Saints 0-0 Bolton - Match Thread

[Nordic Saint]

Just now, Badger said:

Perhaps it’s a good thing the penalty wasn’t given. Imagine how we’d feel if Bazunu stopped it.

I won’t say saved, but it might have hit him in the face (and he’d have claimed it as a save)

BBC Player of the Match today:

Championship: Southampton 0-0 Bolton Wanderers: Trotters frustrate Saints in statemate - BBC Sport

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, Badger said:

Perhaps it’s a good thing the penalty wasn’t given. Imagine how we’d feel if Bazunu stopped it.

I won’t say saved, but it might have hit him in the face (and he’d have claimed it as a save)

Would have either gone wide (Dobbin) or landed in Christchurch (Bree or Scienza). Gavin could have carried on reading his Kindle and drinking his beer untroubled.

[Patches O Houlihan]

9 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Might seem a bit excessive, but we aren’t going up.

Several games this season have been pretty evident we simply aren’t good enough to finish teams off.

 

[stknowle]

38 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

I dont think this is fair. I saw plenty of mixing it up. Early balls over the top (lots of offsides), balls down the wing ending with spurned opportunities, lots of attempts by Azaz to thread the eye of a needle. Of course there will be some recycling and spreading the ball across the pitch, but it wasn't the entirety of our attacking play today.

Agree with that. Didn’t watch it all but wasn’t particularly struck by a lack of enterprise in what I did. Especially the move that ended in the Bree miss. Also Schlotterbeck (who is a fucking excellent defender for this level) should have played Edozie in for what would’ve been a sitter near the end instead of shooting lamely. 

[pingpong]

On 16/10/2026 at 08:17, pingpong said:

With the behemoth that is baz in goal, I'm just hoping we can hold out and grab a 0-0.  It's all about our defence for this one.

Mission achieved. 

[sfc4prem]

14 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

 

 

So fucking shite, that.

[Midfield_General]

41 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Spors tried, he got Dobbin - was he not meant to be the replacement? 

No. The replacement for Stewart as rotation centre forward was Mubama. 

41 minutes ago, M271 said:

I couldn’t see the point of loaning out Archer and spending £9m on Dobbin.

Because Dobbin wasn't meant to be a replacement for Archer. Dobbin was primarily brought in to provide competition for Azaz as the 10. 

39 minutes ago, Big M said:

why are we not dipping into the out of contract players market and getting a striker, if only one who gives us 20 mins at the end of a game and gets 10 goals a season... It could make all the difference. 

Half the teams in this division won't have a first choice striker who scores 10 all season. Which out of contract striker do you think is available who has any chance of coming in and getting 10 goals a season at Championship level? 

9 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

The officials are absolutely in Boro's favour as well this season. The decisions they've been getting are just laughable.

Are you seriously suggesting that he deliberately didn't give that penalty because he thought it would benefit Middlesborough?

5 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Lankshear is the difference. Gibson backed Whiny Kim from the Hackney funds and Tonda kept his job but whilst he got Larin, the lack of a second striker is fatal 

Lankshear is Middlesbrough's first choice number 9 and they don't have anyone of any comparable quality as a 'second striker' either. If he gets injured they're at as much of a disadvantage as we are if Larin gets injured. Both clubs are in the same situation. 

[saintant]

41 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

Worst thing is that corrupt **** saw it, he went to blow his whistle and decided not to. Utter disgrace.

Did the ball go out because we didn't even get a corner.

[stknowle]

33 minutes ago, Jimmy_D said:

Worst thing is that corrupt **** saw it, he went to blow his whistle and decided not to. Utter disgrace.

Yeah that’s a fucking disgrace. Penalty all day long.

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, sfc4prem said:

So fucking shite, that.

Less conviction than a bribed judge. I didn’t even need to know the outcome in advance because nothing in his body shape suggested that was going on target.

How on earth did he score 14 goals last season? 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, stknowle said:

Yeah that’s a fucking disgrace. Penalty all day long.

Abysmal referee but we’d still have missed it judging by the atrocious and unprofessional missing of sitters through the game.

Should have had the opportunity but should also have been 3-0 up by the that point.

Easiest afternoon Bazunu will have all season. 

[Turkish]

14 minutes ago, Badger said:

Perhaps it’s a good thing the penalty wasn’t given. Imagine how we’d feel if Bazunu stopped it.

I won’t say saved, but it might have hit him in the face (and he’d have claimed it as a save)

Hes saved a penalty from Ronaldo you know. That’s one of the reasons why our fans insisted he’s good enough for the premier league 

[Badger]

4 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

 

 

Dreadful. 

It used to be said that strikers would shit themselves at the sight of Peter Shilton in front of them. Perhaps Bazunu had similar effect on Dobbin 

[captainchris]

44 minutes ago, Cumbria Saint said:

Great one handed save from Peretz kept us in the game.

