Oh Look I Did Bring My Red Card with me After All.
West Brom at home and a visit from Tony
Pulis. We’ll struggle like hell today as
they’ll come for a 0-0 and challenge us to break them down which we will
struggle with. That much is
certain. The manner of the Spurs defeat
has knocked the optimism out of me for this one and one can only hope that we
get a reaction from the players and the manager. Ah yes the manager. I know he’s only the messenger boy when it
comes to transfers but it wasn’t a surprise when he said that we weren’t
looking to bring anyone in, in the transfer window. The next question should have been ‘well are
you happy with that Claude?’ but of course it wasn’t asked.
West Brom have been quite good this season,
inhabiting the upper middle table section that we are in ourselves. Pulis brings with him a guarantee of survival
but also a guarantee of piss boring football.
Last year we scored early and that paved the way to a comfortable win
but in previous years I remember Ben Foster timewasting from about the 3rd
minute onwards which made for a less than entertaining afternoon. They’re full of workmanlike, tough players so
we have to be up for the physical battle today against the like of Fletcher,
Yacob, McAuley, Evans and Dawson. They
have that massive bell end James McClean as well.
Claude has unsurprisingly rotated things and we
have the ‘reserve’ defence with Maya, Sam McQueen and Cuco the Clown in place
of two Portuguese European Champions and an England international. Elsewhere, Hojbjerg is in for JWP, Tadic
comes back for the suspended Redmond and Shane Long gets a run ahead of
J-Rod. West Brom have their first choice
team on the pitch with the exception of Salamon Rondon who is given a rest with
Hal Robson-Kanu starting.
Away we go and the game soon settles into a
pattern of possession for us and 10 behidn the ball for them. We’re not really making any inroads and they’re
taking as long as they can whenever they can to slow the game down. One free kick in their half takes about a
minute to take etc. It takes 20 minutes
for anything worthwhile to happen as Boufal tries to take on two on the left,
loses it, wins it back and then slides a great ball right across the box on the
ground and we have just one player in the box and that’s Shane and he can’t get
there. Then the same thing happens again
and Boufal terrorises the right side of their defence before finding Tadic who
beats Dawson, crosses and there is no one in the box in a red and white shirt
again. No gamble, no desire to score a
goal. Boufal and Tadic were out on the
wing creating the chance and no midfielder got anywhere near the penalty area.
We are having some joy down the right which
usually comes to nothing when Martina is reluctant to run into the big open
space in front of him. Sideways,
backwards. He gets ahead of the ball
once and Nyom trashes through the back of him.
Tadic’ free kick is shite but gets cleared as far as McQueen on his left
foot but his decent effort is a yard or so wide. Virgil is trying to make stuff happen by
coming forward from defence but he gets a shite return pass from Boufal and
ends up having to race back and haul Robson-Kanu over. Yellow card.
Nyom brainlessly trashed Martina again
(brainless because there’s no point) and gets booked and from the free kick we
win a corner. Tadic whips it in and
Shane Long rises at the near post and glances a header into the top corner in
Harry Kane three days ago style. It’s a
fecking miracle – Shane Long has scored for Saints for the first time since fuck
knows when. Whilst we’re all still
feeling good about things, West Brom kick off, a ball is played in to
Robson-Kanu and he touches it past Yoshida to Phillips who is onside and he
just rolls it past Fraser for 1-1 and fuck off!
Great concentration lads – fucking useless and unbelievably bad to led
as limited a side as the Baggies play through us from the kick off. Embarrassing.
It’s actually a really good goal but yet again, one attack, one shot,
one goal.
At least there’s some attacking going on now
and a crossintot he box is cleared wide and Shane Long races after it only for
Nyom to crash through the back of him.
That simply has to be a second yellow but Mike Jones completely bottles
it. If he hadn’t been booked earlier
then that’s a yellow every time.
Pathetic gutless refereeing. We
nearly score from the free kick as it falls to Hojbjerg who’s effort from a
narrow nagle is blocked by Foster at his near post. Half time and bloody hell.
