In many respects a good point, in others maybe not !

If Saints had not had such an abysmal run, then this point against Cardiff would be quite satisfactory, but in the longer term it means that we have now amassed only 12 points from 11 games and that is still not good enough, however if this point signals a return to good form then i will take it.

Nigel Adkins team selection could not be faulted, ironically it was just the one i had selected myself in yesterdays preview, Billy Sharpe and a couple of injuries aside I dont think we could put out a better side, therefore there was no hiding places and no excuses, we got the selection right, now we just had to get the tactics spot on.

This is probably where we have gone wrong over the past two months and sadly what has emerged is that we only have a plan A and in that respect nothing changed, what also emerged in the first half is that we are shockingly short on confidence and team spirit.

Once again we conceded a sloppy goal, I havent seen a TV replay, on the night Kelvin Davis looked to have been fouled, but truth is he didnt make himself big and strong and on several other set plays Cardiff crowded the six yard box with players having spotted a weak link they looked to exploit it further.

Second half Saints came out with more confidence, they seemed to have the mindset that Cardiff had thrown everything at them and they were only a goal down so there was nothing to fear and to be blunt there wasnt and that has been the case over this 11 game run, all we need to do is get back to playing with confidence and in this respect our second half display gives renewed hope that with the addition of Sharp we can now start winning a few games and push ourselves back to the top of the league.

However with a tough set of fixtures ahead we do have to get back to winning ways and that means getting at least a couple of wins on the bounce and its hard to see that happening in the next three games.

The two players that perhaps contributed the most to our fightback were Jason Puncheon and Tadanari Lee, they did so for one reason, that was they had the urgency and spirit and wanted to play, in truth they didnt produce that much between them in terms of chances etc, but they played without fear and looked like they wanted to be out there and that has to be a positive.

But the same problems still remain, we seem to always want to pass it one time too many, it seems our confidence to shoot when we get a sight of goal has been coached out of us, we are afraid to miss and therefore we are always trying to pass the ball and almost walk it into the net, its fine to play a passing game, but there are times when that has to go out of the window.

But with other results going for us, this wasnt the disaster it could have been, we are still second and there are plenty of games to get our season back on track, however our league position and our last 11 games perhaps highlight one thing and that is what a great opportunity we have missed to run away with this league, now we find ourselves amongst the other hopefuls instead of way out in front, we cant keep missing these opportunitys, we have to take them now whilst we still have the chance.

Photo: Action Images

tiptop added 10:36 - Feb 1 Spot on except.. I think NA didnt want to chop and change things too early. Our plan 'b' is the diamond which leaves us exposed on the flanks. Keeping four midfielders was important in being able to defend against cardiff who had 5 in midfield and are on a crest. We needed to try and be as solid as we could in light of our own form. Its good then that the team came out and performed. We played 4,3,1,2 for most of the second half and played better because Lallana was off the wing and involved more. He is key as we all know. Glad to see Lee and Puncheon refresh the team. Thought connolly could have come off insted of Puncheon Cant wait for Birmingham.. at leaste i think i cant wait!

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Fordy added 10:47 - Feb 1 Don't worry, I don't think Billy Sharp will be afraid of shooting!
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zonehead added 11:02 - Feb 1 For a number of games now we start off at a medium pace tempo at home , Hull ( for 10 mins we did`nt ) Bristol, Leicster no tempo at all!, and it was only in the second half we upped our game. If only and if only Chaplow was fit too.
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simmo400 added 11:04 - Feb 1 Pretty accurate Nick. Why was Punch taken off ?? I thought he was our best player in the first half. Along with Dean Hammond the previous week he took off out best player on the night. Was it a fitness thing ? Thought Connoly would have come off alot earlier to allow Lee on, Lee looked sharp and hungry from the off. Second half did encourage me that mabe we can restore our confidance in the coming game against Birmingham. I just pray its going to be another TV hoodoo game in front of millions. Good luck to Billy Sharpe this week i hope he can read all of Lamberts flicks and knock downs we badly need some one who can. Also he must bring his shooting boots.

