I wondered why he had played so much. I was not happy with him most of the game, but to be fair to him it was good work to follow up to get his goal.
The game panned out as I expected. We were ineffectual without a centre forward up front. It's not good enough to stick someone like Gray up front on his own. It's selling him short, it's not fair on the paying supporters, and it's nullified the team for 50% of the game today. How much better did Gray and the team look when we had somebody on the field who could actually lead the line?
I'd have kept Gray on instead of bringing on Okaka. He offered nothing. Don't see what anyone see's in him. Deeney whilst not as good as he used to be, offers a focal point in attack which we need at the minute. Richarlison for all his effort is getting less and less effective - not really his fault though, granted. Janmaat a total liability as well as Zeegelaar. Pereyra has class...when he wants. But he needs to show it in far greater abundance. Carrillo back to being anonymous. Back to Gray....though he was decent to be fair. Whilst not in the same league, he's an 'Andy Cole' type - he's gonna miss chances. But he'll get more chance's because of how he plays, Okaka is just an overweight battering ram who isn't very good. I'd like to see Gray and Deeney start together. Everyone else was a 6/10. No more, no less. The equaliser was cheating, pure and simple. Do I care? Not really, as I think there was a clear penalty for a shirt-pull on Okaka (Roger East gave at least 3 free-kicks in the game for similar instances but declined to care when he saw it in the box.) But hopefully this puts to bed some conversation that we are being picked on by the FA and officials - HB1? Lastly, I'd repeat what I said earlier. I respect people who want Silva gone and think this form or malaise is down to him or 'Everton' or whatever. But the same thing has happened 3 seasons in a row. QSF and WM didn't flirt with other clubs and the same happened to them. This runs deeper than just the manager. Theres likely a few aspects to it and he is maybe a part of it in my eyes - but I don't think he encompasses the whole problem. We need some real leadership and responsibility ON THE PITCH. Real accountability for what happens on the pitch. We can replace Silva and leave everything as it is, we may stay up but I'd bet my house that the same would happen next year. For this club to progress beyond this seasonal issue, we need to look beyond it just being the managers fault every season. Enjoy your Saturday evening's.
That's not the handball. It was at head height with his right hand as the ball flashed past his forehead.
Fair play to Troy proper captains innings today. Anyone reckon he did the half time team talk? Something along the lines of don't play for Silva play for GT?
I think as an effort to post a photo that was the correct one too, I win the Epic Fail of the Day award!!
'Pal', I was not the one criticising one of todays goalscorers before a ball had already been kicked. If your argument had been pre-game that you wanted Deeney alongside Gray, I'd have appreciated that and agreed with it. But you followed the tone of the vast majority of your posts and moaned or threw silly abuse. I apologise for the '******' comment as I hate petty name-calling on here so I take it back. We won't agree but for that part, I say sorry.
Second goal his fault. Much like the first being Zeegelaar's. Far too weak at the main part of their game which is defending. He recovered ground by adding an attacking threat in the second half but I say he's a liability because he is defensively.
oh yes I know he is a liability defensively. I just wanted to mention that he wasn't a total liability today.
Nothing I said was anti-Gray. I commented on the fact that he was up front on his own. I agree with everything you said in your previous post, so I don't really understand why my comment got your goat.
Looked much better with 442, not sure why Gray was taken off though. Baffles me how we can play so poorly in one half but then dominate the second half
We have to play 2 upfront in Deeney and Gray. Deeney was unplayable in that 2nd half and provided an effective, combative link which Soton couldn't handle. Okaka didn't suit playing upfront with Deeney and got in the way of each other more than anything else.
Silva deserves no credit, he has been stubborn and arrogant to not go two up top. The only sympathy I have for him are our appauling full backs. Other than that, get on with what you have and show them you need more.
Sometimes, even after many years of watching football, it’s really hard knowing how to react to a match. At half-time I was as angry as I’ve felt for a long time. This most mild-mannered and positive of posters had had enough. Enough of a team of some players who give the impression of not fully caring for our beloved club. Enough of an arrogant appearing Head Coach who arrived in the summer with a recent (half season) relegation on his CV, given another chance to build a reputation in England and who then made it fairly clear that after just a few weeks he deserved something bigger than our beloved club. Enough of the people responsible for our recruitment, who once again seemed to fail to grasp the notion of actually building a squad for the longer term rather than treating it like Fantasy Football. Brom were winning, Swansea were winning, Saints were winning and we were in big big trouble. Fast forward an hour and a stirring comeback, although with a goal that was blatant cheating. A second half that saw Gray, Deeney, Pereyra, Richarlison and Carrillo all on the pitch together, probably our most attacking line-up of the season. We’ve tossed away so many points from winning positions this season so it was great to actually win one from two down, however dubious the equalising goal. (Ironically the 1,000th goal Saints have conceded in the PL). A second half that showed that maybe after all we do have at least some character. And a Head Coach that showed he can change a match when things aren’t going well. Maybe, just maybe, AD’s hand will have saved our season and a few people’s bacon too. We shall see...
First half was just depressing Second half much better , game of two half's really would of preferred three points but will take one handball or not
Gray and Deeney looked more threatening than they have all season when playing together today. Gray would have so many more goals playing with a partner in this side.
Looks like I got my 0-1 prediction spot on.... Happy with a precious point tonight. Couldn't give two fecks it was handball, you win some you lose some in football. Today we had some luck. No doubt some will use it as another stick to beat us with.
