Saints 3-1 Swansea - Match Thread

[saintant]

As Flynn Downes alluded to some players, and they know who they are, need to step up to the plate and contribute more to the team. No room for passengers, we need all eleven plus subs at it. Despite the Millwall game I don't think we have clicked yet and continue to look disjointed all over the pitch.

[Saint Garrett]

14 minutes ago, trousers said:

Unless I misheard, Alfie said on yesterday's Total Saints podcast that Tonda has indicated that he'll go with a 3 man midfield to counteract Swansea's midfield dominance... Hence were probably looking at Bragg instead of Matsuki with Azaz, Scienza and Larin as a front 3...?

Ah - didnt hear that...interesting.

[BotleySaint]

We need to get at least a point from this one. If we give them the space we gave Lincoln it could be a heavy loss.

[SouthWalesSaints]

9 minutes ago, BotleySaint said:

We need to get at least a point from this one. If we give them the space we gave Lincoln it could be a heavy loss.

What on earth are you on about... 

[BotleySaint]

12 minutes ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

What on earth are you on about... 

Just playing out worst case scenarios in my head  Our defending from crosses was so poor against Lincoln. And we didn't really create much in the first half. If we start slow and weak again I could easily see us going a few goals behind before waking up. We didn't create that much against Lincoln in terms of good chances in the second half.

Given your "Wales" designation I hope this means you are in the know, and we have nothing to worry about

Edited yesterday at 09:46 by BotleySaint

[sockeye]

55 minutes ago, saintant said:

As Flynn Downes alluded to some players, and they know who they are, need to step up to the plate and contribute more to the team. No room for passengers, we need all eleven plus subs at it. Despite the Millwall game I don't think we have clicked yet and continue to look disjointed all over the pitch.

Tonda spoke about some home truths following our bad run around Christmas/New Years, it may be time for some more.

[Charlie Wayman]

This is likely to be a very uncomfortable evening. We have been very hit and miss this season and it is hard to predict which version of Saints will turn up tomorrow. In contrast, Swansea seem to be very consistent in the way they play, quick and accurate in their passing, creative and energetic in midfield, willing runners at the front and a rock solid back four. On Tuesday Wrexham were partially successful in blunting their momentum by playing a very similar game but in the end lucky to come away with a draw. Trying to emulate Wrexham is a big ask.

Our defence has been woeful this season, THB bogged off leaving a gaping hole while Bree & Manning have not reached their standards of last season. Then there is the enigma of Calamity Jack. It doesn't help that Eckert seems not to know which is his stongest back four. I can't see how they will cope with Swansea's fast runners.

There is always an element of uncertainty with these Saints; rumours of dissent and lack of commitment in the ranks suggests that team spirit is not as cohesive as we imagined. All in all not the best recipe for taking on the league pace setters in their pomp.

Sorry guys but this has the feel of a heavy defeat so going for 0-3

Edited yesterday at 10:04 by Charlie Wayman

[Jack]

8 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

We're 5 games in mate. Without the minus four we're only 3 points behind Swansea.

We also weren't outplayed by Birmingham and Lincoln, they were fairly even games as shown by the results.

Millwalls loss to Wrexham was a symptom of them getting destroyed by us - if you look at their lineup, they changed their formation to a 5 at the back after we beat them and it obviously didn't work. They switched back to their usual formation the game after and demolished Bolton.

 

What we aren't doing, and we need to start, is using Mubama the way we were using Stewart last season. Starting Larin every game and hooking him as he gets fatigued earlier and earlier isn't going to work. We need to trust Mubama to start every other game, or at least every third game.

I think it’s fair enough to be concerned with what we’ve seen so far. Yes we’re only 5 games in, but starting on -4 makes it more imperative that we start well. I didn’t say we’ve been terrible, was just countering the point that we’re better than the teams above us, clearly we’re not. We’ve been coughing up far too many big chances and can’t keep a clean sheet, Birmingham should’ve been out of sight by HT for instance, and at Lincoln we scored a 1 in 50 screamer which papers over the cracks. 

 

We can’t use Mubama the way we used Stewart, he’s shown that he’s not up being played that way. So we’ve either got to adapt the way we play to suit him, or gamble that Larin stays fit. 