Oh what a shock as Nyom doesn’t emerge for the
second half which is what should have happened – expect they’ve brought another
player on for him with Wanker McClean coming on. It’s all pretty unjust and irritating as the
second half starts in predictable turgid fashion but within five minutes,
Phillipps plays a ball to Robson-Kanu in between the static Yoshida and intot
he space where Martina should have been and he absolutely belts it with his
left foot into the near top corner. Fuck
me! Fraser will be disappointed having
got a hand to it but that’s a hell of a strike from a player who in my wisdom,
I’d written off as a flash in the pan after his Welsh heroics in Euro 2016.
There are 40 minutes to go and I can save you
the bother of reliving them.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
We did fuck all and didn’t manage a single shot
on target.
You can skip the next couple of paragraphs if
you like.
Anyway, Boufal was still trying to make things
happened and cut in from the left before curling just wide of the far post. J-Rod was on for Hojbjerg who threw a water
bottle kicking tantrum as he went off and we switched to 4-4-2 but still with
no strikers. Robson-Kanu took a swing at
the back of McQueen’s head and connected, Mike Jones saw it and booked him for
more embarrassing refereeing. Fraser
pulled off a decent save to stop a Morrison header and Sims and JWP came on for
Tadic who was actually doing ok and Martina who was not. We had a chance of sorts as Romeu charged
down a Foster clearance which flew out for a goal kick and another 2 minutes
timewasting and our final opportunity was from more Boufal brilliance which
presented J-Rod with an opportunity to hit it first time but of course, he didn’t
hit it as that would have meant actually touching the fucking ball and the
chance disappeared.
West Brom have a couple of breaks and from the
first of these, Virgil tangles with Rondon and Mike Jones miraculously remembers
where his red card is and off he goes.
There’s a comedy moment as West Brom orchestrate a 4 on 1 break and
Phillips and Rondon totally fuck it up between them. Tony Pulis won’t care a bit. The End.
Wank.
This one ranks right up there with Hull City
away as a fucking ridiculous defeat. We lost to an incredibly limited but
hard-working West Brom side and we demonstrated our usual lack of ability to
respond to any kind of setback. We let in a goal against Spurs a few days ago
and the whole game went to shit. As soon as West Brom equalised we were fucked
again. After West Brom went in front we had about 40 minutes in which we
mustered exactly zero shots on target and let that time wasting bastard Foster
have the easiest 2nd Half of his career. We were shocking in terms
of individual player performance, tactics and basically showed a complete lack
of desire to score a goal. No one shoots, no one makes a fucking forward run
into the box and our two strikers I'm sorry to say, are just not up to it. The odd good game or the odd good moment but
when you are trying to be a top half Premier League side – not good enough.
The referee played a part of course in failing to give Nyom a second yellow just before half time. Had that happened and West Brom had to play the second half with 10 then I'm sure we would still have had a piss boring second half with no shots on target but at least we’d have probably got a draw. How ironic that Virgil got sent off for a second booking late in the game. He had to go by the way – the ref got that one right.
Then there was the time wasting which started on about 15 minutes but no nothing was done about it as usual and it became an epidemic after they went 2-1 up. In the event they could have wasted even more time as even if we’d played until new year 2017 chimed in, we still wouldn't have even had a fucking shot on target.
Managers live or die based on their decisions and the results as a consequence. Rotation of players is always going to seem like a good idea if you get away with it and it's going to seem like a very bad idea when you fuck it up like we have today. We have in effect prioritised the Everton away game over West Brom at home and whilst I would like to get a result against Koeman, this game was an easier one to win and we didn't prioritise it. The three players brought into the defence to replace the first choices were all absolutely shit today with neither full back offering anything going forward and us being a complete shambles defensively. McQueen really struggled underneath any long ball that was played towards him and Martina is just a joke player, about as funny as the joke you get in a box of crackers from the bastard Pound Shop. Maya has looked better recently in truth but he was piss poor today, losing physical battles and looking unsure at all times. I know he was an annoying bastard who fouled us a lot but the only person getting stuck into Robson-Kanu was Romeu. In my opinion the other three dragged Virgil down as he was poor as well. When Claude says in his post match interview about having to defend when we’ve just scored – maybe we’d have a better chance with our best defence on the pitch.
