Saints v Stoke - Match Thread

[SNSUN]

2 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

1-1. A whole host of chances missed. 

That is the nightmare scenario we face today.

 

Nightmare scenario would be a huge loss and Peretz and Larin ruled out for the season…

[Disco Stu]

7 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

Manning is a right headache, he is all over the place and so poor defensively but he supply's some great balls in and chips in with assists and goals but not good enough for a lm/lw

His positioning is consistently terrible.

[hypochondriac]

Peretz
Bree Wood Stephens Manning
Matsuki Downes
Fellows Azaz Scienza
Larin

Is my predicted team which tbh is pretty poor. Concerns in central midfield, Matsuki too lightweight to play in the middle so no proper partner for Downes. Weak at cb obviously. 

[davefizzy14]

3-0 to us today - Larin, Scienza and Mubama to score 😊 COYR 😊

[redandwhitey]

1 hour ago, sockeye said:

Tbf not so sure of a win now, playing against an invisible team might be too much for Saints

We missed a trick there, surely should have been our away kit ???

[suewhistle]

And I thought our away kit was bad! At least you can see it against the pitch.

[Jack]

53 minutes ago, danjosaint said:

Manning is a right headache, he is all over the place and so poor defensively but he supply's some great balls in and chips in with assists and goals but not good enough for a lm/lw

Yeah Manning is a liability at the back, would prefer Welington against the more competent attacking sides. Manning is useful going forward when we’re on top, loves to cough up a chance for the opposition though 

[SaintsLoyal]

Im already for the match 

 

 

[suewhistle]

28 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

And I thought our away kit was bad! At least you can see it against the pitch.

Load of Stokies in the pub. It looks no better in the flesh!

[BranfootsLoveChild]

Bloody hell. SR havn't even offered a free ice cream like last season. It's a disgrace. Although there is a van selling them for a fiver 😅

[Winnersaint]

Saints get off to a flying start for 10 mins until they give Scienza a whack. Give away a goal from a set piece due to no THB or a ricket from one of the usual suspects. Play slows as Saints create very little until half time. Come out with more urgency at the start of the second half but get caught on the break. Larin scores but Saints continue to labour and create few chances going down 1-2. Carbon copy of Watford. On the other hand!

[Saint NL]

No THB and Azaz starts.

 

[egg]

Just now, Saint NL said:

No THB and Azaz starts.

 

As expected. 

[Jack]

Meltdown commencing in…

Being serious, 3 out of that 4 are capable of being really, really shit defensively. Spors has got a lot of work to do. Ideally you wouldn’t want either Stephens or Wood as your starting CB for a promotion push 

[SouSaint]

Matsuki at CM and a terrible CB pairing. 

Plenty of work to be done in the transfer window. 

[tdmickey3]

captain calamity is there so it’s all fine

2 minutes ago, egg said:

As expected. 

[tdmickey3]

1 minute ago, SouSaint said:

Matsuki at CM and a terrible CB pairing. 

Plenty of work to be done in the transfer window. 

He is not a cm, what is he thinking 

[LGTL]

CM and CB are an absolute disaster. Spors is aware the transfer window is already open isn’t he? 

Saints needing to wait until the end of the transfer window is quickly becoming the new ‘but agent fees’. 

[tdmickey3]

1 minute ago, LGTL said:

CM and CB are an absolute disaster. Spors is aware the transfer window is already open isn’t he? 

Saints needing to wait until the end of the transfer window is quickly becoming the new ‘but agent fees’. 

Never proactive always reactive is our style

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Oh dear. Surely the club would have foreseen some team coming in for THB and prepped for it.

Have to hope Stephens doesn't repeat last week and Wood steps up.

[Gloucester Saint]

4 minutes ago, SouSaint said:

Matsuki at CM and a terrible CB pairing. 

Plenty of work to be done in the transfer window. 

Bragg had a very poor game last week but Matsuki got over-run centrally at Colchester, so what hope does he have today?

Stoke the favourites to get the points today with that line up. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

As expected. Hideously weak in midfield. Central defence not much better. 

[Edmonton Saint]

I don’t get the keeper situation. Whilst Ramsdale and even Bazunu are here , aren’t they better options on bench than Long? What happens if something happens to Peretz and we have to shove Long in behind a back four already missing THB?

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, Edmonton Saint said:

I don’t get the keeper situation. Whilst Ramsdale and even Bazunu are here , aren’t they better options on bench than Long? What happens if something happens to Peretz and we have to shove Long in behind a back four already missing THB?

I'd be more comfortable with Long over Bazunu.

[tdmickey3]

Just now, Edmonton Saint said:

I don’t get the keeper situation. Whilst Ramsdale and even Bazunu are here , aren’t they better options on bench than Long? What happens if something happens to Peretz and we have to shove Long in behind a back four already missing THB?

