A disapointing performance with yet again another error costing us victory, however perhaps the most worrying thing was our inability to change the game.

Im not going to dwell too long on the individual error that cost Saints a vital win, except to say that someone in the summer seemed to think it better to chase targets in areas that were not a priority, one of the results being that we are having to play a 20 year old keeper with little experience at any level, let alone in the Premier in that he is the best that we have got.

Norwich taught us a lesson in the way they were well organised and disciplined at the back and rarely gave us a chance to get a grip on the game as we did against both Newcastle and QPR and then they showed us how to take chances when you get them.

But the biggest disapointment for me was not only how one dimensional we were on the night, but how Nigel Adkins failed to do anything to change the situation, in my pre match articles i mentioned that picking the starting line up would be easy for this game, but the key would be to make the right changes at the right time, I was spot on in that prediction, it was clear to all that Saints were not firing on all cylinders and that we had fallen into a rut and rarely seemed to be able to break down a resolute Norwich defence, but what did the manager do to try and win the game ? absolutely nothing until it was far too late.

His first change did not come until the 85th minute and even that was a defensive one caused by injury to Luke Shaw, bringing on Jay Rodriguez with only two minutes left was not the actions of a manager who is both proactive and wants to win a game.

With 20 minutes left something needed changing, players looked tired and a point in kind was there to see when Jason Puncheon got the ball and made a good run at the Norwich defence as he got down towards the byeline and within crossing distance there was absolutely nobody in the box to cross too, Gordon Strachan once said that he got his teams fit because tired players make tired decisions as they arent confident players due to conserving their energies late on, his point was proved here, at least three players came into this category, yet the manager did nothing.

Ironically when he did in the 88th minute bringing on Jay Rodriguez and moving Ramirez out wide with two up front, we looked a better team for it, yet by then it was too late to make any real impact, I like Nigel Adkins but against the Canaries he failed to make decisive decisions that turn matches and snatch victory from defeat or in this case a draw, it was clear from the stands that we werent damaging Norwich and it was clear that there were understandably tired legs out there, I honestly expected more from the manager than that.

Saints go to Liverpool now and tactical changes need to be made to this side to counter Liverpools threat down the wings, their right wing and our left especially, I am a little unsure that the manager has the confidence in his own players to be able to do this as he seemed unsure or unable to make these switches at St Mary's on Wednesday, last season Nigel Adkins surprised us all in the way he grew with the job and took us to promotion, in the Premier League though there is no hiding place and you have to learn fast, Going back to the start of this verdict I mentioned the transfer policy in the summer, who's fault that was perhaps we will never know, undoubtably its continuing to cost us dearly, but sometimes you have to forget the excuses and make the best use of what you have got, the failure to make substitutions at the right times last night was one of those occasions, there were options on the bench, they werent used !              

Photo: Action Images

Pecky3 added 11:58 - Nov 29 I think that you have correctly summed up what I have been thinking. Our priorities in the summer should have been an experienced goalkeeper and a dominant centre back. Of those players we signed only Ramirez and Clyne look good buys. Yoshida does not give me confidence and made some awful clearances last night. It is hard to judge any others as they have not been used. We need to give Rodriguez more playing time and Mayuka is another option who could be used. I know Norwich were well organised but these are the teams we MUST beat at home to stay up this year. I know the mistake was bad but people forget the good saves Gazzaniga has made - I am not sure Davis or Boruc would do any better to be honest.

0

landsdownsaint added 12:19 - Nov 29 Don't agree about Yoshida !I thought the defence was very capable lastnite,as Andy Gray on Talkshite just said our keeper was pathetic ! I wouldn't go that far but it wasn't far short,I think we should bring KD back in because you can gaurantee he wouldn't of let that thru his body and his distribution is no worse than Gazzanigas,also JRod or Mayuka with Ramirez could unlock defences,RL looked sluggish but still has great touch and vision but now we have Ramirez for that.

