EFL Cup 3rd Round - Southampton 1 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Saints win 6-5 on pens)

 

We. Are. Massive.

With everything being about Ralph Hasenhuttl leaving the club on Monday and the reported incoming Nathan Jones, it’s been somewhat difficult this week to remember that there’s a game going on.

It’s EFL Cup time and our manager for the day will be Ruben Selles who joins other such luminaries as Kelvin Davis, Jason Dodd, Dean Wilkins, Dennis Wise and Dave Bassett as people who have been caretaker managers for us.  The fact that none of them got offered the job in the end tells you they were probably all a bit crap. Ruben has a very winnable game tonight against a Sheffield Wednesday side, whose priority this year will be to get promoted out of League One.  Hopefully they achieve it as that would be one less spot available for the lot down the road.  Darren Moore is the Wednesday boss these days and he’s always struck me as a decent guy, despite having played for the lot down the road in the past.  We last played Sheffield Wednesday at this stage of the competition 10 years ago, which turned out to be fairly easy 2-0 win for us with two goals from Jay Rodriguez.

It will of course be interesting to look for any tactical changes today, to what has gone before. Personally, I don’t think you’ll see more effort from the team because I don’t see that any of them have been phoning it in particularly.  With the potential new manager in the stand though, hopefully those playing tonight will be determined to put their hand up.  Personally, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t put out as strong a side as we can today, seeing as we only have one more game before the World Cup break and we also have only about four players who are going to the World Cup at most.

All eyes will be on the stands because prospective new manager Nathan Jones has been speaking to the club today and it’s hard to imagine that he won’t be in attendance if he is at all likely to take the job. It seemed like a formality on Monday that he would be installed as the new manager but in his interview after managing Luton to a 2-0 defeat at Stoke on Tuesday, suggested that it’s not particularly a done deal, even though we all know how football works and we all know that it probably is. The fact that no other names are being mentioned anywhere as prospective managers, is quite telling.

The first action of the game is a shot by Barry Bannan, who has a reputation for being Sheffield Wednesday‘s best player and he drills in a shot with his left foot which Macca has to save down at the near post before we scramble it away, or to be more accurate, Lyanco smashes it 3 miles straight up in the air.

We go into Shambles Mode as Salisu and then Adam Armstrong gave the ball away and Sheffield Wednesday break through midfield, one pass though in much the same way as Newcastle did last week and there is Josh Windass in on McCarthy and he drills in the near post to make it 1-0 and deservedly so. Fucking hell we are crap.

Our shite forward play means that our best moments come from set pieces usually, won by Edozie going past Patterson at right back getting hacked over.  JWP whips one in from the left hand side and Aribo gets up to flick goalwards but Stockdale takes off to claw really good save out of the top corner.

I repeat - we are crap. No movement at all from the front players with only Edozie looking remotely interested in that part of the pitch. He takes on the cart horse Patterson at right back and gets absolutely flattened in a “Don’t Nutmeg me again you little bastard” kind of way.  Unpeturbed, as half time approaches, Edozie again skips past players in midfield and gets hacked down at the referee plays a good advantage and Mara pushes it out wide to Djenepo. There is a notable lack of anticipation when Djenepo gets the ball because he’s been fucking useless so far but he takes on the fallback, a quick step over and he gets carted over. Penalty.  Mara wants to take it but there’s only one man who is going to and JWP drills it down the middle to send us undeservedly in 1-1 at half-time.

Perraud in on for Salisu at left back after the break which was obviously a premeditated half-time switch and it’s noticeable that Sheffield Wednesday have changed to double up on Edozie to try and save Patterson from getting sent off.  Nothing much happens, nor looks likely to happen so more subs come on with Walcott is on for Aribo, who probably reaches his top speed of the evening jogging off to be substituted and Djenepo is taken off to be replaced by Maitland-Niles.

Watching League 1 sides trying to play the way through the press is always quite amusing and Sheffield Wednesday work it back to Stockdale who then plays an absolute shit of a pass straight to Theo Walcott who manages, with unerring Che-like accuracy to hit the one defender on the line and the ball bounces off the prone Stockdale‘s head back to Walcott and he gets a second go at it and hits the same defender on the line so he’s managed to miss two chances without the goalkeeper actually being in the goal at any point.

More subs with Stuart Armstrong and Elyounoussi on for a Edozie and Mara.  Saints are considerably better now with Stuart Armstrong on the pitch and he plays a 1-2 with JWP which wins a free kick on the right hand side as the skipper is hoiked over.  After a bit of a break for a Wednesday injury, JWP takes it short and no one has noticed Stuart Armstrong on the edge of the box and he clatters in a shot which bounces off the bar, hits Caleta-Car and flies over the bar.

We are actually building up a head of steam as we approach the last five minutes with JWP firing just wide via a deflection. The final chance sees Maitland-Niles put Stuart Armstrong away on the right and he beats two before pulling it back to Walcott who brings a decent save out of Stockdale.  That is the final action of the game and mercifully we don’t have to watch another half an hour and it goes straight to penalties.

