Pre-Season Part 2 - Preparing for the Race for 17th

Pre-season games started with a nice friendly neighbourhood trip to take on our only local rivals worth a shit – Eastleigh, which saw Saints take a large squad to the Silverlake to take on Kelvin Davis’ side. More of a fitness exercise than anything but with first half goals from Adam Armstrong twice and Will Smallbone, then second half efforts from Sekou Mara, Ryan Manning, Yuki Sugawara and Charly Alcaraz, we strolled to a 7-1 victory.  Because it was a fitness exercise, Adam Lallana and Ross Stewart didn’t play.

With the squad getting off to Spain for a training camp and a couple of behind closed doors friendlies, news came through that Che Adams was signing for Torino in Italy. There seemed to be this train of thought that he might be a Saints player next season despite the fact that he officially left the club three weeks ago. To me, his situation was no different to Stuart Armstrong’s in that he was in the last year of his contract and had never indicated an intention to sign a new one. Good luck to Che and it’s a brave move for him and I hope it works out.

A lot has been made of the fact that after we got relegated, he posted that he would stick around to put things right and get us back to where we belong but let’s not kid ourselves here or rewrite history - he would’ve been off last summer if anyone ever wanted to pay £15 million quid for him, which no one did.   There’s no point in being cynical though and he did prove to be pretty useful in the Championship but as the season wore on, I formed an opinion that I wouldn’t be that bothered if he left given that he has never exactly said the Premier League alight before, though we do of course have to replace him.

Che was always maddeningly inconsistent, quite often within the context of one game where he could look like the best player in the league one minute and then the next, look like someone who had never kicked a football before, wearing his Adidas Trampolino boots.  If he could play it at his best level for 80% of the time, instead of the 20% he currently manages, there is no way that someone wouldn’t have paid for him last summer.  Che was often given the thankless task of playing up front for us on his own, making up for a lack of height and pace with a physicality which often battered bigger defenders around.  When he played well, Saints tended to play well and his partnerships with Danny Ings and then Armando Broja brought some decent reward.

The Legend of Che

It’s a bit of a strange move from Torino‘s point of view because they can’t have been too impressed by him doing shuttle runs for Scotland in the summer. As I said though, good luck to him. He has provided us with some brilliant moments in his Saints career – the long-range goal against Manchester City and the chip against Watford being two of the most memorable. The catalogue of misses from ridiculously close to the goal also stick in the mind and the handball header against Wolves from six inches out with no goalkeeper in the goal, will always be legendary.

Moving on and the Spanish training camp and friendlies against Bordeaux and Montpellier. The Bordeaux friendly was against the backdrop of the French club going into administration. If you remember back a couple of years, we paid the transfer fee for Sekou Mara upfront to give them a stay of execution but it seems that years of mismanagement of caught up with them and it did look for a while at the friendly was not going to go ahead but go ahead it did, with Saints running out 3-2 winners. There was some bright attacking play along with some shambolic passing across the back but Tyler Dibling forced an own goal before Sam Amo-Ameyaw curled in a brilliant effort from the edge of the box and Mara himself got the third with it having been put n a plate by Dibling . We got our first real look at Mateuz Lis in goal and he started well and made a couple of decent saves before inexplicably turning into a complete shambles in the second half, fumbling one simple save onto the roof for the net and eventually conceding a shocker with a flappy punch and then getting beaten at the near post. Not great and the goalkeeping department still needs upgrading. The very next day however, Bordeaux officially went out of business which is fucking sad whatever way you look at it.

Up next after a few more days training were Montpellier, who were a step up in class and who were right bunch of arseholes. Playacting and leaving the foot in, in a preseason friendly is not what you want. 1-0 up early with Sulemana showing what he’s all about by grabbing the ball to take a penalty and rolling a pathetic effort straight at the keeper, who was so surprised he just threw it straight back out to him so in the stats it goes down as two shots on target for Suladjenepo.  Ronnie Edwards made another decent appearance at the back, partnering the returning Jan Bednarek and Edwards it was who played a beautifully flighted ball over the Montpellier defence for Dibling to run onto and cement his status as the star of pre-season season so far.  After conceding direct from a free kick to get Montpellier back into it, we saw the game out with Yuki Sugawara floating a free-kick onto the head of THB who couldn’t really miss. There was still time for Saints to win another penalty when Sam Amo got chopped down and Sekou Mara showed that anything Kamaldeen can do, he can do as well by rolling a shocking effort straight at the goalkeeper but this time there was no such luck with the rebound. Absolutely garbage. Honestly, it barely would’ve reached the goal even if the keeper hadn’t have been there.

Overall it was another good workout and positive results never do any harm and it reaffirm to my belief that if there were two players I would least like to take a penalty for my life, then Mara and Sulemana would be right up there.

Replacing Chele with Chile

At the end of the Spanish trip, Russell Martin gave an interview where he hinted that we were still looking for a midfield player a striker and a winger and upon our return, that one man transfer breaking news machine that is Fabrizio Romano, revealed that a deal had been agreed between Saints and Villareal for the signature of Stoke born Chilean international Ben Brereton Diaz, last seen in this country scoring a few goals for Sheffield United at the tail end of them getting relegated out of the Premier League. Prior to that he was at Blackburn and was prolific up front when replacing a certain Adam Armstrong. Brereton Diaz is a 6 foot 1 striker/left-winger and on the face of it seems a decent addition. As I said, he has a bit of pedigree at Premier League level and banged in goals fun at Championship level so it’s another striker who will be wanting to prove himself at a higher level. This looks like a good signing at £7 million quid. If it was £15 million then I would be questioning it a bit more but Brereton Diaz appears on the face of it to have what it takes to make an impact at Premier League level, having already proved this to a degree playing for a terrible Sheffield United team. Research has taken me to a few Sheffield United fan videos where they basically talk about how good he was.  Not sure that this should be our only recruit up front though.

Back home in a short trip up the A34 to play at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford and to be quite frank, the less said about this game the better. The team was largely second string with Alex McCarthy in goal and captain for the day. Now I get that Alex has been told that he has to pass the ball out short but Jesus Christ. Three times in the first half he just presented the ball straight to the Oxford attackers. We were already 1-0 down when he passed it straight to a guy who then rolled it wide of an open goal. Absolutely ridiculous for a player of his experience especially when he was the captain and he had two very inexperienced centre backs in front of him in Edwards and Wood.  Ronnie Edwards started the game okay whereas Nathan Wood was erratic but it was Ronnie who dropped a bollock for the second goal passing it across the top of the penalty area straight to Oxford striker Rodriguez who easily beat McCarthy. There was a complete lack of energy about the whole performance apart from Sam Amo who tried to make things happen but he couldn’t do it on his own. The second half was only marginally better when the first team players appeared and overall, it was one of those preseason games where you really wish you hadn’t bothered with the only consolation for the many who travelled, was another ground ticked off.

A few days later and a visit to the New Den to play Millwall and a 1-0 win with Adam Armstrong scoring at the second attempt after Millwall‘s goalkeeper had failed in an attempt to pull off a very simple catch from Will Smallbone’s cross. Arma went full Che Adams and tried to head into the net from one yard but missed the ball and still had enough time to hoik it into the roof of the net with his left foot from 2 yards. The most interesting thing about this game however was the fact that it was pretty much our first choice 11 from the start. With Jack Stephens on the team sheet I expected us to play three the back like we did in the playoff final but instead of that, Stephens looked almost permanently stationed in the centre of midfield.  Maybe it's because we were dominating that he didn't have to worry too much about defending but as we know, it’s one thing arriving in midfield from centre back and making an extra man but it’s another thing all together to for that be your actual position.  Ryan Manning had played there against Oxford so what exactly are we doing?  Maybe this is Russell’s way of showing Sport Republic that we desperately need a midfield player.

