I was equally as annoyed by the condascension he was subjected to in the Sky sports studio than I was with the disallowed goal and the overall result.
That wanky comment of “somebody get him a drink”… fucking dick heads. Also, Jamie Redknapp is physically incapable of talking about a Saints player without mentioning where we might sell him to next. Sure, we all know it happens but for fuck sake change the cunting record once and a while. Gabbiadini has played 3 games for us… 3 games…and they are already talking about getting a silly offer for him in the summer and him being off.
As you say, the media bias is a joke but it has been there for many moons and is unlikely to ever change.
At the start of the season I would have never imagined agreeing with this. However, I sit here today thinking that I would probably do the same. He has looked very cumbersome and flat footed this year and I am nervous when he gets played a backpass. His shot stopping ability has all but dried up, unless it is by his feet or straight at him. This was my main criticism of Stekelenburg so I need to be consistent!
I have no idea what has happended to him. A real shame though.
I’d maybe even test Burnley’s resolve for Tom Heaton. He isn’t the youngest but I swear that guy is Superman in disguise whenever we play them. Or an audacious attempt at getting Joe Hart… Who am I kidding?!
@simon-says I think the Forster “situation” may be why we got Hassan in on loan, like @steveintheforest (a very smart poster if there ever was one) I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hassan start against Watford.
Forster definitely looked like he was clutching his leg after one of his upfield clearances in the second half.
Top half for me, win more than we lose, have a positive goal difference.
Keep VVD, Gabby and Forster. I do not think selling him would be good. He needs some serious compition and to get himself fully fit.
Then next season, let’s try and get to Wembley in a final, over everything else (well the league) if we managed to get to a final and finish mid table again, I would be very happy. For us as a club, it proved to me, that cups are what it is about, for the club as I said, but also us as fans!
I hope that Liverpool full completely out of the European places, not just top 4. Leicester go down and someone other than one of the “top 6” win the FA Cup.
I want Brighton and Reading to come up, but have a feeling that Reading will have to do it the playoff way. Carlisle to go up and the skates to stay down.
If the above happens I will be happy, even more so if Bournemouth stay up, as it would be us, Bournemouth, Brighton and Reading in the top flight, while the skates are still sitting in the 4th division!
Fuck that - i want all of the other Southern teams back down the divisions - it is not going to help us to hoover up the academy talent if all the other premiership clubs are knocking around on our doorstep
Play in all the players and really get Boufal, Pied and Careceras up to speed. Sort out our medical team
Please please keep the formation 4 -2 -3-1. Try Charlie in that system when he is back Im sure he could do a good job
Keep Bertrand very happy
Get McCarthy back and try out the new lad
Rest O. R every now and then (he must be knackard) and look at a back up. Either coach the danish lad or buy in in June.
Tie them all down for next year, Soprano style
Target knobbling Everton good and proper when we play them. Harry Reed kamakazi to completly take Lukaku out in first 5 mins out so its a 10 vs 10 game. Plan it before hand with tactics and we will win
See if Claise can turn into a better S Davis
Get JWP angry and more hungry. I like to see him buzzing and throwing himself around with a cob on his face. Forget Beckham think a mix of Jimmy Case/Terry Hurlock/ S Williams
Never lose or draw again at home. if it look like we r going to Puel give a sign for a massive 1970s punch up and get the match abandoned
Find a partner owner who 's only input is to just direct debit £100m into the club every year to subsidise tickets and wages.
Get some media training for Ricky Lambert to give Tiss and Benali some Saints back up on radio and the box. Call in some markers from ex players like Higginbottom to have more Saints talk. For example we must have a dozens ex saints playing for other teams in Prem right now. Always refer to them as ‘they were better than that when they played for the Saints’
13 Top 6 and FA cup win next years target
Maybe a bit over confident but right now I feel we could do this
Start with a win against Watford next weekend as I don’t want to go back without seeing a win! Then win all the remaining home games (especially the Bournemouth, Utd and the Arsenal ones). Finish top half. Bonus points if we could catch Everton and somehow sneak in to Europe. Finally, keep VVD and Gabbiadini.
I think the rest of the season has got to be viewed as a momentum builder for next. I know circumstances were different for them, but look at the form Leicester managed at the end of the 2014/15 season. I’ll accept mid-table if we can make the most of Boufal and Gabbiadini’s talents, ready for next year. Of course, if they do that, we shouldn’t really have to. It’d be good to see VVD return to the team as well.
Playing wise, I want to see a successful playing style emerge and mature. Puel has been in the job for a bit, and while I’m not calling for his head, I still don’t feel as if I know what his game is about. Yes, yes, I know fuck all about football - but I did know how Poch played and how Koeman differed from him. I also think we’ve been very unlucky with injury lately, and on the surface, downright negligent in securing defensive cover. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors; the only legitimate get out for the club is that Fonte reneged on a we’ll let you leave at the end of the season agreement, but that’s just speculation and probably apologism.
We’ve got a talented squad that we’re not getting the best out of. Puel needs to develop the coherence and purpose of this team. They may not be as technically gifted as the United team they faced yesterday, but they should always know the path to goal and have the confidence to take their chances. If Puel can’t cultivate that by season’s end, he should know the path to the door. I remain hopeful that he makes a success of it.
For me, we need to establish 4-2-3-1 as that is what has worked for us for the past few seasons and indeed the last two games since we reverted. Having that extra cover alongside Romeu allows for the fullbacks to bomb on and provide width and overlapping runs. Just look at the disallowed goal yesterday… it started with Bertrand down the left and then Cedric picked up the loose ball on the other side of the pitch. That would have been risky as fuck with just the one holding midfielder.
4-3-3 is too conservative for us. We have dicked around with that and the diamond for too long and in my opinion results suffered.
I am fairly convinced that Claude played that way due to the amount of games and wanted to conserve energy and keep people ‘fresh’. That’s why it appeared pedestrian and dull, because that is exactly what it was. The fact that the fixture congestion eased and we then reverted to 4-2-3-1 is either a massive coincidence or it was very deliberate.
Earlier in the year I recall Puel talking about the diamond as necessary to learn so that we have other ways of playing. Fair enough, we know it now so we can put that in our back pocket for as and when we need it. But 4-2-3-1 is our bread and butter. We have the players for that system and they clearly know it and prefer it. Tadic was talking it up after Sunderland if you recall. It may also provide an opportunity for Jay Rod to get some game time from the left, in the same team as Gabbiadini. As he did under Pochettino.
I would also like to see what Caceras is all about. Watford won’t be all over us (so he says at least…) so I think this is the time to put him in. Charlie Austin was talking him up from what he saw in training so I’d be inclined to throw him in against Watford. I am (no doubt controversially) unconvinced by Jack Stephens so far and let’s be honest, he is playing out of necessity rather than having earned the right to play. And for me there is a big difference. No doubt he will benefit from the experience and he hasn’t let anybody down but as I say, I remain unconvinced at this stage.
I also agree with some of the above comments about Boufal. We need to see more from him between now and the end of the season. He clearly has a lot of talent but just the two (I think. And both screamers.) goals to his name so far.
I really hope we don’t suffer a cup final hangover because the team were a credit to themselves yesterday. There are plenty of positives to take from it and little reason to feel deflated. The linesman won’t be a blind/biased cunt every week (just in the remaining games against Utd, City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham).
The sooner we get to 40 points the better though!!
