League 1 Match 40 - Rochdale 2 Southampton 0

Welcome to Rochdale

Tuesday night, Rochdale. Can there be a more unappetising place to be? Maybe Hartlepool comes close or Fratton railway station on a Friday night at closing time.

We went up to 2nd on Saturday with our win against Leyton Orient and suddenly everybody starts talking like it’s a formality. Some of that came from Darren Ferguson and Lee Clark, no doubt trying some mind games. This is Saints you fools and until it’s the 94th minute and we’re 3-0 up, there is no such thing as a formality. Nigel Adkins’ positivity is unbreakable though as we take on Rochdale in one of our games in hand, postponed from earlier in the season when the fact that they allow rugby league to be played on this pitch, meant it was one of only 2 games postponed in the entire country.

Dale Stephens and Frazer Richardson come in for Chaplow and Butterfield and Adam Lallana is again on the bench. It is noticeable however that he doesn’t take part in the warm up, suggesting that either all is not well with him and he’ll only be called upon in an extreme emergency or it suggests that he’s so good that he doesn’t need to practice or warm up. We have a diamond formation in midfield again, oh dear.

The game starts and we are given immediate notice that this isn’t going to be easy as Thompson gets free from a corner and heads just over. It’s end to end though and Sir Rickie fires in a free kick from somewhere near Manchester which the mildly-amusingly named Owain Fon Williams tips past the post. He’s at it again a while later as a neat move involving Dickson and Barnard ends with the Gulyman taking aim from miles out and hammering in a shot which kicks up off of the ploughed field but unfortunately, not enough to beat the keeper.

Back come Rochdale and following a generously awarded free kick, where Fonte slid in in ugly fashion but took the ball, Gary Jones fires just wide, probably because he’s as ugly as Carlos Tevez but in a very different way. Rochdale definitely have the upper hand at this stage and following a poorish header and subsequent airshot by Jaidi, O’Grady finds himself 1 v 1 but doesn’t look confident as he goes through and Kelvin spread himself well to save with his feet.

I have a deep sense of foreboding that it’s only a matter of time before we let a goal in and it duly arrives as play is switched quickly from right to left and we have no one in the right midfield position (diamond working well again) which allows the left winger a free run at Richardson. His cross is deep but Thompson rises above a complete wet lettuce challenge from Harding and loops the header back over Davis and in at the far post. One player 100% committed, one player not.

Heading towards half time at 1-0 down and at least we have the hope of the half time magician that is Adkins, turning it round and us producing the usual improvement in the 2nd half. Rochdale however, haven’t read that particular script and O’Grady made a reservation at the Kelvin Davis Restaurant – todays menu featuring his speciality near post dish, whereby he serves up a fucking goal on a plate. O’Grady got through on our left hand side and pressured by no defender whatsoever, hit an average kind of shot at the near post which Kelvin butchered into the net. THIS. HAPPENS. TOO. OFTEN.

All that happened between now and half time was Harding being substituted and Johnno Pace coming on. Harding limped away but this may have been a face saving gesture. Johnno was in Fake Dons territory again, coming on at 2-0 down with Davis having just served up some more near post rubbish.

I’m in my usual away game position of listening to the radio whilst trying to shirk as many ‘dad’ duties as I possibly can. Dunno what it is but I never leave a game early even when we’re getting dicked and there is seconds to go but the prospect of listening to Merrington and the other berk is less than appealing at 2-0 down. I finish the shortest bed time story ever and go against my better judgement and decide to listen to the 2nd half.

The second half starts and we look much more up for the fight and we soon have a chance as Johnno Pace intercepts a crossfield ball and he’s away – Run Forrest! He streaks away from one man and is about to go beyond the last defender and bear down on the keeper when for some strange reason, he decides to shoot from 25 yards instead of committing the last defender and Fon Williams flaps it wide

Rochdale produce a little bit going forward but it’s mainly Saints pressure with corner after corner being won and corner after corner being taken badly by Guly. From one that was decent, Jaidi rose and thumped a header goalwards which Fon Williams again tipped over. There was an overriding sense of ‘not going to be our day’ as the half went on. Jaidi went off in a straight swap with Seaborne and Nigel decided that we had to have a go for the last 20 and Lallana come on for the ineffective Stephens.

Lallana immediately showed that he was the best player on the pitch when despite playing well within himself, he managed to spark us into life curling in a shot which was fisted away by the ever alert Fon Williams. Lallana managed to come closest to pulling one back 5 minutes later when he took a pass from Richardson and smashed in a left footed shot which beat the keeper and thudded back off the near post. A bit of ping pong and it ended up with Guly, who probably never envisaged playing on a Tuesday night in Rochdale when he was honing his skills on the beaches of Brazil. His horrible slice off the outside of his right boot ended up closer to the Copacabana than it did to the goal.