JWP – No concerns at all, high into the net 1-0

Smith – Macca gets hand to it, still goes in, 1-1

Elyounoussi – 100% confident for some reason – sends keeper the wrong way easily, 2-1

Bannan – left footed players always look more likely to miss for me…. Bang, Macca wrong way, good pen, 2-2

Diallo – oh this will be one of those horrible stutter jobs…potential miss here…. goal, keeper wrong way, nice. 3-2

Johnson – another left footer.. chance… not the best pen but Macca’s dived the wrong way… bollocks, 3-3

Maitland-Niles – oh fucking hell, not fancying this one at all,…. Stupid fucking stutter, more stutter, he’s gonna fall over…. Goal, keeper wrong way.  Christ it looks shit but it worked, 4-3

Volkes – Big run up here… smashed it, Macca gets a bit of it but no chance, 4-4

Adam Armstrong – Hmmm, only ever seen him miss them…. Keeper wrong way again, nice pen, 5-4

Gregory – Identical the one above, easy, 5-5

Surely it’s Lyanco time…. Oh fuck me it’s Theo.  Didn’t we establish that he’d never scored one in his career when he missed at Chelsea a couple of seasons back?.... bang, high into the net, keeper wrong way again… well well well, probably the best one of the lot, 6-5


Iorfa – big centre back – this is the one…. Bang, Macca goes the right way, hits him, Southampton win 6-5 on penalties against the League 1 Side at home – We. Are. Massive.

Through to the next round we go with a far from convincing performance.  That’s a polite way of saying ‘dogshit’.  I wonder what Nathan Jones impression of that would’ve been from his seat in the Itchen stand.

The first half in particular was absolutely fucking dismal as we were out-played by a League One side and deservedly behind until we got the gift of a penalty right on half-time due to a rush of blood tackle from a defender who clearly didn’t know that if you let Djenepo do all his step overs and shit, there is no need to make a tackle as you just let him tackle himself.

The second half was better with the introduction of a few players from the bench but ultimately we didn’t score and then won the penalty shoot-out with what has to be said, six really good penalties which the Wednesday keeper didn’t get anywhere near.

Wednesday were a thoroughly decent side.  Physically imposing and they could play as well.  We certainly couldn't handle them in the first half and they deserved to take the game as far as they did.  It's still a good night for them despite the defeat as they will leave with a good feeling about themselves and free to concentrate on promotion.  Good luck to what is a huge club.

The watching Nathan Jones will have got a picture of those players who are nowhere near the required level to do a job in the Premier League.  I think at this stage we all know Ibrahima Diallo, Adam Armstrong and Moussa Djenepo are firmly in that category with no hope of getting out of it and Sekou Mara again proved that he is nowhere near the level required at present.  With Armstrong and Mara giving us the cutting edge of a spoon, it goes to show the problems we have at the top end of the pitch because it only leaves Che Adams and he has his well documented “hit the goalkeeper from anywhere“ issues. Theo Walcott actually looked more lively than both Armstrong and Mara but anyone thinking that he is the answer is not really paying much attention.

The new manager is going to have to try and make us silk purse out of a sows ear in the same way that Ralph had to and good luck with that. We have all been focusing on Ralph’s failings over the past few months but him not being there today really left me to concentrate on how poor some of our players are.  I have gone from slightly concerned to very concerned about Joe Aribo. In front of the almost certain new manager today, he really looked like he could barely raise a jog. I know he has a languid style but that only covers up so much.  

A couple of players will have impressed. Alex McCarthy had a decent game in goal though I would argue that he didn’t make Josh Windass‘ finish as difficult as it should’ve been as he seemed to drive one way and leave the near post open.  Though relatively untested, the centre back pairing of Lyanco and Caleta-Car were solid enough and Perraud and Stuart Armstrong had strong showings as subs. JWP had a decent game in midfield, hamstrung that we was by the lack of movement upfront apart from Sam Edozie, who in the first half, was the only attacking player worth watching.  

There was a classic incident in the first half when JWP picked up the ball and he was looking to pass it forward. Saints had three players in front of him, namely Armstrong, Mara and Aribo and they were all stood still, marked, doing absolutely fucking nothing.  JWP looked up three times before eventually he knocked it sideways to Edozie to run at the right back.  Edozie got past him and got the ball over and the same three players were all stood about 15 yards out and there was nobody attacking the ball. Football basics. Not fucking good enough.  To score goals at any level of football if you show intent, be that intent to have a shot or intent to get yourself into the box. That’s the biggest problem that the new manager has to fix.

A relatively flat uninspiring performance all told, rescued by a penalty on 45 minutes and six penalties in the shoot-out.  Everything’s fine though because next up is Liverpool away. Assuming it’s Jones, it’s the perfect game for Nathan Jones to cut his teeth because there is zero expectation of a result from the fan base and this won’t be his team.  It is however the one and only game that he has got it before the results become paramount if we want to stay as a Premier League club and keep the Sports Republic project moving forwards. Now of course, we have the next round of the EFL cup before our next league game after the World Cup but that is really a must win as well because of the feel good factor that it would bring being in the Quarter-final of a cup competition.

What The Fuck Have I Done?

So – Thursday and Nathan Jones was confirmed as the new manager but as I said earlier, everyone knew he was coming from the afternoon of Monday, when Ralph was sacked in the morning. In my opinion it’s quite a big risk because of the lack of Premier League experience which I would’ve thought would’ve been needed, given the inexperienced nature of our squad.  Okay, having a big name is not the be all and end all, as we’ve seen with Steven Gerrard being shite at Villa recently, but it does worry me that whilst everyone has to start somewhere and Nathan Jones may in time proved to be a very capable manager at Premier League level - I do wonder if that’s what we need right now, given the issues we have.  I do understand that it’s Sports Republic’s modus operandi to search the long grass and do something different. They don’t need me to remind them that the whole project falls on its arse or succeeds, based on how well the first team does in the next 25 games.  We of course need to hit the transfer window hard in January and Nathan Jones’ lack of profile won’t exactly be an advantage.  I’m not exactly sure about the appointment but we have no choice but to see how it goes and where it takes us.

