EFL Championship Match 33 - Southampton 1 Hull City 2

 

Fabio Makes the Most of His Guaranteed Game Time

Onwards, ever onwards and four days after the last one, yet another game in the championship with the visit of Hull City to St Mary’s.  Hull have been pretty busy in the transfer window just gone and for me, should be doing slightly better than they are, residing on the fringes of the playoff race.

There was a lot of talk in January of Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool joining a Championship club on-loan for the rest of the season but if the media are to be believed, and we all know that usually they aren’t, Liverpool wanted some sort of guaranteed gametime which he was never going to get at Saints, so Hull stepped in. To date, he has been a bit underwhelming but he will be a dangerous presence this evening as well Jadon Philogene, who they signed from Aston Villa in the summer and who decided to rival Joe Rothwell for goal of the season a couple of weeks back with a ridiculous rabona finish into the top corner, which was absolutely filthy.

Their main striker this season is Liam Delap who scored against us at the KC Stadium but Delap is injured so at the moment leading the line last week was the one and only Billy Sharp, now 47 years old but still around.  I have to admit that I forgot about him when he semi-retired at the end of last season and going to play in the Micky Mouse League in the States.  Billy will always have a place in our hearts for his role in our last promotion so let’s hope he plays no part in deciding the outcome of this promotion campaign for us.

There is still a question over Flynn Downes for this game but Che Adams is reported fit and well and it just remains to be seen who gets picked, with Mara having done reasonably well as a central striker against West Brom and Adam Armstrong’s best position undoubtedly being on the right hand side. There is also the question of David Brooks and whether he starts after his goalscoring cameo against West Brom on Friday.

An hour before kick-off and the team news drops and ….. what the fuck is Russell Martin doing?  He’s picked “that” midfield again for fuck‘s sake…..  you know, the one that lets in all the goals. Smallbone is the defensive midfielder, flanked by Stuart Armstrong and Joe Rothwell.  Fucking hell. Has he forgotten the Bristol City and Huddersfield games? Well let’s just hope that they take a leaf out of the way the midfield played against West Brom and stay compact. The rest of the team is pretty much as you’d expect with Mara keeping his place and Edozie starting instead of Wee Man.

Right from the start you can see this is going to be difficult because Hull are pressing really high with four players. They are also closing down our midfielders and there appears to be no easy out ball for us.  We take some ridiculous risks around our 6 yard line and just about get away with them. Hull are of course going to try and play from the back as well and do so to good effect down our left before switching it to the other side and Zaroury tries an effort from long-range which flies just wide.

We switch to the other end and Allsopp plays a risky one into Seri who is tackled by Smallbone. The ball bounces free to Rothwell who just has the goalkeeper to beat but he tries to slide it through his legs and more by luck than judgment, Allsop blocks it aweay for a corner. It’s a bad miss.

Hull are doing the same thing that Saints usually do in that they are being calm in possession, especially the goalkeeper and his waiting for the free man which in this case is the left back who has got away from Adam Armstrong who has dozed off. One long ball catches out our entire front six with all three of the midfield absolutely nowhere. They work the ball to the edge of the penalty area and Philogene has a blast which Baz parries out but it’s straight to Zaroury who runs into the net.  Fucks sake. Saints defence all stand around pointing at each other.  No one points at the midfield because no one can point that far as they are fucking miles away.

Once we restart, there is very little response from Saints. We still can’t play the ball out of the defence and resort into banging it up the pitch. We do manage to get the ball to Stuart Armstrong in midfield but he turns and gives the ball away and Hull work it to Philogene on the right who skins Ryan Manning before blasting it at the near post where Baz blocks it, with his head.  Only one team looking dangerous here.  Another ball from Baz into Rothwell's feet and he has no idea what to do with it and Seri nicks it and lashes over the bar.

We really should be changing something here because it’s not working at all and there is nothing to remotely suggest that it will.  Saints are knocking it around with between the defence and goalkeeper and no one ahead of them wants the ball. Rothwell has his back to play and Smallbone is marked and not moving, whilst Stuart Armstrong is fucking nowhere and eventually Rothwell shows for it, Baz plays it into him and he takes a horrendous touch and then tries to run it past Philogene, who wins the ball and then Rothwell completely fails to react as Carvalho runs off him to pick up the pass right in front of Baz and knocks into the net and all fifteen travelling Hull City supporters go mad again.

We’re struggling to even deal with basic defending now and a big punt forward goes straight to Manning with nowhere near him and he tries to knock it back to Baz but it’s a 50p head effort and Baz has a head away himself from outside the box and it drops to Zaroury who luckily for us, lobs it wide.  A surging run by Coyle, the right back across the pitch and through the are where our midfield should be before find Zaroury once more and we get lucky as he drills it wide of the far post.

We have half a shout for a penalty as Coyle clearly slaps the ball away following a Stuart Armstrong cross but the ref takes the easy decision and give the free kick against THB for a slight push, which in no way caused Coyle to take off with his arm up.

Half-time and that was fucking shit - should probably be four goals down. Russell could honestly make five substitutes and no one could complain. All of the midfield and the forwards could go as they’ve been horrific.  No effort, no intensity, nothing.  As it is it’s only three subs are made with the axe mercifully falling on Adam Armstrong, who has done fuck all, Mara, who has done even less and Joe Rothwell who has been at the heart of everything shit that’s been going on. On come Joe Aribo – complete with captains arm band, David Brooks and Che Adams and they cannot possibly make it worse.

Russell Ponders His Midfield Selection

Brooks immediately creates a decent chance after only five minutes, meandering across the pitch before finding Edozie, then picking up the return pass and then finding Manning in the box and his right footed effort is just wide of the far post.  The point is that we connected through midfield and created a chance.

Aribo is showing great strength in midfield and puts Brooks away again who feeds Adams and his first-time effort goes wide of the near post. It’s better but not working the keeper at all.  It’s time for Wee Man who replaces Edozie.

Wee Man makes ground down the left and plays infield to Adams who falls on his arse but the ball finds Aribo. Aribo was trying to get it onto his left foot but in front of his left foot he finds Adams lying on the ground blocking him, so he can’t shoot straight away and has to keep wriggling till he finds an opening and his eventual shot sees the ball spoon up to David Brooks and his volley lands on the roof of the net

87 minutes and like he’s been doing since he came on, Brooks is buzzing all over the pitch trying to make things happen and he floats in a cross from the left which Che Adams throws his head out and it’s blocked but he works the ball back to Aribo and the big man crashes it into the net to make it 2-1 but there are only three minutes in normal time to go

Cue 80s Music

If we are expecting an avalanche, it didn’t really happen and when Aribo makes a rare mistake in the left back position, Hull break forward again with two shots coming in and two committed blocks, one each by Bednarek and THB.  And that’s your lot – game lost when he team was picked.

Well, we had a go in the second half and it was much better but we gave ourselves too much to do after Russell’s team selection and an absolutely shocking opening 45 minutes. I cannot for the life of me understand how you can pick those three in midfield and expect it to be any different to how it was against Huddersfield and Bristol City. With those three in midfield, by half-time we had let in eight goals in just over a game and a half. Individually they were shocking and collectively they were even worse.  We should have taken the lead of course with Rothwell missing that chance but you can’t afford to go two down against decent sides and expect to get away with it. We got away with it against Huddersfield, but Hull are considerably better than them.

Every manager has their blindspots and I can’t criticise Russell Martin too much but he had one earlier on this season where he had to get Jack Stephens in the team and he has one about Joe Rothwell because he’s a new signing.  After seeing all of his appearances, all we know that Rothwell does well is shoot and make runs ahead of the ball.  He can’t do anything else, so the midfield positions in our team do not suit him.  Is he a six,,,no, is he an eight… no.  He's a 10 or he’s nothing and should only play in that position as a rotation option for when Stuart Armstrong can’t manage two games in a week.  One thing I definitely do know is that’s that he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing in Russell Martin style of football as he had no idea what do when receiving a pass from the central defenders or the keeper and he has upset the whole balance of the midfield in the squad, let alone the team. What gets me is that playing him in the same midfield as Smallbone and Stuart Armstrong has been proven not to work very emphatically before this game. 

