Birmingham 1-1 Saints - Match Thread

[tdmickey3]

Simply not good enough,

Back in bottom half now I think.

Playoffs are a pipe dream 

[Disco Stu]

Respect the away point. Especially given how poorly we played.

[Osvaldorama]

Fucking shit 

[Mr X]

Just now, Baird of the land said:

Another very poor performance

Utterly dire, can't see tonda turning us around now tbh 

[sockeye]

Hate this club.

[saintant]

A point more than I expected but another dire performance.

[Micky]

Yeah, we're mid table side, definitely no better than that. Next season is going to be very grim.

[AlexLaw76]

 playoffs will be very unlikely

we are rooted to this league for the long haul 

Edited 1 hour ago by AlexLaw76

[Sheaf Saint]

Well, given how spectacularly shit we were in the first half, I'll take a point. 

But given how much dominance we had towards the end of the game, it's frustrating that we couldn't test their keeper more from it all. 

[OneMrsWallace]

That was against effectively a Birmingham second eleven. We were shit from start to finish. We sacked Still and yet we've got Still style crap being served up. 

[benali-shorts]

Up to 13th. Living the dream. 

[obelisk]

Lots of possession towards the end there but hardly any balls or attackers in the opponent penalty area. At some stage Saints are going to have to come up with a more attacking line up.

[Lighthouse]

On the face of it a decent point away to a team with a decent home record. Given the results against Norwich and Oxford we really needed more.

Taking the positives, the subs did seem to improve us. Jelert came back and looked decent and I thought Jay was one of the better players when given his chance.

That goal though... three CBs and we just keep giving them away from set pieces.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Jelert offered more of an attacking threat than the entire team

[Harry_SFC]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Not rocket science. 

Mccarthy

Jelert THB Wood Wellington 

Downes/Charles Jander 

Fellows Azaz Scienza 

Armstrong 

 

It really isn't rocket science. It's scary that our "head coach" can't see it.

[davefizzy14]

A point is a point but we should be winning that tonight. 

[Andy Hill]

Just managed a point against a makeshift Birmingham side - says it all really.

[gammon cheeks]

Tondaball 

Boring as fuck 😴 

[trousers]

Bazunu Sky's MotM...

[ant]

In isolation, 4 points from the Birmingham matches would be fine. But all in all we've had a grim end to the year. 

Needed to come out and show some mettle today. Yet saw very little to suggest things will get better.

[AlexLaw76]

Tonda really has nothing else to offer does he

[Saint_Jonny]

Nice to see our subs make us better rather than worse for a change. Although that is more likely to happen when you start your best player on the bench. 

Pleased with the point given how turgid the game was overall. Huge improvement needed of we're to have a sniff of a positive finish this season, really can't see it though. 12th place finish incoming. 

[Sheaf Saint]

Just now, trousers said:

Bazunu Sky's MotM...

Because of one save. 🫤

[madge]

Pretty shocking performance and referee a big help in that goal. Tonda hasn’t got any tactical awareness has he.. we’ve become boring to watch again. Sports republic are a fecking shambles and they along with owner need to go.. 

[die Mannyschaft]

Take a draw as one more point to avoid relegation. We got no idea how to keep momentum going forward. Just no real plan for most of game, very lucky again relying on opposition to miss chances. No chance of top 6. At least the subs gave us a better 2nd half. 

 

[Saint Pete]

2 mid-table teams. We have players who think they are good but don't walk the talk. A lot will be said about the manager as usual. It's no good complaining about that, fans shouldn't have been so quick to accept a 32 year old guy on basis of 3 or 4 results. We have to accept that now and that we have a manager who is learning on the job and not ready to achieve anything this season. 

[Convict Colony]

If its not 4 at the back with jelert at right back and fellows on right wing next game I'm official over this bollocks

[tdmickey3]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

Tonda really has nothing else to offer does he

He seemingly has nothing to offer except 3 poor defensive CB

[OneMrsWallace]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

Tonda really has nothing else to offer does he

I'm guessing none of our owners actually watch the games. If they do, they're even more fucking stupid than I thought. 

[Zorba]

Like Bragg. Glad Archer scored. We’re still shit without Scienza. If he starts with Fellows on the other side I think we win that.

Poor point but better than nothing.

[macca155]

Well we didn't lose, so there's that. £105 million spent , players on big wages, just enough to avoid relegation. That isn't sustainable.

Dreadful 1st half and the dirge will continue until Tonda bolsters the midfield. 

Bragg looked fresh and in charge when he came on, he has to be way more useful than Stephens or any 3rd CB.  

[SW11_Saint]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Because of one save. 🫤

An important one though…

[Disco Stu]

4 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Jelert offered more of an attacking threat than the entire team

Felt like we had KWP back.

[RedArmy]

Just now, SW11_Saint said:

An important one though…

To make up for flapping at the slowest header you’ll see all season. 

[whelk]

Bit of an over reaction by many to an away point. We were second in the form table before this game, got a point at a team that were one of favourites to win the league. Hasn’t been brilliant but not enough for many to be saying sack the manager.

