AFTER-MATCH ANALYSIS: BRISTOL ROVERS

At the end of each month I intend to hold a poll to vote on members' posts commenting on Saints' League and Cup matches. Please get in the habit of giving us a detailed post after each match saying what you thought of the performance, who played best, who didn't, who should have been playing, what you would have done if you were manager etc., etc.
It doesn't matter if you weren't there.....you can still say what you think.

If you are impressed by a particular member's post please let me know so that I will be sure to include the post in the poll.

Your analysis of Saints-Bristol Rovers should go on this thread please. There is a separate thread in the Amusement Section's Competition League where the table showing the points gained for the analysis will be shown.

Absolutely fucking sickening. That's all I can say. Apart from why do we ALWAYS shoot ourselves in the bloody foot?

bloomin fantastic always always when will we start getting results

Well I put this defeat down to AP. He picked the side and Mellis and James were in my view awful. Mellis hardly made a tackle all night,had two opportunities to stop the second goal and just didnt try. Should have been off at half time or while we were leading as obvious he wasnt contributing. I have said before but James is not a Right back. He lacks the positional knowledge, poor at tackling and is beaten in the air. Second half he was roasted by BR who clearly had done their homework. The problem is he ends up pulling other defenders to cover and that leaves gaps behind them. Come ino the Northam end Mr Pardew and you will see what we mean and even if Thomas was injured, why dont we pay him on appearance?, use Perry. No coincidence that having looked solid at the back previously last 2 games have been opened up at ease by opposition and we have played James at right back. He is a midfield player who needs to learn his trade there.

Waigo doesnt look great at present again first half hardly had a touch and when a great chance with floated free kick he just watched the ball instead of getting his head in. He did get the goal and was better in second half but how we need an effective striker, dont have the luxury of another player finding out about Div 1. Both the BR strikers probably cost next to nothing and put ours to shame with their direct running and effort. Lambert treid but no support, again! Hamnmond put in the ffort anmd must be fed up with no one esle doing the same. Lallana worked well for me but stilled missed chance, Scheniderklin again flatterred to deceive and rest were jsut avergage


Oaky Rovers were dirty lots of niggling tackles, feet left in when pressing us and ref didnt give us decision all night but a good team would still assert their authority. For first 15 minutes in second half dominated yet failed to get that 2 goal cushion then, as normal, players took their foot of the pedal and sat back inviting BR back into the game.

Frustrated and dont want to hear any more excuses or how the fans have a role to play I want to see a team that plays with passion, players played in their correct positions and players who perform poorly (Mellis, James) dropped. Play poor get picked means no change in performance for me. While I am willing to be patient I do expect to see improvements and this performance was just like last year with several players either unable or unwilling to commit themselves for the team. Time for action AP.

I have said before but James is not a Right back. He lacks the positional knowledge, poor at tackling and is beaten in the air.

Add to that he is constantly being beaten for speed and I would agree.
I didn't go last night but my fears about James appear well founded. As you say it's no coincidence that we have conceded when he is playing right back but have been solid beforehand. He was one of the reasons we did so badly last year I think.

I think the best we can hope for this season is to avoid another relegation and hopefully get it right next year.

First of all it was a fantastic atmosphere as the game started. Rovers had brought a massive away following for a Tuesday night in League 1 and they supported their team really well, which also encouraged us lot to be a bit noisier than normal.
The first half started a bit scrappy really with neither team creating any good chances. Saints were using the ball well in midfield and Schneiderlin was getting a lot of the ball and trying to spread the play but there was hardly any movement especially from Mellis and Waigo who looked lost and intimidated. Fortunately though Lambert showed a bit of quality to pass it through to Lallana who finsished well. Saints got filled with confidence and started to push forward more but a few minutes before half-time we conceded a relly awful goal. Jaidi let the ball go past him and Kelvin came madly rushing out to Dickson who took it round him and passed it into the net from the edge of the box. If we had gone into half-time in the lead we would have been in a much stronger position and to have all our hard work that had been put into going in front just ruined by such a bad goal was absolutely gutting, and it turned out to be the first of several gutting moments.

Saints came out with a real bang in the second half and were passing the ball around superbly and even getting to the byline. Lambert intelligently played in James who was running to the byline and he put in a perfect cross that Lambert headed against the bar and Papa Waigo came in to bury the rebound. For the next 10 minutes we completely destroyed them and we should have scored 2 more to get the win at the time because you would have thought we were a few divisions higher than them. Schneiderlin had a great chance which forced the keeper into a great save but he should never have given the keeper a chance. Then after about 55 minutes something awful all went through the player's heads at once and suddenly we just stopped pressing high up the pitch, stopped making runs and stopped being at all competitive. We just sat back and let them come back at us as if we wanted to even the game up. We had complete control and then we just gave it to them. They played with great width, pace and movement in the way that we need to play and we got trapped in our box. At this stage of the game I really thought Wotton should have come on to take the game by the scruff of the neck and take some momentum out of them but it didn't happen and they deservedly equalised through Kuffour after some more good build up play. Dickson and Kuffour caused us all sorts of problems with their pace and we couldn't deal with it. It was just unbelievable how we had let them back into the game so freely and they deservedly had equalised. Mills came on and barely touched the ball in the next 30 minutes. In fact all of Pardew's substitutions made us gradually worse even if Mellis and Papa Waigo needed to be taken off. Holmes would have worked hard and chased the ball as well as offering us some width, pace and service for the attackers. By the time Saga came on we couldn't get the ball out of our half so he couldn't do anything and Wotton coming on with 1 minute of normal time was just a desperate move by Pardew to hold on to what we had left. For the rest of the game it was mostly them coming at us whilst we fell to pieces although Lallana did get a good chance. By the end the energy and pace that they still had really showed up our lack of stamina and fitness. Jaidi is coming back to match fitness but he was so slow it was unbelieavable. Even when we won the ball there was no support from midfield for Lambert who is still being continually let down by his teammates. It was not much of a surprise when in the 95 minute Williams cut in from the left and curled an absolute peach into the far corner. Rovers fans go wild and Saints fans depart en masse in total silence. I have never left before the end and never will so i have 12 seconds to reflect on what has just happened. With a more professional performance and a bit more teamwork that was a game we should have won 4-0. Unfortunately Kelvin let us down today for once with his mistake for the first goal as did the rest of the experienced players who should have known how to control the game at 2-1. Dean Hammond has said this in his post match interview on the OS so why didn't he do it in the game. Hopefully this result will be a wakeup for the players and also Pardew who still seems to think that we are immune from relegation as we continue to slip away from the rest.