[SaintLondon]

I think this is going to be a tough watch and a bit of a wake up call (if Lincoln wasn't already) - we have been poor pretty much all season. Milwall scoreline was obviously excellent but the first 25 mins was rubbish and they shit the bed after we scored so whilst impressive; Milwall gifted that to us. Stoke we won but weren't good. It's been middling at best. 

[BotleySaint]

28 minutes ago, SaintLondon said:

I think this is going to be a tough watch and a bit of a wake up call (if Lincoln wasn't already)

I hope that the player do wake up build that momentum again. What made us so resilient toward the end of last season was this full commitment from everyone on the pitch to win. Some of the characters generating that "grit and determination" in the team are gone. Thinking mainly of THB and Charles popping up with vital goals. Even Stewart played with a certain energy; thinking about his excellent two goals to win the game against Sheff Utd.

We don't know yet if we've replaced that with these new guys. We need to start seeing something more from them.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Our lack of squad depth is already hurting us IMO. Last season we would have made some changes for this one to freshen up but there's no one we can really trust.

Larin, Scienza, Bree all carrying a heavy load

Edited yesterday at 11:30 by Ex Lion Tamer

[vectraman]

1 hour ago, Jack said:

 

We can’t use Mubama the way we used Stewart, he’s shown that he’s not up being played that way. So we’ve either got to adapt the way we play to suit him, or gamble that Larin stays fit. 

This is exactly the issue. Mubama is clearly not a big ‘target man’ in the Larin style. He is a forward who wants to run into space onto through balls (as per his goal v Stoke). He has pace, and can finish if he gets a decent chance.

Tonda needs to adapt the way the team play to suit his playing style. Azaz and Scienza are more than capable of threading through balls into him through the defence. We shouldn’t be writing the young man off just yet, play to his strengths and you never know, he might just be decent. Punting long balls up the pitch to him with his back to goal is never going to work, so no point in trying it.

If we wanted another Stewart/ Larin style player we should have signed one. Clearly Spors didn’t, so signed Mubama. Not what I think we needed but I’m not the sporting director and he is!
 

* as a footnote, I don’t really understand why we loaned Archer out as we have no real back up striker if Larin or Mubama get injured. 

 

[sadoldgit]

29 minutes ago, vectraman said:

This is exactly the issue. Mubama is clearly not a big ‘target man’ in the Larin style. He is a forward who wants to run into space onto through balls (as per his goal v Stoke). He has pace, and can finish if he gets a decent chance.

Tonda needs to adapt the way the team play to suit his playing style. Azaz and Scienza are more than capable of threading through balls into him through the defence. We shouldn’t be writing the young man off just yet, play to his strengths and you never know, he might just be decent. Punting long balls up the pitch to him with his back to goal is never going to work, so no point in trying it.

If we wanted another Stewart/ Larin style player we should have signed one. Clearly Spors didn’t, so signed Mubama. Not what I think we needed but I’m not the sporting director and he is!
 

* as a footnote, I don’t really understand why we loaned Archer out as we have no real back up striker if Larin or Mubama get injured. 

 

Archer plays more like Mubama than Larin.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

This is likely to be a very uncomfortable evening. We have been very hit and miss this season and it is hard to predict which version of Saints will turn up tomorrow. In contrast, Swansea seem to be very consistent in the way they play, quick and accurate in their passing, creative and energetic in midfield, willing runners at the front and a rock solid back four. On Tuesday Wrexham were partially successful in blunting their momentum by playing a very similar game but in the end lucky to come away with a draw. Trying to emulate Wrexham is a big ask.

Our defence has been woeful this season, THB bogged off leaving a gaping hole while Bree & Manning have not reached their standards of last season. Then there is the enigma of Calamity Jack. It doesn't help that Eckert seems not to know which is his stongest back four. I can't see how they will cope with Swansea's fast runners.

There is always an element of uncertainty with these Saints; rumours of dissent and lack of commitment in the ranks suggests that team spirit is not as cohesive as we imagined. All in all not the best recipe for taking on the league pace setters in their pomp.