The attacking play in this game was incredibly half arsed, only livened up when Sam Amo and Tyler Dibling came on with Dibling doing more in his 15 minutes than any other attacking player had done in the whole game.  Ben Brereton Diaz made his debut and didn’t really have time to contribute anything much which is not a cause for concern at this point. More signings still needed.

We're Running Out of 3rd Kit Colours, so ....

The home friendly against Lazio saw the full debut of Ben Brereton Diaz and also saw the debut of this year‘s third kit which is pink. Not one for the traditionalist but I’m sure it will prove very popular. To be fair, we are running out of colours to use as the third kit. I will repeat my old man moan that I have every year in that there seems absolutely no need to have a third kit when nothing is going to really clash with both our predominantly red home kit and yellow away kit. We are not playing away from home against Galatasaray this season, nor rocking up to play Roy Race and Melchester Rovers any time soon (Note: Cultural reference that will be lost on many young people).

Anyway, a largely fringe line-up took on Lazio and took an early lead when Brereton Diaz scored what is, judging by his YouTube compilations, a trademark goal, cutting in from the left along the top of the penalty area and then smashing into the far corner of the net with his right foot. Saints maintained the lead despite some dubious decision-making and passing from the goalkeeper and back five but could do nothing about the spectacular overhead kick that made it 1-1. In the second half both teams had chances, with Lazio’s coming exclusively from the chaos caused by Alex McCarthy with his ground passing and Saints nearly won in the last minute with Sam Edozie wriggling past two players and bringing an excellent save from the goalkeeper.  The story of the game though was the big punch up on the hour mark win some Lazio players took exception to a Shea Charles robust challenge and then Charly Alcaraz piled into redress the balance and ended up sparking a brawl involving nearly all the players and the benches of both teams.  All good stuff for a friendly and I would suggest all triggered by the fact that Lazio were being wankers from the first minute. It’s a shame for Alcaraz because he was playing well.  The move to Lazio that was being rumoured before the game may now be a little bit further away from the truth than it probably was anyway.

The last friendly the season was against Getafe at St Marys and Saints lined up with exactly what I would expect to be the team against Newcastle. The only slight surprise was that KWP was making his first appearance of pre-season, playing at left wing back with Sugawara on the right. Brereton Diaz was up front with Armstrong and the rest of it was as per the play-off final. The game itself was pretty tedious with Getafe proving to be an even bigger bunch of arseholes than Lazio were. Mind you, what can you expect from a team that were happy to give Mason Greenwood a game last season. From a Saints point of view, what screamed at me was a complete lack of creativity and attack and 0-0 was nailed on for pretty much the whole game.

Tactically, it was strange in that the two strikers seemed to be playing very wide so at times it resembled a 5-5-0 formation with absolutely no one in the middle.  It all went very surreal in the last 15 minutes when Tall Paul was thrown on but instead of playing to his one strength, we played him in a false nine position and expected him to link play up. Not that really matters but once again, we are worrying about the things he can’t do rather than focus on the thing that he can do. Sam Edozie offered a bit of life in the second half because he can actually take on and beat a player but when he gets in front of goal it all goes to shit.

So, where are we?

With the friendlies now finished it’s time to take stock before the trip to St James’s Park in Newcastle next week. I cannot imagine for a second that we are done with incomings but whether they will be done quickly enough to make the starting line-up for Newcastle is another question altogether. As it stands, the team and formation that played against Getafe will play at Newcastle.  We are still several signings away from what would be ideal going into the first game with a Number 9 striker, a creative midfielder, a goalkeeper and a winger being the positions in question.   If Russell Martin does spring a surprise and go with a back four then one of the centre backs will drop out and either Tyler Dibling or Charly Alcaraz will play as a false 9, in my opinion.

The main good news from pre-season has been emergence of Tyler Dibling as a genuine first team option and Sam Amo will be a useful bench option alongside him. Ronnie Edwards looks to be a decent player and I would suggest he is ahead of Nathan Wood in the pecking order to step in the defence should it be needed.  Wood passes the ball well but seems very lightweight when it comes to actual defending and gets pushed around too easily.  Yuki Sugawara looks like he’s got a decent shout of being a very good player this season.  When McCarthy is not giving the ball away at the back, the back half of the team looks solid and decent and we knock the ball about nicely but everything in front of Flynn Downes is a cause for concern. 

Lallana - "A little tightness"... 4 weeks out.

The bad news has been that Adam Lallana (rolls eyes into back of head) picked up an injury on that long coach trip from Staplewood to Eastleigh before the first friendly and Ross Stewart has not been anywhere near making an appearance. This is a major disappointment to me because I held out hope that Ross was going to be the striker we needed and we wouldn’t have to pay through the nose to get him as he was already here.  One can only assume there was yet another setback after his brief appearance in the play-off semi-finals.  He may get fit one day and he may contribute but it’s getting on for two years since he played regularly and it’s a major reach to hope he scores goals in the Premier League.

The main worries are the goalkeeper and the attacking play.  The McCarthy issue is obvious regarding his passing but for me the biggest concern is that we don’t look like we’ve got a goal in us against decent opposition with a lack of cutting edge and a lack of creativity in midfield. The midfield balance is going to be crucial in the Premier League and I cannot see Aribo and Smallbone functioning in the same midfield three as they are both very similar.  Both good players, tidy on the ball, average defensively, neither plays with any pace and there’s not much creativity.  The four most attacking players in the line-up and the four that have to produce are Smallbone, Aribo, Brereton Diaz and Armstrong and you'd have to be very optimistic to expect enough creativity and goals at Premier League level from those four.

Other questions remain over KWP, who has still not moved anywhere and his options of a Premier League move elsewhere are gradually disappearing with West Ham looking elsewhere, so its beginning to look more and more like he will still be here. ABK has been linked with a move to Hoffenheim and Tall Paul to Trabzonspor of course.  As said, Charly was linked to Lazio before he punched one of them.

Russell Martin has changed his tune over transfers recently and has sounded a note of caution to control expectation, suggesting that we need to sell before we can buy.  If this is true I see a certain amount of brinkmanship coming our way with regards to foreign clubs bidding for our players and trying to get a last minute knockdown price, which of course does not help us in our quest to sign players of the calibre of Matt O’Riley for over £20 million quid.  PRS compliance will also be playing a big part in determining our recruitment, as it seems to be doing with every club this year bar Chelsea.  It was always hard enough anyway to come from the Championship to the Premier League and be competitive but now it’s even more so.

If you think about our last Premier League season and where we were at this stage of the season, we had a difficult opening fixture at Tottenham.  The goalkeeper situation is similar with Bazunu then and McCarthy now.  Defensively, we are better now, with the Spurs game featuring KWP, Valery, Bednarek, Salisu and Djenepo as the back five.  Our midfield against Spurs was Romeu, JWP and Lavia, which I would suggest is stronger than Downes, Smallbone and Aribo though it has a similar lack of creativity.  Up front against Spurs we had Aribo and Adam Armstrong so probably slightly stronger now though not much.  For me, this illustrates that as it stands, we are struggling.  The ‘as it stands’ is important through because there is still time to rectify the situation, which is what we didn’t do two seasons ago – in fact we made it worse by letting the experienced Romeu, Forster and Stephens all leave.  We have to get the end of the transfer window right this time.  One thing we do have over two years ago is a better team spirit and I have more faith in Russell Martin than I did in Ralph at that time because he was a busted flush by then.

So, here comes the Premier League and The Race for 17^th.  It’s going to be ridiculously tough and ‘as it stands’ you'd be hard pressed to be optimistic.  It’s important we as fans stay behind the team and remember that these are the players that gave us that day at Wembley a couple of months ago.  We have to be realistic and know there are going to many bumps in the road.  Staying up this season will be an even bigger achievement than going up last season.

Up the fucking Saints.

