Saints 1-0 Watford - Match Thread

[notnowcato]

Fucking love a diving header. Well done big lad. 
 

[Scoobysaint]

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

[hypochondriac]

A proper shit game but so often we lose those so in a way it's even more satisfying than an easy win.

[Harry_SFC]

7 minutes ago, SaintsfanSwindon said:

Not the greatest game but good to get the win. I thought Welington was absolutely outstanding all game - didn’t put a foot wrong. 

However Chez will tell you he was awful

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

And the keeper.

[Jimmy_D]

Could have gone either way, went our way! Fair enough result I think considering their keeper had a couple of really good saves.

[Totton Saint]

10 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

and kick leo off freekicks and put Bree on them 

Agreed. The captain should have taken Leo off free kicks and corners before he was substituted.

[jasonbenali]

Not a great game from either side, but a great moment to win it from the big lad. I thought Wellington was outstanding and the back four looked solid, restricting Watford to very little. Thought Fellows and Sceinza lost their way a little today which is usually our point of difference and Stewart really should have buried that chance.

If that's all it takes to be 8th, shows what a poor league it is and how poor we've been. As they say, it's the hope that kills you!

Well done Tonda for slowly turning it round in the last few games.

[Patches O Houlihan]

8 minutes ago, disconnect said:

I never really understood why (other than a couple of little injuries) Welington has not been automatic first choice at left back. He's always looked significantly better than Manning, particularly at defending!! Also gets forward well, so what's not to like?

Might be as simple as Manning being a Martin favourite, and then a language barrier subsequently.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Totton Saint said:

Agreed. The captain should have taken Leo off free kicks and corners before he was substituted.

That isn't the job of the captain.

[SNSUN]

Just now, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

Yes but it has been helped because we resorted to 4 at the back IMO. We've fannyed around with 3 CBs so long and yet it's with 2 CBs that we're keeping clean sheets. I also think Peretz instead of Baz has helped maybe fill them with bit more confidence even if Peretz does give me the odd heart stopping moment.

Just a shame we wasted so much of the season. 

[Convict Colony]

This should keep you busy bro.

Prove it

4 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

That isn't the job of the captain.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

4 minutes ago, jasonbenali said:

Not a great game from either side, but a great moment to win it from the big lad. I thought Wellington was outstanding and the back four looked solid, restricting Watford to very little. Thought Fellows and Sceinza lost their way a little today which is usually our point of difference and Stewart really should have buried that chance.

 

I actually thought Watford snuffed them out the game pretty well, didn't let them have space or time, which is what killed the game in terms of entertainment. So in that respect Watford did their job well. 

It was boring, but the win and clean sheet is obviously excellent and great to see so many decent performances; Wellington, Bree, Stephens, Jander were all really good. Shout out to Larin and Edozie too. 

Decent and more promising! 

[sadoldgit]

9 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Might be as simple as Manning being a Martin favourite, and then a language barrier subsequently.

I thought that Welington had an injury that kept him out for a while?

[Midfield_General]

Let's enjoy Larin contributing more in 3 minutes than Downs did in 5 months:

Not just a great header but did really well to shake off and lose his man before that too. 

Get in, big man

Edited 2 hours ago by Midfield_General

[obelisk]

A 15 match unbeaten run would now be useful as long as they're not all draws.

It's the hope that gets you.

[davefizzy14]

We got the job done today. A cleansheet too 😊 Larin scoring on his debut was so good. Excited to see more from him 😊 Bree, Stephens, THB were all outstanding again 😊 Peretz solid 😊 Welington my motm, he is so good 😊  hopefully Flynn just has a knock as he's been so good recently. Charles slotted in comfortably when he came on for him alongside Jander. Good to see Edozie come on and be lively. 

Edited 2 hours ago by davefizzy14

[saintant]

Our passing today was again way below the required standard. A hard fought win but we continue to give up possession so cheaply.