One player stood out for us today, head and shoulders above everybody else and that was Steve Davis who put his bad performance against Spurs behind him and had a great game. He did not deserve to be on the losing side that he was due to the inadequacies all around him from other players and from the manager.
Boufal and Tadic are capable of providing goals but there is a basic problem as they only ever have one man in the box to aim at and that one man is one out of J-Rod and Shane. Shane’s goal aside, they were both absolutely fucking useless today. I don't think J-Rod touch the ball more than five times in 40 minutes today. I had hoped that the two goals against Bournemouth would kick start to something in him but it really hasn't. I do feel a bit sorry for them due to the lack of support from the midfield however. We are predictable and limited up front and that isn’t going to change without a major change in mindset from the manager or bringing in a new striker – a goalscorer with a bit of presence… not another winger.
I'm beginning to find myself feeling some of the same things about Claude that I felt about Jan Poortvliet when he was in charge. Like Jan, Claude never has anything interesting whatsoever to say in interviews. It's all the same shit every week, win lose or draw. Can a quiet reserved man who doesn't speak the language terribly well engage with his players? At the moment, it really doesn't look like it. I know we had Pochettino who spoke even less English at the time but he was a more forthright personality and I guess used that force of personality to get his point across. Also he had the gravitas of 20 international caps for Argentina which is the sort of thing that players respect.
The referee played a part of course in failing to give Nyom a second yellow just before half time. Had that happened and West Brom had to play the second half with 10 then I'm sure we would still have had a piss boring second half with no shots on target but at least we’d have probably got a draw. How ironic that Virgil got sent off for a second booking late in the game. He had to go by the way – the ref got that one right.
Then there was the time wasting which started on about 15 minutes but no nothing was done about it as usual and it became an epidemic after they went 2-1 up. In the event they could have wasted even more time as even if we’d played until new year 2017 chimed in, we still wouldn't have even had a fucking shot on target.
Managers live or die based on their decisions and the results as a consequence. Rotation of players is always going to seem like a good idea if you get away with it and it's going to seem like a very bad idea when you fuck it up like we have today. We have in effect prioritised the Everton away game over West Brom at home and whilst I would like to get a result against Koeman, this game was an easier one to win and we didn't prioritise it. The three players brought into the defence to replace the first choices were all absolutely shit today with neither full back offering anything going forward and us being a complete shambles defensively. McQueen really struggled underneath any long ball that was played towards him and Martina is just a joke player, about as funny as the joke you get in a box of crackers from the bastard Pound Shop. Maya has looked better recently in truth but he was piss poor today, losing physical battles and looking unsure at all times. I know he was an annoying bastard who fouled us a lot but the only person getting stuck into Robson-Kanu was Romeu. In my opinion the other three dragged Virgil down as he was poor as well. When Claude says in his post match interview about having to defend when we’ve just scored – maybe we’d have a better chance with our best defence on the pitch.
One player stood out for us today, head and shoulders above everybody else and that was Steve Davis who put his bad performance against Spurs behind him and had a great game. He did not deserve to be on the losing side that he was due to the inadequacies all around him from other players and from the manager.
Boufal and Tadic are capable of providing goals but there is a basic problem as they only ever have one man in the box to aim at and that one man is one out of J-Rod and Shane. Shane’s goal aside, they were both absolutely fucking useless today. I don't think J-Rod touch the ball more than five times in 40 minutes today. I had hoped that the two goals against Bournemouth would kick start to something in him but it really hasn't. I do feel a bit sorry for them due to the lack of support from the midfield however. We are predictable and limited up front and that isn’t going to change without a major change in mindset from the manager or bringing in a new striker – a goalscorer with a bit of presence… not another winger.
