| We won and we have been good recently so why...... 10:41 - Mar 1 with 989 views | A1079 |
.....did I come away from yesterday's game feeling disappointed?
I don't know if in my sub-conscious I expected us to completely roll over Sheffield Wednesday (I personally never take any game for granted no matter who the opposition is) and the fact we didn't left me feeling underwhelmed or whether it was because I felt the players just didn't seem to take the game by the scruff of the neck or because for all the size of our support our fans were largely like Church mice and barely made a sound. In the end I left the game thinking a win is a win but it was not fun to watch. It sort of reminded me of a game against Birmingham City many moons ago at home where they were all but relegated from what was then the first division (showing my age here) and we won 3-0 but the game was as dull as dishwater - job done, but not one to remember.
Our attackers seemed largely supine and ironically it was our defenders that saved the day when it came to scoring. We certainly missed Ross Stewart and Flynn Downes. It felt like the team were going through the motions. We got a couple of goals, got lazy and Wednesday got back into the game. A bit like QPR - we don't take teams to the sword when the opportunity to do so is there. Our touch of the ball at times was just not there and things were not falling for us but there seemed to be the lack of drive on the pitch to change it. I have never criticised Archer, but he really is struggling. When he came on everything seemed to go against him. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time - he even ,managed to stop us scoring what looked like a certain goal - obviously he didn't do it deliberately but at the moment he appears fated. I didn't realise how small and slight build he is. He just doesn't really fit in. I think he is trying but almost trying too hard. His confidence - assuming he has any, must be shattered.
It was a win and a win is a win and they say, if you can do it when you are not playing well it is a good sign. The game lacked intensity and that probably did not help. We are one of the few teams that Wednesday have managed to score against.
Onto the support in the stands. We had (I believe) circa 3,700 fans yesterday but for the large part you would not have known it. I don't think I have ever criticised our fans and I have often had a moan when Nick has been quick to put the support down, but yesterday the support off the pitch matched the lack of performance on it. Are we fans that only sing when we are doing well? Clearly things were not going as well as we had hoped on the pitch but we should be the 12th man and be there to get behind and try and lift the players and instead the majority of us fans just stood there in virtual silence save for a few outbreaks of patchy singing. Ironically, I went down to the concourse at half time and there was a brilliant atmosphere with a new song of "Saints away, huh huh, I like it" (to the tune of KC and the band "that's the way, huh, huh, I like it"). The fans were in good voice and enjoying themselves. I was hoping that would be taken to the stand for the 2nd half but for a couple tame attempts it did not materialise.
So, a good win, an important win (not least as those above us keep winning) but not a convincing one and on and off the pitch we will need to do better if we are seriously hoping to challenge the current top 6. I am not unhappy or anything, I am pleased how things have progressed over the last few weeks and overall we are moving in the right direction. I have never thought we would go up this season and I still don't think we will but we need to build for next season as the Championship will be much tougher than this year. We are going in the right direction but there is some way to go.
One side point - what a revelation Bree has been since his return - I never saw that in him before he went out on loan.
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:28 - Mar 1 with 735 views | felly1 |
Decent summary A1079.
I was there in the lower stand and the atmosphere was pretty flat.
A muted celebration when we scored and I noticed lots of fans not even clapping ...very strange to see , I dont get it, you travel all that way and must clearly love your team yet remain muted and seeming disengaged .
I read on Saintsweb that someone had been on the Wednseday forums and they said thats the best their support has been in ages and that left corner area really kept up the singing whilst we sat in silence!
I guess there was a element of us just turning up and winning whilst their hardcore fans are showing their passion. | | | |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:38 - Mar 1 with 723 views | cocklebreath |
We have a huge percentage of zombie fans who show nothing during games, the awful goal music is quite apt |  |
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:45 - Mar 1 with 708 views | A1079 |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 11:26 - Mar 1 by dirk_doone |
It's a long season, with a lot of important games over the next few weeks, so it makes sense to do the minimum necessary to win each game and avoid injuries, suspensions and player burnout, especially as we have a few key players in the squad whose game time needs to be managed very carefully.
We haven't really had a manager like Eckert before who just does what it takes to win - no more and no less. He is ruthless and relentless, and even when his decisions are unpopular, like sending Archer out there to rest a better player, as long as we win, that's what he'll do. Our squad really isn't as strong as the results under Eckert make it look. We still haven't solved the goalkeeper and centre forward problems.