0

OldRed added 12:27 - Nov 29 You're going over old ground but whether anyone thinks KD is good enough is not the point, the fact is that he's better than Gazzaniga. Basically Nick, you're saying that our manager isn't good enough. As for Norwich, they've beeaten United, Arsenal & Spurs in their last seven games and so on paper they are a far better side than us. We have collected 8 points from our last 4 games which everyone should be content with despite where we picked those points up from. We played well but not as well as Sunday but then again Norwich looked better than Newcastle. NA know that he has to strengthen the defence and so long as we remain at least in touch with the teams above us over the Xmas period then he will do that come the transfer window (if he's still in charge!).

0

SaintNick added 12:30 - Nov 29 im saying that the manager failed to influence the game last night when it became clear that we werent going to break down Norwich again.
0

OldRed added 12:30 - Nov 29 p.s. Best perfomance of the night came from Sammy Saint.
0

OldRed added 12:31 - Nov 29 But by that time Nick, I think he was going to be happy with a point.
0

SaintNick50 added 12:33 - Nov 29 We did try to buy Butland remember but didn't come off, perhaps in January? Ramirez wasn't great last night, and some of our passing was poor, but Norwich are a good side, although they had few chances (then so did we compared to Sunday), this was a different type of match. We always seem to struggle against sides that are in your face and don't give you any space. I agree perhaps some changes should have been made earlier. Kelvin in for Liverpool? The greatest problem is eliminating the errors how wonderful it would have been to have won 1-0. TOGETHER AS ONE!

0

bstokesaint added 12:37 - Nov 29 I don't want to give Norwich too much credit because they really weren't that good. Up until we gifted them the goal just before half-time they posed little threat and we looked much the better team. The goal gave them a real lift. I do agree Nick that a change (Rodriguez or Mayuka) should have been made on or around the hour mark. Maybe Adkins had too much faith in a side bidding for a third successive victory, I don't know but your example of Puncheon was a poignant one and there were a number of occasions when crosses came in and weren't attacked. Maybe it's time to make a couple of tweaks before the Liverpool game in order to keep the players fresh and fighting for their places. The defence look a lot more comfortable these days, although it is very obvious that they don't have quite the faith you'd expect of a defence in their keeper. They're reluctant to pass back to Gazza and on one occasion this almost cost us a goal. It did cost us a potential injury lay-off for Luke Shaw, who was again excellent. We really need to address the keeper situation now. It's getting a bit farcical. Our best keeper is still Kelvin Davis. He's a great shot stopper and I still haven't seen anything in Gazza's game to suggest he's got anything better. He had three real things to do as a keeper last night. Firstly he ducked a cross aimed at Holt and fortunately it just went out of play. He spilled a routine free kick and cost us a goal and lastly he came for a corner and then stopped and ended up having to make a stop to save his blushes. In short nothing in the slightest bit taxing. I've seen arguments to try and leave the defence as it is for consistency, and with the rest of the defence I'd definitely agree. Fonte has improved, Yoshida is fairly solid (although his distribution sometimes a bit wayward) and Clyne and Shaw are playing some superb stuff. There are plenty of reasons to remain optimistic, but sloppy goals will just hinder any progress.