One reason that we played well against West Brom was Stuart Armstrong working incredibly hard to keep himself close to Smallbone so he didn’t get isolated.  He either couldn’t be bothered to do it today or more likely, just physically couldn’t do it twice in four days. He spent most of the first half loafing around in a kind of left-wing position, which may have been part of a tactical plan but he just looked disconnected from the other two midfielders who were really struggling.

Because the midfield was shocking, the defenders had no one to pass the ball to so we couldn’t build up through the thirds. Hull were very good and pressed us in our own half so with the midfield not functioning and not moving, we were left with trying to hit the strikers and with Mara and Adam Armstrong both being varying degrees of shite and neither being able to hold the ball up, it just didn’t work.

After Hull scored their first goal, it was blatantly obvious that change was needed and we needed to make a substitution at that point and not wait till half-time. You’ve either got to make subs in the first half if it’s that bad or you change style to get through the difficult spell and be a bit pragmatic and maybe make sure you’re only one down at half time.

None of the midfield or strikers could complain if they got hooked at half-time but Russell did at least hook the most deserving with Mara, Adam Armstrong and Rothwell coming off. Mara once again was given an opportunity and absolutely stunk the place out. Yes he didn’t get many passes but there was a distinct lack of effort. Adam Armstrong also suffered from a lack of service but it was he who totally dozed off to allow the build up for the first goal and he has gone right off the boil in the last four or five weeks and probably needs a spell out of the team.

The players who came on in the second half all did themselves a lot of good with regards to starting on Saturday.  David Brooks, Ryan Fraser, Che Adams and particularly Joe Aribo were excellent. Aribo is a different player to last season. He seems more determined, more dynamic and he looks fitter, which I think is the key thing. Though Sam Edozie was our best attacker who started the game (which is a very low bar), Fraser added a massive amount of dynamism and running which given a bit more time, could’ve earned us an undeserved point. All Che Adams had to do was look better than Mara and he did that just by looking interested.

Well shit. The undefeated run has gone and now the home run has gone so no excuse for any complacency or stupid team selections or not being on it.  We have proven we’re not invincible and with both runs over, everyone knows they have to up their game, starting with Millwall on Saturday at home.

Yes we were shit…but up the fucking Saints.

EFL Championship Match 12 - Hull City 1 Southampton 2

 

Wee Man Wants to Be Here

After yet another international break we have a trip to Hull to kick off the next batch of fixtures. Not an easy game by any stretch of the imagination with Hull being unbeaten at the MKM stadium this season and in fact, the unbeaten home run goes back to March of last season.  

The team contains some familiar players including Liam Delap, son of Rory who we were heavily linked with a season or so ago, like we are with all Manchester City youth products.  He is likely to lead the line today, supported by Jaden Philogene who tore it up for Aston Villa in pre-season before surprisingly being sold instead of loaned out to a Championship club, with Hull being the beneficiaries of that decision at Villa.  In a roundabout way, they’ve also been the beneficiaries of Saints decision not to persevere with Alfie Jones, a promising centre back from our Academy who looked like he would break the drought for that particular position from our Academy, but we decided against it and away he went, initially to Gillingham before rocking up at Hull where he is now captain and has played 100 games for The Tigers and fair play to him.  Elsewhere, they have John Michael Seri in midfield who not so long ago, signed for Fulham in the Premier League for £30 million.  So, they have a few players dotted around who will cause us problems today. Sadly they don’t have suntanned arsehole Phil Brown as manager anymore but instead have Liam Rosenior, who always talks a good game and comes from the same football style school as Russell Martin so today could well be a comparison of who plays this style of football the best.

Russell Martin tried to explain his style of football at the tactical talk evening that was held at St Mary’s during the week. Seeing as I am a supporter in my mid 50s who has been watching Saints in person for about 50 years, I went to this talk with a healthy dose of cynicism in tow, which comes from having seen every manager since Lawrie McMenemy come and go. I didn’t really know what to expect but I did find myself agreeing with the reason that the club is trying to play this style and I also found myself realising that the current manager knows that at the end of the day, it is all about results and if he doesn’t get them, then he will be replaced with someone else but, that someone else will be trying to play the same style of football as we do now. We do have people at the top now who are very committed to this particular plan and whilst you are never going to get the situation where every fan likes the plan, it’s more important that the players like the plan and I can certainly see the logic behind it and everyone pulling in the same direction will certainly be a start.  It certainly feels better than last season when the people that mattered were all pulling but it was more like horses attached to each limb of the club and pulling in four different directions.

So, Hull City on the banks of the Humber, in the Frozen Wasteland of the North and the weather is predictably shit.  Russell Martin has picked what is rapidly became his first choiceXI with Charly Alcaraz having returned from Argentina in time to take his place in the front three. There was an injury doubt over THB when he pulled out of the England under 21 squad but he is present and correct as well.

3 o’clock and away we go and the weather is still shit. The game immediately looks like it’s going to be quite open with both sides trying to play in a similar style and Smallbone has an early effort which is deflected up in the air and the backpedalling Allsopp in goal, shovels it over the bar.

At the other end, a break down our right sees Philogene take the ball down well before sliding it through to Delap which is aided by THB falling over.  The son of Rory delays in the same way that his father used to do whenever he had the ball at his feet and by the time he gets round to shooting is blocked out by a combination of KWP and Bednarek.

Saints are beginning to make inroads down the left with Sulemana adding the experienced Cyrus Christie to the list of Championship right backs left eating dust. He burns him off and pulls the ball back from the goal line but it runs all the way across to KWP on the right and faced with Philogene, a winger who cannot defend, KWP pissed past an embarrassing attempted shoulder-to-shoulder and rolls the ball back for Will Smallbone to casually roll it into the net left footed. Great run by KWP and a really decent finish and get in.

Please Enter Your 'KWP' Cheat Code

One of the things that you can be sure of with Saints this season is that we will find a way to get in everyone thinking this might be a routine win, before punching that particular vision in the bollocks within a few minutes.

Hull build down our right through Philogene and his ball across runs out to the other side in similar fashion to our goal and when Lokilo puts it back into the mix a bit, a lucky bounce off a challenge between THB and Twine sees the ball drop to Delap who really isn’t going to miss from there. Shite. 1-1 and 25 minutes gone.

The rest of the first half is relatively even but Saints are coughing up too many chances. Philogene takes aim from a long way out and Baz producer is a decent save and Delap again finds himself getting on the end of a ball crossed in and smashes it downwards and towards the goal for Manning to head away.  Mainstream reports will say ‘off the line’ but in fact, it was about five yards out.

Though we are conceding chances, so are Hull with Sulemana again burning everyone down the left before his cross eventually finds its way out to KWP on the right. KWP cuts in across the top of the box before letting fly with his left foot and it deflects of of Greaves head and loops just over the bar.

Half-time and whilst it’s not been a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination, there hasn’t quite been enough intensity about us, certainly without the ball and it’s been far too easy for Hull to get through. I also feel that today we haven’t looked after the ball well enough either, which of course puts more focus on our defending.

Second half and we’re unchanged and it’s mainly Hull creating moments start the second half with Delap getting across from our left and Philogene really had to take it first time but by the time he sorted his feet out he was blocked and the ball bounced to Morton whose effort was actually blocked by his own player and so the danger passed after KWP and Smallbone had a little conversation about who was going to mess up their possession stats by hoofing it out.

Around the 60 minute mark it was a bit of a sea change in the game as Saints suddenly started to look the more likely. Alcaraz went close went picked out by an Adam Armstrong pass and his first time effort was excellently saved download by Allsopp.  It was pretty much his last contribution as he was replaced with Che Adams and Sulemana also departed to be replaced with Edozie.

Having made the decent save from Alcaraz a few minutes earlier, Allsopp was at it again after Flynn Downes had burst through a couple of challenges on the edge of the box before turning and teeing up Smallbone on the edge but in truth, his side footed effort didn’t carry enough venom to beat a decent keeper in decent form.