The game tonight was uninspiring, the managerial choice could also be said to be uninspiring on the face of it but all we can do is look forward to Liverpool on Saturday, the next round of the EFL (League 1 Lincoln City at home) and hope that Sport Republic have got the right man.   Let’s get behind him and see what he can do.  Up the fucking Saints.

Carabao Cup 2nd Round - Cambridge 0 Southampton 3

 

That's What You Call an Entrance

Carabao Cup second round time again and this year we are away at Cambridge United who we apparently have never played in a full first-team game before. I’m pretty sure that we have played them in the Checkatrade trophy with our under 23s but that’s about it.  It will no doubt be a chance for us to play all the squad players and it might provide some pointers as to who is likely to be out the door when the transfer window closes on September 1st.

Cambridge are one of those sides in League One who could probably finish anywhere between 4th and 24th and it will certainly be their target to make the play-offs this season. Cambridge have never really been in our orbit, even when we were floundering around in League One. Those with a long memory like myself remember them having a very good cup run in the 80s when John Beck was their manager and their team featured Mr Homes Under the Hammer Stairs Up to the Bedroom, Dion Dublin. This was of course before he signed for Manchester United, then Coventry and we became the only team he ever scored against.  He may well be here today as the stairs he goes up in Cambridge, lead to the Boardroom, rather than the bedroom.

Dion... Before and After

Team news and shock of shocks, Saints are resting a load of players for this game, with Oriol Romeu captaining the side which contains virtually everyone not in the first team picture in the league at the moment. McCarthy is in goal with the back four featuring youngster Lewis Payne at right back, Yan Valery at left back and Bednarek and Lyanco in the middle. Diallo and Romeu are anchoring the midfield and the other four have more of a first team look about them with Adam Armstrong, Stuart Armstrong, Elyounoussi and man of the moment, Che Adams.

For some reason, when we line-up for these type of games in recent seasons, I don’t feel like we’re not going to be at it and so it proved as after three minutes as Valery gets a cross over from the left hand side and Adams turns a defender and rifles it in the bottom corner of the net but unfortunately, the ball’s hit his hand on the way through and the referee quite correctly disallows it. What you can say is that it was a great finish from a player clearly playing with a lot of confidence.

If Che Adams confidence is borne out of his performances over the last few games then I have no idea Elyounoussi’s confidence is from but he tries to score goal of the season, taking down a high Adam Armstrong cross on his chest before producing a wonderful turn and volley but he unfortunately doesn’t quite hit it properly and the goalkeeper manages to shovel it round the post.

Cambridge aren’t giving us any problems whatsoever and it’s just a case of how long it’s gonna take before the first goal goes in and it’s not long in arriving as Adam Armstrong shows the difference between League 1 defenders and the Premier League defenders by easily being able to hold off a defender on the edge of the box and roll the ball into the path of Payne on the right hand side and the youngsters low cross is turned into the net by Adams from virtually on the 6 yard line. There doesn’t seem to be anyone asking for offside which is surprising and the goal stands, I guess that the ball has come backwards.

Cambridge respond top the goal by still not offering much but if they do attack and we then play out from defence, we look very dangerous as our willing runners are able to drive forward virtually unchallenged. Adam Armstrong again causes havoc picking up a pass from brother Stuart and the pull-back deflects goalward off a Cambridge defender and is cleared off the line.

Lewis Payne again goes bombing down the right before finding Adams in the middle and he pulls it back to Adam Armstrong who cannot buy a fucking goal as he beats the keeper but a defender running back towards the goal manages to stick out a heel and block it.

Half-time and no worries really.  Might have to weather a bit of a storm at some point but it seems more likely that a second goal will kill it stone dead.  There’s a brief flurry from Cambridge at the start of the second half but nothing much and it’s soon ‘as you were’ regarding any thoughts of it getting any more difficult as Stuart Armstrong brings an early save out of Mannion in the Cambridge goal.

The game is put to bed not long after that and Stuart Armstrong again starts the move down the left hand side which results in Che Adams having a shot blocked, Romeu’s follow-up is saved by the keeper but unfortunately for Mannion, it bounces straight out to Che Adams who is completely unmarked to smash into the net.  2-0 Game over. Cambridge are complaining about a potential handball in the build-up but when you see the replay, it’s basically been hit into the back of Adams and he wasn’t even looking at it so that’s not going to get given as handball, even with VAR in the Premier League.

Easy, this Centre Forward Lark

It’s now a case of how many we are going to get with Romeu demonstrating why he’s never been a great goal scorer, screwing a good chance wide. Valery then cuts in from the left hand side and forces a good save by Mannion down low to his left.  He looks a decent keper to be fair and he’s acquitted himself really well.

Time to roll the dice and bring on some subs with Joe Aribo, Sekou Mara, Moussa Djenepo and Dominic Ballard coming on. It’s a big moment for Ballard in particular seeing as it’s his first team debut.  Valery has now switched to the right hand side and picks up a pass/clearance by McCarthy which takes out the left back and Yan’s cross goes behind Sekou Mara but picks out Dominic Ballard on the penalty spot and his first shot is again blocked by the goalkeeper but the youngster will not be denied and follows in knocks it into the roof of the net with his left foot. Brilliant stuff.

Another youngster in Diamond Edwards get s a run out for the last few minutes, which ends a perfect nights work – clean sheet, three goals, no injuries and a straightforward progression into the next round.

