MARTINS RETURN WITH SARFAMPTON ON TOW .
- Thread starter The Blobster
- Start date
In my newspaper today the match reporter stated that, when Saints doubled their lead, how assistant official. Hristo Karaivanov, failed to see Stuart Armstrong in an offside position is anyone's guess. And these sodding people not only expect but demand respect!! For what, exactly? For being stupid? For being incompetent? For being corrupt....... if that's the case? Some decisions, like that one, are so badly wrong people can be forgiven for wondering if there's an ulterior motive involved. And this one cost us. Badly!
Soton are difficult enough to play without them being awarded 'phantom' goals which, by all that's fair, should have been disallowed. Decisions like that bring the game into disrepute and I wonder if that particular lino will receive any sort of censure or punishment from his Association. Or will the usual blind eye be shown yet still accompanied by the unabated screams that respect must be shown. I ask again, for what, exactly?
Okay, I get that our goal was also offside but I always call it as I see it, for better or for worse, and there is no bias in my opinion that ours was a far tighter call and far more easily missed. Had that goal been scored against us I would have been disappointed but understood that very fine margins were involved and officials are not super-human. Nor should they be expected to be. But we have every right to expect that obvious, blatant mistakes should NOT occur and there should be consequences for those making them.
As a post script to the game I see the following stats:
Passes: 315/648 Completed: 254/583 (80.6%/89.9%) Touches in oppo box: 20/52
Despite our second half rally, given Soton's huge dominance in the first half, I have no complaints about their deserved victory. But I take heart from the way we took the game to them in the second period. I've read fans' comments that Soton took their foot off the gas, which allowed us back in the game, but I vehemently disagree with that. Soton played the way they did because we upped our game, changed our formation and tactics and forced them back. I played the game long enough to know that you never relax - it can be fatal. If you've scored 5 then you want 10 and I doubt Soton are any different. GD could make all the difference in their tilt at promotion. They were second best (just) in the second half because we were better (just) and, on another day, or had Cullen been on to convert Yates' horrible miss, we could have run them close. Let's hope that Luke learned some valuable lessons from the game - play 4 at the back and use Cullen as the main finisher and not the default guy to be subbed that he's become.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
i don’t share your optimism with respect to goals against
I suspect those figures are based on xG, but Fisher has this ability to multiply xG against...
CroJack
Key Player
I watched the first half again and I can tell you that Soton had only two regular big chances. So, they should've scored two goals. Their third big chance (and goal) came after a blatant offside (more than a yard), and the fourth big chance came after a blatant foul on Humphreys.
I am honest when I analyse games, not biased at all.
Their fourth big chance came after an obvious foul on Humphreys:
On the other hand, our goal was scored after a marginal offside.
This ^^^
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Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
With the overlap (we'd like to think) between the Prem and the Championship, I wonder who Williams will start in goal in the cup. For me, it has to be Rushworth. If we go all-in, we have a chance if we play like we did in the 2nd half against Soton.
Muff go in on the back of a 0-4 home thumping from Liverpool. This will have one of two effects imo. First, they will be determined to get their season back on track and go for our throats - let's not forget that prior to this they were one of the form teams in the Premier League with their recent results.
Or second, they will be somewhat demoralised and nervous about the outcome. Also I believe they suffered an injury or two that won't help.
Nevertheless, logic dictates that a decent Premier League outfit with several dangerous players under the guidance of a manager who's getting better by the game, should be too strong for us. Personally I think that's how it will play out. If we play to our best then I would hope that we can keep the defeat to respectable dimensions....... and I would be over the moon with a draw. That said, I live in hopes that the FA Cup, being notorious for unlikely results, might see an unlikely win for us.
I don't think that'll happen but I'd settle for a good performance with more signs that Williams is getting his message across to his players.
Or second, they will be somewhat demoralised and nervous about the outcome. Also I believe they suffered an injury or two that won't help.
Nevertheless, logic dictates that a decent Premier League outfit with several dangerous players under the guidance of a manager who's getting better by the game, should be too strong for us. Personally I think that's how it will play out. If we play to our best then I would hope that we can keep the defeat to respectable dimensions....... and I would be over the moon with a draw. That said, I live in hopes that the FA Cup, being notorious for unlikely results, might see an unlikely win for us.
I don't think that'll happen but I'd settle for a good performance with more signs that Williams is getting his message across to his players.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
However, our next match in the league is not until Tuesday; so we shouldn't be resting anybody. This represents a stern test of the best we have playing in the Williams system. Can we do it for 90 minutes? Does it the system have any substance? Or, is it another white board wet dream? Where are we deficient on an individual basis and unit basis on the field. It's an opportunity that shouldn't be squandered.
My biggest complaint for seasons now is that we arrange pre-season friendlies against opposition that really should only be a challenge for our U-21; we stroll through them below tempo; and then use the result to pat ourselves on the back. We convince ourselves that we're much better than we are and that we're much better prepared and ready to be a force in the Championship than we are. We operate in a bubble.
Cup matches against the likes of Bournemouth are acid tests of who and what we really are.
My biggest complaint for seasons now is that we arrange pre-season friendlies against opposition that really should only be a challenge for our U-21; we stroll through them below tempo; and then use the result to pat ourselves on the back. We convince ourselves that we're much better than we are and that we're much better prepared and ready to be a force in the Championship than we are. We operate in a bubble.
Cup matches against the likes of Bournemouth are acid tests of who and what we really are.
I don't know about a pat on the back. Didn't we lose to First Division teams Oxford away and Bristol Rovers at home under Duff? But I absolutely agree that we should play far stronger opposition in our pre-season games. You only get better by playing better teams and that applies in almost all walks of life. Everyone knows that except for, seemingly, those thickos at the Liberty.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
and we still found a way to brush off the defeat with self-serving blarney.
The pre-season friendlies really are so weak every year, it's embarrassing. What happened to playing foreign clubs of similar strength? It's good for ticket sales to build early support and it keeps the players honest because they'll have no history with the opposition. Plus it makes Swansea seem cool. Branding, y'know?
CroJack
Key Player
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
We had one once ... wasn't it when Laudrup came on board. If memory serves we played against teams from the USL or their like. Might as well have played against teams from the Welsh League.Our American owners are not even able to arrange a US tour.