There was one big talking point in this game, the goal from Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic after only a few seconds of the game which meant that Saints had an uphill task ahead.

Mauricio Pochettino elected to keep his team unchanged from the victory against Fulham the previous week, the injury to Osvaldo that had kept him out of that game again saw him missing from even the bench for what is always a tough trip.

But as we all know the game could not have got off to a worse start with Begovic's goal coming after only 14 seconds and perhaps the most annoying thing about it was that it was us that actually kicked off.

Personally I don't blame Boruc for the goal as much as some might, Saints did give the ball away cheaply and he didn't expect it coming down his throat so quickly, those present will confirm that the wind was a major factor in this game and it caught the keeper right out. These things happen, after the game Boruc promised in an interview that he would put in a performance that would make up the two lost points, in my book there is no need to, he has already done that and more both this season and last, not to mention a smart save in the second half.

After this freak goal it was always going to be a battle and with the Brittannia Stadium being one of the highest ground in the country there was always going to be wind, what made it worse though was the fact that the stadium has three open corners to it, this meant that the wind swirled around in all directions, meaning it was never going to be a pretty game to watch in any way shape or form.

Saints ground out a point, but it wasn't a great performance, match stats showed we had 61% of the play, but we only managed two attempts on target and quite frankly that isn't good enough, the goal was just about the only flowing move that we made with the wind making any pass more than 4ft off the ground and over 25 yards long very difficult, James Ward Prowse though picked out Jay Rodriguez and the Saints number 9 finished superbly, using the wind to his advantage as he headed the ball into the ground and over the keeper, did he mean it ? look at the way he celebrated, he knew the moment it left his head that he had scored.

But once again Saints problem is that for all their possession they cant seem to create too many decent chances away from home, there isn't the mobility up front that you sometimes need to counter attack quickly and on the break, just about our only decent effort apart from J Rod's goal was a header from Lovren that went just wide, that was from a dead ball situation and this is where we need to sharpen up if we truly want to challenge for a European place, all the possession we have rarely becomes a decent chance, we pass, pass and pass but we have no outlet, JWP showed he has an eye for a pass, but he rarely got a chance to use it, when was the last time we had a player put through one on one with the keeper ? it rarely happens is the answer, we have lots of pretty football and of course we will get the odd chance from open play, but our game relies on dead ball situations and that has to change.

But this perhaps shows how far we have come, In our final game of 2013 we drew 3-3 at Stoke and were delighted even though we had thrown away a two goal lead, this time we have picked up the same number of points from the game, but we are disappointed, we feel its two thrown away rather than one gained and we are totally right to think that.

But what it does show us is that we are still a work in progress and we need to be a bit more than one dimensional as we were on too many times on Saturday, fair play to Pochettino who tried to change the course of the game and brought on Ramirez with 20 minutes to go, but the fact was that in taking off Rodriguez he had removed just about the only option as an outlet for Ramirez passing talents, to be blunt unless you have a channel runner up front Ramirez is never truly going to be of great value, Steven Davis can pass 15 yards sideways just as well and can work a lot harder, this isn't a slur on Ramirez, just an observation that if you use players you have to play to their strengths.

I would have liked to have seen a more daring change, Lambert off with Rodriguez pushed up front as a true outlet for Ramirez, in the swirling wing it was making it difficult to hit cross field balls, this might have offered something different.

Sadly the result dropped us down to sixth after all the fixtures were completed and this highlights just how tough a task we face if we are to consider ourselves genuine top 5 contenders rather than just this seasons surprise package.

In conclusion a difficult game not made any easier by the freak goal, again we looked composed in terrible conditions for football and we showed we can get stuck in and scrap for the ball, but we should read the warning signs that sides are wising up to our way of playing, they give us a lot of possession knowing that we don't create half as many genuine chances that we should do with it, we need to have another dimension to our game, at the moment we don't have it, some will come out with the old chestnut that Im being negative, not at all, I think its great we can ask about the next step forward and that step is a positive one, rather than as we were doing a year ago when the next step forward was many many ones behind the level of steps we need to take now.

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 10:24 - Nov 4 Stoke one, Saints one, wind won.
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stmichael added 10:33 - Nov 4 Very good point which will look like a better point when we beat Hull next weekend. Man City drew 0-0 there so not an easy fixture. Last time we had a one on one? In the 94th minute on Saturday when SRL put Ramirez through. The linesman made 3 big errors 2nd half with that off side decison and the 2 penalties although to be fair he would have not had a clear view of the 2nd one. When the ball travels that far and hits a hand without a deflection it has to be a penalty.

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Scummer added 10:50 - Nov 4 The other results went as well as could be expected. We may be in sixth, but there are a lot of teams on 20 or 19 points, so we are still right in the mix.
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Fordy added 11:02 - Nov 4 If we hadn't let that freak goal in we would have won 1-0 and everyone would have been happy. I don't think with the conditions and the way Stoke play it was ever going to be pretty and there wasn't going to be a lot of free-flowing football. Stoke are good at breaking the play up, particularly at home so I think it is a little harsh to complain that we didn't create many chances and it is conveniently forgetting just how many chances we created the week before. Stoke have only let in three goals at home in the league so far (including ours) and there will never be a lot of chances for away teams. Even Man City failed to score there so I am not too concerned by the lack of chances in this one.