EFL Championship Match 34 - Southampton 1 Millwall 2

 

In Your Own Time Baz

The visit of Millwall to St Mary‘s should be just what everyone ordered after our home defeat against Hull on Tuesday. Since we played them last, Millwall had appointed a new manager and plummeted towards the relegation places and if current form continues until the end of the season, they will be playing in League 1 next season, as amply illustrated by the two nil defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday last week. The trigger was pulled on Joe Edwards and Neil Harris returned for his second spell as manager at the club where he was a goal scoring hero for so many years. In truth, from the outside, it seems a bit of a panic appointment with no real logic behind it, a bit like Sheffield United appointing Chris Wilder, simply because he’s been there before and not because he’s got any track record of being any good.

Anyway, Millwall will be hoping for new manager bounce and Saints will be hoping that Russell Martin gets it right today because we could be playing in front of a half empty ground with everyone in the pub if the names Smallbone, Rothwell and Stuart Armstrong are named as the midfield.
 
Itchen Bridge 2pm and the name I’m drawn to in our starting XI is Jack Stephens, which of course means that the shorhorn has been out.  Next thing is to look around the rest of the team to see who is missing and it turns out it’s Ryan Manning, so I assume that we’re going to go for something similar to what we had against West Brom a few days ago.  Mercifully, Joe Rothwell is not in the team and has been replaced with Joe Aribo. The substitutes that all came on and did well against Hull have all been selected so the front line is Wee man, Che Adams and David Brooks which means that Adam Armstrong has been dropped for the first time this season.  The Millwall starting lineup contains the name Michael Obafemi.  Party boy himself and his agent are still managing to find teams they think he’s going to apply himself. He still looks like a top-heavy middleweight boxer so I would anticipate him pulling a hamstring in about half an hour.

Away we go and what the fuck is this?  Kyle Walker-Peters is playing at left back and it looks like THB is playing right back with Captain Shoehorn in the middle.  So, it appears we have moved two of our best players from our regular back four into unfamiliar positions. Not only that, it appears that Captain Shoehorn is playing in unfamiliar position himself because he’s pushing up into midfield when we’ve got the ball. The first time we lose the ball it’s clear that no one really has a clue who is supposed to be at right back. Let’s just hope we’ve got this nailed down in the three days we’ve had to practice it since the whole game.

Anyway, it all starts well enough with Stuart Armstrong deciding to make up for the fact he was terrible in the last game by taking on three players down the left-hand side and beating everybody. He gets to the line and gets it across and Brooks volleys it down and it’s looping up towards the goal but the keeper Sarkic flaps it away.

The next involvement from Sarkic is a Big boot forward from the Millwall goalkeeper and Smallbone leans on Flemming, who collapses to the ground and the referee buys it, mainly because Smallbone has his hands on him.   He hasn’t pushed him but there you go.  Free kick about 40 yards out and Savile chips in and Baz hesitates and then goes and he’s late and Tanganga gets a head to it and it lobs into the net. He looks offside for a brief second but he isn’t because Stephens is a yard behind the rest of the defenders.  Fucks sake, what a start. Behind at home yet again.

We get the ball down and start knocking it about and Che Adams is absolutely trashed by Tanganga after he’s laid the ball off and the ball goes loose to Wee Man who is equally trashed by Leonard the right back.   That’s the second time Leonard has gone straight through Wee Man.  Referee Thomas Bramall should card them both at least but he only books Tanganga.  Stuart Armstrong‘s cross into the box is headed away and knocked back in by Smallbone and Adams gets up at the back post to loop a header over the goalkeeper but villain of the peace Tanganga is back on the goal line to head over the bar.

Wee Man is clearly in pain after the assault from Leonard and one of his crosses gets headed away and Millwall break into the area where we have no right back and the Millwall winger cuts in on his right foot and curls it about a yard wide of Baz and therefore the post. Fraser goes down after the ball goes wide and has to be replaced with Sam Edozie.

We are playing some decent stuff despite the slightly incongruous presence of Captain Shoehorn in midfield and we attack on the left and KWP picks it up and gets to the line but he won’t use his left foot to cross and instead turns out on his right foot and knocks it to Brooks. On to Stuart Armstrong who gets his head up and chips a lovely ball over the defenders for Che Adams to reach with his head and nod it through the goalkeeper to make it 1-1.  Now lets bury them.

Nice goal Che, Now Get Substituted

Instead of that though, Millwall put us under a bit of pressure with a cross from the left going over everybody and over to the other side back in it comes and Party Boy has his back to goal but turns and hits it and it hits Bednarek and bounces through to Baz. It’s one of those contacts on the ball where are you know that there has been a hand involved and the ref gives it and no real complaints. Flemming stepped up and scuffs it but it hits the inside of the post and goes in and he gives it the big one in front of the home end. Prick.

Half-time and this has been a struggle. I don’t really know what’s going on with the formation but it just seems mad to me that we’ve moved to have our best players and look rather disjointed. As the players re-emerge for the second half, there is no change for us but one thing never changes and that’s that if Michael Obafemi starts a game at St.Mary’s, then he gets substituted at half-time. See you later Party Boy you utter waste of space.

There’s not a lot going on in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Tanganga flicks a Brooks cross over the bar before it gets to Adams and the referee of course gives a goal kick and the subs predictably get called fairly early but I can’t be too enthusiastic about Adam Armstrong and Joe Rothwell coming on, particularly as they are replacing Che Adams and Joe Aribo.  Why in particular are we taking Adams off?

The subs nearly make me eat my lack of enthusiasm as Stuart Armstrong gets away down the left, gets to the line and pulls it back. Adam Armstrong misses the ball as it rolls under his foot and Rothwell must score but no – straight at the fucking goalkeeper.

On 70 we get Suledjenepo coming for Brooks and Manning replaces Captain Shoehorn so we now have KWP playing as a conventional right back like he should’ve been all along and his cross into the middle is meant by Adam Armstrong who is not the requisite height and heads over the bar.  Che would have had a better chance of scoring that.

It’s all huff and puff and not a lot else and time goes by, mainly with Millwall wasting it.  90 minutes up and Suledjenepo puts over a cross and Adam Armstrong in the middle meets it again and he gets in the right direction this time down towards the corner but Sarkis gets across to make a decent save.

Well that was another absolute pile of shit from the moment the team was announced until the final whistle. An absolute clusterfuck from start to finish brought on entirely by Russell Martin overthinking everything. We’ve just gone 25 games undefeated and at that point he abandoned his like for like replacement when people got injured strategy, and we’ve been largely fucking shit. If Flynn Downes is injured, just play Shea Charles. It’s not fucking rocket science, it’s just common sense.  Stop trying to be too clever because as they have proved numerous occasions already this season, our players are not good enough for it.

Remember back to the 4-1 home defeat against Leicester when we had all this full-backs in midfield bollocks which didn’t work. Well here we are again only this time it’s Jack Stephens going from centre back into midfield like some shit Cornish Franz Beckenbauer and what that meant was that when we got caught on the break which we inevitably did, THB moved across to centre back and then there was fucking no one at right back unless Will Smallbone managed to get over there and if he did, there was no one in midfield.

The German Jack Stephens in his pomp

When Stephens stepped into midfield, he seem to be a magnet for the ball and the reason for that is that Millwall didn’t bother to mark him because why would they so e was always the free man. He played some decent propaganda passes and looked like there was an element of surprise with him turning up there when it came to actually do something creative like cross the ball, of course couldn’t do it because he’s a centre back and that’s not his game and that’s not his fault. The other problem was is that Joe Aribo, who was superb when he came on against Hull, hardly saw the ball because it now seemed too congested in midfield. So, if you wanna play Jack Stephens in midfield, then play him in midfield and then at least we’ve only got one player out of position instead of trying to come up with some clever bollocks that leaves us with three players out of position and others impacted adversely by the decision. If you definitely want to play Jack Stephens then leave one of the centre backs out and again, don’t disrupt the entire fucking team.

