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Reply | Rusty the Clown to Man U?
at 11:22 25 Apr 2024
A team with unlimited spending power, great reputation which managers would give a right arm to manage, interested in RM?
You're a funny man! |
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Reply | Play off reality
at 11:21 25 Apr 2024
If you look at some stats (always false), we concede more shots on our gaol in the last 20 minutes of games than at any other time.
That is (in my view) because if we have the ball (sideways, backwards, into row Z) it's difficult for the opposition to shoot and score. That is what I mean by outplaying.
We stop that in the last 20 minutes and give up possession and territory.
That's not going to change now.
So allow for it and keep some defensive options on the bench for that 20 minutes. |
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Reply | Play off reality
at 10:51 25 Apr 2024
It would be madness to make radical changes to our style of play just for the play offs.
Players cannot switch from one tactical style to a very different one in the space of a game or two. It takes perhaps 4/5 games with a settled team for a new system to bed down.
Whether we like it or not we are stuck with the RM way but I hope (but do not expect) he makes a couple of small alterations which come form experience over the season.
First, we do outplay teams for an hour/70 minutes and then retreat in terms of confidence and perhaps fitness. Our way of playing is demanding physically. If we are winning at that time then bring on players who can occupy our defensive third. In other words, not Mara, Sulemana, Edozie, etc but Stephens, Downes, etc.
If our forward going and pressing has given us only a slender lead at 70 minutes, then chances are another 20 minutes of doing the same thing but with perhaps lesser quality players is not going to make much difference. So stop the opposition scoring. Game management.
Second, the teams we'll face are well drilled and coached and they know that we are vulnerable to wide attacking players. That is partly because RM wants the full backs high up the pitch. That suits KWP because of all the FB options, he is perhaps the weakest defensively, but all the right FB's we have seem reluctant to push on. As a result they often get caught between positions. i.e. not far enough forward to help and not far enough back to defend. This also creates a dog leg in the defensive line which often keeps their wingers on side even when they're behind our FB.
This is fixable.
In my view the easiest fix is a 3-4-3 system in which one of the CB is tasked with covering the space behind an advanced FB. This should give the FB some confidence to push on and if we come under pressure, gives us five defenders. (If this was the case, I'd put Downes/Aribo on as well in front of the back line for say the last 20).
I also think that the playoff games have the capacity to be physical. For that reason I would leave Smallbone out of the starting line up. I'd also not be starting Brooks (who seems a little timid). |
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Reply | The front 3 last night
at 12:35 24 Apr 2024
Why would Brooks risk getting injured when he will almost certainly go back to his home club (and the PL) or be picked up by one of the promoted sides and play in the PL?
AA has said all season that he wants to be in the centre but RM plays him on the wing or in midfield. When AA is central you do see him take players on and have a shot. Much more difficult from the wing.
Che has been poorly served by RM and his "way". Che is the sort of reactive striker who likes chaos and confusion in the box. The RM way is to try and walk it into the net and Che is not that type of player.
You can argue that all three have faults and flaws. It's the manager's job to bring out the strengths and make them play together.
The manager's job was on full display last night. |
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Thread | A loss of confidence at the worst time - or a one off?
at 09:06 24 Apr 2024
The Leicester game was terrible (for us).
RM saying he saw a good match for 60 minutes? Really? Did he have a TV on the bench and was watching Arsenal?
One of the BBC pundits said after 20 minutes that it was like watching attack v defence and that the defence was in panic mode.
No organisation, no shape, no aggression or fight, no heart in the team to buckle in and make it a contest.
Is this is one off reaction to losing - not to Cardiff - but automatic promotion? Or was it just a one off as we are prone to (Sunderland away this season?)
My worst fear is that this is the players giving RM a message that they are fed up with his way of playing - and him - and as a lot of them will likely be away in the summer, they have nothing to win or lose at the moment.
Take that into the playoffs and we may as well concede now.
If the issue is that RM has lost the dressing room, I really hope somebody in management /ownership knows that and takes appropriate steps. |
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Reply | Utterly pathetic management as automatic promotion thrown away.
at 14:41 23 Apr 2024
I think you'll find that our percentage conversion of shots on target to goals is the fourth best in the league.
