Saints 1-1 Coventry - Match Thread

[Charlie Wayman]

41 minutes ago, Yorkshire Saint said:

Fair analysis..

I was there too and as daft or as desperate as it might be I think that pitch played really slowly. Fraser especially looked like he was treading water if he tried a run and the ball was almost dragging behind him. I noticed it when were were passing around at the back as well. 

Perhaps Leo on the right and J Rob on the left as Wellington on the Right was a car crash when he came on. 

Not sure Fraser's lack of pace had anything to do with the pitch. Looks more like his legs have gone. Quite embarrassing to watch.

[Yorkshire Saint]

Can anyone share the words to the song that finishes Adam Armstrong on my mind that was being sung 

[Morse]

Tonda has seen what we can do at our best, and he has also seen us v Millwall, second half v WBA, and v Norwich. He now has the full picture.  If he is any good we will see him trying to find a solution to teams playing a high press and closing us down before we can play into midfield. 

If its the same old story then i think we can file him away as another example of an SR fuck up.

*NB Coventry might not play so high a press, leave space, and we run away with it like v Charlton and Leicester but I wouldn't bet on it. 

[chownie20]

1 hour ago, Yorkshire Saint said:

Fair analysis..

I was there too and as daft or as desperate as it might be I think that pitch played really slowly. Fraser especially looked like he was treading water if he tried a run and the ball was almost dragging behind him. I noticed it when were were passing around at the back as well. 

Perhaps Leo on the right and J Rob on the left as Wellington on the Right was a car crash when he came on. 

I noticed the ball holding up with the amount of watering they had done before the game - seemed a bit much!

[ally_uk]

Still to early to judge Tonda, but I don't think we will beat Coventry. 

[Sheaf Saint]

We just need to find another tactic other than knocking it around the back line, out to THB who plays a quick ball towards the centre where Fellows has come infield to lose his marker, and hoping he can turn and run forwards with it.

It's been working well for us, but the problem on Saturday against Norwich was that Fraser simply can't play the same role as Fellows, so whenever he received the ball from THB it inevitably went straight back under pressure, so we would then resort to knocking it long to our non-existent midfield and gave away possession.

Tonda needs to find some other ways of getting us to transition into attack. The obvious decision would be to change the formation, sacrifice a CB and put an extra body in midfield. But I don't hold out any hope of him actually doing that, so we'll have to see what else he can come up with. 

Cov have been scoring for fun, and I fear that our fragile and mentally weak defence could easily buckle and it might turn into a hammering if they nullify our attacking threat. 

Usually when a new manager takes over a team that has been on a losing run, the first order of business is to tighten up the defence and make them hard to beat. Tonda has taken a different approach - he's focussed on how he can get us scoring freely up the other end and gambled on being able to outscore the opposition. But to be successful in this (or any) league, we need to be defending better, as a team and individually, and find a way to eek out 1-0 wins when necessary or at least make sure we're drawing games we're not winning.

[Convict Colony]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

We just need to find another tactic other than knocking it around the back line, out to THB who plays a quick ball towards the centre where Fellows has come infield to lose his marker, and hoping he can turn and run forwards with it.

It's been working well for us, but the problem on Saturday against Norwich was that Fraser simply can't play the same role as Fellows, so whenever he received the ball from THB it inevitably went straight back under pressure, so we would then resort to knocking it long to our non-existent midfield and gave away possession.

Tonda needs to find some other ways of getting us to transition into attack. The obvious decision would be to change the formation, sacrifice a CB and put an extra body in midfield. But I don't hold out any hope of him actually doing that, so we'll have to see what else he can come up with. 

Cov have been scoring for fun, and I fear that our fragile and mentally weak defence could easily buckle and it might turn into a hammering if they nullify our attacking threat. 