Oh and also, once again, stop playing Smallbone as the defensive midfielder if you’re not going to get the right structure around him.. It doesn’t fucking work, it hasn’t worked at all this season so don’t fucking do it anymore. He is not a bad player but he is absolutely shit at the number six role unless you sacrifice to other players to keep close to him to cover up his deficiencies. There is no shame in not being able to play the number six position and most would all love to live in the world where every player could play every position but we are not there. Some of our players can’t even play one position properly.

It just seemed like all totally unnecessarily over complicated bollocks. Millwall would be in the bottom three if they had lost today but we changed our own whole game plan from what has been really successful this season on a whim and we made them look good. Two attacks, a free kick in a penalty, two goals. Dogshit. I understand is changing the game plan for West Brom because that was a specific task away from home against a good team. This was fucking Millwall at home, where up until this week we had won about ten games in a row or something but both in this game and against Hull, Russell shit the bed. I’m wondering if any of the support staff are brave enough to say that they don’t think something is a particularly good idea.

In the second half, we huffed and puffed, still with the shite bat shit mental formation without ever really looking like we were going to score and then we finally went to a proper formation with about 70 minutes gone by which time the pattern was set for this particular game. Shea Charles still didn’t make it onto the pitch and instead what we did and it took until 70 minutes to actually bring on full back in Ryan Manning and take off Jack Stephens, who had been playing for 10 minutes as a conventional left back,  After his horror show against Hull, we brought on Joe Rothwell to bring his particular brand of “what the fuck is this guy doing“ to the proceedings. Adam Armstrong has been shit for the last few weeks and needed a rest but we brought him on and took off Che Adams who had already scored today and was probably playing with a bit of confidence. All of it absurd, all of it self-inflicted and all of it completely unnecessary.

Millwall‘s game plan was obvious and it was get stuck in leave a bit on every player you tackle and play on the break. And Ryan Fraser got booted out of the game today and had to be substituted in the first half in the same way that Edozie got booted out of the game against Norwich. There wasn;t even a yellow card for todays assault by Leonard on Fraser. This is the same old pre-VAR discussion about players needing to be protected. Heavy tackles have always going on since the game was invented but both against Norwich and today, the offender should’ve been sent off. The referee largely let them get away with the rough stuff and Saints played completely into their hands by not having a proper set up for when we lost the ball.. Once the free kick it been awarded for the first goal however, it is totally down to Gavin Bazunu not making his mind up quickly enough to come for the ball and then not electing to punch it. If you come for the ball as a goalkeeper and get beaten to it by an opposition attacker in the air, then you have fucked up. The second goal was handball and there’s no getting away from that.

So, absolute shit and Russell Martin’s desire to be Mr Clever Bollocks is in danger of undoing a hell of a lot of good work that is going on recently. With this style of football, you cannot win games if you don’t have a defensive midfield strategy with suitable players.

Russell was absolutely raging at the referee and what he allowed Millwall to get away with at the end and also kind of defended the tactics and blamed the bad goals for the reason that we lost.  Yes the goals conceded were crap but interestingly he also called the second half flat and I wonder why the second half is flat? Maybe Russell is feeling the pressure a little bit from having so many games this month. He has said in the past that the three-game weeks leave him drained and we’ve had about three of those back to back.

Next up, no worries, it gets easier, Liverpool away in the FA Cup and if we don’t have a defensive midfield strategy for when we lose the ball in that game, they are going to go in dry and we are going to be leaving Anfield like we’ve been sat on a horse for two days.

EFL Championship Match 15 - Millwall 0 Southampton 1

Wee Man, 94th Minute, Again

A trip to Southeast London and The Den of Millwall. In the context of the championship, where every game for us seems to be in the Frozen Wastelands of the North, it’s nice to be a bit more local.

Millwall have had a somewhat indifferent start to the season and a couple of weeks ago, parted with their manager Gary Rowett who had been there for the last four years. Apparently, there was none of the old Millwall spirit which all the readers will remember being manifested by the likes of Terry Hurlock, Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham back in the late 80s. Rowett’s Millwall lacked bravery and often went out to ‘not lose’ games rather than to trying to win them and that is what ultimately caused his departure, with a fanbase that demands a braver, more combative approach.  I’ve heard the term ‘tough place to go’ a lot this week.  I guess it is as much as any away ground is but it certainly isn’t as tough as it was in the late 80s/early 90s at the old ground.

So, Millwall are still managerless at the moment but rumour has it that Adam Barrett is in the dugout for the last time today with a new manager to be announced next week and maybe, just maybe, it will be the return of statistically one of the best managers in Europe, who could’ve married a nice Welsh girl if he stayed in the Welsh Mining Village, instead of travelling the world to Luton.

Statistically....

Talking of our favourite Mr Jones, it has been teased on Twitter that he was going to do a Coaches Voice masterclass and as the pictures advertising it had orange counters in front of him, I assumed it was going to be a Luton Town thing but no, the game in question was Saints against Manchester City in the Carabao where we denied them the quadruple, of course.  As I write, I haven’t watched it but I would love to know if they make any mention of the fact that Pep totally shat it with his team selection. I am sure that Nathan will try and take credit for that.

Things are going well at the moment of course and there was another boost on Friday as there was an official sighting of the Loch Ness Drogba with Ross Stewart playing for the Under 21s against Sunderland.  We lost, which at the end of the day doesn’t matter, but the main man scored his first goal in Saints colours in only his 7^th minute on the pitch.  There is still no need to rush him into the first team picture but the 45 minutes he got in were a major plus.

Anyone Know Who This Is?

To today and the Saints line-up is predictable.  James Bree deservedly keeps his place again and Alcaraz is preferred to Adams.  Millwall have the ex-Saints Bartosz Bialkowski in goal, who was of course, understudy to Kelvin Davis when we were in the Championship, most notably under Whiskey George Burley.  Bart got a chance at the end of the playoff season in 2007 and was in the team for the first leg of the playoff semi-final against Derby and played well. George’s glass of Jim Beam told him to put Kelvin back in goal for the second leg and he let in a crap goal after about a minute and Bart’s career at Saints was from then on restricted to the odd appearance, where he generally was ok/average.  I remember one ‘Taibi’ like goal conceded.  Still, he’s had a decent career at Championship and League 1 level.

Away we go and once again, our gameplan is, we have the ball and we’re not letting you have it.  There are no real chances until THB tries a long diagonal long ball which causes a bit of panic in the Millwall penalty area and the ball eventually bounces out to Sulemana on the left whose low cross is set up for Stuart Armstrong to lash it first time, forcing Bart to help it on its way over the bar.

Millwall aren’t getting on the ball much as you would expect but when they do we get a sighting of that rare thing where a Saints full back, namely James Bree, actually blocks a cross and Millwall get a corner.  A subsequent push on Baz clears any danger.

A Saints attack breaks down on the edge of the Millwall penalty area with Smallbone giving it away but in the surprise of actually having possession, Millwall give it straight back and Alcaraz makes a yard before smashing it straight at Bart, who somewhat eccentrically shovels it wide of the post.

The corner is cleared but we recycle it back out of Stuart Armstrong who plays the ball in to the under-lapping Smallbone who flashes it across and once again Bart makes sure everyone sees him pushing it wide of the post.

As another half of dominance without goal draws to a close, THB concedes a corner and from it, a knock back at the far post and Harding meets it 3 yards out and manages to hit the bar meaning we get a bit lucky and go in at 0-0.  We play superb football up until we get 30 yards out and then there is a bit of a void.

It hard to say anyone has played badly but no one has done anything particularly brilliant either, so it’s no surprise that there are no changes in personnel made at the break.  What has changed however is that KWP is playing a lot higher in the second half and he refuses to give up on an overhit through ball, keeps it in and after a superb touch past a defender, Stuart Armstrong should pull it back to Adam but gets greedy and tries to poke it though Bart who saves comfortably.

We’ve got them pinned back now on the hour mark and Alcaraz is running the show.  Via Stuart Armstrong, KWP has a cross shot which is again cleared for a corner.  Another chance goes begging when Smallbone plays a 1-2 and barges into the box and the ball breaks to Adam Armstrong who hits it at the fucking moon.

