It was not to be for Saints at St James Park, conceding a goal in the first 5 minutes was always going to make things hard, but overall we knuckled down and made sure that the Toon Army sweated to the final whistle.

The first topic of debate for Saints supporters in the pubs of Newcastle an hour before the game was the absence of Romeo Lavia from the starting line up, everyone felt that if Lavia was going to be rested from one of the three games this week, he should have sat out the Blackpool game and been in the starting line up for this one.

Perhaps Nathan Jones thinking was centred around his ability to play two tough games in a matter of days and wanted to prioritise Brentford for the young midfielder, but the fans were not in agreement.

The second topic was the selection in the back five and the inclusion of both James Bree & Jan Bednarek, Bree was a surprise as he is primarily a right back or to a lesser extent a centre back, he is not a natural wing back, and also his lack of experience at this level, Bednarek was never going to be a popular choice for obvious reasons and most thought that either Caleta-Car or Bella-Kothcap should have been preferred.

In the end both had reasonable games despite some early adjusting needed.

Ultimately though despite our gutsy display and the threat that we might just get a second and make it an uneasy final third for the home side, the fact was we lost because of the same old things that we have lost games this season, ie a lack of concentration and inability to stop leaking early goals and not putting vital chances away.

But hopefully thiese things will get better going forward and the news from the transfer window of two new arrivals, one a genuine centre forward who has a track record for scoring goals will hopefully rectify a few problems.

At time I have taken some sections of our support to task, but rarely the away support and up at St James Park our support was magnificent, around 3,000 travelled to support their team with a view that could best be described as watching it from the top of Redbridge Towers and they never gave up.

They deserved to see their team win, but at least we were not let down by the players on the night and the Newcastle fans afterwards were magnanimous in victory and admitted they had never felt confident of the win right up to the final minutes of injury time.

As I have always said it is better to lose in a semi final than in the 1st round, defeat if hard to take, but at least we turned up and gave them a game, I would rather have been in St James Park last night than anywhere else, Ok I might have preferred to be at Cambridge as we would have probably won and been at Wembley, but you know what I mean.

So we march on, time to concentrate on our Premier League survival, time to stop the moaning about whether Nathan Jones is or isn't the man for the job, he is here now to stay, lets get behind him there will be plenty of time for criticism in the summer if we go down, but in the meantime give him the benefit of the doubt.

Time to perhaps cut the owners some slack, they have showed they are willing to spend money, apparently only Chelsea spent more in the window, the squad has been bolstered with players in key areas we were lacking, there is no reason why we should now not pull clear.

Brentford is a big game on Saturday, but of the travelling Saints fans back their team as they did up on Tyneside and indeed Goodison Park, then we can ,make relegation worries a distant memory.

Photo: Action Images

Colburn added 21:55 - Feb 1 Promising recovery from a poor start. If we hadn't made the mistakes then Lavia on at half time would have worked well but as you say, Saturday is more important and we need him to be able to play 60 mins ideally. Extra time was also a possibility pre kick off. I thought Bree was very good second half and providing there are no issues with work permits then it looks like a good window with the owners providing the tools we need for the fight. But there are no guarantees, so to suggest that we should pull clear is perhaps a little premature. We have a chance but there are many clubs who will pick up points in the bottom half and if we do pull clear and survive, who do you think will go down? We will improve and win more games but it's hard to see who the 3 are for the drop when you consider Dyche will have Lewin back and organise them better and the others near us bar Leicester have strengthened too.

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smartjoe added 22:00 - Feb 1 A good 'verdict' Nick. As supporters of the Saints, we are prepared to give our manager some slack, but what we cannot put up with is arrogance, stubbornness and not being able to learn from mistakes made. He seems to have the characteristics as our Ralf in those failings.
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WestSussexSaint added 22:52 - Feb 1 I don’t disagree that Jones is the manager for the rest of this season at least and should be supported. I hope he learns with each passing match and continues to grow into the role. But how many more times will he try and “experiment” with 5 at the back (or more accurately 3 at the back). Every time he has tried it it hasn’t worked and he has been forced into changing it. In respect of last night the game and tie was lost after the first 20 mins because of it. Give Jones credit for changing it shortly after and it was clear that the players felt so much more at home and gave a good account of themselves thereafter- but the damage was done. Focus on the league now as this cup has gone and I will have the strange sensation watching the final wanting Man Utd to win. Any team that has supporters wearing “Wembley bound” T-shirts and scarfs before the result is confirmed and shows so little respect for their opponents deserves the ultimate final disappointment.

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AmericanSaint added 23:13 - Feb 1 I have to agree that NJ has lost the plot and it seems is in the same mold as RH in stubborn and thinking his way of a back 3 with 2 "wingbacks" will work. Our wings keep getting exposed (on both goals). Yes he changed at half time but it was almost done and dusted by that point. NJ not playing Lavia and Peroud tells me he gave up before the whistle. Maybe I am wrong but it seems that NJ thinks his 5-3-2 formation is new and that the other Prem teams wont figure it out until we are ahead. UGH. he has brought nothing new except this formation. Also, all of a sudden we are trying to play out of the back after 6 games of heaving it forward. WHAT is that all about? Sorry Nick, but I will only give him the Brentford game to prove that he is able to do something. He has enough time to know the players and not tinker with the line up too much. Him constantly starting Diallo are WTH moments. I know I will get a lot of negativity for this, but if we dont show up, play well and either tie or win, I am already for NJ to be sacked. Dont ask me who to replace him as my choice Sam Dyche is already taken and watch Everton get the new manager bounce we didnt. I know we got some players in and it takes time, but in truth most players coming to the PL need a whole season to acclimate and we dont have that kind of time. I will still support the players and even NJ, but I have little faith he will get us out of the trouble we are in. Hope to be proved wrong and will gladly admit it at the end of the season if that is the case.

