Saints snatched a draw from the jaws of victory when they really should have wrapped up a game they had taken by the scruff of the neck.

Nigel Adkins for once seemed to be aware of what threat the opposition might provide and not only brought in Guly to provide protection for Luke Shaw but also added height in all areas of the team.

The inclusion of Guly brought raised eyebrows for many but fact was that he was a genuine contender for man of the match, not only did he provide cover for Luke Shaw and add height in our own box at corners, but he provided some great crosses especially in the first half, none better than the one that opened the scoring, in the preview I mentioned that the lack of accurate crosses was a reason for a lack of goals, last season Fox & Richardson could deliver a ball into the box to the far post with accuracy, this season our main goal threat hasnt been there, Guly put in a peach of a cross for Lambert.

But once again the Guly knockers will be out in force due to the fact that he should have scored to make it 4-1, yes he should have scored, but to be blunt that isnt the worst chance missed by Saints players this season and it wasnt even the worst chance missed in the match that fell to Kenwynne Jones who should have equalised our opening goal.

For an hour Saints put in a great display but Stoke were relentless and to be honest once again we did not make full use of the substitutes available to us and it was a rather tired team that limped over the finishing line to take a point that at the start of the game we would have settled for, but at the end seemed like a defeat.

But we should not castigate individuals for this, in truth yes Guly should have scored, but up at the other end we had plenty of opportunities to prevent all three of the goals although the third was a screamer that could have gone anywhere, we were a little tired in the lead up to it, Stoke sensed blood and even playing with a man short in the last 20 minutes were pushing us further and further back, we had the extra man but it didnt look like it.

The problem is the words "Deja Vu" are coming to mind, in our last season in the premier we had a penchant for giving away leads to last minute goals and in some cases, like at Stoke they were two goal leads given away, back then there were at least 4 of them and if we had held out in any of them we would have stayed up, how costly will this game be to us come the final reckoning, in the short term it has plunged us back into the bottom three for the end of the year and with Arsenal next up it looks unlikely that we will pull out of it in the next couple of weeks at least with the FA Cup up next weekend.

This was a harsh lesson for our manager and our team, it tells them you can never sit on your laurels, it also tells the manager that the areas that we are short in still need strengthening and need to be done fast.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 10:48 - Dec 30 Agree entirely about Guly. I think he is very underestimated by many of our fans. Not the greatest goalkeeping display again sadly. Hope we strengthen in the window.
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DJI added 10:49 - Dec 30 Nick, your point about accurate crosses into the box is one I wholeheartedly agree with. This season, we just simply haven't been putting the crosses in and have taken far too long in our build-up in the final 3rd of the pitch on too many occasions. Noticeably yesterday, both Punch and Guly were putting plenty of balls into the danger area for Rickie or Jay to try and get onto to and it caused Stoke a lot of problems, leading to all our goals. As for the shot Guly had which went wide; it would be unfair to single that out as defining as some fans are doing. Fact is, he was reacting to a save to a one-on-one which Jay should have buried and at least he was in a position to miss it. But how many other opportunities did we create that got us into a scoring position after that; very few if any? It does feel like a defeat but I would've taken a point before the start as Stoke are a very tough side at home and have seen off better teams than us so far, only conceding 4 goals all season so far; we managed to score 3 against them! My only criticism is that we made defensive substitutions which forced us into a deeper position to counter Stokes bombardment. However, given that they had so 4 up front, we should have pushed Richardson into our midfield to close the flanks higher up the pitch and prevent crosses coming from there, whilst leaving is a counter-attack option.

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landsdownsaint added 10:56 - Dec 30 Couldn't go yesterday ,bit really glad to see Guly done well.It's about time he gets a run in the team because he is a good player but fan pressure is causing him not to get picked,yesterday should be hailed as a great result considering what a powerhouse of a side Stoke are,as for Arsenal I'm very confident COYR
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jamesarmstrong added 12:08 - Dec 30 We are in the bottom but we are not far off mid table with a game in hand and we are in fact only 8 points adrift. As Sutherland and Norwich have shown you can quickly climb the ladder. We play Arsenal on new years day and even though they are playing good, I would settle for a draw against them. January transfer window has arrived and I would buy a goal keeper, Defender and another Jack Cork type midfielder as well as another Striker. If we get relegated it will be an injustice because we are one of the form teams in last two months and we can only improve.