James Bree has picked up a knock, thanks for what looked like a perfectly fair tackle and on comes Ryan Manning. Manning immediately gets trashed in midfield and loses the ball allowing Millwall to build up on the right through Saville.  Millwall get excited for a moment and commit some players forward but when we clear it, we break with Alcaraz steaming through midfield and finding Sulemana on the left and with his first goal of the season beckoning, he cuts in and hits it and Bart gets down and pulls off a really good save this time.

Fraser on for Sulemana, who is unlucky to be replaced and the impressive Alcaraz finds Smallbone and then Stuart Armstrong breaking from midfield and his low left footed effort drags just wide of the far post.  It’s his last contribution as off he comes for Shea Charles and Che Adams is on for Smallbone with Russell Martin showing intent to go and win it in the last fifteen minutes.

Though we are building up a head of steam , it begins to look like it’s not happening when Alcaraz makes space on the edge of the box before smashing it and seeing it blocked by a defenders chest/arm.  Whilst we’re appealing for apparently the ball drops to Wee Man Fraser who puts a pretty shit effort wide of the far post.

90, 91, 92, 93.. and KWP slides a ball into Arma, who lets it run to lose his marker.  His cut back is blocked back to him and time stands still as he rolls it back to Fraser, who with a swing of his Size 6 boot (that’s a guess) knocks it past Bart… GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL... 94 minutes, Wee Man Fraser again, get the fuck in!!!

We’ve only gone and fucking done it again. 94th minute and we nick a winner in a game that we’ve completely and utterly dominated more or less from start to finish but the lack of goal threat meant that for all the world look like a frustrating 0-0 where the opposition come away with a point, wondering how the fuck they did it because they’ve barely touched the ball. The last minute winner certainly puts a different slant on things and totally changes the narrative about this performance.

Apart from set pieces, Millwall didn’t look remotely threatening at any point, the header off the bar in the first half from a corner being the only time we looked at all troubled but conversely, in the first half in particular, how many saves did Bart have to make in the Millwall goal that weren’t straight at him and weren’t firmly in the category of ‘optimistic’ efforts from us.  The first time he was truly extended was by Sulemana on 70 minutes and again, I repeat what has become a theme in recent weeks, that a good striker transforms this team from a very good one, to an excellent one.

Kamaldeen About to try Something Ridiculous

Adam Armstrong had another one of those mystifying games were basically, he is frustrating and barely involved and probably should be substituted but isn’t… but then assists with the goal.  Fair play to him as that was a great bit of composure at the end to tee-up the Wee Man.  I reckon it went through his mind that he might be offside when the ball bounced back to him but with the ball coming back off a Millwall player, he was of course fine to play it.

Similarly in terms of overall performance, Ryan Fraser came on and was nowhere near as good as the player he replaced, Sulemana, but popped up to score the winner. This is why fans like me are not managers.  Fraser's interview afterwards was comedy gold, accusing Millwall fans of making "Dwarf noises".   Even in these politically correct times, I can't imagine that will be particularly high on the list of Millwall fan misdemeanours.   At Five foot not much - I'm sure the Wee Man must have heard it all before. 

The second half was more or less perfect from us with a lot more goal threat. Charly Alcaraz was absolutely back to his best in what was easily his best 45 minutes of the season, driving us forward at every opportunity and looking uninhibited and direct, exactly like last season.  He also stayed on the pitch for all 95 minutes which is a bit of a first and should give him confidence.  Similarly, Sulemana is looking more and more like he might have 90 minutes in him as well.  He pulled out some ridiculous stuff today and I almost felt sorry for their right back, who did in fairness, stuck to his job well.  Going for a nutmeg in your own penalty area is something I could do without however.  Flynn Downes was absolutely everywhere and it kind of summed up a bit of the malaise around Millwall that the fact that there was a West Ham player in their midst, barely seemed to register.

It was another good day for Russell Martin with more vindication of his style of play, with us being in control, wearing down the opposition and eventually winning the game late on.  Tactically he was spot on as well with the shift at half time to push KWP right up the wing and having Bree drop in almost into a back three at times.

Elsewhere, the only black mark was Jan Bednarek picking up his fifth booking of the season which means he will miss a game, which will give either Mason Holgate or maybe even Jack Stephens a chance to play next week against West Brom.  James Bree, who was again very good took a whack to the ankle so hopefully he can recover so we are not changing two positions in the defence.

We don’t move up the table at all today with Leeds having won at Leicester on Friday but we do open up a bit of a bigger gap to those chasing and besides, as we all know, the league table means jack shit at this time of the season. It’s all about momentum and confidence and we have loads of both of that at the moment. We just have to keep it going.

As I’ve just said, West Bromwich Albion at home on Saturday. Let’s fucking do it and….

Up the fucking seven games unbeaten Saints.

Capital One Cup - Millwall 0 Southampton 2

"I aimed at Row Z as usual...."

One of the main moans about last season was the performances in the cups and the teams selected.  In both cups we ended up playing Sunderland away and playing half a team and getting beaten without much of a fight as Pochettino prioritised an 8^th placed finish.  Todays’ team selection would tell us a lot about how Ronald Koeman and and maybe the new board, think of things regarding cup competitions.  As it turns out, we only made 3 changes from the weekend whereas Millwall (managed by our old mate Ian Holloway) made 8.  Out to Bertrand, Morgan and Tadic and in come Matty Targett, Lloyd Isgrove and Shane Long.  I was a bit surprised not to see Gardos in the starting XI but I’m sure his time will come.  He’s on the bench along with Gaston Ramirez who once again is on his way beck from injury.

As we recover from our summer of players with questionable characters, for the sake of balance it’s worth noting that the Millwall side includes one of those shown the door as we moved up the leagues and I think it’s safe to say that Richard Chaplow would not have walked out of the club unless he was pushed.

The start of the game is reasonable and we are getting down the wings and Targett and Clyne are fizzing crosses over and Big Vic is passing behind our own players so normal service.  It then all goes to pot and turns into a midfield scuffling match which is going nowhere and it horrible to watch with neither team creating anything. On the half hour Isgrove goes down injured and has to go off to be replaced by Tadic so we’ve actually got stronger with a  substitution which in round 2 of the League Cup is more or less unheard of.

We have a half chance from a corner as Tadic’ delivery is flicked miles wide.  From the resulting goal kick we defend like 8 year olds and everyone leaves it and Gueye is 1 on 1 with Fraser but with glory in his eyes he slices wide in horribly shite fashion.  The rest of the first half is pitiful as well and Saints first team fails to show anything to trouble Millwall reserves.  I expect that a few Dutch swear words will be flying about at half time.

The shockingly bad first half has prompted a chance as Corky is on for Big Vic who can rest his neck muscles in preparation for watching West Ham hoof the ball over his head on Saturday.  There’s no immediate improvement though and Easter picks it up and runs at the defence and gets to the edge of the box before driving a shot across the goal and about two feet wide of the far post.

Suddenly, it’s a brilliant game as Saints remember that they are the Premier League side and they can play decent football as we carve our way up the right hand side. Eventually Clyne gets his head up and pulls the cross back to Tadic who hits it and Forde tips it over the bar.  Shane Long, his international team mate indicates that it was one for the cameras which is a bit harsh.

Millwall are contributing to a new spell of pressure for Saints by trying to play out of defence but Tadic nicks the ball off them about 30 yards out and tees up Pelle who turns his marker and thumps in a shot but it’s high and central and again and Forde tips it over the bar.  What happens next is a bit of Saints history and I’m sure that someone (not me) has put a quid on Jack Cork to score the first goal in every Saints game for the past 3 years…. Well today’s the day and Tadic swings over a left footed corner and Corky, totally unmarked, powers a header into the net.  Get in.  I’m actually listening to this game with Dave Merrington expert analysis which I haven’t done for a few years.  He describes Corky’s header as ‘a good connect’.  What the fuck is that about?

