25 Jan 2026 14:04:01
Too many wayward passes
Too many loose tackles
Gave Pompey way too much space
Sat too deep
Game plan? Not sure there was one
Very, very disjointed football .
Aziz playing too deep .
Poor football

1.) 25 Jan 2026
25 Jan 2026 18:21:58
You can't really judge a derby game.

Derbies are like the Mike Tyson quote of getting punched in the face when trying to stick to a plan.

Fans and pressure will always be on the players back so all in all, considering we nearly won that game I'd take a point.

What's more worrying are the results/performances prior to this game and the likelihood of them continuing.


No point sacking Tonda regardless because they haven't/won't have put any thought of who to bring in to replace him.

I say keep him in the job till summer now and spend all this time carrying on with the search for the replacement they should have bought in to replace Still.

.or do what I said and bring back Still to see out the summer and see if things turnaround for him.

2.) 25 Jan 2026
25 Jan 2026 21:33:32
Lesleee, just when I think you’re making sense you revert to this totally illogical obsession about Still.

The boy was totally out of his depth.

And yes you can judge players in derby games. Have they got the bottle to fight a good fight - do they know what it really means to wear the shirt?

I watched the game from a hotel bar in Rio de Janeiro before visiting Christ the Redeemer which overlooks the home of football - the Maracanna Stadium (rather than St Mary’s) .

Trouble is distance doesn’t dampen the disappointment (as St John will testify! )

3.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 01:28:52
Millertime!
S
I agree totally …
Technically we might be a good ish bunch of players, but as a team we are playing disjointed, almost amateurish football. I saw more misplaced passes in one game than you’d expect to see all season. As for hoofing it out of defence? A tactic I last heard from my sports master when I was 6!
For some reason we have broken up the interplay, the triangles. aziz and Armstrong worked well together. It made AA a much better player than he is! Aziz was scoring for fun. scienza was the other part of the triangle and it was causing havoc. I now see now interplay between these, except for the pass that put scienza through.
the core tactics of the team have changed dramatically.
And as for Stephens marauding up the pitch? What
He is not even a great defender let alone an attacking one! Meanwhile fellows sits on the bench.

We were passing, not to players in great positions, but players in dangerous positions. Not in dangerous attacking positions but in defence!

Yes I know we put a few good tackles in, some stupid! But wow wee, was this the highlight of the game? No it’s shouldn’t have been .

As for hoofing the ball around like a local pub team, awful!

Stewart came on a spent most of the game is some bizarre attacking midfield position, or even out wide.

Whatever sport I ever competed in, there was one golden rule. When you are playing an inferior opponent, don’t reduce your game to their standard!
Well we certainly tried to. and to be fair to Pompey they had much more of a game plan than we did, they also had overlapping players, players out wide, off the ball runners . meanwhile we are playing some clueless football!

4.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 08:17:00
Hey Millertime trust you had a great time. on Copacobana Beach whiich didn’t detract you from your primary secret undercover mission of identifying about ten quality players and send their details to St.Mary’s for a follow up!

5.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 12:01:27
Didn’t he do the same with Martin. The obsession (in order) seems to be the managerial bounce, Will Still and Martin.

6.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 15:24:57
It’s funny you say that St John because as I strolled along Copacabana Beach, I marvelled at the locals (boys and girls) playing beach volleyball using their feet and heads only. Incredible first touch and spatial awareness. I thought no wonder they are technically brilliant footballers.

It seems a long time since the “it’s just like watching Brazil” charts from the terraces!

7.) 28 Jan 2026
28 Jan 2026 05:11:36
In hindsight what a chaotic glaring mistake not selecting Michael Carrick when the open opportunity presented. Apperently he has sorted out Man Utd. Players toxic dressing room (similar to Saints) witthin days of his arrival.I doubt he would re-consider Saints position at seasons end should he not be retained by United. With regards to transfers I have a gut feeling that should Armstrong move along SFC may for young Chelsea C/F (recently brought back from loan at Strasbourg FC) Kendry Pa’ez.Russian A/M Aleksey Batrako also look a promising player if he should be released this window, plus a couple of quality C/D and a competent left back and we’re in business with a goalkeeping review at season’s end.