A picture of the best manager we could have right now.
When Saturday came around it was with a home match against Walsall who are about 9th in the league and higher than us. We’d given one of our best performances of the season so far when we went up there and won 3-1 so I was certainly hoping for the convincing win we needed after the disappointing Wycombe result in midweek.
We were back to our ‘Norwich’ line up with Schneiderlin having recovered from whatever it was that he had to take the place of Antonio who dropped to the bench. As the teams came out for the ‘fair play’ handshake (the one that Wayne Bridge didn’t bother with elsewhere today) it became apparent that Walsall had the BFG wearing the No 28 shirt. It was only when he towered over 6ft 4 Radhi Jaidi that I realised how big he really was. I was expecting him to be a forward but he lined up in defence. On a bright cold day…. Off we go.
On three minutes, a standard hoof up to the edge of our box ends with Jaidi leaning on a forward and embedding him in the turf. Once the man shaped divot had been replaced, the little bald left back curled a lovely free kick into the top corner. Bugger. The travelling army of Walsall fans went wild, all 200 or so of them. Saints reaction to going behind was going to be key and within four minutes we’d had a Barnard header clawed away by the keeper, a Lambert knock down and Jason Puncheon picking up the ball in the inside right channel and curling a lovely effort in off the far post. 1-1 and we’d only just started.
Three minutes later and it looked like we were 2-1 up as Barnard followed in after the keeper had tipped a Sir Rickie header onto the bar but unfortunately the lino was watching and chalked it off. We didn’t have to wait long for a second though as after a bit of penalty box ping pong, half hit shots and rushed clearances, the ball fell to Barnard who lashed in his first SMS goal.
My Mate the BFG in the number 28 shirt had me cracked up – he just woofed it 50 yards in whatever direction he was facing. Talk about no compromise. I did notice though that he really wasn’t getting anywhere near Sir Rickie who was winning all the headers and setting up play without any attention from the Big Man. This means he was probably supposed to marking Barnard which he clearly wasn’t when Lallana fed Otsemobor who crossed for Barnard who had all the time in the world to smash it past the unprotected keeper for 3-1.
Puncheon was making a big impression with his direct running and willingness to take people on and generally make things happen. He also has a bit of brain and from a corner, instead of just putting it in the mixer, accurately picked out Lallana on the edge of the box, whose low header caused an almighty scramble before the BFG booted it to Swaythling. Right on half time there was a major surprise as we got a free kick outside the box and Sir Rickie didn’t shoot. Instead he slid a pass to Lallana whose shot was saved and caused another almighty scramble in the box.
Half time – 3-1 and looking good and now…. a rant. A few times at the start of the season I mentioned Dumb and Dumber who sit in the Kingsland directly behind me and my dad. For the past few games I’ve been to, there has only been one of them there and whoever has been there has not been too bad as they don’t have their partner in bullshit to talk to. To refresh your memory – Dumb is an old boy with a nasally whine of a voice who obviously hasn’t got the slightest clue about the game. He starts every sentence with ‘Why did he do that’. So, you get ‘Why did he do that header?’ or ‘Why did he do that kick over there’. Dumber is just a moron. He thinks he’s funny and a bit wacky. He’s not, he’s just a twat. At half time he rolled up his programme and was making quacking noises into it.
Dumb: “Why did Jaidi do that header?”
Dumber: “It was Papa Waigo, he has good spring, like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh”
Dumb: “Why did Waigo come on?” (Note: he hadn’t at that point)
Dumber: “Quaaaaack, Quaaaaaack, listen everybody!”
Dumb “Why has the bloke in front of us stuffed your programme down your throat?”
The first fifteen minutes of the second half was poor to be honest as Saints looked like a team thinking about upcoming games now that this one was over. They really couldn’t be blamed for this as Walsall were piss poor without any belief or ambition. It needed a goal to liven things up again and it duly arrived when Schneiderlin crossed for Sir Rickie to control superbly at the back past and lash past the keeper.
Having talked up the need to give him a rest, it was surprising that Pards chose to replace Barnard instead of Lambert, with Papa Waigo N’Doffside twice within a minute of coming on. Papa was roaming around predominantly on the left and from this position, cut in along the goal line and teed up Lallana who showed why he needs an hours shooting practice at training every day. It didn’t matter because it was 4-1 but it really was crap.