Usually when a new manager takes over a team that has been on a losing run, the first order of business is to tighten up the defence and make them hard to beat. Tonda has taken a different approach - he's focussed on how he can get us scoring freely up the other end and gambled on being able to outscore the opposition. But to be successful in this (or any) league, we need to be defending better, as a team and individually, and find a way to eek out 1-0 wins when necessary or at least make sure we're drawing games we're not winning.

You sir have just given away our main tactical plan 🤣 but agree a lot.

 

[Toadhall Saint]

Draw

[BotleySaint]

39 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Draw

No. You draw! 🤠

Edited 15 December, 2025 by BotleySaint

[BotleySaint]

If Stephens plays, I think we'll lose. Need Fellows back too. Our sub options are too limited. If it starts to go against us we've got no-one who can come on and help change it around.

Aribo, Downs - utterly useless

Archer - blunt.

Bragg and Robinson - not able to change a game.

Romeu - unfit, liability (for now).

Edited 15 December, 2025 by BotleySaint

[notnowcato]

19 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I'd like to see him play 4-3-3

With Bragg alongside Downes and Jander.

Who’s the right back?

[CamSaint]

1 minute ago, notnowcato said:

Who’s the right back?

And who gets left out from Fellows, Azaz, Scienza & Armstrong? (Unless Fellows plays RB).

[notnowcato]

17 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Not sure why everyone wants to change things up when we’ve just started winning games. Stick to what we’ve done well and back ourselves to do what we do well. Trying something new against top of the league seems a perfect recipe for mistakes and being exposed. 

I think we should change sooner rather than later. Our performances are not as good as our results and so it’s only a matter of time before that catches up with us. 
 

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

And who gets left out from Fellows, Azaz, Scienza & Armstrong? (Unless Fellows plays RB).

My team would be....

McCarthy, Someone at RB, THB, Stephens, Manning, Downes, Jander, Azaz, Fellows, Leo, Arma

Charles would come in when/if fully fit. Romeu could come in when needing more solidity in a midfield 3. Better for Robinson when coming on than playing RWB 

Edited 15 December, 2025 by AlexLaw76

[notnowcato]

3 minutes ago, CamSaint said:

And who gets left out from Fellows, Azaz, Scienza & Armstrong? (Unless Fellows plays RB).

They all play. Azaz ahead of 2 holding, Fellows on his right, Leo on his left. 
We do need a RB though. 

[bugenhagen]

3 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Usually when a new manager takes over a team that has been on a losing run, the first order of business is to tighten up the defence and make them hard to beat. Tonda has taken a different approach - he's focussed on how he can get us scoring freely up the other end and gambled on being able to outscore the opposition. But to be successful in this (or any) league, we need to be defending better, as a team and individually, and find a way to eek out 1-0 wins when necessary or at least make sure we're drawing games we're not winning.

This is very true, but with our squad, goalkeepers and defenders particularly, it might be an easier task to get the forward line scoring as he has done.

We will never be hard to beat with this team, but if we often go 3-0 up, a lot of the teams in this division won't have it in them to get back in the game.

Can we get better defensivly, absolutely! But I think in the short term, Tonda had the right idea about how to get points on the board. The interesting thing is to see how he now develops the team and his tactics.

[Charlie Wayman]

4 hours ago, notnowcato said:

Who’s the right back?

I am late to the party but Fellows is most likely

[Dark Munster]

5 hours ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Draw

Tonda doesn't do those.

[notnowcato]

42 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I am late to the party but Fellows is most likely

It could work but Fellows is a much better player further up the pitch than a RB in a back 4. 

[HKsaint]

On 14/12/2025 at 22:58, Pamplemousse said:

We'll be 3-0 up at half time and then second half it's a case of hope we don't make too many errors.

 

3-1 final score.

We can do this if we substitute the goalkeeper at half time.  This can be our Plan B.

[Ken Tone]

Just stop pissing about passing the ball to and from the centre backs, and show some urgency.