Sorry guys but this has the feel of a heavy defeat so going for 0-3

Demonstrates we've fallen quite far considering the way we demolished them 5-1 at their place last season. We need to get at least somewhere near those levels and quickly.

[Mr X]

2 hours ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

What on earth are you on about... 

What are you not understanding? What he said made sense to me 🤔 

[SouthWalesSaints]

14 minutes ago, Mr X said:

What are you not understanding? What he said made sense to me 🤔 

Lincoln didn't have loads of space. We had 60+% of the ball.... 

Lincoln play so differently to Swansea, it's not even worth comparing the two games. 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

Lincoln didn't have loads of space. We had 60+% of the ball.... 

Lincoln play so differently to Swansea, it's not even worth comparing the two games. 

That's a meaningless statistic which doesn’t apply when discussing space in your own defensive area.  You have to consider what they are doing with their 35% of the ball. 

[Mr X]

36 minutes ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

Lincoln didn't have loads of space. We had 60+% of the ball.... 

Lincoln play so differently to Swansea, it's not even worth comparing the two games. 

I think he's referring to giving lincoln attackers way too much space to get their shot away in the box and not closing them down quick enough or with enough commitment .... A thing we're possession statistics are totally irrelevant 

[Toadhall Saint]

Is this on sky?

Edited yesterday at 14:36 by Toadhall Saint

[SouthWalesSaints]

21 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Is this on sky?

£20 per ticket 

[saintant]

25 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Is this on sky?

It's on Sky Sports +

[Toadhall Saint]

41 minutes ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

£20 per ticket 

Not helpful

[Toadhall Saint]

39 minutes ago, saintant said:

It's on Sky Sports +

Helpful - thanks

[Stu Man Do]

Start Larin but when DM comes on get Dobbin or another to play as a 2nd striker and hope they can work off each other to keep the ball higher up the pitch.

[macca155]

I can't say I share the general level of doom on here. We haven't suddenly become a basket case of a club, wobbly as a proverbial wobbly thing though.

Tonda clearly needs time on the training ground to get these new players to gel. Critically find a way of playing Mubama, we need him firing.

It's only Swansea, for goodness sake. They are clearly a useful outfit, but so are Saints.

Players need to believe in themselves, and play Swansea as equals.

Feels like a draw, but if Saints click they should have enough to win this game.

[Maury Dyer]

Sorry to go back this. Can somebody help me.

met a bloke who was linesman, often ran the line at the Dell in Lauries time, 1970s.

who was the Hungarian player in the first team back then. ?

[dsrdorset]

anyone else having issues with the ticket app? When it does eventually let me sign in, there's no tickets showing (The Swansea ones were there the other day)

 

It's fucking shit. 

[Maury Dyer]

Sorry. I think he means Ivan Golac, the Yuguslavian.

Would be be in the team under Lawrie Mac ??

[die Mannyschaft]

9 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

This is likely to be a very uncomfortable evening. We have been very hit and miss this season and it is hard to predict which version of Saints will turn up tomorrow. In contrast, Swansea seem to be very consistent in the way they play, quick and accurate in their passing, creative and energetic in midfield, willing runners at the front and a rock solid back four. On Tuesday Wrexham were partially successful in blunting their momentum by playing a very similar game but in the end lucky to come away with a draw. Trying to emulate Wrexham is a big ask.

Our defence has been woeful this season, THB bogged off leaving a gaping hole while Bree & Manning have not reached their standards of last season. Then there is the enigma of Calamity Jack. It doesn't help that Eckert seems not to know which is his stongest back four. I can't see how they will cope with Swansea's fast runners.

There is always an element of uncertainty with these Saints; rumours of dissent and lack of commitment in the ranks suggests that team spirit is not as cohesive as we imagined. All in all not the best recipe for taking on the league pace setters in their pomp.

Sorry guys but this has the feel of a heavy defeat so going for 0-3

Our defence has been woeful this season

hard to predict which version of Saints will turn up

The two factors need sorting out before December. We only need 77,78 or 79 points for 8th so even with our terrible defence should achieve that. We won't play another team like Millwall at home again with a defence as bad as ours. 

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Maury Dyer said:

Sorry. I think he means Ivan Golac, the Yuguslavian.

