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Comment | Southampton At Leicester City The Verdict
at 23:18:09
What a turnaround following Maddison's goal! First half was frustrating. We were solid at the back but could not hold on to the ball once we got it. For me, the game was crying out for Che given how good he is at holdup play. Mara just couldn't get a sniff, though he put away his offside goal with aplomb.
The Leicester goal seemed to spark us to life. After the equalizer, I feared we'd retreat into our shell but we kept the momentum going which was great to see.
As for individuals, KWP looks so assured, ABK immense, Djenepo lively and mistake-free on this day. No real complaints about anyone, in fact. Great 3 points! |
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Comment | Saints Draw Manchester City In The FA Cup Quarter Finals
at 03:51:38
Elijah K--it's actually a 3/7 (43% chance) that two of the "big three" get drawn against each other: if, say, Liverpool comes out of the hat first, there's a 2/7 chance that Man City or Chelsea get drawn against them, but if they don't there's still a chance that Man City and Chelsea could be drawn together. Happy to bore everyone with the specific calculations if you like :)
Of course 3/7 isn't that high a probability either. This sort of thing would have to happen round after round, year after year to be statistically unlikely enough to provide evidence of a conspiracy. Obviously, that information is available, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to research it and do the calculations. Mind you, after seeing crucial refereeing decisions regularly benefiting the "big six" and almost never harming them, it gives one pause... |
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Comment | Southampton V West Ham United The FA Cup Preview
at 18:16:11
Agreed, SanMarco: Puel is mostly remembered for his negative tactics, but he also got a lot of stick for making wholesale changes regularly, esp. for the Europa League.
My single biggest issue with him, though, was this: needing a win or a scoreless draw at home against Hapoel Beer Sheva in the last group game of the Europa League, he played for the scoreless draw. Of course Beer Sheva scored with what I think was their only shot on target in about the 75th minute, after which we threw ourselves forward, completely dominated, got a leveller and narrowly missed the winner when Yoshida headed just wide from a corner. If we had just played that way from the off, we would have been out of sight by halftime--it was Beer Sheva, ffs, not Barca!
Sorry, lost myself there for a minute. I'm certainly enjoying Ralf a lot more than Puel :) Hope we pick a strong team tonight and hammer the Hammers! |
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Comment | Southampton Will Play West Ham United In The FA Cup 5th Round
at 18:47:16
Note that in the ties above Leicester should be replaced with Forest, meaning there are 9 PL and 7 lower-league clubs left.
MancunianSaint, here are some relevant probabilities:
Probability of Saints being drawn against a PL side: 8/15 (obviously)
Probability of none of the four "top-six" clubs being drawn against each other: 8/13
Probability of there being exactly one all-lower-league tie and hence two all-PL ties: 47% (that calculation took some real doing)
Given that there are in fact two all-PL ties, probability of Saints being involved in one of them: 4/9
So nothing terribly odd or improbable about the draw. In my view we neither got lucky (home draw against a lower-league side and 2 top-six clubs drawn against each other), nor got particularly unlucky (away draw against one of the top-six clubs).
Bring on the Hammers and then the QFs!
...and hopefully Boreham Wood ;)
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Comment | Watford Will Be Without Match Turning Forward Against Southampton
at 03:49:11
Thanks for that picture...always love to be reminded that that cheat Doucoure punched a ball into our net to level after being down 2-0 and thus stole two points from us during a desperate relegation battle. At least it didn't cause us to go down.
As for this year's Watford side, hope we hammer them come Saturday! |
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Comment | Southampton V Shrewsbury Town The Verdict
at 04:03:34
Well, it seemed everything went according to plan: a runout for some of the "kids", a rest for our injured and/or overworked starters, a lot of comfortable ball retention, little in the way of threat from the Shrews, and an early goal to make things (mostly) comfortable. No complaints here.
As for the youngsters, my two cents: I agree with (my fellow) AmericanSaint about Vokins, who was quite anonymous. Chaulke looked out of his depth. Valery was prone to the odd mistake but looked threatening going forward. And Caleb Watts looked quite good, exhibiting nice close control at times. I've high hopes for him for many reasons, not the least of which is prospect of the perfect-fitting song (cue Ray Davies...or Paul Weller): "I wish I could be like Caleb Watts!" :) |
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Comment | Can Kyle Walker - Peters Be The Answer For Saints ?
at 19:21:11
Completely agree with the general assessment of KWP--competent, not out-of-place, a vast improvement over Valery, whose 1st half v Arsenal was among the worst performances of any PL player that I can remember. Nonetheless, I feel we can get a variety of competent RBs for under 10 million so I wouldn't give up more than that.