0

landsdownsaint added 12:40 - Nov 29 Is Tommy Forepast still available?
0

owenthesaints added 12:41 - Nov 29 50/50 on this article Nick. Paulo Gazzaniga is not 'the best that we have got'. Kelvin is the 'best' goalkeeper we have available – whatever 'best' means. Pulling off super saves like the one Paulo did against Newcastle is the icing on the cake and one that any goalkeeper at any level is probably capable of. Commanding your six yard box, whether that means staying on your line or coming out, organising your defence at set pieces, distribution, instilling confidence in your team members, being reliable and having confidence in his own ability are far better attributes. I'm sure that you will point out that Kelvin is left short in many of these areas but at the moment he is streets ahead of Paulo, whose confidence must be shot. Last night the defence weren't confident to pass back to him, he stands about 2 yards off his goal line in the centre of the goal at corners in nomandsland and watches the ball sail over his head and on several occasions failed to come out and claim through balls. OK so that's the disagree bit. I agree about how we failed to 'change it'. Rickie on several occasions in the second half nodded the ball down in and around the penalty spot but there was nobody to support him – we were at home, so why didn't we play two out and out strikers. Mayuka was bought for his pace – 20 minutes to go with their defence suffering from tired legs would have been an ideal opportunity. Norwich set up to not be beaten and then to 'steal' goals. This is born out by the fact that they have only scored two goals in a game this season and that was in a 5-2 defeat against Liverpool. If we had gone for it last night, the probability was that they didn't have another goal in them and at the final whistle this was proven! Not all doom and gloom, we haven't lost, got 7 points from a possible 9 and if we could replicate this over the next three games we would be on 19 points and be sat mid-table before Christmas. COYR. Never mind, onward and upwards.

0

Toussaint added 12:57 - Nov 29 No we have changed GK 3 times already, leave the young kid to learn and grow ,we are 4 games unbeaten and ppl want another change in goal,this is a team game and all GK errors are highlighted more obviously yet it wasnt even a free-kick...this kid is a future Argie Int he must be given time to grow
0

stmichael added 13:17 - Nov 29 He is not the best option we have. He is a liability at his stage of his development and has cost us dearly. he even made a mistake in the game at QPR but it was glossed over because we won. There is not one part of his game that is reliable , kicking , handling , crosses or saving the ball. His save at QPR when he shovelled a tame shot round the post was exactly the same as last night but last nights squirmed in. KD was beaten at the near post a couple of times but is far and away the best goal keeper we have and should NEVER have been dropped. ADKINS is as much to blame for this as the goalkeeper himself. We should go all out for FRIEDEL , ROBINSON or perhaps BUTLAND as soon as we can.

0

ThereIn76 added 13:28 - Nov 29 Or Shay Given. Gazzaniga has cost us 4 points out of the last 12. The 2 points dropped last night are the difference between being 15th and in the relegation zone. I will be amazed if he is in the team on Saturday.
0

slynch added 13:34 - Nov 29 I dunno if you grumpy lot were watching the same match as me but Saints were brilliant value for money. They tried everything from start to finish. One wing then the other, short passing game, long balls, chasing down the opposition. On another day they could have scored 5 had the ball fallen right for them. Norwich were not as good but were big and tough and organised, and had luck fallen their way may have scored 2 or 3. In perspective Saints were up against a side that had drawn with Everton and beaten Man U, and Saints outclassed them all over the pitch. In the end Saints' goal was a bit fortunate with it falling on Lambert's arm and and into his path but it was well deserved, As for their goal: "Howler" Indeed! Most keepers wouldn't have even reached it, do people think he can't catch!? No. If it was an error it was that the wall was too small and ill-positioned. The keeper's job to sort that out maybe, but the training staff have to shoulder some of that burden. But it was a cracking shot. And along with that Gazza keeps play up at the other end with sublime distribution and having him in the team is like playing with 12. As for subs etc. Saints looked like scoring more and more as the game ran up to 90mins, it seemed a poor decision to take any of them off as they were doing so well. Saints may have gone down a place but the gap between them and the two underneath is widening and they are looking part of the mid table than relegation fodder. PS Shaw was a revelation!

0

Jesus_02 added 13:38 - Nov 29 I agree with Toussaint Get off the guys back.. he is 21 and IS better than KD.. His confidence should not we shot. His distribution is good, his command of the area is good and he is learning every match (just like the rest of the team) In my opinion the reason we conceded was that we set up very poorly to defend that free kick and allowed the shot to be struck with power rather than precision. Why was there no-one one the post... Aside from that we frustrated a good Norwich side and limited them to very few chances. I agree that J-Rod should have been introduced earlier, but i am also certain that if we bough Ricky off and we went down a goal we would have been chastising Adkins for making a switch. 4 points from two games.. Liverpool is a bonus chance COYRs

0

stmichael added 14:57 - Nov 29 Cracking shot , hit with power !! He scuffed it , totally mishit it and it squirmed in. What planet are some of you on? It was abysmal goalkeeping and he is doing it game in game out. He WONT play Saturday that is not even an option. Same happened last year with Bialkowski. Gazza may be good in the future , from what i have seen that is a long way off. I dont want him on the bench at the moment let alone number 1.