Would be be in the team under Lawrie Mac ??

Golac signed in August 1978 after our promotion to First Division. Lawrie was manager. 

[Britannia]

1 hour ago, dsrdorset said:

anyone else having issues with the ticket app? When it does eventually let me sign in, there's no tickets showing (The Swansea ones were there the other day)

 

It's fucking shit. 

Implementation is poor.  

It will not look for new tickets loaded automatically.  Pull down to refresh.

[Dr Who?]

We will win this, like we did against a ‘strong’ Millwall side. I’m going to Annan home game like I did while Saints were playing Millwall. Don’t worry lads and lasses I have got this one and the same on Saturday Annan home game…thank me later! 
 

If we lose I’m not going to Annan game on Saturday, sod that, but as long as it continues I am happy to support my local Scottish team. 

[ally_uk]

Smash the cunts 2-0 up the saints! 

[SW11_Saint]

10 hours ago, vectraman said:

This is exactly the issue. Mubama is clearly not a big ‘target man’ in the Larin style. He is a forward who wants to run into space onto through balls (as per his goal v Stoke). He has pace, and can finish if he gets a decent chance.

Tonda needs to adapt the way the team play to suit his playing style. Azaz and Scienza are more than capable of threading through balls into him through the defence. We shouldn’t be writing the young man off just yet, play to his strengths and you never know, he might just be decent. Punting long balls up the pitch to him with his back to goal is never going to work, so no point in trying it.

If we wanted another Stewart/ Larin style player we should have signed one. Clearly Spors didn’t, so signed Mubama. Not what I think we needed but I’m not the sporting director and he is!
 

* as a footnote, I don’t really understand why we loaned Archer out as we have no real back up striker if Larin or Mubama get injured. 

 

🎯

[LiberalCommunist]

Hey Tonda,

Don't worry about resting players, don't worry about the hour mark protection, go strongest from the offset and don't give them an inch. We have three games in 11 days then a massive unwanted international break. Minimum of seven points or you need to adjust expectations.

Get to work. The grace period is over. 

 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

On 07/09/2026 at 06:59, StrangelyBrown said:

Why would we trust mubama? He's shown nothing to suggest he fits into the system, plus he doesn't look like he's arsed. It is a mighty cock up by recruitment that will likely cost us autos.

Against Stoke, he looked quite good in his cameo, but perhaps he was more motivated in that game. He doesn't seem to have that natural instinct of being in the right place at the right time but it's early days and I much prefer a lump up front than another Adam Armstrong.

Thought Birmingham were a good side with a good press and good movement on the ball, so a draw there was a reasonable result. Lincoln, on the other hand, was a setback and hopefully Tonda has learned by the mistakes he made and in future will be more flexible on substitutions and forget thinking resorting to a back 5 strengthens the defence. They can't score when the ball is in their half!

Expecting a win this evening and Abbott to start.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Hey Tonda,

Don't worry about resting players, don't worry about the hour mark protection, go strongest from the offset and don't give them an inch. We have three games in 11 days then a massive unwanted international break. Minimum of seven points or you need to adjust expectations.

Get to work. The grace period is over. 

 

Agree, play the game in front of you not the one coming up.

[saintant]

I hope our midfield is more progressive today. The problem is, neither Downes or JWP are players that look to drive the team forward. As good as they are they are both more comfortable recycling which doesn't get the ball up the pitch often enough or quickly enough. I suspect Matsuki may be dropped a little deeper on the right against Swansea to help provide some energy and much needed thrust in midfield. It's not an ideal solution and this issue is the one I most feared when we brought JWP back to the club. It's early days and hopefully Tonda will manage to blend the midfield to be more offensive.

[Wade Garrett]

23 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

This is likely to be a very uncomfortable evening. We have been very hit and miss this season and it is hard to predict which version of Saints will turn up tomorrow. In contrast, Swansea seem to be very consistent in the way they play, quick and accurate in their passing, creative and energetic in midfield, willing runners at the front and a rock solid back four. On Tuesday Wrexham were partially successful in blunting their momentum by playing a very similar game but in the end lucky to come away with a draw. Trying to emulate Wrexham is a big ask.

