Match Day Thread Saints v Burnley, Saturday 23rd October, 3pm

I have a slightly different take on this. Mistakes are going to happen and they are sometimes huge, game altering clangers. Getting a rage on and stamping around the pitch, kicking the ball away and screaming is one end of the reaction spectrum, Looking to the heavens having a laugh at yourself for dropping such a clanger in front of 30,000 people is at the other end. Both of those players are in no doubt that they just missed the easiest chance they will get all game but the player that takes it on the chin, instantly forgets about it can get back to playing their best game quicker that a player that has a strong emotional reaction.

Totally agree with the rest of your post Ian But one of the things I am feeling and seeing is a culture of loyalty and commitment being built off the back of having some continuity. JWP is an outstanding example of this. When we have a captain, who is an england international, recognised as the best in the league at set pieces and able to play 100 games continuously he is worth more than cash. Tino was quoted as saying that he came here partly to play with JWP. If we sold him and bought 2 other good mids, how long would they stay before 'glamour' clubs like leicester spurs and villa come calling. I don't disagree that he has had an anonymous game or two this season but I wouldn't bin a player of his calibre off for that. He will come good again.

 

Don’t entirely agree with your comments but the response is definitely crucial. Did he raise his game thereafter?

 

He delivered the corner for Tino’s goal. That took both skill and determination, so I’d call it a positive response.

 

Serious? Ok, if that’s what you believe, then fine. FYI, Tino & Borja got top marks on BBC ratings (ok maybe not the defining examination). Theo & Nathan got bottom of our outfield players, excluding subs.

 

See Ian, I agree with this but cant with the bold parts.

This is his team, he has been here almost 3 years. All teams have issues, what have our issues been this season, other than his team selection has been off, weirdly in the games that we need (see, didnt say expected) to win - that plus Jack Stephens getting injured, which a large chunk of the fan base would have been happy with prior to the season starting. Isn’t part of the issue not upgrading Bednarek, and getting Lyanco who may take a year to get up to speed?

We have to improve on results (from game 1 to now) and everyone was saying we’ve had a tough start playing xxx of the top 6 etc. Well, now we are on our ‘easier’ run, we played very well v Leeds (whilst we had a major part in how they played, they still played well below expectations). So we lost to Wolves, beat Leeds and drew with Burnley.

I genuinely hope we win 2 from 3 in our next EPL games, as failure to do so is a failure from the team and Ralph. If we dont, what would that mean - 1 win in 12 games? Would everyone be happy with that, or not so unhappy they wouldn’t replace the manager? That for me is the point I’d be changing and i honesty couldn’t tell what way it is going to go.

The real issues for me v Burnley wasnt the performance, i thought we played ok and could have won on another day (but again, we didnt) - it was the inclusion of Theo, keeping him on so long, waiting so long to bring AA on, and the result makes the next trio of games far more pressured in terms of winning - as to be blunt, drawing these games just isn’t good enough.

I agree we are steering in the right direction, and Ralph has made us harder to beat, but he still hasn’t got the balance right on defence v attack and that is quite clearly down to him to correct.

 

If your sole judgement of a player’s value to the team is based on a BBC public vote then that’s up to you. Nathan got the assist for a Saints goal for the second match in a row, there’s no denying that.

 

Thats a public vote, and he was even second or third lowest in that for the game against Leeds. People have agendas.

 

BBC ratings are pretty much a total joke.

With the exception of that one embarrassing miss, Redmond has been our best player over the last two games alongside Livramento and Broja.

Without him we wouldn’t have beaten Leeds and would have lost to Burnley, due to his key contributions.

I am very critical of Redmond usually and I think he has been very disappointing for a long time, but you have to give credit where credit is due, he has been mostly excellent in the last two games and one error no matter how glaring doesn’t undo the mountain of positive work he produced in both of those games.

 

I was not happy with him after that miss (I did shout at him) but TBF he didn't let it affect him and he provided the assist for Tino's goal just moments later. I thought he was good again. Not as good as Leeds but still a 7 out of 10 performance. He's definitely better playing as one of the 2 strikers rather than out wide and I think he prefers this role as well.

 

Well put, that’s a very good summary. I’m not sure I’d put Nathan above Salisu or Romeu, or even Diallo in the last couple of games but the improvement is commendable.

 

Redmond assisted the Walcott miss that should have been buried.

 

Yeah, he seems to be much more decisive and direct up front than out wide.

Also an unexpected good mark for his corners too, I would genuinely keep him on them when Prowse returns as they have been far more dangerous. Prowse can stick to the free kicks,

Adams and Adam Armstrong have some serious work to do to get back in the side now I have to say, they have offered very little so far this season.

I am assuming they will probably get the League Cup game this week, even though it’s against Chelsea they need to turn up.

 

I’ve been a huge JWP fan for years, but I honestly don’t see how he gets back in the team the way Romeu and Diallo are playing.

 

So, I agree he is better playing as a striker than as a 10, but surely we should be playing someone as a striker with more of a goal threat. I get he got 2 assists lately, but we also need to score more - just surprised we arent playing AA as the 2nd striker, or Che.

 

He gets straight back in. He's the captain at the end of the day. Ralph's not going to leave him out by choice. I would bring him in for Romeu against Watford and Norwich, where we shouldn't really need Romeu. JWP in for Diallo against Villa.

 

I think they will start v Chelsea, but to be fair, AA scored and created assists - not sure what else he could have done. Im surprised he hasnt been used more, even if to come on earlier in games, if not starting.

 

Oh don’t get me wrong, I agree he’s first on Ralph’s teamsheet. Not sure either Oriol or Ibrahima deserve dropping though. We have certainly missed his free kicks, and he was getting back to the driving force of last season against Chelsea. It’s a good problem for Ralph to have really, unlike the lack of depth he’s had up until this season.

 

Not sure underestimating Watford is a great idea seeing as they just smoked Everton 5-2 away.

 

I agree that neither Romeu and Diallo (Diallo in particular) deserve dropping. But I can't imagine Ralph not picking JWP when he's available. So hopefully Ralph will rotate Diallo and Romeu depending on who we're playing and what assets we need from our midfield. Obviously against the big guns we need Romeu's robustness and defensive abilities. Against teams like Watford and Norwich I would like to see Diallo with his ability to pick a forward pass and his on the ball ability.

 

Who said I'm underestimating them? But we need to be aiming to beat them not contain them - hence why I'd start Diallo over Romeu. Diallo's a perfectly competent DM but he's also great at getting us forward.