That's two matches where Edozie has been one of the better players.

Have to say Edozie does more in 5 mins that Sienza does all game…. Sienza’s poor games are too numerous these days. Fair play to Bragg he played well today. How does Dobbin get to play centre forward because very clearly he isn’t one…. 9m - Really ! 
We need to play a centre forward or our game looks stifled and Azaz is left with carrying the front line on his own.

Not at all clear why Manning was brought on because left back wasn’t where the problem was. Without a proper centre forward our system doesnt operate and we are toothless. 
 

[bpsaint]

13 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

it seems to be popular with some on here to suggest Lankshear aint all that. Yet, he is....

I know, so fucking weird. Mentioned on another thread he’s scored 9 in 11 now, keep that up and he’ll be getting Boro promoted. Guess some are just butthurt that he’s playing for the victims.

For us meanwhile it’s been 4 games since one of our strikers last scored, and now it seems our only decent one is injured. We’ve signed Archer Mark 2 for a sizeable sum and sent the original model out on loan where he’s subsequently scored 4 goals, bought in a kid from Man City on loan that can’t trap a bag of cement, and despite us trying to renew Stewart’s contract, clearly because we know we needed a strong second striker we’ve failed to bring one in. Another Sport Republic recruitment masterclass.

[Gloucester Saint]

7 minutes ago, Badger said:

Dreadful. 

It used to be said that strikers would shit themselves at the sight of Peter Shilton in front of them. Perhaps Bazunu had similar effect on Dobbin 

Saw it happen to Danny Wallace clean through at the Archers End when Shilts joined Derby. 

Danny Wallace is one of my favourite players ever for Saints though and scored regularly. Lewis Dobbin never looked set there and hardly surprised it trickled wide.

Loan him out in January and if Tonda wants a #10 then get him a #10. If he wants a striker, get striker, ditto a winger. No idea what this bloke is but he looks like another BBD type round peg in a square hole. The only player I’ve seen recover from such a bad start was Ricardo Fuller (mistake to sell him to Stoke). Generally, better off to move duds on quickly. Another club might think ‘hasn’t settled in the south’, and get £6m back, and move on.

Edited 3 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[badgerx16]

Good game to miss ?

[saintant]

Despite the result I thought Azaz was superb again. He did everything he could to set up a winner.

[Badger]

47 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Yep, recruitment up top not turning out to be positive. I appreciate though, that we weren't going to be signing someone like Lankshear to play second fiddle to Larin, despite the promise of rotation ala Stewart and Larin last season. We were always going to have to take a bit of a gamble.

This line has been trotted out a few times but I think it’s misplaced. There was plenty of game time available and who’s to say that Larin might not be the second option to another CF ?

[AlexLaw76]

50 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Yep, recruitment up top not turning out to be positive. I appreciate though, that we weren't going to be signing someone like Lankshear to play second fiddle to Larin, despite the promise of rotation ala Stewart and Larin last season. We were always going to have to take a bit of a gamble.

One if the most ridiculous takes to have

[sfc4prem]

 

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

One if the most ridiculous takes to have

From the arbiter of ridiculous takes, that means a lot.

[Gloucester Saint]

8 minutes ago, captainchris said:

Have to say Edozie does more in 5 mins that Sienza does all game…. Sienza’s poor games are too numerous these days. Fair play to Bragg he played well today. How does Dobbin get to play centre forward because very clearly he isn’t one…. 9m - Really ! 
We need to play a centre forward or our game looks stifled and Azaz is left with carrying the front line on his own.

Not at all clear why Manning was brought on because left back wasn’t where the problem was. Without a proper centre forward our system doesnt operate and we are toothless. 
 

Edozie has done alright last two games. Long way still from what he was before Jack Stacey hacked him, but progress and at least he’s actually going at full backs and getting to the by line. 

Should have had an assist today but he crossed to an idiot.

Edited 3 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[Baird of the land]

A showcase of why we aren’t a serious candidate for autos. 
Got to hope for successful reinforcements in jan and that we aren’t too adrift of top 2.

[BarberSaint]

1 hour ago, stknowle said:

Can’t win them all. I thought Bolton looked very handy. We should have scored at least twice though. 

They were absolute dog shit. We should have battered them. Some of those 'offsides' weren't so the lino was crap and the most obvious penalty you'll see and the wanker in black decided otherwise.

[Tanlee]

Good to get clean sheet again, could have been a comfortable win with better finishing and officials. 

Would be really good if we can discover a centre midfielder that breaks the lines occasionally and with a bit of pace too, sometimes on days like today it requires that bit of inspiration. 

[Gloucester Saint]

24 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

 

That’s one heck of a floater to leave in the team bath.