Saints were now undoubtedly the better side going into the last 15 minutes, with Charles, Fraser and Mara replacing the tiring Armstrong brothers and Smallbone.  There was however only one side out there settling for a draw but we couldn’t force a decent opening and we were in the fifth of five added minutes when Mara won a throw out on the right hand side. KWP took it to Downes, who burst past a rather weak challenge to get to the line before pulling the ball back into the middle to where Ryan Fraser had got away from his marker and swept a side foot volley into the net. Let’s go fucking mental. 95th minute, lovely, not enough time left for even us to fuck it up.

Flynn Looks For Fans Not Enjoying Themselves

Make no mistake, this is an impressive win with Hull having only lost twice all season and on the same points as us going into the game. None of those defeats had been at home as said earlier, so they are basically very hard to beat but we did it. Going away up North also always adds another layer of difficulty to the assignment so I found this to be a game where there was lots to be positive about.

Like the Rotherham game, there were parts of the game where we looked superb when it all clicks and obviously, we need to play like that for longer periods in these games to win games more comfortably. Russell Martin seems to be working out what's the best use of his squad after the dodgy four game losing streak and I’m also becoming increasingly impressed with his in-game changes and tweaks as we came out of the start of second-half in much better shape and with much more intensity than we had in the first half.  This is becoming a bit of a theme and a far cry from the days of Ralph Hasenhuttl, when we were always despairing at his lack of ability to see what was happening in the game and change it whilst it was going on.

There were some excellent individual performances. THB and Bednarek once again looking like a very decent partnership with the correct blend of attacking the ball and sweeping up behind.  The skipper is going to be waiting for an injury or suspension to get a game at this rate.  Elsewhere in the back four,  KWP had a magnificent game at right-back, once again proving that he is by far the best attacking right back in the league and long may that continue for a player who really looks like he’s enjoying his football even though he is far too good for this level.  Ryan Manning managed to pick up his fifth booking of the season and so will miss the Preston game.  How a player who barely makes a tackle gets five bookings in ten and a half games is a bit of a mystery though I suspect if you look at tactical fouls, he'd be right up there.

Flynn Downes had probably his best game in a Saints shirt, though relatively quiet in the first half, he came alive in the second, driving the team forward and two of the best bits of play of the whole game were his bursts from midfield to create the chance for Smallbone that was saved and what turned out to be the winning goal for Fraser.

It’s also an obvious thing to look at the goalscorer and Ryan Fraser hasn’t contributed a great deal in terms of goals and assists since he arrived from Newcastle in the last days of the transfer window, but his work rate has been excellent when on the pitch, particularly defensively.  Playing in a largely unfamiliar number eight role, he certainly stepped up today when needed, arriving unmarked at exactly the right time and that was a bloody good finish which many other players would’ve belted over the bar.  He gave a great interview at the end of the game as well, basically saying that he's playing to earn to chance to stay here - can't knock that.  Over the past year or so we've had enough players playing to get away and not scoring any last minute winners at the same time.

I think that this is a really important win.  For starters, Hull are a decent side and look well coached and well set up with some decent players and like with the Stoke game, we've come away from home and found a way to win.  Confidence is everything and wins like this instill belief in the players.  So, with this part of the Frozen Wasteland of the North successfully negotiated, we now head off west to Preston North End. This result should give us a lot of confidence going into that game with ten points out of twelve, now go and do it again on Wednesday.  Up the Fucking Saints.

Premier League Match 33 - Southampton 0 Hull 0

The New Mural for St.Mary's Was Coming on Well

Hull at home is not a fixture to set the pulses racing but today presents a decent chance for 3 points as we’re not playing on of the Premier League big boys.  Hull started the season with no players and a shit manager in Moonface but somehow managed to stay in touch with everyone else until it was time for Moonface to depart and be replaced by Marco Silva.  Silva got the Paul Merson seal of approval in that the ex-Skate, ex-Drug talking alcoholic gambler thought his appointment as a joke and he’s quietly gone about giving Hull a chance to stay up.  Fair play to him for doing so.  In truth, all of their points have been at home and their away record is absolutely abysmal so it should be three points for us.

Last week it looked like the takeover by Lander Sports was on again but then came reports that one of the main players in Lander Sports had a slightly dubious history involving bribery and execuition.  Not exactly a parking fine and a speeding ticket - so that's all gone quiet again.

To today - Usually I’ll watch the highlights of the game to confirm I’ve got certain incidents correct or in the correct order but in an illustration of what is becoming The Southampton Way, I can’t be arsed.  Also, there were no incidents of any note until the 90^th minute anyway.

So, the first half happened.  Saints were fucking clueless going forward as yet again, playing three wingers didn’t work in the slightest.  Hull didn’t commit any players forward and we didn’t attack with any dynamism at all.  No passes to Gabbiadini and that was it.  Grosicki hit the post for them from a free kick and that was it.

The half time relay happened with Kenzie Benali showing more enthusiasm than any of the players and at least some fucker had a shot at goal.

The second half happened as well.  Claude made some shite like for like substitutions which changed absolutely nothing and in the last minute, the big unit N’Diaye decieded to try and rip Yoshida’s head off instead of defending against him at a set piece and the ref gave a clear penalty.  So, after 90 minutes of utter dogshit, we had a gilt edged chance to get three points which we didn’t deserve and paper over some serious chasms.  There are two potential penalty takers on the pitch, Tadic and J-Rod and it falls to bloody Tadic.  A stroke of his left foot and a bit of a scuffer to the keeper’s right and Jakupovic gets down will to get a strong hand to it.  Average penalty, good save.  I can’t even be arsed to be that angry about it.  It's like when Shane Long is clean through - you don;t even get excited because you know that either through an offside flag or missing the target, there's a very good chance it's not going in.  Tadic is a shite penalty taker so he’s always likely to miss and the game has been completely shite and I think I’m numb.  I don’t think anyone really cares.

It nearly gets worse as Hull go up our end and win a corner.  We predictably don’t clear it properly and Niasse should score but he’s absolute wank so Cedric manages to clear his poked effort off the line easily enough.  Full time and thank fuck for that!  Yet another afternoon at St.Mary’s which has taken up a few hours of my life that I’ll never get back. 0-0, the result the game deserved.

Fucking dreadful. If we had won 1-0 with a penalty then it would have been a robbery in what was a completely abysmal performance. Didn't score and we didn't deserve to win. Make no mistake, Hull didn't deserve to win either. They came for a point and they got it, really really easily.

Attention must turn to our manager and everything about him. In the second half, Hull were hardly attacking at all and the manager had a chance on 60 minutes to try and change things with substitutions, which is what they are there for. Everything about what Claude does is predictable. It was predictable in the last game that the Chuckle Brothers would not be able to stop Diego the Bastard. It was predictable that Caceres would still not be put in the team today despite the struggles those two had in the Chelsea game.  It is predictable that playing Boufal, Tadic and Redmond behind one striker would not work - after all it hadn't worked in the Bournemouth and Manchester City games when this combination ruined the shape of the team and the performance went to shit.  It was predictable that Boufal would be the one substituted today despite far away being better than the other two. It was predictable that it would be straight swap substitutions. What fucking difference was there going to be, taking off a good striker and putting on a worse one.  Play with two strikers you boring predictable fucker. What are you afraid of? I'm getting somewhat tired of boring and predictable.  After the first two subs, I predicted that the third would be J-Rod for Redmond with two minutes left.  Guess what – I was right – predictable as fuck. 

So many home games with absolutely zero excitement at an average of barely a goal a game.  Not good enough.  A combination of pre-Manolo shit strikers and Claude tactics.   In the 4-2-3-1 formation that we have at the moment, you need a No 10 who is a goal threat and Tadic is not.  Is it 2 or 3 goals this season?

