There are always at least 4 minutes in a televised game. Seemingly without fail. My tinfoil hat theory is that is sponsor / advertising related
Interesting stat. Ralph said they had been working on the quick counter attack for this season. Adam Armstrong gives us that but not sure just how effective we would be without him in the team. Not a lot I suspect.
Yes but 5 minutes added on wasn't unreasonable from my view in the stadium. And when a referee keeps hurrying you up you can be sure time will get added on for it.
I thought the main difference between the two sides today was that Utd knew exactly how to con the referee. That aside, we gave Utd so much time to organise when we had a free kick or throw in. Whereas their kicks and throws went virtually unchallenged. On the plus side, it was suggested last week that Everton beat us by raining in crosses then early. We got lots of crosses in today but still room to get them in quicker.
Great to be back at St Mary's although I am glad that my decision to leave early to get ahead of the traffic meant that I did not suffer the problems with the ticket readers at the turnstyle. Nice to see that I wsn't the only one who had lumbered up over the last 15 months and think that the money spent on the new screens would have been better going on wider seats now that everyone is bigger! With regards to the football, I think that there were plenty of positives. For my money, Pogba is a class act but too many other Utd players were not at the races today. In the end, this is a game we could have won. The decision to take off Walcott at half time could have been costly yet I think the error was rectified in sufficient time to take the game back against Utd. Not sure if anyone else has made this point previously. I think that this is the first time Ralph has effectively fielded a team largely made up of his recruits. Only JWP, Stephens and Romeu were igned by other managers. The analysis after the match by Adam Blackmore was spot on. The current side has far more depth than last season and the competition for places will work in our favour, There has been a lot of chatter about Saints being relegtion candidates this seaon and setting aside the collapse against Everton last weekend, what I witnessed today was indicative that this side will do much better than people believe. Always agreat to get something against the Mancs yet maybe today represented something more with Ralph now havng the tools he has wanted to do the job. I think that a few will disagree with me yet I took a lot of positives coming out of St Mary's this afternoon.
Moussa's mouth injury, Greenwood's "head" injury (or was that first half?). Subs. Che had a knock too. But 5 was definitely on the generous side.
Can I just give a shout to Che as well today. He's come on a bit from last season - held the ball up really well, led the line, and won his fair share of headers against Lindelof and Maguire. His partnership with Armstrong could really come good.
In agreement here, Ian. I don't think taking Theo off was the wrong move though - I was surprised it was for Beddy, but the formation change (once Diallo came on especially) held them back again. For me this was Ralph's best game in terms of in-game management.
Did anyone mention that we are up to 13th on goal difference? Didn't think I would be saying that tonight!
A very good point against a title contender. Game management worked and although we still looked a little bit disconnected at times, that will improve with games. We had probably the 2 best chances to win the game too. A shame for Adz that he didn't put one of them away.
I understand that the company to whom the ticketing arrangements was subcontracted out has had similar issues at the other ground where they were employed. According to Solent, the Southampton situation was not unique this weekend. It seems incredible this has happened together with the late delivery of season tickets given how long the club had had to prepre.
Yep but as Richie said doesn’t every team do so why does it seem you defend the ref or MU????? Must cut to paste.