It was just a low key, routine victory and that's all it was intended to be.
 [Post edited 1 Mar 12:10]
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Very good points Dirk. You are right, the manager is taking a pragmatic approach and we can't be great in every game. It did show to me that when certain players are missing or not on their game it shows but that is the same for any team, even the very best.
I was more disappointed with our local vocal support if I am honest. With 3.7k fans I expected a good noise from us and that may have helped the players.
Anyway, I have probably said enough and in recent weeks we have seen that Eckert is a young manager with great potential and I can see the team spirit that was missing for a long time is showing new growth. | | | |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:45 - Mar 1 with 708 views | Southamptonfan |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:28 - Mar 1 by felly1 |
Decent summary A1079.
I was there in the lower stand and the atmosphere was pretty flat.
A muted celebration when we scored and I noticed lots of fans not even clapping ...very strange to see , I dont get it, you travel all that way and must clearly love your team yet remain muted and seeming disengaged .
I read on Saintsweb that someone had been on the Wednseday forums and they said thats the best their support has been in ages and that left corner area really kept up the singing whilst we sat in silence!
I guess there was a element of us just turning up and winning whilst their hardcore fans are showing their passion. |
I was also in the lower tier. We took good numbers, but we are so quiet. St Mary's is quiet, the away support yesterday was really "relaxed" and quiet. I can only assume that our fans expected a win, were a bit bored or something. We can come alive when it's a big game, but at times we are definitely like.zombies. There are a good few individuals who try to get things going, but people just don't join in. [Post edited 1 Mar 12:46]
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:53 - Mar 1 with 675 views | saintmark1976 |
I didn’t attend and only watched the T V highlights A1079 and had the same feelings you describe.
Perhaps it was because our goals were all rather scrappy ?
Oddly enough even though we thrashed Q P R on Tuesday I left St Mary’s with a feeling of slight disappointment, not at the result obviously, but at the amount of time wasted at the start of the season under Mr Still.With even a half decent start we would now be challenging for automatic promotion rather than hoping we can sneak a playoff place. | |
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 13:01 - Mar 1 with 650 views | Southamptonfan |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:53 - Mar 1 by saintmark1976 |
I didn’t attend and only watched the T V highlights A1079 and had the same feelings you describe.
Perhaps it was because our goals were all rather scrappy ?
Oddly enough even though we thrashed Q P R on Tuesday I left St Mary’s with a feeling of slight disappointment, not at the result obviously, but at the amount of time wasted at the start of the season under Mr Still.With even a half decent start we would now be challenging for automatic promotion rather than hoping we can sneak a playoff place. |
Yes, that is perhaps an unconscious disappointment. How things could have been if we hadn't had that terrible start with Will Still. Despite the excellent form, perhaps possibly scraping the playoffs and we will probably just miss out, is disappointing. We could have won the league had we not appointed Still and perhaps that is feeding into the fans' heads. [Post edited 1 Mar 13:02]
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 13:42 - Mar 1 with 562 views | kingslandstand1 |
| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 12:45 - Mar 1 by A1079 |
Very good points Dirk. You are right, the manager is taking a pragmatic approach and we can't be great in every game. It did show to me that when certain players are missing or not on their game it shows but that is the same for any team, even the very best.
I was more disappointed with our local vocal support if I am honest. With 3.7k fans I expected a good noise from us and that may have helped the players.
Anyway, I have probably said enough and in recent weeks we have seen that Eckert is a young manager with great potential and I can see the team spirit that was missing for a long time is showing new growth. |
Tbf, the noise sounded pretty loud while listening on Solent (primarily OWTS), however not too frequently |  |
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 15:59 - Mar 1 with 420 views | shotters |
If you'd said to me after the Hull defeat we'd not lose another game in the next 8 and win 6 of them I'd have snatched your hand off
Its all about grinding results out and staying with the top 6, this league is brilliant, Oxford who are 2nd from bottom have beaten Ipswich and us at home and held both Coventry and Middlresborough to goaless draws away. No game is a dead cert and credit to Wednesday for giving it a good go in the second half yesterday |  |
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| We won and we have been good recently so why...... on 17:10 - Mar 1 with 334 views | sledger |
saints won in second gear and the support was in second gear. | | | |
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