Ramsdale would make sense but never ever ever again should Bazunu play

[tdmickey3]

CB and cm are weak, no disrespect to Downes but he cannot do it all

[Patches O Houlihan]

I heard that Long signed his contract based on being No2

Even he would agree that Ramsdale is a step up whilst here though

[Saint NL]

The subs bench is looking pretty sparse too, lots of young prospects but not much proven quality

[Sir Ralph]

Spine looks weaker now need another CD and CM this week

[ant]

Shouldn't overlook that the bench is especially lacking for supposed automatic promotion contenders. 

Huge pressure in the coming week to shift some deadwood and to reinforce.

Edited 2 hours ago by ant

[tdmickey3]

1 minute ago, Saint NL said:

The subs bench is looking pretty sparse too, lots of young prospects but not much proven quality

A hell of a lot to do in what remains of transfer window

[leesaint88]

1 minute ago, Sir Ralph said:

Spine looks weaker now need another CD and CM this week

Hopefully. Two good signings in those positions and it’ll all be rainbows & unicorns again. 

[SNSUN]

5 minutes ago, Edmonton Saint said:

I don’t get the keeper situation. Whilst Ramsdale and even Bazunu are here , aren’t they better options on bench than Long? What happens if something happens to Peretz and we have to shove Long in behind a back four already missing THB?

Exactly. Peretz + Ramsdale = Great pair of keepers for the Championship. Peretz +Long or Baz, not so much. But the club clearly want Ramsdale's wages off the bill and that's why he's frozen out. Long better not be our back up for the season but right now he's in the first team reckoning.

I question SR's decision making a lot, but earlier this year I thought they were trying to get something right, until Spygate. They have 10 days left of the window to make good decisions again.

 

[benjii]

I like that team. Downes / Matsuki would have been my pick.

[Willo of Whiteley]

15 minutes ago, SouSaint said:

Matsuki at CM and a terrible CB pairing. 

Plenty of work to be done in the transfer window. 

And not much time to do it in.

I imagine they’ll be two or three more signings.

No BBD in the squad either. As well as Downs, Ramsdale, Bazunu, Sugawara etc.

[stknowle]

1 minute ago, leesaint88 said:

Hopefully. Two good signings in those positions and it’ll all be rainbows & unicorns again. 

We need 3 key signings. CB, CM, CF. In fact 2 CB’s wouldn’t go amiss. Let’s see how we crack on but as others have said loads to do.

[SNSUN]

2 minutes ago, benjii said:

I like that team. Downes / Matsuki would have been my pick.

4-1-4-1 I wonder...

[LGTL]

5 minutes ago, ant said:

Shouldn't overlook that the bench is especially lacking for supposed automatic promotion contenders. 

Huge pressure in the coming week to shift some deadwood and to reinforce.

That squad is absolutely nowhere near automatic promotion contenders.

Last year was the weakest the league has been for years, unfortunately think we’re all in for a very rude awakening. 

[Cuddles]

12 minutes ago, Edmonton Saint said:

 

That'll do pig. That'll do.

[OttawaSaint]

Guess THB is gone. Lineup looks as weak as piss. Hard to get excited about this season.

I feel like spygate broke something inside of me.

[sadoldgit]

Meanwhile Ballard had put Bristol City 2-1 up…

[egg]

15 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

CB and cm are weak, no disrespect to Downes but he cannot do it all

Yep. I'd imagine we'll be more 4141 today. Signings are desperately needed. 

[ant]

4 minutes ago, LGTL said:

That squad is absolutely nowhere near automatic promotion contenders.

Last year was the weakest the league has been for years, unfortunately think we’re all in for a very rude awakening. 

Have felt like this for much of the summer, but kept quiet as the prevailing opinion was so opposed. 

I appreciate a lot of our quality was signed late in the window last year, but I have fears about expecting Spors to keep pulling rabbits from hats. 

And frankly I'm not sure we can afford a slow start. I don't believe the second half of this season will go the same way as 25-26 did.

[SouSaint]

3 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Guess THB is gone. Lineup looks as weak as piss. Hard to get excited about this season.

I feel like spygate broke something inside of me.

Agree with this. Shambles that the club got away with null and voiding an entire season. 

[hypochondriac]

We better win today or I can feel a proper meltdown coming on. Really it should not be acceptable to field such a weak team. Central midfield in particular is really bad.

[tdmickey3]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

We better win today or I can feel a proper meltdown coming on. Really it should not be acceptable to field such a weak team. Central midfield in particular is really bad.

It’s a must win. 

[Gloucester Saint]

5 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Meanwhile Ballard had put Bristol City 2-1 up…

Stunner of a backheel volley as well. Tolaj has also looked very handy. 

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, SouSaint said:

Agree with this. Shambles that the club got away with null and voiding an entire season. 

They mostly only got away with it because they said all the right things and got the fans excited again. That's only going to last until the end of the window if they don't get the right signings in. Have to win today or they will be in trouble.

[hypochondriac]

Just now, tdmickey3 said:

It’s a must win. 

Agreed. For a number of reasons.

[tdmickey3]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

They mostly only got away with it because they said all the right things and got the fans excited again. That's only going to last until the end of the window if they don't get the right signings in. Have to win today or they will be in trouble.

You seem to be losing confidence in the signings despite lecturing me 🤣