A number of players looked like they really couldn't be arsed today, none more so than Ryan Bertrand who has been a superb player for us over the past three seasons but today he really looked like he couldn't be less interested. Joining him in that was Nathan Redmond who was absolutely appalling. Then there was Dusan Tadic who did at least look like he was trying at some point but again, we go back to predictability with his penalties. As they go it actually wasn't too bad a spot kick but you never feel like he's definitely going to score and it's certainly not a surprise when he doesn't. Manolo Gabbiadini didn't get a pass all game and instead of giving him some help with a strike partner, Claude decides to take him off. Not only that, he replaces him with Shane Long who has absolutely zero confidence at the moment and looks like a player who knows it and he knows that nothing is going to happen for him. Steve Davis and Oriol Romeu were best two players and they at least try their hearts out for 90 minutes. The Chuckle Brothers at centre back had absolutely nothing to do but still managed to look shaky with long punts forward sailing over their head and bouncing and causing people to hack the ball out of play.

JWP got dropped today, I assume because of a poor performance at Chelsea.  With him went our threat from dead balls and the only midfielder we have who can pass the ball with any intent.  If having a poor game is the criteria for getting dropped then we should see some different players for the next match with Bertrand, Tadic and Redmond being replaced with McQueen, Sims and Hojbjerg and of course we know that the Chuckle Brothers should be broken up but there's no point in even wishing for that any more as Mr fucking predictable will see to that. To think that I had a go at Pochettino once for only having a plan A.  At last his plan A was decent.

In the other dugout today was Marco Silva, a manager who has been busy inspiring a revival in Hull City's fortunes. "Inspiring" - there is a word that you'll never hear in the same sentence as "Claude".  Some like Adkins, inspire with personality.  Pochettino and Koeman with their standing in the game and by having a string of international caps for their respective countries.  A few achievements in French football and a very quiet, almost gentle personality isn’t going to cut it.  Claude shows that it means something to him whenever we score a goal – something that we don’t do often enough.  ‘Dead rubber’ game like this one are a good indicator of whether players want to put it in for our manager.  Now cast your mind back over the last 90 minutes.

Something clearly isn’t working at the moment – I thought after the Everton away game that he’d lost the dressing room but that kind of got swept under the carpet with the José Fonte situation and the run to the EFL Cup Final.  It’s beginning to look that way again.  I got asked in my Podcast interview the other day if I thought Puel should stay or go.  My answer is that I don’t really know, it's not like some managers that we've had int he past where it was so bad that they simply had to go (Burley, Branfoot, Jones for football reasons) – but what I do know is that when I'd found out they had gone, I was pissed off when all of Pardew, Adkins, Pochettino and Koeman were no longer the Saints manager.  If Claude was not the Saints manager any more, I don’t think I’d care.   A new manager may be worse but there are many managers out there who would love to manage Saints who would be better.  That was the criteria that Cortese used when Adkins went - he felt that there were better managers out there.

Premier League Match 11 - Hull City 2 Southampton 1

Shall we Just Beat them or still give them a chance and make it Exciting?

A trip to Hull followed the glorious win against Inter and a good chance to go into the International break with a win.  A refreshed José, Ryan, Clasie, Davo & Charlie would be returning to the team so there’s no reason to assume that anyone would be too tired and we should have enough ability to take care of Hull who are making an early run for the bottom of the league.

Having only had about 4 players signed on at one point of the summer, they scraped together a squad and actually started with a couple of wins under caretaker boss Mike Phelan.  He then got the job permanently and they were so inspired by the appointment of Moon Face that they lost 6 games in a row.  We have to make it 7 and anything less will be disappointing.  Their ground is now called the KCom Stadium.  I have no idea what KCom is and have no desire to look it up.  Moon Face can call on David Marshall who is a decent goalkeeper and the Curtis Davies / Michael Dawson combination at centre back which is pretty solid.  They also have the perennially overrated Tom Huddlestone who has such quick feet that look like they’ve been set in concrete.

Saints make the predictable changes but I dunno… international break next week and surely Hojbjerg is worth a place over Clasie…. And JWP was so good against Inter… should we be making the most of that good form?  The one deviation from the usual plan is that Martina is on the bench with Maya Yoshida slotting in at right back.  I imagine he’ll have to get forward a lot more than he usually would but hopefully he won’t be as much of a liability at the back.  It would be hard to be as much of a liability to be fair.

As said, Hull have lost their last six games and there’s a reason for that – it’s because they’re shite and they’ve appointed a shocking manager and their club is run in a shambolic manner by an owner who doesn’t give a shit and doesn’t want to be there.  Anyway, he’s not playing but in the crowd dreaming of the team being called the Humber Tigers or whatever.  We start with José Fonte gifting Hull a decent situation with a shit backpass which doesn’t even get halfway there and puts Hernandez in.  Lucky he’s wide-ish and so Fonte gets back to get a toe to the cross and take it away from Keane.  Straight from that near calamity, we build through midfield with Clasie knocking a good ball out to Tadic on the right and he feeds it to our rampaging Japanese right back who bursts into the area and has Curtis Davies for company.  Davies is always mentioned when he’s left out of all of the England squads and I know the standard isn’t very high these days but tackling with your wrong foot and clumsily carting over a centre back playing at right back is not great play.  It’s so shit and such an obvious foul that no one moans in the slightest.  Mercifully Tadic is nowhere near it and Austin calmly sends Marshall the wrong way for 1-0, 6 minutes gone.

They are shit and they’re also unlucky as both strikers have to go off injured.  First Hernandez and then Keane to be replaced by Mbokani (last seen being shit for Norwich last season) and our old mate Robert Snodgrarse who combines being a half decent player with being a moaning twat for Leeds, Norwich again and now Hull.  It’s all us and Austin has a shot blocked.

It nearly all goes horribly wrong for us as a ball gets headed out and Tadic goes in with Mason and misses the ball and catches the Hull man very high on the thigh.  There could have been no complaints if that had been seen as a red card offence but the ref decides it’s a yellow and we got a bit of a break there.  I don’t think he meant it but it looked bad.  Put it this way, I think he got away with it because he has no reputation and he’s not a defender.  If a defender or Romeu had done it then off you go.

It’s still all us to a ridiculous degree but the tempo drops almost like we feel we don’t need to kill the game off.  We still create chances but there’s no intensity.  Redmond produces a great spin and through ball and Clasie is onto it but he doesn’t get enough on the shot and it barely brushes his studs and Marshall tips it wide.  From the corner, Hull sort of clear it and Clasie drills a 25 yarder straight at the keeper.

Just before half time there’s another good move with Redmond playing it in to Austin who should shoot first time but delays and allows Marshall to get in position to save it again.  Again, we’ve totally dominated but not put the game to bed – we’ve scored a penalty thanks to a horrific bit of defending which is our only reward for total domination of a far inferior opponent.

The first action of the second half is Bertrand winning a corner which he clearly kicked off the park himself.  It’s funny because it’s Snodgrarse who has a major moan up at the referee.  He was 100% correct to have a moan but he’s still a twat.  Please let us score from it to make it even funnier… Davis swings it over, Marshall flaps nowhere near it and Virgil’s header loops high over everyone and bounces over off of the top of the bar.  Bollocks.

On the hour mark we have a scare as Mbokani wins a free kick by backing into Fonte and Snodgrarse’s free kick is met by McGuire at the far post and he’s gloriously unmarked but he gets the direction all wrong and squirts it across the goal and we clear it out for a throw on the other side.  From the throw, Hull easily work it round Clasie and Yoshida and a low cross is met by the completely unmarked Snodgrarse on the penalty spot, bang, 1-1, fucking hell!  Every fucking team we play against needs one chance to score whereas we need about 15.

Another ball forward and this time Bertrand goes mountaineering and it’s another free kick.  Snodgrarse puts it in exactly the right place and Dawson evades all our defenders, despite us having three centre backs on the pitch and simply flicks it into the net for 2-1.  It’s fucking ridiculous and we only have ourselves to blame.  Bollocks.  The only good news is that there’s still the best part of half an hour to go.

Mbokani is a twat.  He’s going for the big belly flop or the drop to his knees every time a defender goes near him now.  Stand up you prick.  With 20 to do Claude decides to bring on Boufal for Tadic and the new man nearly produces straight away, jinking inside and playing in Austin who shoots low and well saved by Marshall.  He should possibly have fed it on to Davis but we all know what Davo’s shooting in pressure situations is like.

