Hull vs Saints - Saturday 3pm

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, Jack said:

Thought he was pretty poor. Sloppy in possession and his delivery wasn’t up to much yesterday. So many safe sideways passes and even they were underhit at times. Him and Downes were the most guilty of slowing us down I thought. Lucky for us Murphy was on the other side, he’d have had Manning on toast 

Christ knows what he'd have done to Sugawara.

[SotonianWill]

22 hours ago, trousers said:

Yep, some decent punches today 👍🏻

If he got the ball he missed

[AlexLaw76]

Just read that Hull have conceded 14 goals in their last 5 games.

There surely can be no excuse not to at least look threatening for the majority of the game.

[Turkish]

5 hours ago, Jack said:

Thought he was pretty poor. Sloppy in possession and his delivery wasn’t up to much yesterday. So many safe sideways passes and even they were underhit at times. Him and Downes were the most guilty of slowing us down I thought. Lucky for us Murphy was on the other side, he’d have had Manning on toast 

I didn’t think he was any worse than anyone else and thought he put some decent whipped crosses in, defended pretty well too

i don’t know why but he’s a player fans haven’t liked from the start. He was one of our better players last season and I don’t remember him having any particularly poor games since he’s been here. He’s also our top goal scorer and up until the weekend created the most chances in the league so can’t be that bad, although the former of these two facts is more of an indictment of our attacking this season 

[Saint86]

15 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Just read that Hull have conceded 14 goals in their last 5 games.

There surely can be no excuse not to at least look threatening for the majority of the game.

You say that like we haven't been attacking in games? But we have been one of the most attacking sides in the league chance creation wise, and thats with a back 5 until now - the strikers have just been gash frankly.

As for the last match - Pompey rocked up with a game plan to stop us playing and to try to snatch something - nothing wrong with that as a tactic - But they averaged 0.09 xg as an average per shot, always had 1 man tight marking azaz as a minimum, sat in a compact defensive shape whenever we had the ball, and were time wasting and playing for any foul going to break up the play. Saints won't face that every week, and similarly that was the first game where all the new signings had a chance to play after a 2 week international break. There are plenty of reasons to expect us to kick on now.

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

You say that like we haven't been attacking in games? But we have been one of the most attacking sides in the league chance creation wise, and thats with a back 5 until now - the strikers have just been gash frankly.

As for the last match - Pompey rocked up with a game plan to stop us playing and to try to snatch something - nothing wrong with that as a tactic - But they averaged 0.09 xg as an average per shot, always had 1 man tight marking azaz as a minimum, sat in a compact defensive shape whenever we had the ball, and were time wasting and playing for any foul going to break up the play. Saints won't face that every week, and similarly that was the first game where all the new signings had a chance to play after a 2 week international break. There are plenty of reasons to expect us to kick on now.

 

Point 1: Pompey came to win - they had close to 70% possession in the first half and almost scored hitting the bar - that’s not a team sitting back.

Point 2: You’re right, Saints won’t face a Pompey-type team every week…they’ll face better teams that can score goals and win games.

I keep saying it - so far the value of our squad does not match the quality of the performances on display (Ipswich excluded) and particularly on the showing of the derby game (!) there’s not a hope of promotion via ANY route.

[Osvaldorama]

2 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Point 1: Pompey came to win - they had close to 70% possession in the first half and almost scored hitting the bar - that’s not a team sitting back.

Point 2: You’re right, Saints won’t face a Pompey-type team every week…they’ll face better teams that can score goals and win games.

I keep saying it - so far the value of our squad does not match the quality of the performances on display (Ipswich excluded) and particularly on the showing of the derby game (!) there’s not a hope of promotion via ANY route.

Bollocks. They time wasted from minute one, fouling and diving the whole game. 
 

This was their cup final and they won it 0-0. 
 