I have to say that im liking the way Millwall are playing with John Marquis up front playing well and Easter in midfield is decent.  Chappers is having a bit of a mare in his first game for 5 months and he lashes one miles over the bar in tired fashion when there were many better options, just before he gets substituted.

Another build up down the right from Saints, this time involving a bit of skill by Long by which he aims to cross it with his right foot but instead shoves it to Clyne with his standing foot.  England’s best right back produces and superb cross on the run and Pelle gets up well and heads back across the goal and it clips the post and wide with Forde nowhere.  The big Italian is now looking slightly pissed off with his failure to score as well as smouldering and swarthy for all the ladies.

Coky is having a great game in midfield and switches the play ance more to England’s number 2 who once more gets his head up and picks out JWP on the edge of the box who clips a right footed effort wide of the far post.  This is but a break from the Saga of Graziano.  This time Tadic picks him out in the box but the ball won’t come down for him to hit.  When it does he’s facing the wrong way and so improvises and back heels it but it squirts wide.

Having read a load of shite criticism of him after the Baggies game, it’s great to hear the away fans chanting his name.  Magnificent stuff and the fans are at it again as we build up down the left with Tadic again teeing up Pelle but this time he sidefoots just high and wide.  The mortified look on his face is getting more pronounced with every miss but the ‘Graziano’ chants are getting louder and louder.

Millwall, lest we forget are still in the game and Williams has a long range blast which is on target but Fraser casually punches it away from danger but this is just a break from Saints pressure and this time it’s Dusan Tadic who creates a yard for himself by shaping to shoot twice before eventually curling one at the far post and missing by not much.

91, 92 and it looks for all the world like 1-0 will be enough but a final break and Davis puts Pelle through on goal, a good connect…. 2-0 and the big man is very happy.  I am waiting for the offside flag to go up but it doesn’t and so Graziano has his goal and everyone is happy, except Ian Holloway who is a helmet and he always will be.

The second half performance was pretty good and we really should have wrapped it up long before Graziano’s goal but having capitulated horribly in cup competition last season, I’m not going to moan about a 2-0 win.  It’s a very important goal for the confidence of the big man and how nice too see Corky come on and make a massive deference.  He’s being challenged to make a case for his selection and for a new contract and he got given a chance and took it.  Fair play to him and he’ll be keeping JWP, Steve Davis and Big Vic on their toes.

As far as our league compaign is concerned, it’s important to remember that Millwall rested a few players so we can hardly be said to be the finished article as yet but we played well in the second half and looked decent.  However, as Ronald reminded everyone afterwards, we were desperately poor in the first half and this shouldn’t be forgotten and it certainly won’t be by him.  The fact that he picked such a strong team for this fixture augurs well for our cup campaigns this season and the draw for the next round has thrown us a really interesting one…. Arsenal away.   Wenger will no doubt field a team of reserves and will no doubt be hoping we do the same so he can work himself up into a frenzy afterwards.  I hate the fucking Child Catcher and the good news is that we’ll play a strong side and have a great chance of winning.

Next up we have a trip to Upton Park and West Ham.  They’ve started the season well but we have to be going there looking for a win.  Carroll and Nolan are both out injured and Fat Sam is their manager.  They’re still going to hoof the ball so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Florin Gardos come in for that one.  Hopefully Graziano can go on a run now and with the backing of the away fans, he will at least be encouraged.  Maybe 2 goals in 3 games will help the more unintelligent of our home fans to give him a chance as well.

PS – Roy Hodgson has successfully managed to kill off my interest in the England football team.  Not even Graham Taylor, Steve McLaren or Sven Goran Erikssen (or Adrian Chiles) managed that but Hodgson has.  Firstly, he’s taken a player who hasn’t had a meaningful good game for England in 10 years and made him captain.  Wayne Fucking Rooney… I ask you.  Yet more reward for a player who does not warrant it, yet more cementing of his undroppable status which he doesn’t deserve. 

Then there’s the issue of Calum Chambers getting called up as a right back.  He’s played 3 games for Arsenal at centre back and suddenly he’s better than he was before the World Cup?  Apparently Arsene has said he’s ready.  Does Hodgson only pick players when a club manager says it’s ok?  Senile old goat.  Meanwhile, Nathaniel Clyne doesn’t get picked but that’s a double edged sword.  He of course should be England’s first choice right back and should have been for the World Cup but if he was then no doubt Brendon fucking Rodgers would have started a whispering campaign in the press to get him to Liverpool. 

The rest of the squad is littered with examples that make you question Hodgson’s suitability and competence.  Fabian Delph and Jack Colback in the squad despite being as bang average as you could be?  Phil Jones still in the squad despite being shite this season and last? James Milner still in the squad despite not playing this season and not being able to kick a ball in a straight line? Andros Townsend recalled as he was in good form a year ago? Danny Welbeck still in the squad despite not playing for United except in a 4-0 defeat to MK Dons?  Rickie Lambert still in the squad despite hardly playing for Liverpool and only 4 minutes game time in the World Cup?  Hodgson has lost the plot – if he ever had it.  Well done Greg Dyke – give him another vote of confidence.

So – who could he have picked instead… I’ll have a look and let you know.

PPS – I’ll still watch the game…

NPC Match 37 - Millwall 2 Southampton 3

Not a Penalty is it Moose?.... You Twat!!

Having been a Saints supporter for many years, I have developed a certain understanding of which games to be especially wary of.  It’s not the relegation 6 pointers or the games against the better sides that are the issue but the ones you ‘should’ win, you know the ones where you’re higher in the league and in good form and the opposition is not on the best of runs and are struggling.  With Saints, there is no such thing as a sure thing aside from that we will bollocks it up when we shouldn’t.  So, here we are at a game that on paper, we should win.  Against that is the fact that no one wins shit on paper and that Millwall knocked us out of the FA Cup and despite us rotating the squad a bit for that game, Millwall looked a decent side and showed that they could play. 

It has been a relatively quiet week for Saints with us basking in the glow of Sir Rickie being the best player in the Championship.  Reading played in midweek and were held to a draw at Doncaster which burned their game in hand and left them two points and a worse goal difference behind us.

Word had leaked out of the camp that both Tadanari Lee and David Connolly were struggling and so it was proved with Nigel’s team selection which saw Chappers come in on the right hand side with Guly going up front.  Billy Sharp again had to settle for a place on the bench where he was joined by Corky, Steeeeeeve and Aaron Martin.  Dan Harding took the spare place left by Connolly dropping out, which in my opinion would have been better filled by Bart.  On the subject of keepers, Millwall have Maik Taylor in goal who was a very good keeper for Saints for a year back in 1956.  He’s 74 now  but still getting a game and fair play to him.  The other major Millwall team news is that Liam Trotter is missing who was easily their best player in both games at SMS this season.  They do however have Andy Keogh up front who I believe is on loan from Wolves to partner Darius Henderson who is on loan from the World Wrestling Federation.

I know I’m in for a shocker in trying to keep in touch with his game as I’ve got a dog to walk, a choir practice to take one of my kids to and a trip to Wickham to go and collect some shit table and chairs that my wife has bought on ebay.  I would rather be at Millwall in a West Ham shirt…  I start the game, walking the dog with Dave Merrington.

Saints start well and are in control of things, passing it around, having good control of the football (Adkins Classic Quotes Number 432) but it takes 15 minutes to fashion the first chance as Sir Rickie works a 1-2 with Lallana before letting fly from 25 yards a seeing it smash onto the bar and back to where the grateful Taylor could grab it.  It was later shown that the 86 year old got a touch with his arthritic fingers so it was in fact, a superb save.

