu. Push the line up, at least twenty yards. And stop Mads Roerslev dropping level with the centre backs to receive a pass. That put us under so much pressure, time after time, because that in turn forced Tom Fellows to drop deeper to offer an outlet, allowing p*mpey's fullback to squeeze the space and hem us in even more. All it would have taken, is for Mads to have stepped up ten yards when receiving, then turned, and the press would have been broken.

Now if I, with humble Dorset League management experience can see this so clearly, then what the fucking hell are our management team being so handsomely paid for?

Will said it himself -- we completely wasted that first half.

Where was the desire and the intensity? Where was the very most basic and rudimentary footballing intelligence?

The second half showed some improvements, but we lacked the ideas, improvisation and cutting edge to truly trouble a tiring p*mpey, and limped to a weak and pathetic, completely unacceptable draw.

The two bright specks for me to take from the game, was Gav filling his crisp-packets with some concrete at last to make some dominant punches clear under pressure, preventing sure-fire efforts on goal, and that Casper Jander showed more quality and composure in his brief cameo than that flaky cunt Flynn Downes has all of this season and last. Never want to see that miserable whinging cunt play for my Club ever again.

Thanks for another wrecked weekend Saints. I am thoroughly sick of all your shit. 

 

[SaintNewForest]

7 hours ago, richie said:

Has he been going to games for long? I saw his dance 2 or 3 years ago.... as a one off it was bearable. Now its just odd. Never seen him before that.

Been a regular for a while I think, but obviously now the away fans are sat near him, he's getting more prominence.

[AlexLaw76]

Watched the majority of the game back last night

that first half was disgusting. No idea what the team were trying to do in or out of possession regarding Defending against the ball and patterns of play going forward.

2nd half was better, but not by much. It seemed the midfield played slightly further up the pitch and the tempo was raised a bit, allowing Azaz to get in the ball in the final 3rd. But we still never tested a terrible keeper. Again, this was disgusting.

Have no idea what Will Still is trying to do, other than ‘long passes’ to a lone striker over and over. His subs were standard in so much get fresh/more attackers on the pitch. 
 

Overall, passive against the ball for large parts and absolutely no fluidity going forward. A better side, and there are many in this league, would have beaten us comfortably yesterday. 
 

For such a lauded tactician, Still has been shite so far, and we are quickly falling behind the front 2 positions. Could argue that Hull is a must win… from an auto promotion perspective 

[Osvaldorama]

In fairness, Still was fucking fuming with the first half and kept trying to tell them to get out, but nothing changed. 
 

It was bad, and his subs came too late imo, but I do believe he sees the same things we see - which is a change from the last few managers at least. 
 

The question is what can he do about it 

[Challenger]

We can change the manager/coaching staff and half the team, but continue to be the same predictable opposition for all.

Everyone we play know exactly what they are going to face, and largely combat it with utter ease.

[Turkish]

i see their fans are spouting their usual bollocks. Pompey fans were amazing, scummers sat in silence, loads of empty seats, couldnt sell out etc. 

Atmosphere didn't sound great from either fans but then the game was one of the dullest i've ever seen so no surprises. 

[Miltonaggro]

Btw as an aside, at the finish stayed back with a group as the walkways were crowded. Said to those around me, look at the Portsmouth section, players and supporters were celebrating like they’d won a cup final rather than a turgid 0-0. Only time they were heard was when the ground emptying and through sheer relief that they hadn’t been tonked. They know exactly what they are, and what we should be.

[badgerx16]

Baz kept a clean sheet.

[die Mannyschaft]

29 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Watched the majority of the game back last night

that first half was disgusting. No idea what the team were trying to do in or out of possession regarding Defending against the ball and patterns of play going forward.

2nd half was better, but not by much. It seemed the midfield played slightly further up the pitch and the tempo was raised a bit, allowing Azaz to get in the ball in the final 3rd. But we still never tested a terrible keeper. Again, this was disgusting.

Have no idea what Will Still is trying to do, other than ‘long passes’ to a lone striker over and over. His subs were standard in so much get fresh/more attackers on the pitch. 
 