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slynch added 12:11 - Dec 30 Saints are halfway through the season and have played every team, assuming Saints wouldn't beat Chelsea, they are in the bottom three. They have tried various tactics and various personnel and it can now be assumed that they will be in the bottom three after they have played everyone again. It seems to me that with January approaching the only alternative left to Mr Cortese is to change some of the personnel be that training staff or players.

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thegeneral added 12:15 - Dec 30 A good team selection made by NA but got the subs wrong, Guly worked hard and should have been replaced for fresh legs. Fox in front of Shaw and Davis for Rodriguez seemed to be the obvious choices, i know they both get knocked but with the lack of depth in our squad they would have at least stifled the midfield. Cork was MOTM for me he was outstanding and a massive part of our improvement in recent matches. Jones got the better of KD every time, why was a defender not placed in front of him? I think NA is misguided to be reportedly delighted with a point after giving away a two goal lead, sometimes he's just too positive and kids himself. I do have faith in him and the team but still maintain he needs guidance. I hope we strengthen well in the window as if we lose a player like Cork or Lambert to injury we will be screwed.

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Whatsforpud added 12:23 - Dec 30 Davis didn't inspire much confidence. He could only flap, and sometimes miss, at balls being slung in to the near post. He needs to be more determined to bully his way to reaching them. Nothing he or anyone else could have done about the last goal though. There was really no apparent danger when Crouch was trying to get on to a loose ball, when Jerome just put his foot through it. You wont see many better this season. When a team is 3-1 up, do you bring in more defenders to keep what you have got, or do you not change anything because if it aint broke, don't fix it. The manager is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't.

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saintmark1976 added 12:39 - Dec 30 A better result on Sunday morning than Saturday evening. Pleased to see Guly getting some praise for a change.He really is a far better player than some of our fans give him credit for.They should give him (and most of the fans who have at least some basic knowledge of the game) a break and get off his back. As the year turns we have at least given ourselves a fighting chance of staying up bearing in mind we looked dead and buried a few weeks back. Sad to hear of the death of Ken Jones.A good old fashioned full back and trier from a few years back. Finally happy New Year to all Saints fans the world over!

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 13:59 - Dec 30 Nick, your 'deja vu' comment is spot on. This season really does bear a lot of resemblences to the year we got relegated from the Prem. That year we couldn't hold onto a lead and didn't get the wins in games where we deserved 3 points. This season is panning out the same. We concede too easily, like the 2nd goal yesterday. This has improved recently but you can just sense that we are going to concede whenever we're put under pressure, and its a difficult thing for Adkins to put right. I suppose this will only change by having an experienced top quality centre back and goalkeeper in there to help instill confidence in the rest of the team. Adkins has got to get the team settled when we take the lead and get them to keep hold of the ball and not panic. Yesterday Saints kept pumping it long at every opportunity in the 2nd half and 9 times out of 10 it would give possession away and Stoke would be on the attack again. NA does deserve some praise though for how he set Saints up yesterday. Hooiveld did well and Yoshida was good defensively at right back although some of his passing was woeful. The distance covered stats were very interesting; Cork and Schneiderlin (a great midfield partnership) were the hardest working players on the pitch, as always. But Guly was 3rd. He did more running than Jonathan Walters (4th) who is usually lauded for his work rate. So with the amount of work that Guly did, along with that peach of a cross, might just make up for that glaring miss that cost us 2 points. It'll be interesting to see how NA sets us up v Arsenal. They have the ability to rip us apart again, but they are suspect at the back so knowing NA we'll probably have a go at them. There'll be plenty of goals whatever happens. A point would be a good return. If we can keep Arsenal from scoring 2 or more then it would be a success.