Redmond and Clasie are off for JWP and J-Rod but Boufal is still our most likely route to goal, drawing a foul out of Snodgrarse.  It’s wide left of the penalty area and JWP takes the wrong decision to shoot and it flies harmlessly wide of the near post.  We’re playing with the urgency that we should have been playing with for the last hour and JWP feeds in Austin who tries a sidefooted effort from the edge of the box but Marshall again gets across well to save and it’s Austin again with another opening a few minutes later which is blocked because he took an extra touch and gave Marshall a chance to get close.  Oh yes, Hull are throwing everything in the way now they’ve got something to hang on to.

Of course, they’re gonna have their chances on the break and Snodgrarse tries to win goal of the season but hits the crowd and that’s merely and interval as we pile forward, this time with Boufal producing a great cross to the back stick where Yoshida arrives but Marshall is once again in the right place on the post to push it wide.  93, 94, another corner comes in and a combination of bodies puts the ball goalwards and Clucas whacks it off the line and it hits J-Rod and flies over the bar.  Lucky fuckers.  All over.  What a fucking gift wrapped three points for Hull that was.

I am pissed off.  We fucked that right up and it worries me slightly that even shite like Hull are more clinical with taking chances than we are.  I guess we were due a duff result after a Europa League game but it really shouldn’t have been this one.  Beat Inter Milan, lose to Hull – only Southampton.  I don’t really give a shit about game stats as only the score matters but suffice to say, Hull scored 2 from 2 on target shots and we scored a penalty from fucking loads.  Not good enough.  Every other stat was a landslide in our favour – yet we still managed to lose.

Hull are still going down, big time.  I’d put money on them finishing bottom.  That’s not sour grapes as I have nothing against them, it’s just an opinion based on what they have on the pitch and the shambles off of it but the lesson from today is that if Saints don’t play with 100% intensity all game then we can lose to anyone.

Much to my irritation, Liverpool have been pasting the shit out of everyone in the League and they’re next at St Mary’s but before that we have an International break to endure with England playing Scotland.  Fraser and Ryan will be watching at best.  The same old shit has happened again with the squad in that the strikers picked for the squad by the mercurial Southgate are Vardy (0 goals all season), Sturridge (0 goals all season), Rooney (a sub and shit) and Kane (injured).  Austin with his 8 goals in 11 games or whatever it is, hasn’t got a look in but still – we’re picking players on reputation and not form again.  Despite years of doing that and years of being shit, we are still doing that.  We’ll no doubt beat Scotland cos they are after all, a pub side and that, with depressing inevitability will secure Southgate the job and another World Cup with the same old shit as before.

Probably the best result for all concerned would be a 0-0 draw as that would depress everyone still further and maybe people will stop turning up at Wembley which is the only thing that will make the twats at the FA think about things.  Apparently we’ve surrendered some of our home advantage by giving thousands more tickets than was needed to the Scots because it wasn’t going to sell out.  This is both unbelievable and depressing.

Back to Saints and there’s no argument that today’s result was a bit of a downer.  Like I say, we were due a flat one after a Europa game but it shouldn’t have been today against that lot.  Our ability to dominate a game and not put it to bed is a recurring theme this season and others aside from Charlie Austin need to step up and start sticking the ball in the net occasionally.  

Premier League Match 32 - Southampton 2 Hull 0

Keep the Faith

Surely a fixture against Hull City at home is the perfect game for you when you need to get back on track.  After all, they are missing The Great Gaston who will be doing his usual and having no impact on the game, only this time there won’t be the level of expectation that there usually is as he isn’t allowed to play as he’s on loan from us.  There is a real danger of the season petering out for us which would be a real bastard after the season we’ve had so far.  We really should have beaten Everton last week but at least we had the excuse of the fact that we always lose at Goodison.  There are no excuses for home against Hull.

A quiet week had been had and the only noise was the sound of made up bullshit from the media regarding our outgoing players.  Whatever will be, will be… as the song goes.  As for Hull, well this was supposed to be the season where they kicked on but when you look at it, they signed players from bigger clubs who were basically taking a step down to join them and you always question how good or how motivated these players actually are.  When they signed Huddlestone, Livermore, Ben Arfa and Ramirez, the general feeling was that these were good players and they would be comfortably in mid table.  However, scratch the surface and you know that Ben Arfa and Ramirez are brilliant one game and then disappear for and if they’re so great, why did Newcastle and Saints let them go.  The same applies with Spurs flogging Huddlestone and Livermore.  The Spurs reject contingent was also swelled by Michael Dawson’s arrival.  Nikica Jelavic was great at the start for Everton but quickly tailed off and they were happy to let him go.  He’s done very little for Hull and is always injured.  Another big signing in the summer was Abel Hernandez who is a Uruguayan international but he isn’t exactly Luis Suarez.  I would be slightly worried how they’d cope financially with the wages that the permanent signings would be on, if they fail to avoid relegation.

There is a surprise on the team sheet for us with Nathaniel Clyne being absent and Maya Yoshida in the starting XI.  The more predictable changes see Mané coming in for Elia and Steve Davis back in for JWP.  Clyney s on the bench which suggests he’s merely being rested for a game and he’s joined by Paolo Gazzaniga who has always sported a dodgy barnet and today is no exception.  As we are about to get underway, Toby Alderweireld is heading out to the right back berth.

Away we go and Hull gift us a golden chance in the first 30 seconds as Livermore tries to knock it back to Harper and it nearly gets half way there and Long is through.  His first touch is shocking and he shins is past Harper and then can’t keep it on the pitch before it runs out of play.  There are two shocking touches rom Long in this little sequence.  The first one where he knocks it onto his own shin is bad and the attempt to keep it on the pitch having shinned it round the keeper is pretty ropey as well.

Once that little incident had passed, Hull were looking the slightly less shit of two teams who weren’t very good.  A crossfield ball from Dawson went to Quinn who easily beat Alderweireld and fed Aluko and the only professional who’s got a sister who is a better player than him, shanked his effort wide.  Following a poor pass from Morgan and some serious backing off from Yoshida, Aluko gets another shot in and Superkelv is the first goalkeeper given any work to do.

Graziano of course hasn’t scored since he left school but he comes pretty close when Long takes down an Alderweireld crossfield ball and the it bounces intot he box where Pellè hits it well but Harper spreads himself well to block.  It’s a rare moment for us going forward because in the main we are having a shocker.  Hull are closing us down well and we’re either hoofing it or losing it.  Steve Davis is the next to lose the ball and Aluko again drives forward before skimming a decent effort just past the post.

A hoof upto Graziano is next and Alex Bruce has got both arms around him but Mr Friend doesn’t give it.  He gives a free kick and a yellow card to Graziano though when he frees himself and accidentally whacks Bruce in the face.  Well that’s how it looked to me anyway.  Shite refereeing because if you blow for the first foul then the second one doesn’t happen.

We’re still being shite in general and it’s Maya’s turn next.  We have a corner and it gets knocked out to Maya who loses it and Hull break with N’Doye feeding Aluko.  Big Vic is back and he appears to close him down and win the ball but Mr Friend has noticed a quick pull on the Hull player and Big Vic is in the book for the 10^th time this season and therefore banned for the next two matches.

Alderweireld takes a pot shot from wide which is straight at Harper and that’s the end of the first half, a first half in which we’re been shit.  Hull are very limited but we’re making them look half decent.  So many poor performances out there with really only Superkelv, Jose Fonte and Graziano doing anything decent.  I spent the half time interval telling anyone who’s listen that I’d get Clyney on for Long, go with three at the back and get Mané up front with Graziano but Ronald wasn’t listening and off came Big Vic to be replaced with JWP.

Hull are still pressing well at the start of the second half and Superkelv has his first dodgy moment since Fraser’s injury with a horrible under-pressure clearance which slices off  hif foot up in the air and José Fonte has to smash it anywhere.  The first decent chance of the second half falls to Hull as Elmohamady feeds Aluko who knocks it back to Livermore whose low drive is smartly kept out low by the sprawling Superkelv.

