Southampton away match thread

[Mr Popodopolous]

33 minutes ago, Edgy Red said:

I think it's clear that we disagree. I have said a number of times before that i liked Nige, but i never saw a progression in the way we played over his 3 years. I fully appreciate that he worked under restrictions but the modern game is all about posession and i was never convinced that we were going to move forward under him.

Time will tell if Manning will do any better, but lets all get behind him and support the team.

In actual fact last third of last season having thought about it we were moving towards a more possession game albeit vs bottom 3rd sides.

Off the top of my head, Cardiff away but especially Huddersfield Away, Blackpool Home, Reading Home. To some extent Rotherham Home, Watford Away, QPR Away.

Chances created, possession fairly dominant and in some cases both.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Rocking Red Cyril]

Okies from players subbed off tonight. And any in coming injury list becoming available. What is our fitness looking like for Saturdays game ? Which needs to be won  

[CityCiderEd]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Very astute, said so on the Forwards thread.

I like the commentator (Rob Duffell?) too, knows when to talk, when to keep quiet, doesn’t gush over City.  And I think it’s good having two co-commentators (Nahki and Chris Honor).

I watched on Saints TV.....I thought Toby was bad but jeez, Dean Hammond was bloody awful and was watching a completely different game to what I was. City commentary is usually so bad that at times it's embarrassing. 

[RedM]

2 hours ago, East Londoner said:

Think I’ve solved the Dolman PA problems, use 3 speakers rather than 1

And their screen was crystal clear and they made good use of it. They split the screen when they did have adverts, which were not too often and showed other stats like bookings etc. Their screen made ours look awful in both size, clarity and info displayed.

[Mr Popodopolous]

29 minutes ago, Rocking Red Cyril said:

Okies from players subbed off tonight. And any in coming injury list becoming available. What is our fitness looking like for Saturdays game ? Which needs to be won  

Sunday's game.

We can but hope but the worst case scenario looks like the following:

McCrorie

Atkinson

Roberts

Naismith

King

Sykes

Benarous

Wells

All out.

Let's hope it turns out somewhat better than that. Hopefully it was just cramp for Sykes for one.

Edited November 29, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[RedM]

As for the game, I think first half was ours but that goal knocked the stuffing out of us and we didn't recover. We got to stop conceding after HT, decent goal though to be fair. We didn't give up but we didn't look the team we were before HT. 

I think we might have nicked a win from Boro on Saturday, but Southampton certainly stole all the points tonight.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Russell Martin remains a bit of a chippy tosser. Saw it linked on Twitter.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gwrhfs

Edited November 29, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I don't want to keep dragging the past up cos we are where we are now. 

The expectation was that we were not embarking on another 3 year project and instead made the change to immediately improve.

That is correct…although maybe you could say it’s a 3 year project of really challenging for promotion, rather than a re-build project.

At the moment the early signs are that we have gone backwards. Whilst we could go forwards in the future, based on his 1st 3 games surely you can understand that that there are concerns?

I don’t think there are any early signs of going backwards.

It feels pretty much (exactly?) the same to me.  Good bits and bad bits.

[Davefevs]

45 minutes ago, lenred said:

Even as a ‘Pearson Lover’ I expected and demanded there be improvement this year - for me it really was the year to turn those hard couple of years of graft into fruition so 10th or above was my realistic goal I’m sure (maybe you can check for me @Marina's Rolls Royce next time your looking through my posts for me ) On that basis I’ll be pretty cheesed off with anything less but anything above 14th would be progress I guess. 

It’s funny that usually it’s the fans who over-expect, yet this time it’s the hierarchy.  The fans are generally much more realistic at this time.

[bcfcnick]

Very small margins in terms of the result although Southampton had vastly more incisive possession and a much better second half but we should have been a couple of goals up before that second half. 

Those small margins included Tommy Conway being unusually flat-footed for him or any footballer (almost day dreaming) hence he wasn't ready for the header which he should have buried and Matty James not closing down the space which allowed the shot leading to the goal.   

Every time Mehmeti gets the ball you can see his only intent is to go for goal head down rather than look for a teammate in a better position.  I would love to see a maverick forward player come good but I'm not convinced it will be Mehmeti.  He's a confidence player for sure so maybe Manning can bring the best out of him.

I like the way we kept the ball and I think we have a very astute and hard-working young head coach but we were playing against a premier standard team with the parachute payments so the jury is still out on where we will finish.  We definitely need some strengthening in the forward positions if we are going to sneak anywhere close to play-off contention this season.  Next season with a few signings and after Manning has had some time here will be the time to assess properly.

 

[Davefevs]

24 minutes ago, CityCiderEd said:

I watched on Saints TV.....I thought Toby was bad but jeez, Dean Hammond was bloody awful and was watching a completely different game to what I was. City commentary is usually so bad that at times it's embarrassing. 

Actually think our guy might be Alex Duffell, nitvRob.

[eardun]

13 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Russell Martin remains a bit of a chippy tosser. Saw it linked on Twitter.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gwrhfs

Blimey that’s something else! Obviously not feeling loved! 

[petehinton]

24 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Russell Martin remains a bit of a chippy tosser. Saw it linked on Twitter.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0gwrhfs

Bloke is an absolute egomaniac. Walked around clapping the fans BY HIMSELF not with the players at FT, ensured he was the last person left on the pitch (along with the photographer) whilst doing so too. Absolute bell.  

Edited November 29, 2023 by petehinton

[CityCiderEd]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Actually think our guy might be Alex Duffell, nitvRob.

I didn't take the chance tonight so decided I'd watch on Saints TV....