We are equal with Ipswich, Norwich and PNE and therefore better than Leeds, Leicester, WBA and other play off contenders.
So the issue is not scoring because there we are good.
Going further, the best players for Saints in terms of shots to goals are Edozie, Adams and Aribo. Two of those three do not feature regularly - go figure.
In terms of opposition shots on target to goals conceded, we are way down the list - second from bottom. Sort of hints at where the issue is perhaps. |
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Reply | Desperate Tories - or tactical masterstroke?
at 14:30 23 Apr 2024
Is "Rishi doing something about it.." worth removing some of the safeguards to our democratic system?
Was it in fact the "system" that prevented him taking action and therefore he's justified in forcing through what some would claim is an inhumane law (and others may see as justified)?
Many of these migrants have come from places which require a certain determination and courage to escape from. Unless such people are securely held the moment they set foot on a Kent beach, I suspect that the authorities will never see them again. Ergo the risk of a flight to Rwanda is vanishingly small and not going to have any deterrent effect.
For the small percentage who may be at risk of a flight out of the UK, there is always Sue, Grabbit and Runne Solicitors, willing to take the fees to defend them.
I also guarantee that the activist groups will mount yet more legal challenges before a plane leaves.
Is this not Rishi pandering to the xenophobe in all of us to rescue a few seats in what will be a massacre should he ever have the courage to ask the nation to judge him? |
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Reply | Moving seats
at 11:58 23 Apr 2024
Moving from Kingsland to my couch. |
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Thread | Desperate Tories - or tactical masterstroke?
at 11:55 23 Apr 2024
The UK welcomed around 37.000 immigrants last year who did not have permission to be here.
Rishi and cronies want to send around 2,000 to Rwanda - a year - as a "deterrent".
In order to do so he and his whips bullied and arguably overrode the safeguards built into our democratic system. His Gov't ignored Parliament and bulldozed this through.
At the risk of triggering the latent racists among us and in the hope of sparking a genuine debate, is this the right answer? Were the means to achieve that answer justified by the ends? What will be the next Gov't (Tory Party) v Parliament issue be? |
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Reply | Leeds or Ipswich?
at 11:43 23 Apr 2024
I'd prefer to play Leeds.
I think they are very front foot and better suited to the RM way.
That said, I'd like RM to find a different way for the playoffs - but he won't. |
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Reply | FA Cup
at 11:40 22 Apr 2024
I've only seen FA cup games this season that feature Saints.
The rest of the games mean nothing to me.
the football calendar could be cleared in a stroke by just selecting two PL teams at random and saying that they will be in the final - we don't need the games.
Also with two Manc clubs in the final, why not have it at Anfield or Goodson or Villa PArk? Why clog up the rail lines to London, move the game to suit TV and leave a lot of "happy" fans out, late at night, in London? |
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Thread | The rest of this season - and next
at 10:11 22 Apr 2024
Short of an unlikely series of results, we're in play offs and stating the bleeding obvious, we will get promoted or stay in the Champ.
If we get promoted, we'll have enjoyed a day out at Wembley and be looking forward to some good teams coming to SMS. My feeling is that the club has no money for serious recruitment and that a stay in the PL will see us lose more games than we win and survival may be all we can hope for.
Perversely if we do get promoted the style RM likes to play will be better suited to that league but again, I think teams already there play it better than we do and we will need something a little different. I am no confident that RM can provide "different".
If we stay in the Champ (and arguably we are perhaps a year or two ahead of the plan anyway) then I fear that many of the teams mid table this season will be real contenders. At least three of them Coventry, Boro and Hull have teams that are rebuilds from previous seasons and if they are kept they will be contenders. Add in the three relegated teams and promotion next season is not a guarantee.
I cannot see the owners asking RM to move on and I can't see him departing for "better opportunities" elsewhere. We are the best opportunity he's ever had!
I would hope that the obvious shortcomings of this season are addressed. We lack players of sufficient quality in some areas and I think the game management needs to be improved. If we accept that that we will make a lot of chance, score few of them, then we need to stop letting goals in. That speaks to needing a new CB and a new system. Personally I'd like to go 3-4-3 but again, not the RM way.