Toby then pings a ball over the top of McShane at left back and in front of Shane Long whose touch is again horrible but Bruce comes across and needlessly trashes him.  Even Kevin Friend can’t fail too give that and he duly obliges.  Sadio Mané looks like he wants it but the captain is over and telling him to give the ball to JWP who confidently dispatches it Sir Rickie style hard and high past Harper to make it 1-0.  I was half expecting a bit of a sulk but Sadio Mané was the first one of=ver the JWP as he celebrated. Get in.

We don’t really deserve to be in front and we are grateful to Bertrand on the line to clear a Chester header following a corner.  Mané has had a poor game and he’s off to be replaced with Tadic and Elia is on for Long soon after. Shane applauds the Hull fans and they in turn kind of ignore him.

Tadic has gone to the right wing and one thing is apparent and that is that he’s far too good for McShane who he turns inside out about four times before crossing. Saints are down that wing again and Tadic cuts infield and plays a a nice abll to Morgan who drives to the line, cuts in and knocks a little pass to Graziano who smashes it in the net for 2-0.  Game over methinks and me also thinks the Big Italian will be rather relieved that he’s finally scored.

With ten minutes to go, Hull are all done and we have a decent chance to make it 3-0  as Toby plays a lovely 1-2 with Graziano before picking out Steve Davis with a lovely low cross but the man who never scores waves his left foot at it and wafts it hopelessly over the bar from 10 yards.  It was really too much to ask for him and JWP to both score in the same game.

In the end it was quite comfortable once the penalty hit the net and we cantered it from that point on really.  In the first half we were absolute shit and no one aside from Superkelv was having a good game.  In the second half the number of players playing well was much higher.  Maya Yoshida in the first half for example was absolutely woeful but in the second he was outstanding and it was a similar story for Morgan Schneiderlin, Graziano Pellè, Ryan Bertrand, Toby Alderweireld and José Fonte.

The substitution by Ronald Koeman and the tactical change that the introduction of JWP enabled was key to turning the game around and it’s so good to know that we have a manager capable of doing this.  He was also very honest in his appraisal of the game, saying that the first half was unacceptable and he’s spot on with that.  Though Hull had the better of the first half, they were still shit only that we were worse.  We only had to get out of first gear for about 15 minutes to win the game comfortably.  If the measure of a side is how they react to adversity then Hull are shite.  Once the penalty went in then they had nothing.  They kept trying but Superkelv could have been in a deck chair for the last half an hour.  I like Steve Bruce and he’s always very complimentary about Saints but it would be a major surprise to me if Hull stayed up – they have nothing up front and 0-0 draws are not going to get you out of it.

Having said that about Steve Bruce, he did have a bit of a moan after the game about the Graziano incident, saying that he should have been sent off.  I can see his point but it didn’t look like he meant it to me.  At the time I thought it was a case of the referee causing the problem as he ddidn;t give the obvious free kick when Alex Bruce grabbed hold of Graziano and as he’s freed himself he’s caught him.  If the ref gives the first free kick for holding like he should then we don’t have a problem.

I thought Graziano was superb today.  His hold up play was absolutely top class as was his passing.  He had to chances at goal, scored one and brought a decent save with the other.  He annoyed me at one point when he didn’t get a pass from Long and he was still throwing the big ‘Mamma Mia’ and looking at the sky for effect when we’d won the ball back and were looking to pass to him.  Ryan Bertrand got annoyed at this as well and was pointing this out to the Saints bench at the time.

Ha ha ha – Spurs lost at home to Villa so with Liverpool paying on Monday, we are up to 5^th.  Unfortunately, Liverpool have a bye as they are playing Newcastle at home and they are shite.  It appears to be ‘advantage Saints’ in the race for a Europa League spot but let’s for a moment get unrealistic and not that Manchester City are in 4^th and appear to be in freefall after a chastening 4-2 dicking by United who now seem nailed on for 3^rd place.

Next up is an away trip to mid-table Stoke City.  We’ve already beaten them twice this season so why not?

Premier League Match 10 - Hull 0 Southampton 1

One does not simply stop Victor Wanyama

I don’t want to sound arrogant about my team because it usually bites you in the arse…. but last year when we came to Hull, I knew we were going to win.  We were playing well and Hull were, quite frankly, a bit dodgy – not really in relegation danger so not fighting for their lives but not very good either.  We duly won with a José Fonte goal which was given by the goal line technology.  This year is a bit different though as in my opinion, Steve Bruce has done a superb job in recruiting quality players who should mean that Hull are nowhere near the relegation zone.  They lost Shane Long to our good selves but invested wisely and brought in Abel Hernandez, Hatem Ben Arfa, Mohammed Diame and perennial sub Gaston Ramirez who has now added Hull to his list of ‘benches I have sat on’.  They still seem to struggle to score goals a bit but they’re hard to beat and recent draws away at both Arsenal and Liverpool prove this point.

Talking of Liverpool – the early game of the day saw them play away at Newcastle and get beaten 1-0.   The defender who left us because we had no ambition again played like someone who had never played football before and the pièce-de-résistance was him being involved in a 50-50 challenge and bottling it.  Then there was Mr IQ who as we know, can only play 60 minutes at the most so Brendan Rodgers has the choice of sitting him on the bench at the start of a game or at the end.  This time though he decided that even at 1-0 down that he had better options to try and rescue the game than bringing on our former captain.  Instead, one of those he sent on was Rickie Lambert who has yet to score for Liverpool which is not surprising because he’s hardly played.  Anyone who watched Saints for the last few years, knows that Rickie needs regular games or else his sharpness goes.  Brendan Rodgers knows that but instead he picks Balotelli every game who does nothing.  If Rickie had moved anywhere other than his boyhood club, this move would be seen as a complete disaster.  To be honest, it is anyway.

Anyway, enough of that mid-table team.  We  have a mid-table team to play ourselves today in Hull.  The teamsheets reveal that our double encounter with Stoke hasn’t left any casualties despite Charlie Adam’s efforts and the only changes see Toby Alderweireld return in place of Florin Gardos and Ryan Bertrand come in for Matt Targett.  Sadio Mané has shaken off the ankle knock from the first Stoke game and is on the bench with Shane Long keeping his place against his former club who he made a whole 15 appearances for.  Hull have Hernandez up front, supported by Ben Arfa with a decent looking midfield 3 of Diame, Livermore and Huddlestone.  Huddlestone gets touted for England occasionally.  Every time I see him he can’t handle it when the opposition midfield close him down quickly and ends up wellying the ball in random fashion.  Hopefully he’s like that today.  In defence they have Paul McShane who is one of those players about whom you have no idea how they’ve made a living out of playing football.

Away we go and it takes all of 3 minutes for the game to come to life and how.  Brady, under pressure from Tadic, knocked a back pass to Jakupovic who had a good looking Italian bloke bearing down on him so he panicked and scuffed his clearance along the ground and from fully 40 yards, Big Vic smashes it first time and it sailed over everyone and straight into the middle of the goal just under the bar.  It’s a brilliant finish and there is no way Vic is going to pull the ‘cool’ goalscoring celebration as he did at Swansea.  He’s off to the corner flag and no one can catch him and no one can quite believe it.  If you tried that 10 times you’d miss the lot but he’s caught it perfectly and it’s just sailed in perfectly with the keeper nowhere.

Unusual goals always seem to make everyone take stock for a few minutes and we’re not at it after the restart and Hull are on top without producing anything.  A cross is fired across the box after a Diame run which Bertrand clears and Hatem Ben Arfa manages to wriggle free but his shot from the edge of the box is straight at Fraser.  The dozing off continues and we piss about rather than clearing the ball and allow Hull to put us under pressure.

On the half hour we build up well and Pellè puts Long away clear on the left.  The ball is bouncing and Jakupovic decides the best course of action, after making a bollock of the first goal is to come charging out like a twat.  Like with Big Vic earlier, Shane’s mind is made up for him and he tries a long range header over the keeper which luckily for Hull both drifts off target and doesn’t find another Saints player who would have an open goal.

Jakupovic redeems himself as the clock winds down to half time as a flowing move ends with Davis expertly sliding a ball inside the right back to Long but the keeper is out to block well as Shane gets his shot in.  It’s half time and we are winning and the world is a happy place.