Overall, passive against the ball for large parts and absolutely no fluidity going forward. A better side, and there are many in this league, would have beaten us comfortably yesterday. 
 

For such a lauded tactician, Still has been shite so far, and we are quickly falling behind the front 2 positions. Could argue that Hull is a must win… from an auto promotion perspective 

The only positive is at some point playing negative football will generate the goals needed to win against top and bottom teams in league. And if it doesn't generate the goals then we will be favourites again for promotion next season. At least fans can say we have the setup on paper. 

[die Mannyschaft]

21 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

In fairness, Still was fucking fuming with the first half and kept trying to tell them to get out, but nothing changed. 
 

It was bad, and his subs came too late imo, but I do believe he sees the same things we see - which is a change from the last few managers at least. 
 

The question is what can he do about it 

Play football the same as Wrexham, Stoke and Pompey it worked for them.

[madge]

12 hours ago, Forester said:

I thought it was a good occasion, and people around me were definitely more up for it than a usual game.

In terms of the game itself, am not surprised it was low on quality but we were even worse in the first half than I expected, and I always thought we would struggle to have a good pattern to our play given change in formation, personnel, international break and the whole pressure of the day.

I actually thought, despite not scoring, that was Archer’s best game for us in terms of workload and trying to do the right thing consistently.  Both centre backs, Bazanu and Charles also good performances and a clean sheet pleasing.

The biggest disappointment first half for me was the lack of any forward runs by either full back.  I sense they were either instructed not to bomb on while adjusting to back four or just lacked confidence.  Either way, net result was that both wingers lacked support to create two on ones, and when people looked up there were too few options to pass to in front of the ball.

Better second half, but ultimately a poor game of football and a fair result.  However I am not panicking and as others have said time now time to bed in new signings, formation and tactics.  

If our full backs had pushed high in that formation we’d have been so open to counter attacks.. did you not notice pompeys wingers starting positions.. very high and wide, especially Murphy.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

10 minutes ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Play football the same as Wrexham, Stoke and Pompey it worked for them.

We beat Wrexham. And drew with Pompey.

[gio1saints]

It was “indefensible” to play with wingbacks & 3 CB’s for many on here 24 hours ago. But I think the new shape was the font all our problems. 
 

Our flat back four was exactly that- four blokes in a line often parallel to the penalty area or deeper and very rarely seen over the halfway line. Chronically wasteful. It was like sending an invite to press and camp in our half in a high pressure game. Gave the initiative away instantly. 
 

Neither Mads nor Manning showed sufficient attacking intent. Given that’s what Ryan does best - and Mads is a decent player this has to go down as a bad inmatch failure by both players - and of the manager- to push on aggressively.

I really cannot believe that Still told them to sit back like that all passive and useless. Compare Mads and Ryan’s contribution in previous matches - and it’s a fraction. They may as well stayed at home. The Pompey front line was NOT terrifying. No excuse. It was lack of bollocks. 

We looked overrun in middle of park too often as a consequence. And as for launching it to Cam to compete with his big CB in the air for it time after time. Just stop it. Please just stop it. Most embarrassing tactic I’ve seen at SMS since the no cf hug the sidelines U formation by RM v Forest…

[stfrancisofbenali]

31 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

In fairness, Still was fucking fuming with the first half and kept trying to tell them to get out, but nothing changed. 
 

It was bad, and his subs came too late imo, but I do believe he sees the same things we see - which is a change from the last few managers at least. 
 

The question is what can he do about it 

He’s young, he’s new to the club with lots of new players to integrate and trying to eradicate the significant psychological scars of last season. Yesterday was miserable but there were tiny glimpses of how he wants to play and he was gutted by the first half performance. We have to give him time and be more patient. 

[DT]

The biggest problem that I see is Flynn Downes. Offers absolutely nothing, plays like he cannot wait to leave, is an automatic yellow card every time because of his inadequacies, and never seems to drive forward with the ball. Oh, and is criminally dispossessed too much in the middle. Charles was neat and tidy, but with him sitting too, there is no forward momentum to speak of, and no directness to create scoring opportunities. But more worrying is that Still doesn't seem to be showing many signs that he knows what he's doing. Those multi-subs looked a bit desperate and late, even if they work on his computer simulations. We have a decent squad, but no fluidity or structure. This points to the manager, and having a terrible sulky pivot in Downes.