[IFHP]

2 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I keep saying it - so far the value of our squad does not match the quality of the performances on display (Ipswich excluded) and particularly on the showing of the derby game (!) there’s not a hope of promotion via ANY route.

This is how I see it as well.

Nothing in our 5 games I’ve seen (plus Northampton in the cup) has lead me to believe Will Still and this team will make a challenge for the play offs this season.

on the plus side we won’t be any where near the bottom 3 either so not all bad.

I think Will Still will get the boot at some point this season ( possibly the moment the play offs are mathematically not achievable) the trouble is unless we have an unlikely change of ownership we will just appoint another dud. 


 

 

[Graffito]

3 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Point 1: Pompey came to win - they had close to 70% possession in the first half and almost scored hitting the bar - that’s not a team sitting back.

Point 2: You’re right, Saints won’t face a Pompey-type team every week…they’ll face better teams that can score goals and win games.

I keep saying it - so far the value of our squad does not match the quality of the performances on display (Ipswich excluded) and particularly on the showing of the derby game (!) there’s not a hope of promotion via ANY route.

I didn’t see a team that came to win. They time wasted from the very first minute. Where are you getting this 70% first half possession from?

[benjii]

18 hours ago, Turkish said:

I didn’t think he was any worse than anyone else and thought he put some decent whipped crosses in, defended pretty well too

i don’t know why but he’s a player fans haven’t liked from the start. He was one of our better players last season and I don’t remember him having any particularly poor games since he’s been here. He’s also our top goal scorer and up until the weekend created the most chances in the league so can’t be that bad, although the former of these two facts is more of an indictment of our attacking this season 

Norwich at home when it was 4-4 he was shite. But other than that, I agree.

[Whitey Grandad]

19 minutes ago, Graffito said:

I didn’t see a team that came to win. They time wasted from the very first minute. Where are you getting this 70% first half possession from?

At half time my grandson showed me the figures and they were 50/50. He made the point that any observer would say that Portsmouth had had the better of the half yet all the figures were equal.

[Graffito]

19 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

At half time my grandson showed me the figures and they were 50/50. He made the point that any observer would say that Portsmouth had had the better of the half yet all the figures were equal.

Thanks. 50/50 sounds much closer to what I saw. Yes they had the better of the first half. That’s not the same as saying they came to win (the point the other poster was making and using a dubious possession stat to back it up). Their tactics worked and they might have nicked a goal. But equally, saints were way too passive first half. As the manager said, a wasted half. 

[UpweySaint]

1 hour ago, IFHP said:

This is how I see it as well.

Nothing in our 5 games I’ve seen (plus Northampton in the cup) has lead me to believe Will Still and this team will make a challenge for the play offs this season.

on the plus side we won’t be any where near the bottom 3 either so not all bad.

I think Will Still will get the boot at some point this season ( possibly the moment the play offs are mathematically not achievable) the trouble is unless we have an unlikely change of ownership we will just appoint another dud. 


 

 

Change of ownership to who? Who are you hoping buys the club? 
 

They’ve made mistakes for sure but they have invested in the club without taking money out. They have admitted mistakes and took action to try to correct them.

It’s five games into a season. Five. We have turned over almost an entire squad and made signings most agree are sensible- Fellows, Azaz, Roerslev …

I genuinely don’t know what some fans expectations are for the club/owners. we’ve made a lot of change and it might not come good immediately. 

[Gloucester Saint]

50 minutes ago, benjii said:

Norwich at home when it was 4-4 he was shite. But other than that, I agree.

And Will Smallbone at DMC had just as much to do with the porous back line that day. Charles on the bench so no excuse for Martin that game. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Graffito said:

I didn’t see a team that came to win. They time wasted from the very first minute. Where are you getting this 70% first half possession from?

 

53 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

At half time my grandson showed me the figures and they were 50/50. He made the point that any observer would say that Portsmouth had had the better of the half yet all the figures were equal.