Thomas came on for Jaidi and Antonio for Lambert as we closed the game off strongly with another Waigo burst and pull back to Lallana who this time, made no mistake. In truth, 5-1 flattered Walsall a bit and they couldn’t have complained if it had been 8-1. I’m trying hard but am struggling to think of worse opposition at SMS this season, maybe Tranmere or Stockport who are two teams at the bottom whereas Walsall are top half.
For us today there was a consistency of performance throughout the whole team but Schneiderlin was different class. Walsall didn’t put him under any pressure but he barely wasted a pass all game and kept us moving forwards all game. I was also impressed with Jon Otsemobor who is proving what Pards said about him when he said that a player can be having a poor time at one club and play well for another (or something like that). It was nice to see Lee Barnard get another couple of goals and the partnership with Sir Rickie is looking better with Barney playing slightly deeper. Punch and Lallana are a threat to anyone and it would be churlish to mention that Kelvin was a bit flappity today but I’ve just done it.
Since the game finished (about 6 hours ago as I write) – there has been a whirlwind of Mesageboard shit thrown about, regarding Alan Pardew leaving the club. For the record – if this happens then my 100% confidence in the new regime will go down the crapper. The storm was of course caused by Don Nicola being quoted in The Echo after the Exeter game and now every little thing is being scrutinised by every internet warrior with an interest or an agenda. Apparently, Pards was glum looking in his post match interview which of course means that he’s been fired, been told he’s being fired, been threatened with the sack if we don’t make the playoffs. On the other hand, he may have had a bad curry last night and had to leave in a hurry before his guts fell out. Who fucking knows? No one really except Pards and Don Nicola – certainly none of our fans know. We have to have a scandal though, we have to have issues. FFS (to use a popular web forum shorthand) – haven’t we had enough years of complete and utter shite to put up with ? Isn’t it nice to be in a Cup final and winning games. We’ve lost 3 out of 24 or something…. FFS. Give it a rest. Still, I'm sure the Echo will pick up on it now and it'll run and run....
Lets look at our last few managers…. Mark Wotte was not too bad but an arrogant sod who suffered because he was linked to the mother of all complete idiots, Jan Poortvliet, whose press conferences used to have me driving the car and kicking the radio in at the same time. This is not to mention the Dave McGoldrick up front on his own, Ollie Lancashire in the team bollocks on the pitch. We had Nigel Pearson for a few games who was decent but sawn off by he who must not be named and before him, we had the totally disinterested, baffling and useless George Burley (hic!) – another master of the completely bewildering press conference and team selection / tactics – not to mention his squad of 1 centre back, 28 midfielders and dropping your main striker for no explained reason. If he was in charge now, he’d drop Sir Rickie and leave him on the bench all season.
In short, in a world of shocking managers, Alan Pardew is a bloody good one and is EXACTLY what we need at this moment in time. He communicates superbly and you can almost always see what he is trying to do on the pitch. He came in to a club that playing wise, was on it’s knees and with no pre-season has built a squad that is easily good enough to reach the playoffs. It has taken this long to build the squad and watch us go as Puncheon, Otsemobor, Fonte and Barnard settle in. So, we’ve had the odd bump in the road but who fucking doesn’t. Chelsea lost 4-2 at home today and had two sent off – does that mean multi-Serie A and Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancellotti is a bad manager ? No. Does it mean he’ll get sacked in the morning ? Maybe… actually… but I think I’ve made my point.
We were back to our ‘Norwich’ line up with Schneiderlin having recovered from whatever it was that he had to take the place of Antonio who dropped to the bench. As the teams came out for the ‘fair play’ handshake (the one that Wayne Bridge didn’t bother with elsewhere today) it became apparent that Walsall had the BFG wearing the No 28 shirt. It was only when he towered over 6ft 4 Radhi Jaidi that I realised how big he really was. I was expecting him to be a forward but he lined up in defence. On a bright cold day…. Off we go.
On three minutes, a standard hoof up to the edge of our box ends with Jaidi leaning on a forward and embedding him in the turf. Once the man shaped divot had been replaced, the little bald left back curled a lovely free kick into the top corner. Bugger. The travelling army of Walsall fans went wild, all 200 or so of them. Saints reaction to going behind was going to be key and within four minutes we’d had a Barnard header clawed away by the keeper, a Lambert knock down and Jason Puncheon picking up the ball in the inside right channel and curling a lovely effort in off the far post. 1-1 and we’d only just started.
Three minutes later and it looked like we were 2-1 up as Barnard followed in after the keeper had tipped a Sir Rickie header onto the bar but unfortunately the lino was watching and chalked it off. We didn’t have to wait long for a second though as after a bit of penalty box ping pong, half hit shots and rushed clearances, the ball fell to Barnard who lashed in his first SMS goal.