To be honest, this was pretty comfortable. Cambridge had a couple of moments but once the first goal went in from Che, then it was never in doubt. We were also never going to repeat last years’ 8-0 win at this stage which was of course against Newport County, so it was amusing that the same Newport County won 3–2 tonight against our friends from a few miles to the east.

The main positives to take out of the game are of course Che continuing his hot streak with four goals in about the last 90 minutes that he’s played. Strikers thrive on goals and take confidence from them so it’s never a bad thing regardless of who the opposition is. He has probably already guaranteed that he will be our top scorer of the season with the four goals that he’s got. Other positives of course were the performances of Lewis Payne and Dom Ballard.  Ballard had the very obvious moment of scoring his goal with virtually his first kick and Payne acquitted himself well at right back and got the assist for the first child goal of course.  Maybe these two will be the next to come through the Academy and establish themselves in a way that no one has really done since JWP nearly 10 years ago.

It was of course our first game since the passing of David Armstrong.  His name was chanted in the crowd today and of course, since Saturday when the news of his passing began filtering through, I have been thinking a lot about David Armstrong and also thinking about Saints players from around at the same time.  One of those was of course Steve Moran, who also scored with practically his first touch when he made his debut as a late substitute. If Dom Ballard goes on to have the impact that Steve Moran did, then we are all going to be very happy with things.

Next up is Manchester United at home on Saturday lunchtime, which has suddenly became more difficult than it was a week ago because they actually managed to beat Liverpool on Monday and played with some intensity, having left out all the players who can’t run. Hopefully they won’t be able to do it two games in a row but whatever United turns up, as long as a decent version of Southampton turns up, we have got a very good chance of backing up our win at Leicester with another three points. Up the fucking Saints.

EFL Cup 2nd Round - Southampton 0 Wolves 2

We Couldn't Believe It Either 

Wesley Hoedt was announced as a Saints player after the West Ham game.  Al the signs are that this is one of the missing pieces of the jigsaw with him being huge and a great header of the ball.  When talking about the move, Sir Les came out with a classic about him forming a new defence with our other Dutch international, Weapons Grade Shithouse.  Great news, it sounds like we might have a decent central defence against Wolves in the League Cup then?

The League Cup… what memories of last year and our run to the final.  I fully expected to turn up and there not be many there but the crowd was decent for this competition, forcing all four sides of the ground to be open. I do wonder how local people can justify going to Wembley and then not going to the game tonight when it only cost a tenner at most.  Anyway – each to their own.

Wolves have had a decent start n the Championship so this was not going to be easy even if they rested a few players.  Championship sides I think can be forgiven for resting players as the untold millions of the Premier League is always going to be more important.  For 2nd tier Premier League clubs like Saints however, it’s the best opportunity of making it into Europe so why not pick a decent side. 

OK then – the Hoedt and WGS partnership isn’t happening today.  Judging by the 11 names I have in front of me, it looks like Jack Stephens is playing in midfield which would have been good to see, only it’s not true as we line up with 3 at the back with Bednarek being slotted in between Stephens and Yoshida.  The reserve full backs are in with Pied and McQueen.  Romeu and JWP in midfield with Austin, Boufal and Tadic up front.  So – 6 changes and a new formation and only McQueen and Boufal with anything remotely resembling pace.

I use these cup games to sit in different parts of the ground and today I’m in the Itchen stand, right behind the Saints bench.  From the kick off, Pellegrino is up and shouting instructions and showing very obvious annoyance when play is slow or when players are blatantly in the wrong position, usually sitting too deep.

Wolves look well organized and we, quite frankly, look awful.  The midfield is tsrethced all over the place and Pied, in particular is shocking.  He gets skinned about 3 times in 5 minutes and has to be bailed out by either Stephens playing behind him, or by Dicko, the Wolves striker, fucking it up.  On the other wing, McQueen is playing like a proper wing back and getting free up the pitch but his crosses are uniformly straight to a Wolves player, usually Batth who heads everything away.

Up front there is nothing going on.  Austin just ambling about like he can’t go any faster, Tadic slowing everything to funeral pace and Boufal – let’s not even go there.  Anyway, we have 3 centre backs playing and none of them are arsed to pick up the one Wolves striker as a hopeful long ball finds Dicko in all sorts of space but luckily he’s got the first touch and subtlety of Virgil’s agent so it runs through to Fraser.

It takes about 35 minutes for us to do anything when JWP whips in a free kick from 40 yards out and Bednarek gets up first and gets his head to it but Wolves keeper Norris saves well, if a little but over-spectacularly.  We work another chance as Boufal twists and turns before standing up a cross which eventually finds Pied who lashes it wide though again the keeper got a touch.  Boufal and JWP work the corner short and JWP’s blocked shot comes to Tadic, on his good foot about 8 yards out under no challenge and he shits it side footed high and wide.  Utter wank. Half time.

It's been fucking shit so far and we change nothing so the performance doesn’t change. Actually, it does a bit as we’ve got worse and you can tell that Wolves feel that they can actually win this.  Nothing much happens for 20 minutes and then they win a corner.  Over it comes and Batth is standing on the 6 yard line, a standing jump above Stephens and it’s down and in as Fraser and everyone else just watches it.  Fucking shit awful marking and defending.  It actually goes in off of Tadic who registers his first assist in fucking ages, the useless twat.