Mind you, PEH isn't worth anywhere near 35 mill (maybe more like 20 mill with only 1 year left on his contract...and he's actually not all that good, so even that's flattering him imo. KWP and 10 million for PEH seems about right to me. Not that Levy cares what I think. |
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Comment | Burnley Game Pivotal To The Season
at 19:22:33
I'm with you, Nick: I think relegation is highly unlikely. Most of the bottom six have already played each other (10 out their 15 meetings in the second half of the season have already occurred) and their remaining fixtures are significantly more difficult than their previous ones, so it's hard to imagine that more than one or two will improve on their ~1 point/game form. Meaning 38 points (perhaps 39 since Leicester ruined our goal difference) should be enough. So 7-8 points from 13 matches with the easiest run-in of any team in the top flight? We'd do that even if we reverted to our early-season form, which appears highly unlikely.
So the possibilities (does this word give anyone else a Puel flashback?) are thus: get 10-15 points from the next five matches--all of which are eminently winnable--and challenge for Europe, or get something like 4-8 points and spend the rest of campaign relaxed and looking forward to ninth-consecutive season in the PL next year...while our sad rivals to the east try to avoid a ninth-consecutive season outside of the top two divisions :)
I'm sure we're all hoping for a challenge at the top 6-7, but regardless we're in a pretty good place, especially considering where we were in November. Thank the lord the board stuck with Ralph. |
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Comment | Hasenhuttl Knows What He Needs In The Summer Transfer Window
at 03:57:21
I love the fact that Ralph is upset with the way the team played the last couple of matches after safety was secured. He gave the team a few days off after the B'mouth draw and it seems they really got back to 100% commitment, which was worrisome to me. Less worrisome now that I know he feels the same way. Here's hoping we get at least 2-3 players of real quality in over the summer--assuming we do, I'm quite looking forward to next season! |
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Comment | Saints V Huddersfield The Verdict
at 03:52:22
Thanks, Nick. I visit this site regularly and enjoy both the articles--for what it's worth it seems I tend to agree with you about most things (apart from Yoshida) more some other commenters on here--and the comments. It can be difficult to find sites whose commenters don't abuse one another for sport, making things miserable for the rest of us, but I'm happy to have found one here. Long may it continue. |
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Comment | Lemina On Verge Of A Return
at 12:55:14
LeGod: I suppose it would be helpful to have Lemina fit for this 8 -games-in-five-days stretch, but really we shouldn't even need him. These pampered footballers are making millions of pounds. No reason other than sheer laziness that they couldn't handle that workload. If I had the chance to get paid for playing a game...etc, etc.
In actuality, I'm not sure I could handle eight in five...that's an awful lot of pints! |
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Comment | Saints V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 01:21:18
As an American who regularly watches sports with video replay, I'd like to warn everyone about how poorly this can be used. Yes, it would undoubtedly mean the top six sides got "the rub of the green" less often, but it can really detract from the enjoyment of watching matches...unless you enjoy play being interrupted for 2-5 mins to watch a dozen or more replays of a particular 50-50 decision that could reasonably be given either way.
The most insidious aspect of video replay is dampening the eruption of enthusiasm/spirit/joy when your team scores a goal (or touchdown, in American football). Whereas once there was uniformly an automatic intense celebratory response, now the common reaction is, "Oh, that could be good...but will it stand?" And after everyone has settled back down emotionally while watching replay after replay, the goal/touchdown is confirmed, leading to a muted, sort-of, "OK--that's good" reaction. Imagine not being able to celebrate goals properly out of a constant fear that they'll be overturned. It detracts from the game.
And beware of mission creep...it has been the case in American sports that reviews have become more and more common over time, with the justification that it's better to get every decision correct (at the expense of watchibility).