[Costa del Solent]

[PerthshireSaint]

He’s with us on loan

He’s with us on loan

Cyle Larin

He’s with us on loan

 

[Football Special]

4 minutes ago, saintant said:

Our passing today was again way below the required standard. A hard fought win but we continue to give up possession so cheaply.

Very slow wasn't it, poor vision or poor movement off the ball to make space for a pass? 

Overall a very nice 3 points against a tough Watford side. 

I'm not a fan of these early kicks offs 

Still quite a few fans leave early to beat the traffic despite a nervy ending holding onto the win, never understand that. 

[SW11_Saint]

51 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Larin is a little shorter than Tall Paul; but crucially much more solid. He isn't going to get pushed around; and having watch Paul's Bambi on ice impression at Gillingham I'm happy to have the Canadian.

And being Canadian, even if we were on ice he’d probably be fine anyway! 🇨🇦

[OneMrsWallace]

30 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

That isn't the job of the captain.

I'd pay good money to see you tell John Terry that 🤣

[Lighthouse]

34 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

Might be as simple as Manning being a Martin favourite, and then a language barrier subsequently.

That would be Welington who signed in January last year, a month after Martin was sacked?

[CSA96]

 

[goodymatt]

 

[captainchris]

56 minutes ago, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

Very good observation …

[spyinthesky]

I thought Watford were better on the ball than we were.
That said their 'keeper made two decent saves whereas Peretz didnt have a shot to face but nearly gave away an embarrassing goal!!
Also many loose balls seemed to fall Watford's way but sometimes you earn that.
Overall not a great Saints performance but I guess we would all take the 3 points and another clean sheet!!

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

I only caught the first half, but this was clear. Much more solid at the back. And both are decent getting forward in different ways. 

[Miltonaggro]

Enjoyed that. Game was professionally managed by the back four (Bree and Wellington superb), and won by the bravery of our two loan signings, Peretz (coming out to dive at feet) and Larin (with the Rickie Lambert debut special). 

[Saint Fan CaM]

Well now, far be it for me to say ‘told you so’…but I did say that past scoring history might be down to wrong teammates. It’s early days of course and that might be the first and last goal from Larin, but the signs are good…the right movement in the box losing his man and bullet header that their keeper had no chance with. If he gets a little fitter I think we’ve got a great acquisition.

At the risk of overstating it, Welington is hugely better than Manning…he actually stops crosses. Bree has provided equally good balance. Both have allowed the two CB’s so we’re more loaded in mid-field. Peretz has good reactions and positioning sense…just needs to think a bit before giving cheap balls away. Both these changes have led to clean sheets.

Good to see Edozie get minutes. I wonder whether there was some bad feeling between him and an influential recently departed player such as AA?

[Toadhall Saint]

Long time since I’ve seen a proper diving header. 3 points clean sheet and our new number 9 off the mark.

[CSA96]

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Crab Lungs said:

Minging win, but happy we got it over the line.

We look so much more… I don’t know how to explain it - “functionally average” with this revised formation. I don’t mind, as long as we keep winning and I never, ever see Bazunu again. 

Thanks. I was looking for a phrase. Not much power or pace. But now making some decent passes, in a formation where they are getting used to being more creative in.

[SWLondon Saint]

Was busy earlier and could only watch with no sound from 83rd minute so I had no idea who had scored but from the camera zooming in on him at FT I had a big smile on my face waiting to see the final score - Even just watching in that time could see:

- Long throw on our right, flick on, Larin holds it up, rolls his defender and gets us another throw in their half. Classic centre forward play 👍🏼

- Wood comes on, they immediately play a ball into the gap between the wingback and CB and we're only saved by a handball by their guy. FFS why have we not learned more CBs can make the defence worse not better???

- Welington wins the ball, runs it up the pitch past 2/3 of their guys and wastes time in the corner. OK they had maybe given up but still love to see it.

[Swaythling Saint]

Haha brilliant for Larin to score the winner, professional performance. Seems like Tonda has a formation/XI that works!

