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ricardo

Ricardo's Report v Saints

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Well I did caution those around me at half time that this game was by no means done and dusted. I thought Saints could not play as badly as the first half and I said their away form is far superior to the rest of the bottom strugglers. However most people just laughed and were predicting another 4-0 job.

Saints duely changed their approach and got a very lucky first goal and suddenly it was a different game, just as I predicted. Having seen this game many times over the years I was not surprised. We were awesome in the first half with Wes pulling all the strings. He mixed a few bad passes in with it but some of his touches were brilliant and reminded me so much of Tommy Bryceland. His goal was spectacular and must have been a good 35 yards out.

Gunny had a good first game as manager on Saturday last but I thought he was very slow to react to Southamptons changes. It was crying out for fresh legs at 65 minutes but I sensed that Gunny was still expecting us to get back to the standard of the first half. It never happened and Saints leveller was always on the cards. I thought we needed a big man on much earlier. I would have had Cort on for Wes or Fozzy at 60-65 minutes and Lupoli for Cureton at 75 minutes but its all pie in the sky now.

2 points slung away for no good reason.

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Good post Ricardo but I think us being "awesome" first half is debatable. We certainly picked it up in the last ten minutes of the half but before that, we were better than them but didn''t seem to have an awful lot of urgency or direction.But still, it''s criminal to throw two points away in that manner and could prove very costly indeed.

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Well said Ricardo, as always. For me the turning point of the game was Cureton''s miss just before half time.  Had that gone in the game was dead and buried. Instead he slams it at Davis''s face and it was all kind of downhill from there.

The worrying thing is that even in the 2nd half Southampton looked liked one of the poorest teams i have seen this season and we still couldn''t hold on

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Agreed Graham - we didn''t do much before the good first goal and outstanding second goal.  Very flat first 20 minutes until Wes had the first shot on target.Poor 2nd half, once they pushed two men up front we didn''t know how to combat them and looked quite ordinary.  Gunn will need to learn quickly.  We should have beaten them by at least two goals but a combination of heavy legs and tactical naievety cost us two points.  The table''s awfully congested now - Friday''s another massive game.

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It does sound like a novice manager''s mistake. At 2-0 up you''ll tend to think "if it ain''t broke, don''t fix it". An experienced manager will realise that if you don''t fix it soon it''s gonna break.

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[quote user="Jimbo_Jet_Set"]

Well said Ricardo, as always. For me the turning point of the game was Cureton''s miss just before half time.  Had that gone in the game was dead and buried. Instead he slams it at Davis''s face and it was all kind of downhill from there.

The worrying thing is that even in the 2nd half Southampton looked liked one of the poorest teams i have seen this season and we still couldn''t hold on

[/quote]

Yes, thats about right.

I learned long ago that when you hear chickens being counted at half time its best to be very wary.

One thing I failed to mention was the ref. Where do they find them? This one was obviously breaking in a new pencil and notebook.

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Jimbo_Jet_Set"]

Well said Ricardo, as always. For me the turning point of the game was Cureton''s miss just before half time.  Had that gone in the game was dead and buried. Instead he slams it at Davis''s face and it was all kind of downhill from there.

The worrying thing is that even in the 2nd half Southampton looked liked one of the poorest teams i have seen this season and we still couldn''t hold on

[/quote]

Yes, thats about right.

I learned long ago that when you hear chickens being counted at half time its best to be very wary.

One thing I failed to mention was the ref. Where do they find them? This one was obviously breaking in a new pencil and notebook.

[/quote]

Its always the same with "premier league" referees. They have to be the centre of attention. How he managed to book 6 players in a game containing no bad fouls is beyond me.

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I thought Southampton were a very poor side and it is very worrying that we let such a poor side get away with a point especially after being 2-0 up, I felt totally deflated at the final whistle as it felt more like a defeat to me.

We were the better side in the first half but lacked urgency, we suddenly came to life in the last 15 minutes of the half and had Cureton stuck his chance away just before half time we would have been comfortable. After half time we were sloppy from the start and that gave Southampton the confidence that they could get something from the game, sure enough from a poor clearance from Fotheringham they got a lucky goal to bring them back into the game. Even then they rarely threatened but you always had the feeling that they would get a chance with the sloppy way we were defending and sure enough Saginowski got in between Doherty and Grounds to nod the equaliser from 6 yards. We had a few corners in injury time but never really looked like we would win the game.

We may have a new manager but we still have the same error prone defenders and until we sort that out things are unlikely to improve much.  All in all a very disappointing night and if we continue to throw points away at home we will go down

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Thanks Ricardo. It was very worrying that we threw away a 2 goal lead to such a low-lying team. I dunno whether I should be glad that I can''t go to game at the minute.