I can’t remember exactly, but there was a point in the first half - perhaps about halfway through - when the stat was shown on the TV. True story.

[trousers]

4 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

 

I can’t remember exactly, but there was a point in the first half - perhaps about halfway through - when the stat was shown on the TV. True story.

You sure they weren't flashing up the average IQ of the away end? 

[egg]

1 hour ago, Graffito said:

I didn’t see a team that came to win. They time wasted from the very first minute. Where are you getting this 70% first half possession from?

I think they came to win, and waste time. They certainly had attacking intent, and could/should have won. I agree they wasted time from the off though. I reckon they faffed around for at least 6-7 mins at corners and throw ins. 

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Point 1: Pompey came to win - they had close to 70% possession in the first half and almost scored hitting the bar - that’s not a team sitting back.

Point 2: You’re right, Saints won’t face a Pompey-type team every week…they’ll face better teams that can score goals and win games.

I keep saying it - so far the value of our squad does not match the quality of the performances on display (Ipswich excluded) and particularly on the showing of the derby game (!) there’s not a hope of promotion via ANY route.

Point 1 - disagree. The main reason they got chances in that first half is because our play was appalling - far too slow and we seemed unable to sling more than 2-3 passes together. We played into their hands and gifted them breakaways or sloppy turnovers in their selective press. But that was it from them, sit back, press selectively, and pretty much lump an out ball to their big CF and hope for a knock on. Even their keeper was at it (almost exclusively) before he got injured. BFS would have been proud. Saints being shit first half doesn't change the opposition gameplan - they came to keep it tight, cancel us out, and try to get something on the break.

Moving forward - Saints should get significantly better from here on in - end of the day, this was the perfect time for Portsmouth to play us - saints have had a lot of unsettlement in the squad, and a bunch of new players joining over the international break.

Which leads to your last point - stop panicking!! To say there isn't a hope of promotion via any route is just ridiculous mate honestly. Cheer up.

[LuckyNumber7]

I can't believe so many want to persist with Archer as a lone striker. It's just as pointless as playing Armstrong. Archer either needs to play alongside Stewart or Downs or not at all. 

It's very early days so I'm not going to start panicking yet, but if we lose this there will be a lot of pressure on Still. Badly need to win and get the season moving. 

[Toadhall Saint]

0-2

[Saint Fan CaM]

25 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Point 1 - disagree. The main reason they got chances in that first half is because our play was appalling - far too slow and we seemed unable to sling more than 2-3 passes together. We played into their hands and gifted them breakaways or sloppy turnovers in their selective press. But that was it from them, sit back, press selectively, and pretty much lump an out ball to their big CF and hope for a knock on. Even their keeper was at it (almost exclusively) before he got injured. BFS would have been proud. Saints being shit first half doesn't change the opposition gameplan - they came to keep it tight, cancel us out, and try to get something on the break.

Moving forward - Saints should get significantly better from here on in - end of the day, this was the perfect time for Portsmouth to play us - saints have had a lot of unsettlement in the squad, and a bunch of new players joining over the international break.

Which leads to your last point - stop panicking!! To say there isn't a hope of promotion via any route is just ridiculous mate honestly. Cheer up.

Not sure what you’re disagreeing on - Pompey did come with a game plan and executed it very well given the value of their squad versus ours - bully for them. We didn’t look like having a game plan at any time during that game. A huge derby game. So what if they were time wasting etc etc. - they got a result. We didn’t.

All this bollocks about should get significantly better - when might that be? We’ve been patiently waiting for years now since SR took over.  And lastly if it weren’t for the financial implications of not going up, I couldn’t give a toss about promotion. I like the Championship. What I don’t like is seeing my team look like a bunch of f-ing strangers after a full international break, playing 8 ‘old guard’ players of the 11 starting the game in the one home game that should really matter. Let’s see how we’re getting on over the next 5 games and we’ll see if there’s been an improvement.