0

LJCmx added 15:53 - Nov 29 It is clear that some of the basic errors have not been completely ironed out but our form over the last four games has shown a marked improvement from the previous four games. Nick, I agree that the changes came too late and also that the victories against QPR and Newcastle were against out-of-form teams. Norwich are in form but it is teams like them we should be beating, at home, to get safely into mid-table. The other day someone said the Liverpool game could be like a 'free throw' game. I think this is still the case. We can frustrate them and their fans on their own patch but I think Nigel may now make some changes - get Jay Rodriguez or Mayuka more involved. I haven't posted much before on here but have always enjoyed reading the articles and comments. Much better than the Daily Echo site where only a small fraction of the posts on there are well-informed opinions. Well done. COYR

0

SanMarco added 16:47 - Nov 29 I think we have two keepers who are a bit suspect and whichever one doesn't play for a while gets built up as better than the one playing. Kelvin isn't good enough at this level so lets allow the youngster a chance to improve - yes he has cost us points but Kelvin is also always a balls-up waiting to happen...
0

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 17:22 - Nov 29 Gazzaniga has cost us 4 points in the last 4 matches from schoolboy goalkeeping! Gazza is nowhere near Premiership quality, not even good enough for the Championship at the moment. We'd be on at least 16 points and 13th in the table if we had a Premiership quality keeper. I think we would've won last night if we'd gone in at half-time 1-0 up, it would've been a completely different game. And I'm convinced we would've won against Swansea if we hadn't conceeded like that with 20 mins to go. But instead of buying a top keeper they bought a £7.5m substitute striker, when we already had plenty of strikers on our books. Adkins has just stated that Gazza will remain number one. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20547084 So who knows how many more points we are going to drop by having this young lad in goal. We can't afford to drop too many more points due to individual errors. So what if he's going to be a good keeper in 3 years time, we'll end up going down if he stays in goal and keeps making mistakes. On the plus side: Luke Shaw is getting better with every game. We're starting to see what all of the hype is about. But the camparisons to Gareth Bale are well off the mark. I can't see Shaw galloping forward committing players and scoring worldies. Instead, for his age, Shaw is more of a conventional full back, defends well, makes good decisions and is good on the ball. He definitely needs to work on his crossing though. Totally agree on the comments about Adkins not making changes early enough. Lallana had run out of steam on 70 mins, due to his 100% effort, but he should've been subbed for fresh legs. I think that Adkins is lacking a plan B, even though we have players on the bench like J-Rod and Mayuka who can offer something different. Its bizarre that he leaves it so late!

0

sidsaint added 17:43 - Nov 29 A team in the premiership relegation zone is not the place for a possible ?Argentinian International 'keeper to learn his trade.
0

slynch added 18:18 - Nov 29 Settle this, St Nick. Which goalkeeper has let in the most goals per game?
0

BoondockSaint added 03:38 - Nov 30 Get Friedel(sp?) in the next window. He's not happy at Spurs, would be a great mentor to Gazza, and he'll average at least one great save a game, which is as good as scoring one down the other end.
0

Sanguin added 16:37 - Nov 30 I don’t think the problem was necessarily Gazzaniga’s poor attempt at a save. It was our set piece play. We only had three people in the wall and it looked like it was in the wrong position. This allowed Snodgrass to drive it low and hard then the small bounce made it difficult to save. In the past we have had Adam Lallana standing next to the kicker telling the wall which way to shift or one of the people in the wall turning round to be positioned by the goalkeeper. None of this seemed to occur. Either Gazzaniga can’t set up a wall for a free kick or our policy on defending free kicks has changed and become worse.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Rochdale Polls