Preston 1-3 Saints - Match Thread

[musesaint]

I bet Tonda is already refining his Playoff Spreadsheet. Legend. 

[mikec]

42 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

Er no, do your maths again! 

Nothing wrong with his maths unless you assume we also beat Bristol City (which we didn't)

Edited 20 hours ago by mikec

[Lighthouse]

38 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

Er no, do your maths again! 

We would have two points more and finish on 82. Ipswich have one point less and finish on 83, level with Millwall. 

[SaintTex]

2 hours ago, badgerx16 said:

League table since 0-4 away at Middlesborough

 

 

blimey, how bad was Norwich earlier this season to only finish 9th with that form?

just checked.. they spent October, November and December in the bottom 3.

[Micky]

Just got back, decent game today.  We started fast, got an early goal but then sat on the lead a bit, and I thought we looked a little tired coming up to half time. Came out second half though, got another early one that settled the nerves, and we were comfortable until Peretz made the blunder.  You could see that he wasn't gonna make it, he came, hesitated, came again, missed, and that was an easy goal for them.  After his saves in the first half, nobody was having a bad word to say, in fact if you were watching, we responded as loud as we'd been all day with OWTS.  The subs were good, stabilized us and got us over the line,  in all good turn out for the last league game, on to the playoffs. 

[kitch]

2 minutes ago, Micky said:

Just got back, decent game today.  We started fast, got an early goal but then sat on the lead a bit, and I thought we looked a little tired coming up to half time. Came out second half though, got another early one that settled the nerves, and we were comfortable until Peretz made the blunder.  You could see that he wasn't gonna make it, he came, hesitated, came again, missed, and that was an easy goal for them.  After his saves in the first half, nobody was having a bad word to say, in fact if you were watching, we responded as loud as we'd been all day with OWTS.  The subs were good, stabilized us and got us over the line,  in all good turn out for the last league game, on to the playoffs. 

You could hear OWTS the second the goal went in. Class!

[Saint Pete]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

We would have two points more and finish on 82. Ipswich have one point less and finish on 83, level with Millwall. 

You said we never had any chance of finishing 2nd! We would have finished 2nd if we had beaten Bristol and Ipswich. 

[Sheaf Saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

You said we never had any chance of finishing 2nd! We would have finished 2nd if we had beaten Bristol and Ipswich. 

Yes but that's not what he said in his post. He said win 9/10 and beat Ipswich 6-0, so that assumes still drawing with Bristol City.

If we had won all ten, we might have got top two. But it was always a ridiculous long shot.

[Saint Pete]

10 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Yes but that's not what he said in his post. He said win 9/10 and beat Ipswich 6-0, so that assumes still drawing with Bristol City.

If we had won all ten, we might have got top two. But it was always a ridiculous long shot.

OK, I misread that part of his post. But he still said that 2nd was "never on" which I think I am right in saying he has been saying consistently for weeks. That's inaccurate as we could have made it with those 2 wins rather than draws. Of course it was a massive long shot, but a lot of the results that posters including him said would never happen actually did to give us the opportunity if we could have won all our remaining games. I agree that we were effectively out of it once we failed to beat Bristol, at that point whilst it was mathematically still possible, the series of results needed was very very unlikely, I don't think many argued otherwise at that point? 

[Jonnyboy]

3 hours ago, RedArmy said:

if Wrexham score they will have a better goal difference than hull 

My query was more about what would come next, would they base it on goals conceded? 

[Jonnyboy]

Can't work out how to search for the shirts thread. 

Does anyone know if the Saints store does the same prices as the online store with its end of season sale for shirts? Nipper wants an away goalkeeper shirt

[Lighthouse]

10 minutes ago, Jonnyboy said:

Can't work out how to search for the shirts thread. 

Does anyone know if the Saints store does the same prices as the online store with its end of season sale for shirts? Nipper wants an away goalkeeper shirt

When I’ve been in the shop recently they had the same discounts on the price tags as the did online, if that’s what you’re asking.

[SNSUN]

Slept through the last day as I'm working Nights. Pleasant surprise since I woke up. Stronger line up than I was expecting but we got the job done and we get the home second leg which is good. 

Anyone mention if we beat Bristol and Ipswich we'd have finished second? 😜 

Still a brilliant end to the season. Well done Tonda and the lads. Now make sure we complete the job in the play-offs. 

[sadoldgit]

Excellent second half of the season so hats off to everyone at the club for turning things around! Roll on next Saturday!

[Give it to Ron]

18 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

Slept through the last day as I'm working Nights. Pleasant surprise since I woke up. Stronger line up than I was expecting but we got the job done and we get the home second leg which is good. 

