Saints 3-1 Stoke - Match Thread

[ChristopheVAFC]

FULL TIME STATISTICS

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, St Chalet said:

Never in doubt! #WeMarchOn

I'll admit I did have some doubt at half time.

 

 

 

Sorry no, trout. I had some trout at half time.

[Baird of the land]

Massively needed win. 

Really need spors to get transfer business done urgently though.

[ant]

What a few minutes. 😅

Bloody good to nick the 3 points - and no bad thing to do so whilst off the boil - but ample reminders throughout of the need for recruitment.

Fair play to Tonda on the implementation and timing of the subs. Made decent use of what's currently available to him.

[kwsaint]

I am very pleased for Blackburn as well…

[Jimmy_D]

GERRRRRRRRIIIIIN  

[St Louis]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Win without spying, we can win without spying, win without spying…..

Very assumptive! Or were you spying on our analysts?

[James]

Great result. West Ham losing at home, Boro losing too. Lovely afternoon.

[Harry_SFC]

Dobbin looked much more lively than Scienza that's for sure.

[Eire Saint]

Two points off West Ham. 

[austsaint]

4 minutes ago, ant said:

What a few minutes. 😅

Bloody good to nick the 3 points - and no bad thing to do so whilst off the boil - but ample reminders throughout of the need for recruitment.

Fair play to Tonda on the implementation and timing of the subs. Made decent use of what's currently available to him.

Subs made a huge difference.  Confident Dobbin is going to be a good player for us; likewise Mubama has something about him - great finish after the Dobbin, Azaz build up.     Much better second half - it's obvious where the recruitment is needed at cm, cb and ideally another striker.   Downes our best today, and Matsuki, though not a cm, did well but will need to drop the Sugawara "off your feet" tackling style quick smart.   Massive win while not playing well and with key player losses.

[Paul_B]

Well I wasn't expecting that after checking the scores at 85mins! 

Great to see Mubama getting a goal too!

[Golac's Iron Gonads]

Sweet Cyle Larin

Good times never seemed so good

 

[HKsaint]

9 minutes ago, James said:

Great result. West Ham losing at home, Boro losing too. Lovely afternoon.

Will boro sue us for this lost?

[Patrick Bateman]

2 minutes ago, Golac's Iron Gonads said:

Sweet Cyle Larin

Good times never seemed so good

 

My 50th party today so we were't there, but great result and I love sweet Cyle Larin ... will be slurring that all night ... 

[Vancouver Saint]

Is it fair to call that an unconvincing 3-1 win?

I missed the first 15 mins and thought Stoke were the better team for the rest of the first half I saw. Saints better in the second half - and a great goal from Muamba to win it.

Am I the only one who thought Edozie was offside for the penalty? Glad it wasn't called but from the one angle I saw he looked well off. 

To be clear - very happy with the win and three points - much-needed, but if it had finished 1-1 we couldn't have had too many complaints I feel. Just trying to manage my own expectations here - we hardly dominated a team that finished 17th last season with a manager who is apparently disenfranchised.

[Dan Johnson]

First and second goals are quality, thought Edozie was offside for the pen.

Scenzia miles off it today, offered nothing. 

Need to strengthen in the midfield and at CB. 
 

[trousers]

Just got in from from a birthday gathering... I'd venture this thread's going to be an entertaining read back...

[OneMrsWallace]

8 minutes ago, Paul_B said:

Well I wasn't expecting that after checking the scores at 85mins! 

Great to see Mubama getting a goal too!

I checked at 88mins - equally surprised! Replace Charles and THB with decent signings and we can really kick on. 

[Dr Who?]

Was planing a bathroom door and rehanging and only caught the last 5 minutes… good move! 

[RedArmy]

If we could keep a volley down we’d have scored 5 or 6. 
 

 

Not sure we need to worry about anyone chucking a big bid in for Scienza. He’s been figured out, stick 2 men in his face when he gets the ball and give him a few kicks and he does nothing. 

 

[saint michael]

6 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

Was planing a bathroom door and rehanging and only caught the last 5 minutes… good move! 

Are you claiming an assist?

[stfrancisofbenali]

Great win but sorry, we are way off it and need to be so much better to get anything from Millwall. 

[Swaythling Saint]

Just divine! Missed the match, will watch the highlights later 

[Oh no Mick Mills]

Poor first half , dominant second. 

Deserved the win. 

Both strikers on the scoresheet.

Happy weekend everyone 

 

[Patches O Houlihan]

16 minutes ago, Vancouver Saint said:

Is it fair to call that an unconvincing 3-1 win?

To be clear - very happy with the win and three points - much-needed, but if it had finished 1-1 we couldn't have had too many complaints I feel. Just trying to manage my own expectations here - we hardly dominated a team that finished 17th last season with a manager who is apparently disenfranchised.

