Boro 0-0 Saints - Match Thread

[Addict54]

Edozie effort was agonising. This is the worst place in England and it’s fecking freezing; can’t wait to get back down south. 

[tdmickey3]

Just now, Sheaf Saint said:

Reporter desperately trying to get Tonda to comment on the spying charge, despite starting with "I know you won't comment on it".

Why even ask then?

I bet boro manager does comment

[Baird of the land]

2nd half was at least an improvement on woeful 1st. Charles/stewart/edozie had an impact.

[Whitey Grandad]

6 minutes ago, Secret Site Agent said:

But,but,but....I though we cheated and knew how they played and would win them and stuff.

 

Didn't gain a competitive advantage at all.

But just think how bad it could have been without all that nonsense. 

[Thripp87]

Great interview from Tonda. Gave them absolutely nothing both with matters on and off the pitch. 

[Miltonaggro]

Tonda completely outwitting the Sky TV dipshit interviewer in his post match. It’s like being managed by a young Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Love it! 

[Convict Colony]

1 minute ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Reporter desperately trying to get Tonda to comment on the spying charge, despite starting with "I know you won't comment on it".

Why even ask then?

You never tried "I know you wont let me touch your tits but"

Sometimes you get lucky other times you get on the register.

 

[SaintsRoyalty]

I know I get a lot of stick on here for having my own views but I hope you can all agree we played noticeably better with Charles and Matsuki on the pitch. 
 

We absolutely cannot play Fellows on Tuesday. Can’t stand the guy. Need to get rid in the summer regardless of what league we are in. 

[Colinjb]

59 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

Luke Ayling is not an intelligent man

Comment withdrawn, because I'm an idiot.

Edited 3 hours ago by Colinjb

[James]

Just now, SaintsRoyalty said:

I know I get a lot of stick on here for having my own views but I hope you can all agree we played noticeably better with Charles and Matsuki on the pitch. 
 

We absolutely cannot play Fellows on Tuesday. Can’t stand the guy. Need to get rid in the summer regardless of what league we are in. 

I don’t like Charles from the start of the game. I think it’s better when he comes off the bench. Matsuki is better than Fellows for sure. 

[tdmickey3]

3 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

I bet boro manager does comment

And he did but its was just waffle 

[LaptopSaint]

Classic away performance in a two-legged semifinal. And when your front three all have an off day 0-0 is a very decent result. 

[James]

Christ this reporter banging on about spying again to Hellberg. Absolutely tiring, give it a rest lads. 

[Convict Colony]

2 minutes ago, SaintsRoyalty said:

I know I get a lot of stick on here for having my own views but I hope you can all agree we played noticeably better with Charles and Matsuki on the pitch. 
 

We absolutely cannot play Fellows on Tuesday. Can’t stand the guy. Need to get rid in the summer regardless of what league we are in. 

[James]

Just now, tdmickey3 said:

And he did but its was just waffle 

It was pretty embarrassing when the reporter asked if it was a motivating factor and Hellberg had to remind him they were playing for a place in the Premier League..!

[sadoldgit]

20 minutes ago, PerthshireSaint said:

Luke Ayling sounding like a coked up auctioneer there

He looks like Robbie Savage.

[Saint NL]

That's 20 games unbeaten then 

[Jimmy_D]

Shame we couldn’t land the sucker punch we were threatening to near the end when their mad high press burned them out, but 0-0 isn’t bad with the chances they had first half, more than capable of finishing this off at St Mary’s now.

[Willo of Whiteley]

18 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Whilst I switch focus to Hornchurch v Torquay, all other Saints fans can take a break now from all that tension.

Bond films usually do the trick

 

What a film! Although I watched Mortimer the other week and forgot how horrific that was 😂

[CSA96]

Thought Hellberg came across well there tbf. Said that it's not a motivation because PL status is on the line and that's enough for the players. Then said he has no issue with the Saints fans or players because they didn't know what was happening and it wasn't them doing it. Said if anything he feels a bit sorry for them being caught up in the middle of everything and that our club shouldn't put its players and fans in this position

Edited 4 hours ago by CSA96

[Harry_SFC]

Negatives - the whole first half apart from Peretz and THB.

Positives - the second half display and the impact from the substitutes. 

[beatlesaint]

The team selection Tuesday will be interesting.

Matsuki and Stewart would start for me.

[CSA96]

 

[Convict Colony]

Thought Jander was very good again today as well, very good ball recoveries and always looking to go forward with the ball.

[Monk]

57 minutes ago, OldNick said:

I can assume you are at home shouting at the TV

At home, shouting at you. 