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I''m still shellshocked.  A game we totally threw away that should have been wrapped up by half-time.  People were saying we were unlucky, but the defending for the second goal renders that argument useless.

Magnificent strike from Wes though.  Hope we''re finally seeing what he''s all about.

 

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[quote user="JJ"]

I''m still shellshocked.  A game we totally threw away that should have been wrapped up by half-time.  People were saying we were unlucky, but the defending for the second goal renders that argument useless.

Magnificent strike from Wes though.  Hope we''re finally seeing what he''s all about.

 

[/quote]

I agree about the defending being shocking for their second goal, not the first time we''ve seen such poor defending this season. Will they ever learn? Probably not because the players involved aren''t good enough.

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[quote user="kdncfc"][quote user="JJ"]

I''m still shellshocked.  A game we totally threw away that should have been wrapped up by half-time.  People were saying we were unlucky, but the defending for the second goal renders that argument useless.

Magnificent strike from Wes though.  Hope we''re finally seeing what he''s all about.

 

[/quote]

I agree about the defending being shocking for their second goal, not the first time we''ve seen such poor defending this season. Will they ever learn? Probably not because the players involved aren''t good enough.

[/quote]

I thought Grounds looked shaky the entire night- and, consequently, so did Doherty. I think Doc plays better with a good partner next to him as he isnt having to cover for the other, which I think he was trying to do too much tonight. If young Jon is to stay, I sincerely hope thats its as backup and we get Purse in as our first choice with the Doc.

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[quote user="Orange Crush"][quote user="kdncfc"][quote user="JJ"]

I''m still shellshocked.  A game we totally threw away that should have been wrapped up by half-time.  People were saying we were unlucky, but the defending for the second goal renders that argument useless.

Magnificent strike from Wes though.  Hope we''re finally seeing what he''s all about.

 

[/quote]

I agree about the defending being shocking for their second goal, not the first time we''ve seen such poor defending this season. Will they ever learn? Probably not because the players involved aren''t good enough.

[/quote]

I thought Grounds looked shaky the entire night- and, consequently, so did Doherty. I think Doc plays better with a good partner next to him as he isnt having to cover for the other, which I think he was trying to do too much tonight. If young Jon is to stay, I sincerely hope thats its as backup and we get Purse in as our first choice with the Doc.

[/quote]

We needed another centre-back even before tonight.  Purse would be a good addition alongside Doc and Grounds.

Like a lot of other City games i''ve seen, the draw (I almost want to say defeat, cause it feels like one) was more down to lack of ability than lack of effort.  The desire is generally there but the quality is not, and the basic mistakes keep happening over and over.  We have some good players, but we have a fair few who will only ever be good enough to get us mid-table at best and not beyond.

What worries me is that Donny are a much tougher side than Southampton.  We''ll have to play really well to get something there now.

 

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Soton were poor but we did not kill them off - we were not fabulous as a team but wes caused them a lot of problem - and davies had to save them several time in teh first half - our best chance in teh second awas another og attempt.

We did not react tactically to their half time change and paid for the delay in realising Rusty but front does not work and that croft was a dead end again

Purse in for Ground will I think help enormous;ly

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Sorry, but I can''t see we were that good first half. Several players had good enough games but we were far from a joined up unit. Too slow at getting forward when Southampton were there for the taking. Second half we run out of ideas and Southampton capitalised on that. Once one goal went in we fell apart.

High spots again for me were Wes and Clingan. Rest were decidedly average.

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[quote user="gazzathegreat"]Sorry, but I can''t see we were that good first half. Several players had good enough games but we were far from a joined up unit. Too slow at getting forward when Southampton were there for the taking. Second half we run out of ideas and Southampton capitalised on that. Once one goal went in we fell apart. High spots again for me were Wes and Clingan. Rest were decidedly average.[/quote]

 

I agree that the first half wasn''t that great. Davis didn''t have to make a save until about 25 minutes in, although we turned the screw a bit after that.In the second half we had short spells of dominance, but I felt that we went backwards or sideways too much, rather than be incisive. Semmy looks shot to bits and doesn''t seem to know what to do if he can''t pass to Crofty. Grounds is inexperienced, though clearly talented, and was at fault for the second goal. Russell was, quite simply, embarassing, and we have to get a proper striker in the next few days or accept that we are going down. Wes does some wonderful things but also gives the ball away when under no pressure.However, he and Sammy were nip and tuck for MOM in my opinion. I just hope to god that Purse is coming as he''s just what we need.

Sadly, Gunny''s performance last night highlighted some of the doubts expressed about his appointment.He was reactive rather than proactive, and that, IMHO, probably cost us two points, as we were crying out for a change midway through the second half. However, its early days for him, although dangerously close to crunchtime for our Championship existence.

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