After the goal we pile on the pressure.  No we don’t – we’re still shit.  Redmond is on for Bednarek but nothing’s happened really.  Wolves look more likely to score than we do. We’ve got Gabbiadini and Long on now for a last desperate throw of the dice but Wolves break and the ball gets fed to Wilson who is through – Fraser gets his angles all wrong and he just rolls it into the net.  Fucking garbage.  The last 8 minutes goes by with just a shit effort from Redmond going wide and that’s it.  Wembley was great – not this year.

That was fucking dreadful and we totally 100% deserved to lose. I have to say that Wolves put in a perfect away performance. They soaked up what we had, which wasn't very much, scored with a set piece, defended it and then scored on the break at the end of the game to kill it off. Perfect from them but absolutely shit from us. 

Pellegrino got this game completely wrong. Any formation that relies on wingbacks, need you to have good wingbacks and whilst McQueen had his moments in the first Half and got some crosses over, Pied was completely and utterly lost from the first minute to the last. I know he's been injured but he was fucking useless. We might have got away with that formation if Cedric and Bertrend were playing but with the reserve fullbacks it was obviously not going to work from about the second minute onwards. Because Pied in particular was always in the wrong place the midfield two of Romeu and JWP had too much to do to cover the ground. JWP had a real chance to step up and show why he should be in the Premier League side and he totally and utterly failed. 

I sat in the Itchin stand tonight, directly behind our bench and it was interesting to see how animated Pellegrino was on the sideline. In the first half in particular he was literally doing a Basil Fawlty and jumping up and down and tearing at his hair at the way Pied in particular was playing. It wasn't just Pied though as he was constantly shouting to the players that their positioning was completely wrong. There were some points where he actually reminded me of myself on the sidelines running my under 13's team, trying desperately hard to bite your lip rather than give someone an almighty bollocking. The moments of complete despair usually came when one of our centre backs failed to get off the ground to win an aerial challenge against a much smaller striker.

Usually we have two centre backs who can't head ball but today we had three. As I've said before, I'm not writing Bednarek off yet but he has massive flaws in his game and he needs to play a full season with the under 23s. When the ball is in the air, he simply does not win it and when it's on the ground he's always on his arse or off-balance. In his defence, he needed to be helped through the game by Stephens and Yoshida but they were dreadful as well. The killer Wolves goal which was the first one totally sums up our centre backs and goalkeeper. We have a 6 foot seven goalkeeper who is nailed to his line so the defenders have to head the ball and they just can't. They are not physical enough and they are not determined enough. The corner landed about 6 yards out, Fraser didn't come and puncher as per usual and Stephens didn't get off the ground leaving Batth to head one of the simplest goals you will ever see. It was absolutely pathetic. 

Elsewhere on the pitch, I was kind of hoping that the likes of Austin and Boufal would put their hands up to be selected on Saturday but both put in performances that would leave them lucky to even make the bench. 

Charlie Austin is not fit. He can only play for about 60 minutes and that's a disgrace bearing in mind he doesn't actually do much running anyway. My analogy of him lurching around like a bloke has just spilled out of the pub at midnight was entirely accurate tonight. I guess all that cheating at monopoly has left him too worn out to run much.  He is not suited to playing as a lone striker so unless we are going to play with two up front then he is really not the answer we are looking for. 

Tonight was also the night when I finally lost it with Dusan Tadic. His attitude was absolutely pathetic in the second half last night. It wasn't going well for him so every time he got the ball, he was just looking to go to ground. There was one tackle in about the 80th minute where the Wolves player won the ball and he just rolled around on the ground like he'd been shot. The linesman was about 6 yards away and the referee was about 10 yards away and neither of them saw a foul. The referee had him completely sussed because he was always looking to hit the deck and therefore was never going to be given the freekick he wanted. Tadic couldn't be arsed to do the hard work and shield the ball use his body strength to hold off the player, it as easier to just abdicate responsibility and collapse.  After his little strop last season when he was deservedly being substituted every game, Tadic has enjoyed an uninterrupted run in the first team which he has exclusively failed to use. He's in a comfort zone now and the only way to get anything out of it of him is to drop him and make him work for it. He was absolutely fucking pathetic today. We need some pace in those wide areas which is why Redmond always plays.

The sad thing is that with a decent performance last night I feel that Boufal could have made a real case to be included ahead of Tadic on Saturday. As it was he was lucky not to be substituted after the first 20 minutes when he was nothing short of pathetic. He showed a few signs of life at the end of the first half but if you think 20 minutes of looking vaguely decent against a championship sides reserves is enough then you've got a serious problem.

Hopefully Pellegrino and Les Reed learned tonight that our squad players are not of the required standard.  Put one or two in our best side and we get away with it but play 5 or 6 of them and we are awful.  They were so lacking in invention and spirit it was painful.  This was as bad as the Augsburg friendly when we last put the reserves out.

And breathe. It was garbage but it has gone. Move on as the proper first team will be in action in Saturday at Huddersfield.

EFL Cup Final: Manchester United 3 Southampton 2

Don't Make Faces At Him, Try and Save It

After yet another crap night’s sleep it is finally here, EFL cup final day, Southampton against Manchester United. It does seem to have taken absolutely ages to come around and I guess this is because we haven't had a game for two weeks. We had a late substitution last night as the car we were going to travelling decided that it needed to be squad rotated and so my car was requisitioned. I have no problem with driving as my days of alcohol at football disappeared when I had to start being responsible for my kids. My son who is going with me, was born a year after the Cardiff FA Cup final against Arsenal which really puts into perspective how rarely we get to cup finals. Our regular triumvirate is usually made up by my dad but he's managed to book a holiday and is on a boat, floating around somewhere in the South China Seas is desperately trying to get an Internet connection. My eldest daughter has been the beneficiary of rotation on the ticket side of things.