[LiberalCommunist]

Well said Hellberg. Clearly it had an effect on our players, who were caught up in a right shit show through no fault of themselves. 

Same for our travelling contingent, they did not deserve that shit today. Hope the roads are kind to them. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Tonda will have plenty of satisfaction with how it's going overall.

Sure, it would have been better to not have a first half with all that pressure. But the idea was to use Larin, and support, a lot more than we were able to. While keeping ourselves composed and compact at the back.

We managed to absorb everything they threw at us. Tonda made his usual planned changes in the second half, giving us a different dynamic. 

In the end, we had 2 very close efforts to get a lead. You could see the passing quality and awareness we have, in that last spell of the game.

It did feel cautious. But better going into the second leg as it stands, than chasing a deficit.

 

[Monk]

Much better response (yes Old Nick including the fans. 
 

They’re there for the taking. Hats off to Peretz, Bree and THB. Stewart did well.

[Willo of Whiteley]

4 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Thought Hellberg came across well there tbf. Said that it's not a motivation because PL status is on the line and that's enough for the players. Then said he has no issue with the Saints fans or players because they didn't know what was happening and it wasn't them doing it. Said if anything he feels a bit sorry for them being caught up in the middle of everything and that our club shouldn't put its players and fans in this position

I wonder if he’ll feel the same after we knock them out on Tuesday 

[S-Clarke]

The first half was honking in terms of an attacking or threatening performance, but defensively I thought we were excellent - especially THB, all throughout that game. Some crucial blocks from Bree too, great couple of saves from Pertez. We had to ride the storm. There was always going to be a storm, their players were wound up, stoked up, they were always going to come out blazing - I don't think anyone expected us to be so passive about it though, we didn't even try to get in their faces.

We escaped that first half through sheer luck and some heroic determination, it has to be said. It wasn't the sort of half we'll remember, but those sort of back to the wall performances often mean a lot more in the bigger picture.

2nd half was better, the biggest change up wasn't the players per-say - we started playing higher up the pitch, we kept getting stuck down in the flanks in the first half and Fellows was right up next to Bree - so we never had an outlet. We started the 2nd half better, they did come into it a little bit after that, but ultimately we regained the control of the game. Amazingly we could have won it somehow.

Larin wasn't great, but I think he struggled because we weren't high enough, he was holding it up well but no one was ever close enough to him to feed off the scraps or the 2nd balls, so whilst it looked like he was always giving it away...I don't think anyone got close enough or higher up around him to actually make use of what we were trying to do. Fellows was poor, too weak on the ball and he caused Bree so many problems in that first half because he kept losing the ball. Leo didn't have his best game, nor did Azaz - but ultimately that's because for most of that game, certainly the first half, we didn't play high enough so they never got into the game, there was never any space for the attackers.

If you told me we'd have a 0-0 earlier today, and certainly at HT, I'd have said thanks...we'll take that, no dramas. Because of the first half it feels like a bit of a victory, because I noticed the Boro fans and players - they looked so dejected at the end, downtrodden in fact. Even their manager was a bit resigned at the end, talking about needing a bigger squad profile. If we start hard and fast on Tuesday, just like they did against us, we'll have the tie done before they can even realise they're in Southampton IMO.

Edited 3 hours ago by S-Clarke

[Saint_lambden]

Defences win play-offs. It's tournament football effectively and as poor as we were at the top end of the pitch, we did enough to come away with the clean sheet. They will know that was a big opportunity missed.

Stewart and Matsuki in on Tuesday. 

[davefizzy14]

Very happy with that. Defensively brilliant from us. Some great blocks from Bree and THB. Peretz making some great saves too. We soaked up pressure in the first half. Second half we pushed higher up the pitch and we hit the woodwork through THB, such a good header and delivery from Manning. Edozie nearly grabbing one late on after a lovely team move. We can take this into Tuesday and win the tie - COYR 😊 

Edited 3 hours ago by davefizzy14

[Saint Marky]

2 hours ago, sfc4prem said:

Are you one too? Divided we fall. Shame everyone can't be a liberal lefty socialist like me.

Yeah, vote green, what could go wrong?

[hypochondriac]

14 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

The team selection Tuesday will be interesting.

Matsuki and Stewart would start for me.

And Charles.

[CSA96]

Eckert walked out of the press conference apparently. Kept getting loads of questions on the spying investigation even after he'd addressed some previous questions. Club press officer told the media there's not much more to be said, Tonda has already addressed it, there's a club statement out and to move on and talk about today's game and Tuesday's game or they'd be leaving. Someone tried again and Tonda and the press officer left

Edited 3 hours ago by CSA96

[Holmes_and_Watson]

7 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

The team selection Tuesday will be interesting.

