Saints 3-0 Leicester - Match Thread

[Wade Garrett]

Oliver Skipp has been taken to hospital after having his blood twisted by Tom Fellows.

Brilliant performance.  Oddly, what really impressed me was our shape when we didn’t have the ball.  Didn’t give Leicester any time or space.  The team looks extremely well coached.  Can’t see anyone but Eckert getting the job now.  He has certainly convinced me after tonight.

Great to walk home with a smile on my face.  Been a long time coming.

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, BotleySaint said:

No second half goal for two games running. Alarm bells! 

Talked to a Leicester fan after the game who couldn't understand why we went easier on them and didn't go for it as they expected to fall apart 

[macca155]

Just home and having been at Charlton, it really has been a good 4 days. What a difference to the misery of previous years.

What I liked about today was that Saints faced a team that had every intention of taking the game to them , and expected to win. First 10 minutes Quarshie was really nervous and Leicester put pressure on him. He pulled himself together after that.

Then gradually Saints took control. Leicester were beaten well before the sending off. They were too vulnerable at the back and had lost the all important midfield battle. Jander and Azaz were everywhere.

They had no answer to Scienza or Fellows, and their frustration with both led to the sending off.

2nd half Leicester were in survival mode, essentially refusing to play. Saints simply conserved energy. Lots of games coming up.

Downes had to work hard for his yellow, that was clearly planned.

THB had another very good game but Wood is totally the boss of that defence. He really is important to us.

Might as well give it to Tonda now, I can't see a scenario where they don't.

[die Mannyschaft]

Great win. We only need one half, one half we only need one half...

[Football Special]

Just 6 points off 2nd place, that's crazy after start we had 

[SW11_Saint]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Scienza and Fellows will rightly take the plaudits because they are eye catching players. However, for me the most important member of this side is Capar Jander. He gets better every game and sets the tone and the tempo with his intelligence - what a football brain this guy has got. He rarely gives the ball away and is always available keeping things ticking over so that the flair players can work their magic. Fast becoming my favourite player and he was immense tonight.

Agree, I thought he was brilliant tonight. He was everywhere and is so composed on the ball. Scorers always (lazily) get MOTM, but he was our best player by a long way tonight imho. 

[Midfield_General]

22 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Loose lips, sink ships 💋 

 

21 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Oliver Skipp has been taken to hospital after having his blood twisted by Tom Fellows.

Tom's hips sink Skipp 

[Dry Toast]

Not worried about not scoring in the second half at all. Destroy the opposition in the first half and then aggressively manage the second half. Beats trying for a 90+ min winner all day.

Really enjoyed this past week, a long time since that's happened.

[RedArmy]

8 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Just 6 points off 2nd place, that's crazy after start we had 

Said it multiple times during the game but if we’d binned off Still when Stephens went to the board and made it clear the players didn’t like him we’d already be 2nd and not looking back. 
 

I know you’ve had your question marks over the quality of the squad but for me this week it has shown itself to be up there again with one of the best in the league. 

[S-Clarke]

What on earth is going on? The upturn in form is unexpected to say the least. We've come from a base of zero to where we are now, which is with a proper foundation behind us. I don't even remember us winning 3 consecutive games as comfortably as that under Martin.

Fellows/Azaz/Armstrong/Leo are dangerous at this level, they always were. Will Still just couldn't seem to find a way to get all 4 on the pitch at once, and that was the problem. What you're seeing now is benefit of prolonged game time for Fellows and Azaz - they can now build relationships on the pitch, no more chopping and changing.

Armstrong, whilst playing as the 9, is more intelligent with his game than he was. He drops deep and has runners beyond him, rather than him being the 'runner' in behind himself all alone. The difference is stark in that sense.

The second goal was a case in point really - Armstrong was so deep, but he had runners behind him and flicked the ball around to Leo - and they were away. It was the same against Charlton for Janders goal, picking it up and having runners beyond. That's been a tweak in Armstrong's game that I've seen, which is really benefiting everyone else. 

I somewhat felt sorry for Still, but I don't think he ever really knew how to get the best out of the tools he had - there was too much chop and change through the spine, and nothing ever felt settled and there were no real patterns.

Tonda has been surprising, I still think we need to bide our time though. I'd like to see how he deals with adversity when we have a couple of iffy games back to back, so I wouldn't jump to give him the job tonight. I just think we need a bigger sample.

The signs are positive, somewhat unexpected, and we'll see where December takes us - this is the month which will make our season.

[SW11_Saint]

18 minutes ago, Dry Toast said:

Not worried about not scoring in the second half at all. Destroy the opposition in the first half and then aggressively manage the second half. Beats trying for a 90+ min winner all day.

Really enjoyed this past week, a long time since that's happened.

Said to my mate tonight “gets a bit boring these games being over by half-time doesn’t it?” 😆

[goodymatt]

Melt.

[goodymatt]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRf0t2WDDH1/?igsh=MXBnd3lkNGxqNDl4OQ==

Good banter this!

[Saint Fan CaM]

Didn’t manage to watch the game sadly, but I did say that I was convinced Eckhert was capable of getting a win or draw. It was pretty clear to me from after his 2nd win that he knew how to get the best from the players, so I’m not surprised by the score. Delighted we got a clean sheet. Spors has to give the job to Eckhert now - what more can the guy do to convince anyone that he’s the real deal?! It would be sheer lunacy not to give it to him FFS!

[leeham_69]

Guys it’s official 👨🏻‍🍳