[Swaythling Saint]

Much prefer Bree and Welly as our full backs too, look ao assured 

[Willo of Whiteley]

1 hour ago, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

Without these two, we don’t win a couple of our recent games. They’ve been excellent.

[Harry_SFC]

That tackle and run from Welington in the last minute was superb. 

[Hawkswood]

1 hour ago, Convict Colony said:

A ball that sticks to a CF and a thunder bastard diving header, we be drinking tonight canadian style

Adding that to my vocab  

[Hawkswood]

3 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Without these two, we don’t win a couple of our recent games. They’ve been excellent.

Was just about to quote someone else about this. Wellington in particular has been as solid as I think you can get in a left back at this level. Really impressed with him. Probs my MoM last two matches.

[lambtiss]

1 hour ago, Scoobysaint said:

The big difference over the past few games has been Welly and Bree. They have been immense, stopping the crosses coming in. Such a difference from Manning standing ten paces of his man and letting the crosses come in. 

He should have been given a few assists for opposition goals his defending was that negligent

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

On 03/02/2026 at 11:06, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

Yep, same 11 but no problem if Charles may get a go. Larin to replace Stewart on 65mins and knock one in, in front of the Northam. Everybody happy, 2-0.

Ooo, close.

[saint francis]

In the short time Larin was on, I thought he won more in the air and was a more physical presence than Stewart, both in attack and defensively.  Not sure he'll have the delicate touch that some of the rest of the squad does but looks just like the sort of lump we need in the box.  

[Lord Duckhunter]

Downs missed an absolute sitter on his debut (or was pushed off the ball in Nod world), complete lack of belief, whereas this bloke powered it in. Need to be careful about over hyping him, as he seemed a bit of a lump to me. Ross Stewart played very intelligently first half, looked like the player he could be before fading. Him, with new bloke backing him up, with Archer as a different sort of back up, we may get away with it up front. One thing for sure “Arma” wouldn’t have headed that. 
 

Both full backs excellent, let’s get a new contract in front of Bree now. We’ll need him next season if we’re in this league. 
 

Leo average again, Stay on your feet man, get off corners and free kicks. Azaz frustrating again & I thought Jander was slightly off it today as well. 
 

Type of game you need to win, but a pretty average standard from both sides…

[goodymatt]

5 minutes ago, saint francis said:

In the short time Larin was on, I thought he won more in the air and was a more physical presence than Stewart, both in attack and defensively.  Not sure he'll have the delicate touch that some of the rest of the squad does but looks just like the sort of lump we need in the box.  

I thought the same, more of a presence but Stewart has a better touch. I think both give us different options for the CF positions, then we have Archer for games where there is space in behind. Will we miss Armstrong is the question that will take a while longer to answer but early signs are encouraging. That’s 2 games without him and both won.

Edited 36 minutes ago by goodymatt

[LuckyNumber7]

Crap game but happy to grind out a win. Really pleased for Larin to quieten some of the doubters, dream debut and hopefully more to come, although he'll need to work on his fitness.

Welington was my MOTM again though, it's criminal that Manning was picked ahead of him for so long. 

Also a shout out to THB who is looking more like his old self recently, and no sign of sulking after the West Ham bid was turned down.

1 goal conceded in 4 games now (and that was a handball). Reaping the benefits of a change in formation and personnel.

[BarberSaint]

5 hours ago, BranfootsLoveChild said:

Bit random but when did we have to start ordering all the food and drinks at the screens? First time for a while I fancied paying their prices for a bovril and a chocolate bar! I mean, surely even the staff who work there can work a card machine?  Can't be that difficult for them, surely? 

Oh.....good to Edozie back. COYS!!

The 'staff' are facking  useless.

[Miltonaggro]

Mention in dispatches to the Watford number 8, Giorgi Chakvetadze, who was a handful all game, tricky powerful attacking midfielder. If we are in this league next season would be a great signing. 

 

 

[Totton Saint]

I thought the new no. 9 besides scoring was popping up all over the pitch.