Our defence has been woeful this season, THB bogged off leaving a gaping hole while Bree & Manning have not reached their standards of last season. Then there is the enigma of Calamity Jack. It doesn't help that Eckert seems not to know which is his stongest back four. I can't see how they will cope with Swansea's fast runners.

There is always an element of uncertainty with these Saints; rumours of dissent and lack of commitment in the ranks suggests that team spirit is not as cohesive as we imagined. All in all not the best recipe for taking on the league pace setters in their pomp.

Sorry guys but this has the feel of a heavy defeat so going for 0-3

Rumours of dissent and lack of commitment?  Haven't read that myself.

[leesaint88]

14 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Rumours of dissent and lack of commitment?  Haven't read that myself.

Probably put two and two together after the Downes comments following Lincoln. 

[AlexLaw76]

If I head it right on the TSP, Swansea are top of the charts for winning the ball back in their attacking 3rd.

We like to ping it bout at the back a little. 

One thing is for sure, we have to actually win the midfield battle. As per TSP, believe Bragg will come in with JWP and Downes, that other either Matsuki tucks in (and will largely be shite)

[Charlie Wayman]

22 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

If I head it right on the TSP, Swansea are top of the charts for winning the ball back in their attacking 3rd.

We like to ping it bout at the back a little. 

One thing is for sure, we have to actually win the midfield battle. As per TSP, believe Bragg will come in with JWP and Downes, that other either Matsuki tucks in (and will largely be shite)

Hate to waste a post on trivia but I can't for the life of me understand your last sentence (?)

[SNSUN]

Peretz, Bree, Jack, Schlott, Welington, Downes, JWP, Kuryu, Azaz, Scienza, Larin.

 

We made hard work of Lincoln, a lot of that was because of Tonda's subs but a) we are better at home and b) we seem to be doing better against the tougher teams. Only one league loss this season and that was to a wonder goal. Keep the faith people - the first team is good, the squad players will just have to perform better.

[CSA96]

I'm expecting the lineup for this one to be:

Peretz; Bree, Wood, Schlotterbeck, Manning; Downes, Bragg, Ward-Prowse; Azaz, Scienza; Larin

[skintsaint]

Its alright, what you need is to play against Saints to get up and running as per...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce8xzejr2d5o

[Saint86]

We've struggled against the 3 "park the bus and counter" physical sides we've played this season (watford, brum, lincoln - all away as wel), this has skewed current fan perceptions. Fortunately Swansea are not one of those sides. We should be well up for this as its a chance to play our game with no excuses about being kicked off the ball, out-muscled, or needing 5 players defenders to defend the crosses (that they are unable to defend against because they're all too deep - but i digress into my disgust at 5 at the back).

Rock up, play our game - let them worry about the quality of Azaz, Scienza, Larin, JWP and fellows in the attack/midfield. Let Downes and JWP press their midfield and win the ball back. And under no circumstances switch to a back 5, stand off them, and invite them to attack us. The best form of defense is attack for saints. Keep the ball and be "brave". Do that, and we'll have too much for them.

Also, start SchexyWood as our defensive pairing - we will need the pace of wood to defend against the counter. And Schexybeck is our best defender and picks himself 😎😍

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Saint86

[Baird of the land]

3 hours ago, CSA96 said:

I'm expecting the lineup for this one to be:

Peretz; Bree, Wood, Schlotterbeck, Manning; Downes, Bragg, Ward-Prowse; Azaz, Scienza; Larin

I really hope we don't plan on starting those 3 in midfield. 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

49 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

I really hope we don't plan on starting those 3 in midfield. 

Surely Downes and JWP will be regular starters. Then it's a question of who else. They tried Matsuki but that didn't work. Jander is injured so we are a little short in midfield.

[saintant]

Is there a presser for this game?

[austsaint]

17 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Surely Downes and JWP will be regular starters. Then it's a question of who else. They tried Matsuki but that didn't work. Jander is injured so we are a little short in midfield.

As Baird of the Land suggests though, if it’s a midfield three of JWP, Bragg and Downes, essentially you’ve got a recycling midfield and just one running player in Scienza.   The balance looks wrong.