Edited 1 hour ago by whelk

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 minute ago, gammon cheeks said:

Tondaball 

Boring as fuck 😴 

Makes no difference. Someone is mandating 3 CB’s for some fucking reason. Not only that but we’re suffering Stephens and Manning who just unbalance the defence and leave midfield wanting too.

[Convict Colony]

Yeah fuck off a CB play bragg and lets actually try to not play martin ball.

Its such a sliding doors moment that rohl took the rangers job 1 week before we sacked still.

[die Mannyschaft]

Just now, Saint Pete said:

2 mid-table teams. We have players who think they are good but don't walk the talk. A lot will be said about the manager as usual. It's no good complaining about that, fans shouldn't have been so quick to accept a 32 year old guy on basis of 3 or 4 results. We have to accept that now and that we have a manager who is learning on the job and not ready to achieve anything this season. 

13th or 12th 49 points. Its definitely a  experimental phase to run out 2nd half season to see who plays where, what formations and do we need players next season. 

[Saint Pete]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Tonda really has nothing else to offer does he

He's 32 years old and zero managerial experience. What did people expect to happen? He might end up being a good manager in 2, 3 years. Is that what we needed?

[Vancouver Saint]

Well - we can't complain about taking just a point from that. Birmingham the better team for 60 minutes. Terrible goal to concede (four headers before a poncy header in) - as normal really poor defending.
For once we were the better team in the last 20 minutes - much better energy and chances - fair credit, saving Scienza to come on as the impact sub against tired legs a good mix-up plan. I thought the substitutions were good. 
Still don't like our three at the back...when the wing-backs don't get in behind as was happening first half (Fellows not 100%? - Robinson did okay but was cutting inside not running past defenders) the formation doesn't work and we give up the middle of the field where the most danger comes from.
We are still bang average without a better goalkeeper, commanding CB and killer target striker. Stewart coming back would be a boost.

[Katalinic]

Mid-table mediocrity - we don't do the basics in defence, we don't win 2nd balls. Far too soft as a group.

[Micky]

Lots of people saying that our subs made us better tonight. Given that our best player started on the bench they bloody well should've done.

[Osvaldorama]

4 minutes ago, whelk said:

Bit of an over reaction by many to an away point. We were second in the form table before this game, got a point at a team that were one of favourites to win the league. Hasn’t been brilliant but not enough for many to be saying sack the manager.

 

No it’s not. 
 

Birmingham (just up from L1) had a host of players out, yet were by far the  better side until the 80th minute. 
 

Compounded by the Oxford game and it’s nowhere near good enough. 

[die Mannyschaft]

3 minutes ago, whelk said:

Bit of an over reaction by many to an away point. We were second in the form table before this game, got a point at a team that were one of favourites to win the league. Hasn’t been brilliant but not enough for many to be saying sack the manager.

He won't get sacked, his target is to avoid relegation and he should just make that. Promotion was never on the cards with a change fron a few decent games to back to normal Russell  Martin Gold +

[OttawaSaint]

7 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

It really isn't rocket science. It's scary that our "head coach" can't see it.

Jack Shoehorn Stephens is Captain. He doesn't add anything positive to the team. Plenty negatives but there's no reason whatsover to play him. Until the club fucking accepts that, we're going nowhere. We'll bob around mid table for years, occasionally flirting with relegation and occasionally think a run could get us playoffs but nope, lower mid table dirge.

[Turkish]

9 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Because of one save. 🫤

That’s good for him 

[saint michael]

Nothing will change until these owners fuck off. The longest failed experiment in history. I wonder what stats they look at that tell them there is any element of success on any front 

[die Mannyschaft]

1 minute ago, Osvaldorama said:

 

No it’s not. 
 

Birmingham (just up from L1) had a host of players out, yet were by far the  better side until the 80th minute. 
 

Compounded by the Oxford game and it’s nowhere near good enough. 

If it was a £15m team then good result but we are the Man City of championship and should walk the title with that budget.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Against our season goals, a poor display.

Against the reality of us being a SR mid table Championship side, it's an away point.

Birmingham dropped back just enough for the game to shift. With Fellows off they stopped shackling that side. That allowed Jelert some space.

Scienza too, got more space ( although him starting with Fellows would have tested Birmingham).

Nice poacher's goal for Archer. I think we tried once more to get something into him. But we don't create a lot for our finishers.

Matsuki looked feisty when he came on. Too feisty to give away that last minute free kick. But he, Jelert and Scienza were notable for wanting the ball to do something with it rather than passively receive it to recycle it. 

Again, their mobility had something to do with the home side dropping back. But good to see their keeness. Bragg had some early positivity too, although he didn't take a couple of chances to move it forward himself. 

Baz seemed to shrink so he couldn't get to that looping header. But got a touch to put one onto the post later on.

Too much like a poor version of RussBall at times. We're far better at a higher tempo, pushing that quick passing, even if that creates the occasional risk.

[OttawaSaint]

11 minutes ago, trousers said:

Bazunu Sky's MotM...

Jesus, Xmas booze must still be flowing.