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SaintNick added 11:10 - Nov 4 stmichael, I think you will find that a one on one with the keeper entails a player getting through on the keeper, not getting flagged off side, we would have had loads of ones on one without that pesky off side flag butting in
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Fordy added 11:16 - Nov 4 But Nick it was a VERY marginal offside decision if at all. It is hard to get one-on-ones against Stoke because they tend to sit fairly deep even at home. We had huge periods of possession particularly at the start of the second half where Stoke had all 11 in their own half. It was like playing a home game. You are not going to get one-on-ones with the keeper when this happens. It was only in the last 10 minutes when Stoke got a second wind (no pun intended) that there was some space in behind.

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SaintNick added 11:29 - Nov 4 Fordy, points taken, but fact remains it was off side marginal or otherwise, I asked a question and the best anyone has come up with is well we had someone flagged offside on Saturday and he would have been one on one, I take your points about Stoke, but it isn't happening in other games either, again we have had huge amounts of possession, as we did against Fulham, yet we aren't converting enough decent chances and certainly enough goals. Yes the wind was difficult, but Stoke are a poor side, they have an ability to sit back and defend but we don't have that ability to break down sides as was shown on Saturday and at home to sunderland to west ham, we are too one dimensional. If we are going to stay up in the top six it has to be addressed as Im sure other sides will soon adopt this tactic against us

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brady100 added 12:06 - Nov 4 The point Nick makes is bang on. Whilst were all delighted with our start, to move up to that next level we need to start creating more chances with the possession we have. That said I do think in the way Poch sets up the side, we take less risks in possession and are content to keep the ball away from the opposition which is resulting in tighter games and less chances created.

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halftimeorange added 12:24 - Nov 4 I agree that taking off Rodrigues was an error of judgement. It should have been Lambert who was largely ineffective during this game. I also believe that our regular game plan is not going to produce many goals, it's all about stifling the opposition's ability to play rather than us trying to bang in four or five. That said, we are not making the most of our chances (as evidenced against Fulham) but, I'll take 1-0 any time.

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bstokesaint added 12:41 - Nov 4 I can't complain, I put us down for a 1-1 on my predictions and called it right. I didn't expect it to happen in the nature it did, but playing a team like Stoke in those conditions and with players like Hoof (sic) and now top scorer Begovic firing on all cylinders in their beloved hurricane conditions we can't be too hard on ourselves. As others have posted there won't be too many teams banging in the goals at the Britannia this season. If we pick up three points against Arsenal or Chelski this will quickly be forgotten. The league is tight at the top and we're still right up there.

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simmo400 added 13:03 - Nov 4 Must agree with you Nick. We had alot of play but again our final third play is bad. not alot of threat and their keeper was a spectator. Simialr story against Fulham really as again there keeper didnt have alot to do.Our general play is ok but where not working the keeper as much as we should. Not sure how we rectify this problem.
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ItchenNorth added 13:07 - Nov 4 I think you are spot on with stating that ‘a more daring change’ could have been made Saturday but Pochettino is a very cautious manager. Ramirez behind J Rod would have been my selection at that stage of the game (if not earlier tbh !). Stoke don’t allow you much space in behind, but for me; we should be setting our team up more offensively anyway.
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ExiledSupporter added 14:25 - Nov 4 The downsides (or continuing weaknesses in some cases) of our recent impressive successes are that despite generally dominating play (often with the majority of possession, or the minority in the case of the Swansea game) is that we have relatively few shots on target often from not that many more chances than the opposition with less possession. I was immensely impressed with our play vs Fulham, but while we effectively smothered them their performance was particularly feeble and so the scoreline was a poor reflection of our superiority. Against Swansea the opposition had long spells of possession and though they didn't take advantage of this I felt we were a bit fortunate with the scoreline. I don't believe that we will change this unless Ramirez is re-instated as a starter and he plays to his potential (not by any means convinced that this is going to happen unfortunately) it will also depend on players running the channels and this is Rodriguez's strength, so I strongly agree with Nick that JR should play and I would certainly select him ahead of Osvaldo, as things stand. So I would ideally play JR up front with JWP, GR and AL in support, recognizing that this sacrifices an element of defensive caution in leaving Davis on the bench. The remaining 7 players are currently and deservedly automatic choices on current form. I think Hull will actually present the acid test for our ability to overcome determined and reasonably talented opposition at St Mary's and we will only do that by threatening their goal more consistently

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brady100 added 14:34 - Nov 4 A large part of our problem is a lack of quality or poor decision making in the final third, this was very evident against Fulham where we wasted a number of good opportunities in good positions.
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LJCmx added 15:05 - Nov 4 Sounds like it was a credible point as Stoke proves a difficult place to go for many teams. It's great to see Lallana completing matches as he has done for the last four games now. I'm pleased Rodriguez is taking his chance - Osvaldo will have some work to do to get back in the side upon his return from injury. Most importantly it's great to be a Saints supporter: the highlight of the match, for me, was Boruc's subsequent apology/promise, showing he is a class act.

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thegeneral added 10:10 - Nov 5 There is definitely a lack of invention in the final third but we have to be patient despite how frustrating it is. Coutinho would have been ideal but had his head turned by the bigger club, Gaston has failed and we will not attract world class players after just surviving our first season back in the prem. This season is about improvement and achieving a finish to encourage one or two top players to join us. Realistically tenth would be a massive improvement and there's a good chance of 7th or 8th. Defensively we have improved immeasurably, midfield is strong with good options off the bench, we just need that last piece of the jigsaw. Better than all that though we have a young talented squad that could stay together for many years , and draws comparisons with the man u team that built on their young talent at the time and became very successful. Frustrations aside we are in good shape.

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