Saints V Leicester The Verdict
Tuesday, 24th Jan 2012 09:00

Everyone might be on the bus, but the wheels have certainly come off it big time.

Before i even look at the game i am going to clarify a couple of things, firstly this scathing indictment is not a knee jerk reaction to one poor result, its the tip of the iceberg going back two months and ten games, a run that has seen us pick up only 11 points out of the 30 on offer, secondly Im going to be saying nothing new, I have been saying the same things since even before the start of that bad run and as a manager and a team we have failed to address the problems.

Firstly I do not accept injuries and suspensions as a reason for this poor run, we have a big squad, what has been the problem in that department is the failure to use that squad to its full potential, at many times to put square pegs in square holes and that was certainly the case last night.

This was not the first time that the manager has completely got his selections and tactics wrong in the past two months, in fact its cost us dearly before, bringing on Harding for ox at Fratton is perhaps one that stands out, but last night it all came home to roost, players like to see continuity in those aforementioned selections and tactics, but they are seeing that in some areas but not in others, the manager now seems to be making change for change sake as in the case of Harding, playing him last night was folly, it wasnt as if he had no other choice, ichardson was fit and Butterfield has not only played regularly at this standard, but showed both last year and in his rare opportunities this, that he can play right back comfortably, so why gamble.

When a team is in the middle of a bad run, a good manager will look back at what things where done right in the past and get back to those basics, keep the teams shape and not tinker too much, Yago Falque's appearance in the starting line up highlighted a couple of issues about Adkins use of his squad, especially with a few key players out, instead of continuity we had even more chaos, Yago himself did not cover himself in glory, whilst its harsh to judge him on this one game, in no way shape or form did he look anywhere ready to play in this division, but it wasnt just lack of experience, he seemed to lack discipline, Ok he wasnt seeing much of the ball, but when he didnt get it he chased it over the park, so much so that after about 20 minutes it was hard to work out just where he was supposed to be playing, but it wasnt left midfield that was for certain, Im afraid to say that throwing him in struck me as a manager bereft of ideas and not confident in his own players.

Both goals were soft, yes Nugent's was a great strike, but firstly Harding was caught out of position, but when he got back, he did little to stop Nugent, always being too far off him to either close down Nugent's shooting angle or block the shot when it came, Nugent had to finish, but he wont get that much time and space very often thats for sure.

The second goal was just as bad, the failure to clear a ball and then stop the cross coming back in followed by a free header, too many times we do that, how many free headers do we give away, again look at the Pompey game as an example, Guly got all the stick, but it wasnt Guly's job to mark Ward, someone let him go and get that free header in and the same last night with Mills.

So now Nigel Adkins has got a real task on his hands, he has to turn around a slide that has been almost ignored for two months, he hasnt heeded the warning signals, I have always said that for Adkins this season would be a steep learning curve, he is in a situation he has never been in before and Saints success would depend on his ability to learn from his mistakes and adapt quickly, early in the season he did this but in truth its easy to do so when your on a winning run, but in the last two months he hasnt, although in fairness to him Im not sure how much his hands have been tied when it comes to signing players that he wanted, certainly he appeared keen on Jutkiewicz in both the loan window last year and the first week of this transfer window, perhaps he did see the fact that with the way we played we had no options if Lambert was injured or suspended, if thats the case things are coming home to roost now, only 10 goals scored in those 10 games is not exactly free scoring, especially when you consider that 3 of them were scored in one game, I wont even mention the 13 we conceded in the same period.

So to conclude, Im sure there are some who will take me to task for this verdict, accuse me of being negative and telling me that Im wrong Saints are brilliant etc etc, I do hope Im wrong, I hope that outr next ten games yield 20 points, but to be blunt I can only comment on the last ten not the next, if things dont change drastically and quickly our season will continue to fall apart.

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simmo400 added 13:04 - Jan 24

Nick I agree with you that our last 10 games have been poor. Our midfield is light weight and any in your face stuff we cant deal with. When pressure we crumble. Bristol city....Blackpool..and others have seen this and made us suffer.
We have one of the best right backs sat on the bench in Fraser and yet we play Harding there who if were honest is a poor left back in this league. Complete madness. He cant tackle being a left back in a right back role. Also Fraser is one or our best attacking players and crosser of the ball.
Not much mention of Hammond on these comments. I thought he was putting himself about better than most but was subbed. Cant understand that myself. Cork should have gone off just for missing the whole goal from 12 yards. Im not a big fan of him by the way.
This was the worst home game ive watched in my entire Saints carreer and im only 48. Never seen us so slow to every ball and dominated for the whole game. Most of the team are Pardews players and we havnt added any quality since he left I think. Not sure if NA has the know how to improve our squad to be honest.
We are second and really have had a good season so far so lets not get too down but we need to pull together at this time.

ThereIn76 added 13:23 - Jan 24

The most inept performance I've sen for a long time. All the energy, all the desire last night came from Leicester. It was clear after the first five minutes who was going to win.

The absence of key players gives others an opportunity to step up to the plate - not just the ones coming into the side to take their places, but others who are regulars who can show that they can set the pace, do the prompting and generally dominate. Nobody did it last night and nobody looked as if they wanted to. Everybody was too easily hustled out of their stride. Is this what NA means when he talks about finding out about his players?