Anyone mention if we beat Bristol and Ipswich we'd have finished second? 😜 

Still a brilliant end to the season. Well done Tonda and the lads. Now make sure we complete the job in the play-offs. 

Had we not lost to Preston at home and bottom 3 teams Norwich, Blackburn and Oxford maybe autos would have been possible 

[CylonKing]

In some alternate reality, we've beaten City and Town and finished 2nd, and everyone on SaintsWeb is discussing the results, where dropped points stopped us finishing first.

Anywho, great season for us regardless of what happens in the playoffs from where we were. Just hope we keep the loan players as they've excelled.

[Stud mark of doom]

1 hour ago, Micky said:

Just got back, decent game today.  We started fast, got an early goal but then sat on the lead a bit, and I thought we looked a little tired coming up to half time. Came out second half though, got another early one that settled the nerves, and we were comfortable until Peretz made the blunder.  You could see that he wasn't gonna make it, he came, hesitated, came again, missed, and that was an easy goal for them.  After his saves in the first half, nobody was having a bad word to say, in fact if you were watching, we responded as loud as we'd been all day with OWTS.  The subs were good, stabilized us and got us over the line,  in all good turn out for the last league game, on to the playoffs. 

Was it a case of Peretz misjudgement? I thought he just slipped. 
 

he also made some incredible saves - but that is par for the course. 

[Micky]

11 minutes ago, Stud mark of doom said:

Was it a case of Peretz misjudgement? I thought he just slipped. 
 

he also made some incredible saves - but that is par for the course. 

Yeah I've just watched the highlights back again, I was high in block Q and thought I had a good view of it, but obviously I didn't see it clearly enough.  He came and just slipped under it, without the slip, he probably gets something on it. 

[hypochondriac]

33 minutes ago, Stud mark of doom said:

Was it a case of Peretz misjudgement? I thought he just slipped. 
 

he also made some incredible saves - but that is par for the course. 

That's what I thought too. It wasn't really a mistake in that sense.

[RedArmy]

21 minutes ago, Micky said:

He came and just slipped under it, without the slip, he probably gets something on it. 

He doesn’t. He got done by the bounce and slipped trying to get back because he knew he had no chance of getting it. 
 

 

 

[Saint Billy]

Phenomenal from Tonda to get us where we are. After the Still debacle I was expecting a struggle to stay even in this league. Unfortunately other clubs will now be looking at him along with a few of our players, so Spors, now is the time to really earn your money and keep this winning combo together especially if we go up.

[Stud mark of doom]

14 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

He doesn’t. He got done by the bounce and slipped trying to get back because he knew he had no chance of getting it. 
 

 

 

I thought he would have got to the ball first if he hadn’t slipped. The bounce did mean he had to readjust but he had it in hand. 

[Swaythling Saint]

Pleased Archer was involved in the goals, onto the play offs!

[Lighthouse]

12 minutes ago, Stud mark of doom said:

I thought he would have got to the ball first if he hadn’t slipped. The bounce did mean he had to readjust but he had it in hand. 

The ball is 10ft up in the air when it goes over his head. He isn’t getting to the ball even if he doesn’t slip, jumps up and uses his hands to stop it.

[Disco Stu]

2 hours ago, Jonnyboy said:

Can't work out how to search for the shirts thread. 

Does anyone know if the Saints store does the same prices as the online store with its end of season sale for shirts? Nipper wants an away goalkeeper shirt

No search function on this forum unfortunately. I wish there was!

[RedArmy]

Fair play to everyone that made the trip too. 
 

Have to say I expected it to be a half empty away end with it turning out to be a bit of a dead rubber except for who plays at home first in the playoffs. 
 

Big turnout and made a hell of a racket throughout with a good variety of songs. 

[pimpin4rizeal]

Lol it’s a good job Peretz has plenty of credit in the bank could you imigine if bazunu conceded that goal 🤣.. brilliant save in the first half by peretz though. The Stewart goal was lovely close control Larin is just on fire atm if we had him at the start of the season I could see him being in the player of the year discussion 

[Stud mark of doom]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

The ball is 10ft up in the air when it goes over his head. He isn’t getting to the ball even if he doesn’t slip, jumps up and uses his hands to stop it.

At the risk of doing it to death, he slips turning to sprint back realising the ball has gone over his head. 
 

As you can see in your picture - he has a 10 yard head start on the striker. I thought he’d have made it to the ball ahead of him if he hadn’t slipped. 