[sfc4prem]

3 minutes ago, Badger said:

This line has been trotted out a few times but I think it’s misplaced. There was plenty of game time available and who’s to say that Larin might not be the second option to another CF ?

It's just an easy fucking stick to beat the club with when I think it to be quite unlikely a club recently kicked out of the playoffs and with a manger that had a cloud hanging over him with the FA investigation would be able to convince a player who would have had the pick of Championship clubs, including those relegated from the PL, to come to us, when we already had Larin, who was clearly one of the first names on the teamsheet and plays in his position, on the books.

[saintant]

I'll cut Breezy a little slack - he had two big chances this week and scored the important one.

[Nordic Saint]

Just now, bpsaint said:

I know, so fucking weird. Mentioned on another thread he’s scored 9 in 11 now, keep that up and he’ll be getting Boro promoted. Guess some are just butthurt that he’s playing for the victims.

For us meanwhile it’s been 4 games since one of our strikers last scored, and now it seems our only decent one is injured. We’ve signed Archer Mark 2 for a sizeable sum and sent the original model out on loan where he’s subsequently scored 4 goals, bought in a kid from Man City on loan that can’t trap a bag of cement, and despite us trying to renew Stewart’s contract, clearly because we know we needed a strong second striker we’ve failed to bring one in. Another Sport Republic recruitment masterclass.

Meanwhile Princewill Ehibhatiomhan can't stop scoring for the U21s (11 goals in 8 games this season).  I reckon if they could fit his name on the back of a shirt, he'd be a decent first team sub. He's 20 and 6 ft 3 in so he should be able to handle himself at Championship level.

[OneMrsWallace]

14 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Less conviction than a bribed judge. I didn’t even need to know the outcome in advance because nothing in his body shape suggested that was going on target.

How on earth did he score 14 goals last season? 

He could have taken another touch, then rolled it either side of Bazunu or there would have been a chance of being taken down from the clumsy arses behind him. Lack of confidence makes you hit it too early. 

[badgerx16]

1 minute ago, Baird of the land said:

A showcase of why we aren’t a serious candidate for autos. 
Got to hope for successful reinforcements in jan and that we aren’t too adrift of top 2.

Without the -4 we would be 2 points off top spot.

[BarberSaint]

1 hour ago, Saint Scott said:

This is on Tonda, faffing about with the formation. Overloaded on the left when they were essentially playing two right backs, genius!

No options down the right until he eventually moved Scienza out there.

We are 100% at home against a newly promoted side, you don't need to dick about with the tactics 

It was clever play and opened them up a lot. The lino just flagged when he saw a red and white shirt though, didn't have a clue about when the ball was kicked. The one JWP put through to Fellows you could hear the thump as he hit the ball and a second later and Fellows had to step round his marker who was keeping him onside so he could not have been offside. I did watch him after the third or so just to see why he couldn't keep his line, but on at least one occasion he did.

[Gloucester Saint]

4 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

It's just an easy fucking stick to beat the club with when I think it to be quite unlikely a club recently kicked out of the playoffs and with a manger that had a cloud hanging over him with the FA investigation would be able to convince a player who would have had the pick of Championship clubs, including those relegated from the PL, to come to us, when we already had Larin, who was clearly one of the first names on the teamsheet and plays in his position, on the books.

Didn’t need to spend £9m on Dobbin though who isn’t even performing when used a #10 let alone wide or up front. 

Today was the day to try Muamba again but becoming crystal clear Tonda doesn’t trust him or he isn’t training well.

Didn’t even need to be Lankshear, could’ve been Tolaj or someone half-decent. Third of the cost of Dobbin/whatever he’s meant to be.

Edited 3 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[Gloucester Saint]

5 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

Meanwhile Princewill Ehibhatiomhan can't stop scoring for the U21s (11 goals in 8 games this season).  I reckon if they could fit his name on the back of a shirt, he'd be a decent first team sub. He's 20 and 6 ft 3 in so he should be able to handle himself at Championship level.

Give the lad a try. Tonda doesn’t fancy Muamba and Dobbin a total waste of a shirt.

Can’t do any worse and his name will terrify Blackmore and Tessem!

[BarberSaint]

51 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

He was waiting for confirmation from his assistant. I have no idea why we didn't even get a corner. 

Confirmation of what? He saw it so he gives it. If he doesn't know what he's doing (he mostly didn't although he did pull play back after letting it go on for that foul on Dobbin) then as we told him at the game: he's not fit to referee and somehow he got given a whistle.

[sfc4prem]

2 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Didn’t need to spend £9m on Dobbin though who isn’t even performing when used a #10 let alone wide or up front. 

Today was the day to try Muamba again but becoming crystal clear Tonda doesn’t trust him or he isn’t training well.

Didn’t even need to be Lankshear, could’ve been Tolaj or someone half-decent. Third of the cost of Dobbin/whatever he’s meant to be.