My Mate the BFG in the number 28 shirt had me cracked up – he just woofed it 50 yards in whatever direction he was facing. Talk about no compromise. I did notice though that he really wasn’t getting anywhere near Sir Rickie who was winning all the headers and setting up play without any attention from the Big Man. This means he was probably supposed to marking Barnard which he clearly wasn’t when Lallana fed Otsemobor who crossed for Barnard who had all the time in the world to smash it past the unprotected keeper for 3-1.
Puncheon was making a big impression with his direct running and willingness to take people on and generally make things happen. He also has a bit of brain and from a corner, instead of just putting it in the mixer, accurately picked out Lallana on the edge of the box, whose low header caused an almighty scramble before the BFG booted it to Swaythling. Right on half time there was a major surprise as we got a free kick outside the box and Sir Rickie didn’t shoot. Instead he slid a pass to Lallana whose shot was saved and caused another almighty scramble in the box.
Half time – 3-1 and looking good and now…. a rant. A few times at the start of the season I mentioned Dumb and Dumber who sit in the Kingsland directly behind me and my dad. For the past few games I’ve been to, there has only been one of them there and whoever has been there has not been too bad as they don’t have their partner in bullshit to talk to. To refresh your memory – Dumb is an old boy with a nasally whine of a voice who obviously hasn’t got the slightest clue about the game. He starts every sentence with ‘Why did he do that’. So, you get ‘Why did he do that header?’ or ‘Why did he do that kick over there’. Dumber is just a moron. He thinks he’s funny and a bit wacky. He’s not, he’s just a twat. At half time he rolled up his programme and was making quacking noises into it.
Dumb: “Why did Jaidi do that header?”
Dumber: “It was Papa Waigo, he has good spring, like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh”
Dumb: “Why did Waigo come on?” (Note: he hadn’t at that point)
Dumber: “Quaaaaack, Quaaaaaack, listen everybody!”
Dumb “Why has the bloke in front of us stuffed your programme down your throat?”
The first fifteen minutes of the second half was poor to be honest as Saints looked like a team thinking about upcoming games now that this one was over. They really couldn’t be blamed for this as Walsall were piss poor without any belief or ambition. It needed a goal to liven things up again and it duly arrived when Schneiderlin crossed for Sir Rickie to control superbly at the back past and lash past the keeper.
Having talked up the need to give him a rest, it was surprising that Pards chose to replace Barnard instead of Lambert, with Papa Waigo N’Doffside twice within a minute of coming on. Papa was roaming around predominantly on the left and from this position, cut in along the goal line and teed up Lallana who showed why he needs an hours shooting practice at training every day. It didn’t matter because it was 4-1 but it really was crap.
Thomas came on for Jaidi and Antonio for Lambert as we closed the game off strongly with another Waigo burst and pull back to Lallana who this time, made no mistake. In truth, 5-1 flattered Walsall a bit and they couldn’t have complained if it had been 8-1. I’m trying hard but am struggling to think of worse opposition at SMS this season, maybe Tranmere or Stockport who are two teams at the bottom whereas Walsall are top half.
For us today there was a consistency of performance throughout the whole team but Schneiderlin was different class. Walsall didn’t put him under any pressure but he barely wasted a pass all game and kept us moving forwards all game. I was also impressed with Jon Otsemobor who is proving what Pards said about him when he said that a player can be having a poor time at one club and play well for another (or something like that). It was nice to see Lee Barnard get another couple of goals and the partnership with Sir Rickie is looking better with Barney playing slightly deeper. Punch and Lallana are a threat to anyone and it would be churlish to mention that Kelvin was a bit flappity today but I’ve just done it.
Since the game finished (about 6 hours ago as I write) – there has been a whirlwind of Mesageboard shit thrown about, regarding Alan Pardew leaving the club. For the record – if this happens then my 100% confidence in the new regime will go down the crapper. The storm was of course caused by Don Nicola being quoted in The Echo after the Exeter game and now every little thing is being scrutinised by every internet warrior with an interest or an agenda. Apparently, Pards was glum looking in his post match interview which of course means that he’s been fired, been told he’s being fired, been threatened with the sack if we don’t make the playoffs. On the other hand, he may have had a bad curry last night and had to leave in a hurry before his guts fell out. Who fucking knows? No one really except Pards and Don Nicola – certainly none of our fans know. We have to have a scandal though, we have to have issues. FFS (to use a popular web forum shorthand) – haven’t we had enough years of complete and utter shite to put up with ? Isn’t it nice to be in a Cup final and winning games. We’ve lost 3 out of 24 or something…. FFS. Give it a rest. Still, I'm sure the Echo will pick up on it now and it'll run and run....