[Mboto Gorge]

Just got back. Great atmosphere and still very full behind the goal at least 90% still turned up, made lots of noise and the players responded again and gave their all. Tonda was clearly desperate to win and that reflected in the players. Other than the final 20 mins of the first half I thought we were well in control and would’ve won even more comfortably if not for the Peretz slip. Other results went perfectly for us too - we got rid of Ipswich, we snuck into 4th, and we should be confident of beating Millwall or Hull if we can get past Boro. I’d have probably preferred Hull to Derby/Wrexham too, so for me I think it was the perfect day. 

[Addict54]

What a day. Brilliant result and atmosphere. Icing on the cake was running into the squad at Warwick services and them chatting / stopping for selfies with a decent number of fans that had broken the journey back there. Ryan Manning told me he’d already started celebrating he was so convinced his free kick was in. 

[Football Special]

35 minutes ago, Addict54 said:

What a day. Brilliant result and atmosphere. Icing on the cake was running into the squad at Warwick services and them chatting / stopping for selfies with a decent number of fans that had broken the journey back there. Ryan Manning told me he’d already started celebrating he was so convinced his free kick was in. 

Surprised they travelled back via road, sure they got a flight up there 

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Stud mark of doom said:

Was it a case of Peretz misjudgement? I thought he just slipped. 
 

he also made some incredible saves - but that is par for the course. 

I've just seen it again. He completely misread the flight of the ball and got caught too far upfield. Some great saves but this mistake was awful. 

[Addict54]

8 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Surprised they travelled back via road, sure they got a flight up there 

Yeah flight up, coach back

[Whitey Grandad]

4 hours ago, Jonnyboy said:

Can't work out how to search for the shirts thread. 

Does anyone know if the Saints store does the same prices as the online store with its end of season sale for shirts? Nipper wants an away goalkeeper shirt

I was in the store on Thursday buying a home shirt for my grandson (no, me neither) and I had to settle for a XXL and not much of a discount at £58.50. He also wanted a black away shirt but the largest they had was a Small. They had plenty of the green goalkeeper shirts though. They confirmed to me that the online stock and the store stock is the same.

Watch out for their opening times if you're thinking of calling in.

[Dark Munster]

1 hour ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Just got back. Great atmosphere and still very full behind the goal at least 90% still turned up, made lots of noise and the players responded again and gave their all. Tonda was clearly desperate to win and that reflected in the players. Other than the final 20 mins of the first half I thought we were well in control and would’ve won even more comfortably if not for the Peretz slip. Other results went perfectly for us too - we got rid of Ipswich, we snuck into 4th, and we should be confident of beating Millwall or Hull if we can get past Boro. I’d have probably preferred Hull to Derby/Wrexham too, so for me I think it was the perfect day. 

Almost perfect. Total perfection would be Millwall losing and us grabbing third place and getting Hull instead of Boro. But I'm not complaining!

[SW11_Saint]

4 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

That's what I thought too. It wasn't really a mistake in that sense.

I really don’t like his habit of wandering upfield and hanging around the half-way line when we’re attacking. Makes me very nervous…

[SaintBobby]

I think Peretz is brilliant. But I also accept he is a little crazy.

[Football Special]

9 hours ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Just got back. Great atmosphere and still very full behind the goal at least 90% still turned up, made lots of noise and the players responded again and gave their all. Tonda was clearly desperate to win and that reflected in the players. Other than the final 20 mins of the first half I thought we were well in control and would’ve won even more comfortably if not for the Peretz slip. Other results went perfectly for us too - we got rid of Ipswich, we snuck into 4th, and we should be confident of beating Millwall or Hull if we can get past Boro. I’d have probably preferred Hull to Derby/Wrexham too, so for me I think it was the perfect day. 

Yeah fair play, I expected a lot more to not bother,  very good turn out 

 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

It was mildly amusing after their PA announcement asking home fans to hang around as there would ba a player lap of honour for the home fans just before Larin knocked in the third and half the PNE crowd promptly fooked off. Our lot then pissed them off more after the final whistle by outstaying out welcome celebrating with the Saints fans while their players had to just wait in the corner until we eventually sloped off.

Good game, too many free headers for them down our end first half, great double save from Peretz to offset the slip, their keeper narrowly got away with one just after our first.

Great support but stop asking Tonda to give you a wave while the game's going on, he ain't interested and even gestured at one point that he was focusing on the game.

Cracking day out.

[Toadhall Saint]

6 hours ago, SaintBobby said:

I think Peretz is brilliant. But I also accept he is a little crazy.

There are a lot of keepers that are a little crazy - comes with the territory it would seem.