I'd also like to see less BS from the manager. Absolutely understand that he has to say one thing to the media and a different thing on the training pitch but some of his statements are embarrassing. Saying we've outplayed the opposition but lost 2-1 is utterly pointless. He knows why we lost - not enough shots or shots on target - and that's what needs some honesty.
My view is that promoted or not, RM is here to stay and whilst I hope some new players will arrive, unless they do, we'll be here again next season.
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Reply | Saints should Keep RM whether we get Promoted or Not
at 09:52 22 Apr 2024
In my opinion, comparing us with some of the teams in the lower third of the league is not correct.
We have had many more advantages than most of them in that we had perhaps four/five players with recent PL pedigree, a decent fan base and whilst I disagree with RM's "system", at least a plan to play to. The fact that the "plan" fails to account for the strengths/weaknesses of the opposition, is beyond some players and apparently only lasts 75 minutes in any match, is galling and frustrating, but there is a method.
Changing managers and having managers looking over their shoulders at the Board is not good. Having a squad rounded out with kids is not good. Having the pressure of dropped points meaning more to them than us, is not good. So overall I think the comparison is false.
Would I keep RM next season? Clearly nobody is asking my opinion on this but I'll put up a thread on my view. |
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Reply | Saints Announce New Season Ticket Details- Good For Some A Kick In The Teeth For
at 13:11 18 Apr 2024
Seems I need to make the most of my tickets for the Stoke game at home because I won't be going next season.
I'm a Kingsland boy usually - Block29/30 partly because I like the view from there; partly because at my age mixing it with aggy away fans is not something I welcome; partly because I arrive at the Central station and walk in thru the industrial estate. Seems that two out of those three will not be available next season.
The view will be the same but I'll be near the away fans. My experiences with them has never been good and I don't wish to repeat it. It also seems I'd have to come in over the bridge and then navigate the space between the stand and the bike racks with a lot of away fans giving it large around turnstile F?
No thanks.
Time to buy that TV subscription for me. |
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Reply | 3 home games in next 8 days
at 09:15 18 Apr 2024
Well, shows how much I know about football!
Humble pie at Chez 901.
I've said elsewhere that the team (certainly v PNE) was forced upon RM but nonetheless a few wins and a stumble elsewhere and we're a lot closer to the top two than I expected. |
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Reply | What Brought About Russell Martin U Turns Against Preston
at 09:11 18 Apr 2024
The team v PNE (and the result) has got us RM doubters in a quandary.
My view of RM is that he has stubbornly kept to a plan that sees a team going out to play that includes players in the wrong positions, a system that requires players to be better than they actually are (some defenders don't want to pass a ball between two opposition players 20 yards from goal) and stutters where we need to put on foot on the gas or chase a goal.
And why? Because it's "his way".
Perhaps beyond "his way" is the fact that many PL play the possession game and and RM's got ahead of himself a bit. We've seen Leicester play this way and aside from their recent stumbles, they've made it work, arguably with a better defence.
Against PNE however he was forced to remove the GK who many of us think is the weakest link in the team, kept JS on the bench and restored some players who played well a few months back and then seemed to fall out of favour.
Now either he has read all the threads here, decided we were right and changed his team or he was forced into the moves by injuries or he is a tactical genius (no evidence of that) or he got lucky and the players coming in had something to prove and went for it.
Personally I think RM has a little too much of the necessary managerial quality of always being right and sometimes if a player is questioning his way, he reacts like a sulky kid and drops them from team and bench. When he thinks they've learned their lesson (or when his other options are unavailable) he has to bring them back. It's certainly a way to manage high performing players, but not the only way and perhaps not the best way.
I'll wait and see the team for the weekend. I hope he plays the same team in the same formation but actually playing back to back games with the same team probably has not happened this season? |
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Reply | Stadium Update Meeting
at 17:03 16 Apr 2024
I'm guessing that a third of home fans arrive via the industrial estate and if that is going to be away fans, its means a long detour?
WHy is the club making life difficult for its own fans? |
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