[SW5 SAINT]

Seeing as our last three home matches ended 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2 and all against midlands opposition, this one has got 3-3 written all over it……

[Charlie Wayman]

15 hours ago, notnowcato said:

It could work but Fellows is a much better player further up the pitch than a RB in a back 4. 

It could work for the first 60mins when we seem to be gung ho then sub him off for a more defensive RB (Edwards or Stephens) when we go into defensive mode in the second half.

The key is that we must boss the midfield and stop the endless strean of crosses into our box and a midfield three has a better chance of doing that than a two with Azaz ahead of them. He does little defensively.

Bragg is showing signs of being a top class defensive midfielder and alongside Downes with Jander breaking forward could give us a formidable midfield and the solidity that is lacking at the moment

Edited 16 December, 2025 by Charlie Wayman

[Totton Saint]

What a fillip it would be if we beat Coventry and create a message to the rest of the league.

 

[Toadhall Saint]

19 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Tonda doesn't do those.

Yet

[SNSUN]

Pre-season I'd have put money on our respective League positions being reverse of what they are but credit to old Lamps and his team, they're flying. But, as comes with being top and in good form, that makes us the underdogs for this one, and we have the talent to spring a surprise. We need to get some winning consistency and beating Cov will help a lot with that for the rest of the month.

St Mary's will be buzzing for this one. 2-1 Saints though I am not confident on that.

[LiberalCommunist]

Millwall, missing a raft of players destroy us. 

Wba, depleted squad  give us a big scare.

Norwich, with key personnel missing make light work of us.

Full strength, fully functioning Coventry are in massive trouble this weekend. 0.2 Saints Easy win. 

 

[Appy]

Would be very us to beat this lot this weekend then go and get beat at Oxford. 

[Harry_SFC]

The problem is it's quite easy to play against us. Press us high and stay tight to our forward players making it more difficult for THB to play the ball into their feet. All it takes is for a manager to do their homework and we are out of ideas. 

[whelk]

7 hours ago, Totton Saint said:

What a fillip it would be if we beat Coventry and create a message to the rest of the league.

 

We could even send the message after we created it

[whelk]

Easy win. Coventry have every bit of luck going so far. Decent side but very beatable esp at home

[StrangelyBrown]

With our ropey defence/keeper it's almost guaranteed that they will score at least 1. So the question is can we score more?

[Totton Saint]

10 hours ago, whelk said:

We could even send the message after we created it

Yes, on reading my post just now I realised I should have said 'send' instead of 'create.'

[Matty's Caddy]

On 16/12/2025 at 03:47, AlexLaw76 said:

My team would be....

McCarthy, Someone at RB, THB, Stephens, Manning, Downes, Jander, Azaz, Fellows, Leo, Arma

Charles would come in when/if fully fit. Romeu could come in when needing more solidity in a midfield 3. Better for Robinson when coming on than playing RWB 

McCarthy??? 
Baz is by no means the best keeper going but he is instrumental in the way we play, like it or not. 
McCarthy just hoofs it up the field where we have nobody to hold the ball up or flick it on, so we end up giving up possession. 

[Midfield_General]

2 hours ago, Matty's Caddy said:

McCarthy??? 
Baz is by no means the best keeper going but he is instrumental in the way we play, like it or not. 
McCarthy just hoofs it up the field where we have nobody to hold the ball up or flick it on, so we end up giving up possession. 

And that's why we're not going up. 

Our choices are a keeper who is completely unsuited to how we play because he can't control or pass a football, or a keeper who panics his whole defence, is terrified of coming off his line and can't save anything. If only we'd have had some way of knowing they were both rubbish coming into this season. Oh wait, we did, we had three and a half years of watching both of them week-in week-out. 

Nice one Johannes 👍 

Edited 17 December, 2025 by Midfield_General

[saintant]

Their fans are very confident which isn't surprising. One of them reckons Lampard has said that Bazunu is having a torrid season 🙂 Prepare for lots of low shots from the edge of the box.