The opening period of the second half sees Saints in total control.  Whatever has been said by Bruce at half time has not worked unless it was “sit back and try and keep the score down”.  We have a great chance to make it 2-0 but it falls to the wrong man and that’s Steve Davis of course.  Davis himself feeds Tadic who crosses it in from the left and Graziano tries a ridiculously optimistic overhead kick which he fails to make proper contact with but the ball hits a defender and bounces across the goal to where Davis has sidled into the box.  He tries to flick it past the keeper but he’s pulled a star jump and it’s hit his arm and gone for a corner while everyone looks for an offside flag which doesn’t appear.

Shane Long’s afternoon of hustling and harrying his former team mates is over on the hour mark and Sadio Mané is on.  The new man’s impact is almost instant as Dusan does the full back down the right and whips a cross between the keeper and defenders.  In comes Sadio and it’s a sitter on his left foot which he meets and it bounces down and over the bar.  Fucking hell!!!  You’re hoping that later replays will show that a defender got a touch or it took a bobble and he has some kind of excuse but no – it was just shite.

Even with Hull creating absolutely nothing aside from a hilarious attempted overhead kick by Hernandez which sailed into Row Z, Ronald decides to shore it up replacing Dusan Tadic with Corky with Steve Davis moving to the right wing.  Of course, any nerves could be settled once and for all if we actually managed to stick another one in the net ourselves but after a lovely move up the right, Davis pulls it back to Graziano who bangs it the wrong side of the near post as every Saints fan in the ground or watching TV shouted ‘GOOOAAAA-SHIIIT’ or something like that. 

As last week in the Stoke league game, Hull are creating nothing but you’re still nervous.  They look devoid of any attacking ideas though as illustrated when a ball finds its way out to Robertson on the left who lashes it miles over the bar rather than try and find any of the 6 or so Hull players in the penalty area.

The next action is Davis breaking with the ball and only Corky and a couple of Hull defenders for company.  As we all know, Davo is a wonderful footballer but his abilities decrease the further up the pitch he gets so it’s no surprise when he chooses the wrong option and lashes it over the bar as Corky held his head in his hands.  You know what? It doesn’t matter.

Full time and another three points, this time, gained from a thoroughly controlled performance.  We’ve basically defended a lead for 87 minutes without conceding a shot – Fraser would not have got his kit dirty, such was the job that the players in front of him did.  I have never known a Saints side defence a one goal lead with such ease.  Part of this was down to Hull not having much up front but a lot is down to the fact that we didn’t let them have a sniff of anything.  The only criticism is that we didn’t put the game to bed with a second goal with Davis, Mané and Pellè all guilty.  To complain would be churlish though – we’ve had three games in a week, two of which were against a very physical Stoke, two of which were away at pretty inhospitable grounds and we’ve won the lot.  You can’t ask for more.

Steve Bruce was his usual fair self in the interview, bemoaning the goal from their point of view but acknowledging what a finish it was and how good a side we are.  Ronald Koeman was all over Big Vic’s goal and also his general play which was superb.  Along with Morgan and Davo he bossed the centre of the park.  Hull are no mugs in there with Livermore, Huddlestone and Diame but Big Vic was the main man as he broke up the play and kept the ball moving.

The back 4 of Bertrand, Alderweireld, Fonte and Clyne were magnificent, as was the midfield in front of them.  Clyney was highlighted on Match of the Day for both his attacking and his defensive play so even if the old duffer Hodgson (who was at the game) doesn’t realise how good he is, there’s a nice highlights package for him to watch.  No doubt there’s another centre back he wants to try at right back in the next England games though.  Glen Johnson is fit again though and he’s just brilliant (***extreme sarcasm alert ***).

It was left to José Mourinho to acknowledge how well we’re doing when he was asked about being 9 points ahead of Manchester City and he replied with words to the effect of only being 4 ahead of Southampton who just keep winning.  Yes we do, 10 times in the last 11 games.  Yep, we’re still 2^nd and after Sunday’s Manchester Derby win, we’re 2 points ahead of Manchester City. 

Next up we have Leicester at home who are near the bottom of the current form table.  Potential banana skin perhaps but we really should be winning this game as we welcome both Nigel Pearson and Dean Hammond back to St Mary’s ... oh... and that complete cock David Nugent.  Bring it on.

Premier League Match 26 - Hull 0 Southampton 1

Goal-line Technology Proves that Osvaldo is a Twat

Ha ha very funny, Hull away on a Tuesday night in the sleet, rain and wind.  Thanks a lot.  Why the hell we can’t be given a midweek away game in London when there are so many possibilities is beyond me and it’s also beyond the fixture computer it would seem.  Any hardy soul who makes the trip is either certifiably insane or a masochist but I truly hope your adventure is a rewarding one.  I’ve never been to Hull. They say one should try everything in life but sometimes you don’t need to try something to know you aren’t going to like it.  Hull.

Regardless of how it is as a place, their football team have done rather well this season.  Having been promoted and expected to get relegated they have had their heads above water since day 1 and Steve Bruce has defied my belief that he’s not a very good manager.  He does look like Mrs Doubtfire however but he’s managed his team well and in the recruitment of Nikica Jelavic and diving little moany cheat Shane Long, he’s shown that Hull are serious about survival.  The owner of course has made the wrong headlines by wanting to change to name to Hull Tiger Leopard Cheetah Ocelot Jaguars and the man don’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks.

I was thinking that we may actually rest a couple tonight with the FA Cup match against Sunderland coming on Saturday but we don’t with Calum Chambers coming back in for Nathaniel Clyne in what was the only change in the 18.  A quick look down the Hull team sheet sees Paul Mc ‘how the fuck does he get a game in the Premier League’ Shane and Alex Bruce who is of course, the managers son.  He’s miles better looking than his dad but about 2% of the player that his old man was.  Steve Bruce was very complimentary about us when we smashed them 4-1 at our place and his pre-match interview suggests that he’s struggling a bit with how to approach this game, such was our dominance last time.  In the even he’s gone for it with two out and out strikers so fair play to him.

Hull are showing us plenty of respect at the start of the game and this enables us to get on the ball and start passing it.  We should really take the lead after four minutes as Davis, Chambers and Lallana work it down the right, the skipper crosses and Sir Rickie produces a wonderful first touch to make a glorious chance for himself and then curls the free shot wide from about 10 yards.  It hits the stanchion pole behind the goal so there’s a second when you think it’s gone in but bollocks.  The head in hands shows that the big man knows how good a chance that was.

He has another chance five minutes later as following some more patient stuff in Hull’s half, Steve Davis plays a great positional shot into his path and Sir Rickie tries to lift it over the onrushing Harper who makes a good save to keep it out.  Two Hull defenders and the keeper have thrown themselves in to try and block it and they’ve all smashed into eachother.  Bruce is up first, then Harper but McShite has fucked himself and after a lengthy stoppage is off on a stretcher.  It’s horrible when players get carried off like that, unless it’s Samir Nasri.  When it happens against a Gus Poyet team, he will moan about it stopping the momentum.  He does this because he’s a prick.

                                                                       

George Boyd, who I remember playing for Peterborough against us in league 1, comes on as a sub and Hull reshuffle with a proper defender Elmohamady taking McShite’s place.  The corner we won before the injury is swung over and J-Rod has a free header from 8 yards which he makes a bollocks of, heading it straight down and into a defender.  Hull get up our end for the first time and win a thrown in on the left wing.  It’s hurled into the box where we defend like 8 year olds and let it bounce.  Luke half clears it to Elmohamady who picks out Long with a cross who surprisingly, doesn’t dive on the floor and complain to the ref.  Time stands still as it flicks off his head, beats King Artur and pings off the post before it rebounds to Boyd who can’t get any power into his bouncing effort which King Artur just shovels over the bar.  It would be just typical to miss three decent chances and then for the opposition to score with their first attack.