We are 15th in the Championship. Can anyone please point to some Will Still tactical positives?

[OldNick]

I wonder if the meaning of the game was overstated to the players as they were so nervous. Pompey timewasted from the first minute. Their manager did a masterclass in suppressing our home advantage. I am fully behind Still but dont understand why a team made up to put crosses in the box has only a small man up front.

Flynn is totally dereft of confidence. Why we did nt take a few pot shots was weird although we just couldnt get the ball up the pitch to get the chance to.

Overall at least we didnt lose and the game came too soon, a couple of weeks time and I feel we would be better placed toplay this one. I hope we can suppress the atmosphere at FP as they did.

[stfrancisofbenali]

5 minutes ago, DT said:

The biggest problem that I see is Flynn Downes. Offers absolutely nothing, plays like he cannot wait to leave, is an automatic yellow card every time because of his inadequacies, and never seems to drive forward with the ball. Oh, and is criminally dispossessed too much in the middle. Charles was neat and tidy, but with him sitting too, there is no forward momentum to speak of, and no directness to create scoring opportunities. But more worrying is that Still doesn't seem to be showing many signs that he knows what he's doing. Those multi-subs looked a bit desperate and late, even if they work on his computer simulations. We have a decent squad, but no fluidity or structure. This points to the manager, and having a terrible sulky pivot in Downes.

We are 15th in the Championship. Can anyone please point to some Will Still tactical positives?

I think Jander will quite quickly become the preferred partner for Charles. In fifteen minutes yesterday he already looked a big upgrade on Downes, technically and tactically. On the other positives from yesterday (admittedly not many!), I liked the width from Fellows and Fraser and when we moved it forward with more pace in the second half we asked more questions in the final third. Still is finding his feet and league position fairly immaterial until around mid-Nov. Give him time. 

[franniesTache]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

i see their fans are spouting their usual bollocks. Pompey fans were amazing, scummers sat in silence, loads of empty seats, couldnt sell out etc. 

Atmosphere didn't sound great from either fans but then the game was one of the dullest i've ever seen so no surprises. 

It was the worst skate away end i think i've ever seen, so many replica shirts and very few lads, also the collective age looked about 13.

Almost no needle from them and they seemed properly meek and wilted really quickly. Also what they did sing was pretty much the league two song book.

Thought the bit of the chapel next to them was decent, not exactly loads of songs but did it''s job and was a good mixture of older and younger lads.

I'm not normally a fan of them but thought the Beattie flag was actually pretty decent, but for the most part you simply don't hear the northam from the other end of the ground so there's nothing for the away fans to bounce off and i assume the same the other way round

[saintant]

9 hours ago, Rivers said:

Truly abysmal.  

For the Club to make such a point in the build up of assuring us of the lengths they have gone to in driving home just how momentous an occasion this was, and how much it means to our fans -- and then proceed to serve up that sickening shite of a first half performance, is unforgivable.

In hindsight, I am now supremely grateful that Dad had the good sense to make his departure before having to witness the abject dross delivered by Saints in this massive game, because that first half would have killed him.
 

Where to even begin with dissecting such incompetent drivel.

First things first, as much as I fucking hate the cunts, it is only fair to say how well p*mpey played the occasion. They are a limited side in terms of quality and technical ability, yet supremely well set up, with everyone knowing their roles and duties like the back of their six-fingered hands. Fair play to the cunts. They had clearly done their homework, and properly did a number on us.

If you are going to press high, right up the pitch and pen the opponent in, you have to truly commit to it. And they surely did. Four, five, even six skate cunts, constantly applying frenetic pressure against our back line from the moment the ball was released in the first phase of the build up, and immediately forming two banks of three outside our box as soon as the ball evaded the initial trigger from Colby Bishop.