Lets look at our last few managers…. Mark Wotte was not too bad but an arrogant sod who suffered because he was linked to the mother of all complete idiots, Jan Poortvliet, whose press conferences used to have me driving the car and kicking the radio in at the same time. This is not to mention the Dave McGoldrick up front on his own, Ollie Lancashire in the team bollocks on the pitch. We had Nigel Pearson for a few games who was decent but sawn off by he who must not be named and before him, we had the totally disinterested, baffling and useless George Burley (hic!) – another master of the completely bewildering press conference and team selection / tactics – not to mention his squad of 1 centre back, 28 midfielders and dropping your main striker for no explained reason. If he was in charge now, he’d drop Sir Rickie and leave him on the bench all season.
In short, in a world of shocking managers, Alan Pardew is a bloody good one and is EXACTLY what we need at this moment in time. He communicates superbly and you can almost always see what he is trying to do on the pitch. He came in to a club that playing wise, was on it’s knees and with no pre-season has built a squad that is easily good enough to reach the playoffs. It has taken this long to build the squad and watch us go as Puncheon, Otsemobor, Fonte and Barnard settle in. So, we’ve had the odd bump in the road but who fucking doesn’t. Chelsea lost 4-2 at home today and had two sent off – does that mean multi-Serie A and Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancellotti is a bad manager ? No. Does it mean he’ll get sacked in the morning ? Maybe… actually… but I think I’ve made my point.
So anyway, we get rid of Pards and get someone better like Iain fucking Dowie... FFS FFS FFS FFS.
I met some Walsall mates in the pub after the game and they think we’re the best side in the Division bar none. I reciprocated by telling them they were the worst sides I’d seen since I played against a team called Inter Northam in the Southampton Sunday League when we won 15-0. Walsall were, as they say in the black country, Shoit.
I met some Walsall mates in the pub after the game and they think we’re the best side in the Division bar none. I reciprocated by telling them they were the worst sides I’d seen since I played against a team called Inter Northam in the Southampton Sunday League when we won 15-0. Walsall were, as they say in the black country, Shoit.
In three days time we’re up again…. Huddersfield at home. Their prefix in the media is ‘free scoring’ and as we’ve just stuffed in five goals, it should be a cracker.
Your thoughts concerning Pardew echo my own. I wish more people would think before they spout nonsense online.
ReplyDeleteAP is, undoubtedly, the man for the job. In my estimation he has achieved far more than I anticipated. He's taken a rag tag bunch of players, added his own, got rid of some and assembled what is. arguably, the best team in this division. What he has had against him is time, due to the minus ten. Look how Leeds struggled (despite their fantastic unbeaten run) a few seasons ago.
ReplyDeletePatience my fellow Saints.
It may take a while longer than we want but, AP willing, it will happen.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteWell I think AP is doing a great job - I was there yesterday - great game - AP was punching the air when we scored the 2nd ... think about it - he arrived 3 weeks before the season started, with 6 of the best players from the previous season having been sold - a depressed squad, full of kids .... yet has us playing great footy ... & in JPT final .... loving it ...
Mark
PARDEW OUT!
ReplyDelete(on the town and I'll buy him as much beer as he wants) Top dog :)
I agree about Pardew. I can't believe the absolute shit that has been spouted on Saintsweb and 606 about him, based on a radio interview.
ReplyDeleteHaving listened to the interview, AP started off fine, but I think he got annoyed at the stupid questioning more than anything else.
Considering what Pardew had to start with, he is doing a fantastic job and we are having a better season than I thought we would. If Cortese gets impatient and fires him, then he's a bloody fool.
Great blog, by the way, I always love reading it, very entertaining.
Cheers
Thanks for putting my thoughts into words...
ReplyDeletePARDEW IN! ;-)
Does the old boy behind you have a beard? There's an annoying **** behind us with a voice like a drain (moan, moan, moan etc.).
ReplyDeleteHe must be Chapel side of centre, in Row J-ish?
Different guy... my mates are row P, Northam side of centre block. The 'program as quacking device' was the most ridiculous thing ever. I mean, I'd give my kid a bollocking if he did that...
ReplyDelete