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Natural_Order added 11:08 - Feb 1 The thing that seems blindingly obvious is that this league is ultra competitive and very tough and as a result no team has been able to "run away with the league". It is beyond me why you think that we should be disappointed that we have not been able to do this!! Consider how we thought we would do at the beginning of the season and compare that with where we are now and decide if we have over achieved or not........ True our form has dipped but no other team has avoided similar issues and we remain well placed with a stronger squad at this point than the one which has got us to our current GREAT position. Your comments regarding team spirit & confidence are highly subjective - I do not share them. Opinions about players is fine as it is evidence based but don't be a pseudo psychologist. I agree with your comments regarding the strong second half performance and remain confident that we have what it takes for a top two finish.

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saintBob added 11:10 - Feb 1 A fair report Nick. A little frustrating that we didn't take our shooting opportunities and as you say, we kept making one pass too many. Replace Connolly with Sharp and I think those opportunities will be taken. We still seem to be getting ourselves into trouble trying to play out from the back and the distribution from the back line wasn't that great. I don't know why you think that the team spirit has gone, there's nothing to suggest this because the spirit certainly showed in the 2nd half so I think it's just a confidence thing. We really need to forget about the last 10 games, they've gone and are over and done with. It was important that we didn't lose last night and with the result at Portman road, we earned a valuable point. After all is said and done, it was hopefully the beginning of a return to form and I think the next few fixtures won't seem quite as daunting.

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st_mike added 11:11 - Feb 1 A massive improovement over the Leicester performance, mainly because Lambert was back! Had we have had the two penalties we deserved we would have won, the ref was dreadful at times. West Ham losing was also a huge bonus. Very impressed with Puncheon and Tadanari Lee. Confident that with the addition of Billy Sharp, and our key players back that we'll soon be back on track.

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darkangelv2 added 11:23 - Feb 1 Our passing game has gone away from us a bit at the moment. We're not moving as well as we were during our monsterous run early in the season. An issue that has been niggling me: We are trying to pass our way out from the back. I understand the merit in this but our opposition are all savvy to this now and very often the ball ended up either lost or with Fox to then get pumped upfield somewhat inaccurately. I find this odd as Davies takes a very good goal kick and is adept at finding Lambert! If Lambert doesn't win it we'd be faced with a 50/50 of winning the ball from the knock down in opposition territory. With the tenacious midfield we have we'd fancy ourselves in that scrap wouldn't we? Another thing is the lack of shooting. I think we could be getting away 25-50% more shots and test goal keepers more than we have been. On last nights game - i have to say (and i NEVER thought i would) that Puncheon gave an absolutely refreshing performance. I didn't think i'd ever see that from him again - long may it continue. I was confused by his substitution and that we left Connolly in midfield. Tadanari showed great pace and absolute commitment with some really assured touches too. He got clattered a couple times and was caught napping once but this will all come to him as he gets used to the English game. Really pleased to have him on board.

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geezershoong added 11:31 - Feb 1 For me the team lacks confidence at the moment - nobody is daring to fail to win. This was perhaps summed up for me last night in that no-one seemed to want to have a go at goal from outside the box & seemed to be looking for that little sly killer pass that is always left too late & more than often not possession of the ball is given away. Considering our form lately I considered it a good point perhaps we didn't deserve. Cardiff's form lately has been superb with a Wembley game coming up they seemed to have what we didn't - confidence! We should be pleased Jason Puncheon showed a bit of quality last night - he should get better. Lee also looked committed & eager. Very much looking forward to Billy Sharpe making his debut - has got to come in for Connolly who seemed to be missing most of the night. Lambert & Sharpe linking up could be a dream ticket. Birmingham game coming up, we'll need to be at 110% to get anything from them the way they are currently going.

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Stephen added 11:47 - Feb 1 Rather than my usual deconstructionist post of St. Nick's article I'll just bullet some points. o Both wing backs are poor. o Both central midfielders don't know where the goal is. Cork has all his fizz bottled up. o Tandanari, our Saint Samurai, looks like just the high energy player we need. o When Sharpie starts to play it will be interesting to see him alongside Tandanai and allow Adkins to rest Lambert occasionally. o Puncheon looked good. Give him a few more games and he could be a real asset. I say could because he might also go off the boil. He'll have to fight Guly and Chaplow for that position. o That was probably Connelly's last game for a while. o Lallana was back to doing good tricks. o Fonte and Martin was a good pairing. o It was good to see so many 'new' faces after such a long absence. o We are still missing Chaplow. I would drop Cork and play Chaplow when he is available. o Finally it took a while for the new shape to gel but it looks like our Super Saints are on their way back. In Adkins we trust.