Travel sickness on the coaches has been an issue in the past so unlike the JPT in 2010, it's a 10.15 start to drive to Uxbridge. Despite England playing rugby at Twickenham with a 3 o'clock kick-off there is no issue at the top of the M3 and around the M25 to the M40 and parked in the shopping centre in Uxbridge by 12. A brief stop for food and then on the tube and I think this is quite possibly the earliest I have ever got to a football ground in my life, over three hours before the game kicks off and an hour before the turnstiles open.  It's pretty cold so into Costa to grab a table and evaporate a cauldron of over-priced coffee for an hour. It was quite good watching the queue of pissed off looking Manchester United fans. Hopefully this would not be the first time today to the United fans would look pissed off.

Into the ground and I've been to Wembley a few times but every time I go in the initial view of the pitch is quite breath-taking. The ground it just looks fucking huge and it's hard to get your head round the fact that it holds virtually three times what St Mary's does.  The kids ask me why Saints only got 31,000 tickets when the ground is clearly much bigger than 62,000 people. A brief chat ensues about the corporate level and I try not to use the words “wankers”, “freeloaders” and the phrases “rich bastards” and “those areas will be full of fucking United fans”.  I do use the phrase, "about as far away from the working man's game as you can possibly get" which I'm quite pleased with.  I have nothing against fans sitting in those areas but I just don't like that entire side of things and why there has to be nearly a third of the ground given over to it.

Our team news is as expected. It's the same team that played against Sunderland. Martin Caceres is on the bench as is Sofiane Boufal and the unlucky player who doesn't make the bench is Jordy Clasie. I'm not often right but I called that. José Mourinho has surveyed his embarrassment of riches and picked Chris Smalling at centre back and shifted Marcus Rojo out to left back. Michael Carrick isn't playing so Mata, Herrera and Carlton Pogba make up of the midfield and up front they have Martial, Lingard and the big man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  Stop the big man and we have a chance today.

The atmosphere is really good in our end as we approach kick off with some serious renditions of 'Oh when the saints go marching in' and the Markus flag gets a rare outing as we all pass it over our heads from one side of the lower tier to the other. I don't know if it's an illusion because I'm stood right in the middle of it but the Saints fans appear to have got here early to make the most of the day where is the United fans seem to be leaving it to the last minute before entering the ground. This is exactly what happened in Cardiff with the Arsenal fans in 2003. No matter what anyone says, this means a fuck load more to us than it does to them.

A View From Under the Markus Flag

A quick blast through the national anthem which we sing at a much faster pace than the lass who is in the middle of the pitch with a microphone and we are ready to go.

The first ball up to Ibrahimovic sees him against Yoshida and he fouls him and Stephens is straight over and pushing him in the chest.  Good man – don’t be intimidated.  We look ok from the start but it’s United who have the first effort as they pass through midfield and Pogba has all the time in the world to take aim but he hits it straight at Fraser who parries it away.

One of my fears was that we would not have a go but we are having a go but we look a bit open when we lose the ball.  Mind you, so do they as their midfield doesn’t seem arsed about tracking back.  Bertrnd gets on the gallop down the left and gets the ball over but no one’s there and Rojo picks it up but is immediately disposed by Cedric.  Rojo dives in but Cedric keeps going, slides it over and Gabbiadini steers it into the net.  Flag up straight away and there’s not too much angst from our end because it’s up the other end and there’s no TV replay.  Later on though… fucking hell.  It’s a diabolical decision.  The lino’s flag has shot up against Bertrand but the ball never reaches him and he make no movement towards it.  Gabbiadini is onside and it should have counted.  All the times you see llinesman wait until the forward has touched it before they flag and we get the wanker with a hair-trigger.

 Not Offside

 Not Offside

Offside

Like I say, there’s not a huge sense of injustice at the time and Herrera picks it up about 25 yards out and Romeu launches in and clatters him.  Yes it’s a foul it’s not that bad but the Rat Faced Little Prick is rolling around, throwing his arms in the air and imploring Andre Marriner to book his fellow Spaniard which he does.  Up steps Ibrahimovic and bang, over the wall and curling past the falling tree that is Fraser and into the net, about a yard from the post.  Fuck off.  Big screen replay and our wall is a disaster – someone turns their back, someone doesn’t jump and the keeper doesn’t react quickly enough.  Balls.

We react well and are still the better side.  Gabbiadini’s disallowed goal seems to have brought him to life and he expertly tees up JWP and he hits a decent low effort which de Gea gets down very well to save with a strong one handed effort. Herrera then reaps what he sewed earlier as he hauls down Redmond but because the ref has set a precedent due in the main to Hererra’s theatrics, he has to book him as well for what it a nothing challenge.

So, we’re still the better side but we switch off again horribly.  A throw in on the United left is worked infield and Rojo just runs off the back of Davis and squares to Lingard who is in acres.  Yoshida doesn’t throw himself at the ball and just stands there, perfectly screening Fraser’s view and Lingard just passes it into the net.  Shockingly easy schoolboy defending goal to concede.  Oh shit we’re going to get battered four or five.

I’m hoping we can get to half time without anything else going wrong and then Stephens goes on a run upfield, overruns it and piles into Martial who rolls around and all the United players are round the ref.  Oh shit this is going to be a red card isn’t it and then we are completely fucked.  Marriner only hands out a yellow and somehow we get the free kick.  Turns out Lingard (who is also booked) has tripped Stephens which has thrown him off balance and he’s then piled into Martial.  For those worried, despite looking dead, Martial is perfectly ok.

