Voting was locked for this match at midnight on Thursday 10th February but you may still add your mini match reports. Note that members and non-members alike were able to vote.

Your Southampton v Coventry City Match Reports

WestSussexSaint added 19:25 - Feb 5 First half was a shambles. Too many changes with an unfamiliar system. Lyanco’s injury, while unfortunate for him, forced the change in formation. The changes at half time meant we looked so much better and took control. There was a lack of cutting edge at times but credit Coventry for being well organised. Thierry Small looked out of his depth today. He is still very young and no doubt will have a great future but I suspect it will be a while before he sees first team football again.

9

Block8 added 20:09 - Feb 5 The arrogance of thinking we could brush aside Coventry with a reserve team very nearly back fired. We were dreadful in the first half, whereas Coventry looked at it. Their fans were excellent all game, especially the fat bloke! Second half we looked better and I'm a strong believer we should never start a game without Stuart Armstrong in the line up. Theo was awful but not alone, Thierry Small was totally out of his depth but not helped by the car crash surrounding him. Lucky win in the end but not something that I think has done us any favours for future team selection.

9

halftimeorange added 20:28 - Feb 5 When I saw the Saints line-up I thought "Ralph doesn't care about the cup". Twenty minutes after kick-off I thought that some of the players felt the same way as there were some really poor performances. By halftime I felt really sorry for people who'd brought their kids to the stadium, maybe for the first time. Make no mistake, the selection was a disaster and if both Broja and Lyanco are out for any length of time the blame can be fairly laid at Ralph's door. He tried to get away with one and failed miserably. Walcott, Diallo, Stephens and Armstrong A were all awful but, in fairness, the latter never had a single through ball to run on to. As for Small well, he was not properly prepared for this baptism being surrounded by dead wood. I imagine his confidence has taken a battering. Redmond showed that he's not the answer. The game really changed with the introduction of Walker-Peters and, especially Armstrong S but, Coventry had got their tails up and were hard to shake off. A note to Forster and McCarthy - watch Caballero's performance and take note. He was decisive and wasn't slow to admonish and direct those in front of him. Well done, Willy!

6

Bawdrip added 20:35 - Feb 5 Saints did well to get through this. Coventry were the better side in the first half but Saints (with good substitutions) wore them down. Thought Coventry had saved it at the end. Linesman was ages putting his flag up. Highlights showed he was clearly offside. Caballero made two great saves before the offside. Rode our luck at times but battled well and showed good spirit. Lyanco looked good before his injury and after a shaky start Stephens did well. Their no 17 caused problems all game. Great shot from Armstrong and fortunate deflection for the winner. Why did Walcott play? Offered nothing. I like Adam Armstrong but he did little today. Coventry fans were good though few idiots let them down. Phew!

7

claus5 added 23:29 - Feb 5 I must watch a dfferent game to bawdrip, i thought Stephens was as usual absolutley dreadful. Lyanco is a crowd favouite, but is definately not the answer long term. Sadly Adam Armstrong simply does not look anywhere near good enough, he would be very much 4th choice forward for me. Still, we won and are in the hat, a decent draw and we can look forward to a decent crack at this Cup and hopefully a comfortable league position.

-1

I_would added 00:01 - Feb 6 Hassenaclue must have dropped some acid to help him chose the team today. Small should've been given 10 mins when we'd already been winning by a couple. Walcott needs to de-bun. AA needs selling. Longy is pointlessy. Reddo is rubbisho. Tino needs more rest. Thank god Stuey and GK found some form. JWP a let down, corners not telling and free kick wasted as usual. Diallo was ok.

-3

KriSaint added 00:59 - Feb 6 Disappointing starting line-up in front of a full crowd - fighting for a place in round 5. Ralph gradually and rightfully "topped up" the team with 5 substitutions and - after having been deservedly behind - we equalized and ultimately got our noses in front in the last fase of half 2 of extra time and - with a superb double save from Caballero in the dying moments of extra time - held on to a 2-1 victory. Great goals from KWP and Stu Armstrong. Ralph: please learn from this. I know we have 2 difficult away games in the league coming up in a short space of time, but there are limits of risk taking when you choose your starting line up.. We got away with it - Ralphs team selection - Ralph reacted sufficiently - and I'm very happy with that. Absolute bullet of an equalizer from Stu and some brilliant technical skills from KWP for 2-1. His second goal in 2 games - this time from the left back position. Last time out it was from the RB position. I love him. JWP led the team, fought his a** off, and covered a lot of ground as usual - and let nobody down when rotated to right back in the last fase of the match. My MOTM. We're in the hat for tomorrows draw :-) Onwards and upwards. COYS! <3

2

SaintPaulVW added 07:54 - Feb 6 While I also did a double take at the line up, I think in fairness Ralph was trying to rest players for the next 2 PL games. After all we have 3 games in 7 days. Unfortunately the line up didn't work. Putting Small in in a back 5 that had only played a few games was a big ask. Playing 7 defensive players against Coventry was also a but of an odd balance. First half was awful. Lyancos injury allowed a change. Rather than a like for like swap, Ralph brought on Redmond who started running, moving off the ball and pressing Coventry. More changes at Half time Armstrong and KWP on. Finally we started to look the better side. Fantastic bending shot from Stu Armstrong to level it. Although took ages to grind out the final goal. Coventry were content to sit back. A few moments of madness almost got them back in it but we survived. Theo and A Arm looked lost up front. I'm not sure what is going wrong for A Arm but he never looked like scoring yesterday. Valery dajfu at Centre Back. A dodgy back pass almost ruined it but played well for the most part and didn't look out of place. Diallo was inconsistent, passes often went astray which is not what you need at CB. Some good passes tho and settled down in second half. We survived another FA cup scare(again) COYR

5

Bison added 12:05 - Feb 6 10/10 For Ralf :)
0