[kwsaint]

15 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

There are a lot of keepers that are a little crazy - comes with the territory it would seem.

Was Boruc a little crazy or full on ‘here’s Johnny’?

[VectisSaint]

10 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I've just seen it again. He completely misread the flight of the ball and got caught too far upfield. Some great saves but this mistake was awful. 

and? All keepers make mistakes at times, this one was a bit of a freak and bad luck with the slip, he put his hand up to acknowledge it, we won 3-1. I don't get the need for the Spanish Inquisition. 

[Whitey Grandad]

40 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

and? All keepers make mistakes at times, this one was a bit of a freak and bad luck with the slip, he put his hand up to acknowledge it, we won 3-1. I don't get the need for the Spanish Inquisition. 

But this us exactly the point. It wasn't a freak. He got caught out at Wembley too.

The slip wasn't bad luck. He was caught miles out of position and couldn't get back to  recover. He needs to cut this tendency out of his game.

Not a Spanish Inquisition but rather an opportunity for him to improve.  There's no point making a breathtaking save in one moment but then presenting the opposition with an open goal in the next.

Deal with it, but move on.

[goodymatt]

12 hours ago, Addict54 said:

What a day. Brilliant result and atmosphere. Icing on the cake was running into the squad at Warwick services and them chatting / stopping for selfies with a decent number of fans that had broken the journey back there. Ryan Manning told me he’d already started celebrating he was so convinced his free kick was in. 

 

Manning’s effort was very close, here’s a video I took from behind the goal.

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

But this us exactly the point. It wasn't a freak. He got caught out at Wembley too.

The slip wasn't bad luck. He was caught miles out of position and couldn't get back to  recover. He needs to cut this tendency out of his game.

Not a Spanish Inquisition but rather an opportunity for him to improve.  There's no point making a breathtaking save in one moment but then presenting the opposition with an open goal in the next.

Deal with it, but move on.

The slip was bad luck but wouldn't have happened if he had been better positioned. Can't see why you're being so super critical, these things happen, keep in context. Just being critical for the sake of it, imagine if Baz had been in goal.

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, goodymatt said:

 

Manning’s effort was very close, here’s a video I took from behind the goal.

Thought it was a save in real time. Clearly not!

[S-Clarke]

It was a game we won in a low gear to be honest, I thought the changes we made were sensible - certainly Bree and Azaz as they have been playing so many mins. I'd have maybe rested Leo as well, but I do understand the point of keeping everyone 'on it'. I was never one for playing the 'kids' or the reserves whole sale in this game, sure you might have prevented 1 or 2 injuries, but lost the unbeaten run and momentum in the process - then you'd go into the Boro game, maybe 5th, second leg away and a bit of a downbeat mood.

It was a smart team pick from Tonda really, no wholesale changes, but players who needed a break getting a break. The feeling I got is that we could have blown away PNE if we moved up a gear or two, but as I said we just played a little more reserved - probably phycological and a bit of self preservation at a guess, but we still won and were the better side in my eyes. 

Our corners and set pieces have been absolutely excellent under Tonda, we are always a threat. The deliveries are all on point too, it doesn't seem to matter if it's Manning, Bree, Leo putting the cross in - it always seems to have quality. Stewart had an 'ok' game, but I do now believe Larin is a better player in terms of overall attributes. It was a good goal from Stewart though, however I'd say going into the play offs he's probably not in our starting 11. Larin isn't always the most cultured, but his strength and pace is somewhat deceiving - I really really like him, he's a proper goal scorer of all types of goals. Reminds me a little bit of Pelle, not always the most comfortable player to watch, but always has a great output.

Overall, a solid but unspectacular away win and a result going our way which gives us the best possible outcome really. The key 'target' at the start of this game was to ensure we had advantage in the 2nd leg, which we do - it may not make any difference, but at least we've given ourselves that opportunity. 

To be sat on 80 points, after the first half of the season we had, still doesn't quite feel real. Our second half of the season has been the form you'd attribute to 'runaway' leaders if you put it across the entire season, I'm not used to that feeling. 

Edited 37 minutes ago by S-Clarke

[Whitey Grandad]

45 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

The slip was bad luck but wouldn't have happened if he had been better positioned. Can't see why you're being so super critical, these things happen, keep in context. Just being critical for the sake of it, imagine if Baz had been in goal.

It wasn't bad luck it was an inevitability. Their goalkeeper spots an opportunity and takes it.

I don't know why you need to mention Baz every time, but for all his faults getting caught in no man's land isn't one of them. Imagine if Peretz had been in goal.