The goal appears to be coming though and it duly arrives in the 20^th minute as Foxy chips a pass down to wing to where Morgan has broken free.  He calmly slides it across the box to the awaiting Sir Rickie who momentarily scares the shit out of everyone by firing into the open goal via the underside of the bar.  I’m walking the dog listening to the radio while all this is going on and I then have to listen to Adam Blackmore basically saying that it was game over and “Saints never lose when in front” and “Millwall never come back” and all that.  Now I know that the ramblings of one plonker doesn’t have an effect on what goes on on the park so it’s not his fault that within five minutes we are 2-1 down.  It’s not his fault but he does look like a complete tool.

The tale of what happened starts with us still knocking it around nicely and Millwall being unable to  get anything going but they only need to do so the once and they score.  A decent ball gets played by Wright in between Big Jos and Foxy which sends Keogh away down the wing.  In an echo of the goal we conceded at home to Ipswich, he cuts in past Jos, Foxy slips and then he hits it at the near post.  It’s harsh to point a finger at Superkelv but it evades his dive, hits the post and pings across the goal onto the shins of Jose and ends up in the net.

Our organisation then goes to shit at a corner when Jose and Jos go for the same ball and it eventually falls to the unmarked Robinson who takes a touch and lashes it into the top of the net from the edge of the box.  Great strike but distinctly preventable.  So, 2-1 down and we are attempting to put the game out of sight with our shambolic marking at corners and Robinson gets on the end of the next flag kick to force Superkelv into a smart save at the post.  Get a grip!!!!

We manage only one decent effort for the remainder of the first half as Guly cuts in off the left wing and fires in a low effort to the back post but Taylor has enough time to park his Zimmer frame and push it away, milking the applause from the crowd and popping his artificial hip back in.  Not bad for a 92 year old.  Half time, 2-1 down and things not looking particularly good.

Steeeeeve is on for Chappers at half time – tactical or injury... who knows but he’s straight into the action and nearly scores after he’s picked out by a Sir Rickie nod down following a superb pass by Morgan.  The left footed volley is past Taylor who has dropped his dentures but headed off the line by Robinson who really shouldn’t have been there but Millwall must be glad that he was.

Dave Merrington is old school as we know and he obviously would rather all the players were called traditional names like Smith or Clark or anything English that he can recognize.  So, I have a few emotions when Hameur Bouazza (pronounced Ham-ur Boo-at-zah) goes thorough on the left and Superkelv makes a decent save with his feet.  Firstly I’m crapping it because it’s a clear chance, secondly I’m relieved because it’s not ended up in our net and thirdly I’m laughing as Dave sums up the action by referring to the Millwall player as “Hammer Boozer”.

Saints went to three up front in an effort to step things up with Billy Sharp coming on for Deano.  When you consider that two of the midfield three were now Adam Lallana and Steeeeeve, you appreciate how attacking this is.  We began to look threatening again with Sharp immediately looking lively.

Time is running out and psychology is beginning to play a part.  Saints have nothing to lose and without a home win in ages, Millwall’s collective sphincter is doubtless tightening up.  Sir Rickie feeds the ball out to Sharp who you expect to shoot but he plays it square back into the middle where Sir Rickie goes down.  Penalty.  You can’t tell what’s happened at first but the replays clearly prove that Robinson was lying on the ground, Sir Rickie tried to hurdle him to get to the ball and Robinson lifts his leg and trips him.  Guess what happened next... bang , 2-2, top right.  Sir Rickie runs to get the ball which tells everyone that we still want to win this... come on !!!!

And so it came to pass that we won a corner, Foxy swung it in, Big Jos went up with Dunne who flapped the ball away with his hand.  About 5 Saints players appeal for the handball and the ref gives it.  There is an element of confusion as the Millwall players protest because Jos had his arm up as well but the ref had got it spot on.  Sir Rickie versus Taylor Part 2..... bang, bottom right, same result, 3-2 to Saints.

There are 3 minutes to go and I’m back listening to the Plonker Show on Solent and it sounds like the Alamo in our penalty area.  Crosses come in, Sir Rickie is playing as an auxiliary centre back, more crosses come in, Guly heads them away (what!!!).  We manage to work the ball down the pitch and Corky smashes it as far as he can as the referee blows the whistle.  Seat of the pants stuff but we’ve won again.

The Millwall fans, being the benevolent sort, think that we’ll need a bit of cash if we go up to the Premier League and start a collection for us by throwing coins at our backroom staff, one of whom has to have a couple of stitches in a head wound.  I know it’s only a minority but they let down the club again and again and ensure that Millwall as a club will never lose the reputation they have been trying to lose for the past 20 odd years.  Kenny Jackett is not a happy man afterwards but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as he’s not seen the replays as yet.  He seemed to be implying that we were fortunate to get the penalties in an away game.  Must have been a good referee then as he ignored the threat of getting coins thrown at his head and gave the correct decision both times.

Nigel was a picture of smug in his interview, empathising that both spot kicks were fair and that the manner of the victory is unimportant, it’s just getting the win and the three points.  He’s right of course with two teams breathing down our necks.  So what of our promotion rivals – well Reading completed a comfortable win at Barnsley by 4-0 and The Fat Sam Total Football Academy grabbed a decent point at Leeds having been 1-0 down with a minute to go.  So, West Ham are in 3^rd place and 5 points below us with a game in hand, nice.

One of the more irritating things with taking notice of West Ham is that total bell end, The Moose who is on talkSHITE.  He’s just wrong – every time he opens his mouth about Saints he just talks complete shit.  The last time was the Matt Taylor – Billy Sharp incident and he was all “shoved him in the chest, fellow pro, never a red card” until the pictures clearly showed him shoving him in the face.  This time he’s moaning about referees wanting us to go up by giving us loads of penalties.  Hmmmm, look at the two we got given today and then look at the two they got given at home to Forest recently.   His penalty related rant has though, seen a number of articles spring up on the internet about the number we have been given this year which is annoying.  The fact that we’ve been given 9 or 19 or 99 is not the issue - It’s only an issue of the decisions are wrong.  Today they weren’t but that won’t stop idiots like The Moose.

Next up is a very difficult looking game at Hull on Tuesday night.  We’ll be up for it though and if I had to guess, I reckon both Billy Sharp and Jack Cork will be in with a shout of playing.  As long as Sir Rickie’s playing to take the four or five penalties we’ll get given then who cares.

9 games left, 25 points needed

Final whistle, Millwall, Saturday

FA Cup 4th Round Replay - Southampton 2 Millwall 3

The wheels on the bus go......

FA Cup reply time and a chance to play in the glorious weather that we get down South after playing in the frozen wastelands of Birmingham a couple of days ago. There must be about 6000 of our fans who’ve not made it back yet from St.Andrews judging by the sparsely populated ground I find myself in. Either that or it’s an indicator that £18 for an adult ticket is too much – how many would be here if the price was a tenner or even less? Oh yeah, I was joking about the glorious weather of the Beautiful South – it’s absolutely Baltic here.

Nigel has mixed and matched the side but it looks strong – Bart is in goal with the regular back 4 aside from Harding who was in for Foxy who was serving his ban for tackling people fairly. Steeeeve and Adam on the wings with Deano and the returning Chappers in the centre. Sir Rickie was on the bench though so up front we had Guly and Tadanari Lee.

Saints start quite well with de Ridder running directly at the defence before eventually shooting well over. There is appreciation in the ground for the fact that we have at least had a shot. As the game settles down there is a worrying pattern emerging in that we are not getting anywhere near them in midfield and Millwall are just popping the ball about without a care in the world. The play gets closer and close to our goal without us making a challenge or even putting pressure on before it gets laid back to Trotter who sidefoots a lovely finish past Bart from the edge of the box. From a Millwall point of view it’s a great goal – lots of passes and then a good finish. From our point of view it’s a shocker.

With it being a Cup tie and all that, of course I have different people around me n the Kingsland even though I have exactly the same seat. A bloke arrives and plonks himself next to me as the clock ticks over to 20 minutes. “Have I missed much?”, he says. In my head I’m saying “Look at the big fucking scoreboard thing” but I settle for “not from us mate” as Millwall break clean through on our right and the winger should score but he scuffs his shot across Bart and wide of the opposite post.