Matsuki and Stewart would start for me.

It will be, as will Tonda's plan.

Larin and Fellows has parts to play today, even when it was hard going for them. 

Larin didn't win much. Nor did he hold much up. But he did act as a focal point, when we didn't have much support around him. Shout out for a very good tackle not long before he went off too.

I prefer Fellows when Stewart is on.  that's also because we're more attacking generally when that's happening. You could argue that Matsuki would have given us more fight in support for the first half.

But then Tonda might have brought Fellows and Charles on, and we might have lost a bit of steel that we had in Matsuki later on.

Tough calls. But everyone plays their part, even on the tough days for them.

[LGTL]

They looked completely demoralised at full time. That was their big chance and they know it.

In the end, disappointed not to win the game with those two great chances, but we’ll take them back to St Mary’s. 

In case anyone was unsure too, Middlesbrough is an absolutely fucking cesspit. Cold, miserable, bleak place. 

[saintant]

17 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Thought Jander was very good again today as well, very good ball recoveries and always looking to go forward with the ball.

One of the few who decided to show up in the first half.

[Graffito]

27 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

No idea, like, what you, like, mean.....

He has a speech impediment. People with speech impediments use so called crutch words to get past blockages and continue speaking. Great credit to him for doing interviews. I listened to what he said rather than how he said it and I thought he spoke well. 

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Eckert walked out of the press conference apparently. Kept getting loads of questions on the spying investigation even after he'd addressed some previous questions. Club press officer told the media there's not much more to be said, Tonda has already addressed it, there's a club statement out and to move on and talk about today's game and Tuesday's game or they'd be leaving. Someone tried again and Tonda and the press officer left

I don't know what the press were thinking he was going to say? What are they hoping to get from him?

It was the same as the Sky reporter, trying to coax a reaction out of him, portraying it like we've done some sort of heinous crime.

Someone stood on top of a public hill and took some photos. Boro and the Media need to get over themselves.

[Colinjb]

Just now, Graffito said:

He has a speech impediment. People with speech impediments use so called crutch words to get past blockages and continue speaking. Great credit to him for doing interviews. I listened to what he said rather than how he said it and I thought he spoke well. 

I am happy to be made aware of this. Thankyou.

[RedArmy]

They’ll know that’s one foot in the door for Saints. 
 

prime will still saints finishing for them today. 
 

 

[Saint86]

Just to go back to this, there is no way they can argue saints received a significant sporting advantage from any alleged spying.

Boro bottled their big chance, all the media shit storm and mind games have come to naught.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Saint86

[Roo1976]

43 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

2nd half was at least an improvement on woeful 1st. Charles/stewart/edozie had an impact.

just watched the highlights and  i think if stewart had crossed the ball lower on the ground edozie would have been clearer on target rather than slightly stopping................imo though.

 

[die Mannyschaft]

Unbelievable performance by Saints.  EFL contacted Saints at 9am this morning and ordered them to give Boro the first half as spy compensation which we did very very well. Saints much better 2nd half and subs made difference,  could have nicked a win ! Lets get the home win now.

[stknowle]

53 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

I agree.  Thought what he said was very good.

Plus 1. He also played bloody well.

[Patrick Bateman]

17 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Eckert walked out of the press conference apparently. Kept getting loads of questions on the spying investigation even after he'd addressed some previous questions. Club press officer told the media there's not much more to be said, Tonda has already addressed it, there's a club statement out and to move on and talk about today's game and Tuesday's game or they'd be leaving. Someone tried again and Tonda and the press officer left

The press conferences have always been a pointless circus anyway. We've watched the match, why we need constant questions and over-analysis is beyond me, same applies to Match of the Day too and constantly drawing bloody triangles on the screen to make a point. Just OTT. 

Rather than walk out, would prefer the Strachan approach talking about out of date yoghurts or something similar. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Patrick Bateman

[Willo of Whiteley]

Ah this’ll be the next story: Saints manager storms out under pressure 😂

[saintant]

48 minutes ago, Addict54 said:

Edozie effort was agonising. This is the worst place in England and it’s fecking freezing; can’t wait to get back down south. 

It wasn't a particularly bad attempt from Edozie but did anyone really expect him to slot it into the bottom corner? I know I didn't and when he got through I just assumed he'd miss.

[Patrick Bateman]

5 minutes ago, saintant said:

It wasn't a particularly bad attempt from Edozie but did anyone really expect him to slot it into the bottom corner? I know I didn't and when he got through I just assumed he'd miss.

Think the keeper had that corner covered anyway so had it been on target I think it would've been saved, THB's header was the best chance.