CAN SAINTS BEAT BLACKPOOL AND SKY?

Can we extend the run of wins on Saturday?

Think key will be if Rickie plays. If he does we win, if he doesnt we will struggle

Well the record of successive wins has gone but in the end of the day just grateful we got an equaliser in injury time. The "blip" actually shows our squad isnt as strong as people were saying and the lack of quality up front is beginning to hurt. We had plenty of chances first half to put the game out of sight and you would think someone like Sharp or Maynard would have a field day playing with us.

Surprised that Kelvin was injured and was slightly worried as had seen Bart in the league cup games and hadnt looked that great. That is exactly what happened and while no doubt NA will be positive about Bart and need to get behind him but he looked shaky from the start. Early shot was fumbled behind for a corner when a simple catch, straight at him, then another long range shot he saved wih his chest! Yes the ball may have moved but the position of his arms, at his side, was a big worry.

After that early scare saints had pelnty of possession, Schneiderlin though was not that effecetive out on right side of midfield. Hoovield had a header that went over, to be fair good defending which stop Hoovield getting a decent run on the ball, then Guly did a great run down by the byline on right hand side, good cross but went begging, Lallana had come into the middle but if he had stayed on left would have had a tap in. Richardson then did one of his runs and low cross which Hammond met but put over the bar. Saints then got a free kick 5 yards outside box on left side facing Northam end. Perfect for Rickie but yet again stupid dinked ball to far post which came to nothing. NA really must get back to doing the simple things. That position was crying out for a blast from Rickie yet we seem to keep trying to be clever with training ground routines. Next time we score and NA says about it came from training ground can someone remind him the number of free kicks we have wasted that have come to nothing .

Saints finally took the lead they deserved from their play, ball found Lambert on right side of box, he controlled and cut in to get on his left foot and shot looked like destined for far corner but deflected off Blackpool defender to worng foot keeper but first shot was on target. Lambert could have had second when through but goalie made a decent save but then Blackpool equalised, saints failed to close down player out on left side he crossed in deep and with Saints appealing for offside Blackpool player headed into bottom corner, no fault for Bart unlike the next goal!

Schneiderlin had an early sight on goal but closed down and out for a corner yet Blackpool took the lead with awful goal. Their player was allowed to run at the defence with no one making a challenge and was allowed a shot from edge of box. Shot was weak and easy save for Bart but he managed to let it go through his legs and unable to get back and clear before trickled over the line. Terrible goal to concede and could see the confidence drain through rest of team. Next 10 minutes was iffy but saints gradually got back into it, Hammond was unlucky with cutting in from left side and curling a shot wide of far post. Then Rickie got involved in an off the ball incident due to frustration and was worried only going to be a yellow as he is crucial to our game against the skates.

De Ridder and Harding came on for Foxe and Hammond, Schneidelrin lucky to stay on the park. De Ridder seemed obvious but after a spell out wide where main contribution was to give away free kicks moved into the middle so confused about what formation we were using. Guly was unlucky trying to get a head on short cross then as we pressed towards the end could have had two penalties when looked like Schneiderlin was pushed on two occassions. Five minutes of extra time, could have been double with the amount of time wasting by Blackpool, and saints equalised in extra time. Lallana cut in from left and looked like he had 2 or 3 times to shoot but kept running across face of goal, ball went to Richardson who put in a cross to far post and up popped local hero Rickie to head in. Saints had a chance to win at the death de Ridder through wide right but had players on left side free but he failed to pick them out and his cross was cut out and we didnt even get a corner!

At the end of the day still a point and with WHam losing and cardiff drawing not so bad but does show how we miss a few key players. Chaplow is really being missed as none of the replacements have his energy or tackling ability, his energy seems to embarass others to put in similar efforts. Connolly and Barnard both injured, rumour is Barnard could be out rest of season. Bart looks completely out of sorts and hasnt looked solid in any of the few games he has played. Sounds ruthless but we need a more experienced goalie on the bench, if Bart plays against the skates we will lose as he will just not cope with the pressure. Would like him to be loaned to someone so he can get games and see if he can regain that confidence. If NA and NC genuinely have ambitions for promotion they will need to be active in transfer window, Never a good time to sign players but our own fault for not signing a striker pre season. We also need a midfield player in same style as Chaplow. Corkie, Hammond and Schneiderlin have no real pace and to similar.

Bart 3 pretty awful really, only decent part of game was his distribution when he threw the ball, even his kicking was suspect.
Foxe 6 struggled in the game and didnt get many decent crosses in
Hoovield 7 fairly solid in the centre
Fonte 7 against a lively strike line he kept his head
Richardson 6 another important cross for equaliser little cover from midfield bet he cant wait for Chappie to be back
Lallana 6 poor first half decent second half
Cork 6 fairly quiet
Hammond 6 unlucky to be subbed but had a great chance in first half
Scheiderlin 6 terrible first half and just doesnt track back when he loses the ball creating pressure on the defence who are unable to commit.
Lambert 8 two goals but would like to see him in the box more as he is such a handful.
Guly 8 Didnt get on the score sheet but had one of his games where never stopped running, couple of headers where timing wasnt quite right but his effort did lift team and crowd when we needed to.

Subs

De Ridder 6 needs to stop giving away stupid free kickcs, allows game to slow, and look at delivering some crosses
Harding 6 he did any better than Foxe but glad we have pair of them at left back. Could play one of them in midfield, Lalallana goes right side and Schneiderlin goes on the bench

Finally ref was a complete ****. Absolutely awful and without doubt one of the worst all season. Gave fouls against us all the time, same tackle by blackpool player no whistle. Just be consistent thats all fans ask. Plus failed to deal with the time wasting by blackpool which to be fair any team will try if they can get away with it, a decent ref spots it early on warns them he is watching and doesnt become an issue. Best answer to the time wasting though is an injury time equaliser.

If you look on OS pic no 37 shows one of the pushes on Schneiderlin, looks like a push to me! Also have a look at the shirt pulling from Blackpool, none given by dorkie ref. don't you swap shirts after the game has finished?

Thanks Matty07, another great marathon effort.

Do you write these up as they happen, or compile them later on ? Either way they make a great read.

Pete

always after the game when I have had time to recover, if I did at the time would be full of *'s. Seen game from tv now, wife recorded while at the game and have to say first pen call with lallana def not, lucky he didnt get booked for diving but push on Schneiderlin looks stone wall pen to me, guy goes into his back, no contact with ball and puts Schniederlin on floor. Was at Northam end other end from incident but could see a pen from there, ref 10 yards away can't!

I didn't go to the game but watched the highlights on the Football League Show. Bart had a 'mare, he was awful. It's probably a confidence thing, having had few chances to play over the past few years, apart from cup games, but even so there was no excuse for that howler that led to Blackpool going in front. That was just stupid and I hope that KD is back for the Skates game next week, because if BB is going to play like that then we're going to get nothing. He looked nervous on the tv highlights, what's he going to be like with 12000 Skate's giving him dog's abuse? He'll be a liability.

In the January transfer window, Nige needs to get another striker, a CM and a new keeper. With Barnard and Connolly out, Saints look very thin in the attacking department.

Nostromo wrote:

In the January transfer window, Nige needs to get another striker, a CM and a new keeper. With Barnard and Connolly out, Saints look very thin in the attacking department.

Agree on all 3, was a gamble going into season with 4 strikers, 1 injured and 1 known to pick up injuries, and must be rectified in jan. also shows how much Forte is rated as been left at Preston!

Think Kelvin will play against Skates 100% fit or not. Have watched Bart in a couple of the league cup games and didnt insipire in those games.