[AlexLaw76]

unconvincing 1-2 win for saints, much like away to Northampton

[Challenger]

2 hours ago, UpweySaint said:

Change of ownership to who? Who are you hoping buys the club? 
 

They’ve made mistakes for sure but they have invested in the club without taking money out. They have admitted mistakes and took action to try to correct them.

It’s five games into a season. Five. We have turned over almost an entire squad and made signings most agree are sensible- Fellows, Azaz, Roerslev …

I genuinely don’t know what some fans expectations are for the club/owners. we’ve made a lot of change and it might not come good immediately. 

Whilst not necessarily disagreeing with you, remove the words Fellows,Azaz and Roerslev and this could well be a post from the same stage as this time last season.

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I've never been a big fan of Manning but actually he has been pretty good in his recent performances and I would say he did ok on Sunday. Like Turkish, I was more concerned about Roerslav who struggled all day against Murphy.

Personally, I would love to see Robinson start. However, I thought Fellows did ok and gradually grew into the game. Fraser had a solid game but he is limited - I wonder if he may be better in the AM position that Azaz. That having been said, while Azaz was poor in the first half he did begin to improve in the second half.

Up front is difficult. All of our strikers offer something, but none is the finished article! Archer offers pace and movement but is lacking in height and positional awareness. Stewart offers height, positioning and heading ability but is lacking in pace. Armstrong is moderate in all areas. Downs is still an unknown and maybe needs more coaching to get him ready.

In defence, Stephens remains a liability and he would be the first player I would drop every time. Personally I would love to see a THB and Wood CB pairing. Edwards is not quite at the level required yet - though still better than Stephens.

In midfield, I have mixed feelings. Downes has been a great servant for the past couple of years but his form has not been great lately. I feel he is struggling with confidence. Charles on the other hand has more confidence but is inexperienced and prone to mistakes/bad positioning. As for Jander, he did ok on Saturday, except that we seemed to become more vulnerable to Pompey attacks when he replaced Downes. I suspect Downes is better defensively, while Jander is better offensively.

At the end of the day, I think any of our players has something to offer, but if we could just replace Stephens then I would be much happier!

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

unconvincing 1-2 win for saints, much like away to Northampton

Even given the difficulties faced by Hull, I’d still rip your arm off for that. 

[VectisSaint]

3 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

 

I can’t remember exactly, but there was a point in the first half - perhaps about halfway through - when the stat was shown on the TV. True story.

Maybe, but 1st half stats show 51% Skates

[UpweySaint]

1 hour ago, Challenger said:

Whilst not necessarily disagreeing with you, remove the words Fellows,Azaz and Roerslev and this could well be a post from the same stage as this time last season.

True. I think I was still having glimmers of hope after the first handful of games last season. I may well end up looking stupid but I just don’t see us not coming good this season. I think there is too much proven championship quality to not have us in the top six come the business end of the season. How quickly things come together is the bit that worries me, if we don’t kick into gear quick enough we might not be able to catch the automatics - assuming some teams pull away.

Again I could be wrong but I don’t see anybody who is going to piss the league this year - it could be quite close.

Hull away isn’t a doddle but does feel like the sort of game we need to start ticking off with points in the bag to build momentum. They’re not up to much. Without wanting to get too into the Martin stuff the run we went on (was it after Leeds?) was important - you could see the players believing we would win week in, week out. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

3 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

Maybe, but 1st half stats show 51% Skates

Even that doesn’t suggest they surrendered possession to us and just sat back to defend. They had more attacking intent than us in the first half.

[CB Fry]

11 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

 

I can’t remember exactly, but there was a point in the first half - perhaps about halfway through - when the stat was shown on the TV. True story.

Even if that were true, the stats at the end of the first half were 49/51 so that neans for a period in that first half Saints would have had 70% too to even it up.

In the second it was 70/30 Saints and the whole game was 60/40 Saints.

True story