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Reply | Did we go into the WBA game
at 17:52 13 May 2024
I think the away sides in both games largely went with the intention of not losing or certainly not losing by much rather than winning and put the onus on the home sides to go out and win. You are right, it could come back and bite us as I did feel that later in that second half we could have sought that win, though equally we nearly had our habitual kamikaze moment in our own penalty area.
I did enjoy the day out though. Easy to get to, easy parking at Mercure, good rapport between both sets of fans before and after, the hottest chicken Tikka at the Vine that I can recall ever eating, good atmosphere in the ground and pretty easy to get back home to East Yorkshire. I thought we were professional on the whole. |
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Reply | Three teams that got promoted are straight back down
at 20:58 11 May 2024
I don't think you should qualify for a parachute payment if you only spend one season in the PL. The 3 clubs that went up and are coming back down did not spend big (though I accept they probably had to increase their salary bill) which probably contributed to their downfall but it does mean they will have a financial advantage when they are back in the championship solely on the back of one season in the PL. It is different for clubs that have spent a number of seasons in the PL and then get relegated because their financial model has become more established to PL levels.
I am not sure of the stats but I think collectively the 3 gained the overall lowest number of points for relegation. Had Forest and Everton not had points deducted they would have been collectively relegated a couple of weeks ago. |
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Thread | WBA and Norwich
at 09:38 11 May 2024
So much of the playoffs appears to be centred around an all Leeds Utd Vs Southampton final at Wembley (certainly from the media). WBA and Norwich go into this with no expectation hanging over them, except may be from their own fans. WBA has barely been mentioned as a threat, yet at St Marys they could quite easily have won and were as good as us and were a real match. True, we gave a very professional performance at WBA but they seem to suffer from their manager being sent to the stands - I doubt that will happen again.
I just hope we do not go into this complacent or with any sense of entitlement. WBA are a good side and in one off games they are just as capable as winning as we are and away and at home we will need to be at our best and professional from beginning to end. |
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Reply | Moyes To Leave West Ham
at 22:03 7 May 2024
Moyes leaving whilst a dubious decision is not exactly surprising whereas Rosenior's sacking at Hull City appears completely bizarre and unjust (unless there is something behind the scenes which has brought it on). I thought he was doing an excellent job at Hull given the size of the squad, club, etc. It reminds me of the sacking of Adkins which felt so unjust at the time as well. |
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Reply | Moyes To Leave West Ham
at 09:02 7 May 2024
It reminds me a bit Nick of our relationship with Claude Puel.
We did not win anything with him but we did get to a final and finished 8th (though that 8th finishing was a bit misleading as points wise we were closer to the bottom 3 than we were to the top 6) but it was football for insomniacs. Apart from the final at Wembley the football under Puel was incredibly dull and uninspiring and not what Saints supporters were used to. The question was and arguably is, was Puel just realistic in his approach due to the quality of the squad or did he restrain the team with his tactics? I was one of those that did not call for his dismissal but I was not against him leaving - little did we know that what would follow him would be worse - but that is down to the failure and poor decision making by the board at that time.
Moyes is bit of an enigma. If you look at his pattern he tends have a good season followed by a poor one. On the whole he has done pretty well and as he said the difference this year is Rice - they did not replace him with the quality that was needed to continue their push or maintain the brand of football he was playing with Rice. Sounds familiar? yes, it does, selling your best players may get you loads of money but it is what you do with that money when you have sold a quality player and all too often that money appears to just melt away and the team becomes diluted and eroded in quality and what looked like promise starts looking desperate and you alienate the other players, you become less attractive and the supporters grow increasingly frustrated. |
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Reply | Awful today
at 09:34 28 Apr 2024
A 500 mile round trip to watch that Grumpy. I did not have a good feel about it and so it proved but I did think that being at home, we would not be as inept as we were.
That first half line up was a joke, but if he was hoping that some players on the fringe would show their worth, well he was wrong and the players themselves did themselves no favours. The midfield was appallingly weak - powder puff in offering a defence, ineffective in supporting an attack and I lost count how many times a poor Stoke team managed to cut through it almost at will. Shea Charles and Sekou Mara have been with us long enough now and have had enough chances to show development and improvement and they have shown neither and I can only conclude that they are never to cut it.
David Brooks had a mare in the first half and how he stayed on as long as he did is bewildering.
We actually had a few chances but as always we seem to find it easier to hit anything except the back of the net.
There was some improvement when the subs were made but not that great. The weird thing is that it was a game that had chances for a range of outcomes and we can only be mildly grateful that Stoke's finishing was or is as woeful as ours.
I thought Edozie and KWP worked hard. They did not get it all right but they did seem to try when all around them looked like they could not be ar*ed.
There was good support from fans in numbers but they were let down. Vocal support was not great but the players gave them little to be uplifted about.