45 minutes are up and Redders is allowed to play a simple ball infront of JWP on the United left and a low cross in and Gabbiadini appears to knock it through de Gea’s legs to make it 2-1.., Get the fuck in… a look to the linesman and this time it stands.  Come on!!!  So, half time and we’re back in it and still very much in the game if we can keep playing as well as we are going forward.  Jose Mourinho is obviously a bit concerned about the lack of tracking in his midfield so on comes Michael Carrick for Juan Mata.  We’re unchanged and away we go.

JWP wins and early corner as his cross deflects of Rojo, over it comes and Yoshida knocks it back in and Redmond lashes a first time volley from an angle which is a great strike but to close to de Gea who react and knocks it over for another corner.  Chris Smalling really should be a wrestler.  Remember that rule we had at the start of the season where referees actually gave penalties for shirt pulling.  Smalling is a joke in this regard.  Anyway, JWP’s corner is headed out and back in again and Gabbiadini swivels with Smalling at his back and hits it first time past de Gea and into the net for 2-2.  It’s right up there with Matt le Tiss in the last game at The Dell and Franny’s one goal.  Our block has gone absolutely mental and Who the fuck are Man United, an explosion of noise and whirling scarves and Seven Nation Army rewritten with Oh, Gabb-i-a-di-ni!  Fucking awesome.

Mental!

There’s still no response from United and Lingard goes in late on Redmond as he breaks forward but the Saints man rides the tackle and keeps going because fo which the ref does fuck all.  Compare and contrast with Shitbag Herrera earlier.  United’s next chance is all of our own making as Fraser has the ball and instead of smashing it, clips it right to absolutely no one in a white shirt and has to redeem himself by rushing out at Ibrahimovic’s feet.  What the fuck was that?  We don’t make it hard for them.  We’ve rocked them right back and we pick them up again and just give it to them.  When we don’t give them stupid chances, all they’ve got is a long ball to the big man.

Meanwhile, Gabbiadini superbly makes something of a pass drilled to him and Davo’s clever backheel puts Cedric in and his low cross is cleared away by Valencia in front of Bertrand who has not quite got in there enough.  JWP fires in another excellent delivery from the left and Romeu is up above Carlton who adds jumping to the list of things he can't be arsed to do and his header smacks off the post and away with de Gea beaten.  Fuuuuuuck!  

Goaaaaaaaaa.....shiiiiiiit!!!!

There’s a scare at our end and again it’s our own doing as Stephens gets under a cross and just misses it and Lingard at the back post has time but fucks it up and lashes over.

Boufal on for the disappointing Tadic on 70 and Long is on for Gabbiadini on 80.  To be fair he’s looking knackered but who do you want in the box if the ball bounces?  Five minutes to go and Boufal sends Bertrand away on the left, a low cross and Long misses it whilst being kicked up in the air by Bailly and the ball fizzes across and safe.  Again it’s a half hearted appeal so it isn’t going to get given.  We win a corner and despite Smalling still doing the Nacho Libre wrestling thing, Stephens heads at goal and Ibrahimovic clears from in front of the goal.  Another corner, this time from Boufal and it’s cleared up and Yoshida fucks up and sends Herrera away on the right.  The build up is slow-ish and we get players back and they’re all back when Herrera delivers the cross but no one is marking the 6 foot 5 centre forward and he buries the free header from 6 yards.  Heart breaking and gut wrenching.  You can’t really blame the keeper when there’s a free header from 6 yards but there was a time when he’d have made himself huge and the ball would have hit him.  Not this season though.

Herrera still has time to try and get Romeu sent off as he gets caught and can’t decide which part of his face to hold which is a common problem when none of it actually hurts.  We throw J-rod on for the last few minutes but we’ve gone and we don’t create another chance.

Game over. Gutted. Left with a sour taste in the mouth and the feeling of being ripped off. It's quite a common occurrence when you're playing one of the big clubs - Arsenal away this season for example.  I'll get into the disallowed goal later on but right now there is pride in my team, pride in our supporters mixed in with the sick feeling in my stomach. How the fuck were we the better team for virtually the entire match and manage to lose? We come so close against the multibillionaires of Manchester United and it's fucking horrible. In 2003 we all stayed in the stadium and watched Arsenal pick up a cup but there's no fucking way I'm staying here to watch these cunts.  Our boys have already come over to clap the fans so as soon as they've gone up the steps to receive their losers medals, we’re out of there.

In the queue for Wembley Park tube station, I'm surprised/not surprised to find thousands of United fans who have obviously left the ground before I did. Another throwback to 2003 where a lot of the arrogant fans of the winning team can't even be arsed to stick around long enough to watch their precious commodities pick up the trophy.  It means that little to them.  If we'd won the Wembley staff would have had to kick us all out about two hours after the finish.  The unexpected bonus in all this of course is that we get to stand there and listen to United fans singing songs about Liverpool and Manchester City. They really are a bunch of pricks with absolutely no clue whatsoever. I have to make a distinction between Manchester United usual away following who are a very good following but I guess a cup final in London brings out all the plastic twats. There is one song that changes the lyrics of ‘Something Good’ and the United version has a line which says “Jose playing the way that United should”. Yeah right. Hit the long ball up to Zlatan - great football that!  I know it’s only a song but do you genuinely believe that?

Back to Uxbridge and home. The junction at the top of the M3 is a fucking nightmare so it's onto the A3 and home. I managed to keep in a fairly good mood was driving home in the pissing rain but when I get home it's like a throwback to the old days where a bad result would ruin it for the entire weekend. I don't wanna talk about it and thinking about it comes later of course, when I'm trying and failing to sleep.