In short, I'd rather put up with the occasional mistake than the effect explained in the above paragraph. I can respect other views, obviously, but know that video replay has its faults. |
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Comment | Saints V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 20:59:33
Interesting to hear the perspective of people who watched the whole match. I saw only the last 25 minutes, tuning in between the double substitution and the 3rd goal. Over that time span Saints looked by far the better side, nearly scoring several more times (Yoshi and Bednarek having shots saved at point blank range and Vesters--to my amusement--dribbling around in their six-yard box) while Wolves, despite being two down, didn't really pose any sort of threat. Then when I watched highlights on youtube Wolves had but two--Jimenez forcing a save from Gunn in the first half and their goal, while we had ~10. I was surprised to hear that the first hour proceeded much differently than what I saw.
Also got to see the last half hour of Cardiff's loss to Wolves. Good lord, they're awful. Could barely get hold o fthe ball the whole time, despite being 1 down...to Burnley, of all teams. I'll never understand how they beat us twice. At least they're going down--they definitely deserve it. |
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Comment | Saints Have To Sit Back With Fingers Crossed
at 11:57:50
Not a good day to be a Burnley supporter. Losting at home to ten men in the midst of a relegation fight is depressing indeed. Obviously good for Saints, though. It's strange, but despite being just 2 points above the drop zone things are looking awfully rosy: Burnley and Cardiff have just four matches each against clubs outside the top six whereas we have seven. We've got a better goal difference as well. And most importantly, Burnley and Cardiff are crap sides, especially Cardiff, who are very lucky to be on 28 pts to begin with. It's hard to believe both of them will reach 36 pts, meaning two wins will do it for us. I trust Ralph and company to get it done. |
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Comment | Hoedt Explains Why He Had To Go !
at 19:29:27
The worst PL defense you've ever seen, Nick? You must be mad...unless...perhaps you watch only the last five minutes of every match? |
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Comment | Ryan Bertrand Nearing Return
at 01:43:56
Interesting thoughts, Nick. I agree that Targett has played well and it's no certainty that Bertrand will immediately step in for him. And yet Bertrand--assuming he is completely healthy and close to his best--has enough class to warrant a place in the team. I could certainly see him on the left side of a back three; Koeman played him there at times, so it wouldn't be foreign to him.
Mostly I'm just glad he's back because, aside from giving us further options, we were going to be in quite a bit of trouble at the back if Targett got hurt before Ryan's return. |
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Comment | Claude Puel Appointed Leicester City Manager
at 02:37:21
Re my post immediately above, I should balance out the bad memories with the good: the EFL Cup final was exciting and enjoyable, and the eventual disappointment was tinged with more than just a bit of pride. Furthermore, the goal that sealed our place there--Shane's finish with an assist from Sims at Anfield--is one of favorite memories as a Saints fan. So thank you, Claude, for the role you played in bringing that about. |
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Comment | Claude Puel Appointed Leicester City Manager
at 02:09:38
Hmm, let's see....Leicester likes to cede possession and, when things are working well for them, hit teams with a vicious, quick-strike counterattack. Claude likes to have a lot of possession, and slow build-ups were a hallmark of his time with us. Seems like a perfect fit.
I've got nothing personal against the guy--he certainly conducted himself professionally at Saints--but I have to say I'll never forgive him for playing for a nil-nil at home against an inferior team (I'm speaking of Hapoel Beer Sheva of course) with Europa League knockout stage qualification on the line. No Saints match has ever made me angrier.
Ahh...water under the bridge, I suppose. Let's hope the trip east Sunday proves more entertaining and fruitful! |
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Comment | Saints V Manchester United The Verdict
at 04:49:56
Well, if anyone needed proof that not all 0-0s are created equal, all they'd have to do is watch the Hull match and this one back to back.The tactics were what I hoped for: they played expansively and didn't sit back--night and day from the Liverpool match. Furthermore, the performance was (almost) what I hoped for: not only did they not get hammered by playing aggressively and pushing men forward, they looked the better side against a top six team for the first time since the match at the Emirates in September (don't even get me started on that travesty of justice).
Of course, we still couldn't actually get the ball over the goal line, but I lost count of how many times I rose from my seat (on the couch, mind you--I live abroad) in anticipation of the breakthrough. Ultimately disappointed in the result, but in a good way--we deserved more against the "mighty" Man U. |
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