Saints almost got over the line and a well earned point at Stamford Bridge, but in the end the 10 men couldn't stem the late Chelsea tide. But now this game is out of the way we can start to move forward.

Before I start on this verdict I have to state that i only saw the first 20 minutes of this game, as some may know I slipped on the wet steps of the stand and spent most of the game in the medical treatment room after cracking a rib.

So I can't really say too much about the game, but I will say this, all I heard on the train home was criticism of the manager and the team, but what were people expecting from the first 8 games of this season ?

We end the 7th game of the spell from hell 8 games, 4th from bottom and still out of the relegation zone and now we can start to move forward, out of those 7 games we have played 4 of the top 5 teams, indeed 5 of the top 7, and in truth the only real disappointing game was the defeat against Wolves.

Those up in arms about a defeat at Stamford Bridge should just step back a moment and look at our start and consider that we have just lost against a Chelsea side that are top of the Premier League going into the International break, as a side we appeared to have spirit and battled hard to get back into the game and looked like we could get a good point until the sending off of James Ward Prowse with 13 minutes remaining.

From then on it would always be difficult and sadly we couldn't hang on and conceded twice in the last 6 minutes.

This defeat was no shame and we have tightened up at the back.

Now I am not going to say it is all great at the moment, there are issues with creating and scoring chances, the fault doesn't just lie with the forwards, it lies with the build up and playing down the wing and crossing the ball doesn't suit either Che Adams or Adam Armstrong who are more channel runners.

But we can adapt !

So to be blunt when I looked at the starting 8 fixtures, games in which we only got 3 points out of in the corresponding fixtures last season, back in August I didn't expect too much more than we have now.

Having got difficult fixtures out of the way we are not rooted at the bottom and we are now in a position to move forward.

The time to judge the manager is not after a defeat to the league leaders, but in another 6 or 7 games time when we have started to play more of those in or around us, not a knee jerk reaction to a hard fought defeat to a side that could well be Premier League champions come the end of the season.

We also have to ask what could be achieved by a change of manager ? the team still has a lot of spirit about it as has been shown in other games, it just needs to start to gel in going forward.

So although I haven't been able to give an opinion on the game as a whole, I was on Saturday able to view it from a detached perspective and the Chelsea fans I was speaking to near the end of the game were talking of how we never gave up and almost got over the line.

As I said i'm not glossing over anything, there are things that have to improve, but changing the manager will change little and ruin a lot of hard work that has gone on over the past three years to stabilise the team and the club.

A year ago Saints were top of the Premier League and Brighton were languishing near the bottom with their fans calling for Graham Potter to be sacked, now the positions are reversed and Potter has turned Brighton around and they sit 5th.

This is a lesson to be learned, these days football fans demand a quick fix, everything has to be instant and that includes forgetting how good or bad results were in the near past and only considering the last couple.

If Saints had beaten Wolves then they would be comfortably mid table and that would have been a great achievement given the teams we have played, if we beat Leeds United in our next game then the situation will look a lot different.

So let's just see what the next game holds, things can change a lot in football, as i found out myself on Saturday, one minute I'm walking down the stairs the next i'm falling down them and carted off to the medical room.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 08:10 - Oct 5 As is usual, lots of reasonable points of view about team selection, game management, strengths, weaknesses and the way forward. The only issue that I'm really struggling to make any sense of is why we should want Eddie Howe as manager. Can anyone explain to me what Howe has achieved that would add any benefit to the club? Working within a tight transfer budget, tactical awareness, development of young players, winning trophies, avoiding relegation? The fact that he is still out of work since leaving our non -Derby neighbours just doesn't fill me with enthusiasm.

0

redwight added 11:50 - Oct 5 Much has been made of our increased strength in depth. Given that there is cover in all positions we now have 22 players of average ability. This was a deliberate decision. The alternative, given our limited budget, was to form a squad of say 15 players of higher quality who, when fit, would present a much greater challenge to other teams. The downside to this is obviously when injuries or suspensions occur. I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong, just pointing out that this is the way we have decided to go. It could be argued that the lack of creativity and goals scored is a direct result.

3

redwight added 11:51 - Oct 5 ...and get better soon, Nick.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Queens Park Rangers Polls