We are trying to play in the usual way but the ball through to the forwards is poor and usually easily picked off by Hull defenders who then leather it as far away as they can.  With Long being a midget and Jelavic not being a striker who is going to endlessly chase lost causes, it’s pretty poor stuff.  Before the game, Bruce was championing his midfield pair of Huddlestone and Livermore (loan!!) and his centre half Davies, saying they might make the England squad – well, the former two just watch the ball disappearing over their heads, usually wellied there by the latter.

J-Rod does what he does best and runs at the opposition goal and commits defenders,  Livermore has got the wrong side and Elmohamady comes in and brings him down.  Despite this being a clear yellow card offence, the ref can’t be arsed and we get a free kick and Hull get 11 behind the ball.  More decent football though creates another opening though as the ball breaks to J-Rod on the edge of the box and with a casual swing of his right boot, the ball curls over Harper and pings off the angle of post and bar.  A great effort and very unlucky.

The ref is pissing me off now, firstly giving a free kick against Morgan for sod all which allows a cross into our box which Davies meets but heads wide.  Then Shaw gets pulled back as he runs towards our own goal but no free kick is given and he ends up giving a corner away.  This gives the Leopards another half chance as the corner is cleared and Livermore volleys well over.  Aside from charitable refereeing, Hull are creating nothing and seem to have nothing to hurt us with as long as we defend the 70 yard ball forward to the strikers.  Having said all that, they do then work an opening when Jelavic decides to try running and after a piss poor attempt at a tackle by Steve Davis, he pokes his effort straight at The King who isn’t spilling any vodka saving that one.

The next highlight is Curtis Davies attempting a short pass and it went straight to a Saints player so the next time it gets launched into orbit and Long waits for Fonte to breathe on him before flopping down on the ground.  Fair play to the ref who on this occasion, is having none of it.  It’s so bloody predictable - on the ground or in the air, Long will receive the ball with his back to goal and just fall over.  He’s not a bad player but he is a horrible little shit.

Both teams have a chance as the half draws to a close with Shaw picking up a booking after he hoofs Elmohamady over when trying to make up for a crap pass from J-Rod.  Huddlestone, with his managers endorsement ringing in his ears, obviously has no clue what to do with the free kick from out wide and just drills it into the base of the wall in pub player fashion.  The last move of the half ends with a Lallana cross from the left and J-Rod climbs well at the back stick but heads onto the roof of the net.  Half time – we’ve been by far the better side and playing the better football but we’ve struggled in the final third with the ball frequently being lost by Sir Rickie and J-Rod or the pass from the midfielders being too easy to defend against.  Hull for their part – are shite so as long as we defend properly and the referee doesn’t do for us, it should just be a case of whether we can score or not.

We start the second half with a sharp intake of breath as Lallana is trashed by a none-too-subtle challenge by Figueroa and the Saints skipper takes a while to get back up again.  Jose Fonte then makes it very easy for the ref to book him as he makes a mistake and allows the ball to run through to Boyd, before chasing him and bringing him down.  The resulting free kick is taken by Jelavic but it’s another effort that won’t cause any Vodka spillage as The King catches easily.

We look very dangerous down the right as Davis and Chambers again combine for the full back to pull out a superb cross which reaches J-Rod about 8 feet off the ground.  Heading it is the obvious thing to do but why head it when a scissor volley will do, only it won’t as the ball is shinned straight up in the air.  There’s then a good example of how we play and how patient we are as we work down the right but nothings on so we go all the way back to King Artur and then out to the left wing where Shaw beats two players before causing havoc with his cross which is scooped out for a throw-in.

I have the feeling in my water that it’s coming but as usual with Saints, there are more near misses to endure.  First Davis plays a good ball into Sir Rickie who hits a decent shot across the keeper from an angle but Harper gets down well for a man of his advancing years.  The Ocelot’s defence is creaking and they are lucky to get an offside decision as a slick 1-2 between J-Rod and Adam is flagged offside before J-Rod pokes the ball at the keeper.  The Jaguars attacking is now limited to hopeful crosses and from of these, Long makes the mistake of challenging King Artur in the air and it’s a bit like when a fly flies into an oncoming lorry on a motorway.

Up the other end we win a corner as Chambers chases a lost cause which Figueroa didn’t fancy and does enough to get the decision even though it was 50-50 at best.  The croner is a poor one but it comes back out to Chambers who crosses and we manage to have 4 efforts on goal.  Firstly, Jose wins a header and powers it goalwards, only for Harper to make another good save. Lallana hits the rebound but it’s blocked out to Jose whose effort is cleared off the line by Figueroa before it’s finally smashed into the net by Sir Rickie and we can finally celebrate after going Yes, no, Yes, no, Yes, No.  The ref must have got word from the goal-line technology pretty quickly that Jose’s second effort was over the line as it’s him all the players run to.  Get in!!!

In my opinion, all we need to do is keep possession like we have been and that’ll be enough but it should be all over as a Hull player plays basketball in the box but the ref decides not to give a penalty which on first viewing looked ridiculous.  Steve Bruce goes for it by introducing Aluko (whose sister is the best player in his family) and Robbie Brady and taking off the shite Meyler and Figueroa.  We bring on Guly for Sir Rickie and he goes to the left with J-Rod going up top.  It’s still us doing all the attacking and another Chambers cross sees Harper come for it, change his mind and totally fail to deal with it.  Also not dealing with the responsibility of having to play a bit are Curtis Davies who either bombs it forward or gives it away and Tom Huddlestone who just kicks it anywhere as Saints midfield swarms all over him.

Elmohamady then goes down injured, Guly kicks the ball off and the game is stopped for ages instead of him being got off the pitch.  From the restart we get given the ball back but seem to switch off and King Artur plays a shite ball to Morgan who is too casual and ends up having to bring down a Hull player and gets booked.  What the fuck are we doing?  So, the Tigers have a free kick from 20 yards and up steps Aluko but his effort is wank and hits row Z.  His sister would have done better.

We nearly wrap it up as Shaw gets forward well and his quest for his first goal goes on as Harper saved well down low.  The rebound falls to Guly who has to score but to be fair, Davies gets in to clear it off the line with a great piece of defending.  JWP is on for Adam and the Cheetah’s have a couple of moments.  Firstly Jelavic fastens onto a ball over the top and lobs over the bar and then they actually play some football to get some space for Aluko and King Artur is made to work a bit for the first time in the game but it’s comfortable enough.

I totally love the way we play but two incidents make me laugh in the last few minutes.  Bearing in mind we’re 1-0 up away from home, why the hell is Corky, our defensive midfielder within 30 yards of the Hull goal but never mind as he gets as close as he’s ever got and thumps a fantastic effort onto the angle of post and bar whilst the fans in Row Z jump in anticipation of catching one.  The next time we get the ball out on the right I notice that Luke Shaw is in the centre forward position waiting for the cross.  What the actual fuck?

Big Vic is on for Davis, wins a header and then runs through someone in amusing fashion and that’s it.  Another superb performance which really should have yielded more than a 1-0 win.  Am I complaining though….errr no!  Back to back away wins are a rarity so let’s just enjoy.

Are we good or what?  Yes we are and Steve Bruce knows it and says many nice things about us after the game.  Mauricio was of course delighted with the effort and performance put in and it’s so nice that the fans that made a horrendous trip to Hull and back, were rewarded with a performance and more importantly, a result.  There were great performances all over the pitch but the two standouts for me were Maya Yoshida and Morgan Schneiderlin.  Maya again didn’t put a foot wrong and Morgan was just superb and was the main reason why Huddlestone and Livermore did nothing except smash the ball away in panic.

Hull are going to be looking over their shoulders all season but they seem to be a better side than Fulham and Cardiff and should stay up.  I hope they do because there are many others who I would prefer to see taking the drop.  Having signed the two strikers, Bruce will be tempted to play them but two strikers leaves your midfield light and Saints totally dominated in there today.  I hope Bruce sorts it out and that the Hull fans get their wish to stay as Hull City and not be forced into changing the club name on the whim of the nutjob owner they have.

Next up we have Uncle Gus in the FA Cup and they have the advantage of being at home and having had their midweek league match called off.  Surely this time we can beat them or at the very least get them back to SMS.  Two wins from playing at Wembley.  Come on You Reds!!!