This is exactly how we should be pressing ourselves, but instead we get treated to a pathetic, halfhearted effort, with just two players ambling their way toward the ball-carrier like stoned fucking crabs, whilst everyone else stands completely off, leaving the pressers completely isolated. Eastleigh Under 8's could avoid our "pressing". We are playing our bitter, hated rivals you useless cunts. Put some fucking effort into it, eh?

I get leaving it 10-15 minutes to see if it is just the sheer opening frenzy of the first few minutes of a local derby and see if things settled down, but to keep repeating the same basic tactical mistakes for an entire forty-five minutes is just fucking criminal game management.

P*mpey's highly effective and well-drilled press, coupled with basic tight man-to-man marking of our midfield receivers continually forced us into clearing long under pressure, to a lone striker utterly unequipped at holdup play, and possession was repeatedly given up meekly, time after time again. Fucking embarrassing.

That leads to the next basic issue. The huge gaping distance between our lines. If you are going to hoof long to effectively the opposition Centre Backs heads, you absolutely MUST push your midfield up to contest the dropping ball. What do we do? Stand off and let their midfield have all the time in the world to collect the ball unchallenged, turn, and attack. That placed us under relentless pressure, and gave us no foothold in the game to build from. Then just rinse and repeat every time. Utterly infuriating!

Two basic changes would have nullified their game plan. Our back line was sitting so deep they might as well have been in goal with Gavin Bazunu. Push the line up, at least twenty yards. And stop Mads Roerslev dropping level with the centre backs to receive a pass. That put us under so much pressure, time after time, because that in turn forced Tom Fellows to drop deeper to offer an outlet, allowing p*mpey's fullback to squeeze the space and hem us in even more. All it would have taken, is for Mads to have stepped up ten yards when receiving, then turned, and the press would have been broken.

Now if I, with humble Dorset League management experience can see this so clearly, then what the fucking hell are our management team being so handsomely paid for?

Will said it himself -- we completely wasted that first half.

Where was the desire and the intensity? Where was the very most basic and rudimentary footballing intelligence?

The second half showed some improvements, but we lacked the ideas, improvisation and cutting edge to truly trouble a tiring p*mpey, and limped to a weak and pathetic, completely unacceptable draw.

The two bright specks for me to take from the game, was Gav filling his crisp-packets with some concrete at last to make some dominant punches clear under pressure, preventing sure-fire efforts on goal, and that Casper Jander showed more quality and composure in his brief cameo than that flaky cunt Flynn Downes has all of this season and last. Never want to see that miserable whinging cunt play for my Club ever again.

Thanks for another wrecked weekend Saints. I am thoroughly sick of all your shit. 

 

Great post and it accurately describes most of what I saw as being wrong from our point of view. I was saying on the match thread our lines were too far apart and we needed to move twenty yards up the pitch - it was pretty obvious and, as you say, if we can spot it you'd think very well paid coaches could. Our only player with the nous to position himself between their lines was Azaz and he was continually ignored by his team mates. It was an abject display from players and coaches and does ring loud alarm bells regarding the tactical awareness of Will Still who, I thought, would be capable of setting us up correctly and also spotting early where things were going wrong and making changes. As an example of performance level in coaching and play for a huge derby match it fell short in every department. Must improve Will.

[skintsaint]

32 minutes ago, DT said:

Can anyone please point to some Will Still tactical positives?

We are not playing very well and not losing.....there is one. I think he has gone overboard on trying to fix the mistakes at the back and not put enough into going forward.

The Saints of the last few seasons would most likely have conceded and folded in that first half yesterday.

Anyone think of a 2nd positive so far?  

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Osvaldorama said:

In fairness, Still was fucking fuming with the first half and kept trying to tell them to get out, but nothing changed. 
 

It was bad, and his subs came too late imo, but I do believe he sees the same things we see - which is a change from the last few managers at least. 
 

The question is what can he do about it 

If this is true then he was nowhere near forceful enough. He should have got in Stephens ear and told him in no uncertain terms to sort it out with the players and if not brought a couple of the worst culprits off pretty quickly. He talked about 45 wasted minutes and was spot on but did nothing to change it. He needs to wise up in short order.

