Shouldn't you have changed your name now Leon is at Blackburn! Tiote and Ba dangers for me keep them quiet and we win SIMPLE!
Well if he knows the way Southampton play (and he certainly does), then he'll surely realise that he needs to change that system for this game. Schneiderlin and Cork will dictate the game while your centre-mids are trying to keep Ramirez quiet. That 4-3-3 you played last season would give us a lot more trouble.
It looks like Cisse prefers the 4-3-3 and Ba likes the 4-4-2. We tried 4-3-3 and it worked to some extent, but now we're playing more of a 4-2-3-1.
Ramirez is more of a support striker/number 10 and our wingers push forward. A flexible 4-4-2 but I'd say a 4-4-1-1 without the ball and 4-2-3-1 with the ball.
Yeah that's what I've been seeing. The Cork/Schneiderlin/Ramirez triangle is the key to our possession.
I don't really use this site anymore, we broke away from not606 earlier this year and have our own forum now. We even have a resident Saints fan over there, but seeming as I like Saints I thought I'd pop on and have a bit of match chat with the Saints fans on here. Tiote isn't the same player without Cabaye next to him, he tries to play the Cabaye role and it just doesn't have the same effect. Ba is a born match winner and if he plays well, he will cause you all sorts of problems. Cisse still can't be disregarded, despite his bad form. Santon should also be watched as he is improving with each game, with attacking being his main asset. Apart from that we don't have a lot. Obertan has pace but hasn't cracked the PL, but he has been great in the EL. Marveaux is improving too but he is essentially a poor mans Ben Arfa. No team will have a better chance at beating us than you guys have this weekend
I always liked the Geordie fans. Civilised, good to talk footy with and up for a laugh. And then we always beat them and they always took it well. I hope it all continues.
I remember the last time we played Newcastle at St.Marys they hadn't beaten us away for a reeeaaaalllly long time (yes, that long) and they beat us 2-1. Carr scored a cracker. I was at the 3-3 at St.Marys the year before too, great game and a really good atmosphere. I thought Griffit had won it for us right near the end and then a minute later Newcastle equalised as was our style back then.
Likewise a lot of Newcastle fans do seem to have Saints as their 'second team' or at least those that I know. Despite the huge distances between the two! Saints fans always strike me as realists and the ones I know are great to talk to about football, you guys on here seem decent too! When I came over earlier in the year I noticed you had picked up a few idiotic fans now you are in the league who were wanting Adkins out after the Man Utd game, but then all clubs have the 'plastic fans'. Hopefully the you beating us part doesn't continue but I fear it will
My thoughts have turned to the Saints days of Barry Venison. I remember at the Dell us being 1-0 down in about the 81st minute and winning 3-1. I had some mates in another part of the ground and I got to the pub just before them and they got their orders in. We sat down to reflect on the game and they told me they both had £5 on saints to win 3-1 at 22/1. £230 between the two of them and they let me buy the beers !!!
On that occasion, a Geordie fan said on the radio that he entered a car wash winning and came out to an alternative universe.
What a game that was. To be precise Toon scored early in the 1st half. Then we battered them for the entire game but nothing would come off. I remember Simon Charlton smashing the bar from about 40 yards. Then we equalised in the 88th, got a winner in the 90th, and a cheeky 3rd in the 92nd. I have never been involved in a crowd going so ****ing nuts as we did that night (Archers Road, God bless you).
Would love to sing the wembley song to remind pardew of our good times! Then maybe he will love us and lose as a sacrafise in our honor
Made up to see people bringing this game up - best final 3 minutes of a game that i have ever been to ! I was flying out to Guyana on a job the next morning and got to LHR with a hell of a headache, as we had been in the Rising Sun ( as it was then ) on Shirley High St after the game and there were loads of Geordies in there and we were all singing ' The Fog on the Tyne is All Mine ' + our usual Saints songs & on the p--- til god knows what time. Brilliant night, brilliant away fans given that we had come back from the dead to beat them and as you say the Dell crowd going daft at the end was just something else. I was in the Archers Road end with my girlfriend - now my wife !!
Just watched Nigel's prematch interview on Player. He wouldn't be drawn on Pardew...someone asked if he was indebted to Pardew for the players he'd brought in. He replied, 'Why should I? I'm the manager of Southampton Football Club.' They tried a different tack and asked if he would rather the fans didn't give Pardew a good welcome. He said, 'We always welcome managers. As soon as the whistle goes, everything changes.' Said he was pleased to see Clattenburg back. Made an interesting point that at SFC players are told not to argue with the referee, even though he added that we could have had 2-3 penalties this season. He said that refs make decisions as they see them. He believes strongly in the Respect Campaign. Said he had to stop a training session after 20 min because he felt the players were only going through the motions, but after a talking to they all upped their game. He stressed the importance of not resting on your laurels after a decent result. Of Gazzaniga, he said it was important to learn from mistakes and not repeat them. He mentioned having to be supportive and protective of such a young player that he thought was good enough to be an international. Sounded like Gazza is playing on Sunday.