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jacksk1 added 12:52 - Feb 1 Agree with most of your points Stephen. Fox's distribution, both going forward and cross-field, was terrible all game and unusually for Richardson most of his crosses were over hit when in a good position. Thought Cork had his best game for quite a while though but agree that he could offer more from an attacking perspective. I would say that on last night's evidence Morgan is more of a candidate to make way for Chaplow when he returns rather than Cork. With regards to Puncheon's substitution I can only assume that he was knackered after putting in a great shift first-half. NA had obviously given him instructions to get back out there for the first 10 minutes of the second-half and get on the ball as much as possible to try and get us playing at a higher tempo than in the first-half which he did to good effect in my opinion.

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schatfield added 13:22 - Feb 1 I thought it was a good point, Cardiff are on a great run of form. One question though, where was Guly, is he injured? We missed him. Agree with the rest, look forward to seeing Sharpe play with Lambert.
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geezershoong added 13:43 - Feb 1 Just wanted add, how far does a defender have to jump up his back before RL gets a penalty awarded?
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SanMarco added 13:51 - Feb 1 "...a couple of wins on the bounce and its hard to see that happening in the next three games" Is it that hard? I am a born pessimist but I could see us beating Burnley and West Ham. And Birmingham are due a home cock-up - just like we were a few weeks ago...
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bstokesaint added 14:00 - Feb 1 Definitely just think it's a confidence thing with us at the moment. As soon as we get a good win we will go back on a run. We have an excellent squad and manager and it may just be that little bit of luck that we are missing. I know that sounds trivial, but when we had our exceptional home run we had a number of decisions go our way and lucky breaks, often against the run of play when we started slowly. Last night was another example of how that didn't happen and the referee had a mare. Adkins now has the luxury of choice. With the few remaining injured players now returning I don't think we have an area of concern on the pitch despite some of the comments I have read. Maybe I'd be more inclinded to agree with said posters if I'd seen better players than our own in those same positions across the Championship.

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StrasbourgSaint added 14:02 - Feb 1 Being overseas, thus not making many games, it's always interesting to read what those at the games have to say. It's also hard to make too many constructive comments but I'll try. Re: Guly ..... injured. He took a knock a while back (Skates, was it?) and it reoccurred in his last match. Re: Punch. It seems a bit obvious to me. He's hardly match fit having been collecting splinters at Loftus Road. So, easy to see why he came off early. It makes it all the more commendable that he did so well. Long may it continue. Re: the centre backs. Glad the pairing worked. It shows it IS possible to pair two left-footed (or right-footed) players at the back. Re: the full backs. At best, they appear to be inconsistent. I like what I've seen of both but know many have doubts about Fox, especially if we go up. Generally, the defence will need strengthening at some point. Re: midfield. Once Chappers is back, we'll have a lot of options. The tough bit will be picking the players who will do well in the upcoming match, thus not necessarily picking the ones who did well in the last one. Re: strikers. Same 'problem' and one that is really welcome. Imagine, if RL and BS are the preferred strikers, that leaves one of this season's highest-scoring strikers (Guly) and a Japanese international on the bench or out of the squad. Re: Plan B. On this one, Nick, I'm confused. If we didn't have one yesterday evening but then played Cardiff (for me the best team in the Championship this season) off the park in the second half, do we need one? It's a tongue-in-cheek question because the impresion I have from reading various posts is that, as usual, we switched formations a few times during the match and this plan (which seems like a plan A, B AND C) came good. Thus, I'm not sure why you are critical of NA regarding his 'plans' or tactics. My only query would be regarding selection. Where was De Ridder? Dropped to make way for Falque or was he injured, too? Finally, 24,000? Good enough? For me, yes, times are tough for many right now. What do others think?

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stmichael added 15:00 - Feb 1 I said before the game that we may not win but we would get a performance and we did. We are better than cardiff and after last night they know it. Over 18 games or so that are left that should be reflected in points. I dont think they targeted Davis - it is a tactic they use which basically takes the keeper out of the equation for corners and makes it a basic heading competition between defenders and attackers - very effective and even more so now they have signed Jon Parkin! Dan Fox biggest dissapointment of the night. Offers little other than long distant delivery with his left foot which is often wayward. Regularly caught out of position and does not get up and down. I expect Harding to replace him sooner or later and personally I prefer his high energy game to that of Fox. Puncheons return is a massive bonus and i expect him to keep Guly on the sidelines and I agree that Cork is probably most threatened by the return of Chaplow. If we can somehow get through February and still be in contention (not necesarily top 2) the fixtures look kinder in March and April

