Match Day Thread Saints vs Newcastle Saturday 7th March 3pm

I agree the comments aren't so useful, and maybe the club need to do something with the psychology of the players, but you were inferring it's all down to the fans, which to me is nuts.

 

Which is therefore more tactical on Ralph and the players...

 

Yup, we struggle at breaking down compact teams, we don't really have a precise passer like Shelvey who can thread the ball, or big men who can just tower above everyone else in the box to receive crosses, or players good at scoring from outside the box (Redmond is okay at this) so they don't need to defend with width or come out so they can just keep men in the box marking out Ings. We have lots of wingers and engines who thrive in end to end games. Defensively we are not good a soaking up pressure when means we are really bad a drawing out teams and have to play high up the pitch so anyone who is good at being compact and counter attacking will be good at targeting our weaknesses.

In an open game i rate our chances against most teams.


I do think fans play a role but there are bigger factors.

 

There was a siege mentality in the crowd yesterday after we went down to ten men and nobody could say that the team wasn't well supported and most of the ground joined in at some moments.

You do get a few idiots shouting stuff though, Boufal was a target certainly.

 

Ralph has struggled against British managers particularly, he needs to come up with a different plan when we play physical teams certainly but i'm generally happy with the way the team has developed under him and I think we will get better the longer he stays here.

 

I agree that the atmosphere was in many ways excellent- although the ref may not see it that way!
I have moved my season ticket many times in the past to get away from numpties. I am now of the firm opinion that you are never more than 10 seats/rows away from a numptie. Booing your own players, under any circumstances only makes things worse. If you doubt this, imagine trying to do whatever day-job you have with a baying crowd shouting that you are rubbish at it, and perhaps accept that it wouldn’t help you do it any better.

 

You’re obviously sat in an absolutely ****e section Dave. Suggest you move & sit with an area that are much more supportive. There’s plenty around.

 

The Djenepo rash tackle and sending off reminds me of an early Mane who likewise cost us a game in a similar way. Look how he turned out!

 

Where I sit, I cannot recall hearing anyone shout abuse at the players or indulging in behaviour that could be seemed to impact upon the players. I do think that the ground goes very quiet sometimes and that you sense that a lot of supporters sometimes seem resigned to the fact that we might not win. I would suggest that the supporters have been pretty supportive and understanding with the lack of wins. Saints supporters are generally very patient and not prone to knee jerk reactions. I sometimes think that there would be loads more abuse at grounds such as Fratton Park if as many games had been lost at home this season as have happened at St Marys. The amount of grief Kenny Jackett is getting is ridiculous given that he is doing a really good job. As a whole, I think Saints fans are generally more informed and more likely to have a holistic approach to their team's fortunes.

 

That said, I’m still not convinced it’s a red. If Hayden was in possession and Djenepo tried to get the ball off him with a tackle like that then it’s def a red. But Djenepo actually had possession and pushed the hall between two players to get away. Hayden saw an opportunity to slide the ball away and took it but momentum carried Djenepo onto his sliding leg. Would have been very difficult to do anything else. It’s the difference between watching a tackle in slo mo (which looked terrible) and taking it in context from different angles.

 

I agree with you all. (It has been said that I could get a job as a UN peacemaker though).

We the fans are overly hard on the players at home...this affects them
We the fans do have a 'right' to moan if we want...however, it doesn't help.
We the fans pick scapegoats.

I could go on, and there is no one factor we are crap at home.

Yesterday, the sending off galvanised the fans and the atmosphere was excellent after that - as someone said a true siege mentality. Had it not been for a lapse of concentration by a rusty Valerie (who I thought had a good game), we would have got at least a point.

I am not surrounded by total numpties, though my mate who I go with has been saying for weeks that McCarthy isn't good enough etc and how we should drop him. After the triple save and the penalty save he said he was 'lucky'. No arguing with that and we just agreed to disagree.....

 

Where did I blame the fans?

I don’t know what the problem is, let alone the answer to it. I suspect it’s a multitude of things (including the support).

 

What I do know is that we have a manager prepared to make mistakes, and moreover, prepared to learn from them. That’s a good thing.

I think if we strung two or three good results together at home, we’d turn a corner. As we’ve realised though, we have a very inconsistent team made up of some average, some good, and a couple of hit or cold. So to build up that momentum can be hard.

A new owner who might spend a couple of quid, and new season will be fascinating.

 

I agree, to suggest the poor home form is down to the crowd is totally wrong. I don't deny that there are some idiot loud mouths who assume they speak for us all but in general the crowd goes quiet rather than abusive. Yesterday, they were great for a large part of the second half when we were up against it and in truth Valery got off lightly for really poor play especially when half the Northam warned him there was a man behind him.
I've been to every home game this season and only at the start of the season when there was some awful stuff being served up has the crowd shown any real disapproval. Since our improved form at the end of November (2-2 at Arsenal) the home support has been very good yet we have still lost to West Ham 0-1, Wolves 2-3, Burnley 1-2 and Newcastle 0-1.
There has to be more to it than the crowd.

 

You did sort of infer it LTL

 

Probably worded it badly - by playing in front of our fans, I just meant playing at home, though I do think they’re a factor (not the biggest, but a factor).

 

Sounded like that’s what you were implying. Anyway, I agree it’s very definitely multiple & to have the worst in the PL is just awful whichever way you play it.

 

Mine went down in price this season I think. By about 50 quid iirc.

 

That was a shameful moment in the history of our club. I still cringe when I think of it, and recall seeing a decent man staring straight ahead with his head up, as he struggled to retain his dignity. Puel never deserved that.