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davepid added 18:16 - Dec 30 Im not sure what to make of where we are. 2 points out of christmas 9 is disappointing especially the hapless disply we gave against sunderland and the inability to defend a 2 goal lead. But I would rather be a Saints fan today than one from QPR,Reading or Aston Villa ,and possibly Fulham and Norwich as well. We are getting better except with the 'keeper position - Cork and Fonte have shaped up well in recent weeks ,Shaw and Ramieraz have maintained their promise, and Scd,Llanna and Lambert are really at home in the top flight. We are in a dog fight : there is no easy answer to improving our form and we may yet get relegated .But Im supporting a team that is trying (unlike QPR), a team that is attractive to watch (unlike Reading) and has team spirit (unlike Villa jsut now).

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StSaint added 20:45 - Dec 30 It's easy to be down after leading 3-1, but it really was a good point. Had Fonte given away a penalty (as the ref should have), then it would have probably gone to 3-2 with us having a man down. Their equaliser was ridiculously good and impossible to defend against. Impressed that Adkins completely changed tactics for the occasion, went direct and down the channels, which caused no end of problems. They were able to regroup at ht and an onslaught was inevitable. Glad to see Gulys input has been recognised. The chance for Jrod was much easier than his (which came fast and high to his weaker foot), and as mentioned he was probably our mom. Assuming we strengthen in the transfer window then I think we will be fine. The way we are gradually improving makes me feel very encouraged. I really can't see how we won't get more points in the second half o the season and barring the need for more than 40pts, that should be enough. If only I could hibernate until Feb 1st in order to avoid all the transfer rubbish!

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ExiledSupporter added 23:04 - Dec 30 Despite being the most experienced keeper Davis seems to be the greatest liability with his weakness against almost any crosses, his unwillingness to come off his line, his inability to dominate even the six yard box and inconsistency at his near post. Let's stick with Gazzaniga until we have a better option (soon please)
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stmichael added 10:45 - Dec 31 I think David could have done better with the 2nd goal however would not criticise him for his near post flapping. He was coming for balls out of necessity because our defenders were not capable of dealing with them. Strangely despite their pressure and 4 strikers at the end the only other thing David had to do apart from the goals was to claw away the Crouch header.

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SingaporeSaint added 13:06 - Dec 31 I said earlier in the week - we need a result 'against the head' to lift our season. This was the chance - we were decent in the first half but benefitted from 2 abysmal pieces of Stoke defending to go 2 up. We got the benefit of a shocking pen decision with the Fonte handball and a very fortunate sending off and we still didnt win! Guly was decent but was a poor miss - he tried to lace it instead of side foot and he had to score. Stoke put on attackers but we also put on extra defenders and tried to hold on where we were only playing 10 men and I would have hoped could control midfield. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but we really need some tactical substutions to benefit and not go against us. I am puzzled with NA saying he is delighted, I was absolutely devasted with not winning the game where so much went for us. Big big game coming up on Sat and I'd have Gazza in goal as we cant afford to let so many goals in..

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WestEndBoy added 14:18 - Dec 31 Has anyone elses transaction history been wiped on the online facility?all my away games have gone bar West brom.Bit worried with United away coming up.
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BoondockSaint added 17:45 - Jan 1 You're right, as the sage Yogi Berra said "It's deja vu all over again!" Last year we would have had the division locked up if it wasn't for giving up late goals around the holidays. As I've mentioned before, that shows a lack of either conditioning or character, or both. I'm particularly irritated by NA saying he was "delighted" with the draw! Can you imagine any other manager in any sport saying he was delighted by blowing a 2 score lead late in the game? If they did, the owner would be in the papers the next day he expects the team to win, not be happy with draws or losses,and there would be drastic changes if that attitude didn't change immediately. I hate the excuses of "We played good." "We played our style of football."--a loss is a loss. Another old saying is "You are what your record says you are." NA needs to invest in a hair dryer.

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