Again, Dobbin looked decent for a struggling Preston side. Mubama looked good for City pre-season.

That they've turned out to be shite wasnt exactly a guaranteed thing and therefore I think the frustration of 'well we should've fucking signed Lankshear' is a bit of hindsighted revisionism that makes it all seem so simple.

[Badger]

12 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

It's just an easy fucking stick to beat the club with when I think it to be quite unlikely a club recently kicked out of the playoffs and with a manger that had a cloud hanging over him with the FA investigation would be able to convince a player who would have had the pick of Championship clubs, including those relegated from the PL, to come to us, when we already had Larin, who was clearly one of the first names on the teamsheet and plays in his position, on the books.

That’s very true, that it might have been a difficult job selling the club to a player especially if coming from the Premiership.

But my comment is not solely about Lankshear who has become the obvious focus on here. Other strikers on the continent were no doubt available and presumably we’d looked at. 

Or perhaps we spent too long trying to sign Ratkov after he’d already turned us down. 

Larin being here should not have been a barrier to another striker with some ambition and self belief.  

Edited 3 hours ago by Badger

[sfc4prem]

Just now, Badger said:

Larin being here should not have been a barrier to another striker with some ambition and self belief.  

Like Mubama?

[saintant]

Hope the ref can sleep tonight after watching back the debacle of the stonewall penalty he didn't give.

[stknowle]

9 minutes ago, BarberSaint said:

They were absolute dog shit. We should have battered them. Some of those 'offsides' weren't so the lino was crap and the most obvious penalty you'll see and the wanker in black decided otherwise.

Yeah didn’t see it all but the bits I did catch included a lot of decent play from Bolton. Slick interchanging up front. But yeah seeing the misses I ironically missed plus the nailed on pen not given we should’ve won easily. Oh well, onto the next one.

[Badger]

Just now, sfc4prem said:

Like Mubama?

Yes. Except we should have been a bit more ambitious than a Man City work experience recruit. 

[Gloucester Saint]

3 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Again, Dobbin looked decent for a struggling Preston side. Mubama looked good for City pre-season.

That they've turned out to be shite wasnt exactly a guaranteed thing and therefore I think the frustration of 'well we should've fucking signed Lankshear' is a bit of hindsighted revisionism that makes it all seem so simple.

Muamba perhaps is indicative of the players around him in pre-season.

But with Dobbin the club have to work out how PNE got a tune out of him and whether the shape/formation/pattern needs to change and whether that’s worth doing. He’s been tried in three different positions and bar the OK second half midweek has looked like a fish up a tree. No lack of effort and seems like a decent lad but if the question was ‘who can rotate with #10 with Finn?’ he is not the answer. And not at a fee which should have bolstered the forward line.

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

Frustrating match today. No urgency in the first half. A lot of offsides but at least 3 were onside having been sat in block 11 and could see which ones were!

Should have had a penalty. Two big misses. Seems like Tonda doesn't trust Mubama, as others have said, surely there is a free agent out there or try out Princewell.

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Yeah, at least one should have gone in. Really, really poor signing and footballer.

False striker? Nope, useless at that.

Actual striker? No presence, movement or finishing?

#10? Supposed to be his best position but looked no better there.

Left midfielder/winger? No pace, penetration or bottle, dreadful there at the start of the season.

He was a fucking avatar today. Some great through balls to him of the type Larin thrives on and outmuscled every time. 

[SouthWalesSaints]

8 minutes ago, stknowle said:

Yeah didn’t see it all but the bits I did catch included a lot of decent play from Bolton. Slick interchanging up front. But yeah seeing the misses I ironically missed plus the nailed on pen not given we should’ve won easily. Oh well, onto the next one.

Probably best not to comment if you didn’t even watch it all. IMO. 

[SouthWalesSaints]

Poor result, performance for long periods was very very good. 

[saintant]

3 clean sheets on the bounce, 7 points from 9 at an average of 2.3333 per game. What's not to like.

[die Mannyschaft]

50 minutes ago, Badger said:

Perhaps it’s a good thing the penalty wasn’t given. Imagine how we’d feel if Bazunu stopped it.

I won’t say saved, but it might have hit him in the face (and he’d have claimed it as a save)

Cant believe Bazunu didn't do any stupid passes, dropped catches, stood like a statue, as he did with Saints. 

[saintant]

Another opportunity for Fellows to shine and again he did precious little. Might be time to consider moving him on. Don't like saying that as I thought he'd be a brilliant signing but how long do you give him.

[saintant]

10 minutes ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Cant believe Bazunu didn't do any stupid passes, dropped catches, stood like a statue, as he did with Saints. 

Still should have picked the ball out of his net 4 times and possibly 5 with the penalty we didn't get.