Newcastle fan in peace The result clearly flattered us today, it wasn't a 4-1. First half was nip and tuck and the difference was that we scored our chance whereas your boys missed yours. That was it, bit of a turgid half. Second half started with a lot of bluster from Southampton and some openings but once we scored the second then the result didn't seem in doubt. It's not that we were good (we didn't play very well but i think the conditions affected both teams a bit in that regard) but it felt that the roll of the ball was with us and we were as good as we needed to be. We're not a top 6 team, we're a 7-10 placed team who are in amazing form and that's probably harder to play against, especially when we have Almironaldinho in the form of his life. You've got enough good players that I'd expect you to be finishing above the likes of Forest, Leeds, Bournemouth and probably Everton. You're a long way away from being cut adrift, I'm surprised Ralf was got rid of today as the Liverpool match (with their form) is the kind of game i could see him getting something from but i get that he was due to go generally. A 4-1 loss at home to us has to raise serious questions and his admission that he didn't know how to get out of the slump was damning. At least lie... I read through and saw a few posts about our finances under Ashley. I'm happy to go into it but a) it's probably not interesting to other fans b) you've probably got other things to talk about at the moment so bye for now, good luck (please beat Liverpool, I live there and am enjoying their struggle) and catch you later in the season by which time you'll be 3+ points out of the relegation zone.
It was all down to taking or not taking chances. If we go in at HT 1-1, and then convert the Adams chance for 2-1, the confidence flows and who knows what might have been. We should have had 3 goals against one of the meanest defences in the league, which is something but there is no legislating for you scoring from every shot on target. You’re doing well and I have a Geordie mate across the road from me, so I will keep my fingers crossed that you can disrupt the top 6.
Just listened to Ralph’s comments after game on BBC sport. Said what you’d expect but after was Howe - spoke brilliantly.
Weird game. We played pretty decent. I’ve seen us far far worse recently and yet we walk away with one of the biggest defeats of our season so far. Ultimately today Newcastle were just freakishly clinical the few times they did run through us, and we as usual were not. Did kind of feel like they could have stepped it up a gear but didn’t really need to though. When Che missed that chance early in the second half at 0-1, I watched almost every Saints player put their head in their hands and/or fall to their knees. Not surprised we almost immediately conceded as that for me at least was the turning point from a tight game to one where mentally we gave up on it. Hopefully Larios is okay, big ask for the young lad playing out of position but it appears RB is a cursed position. Lavia looked understandably a little rusty and yet still a big improvement in the middle. ABK also understandably rusty. Perraud motm, just so committed and passionate and our biggest goal threat…* * even during shooting practice during the warm up (which we are regularly awful at unsurprisingly, it’s painful to watch), Perraud is one of our best finishers.
I agree but why did Ralph leave Perraud on the bench with Lavia? Why did we see more Ralph roulette with Theo absent most of the game and Larios out of position? Just another example of his weird selection process.
Perraud wasn't on the bench? Larios at RB is very much makeshift, but our only RB options are currently Larios (mainly a LB, but has played RB before), AMN (needed in midfield until Lavia's ready to play a full 90 minutes) and JWP (similar to AMN and almost certainly not gonna happen unless there's nobody else). I agree picking Walcott was strange.
Had a conversation with a mate last night who said there were lots of away fans in home ends yesterday and a fair few scraps as a result? Suspect we'll get a club statement today blaming Saints fans and announcing more block closures.
Plenty in the Itchen North. Stewards point blank refused to do anything. Some woman got so irate with the stewards refusal to do anything she stormed out mid first half. But it's the Saints fans fault, and Mr Steele assures us it never happens.
I really like Howe. Thought we should have been in for him when he was a free agent. He’s done an absolutely amazing job at Newcastle. They look so solid
. This wasn't even there but up the other end of the ground. But yeah, it's all them nasty Saints fans fault and there's nothing the club can do.
Did he really play Theo Walcott from the start? I'm still trying to get my head around it. He - presumably - wanted to keep his job, and he picked Theo from the start. My mind is well and truly blown.
Loads if trouble in the Chapel stand as well according to twitter. Apparently a Saints fan took a kicking from 3 away fans whilst the stewards stood and watched. Again loads of away fans in the home area today with the stewards completely ignoring the problem. Yet according to the club we're the problem. They'd do very ****ing well to remember the fans they've ****ed around in block 1 (as well as the rest of us) will be those paying to keep the lights on when we drop down next season. But they'll bend over backwards to rim the away fans instead. Pathetic