I'm beginning to find myself feeling some of the same things about Claude that I felt about Jan Poortvliet when he was in charge. Like Jan, Claude never has anything interesting whatsoever to say in interviews. It's all the same shit every week, win lose or draw. Can a quiet reserved man who doesn't speak the language terribly well engage with his players? At the moment, it really doesn't look like it. I know we had Pochettino who spoke even less English at the time but he was a more forthright personality and I guess used that force of personality to get his point across. Also he had the gravitas of 20 international caps for Argentina which is the sort of thing that players respect.
There have been too many of the games this
season where we have been completely devoid of any creativity or spark
whatsoever. Claude joined us with a reputation of playing this diamond
formation with split strikers and an attacking number 10 and ‘Shuttle’
midfielders who ran forward and back all day and got in the box and we failed
to win the first two home games against poor sides because we were getting used
to it. Somewhere along the way, this way
of playing has been abandoned. I'd like to know why (player power perhaps?) and
also like to know why he was allowed to choose that way of playing in the first
place given that before he joined, Les Reed stated that we wanted all our age
group teams and the first team to play the same way.
A very good point was made by Dave Merrington
on the radio on the way home in that we've had two good seasons under Koeman and
a good one and under Pochettino before that by playing in the main, a pressing
game and we have now lost what made us a good side both in terms of results and
in terms of watchability. It is fucking
boring to watch at the moment and you will get away with that if you are
winning matches. Boring unadventurous football
and losing will soon have any manager under pressure.
I listened to the player interviews on the way home and Shane Long actually said that there wasn't much wrong with the performance and gave it to the usual platitudes about us needing the breaks to go for us and all that utter shit. I really hope that away from the glare of the cameras and away from the radio mic that there is some fucking honesty in the changing room. That really wasn't fucking good enough. Leaving out Cedric, Fonte and Bertrand severely fucking weakens the defence. We need a fucking striker and we need it urgently and in this transfer window. We need to start committing players further up the field and actually making runs into the box in an attempt to actually score some fucking goals instead of playing like we are absolutely shit scared of the opposition. In an away game against one of the big boys then fine but not at home to West fucking Brom.
The board have a decision to make as well. I feel that this season is in serious danger of just petering out into nothing which seems a strange thing to say considering we have a semi-final in a couple of weeks. It is however a semi-final that we are seriously second favourites in. Lose that and then we are left clinging to the FA Cup and on the way game at Norwich when no doubt we will field a heavily rotated side. So, January is going to be key and a side with very low creativity is losing its most creative player to the African Nations cup for that period. What are we going to do about it, Les?
I listened to the player interviews on the way home and Shane Long actually said that there wasn't much wrong with the performance and gave it to the usual platitudes about us needing the breaks to go for us and all that utter shit. I really hope that away from the glare of the cameras and away from the radio mic that there is some fucking honesty in the changing room. That really wasn't fucking good enough. Leaving out Cedric, Fonte and Bertrand severely fucking weakens the defence. We need a fucking striker and we need it urgently and in this transfer window. We need to start committing players further up the field and actually making runs into the box in an attempt to actually score some fucking goals instead of playing like we are absolutely shit scared of the opposition. In an away game against one of the big boys then fine but not at home to West fucking Brom.
The board have a decision to make as well. I feel that this season is in serious danger of just petering out into nothing which seems a strange thing to say considering we have a semi-final in a couple of weeks. It is however a semi-final that we are seriously second favourites in. Lose that and then we are left clinging to the FA Cup and on the way game at Norwich when no doubt we will field a heavily rotated side. So, January is going to be key and a side with very low creativity is losing its most creative player to the African Nations cup for that period. What are we going to do about it, Les?
Oh and by the way, that fucking corruption of ‘My
Way’ that we play before games is a massive cringe. Two home games with it, two defeats. Still, “We’ll never stop, til we reach the
top”. Arse. Play the Sid Vicious version instead.
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