We need a real statement of intent before the end of the month - not only when we play Cardiff a week today, but also in the transfer market. I can only hope that progress is being made behind the scenes that will result in acquisitions that will improve the squad. Also we now need more cover at centre back - even if both Fonte and Hooiveld play the next match. At the moment it looks a though neither of them will.

legod7 added 13:50 - Jan 24

Fffs, did anyone honestly expect us to be second in the league at the end January.The object of this season ,according to NA, was to consolidate and hopefully finish in the top ten. Most of us really hoped we could sneak into the playoffs at best.
I think with the squad we have we have exceeded all expectations. If we do get promoted at the end of the season then we will need a virtual new squad with only Lallana, Fonte,Hoovield , Schneiderlin and Cork capable of playing in the Premier League

scotty added 15:49 - Jan 24

This is pretty nonsensical imho. We played the most expensive squad in the league last night, and they were all (I think) fully fit and playing their first choice first team. We had our top striker, top centre half, top winger and top midfielder out injured and lost our second-top centre half during the game. We fielded a new player into the bargain. Its disappointing, but hardly surprising that we didnt get a result.

Struggers added 16:48 - Jan 24

It's funny how expectations change. You did a piece on 4th August 'How Well Will Saints Do ?', and it makes interesting reading a few months down the line. The expectation seemed to be mid-table to maybe making the play-off's and here we are 2nd in the league and have to listen to the boo-boy numpties on the terraces, who expect brilliant performances every time with every team selection and in every circumstance. I agree with TML, that there is far too much negativity on this and other forum's from hindsight experts who don't have the benefit of actual facts. It's this sort of negativity that filters on to the terraces and helps no-one, least of all the team.
I, for one, am over the moon with how well we are doing with our five year plan and feel no need to be slagging off the management team. Instead, I will be right behind them as we all should be.

iwtwms added 19:43 - Jan 24 So what happens after 5 years if we are not in the Prem. According to NC, that's where we intend to be, so how are we going to get there?
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Whatsforpud added 23:30 - Jan 24

I haven't been to many away games, but don't miss any home games, and this was by far the worst home performance under Adkins. Although we were missing those four players, I think most people had assumed that there was quality enough to continue our usual passing game and get three points against a mid-table side.
In that passing game, the players off the ball are just as important as the man on the ball. Leicester made sure that there was little or no space for us to work in. Often, when we received the ball, a combination of tight marking and poor ball control meant we created very little.
I have been supportive of Harding, and having had two good games at right back apparently, it wasn't a huge surprise to see him starting there. However, he seemed a fish out of water, and wasn't tight enough to Nugent to prevent the first goal. Was it the case that Adkins didn't think that Richardson was up to a whole game?
I would prefer to have seen Holmes start on the left, and not to have thrown Falque in at the deep end, but to have kept him back for later. And what woeful shooting. Connolly's gift of a chance was so weak that the keeper must have wondered if he was allowed to pick the ball up. Also when is Cork going to get one on target?
It's all the fault of the TV cameras. In that respect we have matches at Birmingham and Leeds to look forward to.

BudgieSaint added 23:53 - Jan 24

Have to agree with a lot of Saintnicks comments, though a brilliant reply from saintstowin summed up what I feel most Saints fans are thinking.. Yes lets not panic, I work with hardened season ticket holders of West Ham & every week they seem to think they are not going to make it... They are far less consistent than we are.. Last night we had NO play maker, No ball winning striker & a defence that just did not Gel.. I am a Harding fan but to play a career left back at right back was an awful choice. Connolly should of scored early on & the whole game may have been different. Yes we haven't played well for some time, "Keep The Faith " we will be fine ..

DJI added 09:17 - Jan 25

I have to agree with Nick that our form over the last 10 games has been poor and we flattered to deceive by our League position. Only because others around us were not hitting form were we still where we were.
Losing I can accept as we won't win every game but losing in the manner we did is unacceptable. I won't boo the team as that makes no sense as I am sure they knew they were well under par in this match.
We have gone from a free-scoring team with contributions all round to one which struggles to create many chances or convert when we do. That is not good enough regardless of "how far we've come".
I left St Mary's angry and upset at how we simply did not try to improve and take the game by the scruff of the neck. I was not in the least bit bothered we are not leading the pack as we are still in the mix but I expect the team to do better than this performance. Quicker passing and movement would have made a difference. We made it easy for LCFC by playing balls sideways (or slightly behind the player) and not making more obvious passes in front or forward at times. This meant our runners had to stop and check back with LCFC getting to the eventual pass forward quicker and possession was lost. Even NA said this after the game.
Yes we have exceeded expectations and that is great but, some of our recent performances have not been of prospective Champions in-waiting with few chances made and very little goals. And for a team of our quality and ability, we should at least be taking it to the wire each game. How many times did we make David James make a save Home and Away? Probably about 2 times and that is not good enough!
I am confident in our squad and management but we need to up our work rate and start to do what we all know we can do best. Higher energy and better ball control will help and that sadly, was lacking in this match.

Jackflash1975 added 15:15 - Jan 25

All of these players know how to play the game. so one or two are playing out of position or are injured but this was not the problem. From playing/coaching experience (ok not professionally) it would have been difficult to up the tempo once the game was lost inside their heads. I didnt see any hard tackles go in by dsints to stamp their home advantage within the first few minutes. It seemed like we were the away team. There was a lack of leadership on the pitch and no-one took the bull by the horns.
Positives are hard to come up with for the game but the return of key players in the near future must be one?
I thought i had misheard booing but thinking back maybe not. Will this have negative/