Saints 3-1 Birmingham - Match Thread

[maysie]

5 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

Yes but I also say it how it is, sorry it upsets you so much 

You're a tedious prick

[the colonel]

4 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

The fan passed away, very sad

Commiserations to friends and family but hopefully he/she died doing what they loved: 'supporting their team'.

Very sad RIP.

[Dr Who?]

We are far more exciting to watch. If we could score a few more from our chances with would be much better. Defensively we are still a little shocking, but most are in this league. Love the fact we are attacking more, but overall the games are far more open, which makes for a better game. Strap yourselves in because I think we are going to try and out score the oppo rather than edging out wins. Until the last 20 and we switch to defence mode, which the transition does not work at all. 

[Sheaf Saint]

23 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

We are far more exciting to watch. If we could score a few more from our chances with would be much better. 

I think fans of every team in the world would say the same, but the fact is that we have scored 18 in 6 since Still was sacked and outperformed our xG in every one of those games. I think the defence is a bigger concern TBH. We still look fragile at the back and give up chances too easily, and we've only managed 3 clean sheets all season. 

[austsaint]

4 hours ago, lambtiss said:

We were 3-1 up  Clearly Tonda was resting both players ahead of a midweek game, especially with star man Scienza recovering from an illness. Also, good opportunity for Robinson and Archer.

It would be another tick for Tonda if he gets a tune out of Archer and judged on Archer’s cameo yesterday he just might.   The resting of Scienza and AA in favour of Robinson and Archer worked well enough, as did the introduction of Romeu and Edwards.   Eckert’s game management (early days) is several notches higher than  Still, Juric and Martin.

 Like to see him experiment with a back four and abandon the idea of Manning as a wing back.  Good left foot though he’s got,   he is just  too slack defensively (even if played as a LB) which results in a barrage of unchallenged crosses and runs which will eventually be converted by the better sides.  Give  Wellington a run of games at LB to see if he can regain that early promise……  one of his first appearances v Palace comes to mind as eye catching.  Play THB and one other at CB, and have a three man central midfield with Jander, Downes and Charles with Downes sat behind the other two as defensive cover.    Downes was very good today and would shore up our defence in a way that Stephens and Wood consistently don’t.   That leaves Scienza, Azaz and Armstrong as the attacking three with help from Fellows, Charles and Jander.     Come on Tonda, give it a go!

 

[Patrick Bateman]

34 minutes ago, austsaint said:

It would be another tick for Tonda if he gets a tune out of Archer and judged on Archer’s cameo yesterday he just might.   The resting of Scienza and AA in favour of Robinson and Archer worked well enough, as did the introduction of Romeu and Edwards.   Eckert’s game management (early days) is several notches higher than  Still, Juric and Martin.

 Like to see him experiment with a back four and abandon the idea of Manning as a wing back.  Good left foot though he’s got,   he is just  too slack defensively (even if played as a LB) which results in a barrage of unchallenged crosses and runs which will eventually be converted by the better sides.  Give  Wellington a run of games at LB to see if he can regain that early promise……  one of his first appearances v Palace comes to mind as eye catching.  Play THB and one other at CB, and have a three man central midfield with Jander, Downes and Charles with Downes sat behind the other two as defensive cover.    Downes was very good today and would shore up our defence in a way that Stephens and Wood consistently don’t.   That leaves Scienza, Azaz and Armstrong as the attacking three with help from Fellows, Charles and Jander.     Come on Tonda, give it a go!

 

I said this to my son today, on current standings it is light years ahead, especially over Still and his throwing 15 attackers on to get a goal back subs ... 

[Saint Fan CaM]

6 hours ago, tdmickey3 said:

Maybe but surely he doesn’t coach to let so many crosses in?

Absolutely not - Manning can’t help himself…no positional sense and no defensive intent when faced with a player about to cross a ball. Fellows to be fair is not really a defender - not in his DNA - but does a marginally better job stopping crosses. My belief is that a defensive line is weakened by the full-backs being unbalanced - that is what Fellows and Manning bring to the team, however Fellows is far more of a threat going forwards as he’s braver on the ball.