It was always going to be the case that how well we dealt with Ibrahimovic was going to define how the game went and the bottom line is that we didn't deal with him. We lost because of the defending as all three goals had elements about them that was very poor from our point of view.  The first goal was a slightly needless foul, shambolic defensive wall and the goalkeeper not getting down quick enough. The second goal was just too open, not tracking a runner and a defender not throwing himself at the ball. The third, I know we were stretched but defenders were back and giving him a free header from 6 yards is absolutely criminal.

In my opinion the centre back issue killed us. Maya and Jack passed around nicely but at the key moments they went missing so all the pretty football and occasional good defending doesn't make up for that I'm afraid. We as a team are not nasty enough which is one of the reasons why I thought Caceres should have played from the start. We cannot allow the well-publicised centre back issues to happen again in any area of the team if we are serious about trying to compete for trophies against the likes of Manchester United.  I’m not feeling too charitable towards José Fonte at the moment.

With the disallowed goal, we should have been all round the referee and made him go and talk to the linesman. If he had then it's a quick conversation to work out that Gabbiadini has scored and Bertrand is not a factor because the ball hasn't reached him. Okay, it might not have played out that way but we should've made a massive fuss about it as you can be damn sure that United would've done. Likewise, with the wall on the first goal. Chris Smalling was barging us all out of the way and someone should've been digging him in the back. This is our wall now fuck off.  In an ideal world, we want the referees to be better but without that, do you have to accept that if you can't beat them, join them.  If Nathan Redmond goes down screaming like a little bitch instead of staying his feet then Jesse Lingard probably gets sent off. Again, you can be sure as shit that if Herrera, Pogba, Ibrahimovic or Martial had been clipped by a player on a second booking they would've been over in the ground straight away and we would be down to 10 men.

I understand the reluctance to flood the game with technology and endless stoppages but surely if the ball is dead. Like it is when it actually hits the back of the net then it really wouldn't be too much to ask to check. It would've taken five seconds to find out that that was a goal. When I looked on Twitter at half time, there was a picture which showed Gabbiadini was clearly onside.  It was posted about 30 seconds after the actual incident.

I thought our standout players were of course Gabbiadini, ably supported by Redmond and the two fullbacks who are both excellent. I was also very impressed by a Oriol Romeu despite playing most of the game with the booking, thanks for that little bitch Herrera. You could tell he was really concentrating on what challenges to going for and what not to go in for which I think will augur well for the future as it shows that he does really think about his game and he will only get better. I’d also like to big up JWP’s contribution as I thought he was excellent today – one of his best games in a Saints shirt.  For me, Tadic and then Boufal didn't really do it. I've seen some reports that suggested the Tadic had a good game so it may be down to interpretation but I'm afraid I didn't see it and I thought it was an obvious substitution to make when he went off even though it didn't have much effect.  I can’t really find too much fault in what Claude did.  He got the formation and tactics right but mistakes cost us.  Taking Gabbiadini off could be seen as a mistake but I could see the logic in it.  There’s no guarantee that Caceres would have made a difference but I suspect he might have done and I expect him to be in the side for the next league game.

Forster 5, Cedric 8, Bertrand 8, Yoshida 5, Stephens 5, Romeu 8, JWP 8, Davis 7, Tadic 6, Redmond 8, Gabbiadini 9.  Long 6, Boufal 6.

There are a couple of moments to really stand out for me in the whole game. When the second goal went in it was fucking amazing. We had come back from 2-0 down and they were rocking and at that point, I really thought we were going to win. As the game kicked off again and we were all still going mad, it was with great amusement that I had my son piling in to the ‘Who the fuck are Man United’ chants at full volume. Don't repeat that school young man.

As for United, well they did enough to win so I guess you have to congratulate them on that. Ibrahimovic is completely carrying the team are and whilst I respect that he is a great player, I found it quite surpising that for somebody who prides himself on being a bit of a tough guy, he really hit the deck easily, especially in the second half.  It was a bit pathetic to be honest. As for the others, well Ander Herrera is my new hate figure - what an absolute shit bag. Diving around and screaming like a little bitch whenever anyone gets near.  Absolutely fuck off. Then there is Carlton Pogba. The Carlton Palmer comparison really isn't too far fetched. When there’s a situation in midfield and Pogba has to use strength and power then he's pretty good and he batters players out the way and keeps possession and that's good but when he's trying to be creative, fucking hell. There are a couple of occasions when he looked up and chipped the ball out of play and there wasn’t a United player within 30 yards so what the fuck was the aiming at? Still, he has a new haircut and his own emoji on Twitter and he is very marketable. José Mourinho's interview after the game was quite magnanimous in that he admitted that the better side lost which was quite good of him. He of course talked up the influence of his main man but then he tried to talk up Pogba which was a bit of a laugh because everybody knows that he was shit and he's just trying to deflect away from it but all he really did was highlight it.

So, it's a glorious defeat. Fuck that, I hate glorious near misses. It would be nice be the bride instead of the bridesmaid so to speak. One thing I've been reminded of in the day or so since the game is that you can tell the class of supporters of other teams by how they react to you after that was basically an extremely gut-wrenching defeat. The supporters of our own team today were absolutely magnificent from start to finish and I loved every second of being in amongst it all at Wembley Stadium. Gut-wrenching and heart breaking. Maybe next year, maybe not but whatever happens, I was reminded today what a great club I am proud to support.