Well least we got a point and improved 2nd half. Handball maybe but you need some luck if your not playing well!
I can't understand Silva. We're playing a team with no confidence who have been defensive all season so he starts Gray as a lone striker. There was no space for him to run into at all and the two big centre backs just headed it away or muscled him off the ball. I don't particularly blame him for that, it's not his game. The other players didn't know what to do with the ball as they couldn't get it into Gray and there was no point getting it wide and crossing it either for the same reason. Deeney changed the game by winning the first two headers that came his way, it set an example and lifted everyone else. I've been a frequent critic of his but I'm pretty sure we'd have lost that 4-0 if he hadn't come on. We didn't play good football in the second half but we started competing for every ball, and that came from Deeney. Next week against Leicester away would suit Gray far more but I'm sure that Deeney will start, even though he's got no change out of Huth/Morgan/Maguire over the past few seasons, any of whom could me troubled by Gray's pace. Finally, I think Holebas will get his starting place back soon, pretty much by default.
To give due credit to Gray, despite it being a 3 yard header it was a very clever finish, there was no speed on the ball so he had to header it down like he did to score.
I think taking Gray off for Okaka let Southampton off the hook somewhat. Deeney and Gray compliment each other and gave their defence worries, whereas Deeney and Okaka were both trying to do the same thing and Southampton's defenders had an easier time after that sub. Still should have got a penalty though.
Secured a point against a terrible side by little more than flinging balls at their fragile defence until one bobbles in. Glad to see some fight in the 2nd half but too little too late. That's still only one league win in goodness knows how long. There are winnable games and free swings as we all know and at this stage of the season, the 'winnable' games are getting few and far between. Unless we start consistently taking points off the top 6 sides over the next 4 months we need to win games like today. We've come off the back of a terrible run and for some a second half fight back and a snatched draw will be a positive to build upon. For me it's too little too late. With his comments in the press, the way he sets the side up, the way he drops his goalscorer, the way he cricitises his players and the club hierarchy, his speaking out about recruitment to the media rather than behind closed doors, his stupid watch deal, his generally ****y demeanour and overall sliminess mean that Marco Slither has to go and I hope he's sacked tonight. I genuinely question Gino's judgment that he's not been sacked weeks ago to be honest. I'm sure the fact that he turned down 15m for him is a factor, but the man is scum and needs to be gone from our club. I'm not saying there aren't issues with the playing staff, the scouting/recruitment and the medical staff, but those will take 2 or more seasons to resolve. The issue with Slither should take 2 words. YOU'RE FIRED. And at least then we can take a step forward on one front and remove this toxic shitbag from the club.
Desperation from silva today. He really is totally clueless. Shame Gino hasn’t got the balls to rid of him Deeney was great when he came on, he’s an impact sub at the end of the day. Watch Silva start him as a lone striker at Leicester next week. Thought Gray looked half decent alongside Deeney then gets taken off for Okaka. Nice tactics, Snake
Is there any chance the FA will give Doucoure a retospective ban for cheating. I'm sure they'll be just itching to!
No doubt the Doucoure goal will be analyzed and talked about to death. The penalty on Okaka and the timewasting from Southampton will be glossed over. However we have to remember we have barely scraped a result against a team which is struggling badly, managed to contrive to lose to some of the other relegation contenders recently like Swansea and Huddersfield and I think everyone at the club needs to get together and really clear the air. The manager gets to sign a couple of his players irrespective of if he departs in the summer. Gino lays the law down to the players. And we need assessment of the medical team, recruitment policy etc etc. Silva is supposed to be a highly promising coach but when even those on a forum realize that playing with two upfront is better than someone whose first touch is poor, cannot hold the ball up and requires decent service from deep is played alone well... Not to mention continuing to play a back four when at the very best Z and J are wingbacks. Those two are causing panic attacks to the centrebacks having to cover the channels and being dragged out wide constantly to make up for their deficiencies. And we are right in the relegation mix. We can barely scrape a point of one of the contenders and if we continue to produce such limp displays at the start of games well we will be contesting that dubious prize. We also need to find where Femenia and Hughes are. Have they been abducted ?
Today was Gray’s first home goal, at the 12th attempt of trying. He joins Richarlison and Hughes in scoring in consecutive league matches for us this season. After failing to score in his first 21 matches for us, Doucoure now has 7 in his last 18. He also scored in the match against Southampton at their place. Saints are the first team we’ve played twice this season who’ve failed to beat us. Hopefully that augurs well for the cup match. I believe today was the first time this season we’ve seen Deeney, Gray and Okaka in the same match this season, though I stand corrected on that one? Much has been made of our propensity to throw away points from winning positions this season (16) but to balance that, today was the 9th point we’ve taken from losing positions!
I think we would have won that with Gray. Caused them real problems in the 2nd half. Good point in the end but our full backs are positionally appalling. Doyley was no good going forward but at least he would have dealt with both goals today!
Agree with this. There was one ball that came into Deeney's feet and he didn't even look, just helped it on into an area behind their centre backs and Gray was straight onto it. It wasn't even a particularly good pass but it caused panic in their defence and Gray should've had a penalty but tried to stay up and get the shot away. There's never anyone close enough to play that type of ball when he's up top on his own.
If we have to watch any more football like the s**t that we played in the first half, I hope the club start handing out food/drink vouchers as they did for Man City away.
The second goal was also largely Zeegelaar's fault as well - he was jogging back and was ~20 metres behind the play (and Ward-Prowse on his side) when the goal went in.
