Saints 3-0 Blackburn - Match Thread

[saintant]

24 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

Watching Larin last night wondering who he reminds me of. Not a past Saints player  as the name i settled on was Cyrille Regis. A committed powerful player who popped up all over the park resulting in visible winces from defenders back in the day. You see that when Larin plays, with oppo defenders pulled all over the place trying to hang on to him and swerving 50/50s. Wherever we are next season, if he can be signed for a reasonable fee he gives us an extra dimension. Great signing. 

Good shout.

[S-Clarke]

That was absolutely superb, I can't remember such a one-sided first half before. Blackburn struggled to get out at all, luckily we capitalised as I always thought they'd get better. 

They did get better, the change they made with Ohashi coming on made a huge difference to them in attack - gave us something to think about, and he was moving us around a bit. They were very static in the first half, but we pushed them up a bit. I don't think they had anything to lose really, so they did open it up a bit, but we did defend very well in the main. There was that one shot where they hit the bar, Ohashi i think, but other than that they didn't truly test us much as we kept them at arms length. When we did get the chance to transition, we did, and we did it well - although we were more wasteful in the 2nd half finishing wise.

I know Archer got MOTM, and that was one of his best games for us for sure - played really well, but Larin was my MOTM. He was a machine. Running left to right, front to back, holding the ball, playing others in, out muscling them, and scoring. He was epic and it shows how important a focal point is in all parts of the team. We are immediately more physical. I'd also say Larin is another reason Archer had a good showing, Archers best time came with Akpom at Boro - small man feeding off big man, small man feeding big man etc. Archer was never designed to be the main number 9, but if he's supported by physicality I think you can see what he brings. 

Charles has certainly gone up levels since we were last in the Championship, he was a bit majestic I thought. Winning the ball, running with the ball,  his passing in behind was absolutely sublime - it was the ultimate CM performance. He's actually a very progressive central midfielder, not the all out defensive midfielder we used him as in the Martin days. 

If someone told me I'd be feeling like I am now, back in November, I'd tell them they're off their rocker. It feels like one extreme to the other, it's hard to really compute how we've improved over this period of time. I'd given up on playoffs, distant memory, but to be sat here with Playoffs being all but confirmed and automatics back on the horizon is a pure mind bend, it has to be said.

Onto the next one...

Edited 10 hours ago by S-Clarke

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 hours ago, Oldandtired said:

Eckert to Bournemouth....?

😬😬😬

Only when we visit as a PL club next season, I hope. 🙂

[SaintBobby]

4 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

None of that will be of any interest if we win our four remaning games

Not totally sure on that. If we win our last 4, we need Ipswich to lose one other game.

If Millwall win their last four, we can’t catch them whatever we do.

If Boro win their last four, it comes down to GD against them.

[Patrick Bateman]

17 minutes ago, SaintBobby said:

Not totally sure on that. If we win our last 4, we need Ipswich to lose one other game.

If Millwall win their last four, we can’t catch them whatever we do.

If Boro win their last four, it comes down to GD against them.

Ipswich wins - 3/6

Millwall wins - 2/6

Middlesbrough wins - 0/6

Saints wins - 6/6

Form table fellas, form table  

[swedish dave]

22 hours ago, Colinjb said:

Archer hat trick. You heard it here first.

we'd' have to admit he had enough chances to get a hat-trick and the fact that he didn't 

wasn't altogether his fault. Just dumb defenders getting their a*ses in the way - no skill required for that.

One goal was the very least he deserved.  Personally , ." I thought the boy did good " 

[swedish dave]

21 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Ipswich wins - 3/6

Millwall wins - 2/6

Middlesbrough wins - 0/6

Saints wins - 6/6

Form table fellas, form table  

Almost every season you'll see that promotions aren't won over a season .. but lost in the last month.

[sad saints fan]

As I am to tight to pay £5 (Also just spent £150 on semi final ticket) I cannot start a new thread . 

I think we should take a leaf from Tonda's book and put Blackburn to bed and someone start a Swansea thread.

[Saint_clark]

Have to say I thought the "yes, yes, yes" thing was embarrassing when Russell used to do it but I actually really enjoy it when a different player is picked by the squad and forced into it. Shows some real camaraderie and appreciation for each other.

[Patrick Bateman]

1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

Have to say I thought the "yes, yes, yes" thing was embarrassing when Russell used to do it but I actually really enjoy it when a different player is picked by the squad and forced into it. Shows some real camaraderie and appreciation for each other.

Agreed, it's now about the player that the players themselves pick, rather than being all about RM.

[PerthshireSaint]

6 hours ago, saintant said:

Good shout.

I was thinking John Barnes last night. Really versatile, quick and strong. 

[Sheaf Saint]

1 hour ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Agreed, it's now about the player that the players themselves pick, rather than being all about RM.

Yeah and you could tell when they picked Archer to do it last night it really meant something. The squad obviously recognise that he's had his struggles this season (to say the least) and that he thoroughly deserved the plaudits for his performance, and he clearly appreciated it as well.

[SaintsRoyalty]

On 14/04/2026 at 22:23, Sheaf Saint said:

I respect the fact that you took the time to draft such a lengthy response to my question, but you still didn't actually answer my question which was: what specifically is it about Bragg that you think makes him L1 standard?

I'm asking again because from my perspective he had another excellent game tonight, showing a great maturity for his age and playing a (literally) pivotal role in an all-round good team performance. So I'm absolutely at a loss to understand what areas of his game you think are holding him back.

Fair points but this is exactly the same stuff that was being said about Bazunu. People were saying he’s young, had a good season with Portsmouth, needs time to develop, going to be some player etc. I could see right from the start that the fundamental skills required to even be a competent keeper were not there and that’s not stuff you can ever learn. Archer for example is not going to one day start banging them in like Harland. I’m not trying to claim I have a better eye, for me it’s common sense that certain attributes can’t be improved no matter how much training or games you play.

Players seem to be able to hide behind their age and when things are going well and the team is winning their contribution (or lack of) is wrapped up in the teams overall performance. Oh we beat a poor Blackburn team comfortably so Bragg must have had a good game. Every player must have had a good game if we won. The fact everyone is raving about Archer because he had one good game is a perfect example. The fact of the matter is it will probably be as hard for you to point out what he’s good at as it is for me to point out what he’s bad at. There in lies the crux of my point, he’s a nothing player.

As I said I’ve been to quite a few of the U21 games this year and he’s looked one of the better players but not a stand out. Any one of the u21 CMs could be playing in this team and go unnoticed like him. We were told Sesay was the next to come through. What happened to him? Tonda clearly has a soft spot for Bragg which is why he’s the only u21 getting a chance. His involvement came out of nowhere and at a time where the u21 manager got promoted. All of it points to pure circumstance rather than merit. Unfortunately most fans can’t see the wood for the trees until 8 months down the line when the thought pops in their mind that a player actually hasn’t done sweet fuck all ever and is actually a bad player. 

Edited 58 minutes ago by SaintsRoyalty