On the half hour it’s becomes apparent that we’ve changed our shape with Guly playing in the hole and de Ridder and Lee playing up front. Lee is being supplied with a barrage of hoofed rubbish which is difficult to control when it’s two metres over his head. The full backs are now charged with providing width but Frazer’s having a mare and basically just booming the ball randomly forward and Harding is just going sideways to the centre backs.

Out of nowhere, Lallana picks up a Richardson pass with a brilliant bit of control and twists himself free in the penalty area before firing in a shot which deflects past Forde at his near post. We haven’t really deserved it but we’ll take it and suddenly, the confidence is back. Firstly, de Ridder gets to the bye line and cuts the ball back just behind the Man from Japan. Steeeve is at it again straight afterwards as he flights a superb cross onto the head of Guly who thumps it towards the top corner only for Forde to take off and pull off a great save in tipping it away....bastard.

The last significant action of the half is Guly trying his hand at defending and proving that he can’t do it as he trashes a forward on the edge of our box and gets booked. The free kick is wasted, it’s still incredibly fucking cold and it’s half time.

I don’t usually bother leaving my seat at half time but I do today for a couple of reasons. One is because I’m a man and the cold weather means that 90 minutes without a pee is impossible. The other is that I fancy a Bovril but there are just two of the kiosks open for the whole of the Kingsland. The queue tells me that it isn’t going to happen this side of the second half so I give up. It’s a ridiculous underestimation of how many kiosks needed to be opened.

I assume Nigel’s teamtalk at halftime featured raised voices and this as proven after 5 minutes. He must have shouted that “The little Japanese Guy needs the ball passed on the ground” and the ref must have heard through the walls as he intercepted a Millwall pass and set Lee on his way to inside the penalty area before he shot just wide. I bet the ref was delighted that he missed or else he was getting an assist.

Lee is at the centre of most things just now and gets chopped over on the left hand edge of the box. Whilst the big men waited in the middle for a chip, Adam catches everybody out including Forde by smashing the free kick straight against the bar and away. Whilst Saints are now the better side, Millwall look very dangerous every time they come forward and Bart has to get down well to tip Henry’s low drive round the post. Bart then starts and finishes a move by taking a shite goal kick with ends up back with Millwall who work an opportunity for Trotter to fire goalwards on the volley and Bart makes a superb save to his left.

Guly is being a clumsy bastard and having already been booked it was unwise to clatter a Millwall player and it was even more unwise to clatter another one in a clumsy long-legged-can’t-tackle-for-shit kind of way. The order came from the bench for him not to go anywhere near the ball while a sub got warmed up and the next time it went out of play, Sir Rickie was on which left us looking a bit odd on the formation front as he went in the hole behind Lee and Steeeeeve.

Sir Rickie's intorduction sees us create more chances though as Lee can;t quite get hit foot round an opportunity that falls to him courtesy of a lucky bounce.  Just after, the man himself fires just over having been set up by Lee and then Lallana forcing Forde into a sprawling save from distance.  The 'fucking hit it' message from the weekend has clearly got through.  Just to prove that they haven't settled for a draw, Kane brings another fine save out of the Bartman, this time getting a strong right hand to deflect it wide.

I was already of the opinion that the linesman on the Kingsland side was useless when he went and proved it by not flagging when the Millwall left back aimed a retaliatory kick at Chappers after Bald Psycho had steamed into a tackle. The ref was blindside so can be forgiven for missing it but the lino was directly in between me and Chappers so he must have seen it. If not then we have a problem but not as much as the bloke next to me who comes back from getting his half-time burger. I make it that so far, he’s missed 60% of the match, a bit like Jack Cork on Saturday.

Chappers has lasted an hour and been replaced by Ben Reeves who immediately makes me realise how far off the pace Chappers was as he sets about making a huge difference with his energy and passing range. The whole team seems lifted and de Ridder sparks to life again and sets up Lee who fires just over this time.

It now looks like it’s coming soon and Sir Rickie picks up the ball 20 yards out before advancing and smashing in a low drive which possibly took another deflection as it sped past the keeper to put us 2-1 in front.

Following the goal, Steve de Ridder appears to be struggling with his ever-present tight hamstring and sits on his bum giving the universally understood “I’ve had enough, take me off” hand signal. As we were in front and all that, I expected a midfielder to come on but instead of James Ward-Prowse, we surprisingly got Lee Barnard who went up front with Sir Rickie and Lee.

It’s turning into a great cup tie as Millwall flood forward but we have no defensive shape at all with the wings being completely open. When we get the ball in defence we fanny around with it and following some fannying by Fonte, the ball is worked out to our left where Aaron Martin completely over commits and gets done and just like the Leicester game when the same thing happened, the cross is right on the money and Dany N’Guessan rises to plant home the header, no chance for Bart, 2-2.

The prospect of sitting here freezing for another half hour of action is at the forefront of everyone’s mind but hang on, we’re in front again as Reeves drives forward, feeds Barney on the 1-2 and slots it in. Offside according to the useless lino who was making his first actual decision of the 85 minutes gone so far? What? Originally I wrote somethign along the lines of 'how the fuck is that offside' but having reviewed the TV replays, it's actually Barnard who is offside when Reeves plays him the ball. Reeves is onside throughout so the previously useless lino has got that one right.... well, that's how it looks to me anyway.

Neither side wants extra time and everyone is trying to get on with it but the ref is having none of it and makes us go back as Bart has taken a goal kick with a rolling ball. Oh the irony in the 92nd minute when Jose gets penalised for winning the ball fairly and Millwall take a rolling ball free kick before the centre back has chance to get back. That said, there is still a lot to do but Feeney cuts inside Richardson into the Fonte sized gap in the defence and smashes a superb shot into the far side of the net, once more giving Bart no chance at all. A minute later it was all over.

Gutted to be honest. Unlike the Birmingham game which was on Sky, this one which wasn’t was a great game for the neutral. Loads of chances, saves, mistakes and all that good stuff which makes you love the game. Ultimately though I don’t care because we lost and we really shouldn’t have. I was happy to sit through another half an hour plus penalties if needed but the referee obviously wasn’t (here I go again!!!). Letting them take a quick free kick off a moving ball having just stopped our keeper doing the same is the sort of inconsistency that drives everyone mad. Having said that however, Feeney had a lot to do and smashed in an unstoppable shot from miles out so fair play to him. It’s not he ref’s fault we lost though – we were shite with no urgency and no real pattern of play.

Nigel was as angry as I’ve ever heard him after the game, going to town on the defending in particular. There were poor mistakes by individual members of the back 4 but the defending as a team was non-existent today. We were playing the diamond midfield though which when you don’t have the ball, really encourages teams to fly down the unprotected wings and where did the last two goal come from – down the wings. In my opinion we should have gone 4-4-2 with Barnard dropping to the right wing, once we went 2-1 up.

Positives – well Chappers got an hour of football, Ben Reeves was excellent when he came on, Tadanari Lee looked dangerous when we actually got the ball to his feet and Steve de Ridder was direct and a handful when he got moving and all the chances we created in the first half came through him – it’s a worry that he seems to always pull up if he plays longer than an hour though. Overall though, I thought Bart was our man of the match, making a string of decent saves and looking comfortable under all the crosses etc. He had no chance at all with any of the goals. His kicking is incredibly hit of miss though which drives me nuts – what do you practice all week?

In the league tonight, we were (kind of) all Skate fans but they lost to an 86th minute goal at Birmingham, meaning the Brummies are now breathing right down our necks. We have Burnley at home on Saturday and we have to win - it’s as simple as that. Today (Wednesday) I’ve heard that Harry Redknapp has been found not guilty of tax evasion. I have just instructed by work to pay my salary into my Monaco account, Comebackyoubastard68.