Johansen dislocated his shoulder early in the season and didn't;t play agin until their last game. Stoke signed Bazunu and he was out injured for months from day 2. So they had a junior in goal for most of the season. Stoke looked pretty good before that.

[Harry_SFC]

3 minutes ago, stfrancisofbenali said:

Great win but sorry, we are way off it and need to be so much better to get anything from Millwall. 

Doesn't help when the best player from last season (THB) isn't playing, another one seems to have given up (Scienza) and another is injured (Jander) 

[Patches O Houlihan]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

Doesn't help when the best player from last season (THB) isn't playing, another one seems to have given up (Scienza) and another is injured (Jander) 

and we sold the fourth best, and lost to a contract screw up the firth best... 

[AlexLaw76]

8 minutes ago, Swaythling Saint said:

Just divine! Missed the match, will watch the highlights later 

Once you see the Larin goal Just skip to about the 55th minute 

[Harry_SFC]

2 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

and we sold the fourth best, and lost to a contract screw up the firth best... 

Tbh I don't blame the club for the Stewart situation. They absolutely should have had a replacement for Charles ready to go though. 

[saintant]

The good news is only two teams have won both their games.

[SaintlyAnd]

Really need to get the tempo and speed of play up. Its not a big surprise that goals come when we play fast, one-touch passes forward and through defences rather than pumping in crosses. We have the quality to play that way with Azaz, Leo, Dobbin, Matsuki and Cyle/Divin on the end.

And I don’t think the right side is working.
 

[revolution saint]

28 minutes ago, Vancouver Saint said:

Is it fair to call that an unconvincing 3-1 win?

I missed the first 15 mins and thought Stoke were the better team for the rest of the first half I saw. Saints better in the second half - and a great goal from Muamba to win it.

Am I the only one who thought Edozie was offside for the penalty? Glad it wasn't called but from the one angle I saw he looked well off. 

To be clear - very happy with the win and three points - much-needed, but if it had finished 1-1 we couldn't have had too many complaints I feel. Just trying to manage my own expectations here - we hardly dominated a team that finished 17th last season with a manager who is apparently disenfranchised.

My first reaction was Edozie was offside as well, I’m not quite in line and a little further up so will be interesting to see the highlights but yeah, looked off to me,

[RedArmy]

9 minutes ago, saintant said:

The good news is only two teams have won both their games.

The bad news is only one team started on -4 

[Harry_SFC]

10 minutes ago, SaintlyAnd said:

Really need to get the tempo and speed of play up. Its not a big surprise that goals come when we play fast, one-touch passes forward and through defences rather than pumping in crosses. We have the quality to play that way with Azaz, Leo, Dobbin, Matsuki and Cyle/Divin on the end.

And I don’t think the right side is working.
 

Doesn't help when you've got Stephens and Wood at CB. They are both so slow on the ball. THB is the key in that respect. So his replacement really needs to know how to pass the ball forwards quickly and accurately. 

[SfcPhil]

We needed that, badly. Doesn't matter how we won today, we just needed to make sure we did. The CB pairing and Matsuki in CM did concern me, but the squad will chop and change in the next couple of weeks. We just need points on the board and to get that feel good factor back around the club.

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Scienza had an off day. Midfield is light without Jander, definitely need someone in alongside Downes.

Downes - another good game doing a lot of work by himself.

Good fast transition for the first goal. That's what we were doing last season and need to get back to that.

Mubama, liked his movement when he came on. Hopefully that will get better and nice goal.

Edozie, personally think he can do something at this level and won the penalty.

[Saint Matty 76]

No need to switch up on Scienza just yet but it was another seriously disappointing showing. Good for Dobbin to come on and play well in that position to provide another option there too. Definitely missing a proper CM next to Downes and a CB who can pass a ball.

Mubama great cameo. Azaz comfortable MOTM. Thought Fellows was decent too, our best option out there for me.

[die Mannyschaft]

Two well taken goals

Some players way off the mark making an unbalanced team but I'll take that rather than 1-1 .

Got to bottom Avenue in time to see Stoke coaches off and they couldn't handle Saints fans giving the binoculars gesture. So unless someone comes up with something else its binoculars and we'll spy went we want. Fuck off Stoke went down well also!! 

[adrian lord]

1 hour ago, Wiggles31 said:

Someone I know at the club said Leo just had his first baby. Someone’s clearly been up at 3am most nights! 

That would have been a good 9 months ago though..

[die Mannyschaft]

1 minute ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

No need to switch up on Scienza just yet but it was another seriously disappointing showing. Good for Dobbin to come on and play well in that position to provide another option there too. Definitely missing a proper CM next to Downes and a CB who can pass a ball.

Mubama great cameo. Azaz comfortable MOTM. Thought Fellows was decent too, our best option out there for me.

Scienza looked like an academy player let's hope he gets back to terrorising defenders rather than offering them a cup of coffee.