Time dribbled away and so it came to pass that Rochdale had done the double over us and deservedly so. As far as we’re concerned it’s a blow but not a huge one. We still have a game in hand and we are still in 2nd place. It of course means that we cannot really afford to lose at Brighton who today beat Dagenham and Redbridge 4-3 to confirm their promotion which can’t be argued with really. They’ve been the most consistent and best side in the division by miles. They of course have a new ground to play in next season so good times for them. So that’s the Seagulls and the Skates in the Championship. Can the Saints join them? Oh yeah and Bournemouth dropped out of the playoff places today and were replaced by Rochdale.... sorry chaps.

Nigel issued an ‘all stick together’ rallying cry at the end of the game which of course, we have to do. He talked of learning lessons and the abysmal failure of a few things today should make the tactics for future games interesting. The diamond formation does not work for us – in simple terms, it makes all our attacks funnel down the middle and restricts the service into Barney and Sir Rickie. Our midfielders aren’t good enough in possession to keep the ball for long periods, even when they have an extra man to pass to. Defensively, it makes our full backs overworked and unprotected and any team with wingers can have a field day. Yet again, we come under a bit of pressure and Harding and Davis are found wanting – hopefully Adam Lallana will be fit for Saturday so Dicko can go to left back. Would you change the keeper with 6 games to go? Personally I would – there are too many goals flying in that he really should be stopping and I don’t see Bart being worse. Also, why wait until the 70th minute to abandon the diamond formation when it really should have gone as soon as we were 1-0 down.

Next up, Bristol Rovers at home who are looking down the barrel of the relegation zone. Get your money on a Sir Rickie hat-trick but before then, have a bet on whether Barney gets banged up on his ABH charge which is back in court this week. No one said it would be easy and today’s defeat just confirms this. I am growing my fingernails so I can chew them all off.

6 games left, 15 point needed.

League 1 Match 4 - Southampton 0 Rochdale 2

Purple - not good.

Rochdale at home and surely a golden chance to put the JPT fiasco behind us and get three points. No one would give a toss about the JPT if we won this one and Dean Wilkins responded to one of the few good things to come out of that game and picked Alex Chamberlain from the start. He started on the right with Puncheon on the left. In my mind anyway, this meant we’d be more direct and Puncheon would be getting the ball across quicker and not cutting inside every single time he gets it. Aaron Martin was recalled in place of Jaidi and the same announcement was made as before every home game that today, we had special permission to use the multi-ball system which means that Dan Harding can shout and make faces at the ball boys all game.

Rochdale were playing in purple which is a really wanky colour to have a football strip in. I’m sure that they fly off the shelves in the club shop. It was an uneventful start to the game with any Saints life coming through Chamberlain and Puncheon. It took 20 minutes for anyone to have a shot when a Sir Rickie knock down fell to David Connolly who took time off from repeatedly falling over and giving the ball away, to smash a shot wide of the post. Rochdale responded with a long range effort from Jones which produced a nice ‘one for the cameras’ from Kelvin Davis as he comfortably palmed it away.

For me it was already worrying as Rochdale were getting 10 behind the ball when they lost it and Saints were predictably clueless yet again, in how to break it down. The answer is to attack with pace but what we do nearly all the time is go sideways and backwards until usually one of Harding or Butterfield are forced to toss it into the mixer, somewhere near the non-jumping Sir Rickie. It’s predictable and predictably fruitless.

In my opinion, we have found a good player in Aaron Martin who is looking more assured every time he plays. He wants the ball and is happy to distribute it but his main aim is to defend at all costs and I’ve never seen a clearance draw gasps from the crowd but his 80 yard effort will take some beating. If you are going to put your foot through it, you may as well do it properly.

Sir Rickie did pick out Punch with a decent cross field ball and Punch cut inside onto his weaker foot before forcing a save from the Rochdale keeper. This is one kind of Puncheon effort - A reasonably well hit effort but any keeper would have saved it to be fair. We had two more examples of classic Puncheon shooting in the next 10 minutes as he twice worked himself into shooting positions before lashing it into the top corner…. of the Northam Stand, twice.

No doubt that Saints were doing the vast majority of the pressing but then, so we should be. Rochdale broke out and Jones found himself with the ball, about 25 yards from his own goal but with eight Saints players in front of the ball. He motored though the gaping hole where one of Schneiderlin and Hammond should have been and got to the edge of our box unchallenged before slipping a pass to O’Grady who fired under Davis (who seemed to dive the wrong way) before Martin could make the block.

