Further frustrations following the flop against Palace, but at least we managed to score in that game.

They say goals change games and how spot on that was today.

Early dominance and not taking our chances allowed Swans to get back into the game, albeit on the break, but we watched as Shelvey fired in a warning shot against the post, then the same thing happened and he gave FF the chance to make the only save he needed to make all game. Nuff said.

We again thought that we only had to turn up to win, but we were too patient, too predictable and played into their hands far to often.

Tadic needs to be dropped. He was so poor in 2nd half and always cut back onto his left foot and crossed either at the keeper or behind everyone. He was so slow when we tried to break quickly and usually cut back in, waited for a pass and then allowed the defence to get back. Mane should start next week and perhaps Tadic can be an impact sub, like he was at Old Trafford.

Seeing the Bertrand incident from my seat in the Fam Centre, i didn't think it was a foul as he played the ball first and having watched it on tv, he did get the ball and then the man, but a booking would have been harsh, let alone a red. I expect an appeal - especially when you have Vertongen getting away with strangle holds in the cup in the week !!!

Koeman said on the radio that the luckier team won, which is fair I guess - but it was similar to what we did to them in Wales, or to Man U at OT perhaps. At least he accepted it graciously and didn't have a whole list of excuses - like Monk always does and LVG at Man U for that matter :-)

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Tadic is useless on the right, and maybe even on the left. He should not be in the starting eleven.
We need to get some more shots on goal and JWP needs to learn how to put the ball in the net.

We outplayed The Swans but they got the goal. To think that I said during the first half that this was the best I had seen Saints play for some considerable time. Apart from the above our team played well, second half we started too casually but surely we should have won this game.

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Goals win matches not possession. Good defensive display, midfield should have Morgan and Victor back next week. Pelle needs support, someone to knock balls down to who can score, if we do not get a forward in on Monday and something happens to Pelle then the lack of depth in the squad will be clear for all to see.

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Further frustrations following the flop against Palace, but at least we managed to score in that game.

They say goals change games and how spot on that was today.

Early dominance and not taking our chances allowed Swans to get back into the game, albeit on the break, but we watched as Shelvey fired in a warning shot against the post, then the same thing happened and he gave FF the chance to make the only save he needed to make all game. Nuff said.

We again thought that we only had to turn up to win, but we were too patient, too predictable and played into their hands far to often.

Tadic needs to be dropped. He was so poor in 2nd half and always cut back onto his left foot and crossed either at the keeper or behind everyone. He was so slow when we tried to break quickly and usually cut back in, waited for a pass and then allowed the defence to get back. Mane should start next week and perhaps Tadic can be an impact sub, like he was at Old Trafford.

Seeing the Bertrand incident from my seat in the Fam Centre, i didn't think it was a foul as he played the ball first and having watched it on tv, he did get the ball and then the man, but a booking would have been harsh, let alone a red. I expect an appeal - especially when you have Vertongen getting away with strangle holds in the cup in the week !!!

Koeman said on the radio that the luckier team won, which is fair I guess - but it was similar to what we did to them in Wales, or to Man U at OT perhaps. At least he accepted it graciously and didn't have a whole list of excuses - like Monk always does and LVG at Man U for that matter :-)

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Can't wait for Toby to return. We were too light weight in defence and despite often 3 men close to Gomis, we usually stood off him and allowed him a free header/chest/control every time. With Gomis, Shelvey and Williams, the Swans had 3 good performers in the spine of their team. We did not have these, despite creating enough chances to win the game. Hopefully we will look more solid in the upcoming fixtures against more physical opponents :-)
With Morgan and Vic back, Shelvey would never have had a clear run for his shot against the post (Reed just trotted back with no challenge, when everyone else in the stadium expected a shot) and Vic / Morgan would have been closed down the goal too. Ron had gambled for the win by then though, taking off Reed for Mane, in the hope we would get that vital goal. Ok it backfired, but can see why he took the risk.
Seeing some of the prem stats this morning, we were in the top 5 from all teams, in terms of possession, shots, shots on target and passes - but no result - which was often the case under, dare I say MoPo :-)
The media are really having a go today as well. Typically the anti-Saints writers are back. We lose a game we should have won and despite it being our first loss in 7, our bubble has burst and now Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool are all going to overtake us and we will be lucky to finish 7th !!

On to the transfer window and sky sports say Ron will definitely sign 1, if not 2 today - no surprise to see these are the Serb Djuricic (loan) and Dutchman Tonny Vilhena (somewhere between £3m - £5m).
I guess we will go for Jordie Classie in the summer then :-)

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RK got the tactics wrong against Palace and, in trying to win, did so again on Sunday. By taking off Reed he opened the door for Shelvey to boss the midfield. Tadic should have gone off. He was static too often and didn't earn his money. With him and Clyne, whose head seemed to be in Manchester, we were toothless on the right. JWP is no Morgan when it comes to distribution. Bertrand's red was retribution on his part for some of the treatment he received in the first half, all ignored by the hugely disappointing Michael Oliver. If the main men aren't going to be back next week we certainly need reinforcing. Although his kicking hasn't improved (going by his display against Watford) there must be a case for recalling Boruc!

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Almost more upsetting than the Manure robbery. At least they took it themselves - Swansea had it gifted to them by Michael Oliver who seemed to be working harder for them than Monk was. A particular occasion early on was when Jose was penalised for blocking the Swans player just outside the box and then Bertrand was fouled in exactly the same way a few moments later but got nothing. Pelle was being assaulted almost every time he was up for the ball which he won on most occasions. And yet, every time a player in white fell over and squealed he got a free kick. Oliver is a dreadful ref with little or no control or sense. He panicked and blew the whistle for the trainers to rush on only to turn round and see their player had bounced up, completely unhurt.
We did not play brilliantly except in flashes - there were some really sublime movements in the first half but no one to finish them off. Sometimes JWP just needs to hit the bloody thing.
The team got a bit jittery once an early goal had not arrived and Tadic especially seems to suffer and his precision goes all over the place - he's like a golfer with the yips at the moment and perhaps needs a break from the 1st XI.
Defensively we played okay but allowed Gomis to bully us and he somehow managed to get quite a few free kicks. And we were ripped apart easily by Shelvey's goal which was an identical move to the one just before when he hit the post.
I'm certain we're not a dirty team (not that many bookings and only one ridiculous red) and yet it seems we give away more fouls than almost anyone else. We're just not canny enough to win free kicks and get suckered into giving them away. How Mourinho can complain about a campaign against Cheatski on a day when his diving divas won more than 20 free kicks against us is beyond belief.
Sorry for the rant but I'm just sick of seeing a game I've been looking forward to ruined within a few seconds by the realisation that we'll get nothing from an incompetent referee. As soon as I saw in the programme that Oliver was in charge, my heart sank. He's awful and should be removed from the list. The problem is the others aren't very much better.

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Forallthesaints - agree with many of the free kick comments you make, but I think there was a little more to the Bertrand incident. The 2 players seemed to have a few little spats throughout the game, so maybe this was the end result - but even so,he got the ball and it was not a yellow, let alone a card.
The funniest moment for me was Gomis the tank, being "felled" or pushed off the ball by Mane, a guy literally one third of his size and weight !! It really was a David and Goliath incident and obviously Gomis feined it and even more obviously, the ref bought it !! :-)

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Forester was the blame for this defeat as he could have stoped the shot but instead push it more deep.he can make great saves but at the same time make stupid mistakes like those vs Palace and shfield

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Forester was the blame for this defeat as he could have stoped the shot but instead push it more deep.he can make great saves but at the same time make stupid mistakes like those vs Palace and shfield

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