Some people said RM was playing out the game to avoid injuries. I am not sure I buy that at all, because the body language and attitude said to me that here is a team now that looks bereft of confidence, ideas and belief and I left the ground wishing that was the last game of the season rather than going into what feels like a pointless playoff scenario. |
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Reply | Leeds 2-0 down
at 22:35 26 Apr 2024
After days of putting up with the proverbial from Leeds fans at work and locally, tonight's result is almost Karma - though only almost. I will only be happy if we beat them in a playoff game. |
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Reply | South Coast Derby - 2024/25
at 18:05 26 Apr 2024
Agreed and to be honest, I would rather play our neighbours than Liverpool, though I doubt the feeling is reciprocated. |
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Reply | Southampton V Stoke City The Preview
at 10:32 26 Apr 2024
Agree Pat. We seem to have a soft underbelly and mentality that is easily broken. You are right that is not just a symptom of this team or season, it has shown through over a number of recent seasons. I would argue that it even existed at times under my personal favourite manager - Lawrie McMenemy. Over the years, we have all too often fallen at the final hurdle or croaked just as the prize has been within our reach.
That said, putting the recent downturn aside, by and large I have enjoyed the season and if I am honest, I did not expect to be in the top 6 at the beginning of the season and certainly not after those early defeats. |
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Reply | Man. City
at 22:32 25 Apr 2024
Not that bothered who wins it between Man City and Arsenal. I used to dislike Arsenal fans as they were very arrogant when they were winning things and I do recall when I came out of Highbury after a 2-2 draw lots of Arsenal fans were saying, we should really be beating teams like Southampton as if they had some given right to win. |
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Reply | Southampton At Leicester The Debacle
at 08:43 24 Apr 2024
I have tried to calm down before writing anything as last night I was so angry and frustrated with the manager, the team and the club. Last night epitomised what has been endemic and wrong in our club for some while - appointing the wrong manager for the club repeatedly, appointing players who do not care or are not that bothered about SFC.
Long before the game started, as early as Saturday evening all the noise and mood music coming out was that we were going into that game without intent to win. What sort of attitude was that and for all the possession there was no intent. No intent to attack, no intent to offer any real opposition. The goals were easy for Leicester (though had we been given such gifts I am not sure our attack would have put them away anyway).
How must those 3000 plus fans have felt last night and really what can we expect from our final 2 games? If the manager and the team can't be bothered why should we. I suppose today we'll get all the usual excuses and diatribe about how we must do better, etc, etc and how they must react. It's too late guys, you gave up, plain and simple and you have now made us look easy to beat. You look disinterested. Any of the other teams in the playoff positions will not fear us in the slightest. Those other teams may not have as good a players but they have something we don't - team spirit, togetherness, a never say die attitude - you saw that with Coventry on Sunday.
I could say it is all down to this manager and this group of players but the truth it isn't. Yes, they are to blame for what is happening now but this attitude, this stinking lack of fight has been there for several seasons now. Is it poor management recruitment or poor player recruitment or just plainly both. Whoever runs our club just keep making the same p*ss poor mistakes and errors of judgement.
We don't have a single player in our team who I would identify as leadership material. There is no mental or physical strength in our team. We go a goal behind and before you know it we are several goals behind. We miss one chance on goal, we miss several chances. We are weak in midfield and out of all our goalkeepers whether fit or otherwise I am hard pressed to say whether any of them are really upto the task.
Last night was dreadful and we have unravelled completely in the last few weeks especially away from home. But, it has been underlying and there for so long.
If I am honest, I did not expect to be in the playoffs this year so in that respect my expectations have been exceeded. But, what I did hope though is we would be building a real team that can form a foundation and platform. Those foundations were left bare last night and for all to see. We have a long way to go before we can say we are a good team and we are moving in the right direction. |
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Reply | Cardiff down to their barebones
at 11:41 20 Apr 2024
I mentioned this yesterday but in the past we have not come out at all well in these situations. Claims of an injury crisis have all too often resulted in a 1-0 defeat for us. But, as long as we have the right attitude etc then hopefully we will get the win we need. |
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Thread | Cardiff City supposed injury crisis. Can we not........
at 12:50 19 Apr 2024
........have any of that attitude that all we have to do is turn up because the opposition have an alleged injury crisis.
I have lost count over the years of opposition teams that are supposedly struggling to put together a team to play due to an injury crisis only for us to lose 1-0. I don't want us to care who is playing for Cardiff we have to play to win and win well if possible irrespective of who is in their squad. |
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Reply | Sorry but Russell must be either irrational or unprofessional or both
at 17:31 17 Apr 2024
There have been many times I have questioned RM's decisions but to be honest, I am basking in what was a good all round professional performance and outcome last night. Though there won't be a single fan that does not have a view on who should or shouldn't be picked I have to assume that the manager knows alot more about the players than I ever will and entrust that the decisions he makes will by and large be for the right reason(s).
From an outside perspective it does feel harsh on Lumley but I assume there is a good reason why RM felt he was not the man for the job on this particular occasion.
At the end of the day, I am not too bothered who plays if they perform like they did last night and get a good result. It is a team game and as a team they did what they had to do, albeit against a largely supine opposition. AM was largely a bystander last night and many of us regulars are aware of his frailties. If he is the (preferred) person between the sticks in the coming games he will undoubtedly be tested alot more. How he performs, whether it is good or bad will determine to some extent whether RM has made a sound or questionable decision - but that is what being a manager is all about and what they are paid for. |
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Reply | Saints Striker Could Be Banned For Striking
at 11:19 16 Apr 2024
Brilliant Pat.
Thank god you don't have a Jack Stephens in your tank. I mean, where would he go and would he fit in with all the other fish and can you imagine the fall out if Nick found out that you were trying to fit him in at the expense of another fish? |
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