[W-S-M Seagull]

56 minutes ago, lenred said:

Even as a ‘Pearson Lover’ I expected and demanded there be improvement this year - for me it really was the year to turn those hard couple of years of graft into fruition so 10th or above was my realistic goal I’m sure (maybe you can check for me @Marina's Rolls Royce next time your looking through my posts for me ) On that basis I’ll be pretty cheesed off with anything less but anything above 14th would be progress I guess. 

My expectation was to get to April within touching distance of the play offs. MRR is also free to go back and check my posting history about that. 

So for me that is also the MINIMUM expectation for LM. However with what the board said, the expectation must now be higher than that. And what's that is an expectation on Liam, that expectation is more directed at the board. 

[Kid in the Riot]

8 minutes ago, petehinton said:

Bloke is an absolute egomaniac. Walked around clapping the fans BY HIMSELF not with the players at FT, ensured he was the last person left on the pitch (along with the photographer) whilst doing so too. Absolute bell.  

When Swans were at AG in Jan for the FA Cup game, he came out after he'd done the pre-match team talk but before the players came out, to applaud the Swans fans!

First time I've ever seen that, beyond belief

[The turtle]

24 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s funny that usually it’s the fans who over-expect, yet this time it’s the hierarchy.  The fans are generally much more realistic at this time.

Weird isn't it

[Sleepy1968]

1 hour ago, petehinton said:

Sykes pulled up a few mins before coming off. Looked like cramp but he could hardly move whatever it was. 
 

Tinnion will appoint himself head of medical before long. 

I assume you meant 'hed of medikul'.

[BCFC31]

2 hours ago, milo1111 said:

I’ve had a guts full of Mehmeti now. Offers absolutely f all for me. Cornick is ok coming on when we are defending a lead but he is woeful when we need a goal and a spark.

what a dreadful second half performance against a Southampton side who have good players but are underperforming due to their crap manager

Yeah mehmeti is doing my head right in!! It really just isn't happening for him at bristol city what so ever its painful watching him at times.

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, BCFC31 said:

Yeah mehmeti is doing my head right in!! It really just isn't happening for him at bristol city what so ever its painful watching him at times.

I honestly didn’t mind his performance tonight.  I’m probably in the minority though.

[Shauntaylor85]

We are really toothless up top, disappointing how we tend to look average v the relegated sides when other clubs go and put in a show. I didn’t get the formation tonight nor the subs, wouldn’t be surprised if Cornick is traded for a powerful, pacy forward as so badly need. Cannot wait for Nakhi to come back, we miss his movement badly 

15 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I honestly didn’t mind his performance tonight.  I’m probably in the minority though.

Him and Cornick at the end were a joke, how as a professional footballer can you get into such a good position and serve up that! Appalling, our final ball and execution leaves a lot to be desired. 

[Grey Fox]

18 minutes ago, Shauntaylor85 said:

We are really toothless up top, disappointing how we tend to look average v the relegated sides when other clubs go and put in a show. I didn’t get the formation tonight nor the subs, wouldn’t be surprised if Cornick is traded for a powerful, pacy forward as so badly need. Cannot wait for Nakhi to come back, we miss his movement badly 

Him and Cornick at the end were a joke, how as a professional footballer can you get into such a good position and serve up that! Appalling, our final ball and execution leaves a lot to be desired. 

I felt we shaded the first half, but were toothless in the second. Cornick’s appearance imo actually improved us to a point as he at least provided a target for the increasingly aimless long balls ️ played in the second half. 
 

As to “looking average” , in all honesty that is what we are at this point, an average Championship side, and if we continue to sell off young talent at every opportunity will remain so. Let’s see what Uncle Steve allows In January.

[95red]

Under Manning we will  look good ,side ways passing  plenty  of possession  tippy tat football  ,go one down then nothing offer absolute  nothing ,O'driscoll welcome  back .

[johnheadbcfc]

If Conway took his chances this forum would be dare I say it, a positive place 

Edited November 30, 2023 by johnheadbcfc

[Shauntaylor85]

6 minutes ago, 95red said:

Under Manning we will  look good ,side ways passing  plenty  of possession  tippy tat football  ,go one down then nothing offer absolute  nothing ,O'driscoll welcome  back .

Have lost a lot of thrust we had under Nige. 

[95red]

22 minutes ago, johnheadbcfc said:

If Conway took his chances this forum would be dare I say it, a positive place 

Big if ,what's more concerning  is not having a clue to come back from one down .

[Nugget]

I’m not sure I’ve seen us play like that first 45 in a long time. Some very, very nice play at times & encouraging signs to create so many chances that on another night would have gone our way, then the 2nd half is completely different. 

[johnheadbcfc]

17 minutes ago, 95red said:

Big if ,what's more concerning  is not having a clue to come back from one down .

It's happened once, against a side that let's be fair we were hopeful against at best , I will judge against lesser opposition personally

Edited November 30, 2023 by johnheadbcfc

[Sir Geoff]

5 minutes ago, johnheadbcfc said:

It's happened once, against a side that let's be fair we were hopeful against at best , I will judge against lesser opposition personally

But if the expectation (of the board) is top 6 we should be more than just 'hopeful' against this kind of side. We played well enough to come away with a point, despite a poor second half.

Despite the second half, if Cornick crosses to Knight, one pace  / step earlier or Mehmeti doesn't fall over his own feet in the box we could and should have had a late equaliser.

[ralphindevon]

Frustrating trip, train over an hour late, take away food average, pub decent, hotel room freezing with luke warm water. 

As for the game, decent first half that we edged but unlike Saturday we couldn't take our chances and go in with a lead. 

Once again came out 2nd half off the pace and once we had let in the goal they were masters at being one up.

Our defence is looking as strong as it has for years, confidence up front us lacking but that could soon change with a goal or two.

Mid table is well and truly ours

Edited November 30, 2023 by ralphindevon