16 Jan 2019 22:38:54
Very poor first half tonight. Second half started much better but yet again can't hold on to a lead. I know that penalties are a bit of a lottery but dear oh dear Redmond you have to hit the target. Shame really because up until then he was showing what a good player he is. Now with just the league to concentrate on with hopefully a couple of new signings.

1.) 17 Jan 2019
16 Jan 2019 23:08:55
Sadly for Redmond he changed the game when he came on and looked to have won it for us - shame for his evening to end like that. Thought our youth players did well - still strengthening and decision making to improve upon but that’s certainly a bright spot.

What is worrying is that in our last 3 games we’ve been a net 6-0 up after about an hour and have ended up at 6-5. Granted two of those were cup games but to let two two goal leads slip against the same side in 11 days is incredibly frustrating and it’s soemthing hopefully Ralph can work on over the remainder of the season.

Thought Stephens played well but shows how integral Bednarek has become - we could’ve done with him in the last quarter. Long did ok again, hopefully no injury as we have a real dearth of strikers, though he did miss two sitters - the Shane standard.

My biggest negative from the evening (aside the result) is ElYounoussi - personally I thought he looked unfit, not sharp, several poor touches and didn’t look composed at all in front of goal. I hope he can improve but he looks a shadow of the Basel winger that played in the CL in the last few seasons and that signing may go in the Boufal/ Hoedt/ Ramirez bin, I hope I’m wrong.

Still, now we have 16 games left this season, all in the league, no complaints. Hopefully we get our injury and suspension lists down and can get to safety by mid-March. Concentrating on the league was always Ralph’s plan I’m sure ;) COYS.

2.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 07:12:57
Agree with you about elyonoussi. He just doesn't look up to the task. The game would have suited Simms.

3.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 09:09:40
Funny old game. Looked like a different side once Redmond came on, a lot of attacking threat going forward. Derby couldn't cope and ultimately we paid the price for that by not having enough defence on the pitch to see on the game. Personally, I think we should have bought Bednerak on for Armstrong or Mo at 2-1 or even for Shane Long at 2-0.

Watching the match, I feel our biggest issue in defence was not getting enough players back. I don't think the two CB can be at blame for both goals. Comparing us with Derby they had so many players defending in the box compared to us. Is it because we are too slow at getting the ball into the box and that allows the defence to get more organised compared to Derby who got the ball into the box fast?

Watching Mo last night, his biggest issue is his positioning. He never really got into any positions where he was a threat. When he did he created chances. He set up the first goal, it's probably a case of the jump from the Swiss League to the Premier League being too big for him.

In terms of players who had a good game, JWP played really well. But where does he fit in when all of our team is fit? Would we play him in a more attacking role and drop Armstrong or Redmond? Or would we play him where he played yesterday and drop Romeu or PEH and lose out on defensive cover?

Redmond changed the game and is our biggest threat, Long was immense in his pressing game, but he should've scored two goals (the second one ended up as a goal anyway) . Long could play on the wing, that takes the pressure off of him to be our main goalscorer. Stephens played well, he's probably our best defender, don't know why fans want to get rid of him. The best at playing the ball forward anyway.

What are everyone's opinions on the VAR controversy? The pundits were livid despite the player's foot being offside. My view is if the technology is there then they will review it, regardless of the situation. If they've got officials in the stadium watching the game on the screen at every angle then they will need to review with every fine detail. The law of the game makes the player offside, so I don't understand what the problem was here.

I think if the player had scored and had been given offside but was not offside and VAR overturned the decision and gave a goal, then the pundits would praise the use of the technology. It's either they scrap VAR altogether or change the offside rule if decisions like that will cause an uproar.

4.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 10:57:31
I agree re. the VAR controversy. If a player is offside he is offside. It doesn't matter if it's millimetres or half a metre the rules say that it's offside. If it was Saints scoring that " goal " against one of the top clubs those same pundits would have said that it was a brilliant decision. If technology like VAR is going to be used it has to be used consistently no matter who is playing or what stage the game is at. On last nights game I felt that we lacked direction. Too many passes going astray and players not on the same wavelength. When Redmond came on we looked like a different side up front but very open in defence with people not tracking back and defenders out of position. The only positives for me is that a few youngsters got a run out and that we now have just the league to concentrate on. Hopefully with our injury and suspension list clearing and maybe 1 or 2 additions to the side we can dig ourselves out of the relegation battle and finish in 14th / 15th and kick on next season with RH at the helm.

5.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 11:12:58
Thought what Murphy was saying on BBC commentary was rubbish. In the end the correct decision was made - if we had been the attacking side I’d have had no qualms about the decision although having looked at the first replay I immediately thought ‘offside’ so I don’t know how it took two minutes to come to a decision. Maybe it’s the fear of using VAR and still reaching the wrong decision.

The problem then was that every goal was VAR checked because they didn’t want to make another mistake. If it’s something which is a yes or no - offsides, handballs - give them 30 seconds to check it and if it isn’t clear enough, side with the attacking team.

What the commentators and pundits were saying about ‘oh you won’t be able to celebrate until two minutes after the ball goes in’ the system works near perfectly in Rugby and Cricket, I think they need to understand that that’s a better future than another Maradona incident.

6.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 11:54:33
Yeah, I think Danny Murphey wound me up last night. He was very anti-saints until we started playing better in the second half. It makes me think of Stone's goal-line clearance vs city the other day and it's the same "well the ball almost crossed the line so it could've been given as a goal" - "well he was only a bit offside so the goal should be given". I agree with your comment about other sports, I just think we need to give it time to settle in, at the moment it takes a lot away from the passion because footballers go crazy as soon as they think they've scored. Whereas in the other sports, if they think it's going to the video ref then they won't celebrate and that's how football will become in a few seasons. Yes, it ruins the flow of the game, but so does so much at the moment, i. e. players acting injured.

7.) 17 Jan 2019
17 Jan 2019 13:03:23
Exactly - people who say rugby and cricket aren’t affected because they’re slower sports obviously haven’t watched a football match involving Neymar. The system will work, the ex-players need to understand that it might be a change to the way the game is played but it’s a change for the better.