[coalman]

If we're going with Wood/Stephens then we need more than just Downes to control the midfield in front of them. Matsuki looks lost as a CM. Scienza looks off it on the wing and on the other side Fellows continues to look lost. On the plus side we look so much more likely to score with Azaz in the side, Larin is a goalbeast and Mubama took his chance oh so calmly.

Things are going to be in flux until the transfer window sorts itself out.

[Charlie Wayman]

How much did the team miss THB today? He has been the only true leader on the pitch and his absence probably contributed to the rudderless performance we saw today. Troops are inspired by their section commanders and will fight to the last drop of blood for them. Left to their own devices and chaos ensues. We saw that today as well. We need a new leader and damn quickly.

A win is a win for all that. There have been plenty of times when we deserved to win but didn't so for once it's nice to celebrate a victory that we did not deserve. Big shout out for Larin, at the moment he is red hot; 20 goals this season? Don't rule it out.

Back four were DS as usual. Where's Welly when you need him and Bree just about did enough but he isn't the player we saw last season.

[Ekelund]

10 minutes ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Scienza looked like an academy player let's hope he gets back to terrorising defenders rather than offering them a cup of coffee.

Sulking?

[Sir Ralph]

15 minutes ago, coalman said:

If we're going with Wood/Stephens then we need more than just Downes to control the midfield in front of them. Matsuki looks lost as a CM. Scienza looks off it on the wing and on the other side Fellows continues to look lost. On the plus side we look so much more likely to score with Azaz in the side, Larin is a goalbeast and Mubama took his chance oh so calmly.

Things are going to be in flux until the transfer window sorts itself out.

Matsuki isn’t a CM shouldn’t be playing there

[Baird of the land]

8 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

Matsuki isn’t a CM shouldn’t be playing there

Pathetic that we are in a situation where we've been left so short in that position.

[Give it to Ron]

15 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

How much did the team miss THB today? He has been the only true leader on the pitch and his absence probably contributed to the rudderless performance we saw today. Troops are inspired by their section commanders and will fight to the last drop of blood for them. Left to their own devices and chaos ensues. We saw that today as well. We need a new leader and damn quickly.

A win is a win for all that. There have been plenty of times when we deserved to win but didn't so for once it's nice to celebrate a victory that we did not deserve. Big shout out for Larin, at the moment he is red hot; 20 goals this season? Don't rule it out.

Back four were DS as usual. Where's Welly when you need him and Bree just about did enough but he isn't the player we saw last season.

What did Stoke do to get a draw or win?  Is Bree your whipping boy this year that’s another game you have had a pop at him. Stokes  best player came down his side yet created very little in 90 because Bree defended well and did simple things well,

what would Welly offer at moment considering not done much pre season?

Our win was good but a lot down to Stoke not going for it.

We need a Wanyama type in midfield to let the good players like Azaz play.

Wood can defend but not a ball playing defender he was good today.

Scienza had a shocker and Dobbin did more in 5 than he did all game.

[OneMrsWallace]

1 hour ago, Harry_SFC said:

Tbh I don't blame the club for the Stewart situation. They absolutely should have had a replacement for Charles ready to go though. 

Yet again, this TBH and THB stuff is really screwing up my dyslexia. I'll be fine once he's gone 😄

[stknowle]

1 hour ago, HKsaint said:

Will boro sue us for this lost?

I for one would NOT put it past them HK my old pal. UTS!

[HarvSFC]

Great to get the 3 points on the board, -1 feels a lot different. Not much of a gap at all now between us and the promotion favourites.

Far from a complete performance. Some parts of the match it was like watching a Martin team, very slow and very hard to then break through a defence with everyone in position, because we've allowed them to. We always look dangerous when we play fast and forward, exploiting space. The first goal a prime example. The second goal, one touch beauty and the penalty came from a quick pass to Edozie. Need to keep it up and be more consistent with that play, when we hit teams for 5 last season, Charlton and Wrexham spring to mind, that's what we were doing.

As for Stoke, the ref clearly didn't get the memo of the new faster restart rules. They took their time on everything, and they had players hitting the deck, but not receiving treatment, so they were stopping the game and delaying time, but not facing any repercussions, so teams are still exploiting the time wasting rule. However, as we know, cheats never prosper...

Mubama with his first goal, an excellent finish and composure that we've seen players miss plenty of times over the years. Was the classic Larin/Stewart sub of last season, one goes off, the other is still of a good enough quality to come and give the opposition problems and score. If Larin and Mubama hit double figures individually this season, we won't miss Stewart. Mubama really wanted the penalty as well, he's got a lot of confidence, but also was the first to celebrate with Manning, so hasn't got the ego to sulk about it.

Scienza was really bad today, either got tackled very easily or sent in powderpuff shots that were easily dealt with by their goalkeeper.

The player that got sent off for Stoke was the one that started shoving Stephens around after Stephens tried to get the ball from Johansson, who then went down like he'd been shot. Delightful.

Great day all round, and here's for a good week, hopefully.