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BITTERNEBOY added 15:26 - Feb 1 Both wing backs were poor in the First Half but Richardson was a great deal better in the second Both central midfielders don't know where the goal is. Cork has all his fizz bottled up. Tandanari, our Saint Samurai, looks like just the high energy player but will need to get used to Opponents knocking him about Puncheon looked good. Give him a few more games and he could be a real asset. I say could because he might also go off the boil. That was probably Connolly's last game for a while as he did very little Lallana was back to doing good tricks but should also try the simple things and stop diving in the penalty area. Fonte and Martin was a good pairing but they must release the ball as quickly as possible

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saintstowin added 15:41 - Feb 1 we bounced back well and i was very hopeful of this being the case. this was a true test of our ability (never mind spirit or whatever else) against a team that is as flying as we were a while back. we could have won it but i'm ok with the point and really happy with the performance. i was so happy when i knew the starting XI last night. for all the talk of not blaming results on the impact of absentees, it is clear that when we have nearly everyone available we are one of the best teams in the division - i didn't realise this would be the case prior to August but we can be confident of our ability for sure. i am also sure NA will be making that crystal clear and i don't think we've ever had a better motivator as manager. i'd love another home game soon as i reckon we'll start taking teams apart again but equally i fancy our chances to keep it tight and use our brilliant attacking options on saturday. rightly none of the replies are showing anyone getting carried away, but what a difference a week (and a few players) makes!

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Saintpaul120 added 15:43 - Feb 1 St Michael said ""Dan Fox biggest dissapointment of the night. Offers little other than long distant delivery with his left foot which is often wayward. Regularly caught out of position and does not get up and down. I expect Harding to replace him sooner or later and personally I prefer his high energy game to that of Fox. Puncheons return is a massive bonus and i expect him to keep Guly on the sidelines and I agree that Cork is probably most threatened by the return of Chaplow. "" Agree with this but interestingly enough not too many posters, including Nick, wanted to magnify Danny Fox's contribution last night. That happens too often unfortunately but yes, I can see Harding getting games because of his "high energy" game (although many on TUI will say it's because he wears wrist bands and is blonde!). I've said before and stand by it, there is not a lot of difference between Fox and Harding. Both have their attributes. Fox was very poor last night. Diagonal balls out of defence straight to their LB's and counter attacks started instantly. Puncheon was excellent last night. Full of running, tracking back and looked very useful. Laid the ball off much quicker than he used to too. I hope he continues in that vein. A lot of the posters above had very good points also. For me, 2 points dropped because of a dodgy ref.

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ExiledSupporter added 16:21 - Feb 1 Sorry that I couldn't be there. Can someone tell me whether the goal was Davis' fault or was he fouled; radio commentators felt it was his weak punch? As with previous posts I remain concerned about his ability to deal with crosses etc, was always the same when he was an Ipswich player! Wish we had replaced him with at least a good loan player rather than yet another forward like, say, Falque. To my mind Davis has been responsible directly or indirectly for too many of our goals against, not to ignore his good work on dealing well with many dangerous shots, but consistent he is not!

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splurty added 17:12 - Feb 1 Agree with the report except Hammond for Morgan as he just can't bloody tackle ,you have to earn the right to play against any team ,but when teams get in his face early on he is just not up for the fight .Also correct about kelvin he should be stronger as their keeper was .Very pleased with punchy ,how times can change .It has to be said that Ricky was immense ,we will go up if he stays fit .Onwards and upwards !! COYR

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sholingred added 17:55 - Feb 1 Atleast still in the race,for me,2 points dropped because of a dodgy keeper,simply shocking.Their keeper showed once again the difference.
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sholingred added 18:21 - Feb 1 For me, 2 points dropped because of a dodgy keeper AGAIN.
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saintBob added 05:46 - Feb 2 The arguments about Fox & Harding are getting boring. Fox & Cork may not have had the best of games on Tuesday but they have been good for us this season, especially Cork who's been one of the best. It just highlights inconsistency and our brief loss of form. I believe both De Ridder and Guly have injuries. It's tough at the top and you can't expect teams to run away with this league, it seems that teams take turns in having good runs, maybe West Ham's is coming to an end and hopefully Birmingham's will on Saturday.

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