[tdmickey3]

27 minutes ago, saintant said:

Their fans are very confident which isn't surprising. One of them reckons Lampard has said that Bazunu is having a torrid season 🙂 Prepare for lots of low shots from the edge of the box.

Amazing how the SR clowns seemingly haven't noticed

[Matthew Le God]

2 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

And that's why we're not going up. 

Our choices are a keeper who is completely unsuited to how we play because he can't control or pass a football, or a keeper who panics his whole defence, is terrified of coming off his line and can't save anything. If only we'd have had some way of knowing they were both rubbish coming into this season. Oh wait, we did, we had three and a half years of watching both of them week-in week-out. 

Nice one Johannes 👍 

They were our two keepers the last time we were promoted in 2023/24.

Edited 17 December, 2025 by Matthew Le God

[O_Lord_Marian]

23 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

They were our two keepers the last time we were promoted in 2023/24.

In spite of them, not because.

[JustinR]

fellows fit !! Thank f

[notnowcato]

21 minutes ago, O_Lord_Marian said:

In spite of them, not because.

So good enough for promotion then

[Obstacle1]

19 hours ago, Harry_SFC said:

The problem is it's quite easy to play against us. Press us high and stay tight to our forward players making it more difficult for THB to play the ball into their feet. All it takes is for a manager to do their homework and we are out of ideas. 

You'd hope we've been working on a plan B in training, but let's see

[SaintTex]

3 hours ago, saintant said:

Their fans are very confident which isn't surprising. One of them reckons Lampard has said that Bazunu is having a torrid season 🙂 Prepare for lots of low shots from the edge of the box.

that sounds sneakily like strategy!

are you allowed to do that?

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, notnowcato said:

So good enough for promotion then

Fuck sake. How many goals did we concede that season? We're stuck on groundhog day with this discussion but if everyone is honest we all know Baz isn't good enough 

[Midfield_General]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

They were our two keepers the last time we were promoted in 2023/24.

Yes they were! 

Well done, that's something you haven't got wrong. 

What's your point? 

Are you suggesting that because we got promoted with those two keepers in 2023/24 it has some bearing on whether we will get promoted with them this season? Because surely you of all people don't need me to explain the many, many flaws in that argument. 

[Mr X]

Will be interesting to see wether tonda has the nous and ability to get a team back on track when they've lost a couple... It's good when it's going well but when it's not he doesn't seem to have any answers... Hopefully proved wrong and he's still done a great job overall 

[Football Special]

Looks on course for a sell out on Saturday, big game against the league leaders,  not many seats left mainly either side of the away end 

[tisspahars]

On 16/12/2025 at 17:57, SNSUN said:

Pre-season I'd have put money on our respective League positions being reverse of what they are but credit to old Lamps and his team, they're flying. But, as comes with being top and in good form, that makes us the underdogs for this one, and we have the talent to spring a surprise. We need to get some winning consistency and beating Cov will help a lot with that for the rest of the month.

St Mary's will be buzzing for this one. 2-1 Saints though I am not confident on that.

You may see us as underdogs but the market (rightly or wrongly) doesn't......👀

[Football Special]

35 minutes ago, tisspahars said:

You may see us as underdogs but the market (rightly or wrongly) doesn't......👀

Blimey you are right, odds on a Cov win seem generous , might have a few quid on that with both teams to score 

Edited 18 December, 2025 by Football Special

[Saint86]

On 16/12/2025 at 17:59, LiberalCommunist said:

Millwall, missing a raft of players destroy us. 

Wba, depleted squad  give us a big scare.

Norwich, with key personnel missing make light work of us.

Full strength, fully functioning Coventry are in massive trouble this weekend. 0.2 Saints Easy win. 

 

That sounds about right tbh. Football is a funny old game, and by all accounts, their having their own little wobble recently (albeit in relative terms).