Great team effort against a very good team. All you ask for really. Quick passing and further up the field, gave Wigan plenty to think about rather than the ponderous build up.

Hill was outstanding at the back - loved the chant of 'It's like watching Clint Hill'. Dunne looked a bit vulnerable on the ground against this type of team. Cannot understand what happened in the sending off. Nearly lost it with Gomez going down so easily on the edge of box.

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Can't complain about the work effort last night with several players visibly knackered towards the end.
I do feel that part of the reason why Wigan sometimes dominated the midfield and looked threatening was that with our elderly defence, Carroll in particular but also Barton are not best suited to playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation which requires the '2' to focus as much on ball winning and retention as creativity. The problem is exacerbated when the full backs are 'protected' by the lightweight Benayoun and the ponderous Kranjcar.

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1st Half: We need to address the RB spot ASAP, Hughes struggled in the opening 20 mins! Playing 4 Center halves along the back was quite evident and even Hill was caught for pace a few times. Kranjcar obv. carrying an injury is off the pace, but, LM is this his best position? Great to watch Morrison, get the ball and just run at the opposition, it makes such a difference.

2nd Half: Couldn't believe the opening 5-10 mins we just let Wigan run at us, how one of their chances didn't go in was beyond me. Have to say Hill's tackle in the box was top class but he was clearing up our own passing mistake.

Plenty of positives last night, but, I would like to see the passing accuracy increase and some decent long range efforts on goal. That said, Morrison's free kick was top drawer, such a shame it didn't go in.

Was dreading the free kick in the last minute, I had the memory of last year re-occurring. MOM for me was Green, made some fine stops!

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When I was on my way to my seat in SA rd and heard the team read out , I was not a happy man. Harry had done it again. BZ starting after a bright sub appearance. Yuk left out after a good performance. Dunne recalled after a shaky period. Hughes still at rb.

However, after a bright start which forced Wigan into making four fouls in the opening minutes, led to a very good performance against a very strong team. Moving the ball better, only going backwards and sideways when necessary. We did have a shaky start to the second half when Wigan ran straight at the heart of our defence on several occasions and went very close to scoring. We also conceded several free kicks near our box in the last few minutes which had a 'deja vous' feeling about them. Otherwise, we competed well throughout and deserved the points.

Benayoun was MOM for me. Never stopped running and was everywhere including in the six yard box, for the second match running, to apply a strikers finish. Added the energy that has been absent. Very unfortunate with both yellows.

LTC had a good game. Very involved and also adding energy to the team. Yes he misplaced a couple of passes but which player didn't give the ball away at least once or twice?

Morrison didn't really get going but he was occupying their defence and making room for others. He also was extremely unlucky with a late free kick that came back of the underside of the bar.

Very good performances from Hill and Green and even a better performance from Hughes.

On the negative side knocks for Barton and Morrison, Krancjar subbed at ht and a one match ban for Yossi. How are we going to get another game out of BZ so soon? Thank goodness it's a four day gap and not three. Saturday may be very tricky. We may need a little luck on our side! However, we have 69 points and we need to keep going, play offs almost in reach and Burnley play Leicester with Wigan still to come. It's very unlikely but their is still a chance.

Well done Harry, on this occasion you got it right! (Get BZ to put his feet up for a couple of days)

Come on u Rrrrrr's

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Very good

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A very good overall performance resulting in a well deserved 3 points.
Top performances from Bony, Routledge and Vorm.
Norwich simply couldn't handle Bony who just seems to get better with every game.
A comfortable first half where Norwich posed little threat, 2 excellent goals from JDG.
When the second half started you couldn't help having thoughts of the recent West Brom and Palace games. Norwich came out very strongly and had a couple of chances in the first 5 minutes. We settled soon afterwards and a brilliant third goal by Routledge set up by the excellent Bony, sealed the 3 points.

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Newcastle - bunch of mainly frenchmen who did not want to know! Nothing to play for that they cared about and it showed! However, our three foreigners had nothing to do, and left the work to our England hopefuls! Based on this match, and several previous matches, I could see Jack Cork sneaking on to the plane because Wilshire is injured and overrated, and Cleverly is not good enough either!

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We only started playing in the second half and did enough to win the game
Great goal from Hoilett-sadly the the oter strikers did not have the same nous to get past Gilks
We are just too inconsistent but to be fair-we have lost a number of playyers-Barton was sorely missed
Keane is a strange one but did improve from a very poor first half
Great to see Simpson back and his runs made a big difference
Ravel was classy while the defence sttod strong apart from their goal in the first half-think Black pool could have nicked it late on
With Burnley loosing we missed an opportunity to close the gap-think we should get ready for the play offs now

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Check out my full match report here: http://asaintsfcangel.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/southampton-v-newcastle-england-t

Don't forget to vote in the poll down the bottom, thank you!!

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Difficult to tell whether we played really well or Newcastle just didn't turn up. Perhaps some of both.

Started really well and if we had been 3 or 4 up at 20 minutes (because the strikers actually put their foot through the ball rather than trying to walk it in), nobody could have complained. As it was, no score and after 25 minutes the tempo drops. Normally, against a team who want to work and try against us, that's the signal for some slightly worrying tendencies to creep in. Newcastle were not that team however and didn't seize the opportunity to bring the game to us.

Scoring just before and after half time (thanks Ricky) was what we needed and the result was never in doubt. Lallana scores from 25 yards? can't remember him even trying from that range this season. Confidence or the fact that Newcastle just stood off? Good finish from J Rod at the end.

Difficult to assess the form of our England candidates as they were not tested here at all. I did think Cork put in a shift and Chambers (who took a battering) was impressive. Unfortunately for the latter I suspect Woy has already inked in the Skate at Liverpool for that role with the Spurs boy as back up.

Cork for Brazil? Probably not. Gerrard seems to be reinvented in that role and is perhaps a bit better at the inventive pass forward (although a bit worse at tackling).

It may also have been the lack of interest from the opposition but good to see us trying from longer range and not always wanting to walk the ball in.

Good professional job but hard to say how good as the French boys from the North East are already on the beach.

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