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HythePeer added 23:50 - Feb 1 The League Cup. What do you win if you do win? Give NJ the right to experiment with staff and tactics. He's trying to organize someone else players and decisions. But new players and decisions are being made. Saints may have out shone everyone in this window?
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underweststand added 08:14 - Feb 2 After 3 years we assumed Ralph knew the capabilities and shortcomings of his squad. The problem was (and still is) that certain players fail to deliver at critical moments. Defenders don't pick up opponents, strikers who don't finish well in the final third, etc However, it seems that some fans don't understand this. Our limitations are down to those we can afford at the end of the day ..you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Considering that we don't have any 100 million players, or even 30 mill. for that matter, then GJ 's instructions just don't even go home to some of those with more than 100 IQ. Jones must have a pretty good picture of his squad now, so all we need a bit of good luck and some better reviews from VAR. As for the Newcastle game, the mistakes were plainly obvious ( who do we blame ?). We lost the game in the first half, but GJ wasn't afraid to make subs and change formation after HT, when we took the game to them and with better luck might even have stolen a draw by the 100th minute. I agree with with Hythe Peer (above) and we can expect certain players to be spending more time on the bench in future, and the overall formation to change to adapt to the talents of the new arrivals. Over the two games Newcastle clearly delivered when it mattered, while we showed that we can often match teams, if only for 45 minutes at a time. Now we must move on and hope for better luck in the forthcoming FA Cup games, whilst looking for more goals in Prem.games.

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stmichael added 08:32 - Feb 2 3000 on a Weds night to Newcastle is indeed fantastic support. Were they let down? I’d say so. Tie over after 20 mins. Pathetic organisation when the team talk would surely have been ALL about keeping it tight for as long as possible. Longstaff yes Longstaff SHOULD have had a 20 minute hat trick because we didn’t track his basic runs from from midfield. But it’s ok because we tried hard after that. Pub teams try hard!!! And yes the team selection and tactics were also very questionable. This is the highest level , the top table we are dining at. It’s not enough to try hard after basic errors…

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Monksway added 09:44 - Feb 2 To date, perhaps not unreasonably, NJ has been changing the team and system as he tries to manage the squad through various cup and EPL games. With 18 games to go he now needs to find a relatively settled team and system that wins by the odd goal rather than loses by the odd goal. For this we need a consistent back 4 - KWP, CC, Salisu and Perraud. Lavia and Alcarez holding with JWP slimore advanced. The front 3/6 can be mixed and matched but the core surely needs to be committed to.

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SanMarco added 11:46 - Feb 2 I think I am largely with stmichael on this one. The fans were let down by poor team selection and an atrocious first 20 mins. I said in my comment on the preview that our chance was to play on Saudi nerves. That meant picking as strong a defensive as possible, telling the players not to pass to Saudis and generally keep it tight. 0-0 with 15 mins to go and that would have been 'game on'. Instead the tie was as good as over before we even got going. Even then we had a golden chance to make it 2-2 with still 20 mins left. Just like in the first tie that was a crucial moment when one of the players we pay handsomely to score goals was through. Neither chance was easy but its not supposed to be easy. If that had gone in the Saudis' nerves would have gone into overdrive. Even as it was they resorted to the characteristic time-wasting. The ability to score vital goals needs to be re-found very, very quickly - bring in the new signings now!!

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saintmark1976 added 17:56 - Feb 2 stmichael and SanMarco, I’m in agreement with your comments although I’m of the opinion that you have shown admirable restraint. I’m still fuming with Jones even two days later. What sort of an idiot attempts to play five at the back leaving the midfield to be overrun away at Newcastle, when we are already a goal down from the first leg? In addition he chose to play a right back at left back to accommodate a rookie who has never played a Premiership game let alone a cup semi final, while leaving a recognised goal scoring left back on the bench. As for Armstrong’s miss at 2-1, it’s simply what he does on a regular basis because his first touch isn’t and never will be good enough at this level. I’ve not joined in the criticism of Jones but soon will do if he makes similar ridiculous team selections going forward. Play our best players in their accepted positions with a 4-4-2 formation and we have a chance of avoiding relegation, anything else and The Championship begins.

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Block8 added 19:00 - Feb 2 Although I agree with some and disagree with other comments on here, the one thing no one has mentioned is our atrocious ball retention. Our passing has been very poor all season and last. Whatever your tactics or team selection if you give possession to the opposition as often as we do, you will struggle. That is something we desperately need to improve if we are to survive!

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AmericanSaint added 19:29 - Feb 2 Saintmark1976 - SPOT ON - All of it. AA is just a newer version of Shane Long, who runs a lot and rarely scores. And I would put SL ahead of AA.
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