There are some positives to be taken from this game, but not many, the biggest one was that a big crowd saw two vbirtual first teams play a pulsating game of football.

Perhaps the one thing that turned the game in Chelsea's favour was the lack of real pressure on them, I dont mean on the pitch but off it, in terms of priorities this competition isnt the highest at the moment so the combination of a virtual first side along with the lack of pressure meant that they could play with freedom and as jack Nicklaus once said "Any silly **** can do it without pressure" 

But for a while it looked like the game might go Saints way, we played well in the early stages and when Jay Rodriguez opened the scoring with a goal that if scored by Rickie Lambert would have had many salivating it looked like a shock might be on the cards, but once Chelsea equalised the game was only going to go one way, although Saints were a touch unlucky to go in at the break a goal down and if they hadnt conceded right on the stroke of half time perhaps they might have been able to make a better game of it in the second half.

But when Ivanovic scored there third early in the second all hopes of a comeback where all but over and we just had to sit back and watch a Chelsea masterclass, the only time that Saints looked dangerous was when Steve De Ridder really should have scored when the ball dropped for him only three yards out, although in fairness the keeper made a great block.

Chelsea's support was superb and made a lot of noise although strangely they dont seem to be abusing Rafa Benitez these days.

A bad day at the office for Saints including the injury to Jose Fonte that accelerates the need to get in a quality centre half very quickly, certainly before we go into the match with Aston Villa next week, if all we are haggling over for Astori is a couple of million Euros and the player is as good as is said, lets just pay them and be damned, look what the hesitation over Alexander Buttner cost us.   

Photo: Action Images

ardashuxford added 15:39 - Jan 6 What the f*ck was Adkins thinking, only resting 2 first-teamers in a meaningless match when we are away to Villa next week. If Villa beat a Fonte-less Saints team then Adkins should hang his head in shame. Did Wigan make the same mistake? No, they rested 9 players. Villa, they rested 7 players.
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thegeneral added 16:57 - Jan 6 The only way to beat a team like chelsea is to pressure every pass and second ball, QPR did and we did for twenty minutes and then stopped and got walloped. Sorry, but Fonte was awful and its tragic that we will miss him because he's the best we've got. It was also unfortunate to have to play Cork at right back as he was missed in midfield and Davies did nothing to encourage confidence, but despite buying so badly the first time round i'm still hearing us linked to players with no premier league experience except Benayoun, look at big Sam an easy comparison to what NA needs to do. We need 1 or two CB's a tough midfield general and Billy Sharp back

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ericofarabia added 19:32 - Jan 6 Wigan's reward for resting players is a long mid week trek to the south coast for a replay to squeeze in this month. That paid off a treat didn't it.
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zonehead added 20:41 - Jan 6 I cant believe nobody has mentioned Boruc !! he is rubbish even Dave said so, you look at there goals and he dives too late when the ball has passed. My faith in Nigel will be tested if he is in for the villa game
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ardashuxford added 20:43 - Jan 6 So Wigan will play their reserves against Bournemouth again, so what?
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sidsaint added 21:29 - Jan 6 Lets wait and see what the verdict is on Fonte it may hasten the obvious need to strengthen the defence. If it is bad news next week's game will be even more difficult. Benayoun would be a good addition as he has premiership experience and a good creative footballing brain. I am amazed that we have a manager who played in goal yet can't see the need to bring in a goalkeeper. Boruc made mistakes again early on which could have cost us before we scored, he did make a couple of saves later on but seems to need a long time to warm up. Good goal from Rodriguez after a great pass from Puncheon. I would like to see Sharp back as well but that doesn't seem possible due to his season long loan terms. We need to strengthen asap in order to have a squad that can cover for possible injuries and build on the great performance against Arsenal.

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DJI added 09:13 - Jan 7 I was chuffed for J-Rod getting his goal and the way he scored it too; it was classy and should show Nigel he is more than capable of filling in for Rickie. Apart from that though, the service up to/into him was poor for most of the game leaving him to come a look for the ball. I though Boruc did okay myself; all of their goals were well taken and would beat most keepers. So I was surprised to hear on Solent so many calling for Kelvin back; I don't think he would have done any better at all. I was surprised he didn't give Richardson the RB role and left Cork in the Midfield where he would've been more offensive. I also thought he should've brought Tadanari on earlier and perhaps replace Puncheon sooner too, who was taking too many touches in the final 3rd again! His inability to play with his right foot also made it easy for Ashley Cole to marshal him too. Chelsea had some serious players to use and never field a weakened squad in Cup matches so Nigel had to match that up if he was to be seen to be taking it seriously. All in all, I was disappointed by the result; the number of goals conceded more than the loss itself. I hope Jose is not out for long as he has improved enormously this season. He will be a major loss at Villa if he is not fit and that could cost us dearly.

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SaintJez added 16:34 - Jan 7 Boruc definitely looks a shaky keeper but it's missing the point to blame him for the defeat. None of the goals were keeping errors and if it wasn't for a few decent saves in the 2nd half, it would have been a humiliation rather than simply an embarrassment. That's not to say we don't need a new keeper though. None of the 3 look to have what's needed to stay in this division. The defeat was an abject performance from a team that looked to lack a creative edge on paper and that point was hammered home by a very low key peformance from those in the 3 creative positions - Punch, Guly and JWP. Davis played well for 30 mins before being overwhelmed by Chelsea's midfield quality in training match mode. Shaw was again excellent at left back. And J Rod tried hard in the face of no service whatsoever and took his goal with aplomb. Aside from that.. there are no positives other than to say we can now focus on this relegation dogfight without any distractions at all. Losing Fonte is a blow (and it looked a bad one) but if we're honest, we needed to strengthen this part of the team anyway and so having our hand forced here may be the silver lining for the club / fans. Not buying a quality starting centre half will equal relegation. Is Astori the man? maybe? I'd prefer to pay half the money for Scott Dann though..

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zonehead added 19:17 - Jan 7 The point about Boruc is if you watch the tv replays he is always late diving so it looks like he makes an effort but is too late, and whats the white shirts all about at home too
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