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Saints At Burnley The Verdict
Monday, 4th Feb 2019 09:41

It was a tale of two penalty decisions, Saints would claim that the referee got one right and another wrong, but the truth was sloppy defending cost us dearly.

Saints almost had the three points in the bag, the 4 minutes of injury time had been played with little incident and they just needed to clear the ball and the whistle would have gone, they didn't and three points were thrown away.

Saints got to grips with Burnley from the very start of the game and the longer it went on the more it looked like there would be only one winner.

But the same old issues came back and if a year ago the same result felt like a momentous win, this one felt like a crushing defeat.

Burnley will claim they should have had a penalty and having seen the replay they have a point, but they have a point because their player did what most seem to do these days, when the keeper goes to ground then the opposition player dives over him.

From this perspective I thing the ref got it right, yes there was contact, but the ball was long gone, a decade or so ago a player would just have jumped over the keeper, but not these days they throw themselves to the ground.

We shoud have opened the scoring with the lively Danny Ings in the first half but once he was off things got a lot harder to create chances, but we battled and looked up for the task.

Nathan Redmond put us ahead with a great goal from 25 yards and from then on we looked in charge for most of the game.

The arrival of Peter Crouch rattled us though, there was only one Burnley tactic from this point on and the nearer the final whistle loomed our defence started to waver.

WE seemed to struggle to clear cleanly Stephens should have cleared easily but didn't and the rebound to their man saw McCarthy make a reaction save to keep the scores level, then Stephens again was a yard off his man who volleyed against the bar and over.

The alarm bells were ringing, if Burnley were going to equalise it was going to be from our own failures more than skill on their part, like many teams before them they knew the weaknesses and the ball was slung into the box with frequency.

But it looked like we were just about home when the penalty was given, the first question was whether it was a penalty, the answer is yes, no one in the ground failed to spot the hand ball, what was Jack Stephens doing jumping with his arm up in the air like that ?

The answer could be he was fouled, but that is no excuse, replays are inconclusive on the foul and possibly Stephens reaction said it all, his team mates appealed, he just put his head in his hands.

This was a good performance in many ways it answered a few questions for Ralph Hasenhuttl, in my book the answers were as follows.

McCarthy looks shot on confidence, he was uncertain coming for the ball both for crosses and off his line and for the Burnleypenalty shout he dithered then came and almost paid a big price.

We should have signed a central defender in the transfer window, we can get by with what we have got, but only just, there is a good reason why we keep conceding soft goals, there is a good reason why we concede late goals and there is a good reason we conceded goals that are both soft and late and its been happening for over two years now, it happened again on Saturday.

The squad is stretched to the limits we should have bought someone in in the window, Ings is likely to be out again for the next few weeks and we will miss him, we can cope but only just.

Their is good news, most of the team stepped up to the plate, Vestergaard looks to be getting to grips with the Premier League at last, Bednarek is getting better by the week, Matt Targett is a different player than Ryan Bertrand but he is worth his place in the team for the way he uses the ball.

Callum Slattery will be a player, he looked comfortable in the side and as he said after the game he played without fear which is more than can be said than for a couple of his team mates.

Nathan Redmond looks to be a candidate for player of the season and an England call up, there will be those who still can't find it in their hearts to admit it, but he is showing the potential we signed him for and has been for most of the season.

James Ward Prowse is starting to look like the player he looked like he could be Hasenhuttl has got something into his head, he plays like a man now and not a boy.

Overall this was disappointing, if we had held on then we would have taken a big step towards safety, four points ahead of Cardiff but just as importantly three ahead of Burnley and level with both Palace and Newcastle as it stands we could drop in to the bottom three if we lose on Saturday.

But there were many plus points as well, it was another game unbeaten in the League in 2019, this was a tough game, Burnley are on their own unbeaten run and are no pushovers, the actual fact we got a point there was good, but the way we dropped three was unacceptable.

But we march on and go into a big big game on Saturday, this game should be a sell out,if you are a Saints supporter and haven't got a ticket yet then get one, this is going to be about getting behind the team when it needs it's supporters, yes some will have an excuse, but most won't, this is a game that could shape the rest of the season and indeed the future of the club, No Excuses.

Photo: Action Images



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Consigliere added 18:00 - Feb 4
I agree with Saint22 - bring back Yoshi.

Also love the idea of preserving Stephens (as in jam-making).

Your spellchecker obviously replaced "persevering" but a much better sentence resulted!
5

SaintBrock added 09:56 - Feb 5
One might speculate Saint22 that there was more to it than football ability. It's quite likely in Hoedt's case that words were exchanged along the lines that "you can F off too!". I cannot imagine that Stephens would rock any boats, he's lucky to be a PL player at all and he knows it so he isn't going to bite the hand that feeds him.

One suspects that Hasehhüttl gathers "yes" men around him rather than those with an opinion of their own. Think about the players that have left us.....

Don't worry 1970, Ralph will time the opening of the Fan Park to coincide with the next Forum and all will bathe in the glory of the new beginning.
2

LoisDeem added 10:29 - Feb 5
On the subject of the recent 'fans forum': has anybody heard from any 'fans' who were in attendance? The 'fan park' was a fairly transparent diversion from the usual player sales I suppose. Krueger is really rubbing the fans noses in it, the support is being sorely tested, the gates have stayed remarkably resolute in the face of our gradual sail or sell down the Itchen.
2

KriSaint added 19:07 - Feb 5
Well, not much to add that has not been mentioned. Always good to read Nicks match reports as well as my fellow Saint supporters´ analyses and comments.
It was brave of RH to use JWP as RB. I can see why RH tried this option, and I thought it was ok to put Valery on the bench. (It was likewise ok to have Valery on during the second half as we begun to look a little heavy-legged in defence).
It has gone more or less un-noticed, that Sims was included in the match squad for the first time under Hasenhüttl vs Burnley. He didn´t get minutes under his belt, unfortunately, but his squad selection indicates that Simmsy must be fit and ready. In hindsight, I would have loved to see him for the last 15-20 minutes, to hold up the ball (something Long did not manage) and threaten on counter situations with his well-developed pace. It wasn´t to be. We all know this man has something to offer, so hopefully he gets minutes soon, and who knows, maybe he can be like a kind of "new signing". Why not? Is Everton´s Adebola Lookman much better than Simms?
I have rated Simms highly since, a.o.t., "the assist of the season" vs Liverpool in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final back in 2016. I must have watched this episode about 30 times on YouTube. (Please notice Hojbjergs run too, in the left side - troubling Liverpools defence too).

My condolences to You Mr. ´helpineedsomebody´. How nice that Your Dad was such a big Saints fan. (I am a big (danish) Saints fan myself and have been since 1980. I went to The Dell for the first time in 1985, b.t.w.).

Let´s forget about the Burnley game now, Folks, and look forward to the next 6-pointer, the Cardiff game :-)
If we can beat Arsenal and Everton at home, playing some good stuff (under Hasenhüttl), we can beat Cardiff too.
Good to have Yoshida back in the club for that game.
Have a nice evening, everybody.
1

KriSaint added 19:15 - Feb 5
I should have added that it has likewise gone un-noticed that center back Alfie Jones was selected for the match squad vs Burnley. Another kind of "new" signing? ;)
0

helpineedsomebody added 10:45 - Feb 6
krisaint
thank you
once a saint allways a saint
1


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