Davis 6 Made one or two saves but distribution was poor and was at fault for 1st goal
James 7 Got forward well and put in some great crosses but defensively was just two slow
Jaidi 6 Good in the air as normal but just too slow and clumsy most of the time against the pace of Kuffour and Dickson
Trotman 5 He attacks the ball well but is so clumsy on the ground its unbelievable. Got potential but could do with some practise at simply kicking a football in the right direction.
Harding 5 Got torn to pieces by their winger but I can't give him less considering that whether Mellis or Mills was in front of him he had totally no help.
Papa Waigo 6 Scored a goal and made a few good runs but looked very lightweight most of the time and didn't track back enough. Hopefully with time he will adapt and become a real weapon for us.
Hammond 7 Typical all action performance until we lost the midfield in the second half when he disappeared.
Schneiderlin 8 Really good in the first half and decent in some of the second. Spread the ball out all over the park and pushed us forward well
Mellis 4 Complete waste of space really. Lightweight, never got in good positons, never ran with the ball, didn't track back, lazy and also did a few of his trademark dives.
Lallana 8 Unlike Mellis who was playing a very similar position he was always looking for the ball, trying to take on defenders, lots of one-twos and pass and runs and scored a good goal.
Lambert 8 Played well again roughing up defenders and bringing others into play. Hit the bar with his header for the goal (might have gone in) and missed another diving header that he should have scored but otherwise not being given enough chances.

Subs
Mills 5 Came on and did nothing
Saga 5 Came on 10 minutes too late
Wotton 5 Came on 25 minutse too late

I really believe that we are about to see us go on a good run of results. I agree with almost everything said about the game. Kelvin as captain has to shoulder some responsibilty. Problem being the keeper is that he can't go to sort out any problems further up the pitch. He should be made club captain with someone like Hammond installed as team captain. James must go out on loan if he is going to prove himself. He is slow,lightweight and prone to either poor positional sense or tackling. Mellis is probably the worst of our loanies. He is just what we were full of last season. A small but talented player unsuitable for this team or league.
Last night I was actually cheerfully expecting a good win. Especially after we had regained the lead shortly after the start of the second half. Main concern now is that we are still unable to play for the full game with 100% effort and committment. Every game like last night we end up giving up control thus allowing the opposition chances to score.
I still feel sure we will be ok. I can see more players coming in in January and boosting the squad dramatically. Harding has disappointed in the last two games and we still need to get a RB and LB as either cover or to play. Preferably to play as what we have is not the best around. We also need a genuine winger and one who is fully prepared to work back and help his defensive partner. Another big strong defender and a striker who can work well with both Lambert and our squad.

One of the things I find most disappointing is that, despite Saints having a new manager and almost a new team, it's still the same old crappy mistakes over and over again. Not playing the whole 90+ minutes, losing concentration, stupid mistakes in defence.

The excuses still being offered:

1. The club was nearly out of business - granted, but that was in July and should not be a factor now.
2. We had no pre-season - rubbish, we're ten games in ffs! Plenty of time to get their act together.
3. The team lack confidence after last season, they're used to losing - what absolute crap. A lot of them weren't even AT the club last season! And those who were should have got it out of their systems by now, so they should either get some backbone or bugger off.

I know Rome wasn't built in a day but ten games in and still being in minus points is more than just mildly worrying. I just hope that Pardew does see what is needed - and I fail to see how he can't see it - and gets to grips with it. The time for excuses is past.

SFC Forever - while part of me is concerned, another part of me does share your optimism. I hope it's not misplaced...

We should have won and would have if we had taken one of the chances inthe 2nd half. Then they score and we go an lose.

Interesting point about Kuffor and Dickson causing us problems with their pace all night, I wonder how much BR paid for them? Not much I suspect proving you dont have to spend a fortune to get players that can deliver in this league. Motication didnt seem to be a problem for them!

At least Bournemouth are now allowed a loan sigining so perhaps we can get rid of one of someone for a few months.

Might be a better idea to bring their striker here and let them have 2 or 3 players on loan.

SFC Forever wrote:Might be a better idea to bring their striker here and let them have 2 or 3 players on loan.

We'll have Brett Pittman and they can have Paterson, James and Pulis.

Perennial Underachiever wrote:

SFC Forever wrote:Might be a better idea to bring their striker here and let them have 2 or 3 players on loan.

We'll have Brett Pittman and they can have Paterson, James and Pulis.

Pittman is class good ol jersey boy defo swap for paterson an he knows where the back of the net is