[Football Special]

This is the CV for Pompeys reserve keeper who played most of the game, absolutely criminal that we didn't even test him 

[Rebel]

My god that was disappointing yesterday.

Roerslav was done by Murphy the first time he ran at him and never really recovered his confidence after that.

And the aimless long balls forward to Archer was just a complete waste of time.  We really did waste the first 45 mins.

I think we are going to regret not buying a centre forward this summer.  

We may have the wingers and a Number 10 for 4-2-3-1 now but I am not sure we have the forwards to play it. 

Downs looks far from ready to play at this level.  Stewart looks off the pace and a shadow of the player he was supposed to be.  Archer and Armstrong are too small to lead the line and are second strikers at best or maybe inside forwards. 

It looks like we need to play an old fashioned 4-4-2 with a big man and little man up front if we are going to score goals.   Or a 4-3-3 with inside forwards. 

But then where do Azaz and Matsuki play as then we don't need a 10 - just a 6 and one or two 8's in the middle.  

On the plus side Fellows looked good, as did Jander when he came one.  And I thought Charles had a good game as well.  

 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, madge said:

If our full backs had pushed high in that formation we’d have been so open to counter attacks.. did you not notice pompeys wingers starting positions.. very high and wide, especially Murphy.

But if we'd set up properly and attacked them their wingers such as Murphy would have been forced back to help stem the flow. As it was we gave them the freedom of the park by going long and having zero press. It was a masterclass of how not to set up a football side for a big home derby that had been hyped up for months but we totally missed our chance to put them to the sword from the first whistle.

[DT]

I remain completely unconvinced by Will Still and stick with my view that it is yet another 'clever clever' appointment by a club seemingly wanting to reinvent football or unearth another Thomas Frank on the cheap whilst ignoring the evidence and many other better candidates for the role. Fed up of being a fucking football experiment. Just employ a manager who's done it.

Edited 13 hours ago by DT

[saintant]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

It was “indefensible” to play with wingbacks & 3 CB’s for many on here 24 hours ago. But I think the new shape was the font all our problems. 
 

Our flat back four was exactly that- four blokes in a line often parallel to the penalty area or deeper and very rarely seen over the halfway line. Chronically wasteful. It was like sending an invite to press and camp in our half in a high pressure game. Gave the initiative away instantly. 
 

Neither Mads nor Manning showed sufficient attacking intent. Given that’s what Ryan does best - and Mads is a decent player this has to go down as a bad inmatch failure by both players - and of the manager- to push on aggressively.

I really cannot believe that Still told them to sit back like that all passive and useless. Compare Mads and Ryan’s contribution in previous matches - and it’s a fraction. They may as well stayed at home. The Pompey front line was NOT terrifying. No excuse. It was lack of bollocks. 

We looked overrun in middle of park too often as a consequence. And as for launching it to Cam to compete with his big CB in the air for it time after time. Just stop it. Please just stop it. Most embarrassing tactic I’ve seen at SMS since the no cf hug the sidelines U formation by RM v Forest…

Wingbacks and 3 CBs is not the way to go - look at all the top sides, do any of them do it? Setting up with a back four was absolutely the right thing to do but Still ruined it by allowing our lines to be too deep and too far apart and having zero press on their defenders and midfield. We played right into their hands and that is not good enough.

[saintant]

46 minutes ago, DT said:

The biggest problem that I see is Flynn Downes. Offers absolutely nothing, plays like he cannot wait to leave, is an automatic yellow card every time because of his inadequacies, and never seems to drive forward with the ball. Oh, and is criminally dispossessed too much in the middle. Charles was neat and tidy, but with him sitting too, there is no forward momentum to speak of, and no directness to create scoring opportunities. But more worrying is that Still doesn't seem to be showing many signs that he knows what he's doing. Those multi-subs looked a bit desperate and late, even if they work on his computer simulations. We have a decent squad, but no fluidity or structure. This points to the manager, and having a terrible sulky pivot in Downes.

We are 15th in the Championship. Can anyone please point to some Will Still tactical positives?

Caspar Jandar showed enough in his short cameo to give us hope he can come straight in and replace Downes. I think he'll work well alongside Charles.