Worryingly, Martin needed lengthy treatment afterwards and it looked like one of those ‘three months out’ jobs but he soldiered on the remaining 30 seconds and at least managed to walk off of the pitch. Half time, one nil down to fucking Rochdale, boooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

It was noticeable that do Prado was not warming up at half time with the other six subs so I was assuming that he’d be on at the start of the second and I was of course, hoping it would be Schneiderlin going off. We’re 1-0 down and we need a goal – Schneiderlin never scores and he never provides an assist either so no real point in him being there but he extent of the tactical tinkering at half time was to put Chamberlain and Puncheon onto the wrong wings. I didn’t hear the whistle to start the second half above the noise in my head being caused by grinding my teeth together.

I stop my teeth grinding as Hammond fires in a rocket which hits some poor bugger on the head and his legs kind of buckle like a boxers do when they’ve been caught flush on the chin. Chamberlain fired over from about 30 yards when he should really have carried the ball on but he was committing defenders and making things happen. Connolly was falling over and being a Rochdale's best defender and Sir Rickie was wandering about like drunk bloke on a dancefloor.

Both of the latter woke up to produce Saints best move of the match and Rochdale stood and watched as Sir Rickie and Connolly combined brilliantly to give Puncheon a shooting chance from three yards which he smashed into the top corner…. of The Chapel Stand. It really was unbelievably bad and any confidence I had of there being a Saints goal just disappeared. The build up for that chance aside, Connolly was continuing his shocker of a match and it was no surprise when his number went up on the hour with do Prado replacing him. When you think about it though – we’re 1-0 down and we are replacing a forward with a midfield player. Fonte then caught the long-range shooting bug and had a go, deflection, roof of the net.

As is natural with all this Saints pressure, it was soon 2-0 to Rochdale as Fonte was outmuscled by O’Grady before having a chance to clear and being too slow. The ball was played back to Jones who smashed in a brilliant strike to give Davis not an earthly. Dean Wilkins response to going 2-0 down was to take off an attacking winger and bring on a left back as Heather Mills replaced Chamberlain. The massed ‘YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!’ from the SMS faithful, surely told the manager what everyone thought of that decision. Heather was kind of on the left wing, Punch was too, Schneiderlin was kind of on the right and Guly was kind of up front but not really. In short – no one seemed to have a clue where they were supposed to be aside from the keeper, defence and Sir Rickie.

We had a chance to pull one back with five minutes to go as do Prado played a superb first time pass into the path of Dan the Moaning Man but he skewed his left footed effort woefully across the goal and it was easily cleared. And so we finshed the game with Rochdale playing possession football and their crowd giving us the ‘Ole Ole Ole’ treatment. Fantastic – can I go home now ? Final whistle – now I can go. Crap.

Three home games in the league and one point. Three teams that have all defended deep and with numbers. We have scored one goal with a deflected free kick so what does this tell us ? It’s simple – no pace in the side to open up teams and a tempo that is too slow. So, we end up lumping it forward to a centre forward who is not fit and then we get frustrated and over commit and get done on the break.

We really missed Lallana and Barnard today but we really should be beating Rochdale at home regardless. I gave up a bit on Puncheon today and finally accepted that he’s actually not very good. He’s a trier who gets himself into good positions and always wants the ball but when it comes to a final ball or a shot then forget it. Alex Chamberlain will be good given time and Guly do Prado had some nice touches but we have to brave enough to play him in the centre of midfield and leave out the French (Lack Of) Resistance who is rapidly becoming one of the most ineffective players I’ve ever seen. So much ability, so little product.

If Dean Wilkins is auditioning for the managers job then he’s out of the interview room with Cortese’s teeth marks in his arse after today. The first substitution was questionable and the second was diabolical. In evidence m’lud, I also give you the generally cluelessness in the last half and hour and the fact that we had another striker on the bench in Tony Garrod – why not throw him on for the last 10 minutes. Bottom line is that for all our play, Rochdale deserved to win as they carried more threat.

I know of course that we started last season on -10 and technically, we were lower than we are now but losing 2-0 at home to Rochdale? I understand that this is a bit harsh towards our opponents and I have say that I thought they looked a decent outfit who will survive comfortably if they play like that. Jones in midfield was superb and O’Grady up front gave Fonte a really tough game. I don’t care about them though, I care about the Saints and one week after winning 4-0 away from home - we’re a fucking disaster. We’ve lost two home games in a row, scored none, conceded five and still those interviewed say, ‘The Manager leaving hasn’t affected us…..’. Bollocks.