Chelsea 0 Southampton 1

[xceleryx]

On 14/02/2023 at 12:56, xceleryx said:

We'll have 70% possession and lose 0-1 to a Ward-Prowse set piece. 

Nice.

[Rob B]

4 hours ago, Original 21 said:

If a manager has no pressure on him to get results then we end up with what we saw today. Potter needs to feel as if every game is his last. Maybe that would wake him up. 

Totally agree with this.  I feel like the board have almost made it too easy for Potter and the players.  Previously it was demanded / expected to win every week, whereas now it’s compliment the other team and talk about us needing to get better. 

I knew we weren’t going to win the moment we didn’t include Reece James and Silva in the squad.  It just smacks of “free pass” and I think that’s a really dangerous precedent to have around a squad.  Do people actually think we’re going to get to the summer pre-season and Potter is just going to explain that we need to start winning now?!  

Whilst other “transitions” have taken time, I can’t imagine Arteta or Ten Hag ever accepted a defeat behind the scenes.  The mentality seems all wrong to me and I’m afraid to say I think he’s out of his depth. 

[Michael Tucker]

This was Southampton's  first League double over Chelsea in 35 years. Sad, but true.

[NoblyBobly]

3 hours ago, Ham said:

Just noticed this 😳

As he was lining up that free kick I remembered those exact words celery wrote. I absolutely knew that was going in…I think chara said the same. When calamities become predictable like that and at crucial times in games you are at the end game.

He is probably right not to dig out any players but for gods sake, throw your feccin rattle out the pram when VAR unzips it’s trousers and pisses on you as you lay on the floor. I’m talking about incidents like the penalty at West Ham! Potter clearly has an opinion ( based on his Emotional Intelligence degree) that it serves no purpose having a pop in post match interview. Graham mate, you do not take that shite lying down. You did it before with the Cucca hair pull pen and howz that worked out?
I could write it for you:                                            “I realise that refs can make mistakes in a split second incident and that was the purpose of Var. But the replay showed the player clearly saving a ball with his hand and everyone saw it. It’s unacceptable. Quite soon you may see me unemployed. A victory here today and the momentum that would have given us may have saved that sacking. I think I deserve an explanation from the var official who made that decision. Is his job now on the line?”

No ranting , no raving , just putting it out there.
I want to see you given a decent crack of the whip with this job , but I’m not sure you really want that. 

 

 
 

 

[chara]

10 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

This was Southampton's  first League double over Chelsea in 35 years. Sad, but true.

Fulham took 4 points ..Brentford ?...and on and on...

GP has brought nothing to the Chelsea table. ..even Tubby did better and was still despised..... 

I cannot believe the new owners will tolerate such incompetence for any longer.

[Michael Tucker]

1 minute ago, chara said:

I cannot believe the new owners will tolerate such incompetence for any longer.

Sadly, I think that they probably will.

[chara]

3 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

As he was lining up that free kick I remembered those exact words celery wrote. I absolutely knew that was going in…I think chara said the same. When calamities become predictable like that and at crucial times in games you are at the end game.

He is probably right not to dig out any players but for gods sake, throw your feccin rattle out the pram when VAR unzips it’s trousers and pisses on you as you lay on the floor. I’m talking about incidents like the penalty at West Ham! Potter clearly has an opinion ( based on his Emotional Intelligence degree) that it serves no purpose having a pop in post match interview. Graham mate, you do not take that shite lying down. You did it before with the Cucca hair pull pen and howz that worked out?
I could write it for you:                                            “I realise that refs can make mistakes in a split second incident and that was the purpose of Var. But the replay showed the player clearly saving a ball with his hand and everyone saw it. It’s unacceptable. Quite soon you may see me unemployed. A victory here today and the momentum that would have given us may have saved that sacking. I think I deserve an explanation from the var official who made that decision. Is his job now on the line?”

No ranting , no raving , just putting it out there.
I want to see you given a decent crack of the whip with this job , but I’m not sure you really want that. 

 

 
 

 

Or deserve it.

Well said NB...go down swinging not meowing..

He's got the players, injuries easing but still "Sorry we couldn't raise our game and even threatened to win ..good effort from the boys"

To repeat myself...And we despised Tubby.

 

 

[NoblyBobly]

2 hours ago, jasonb said:

I think with Silva and James we win today comfortably.

The Ward-Prowse free-kick is not a fluke he has scored them before, possibly Kepa should have done better.

Havertz and Sterling combined twice in the 2nd half and were both good chances.

The only bit of good news is it Spurs next and they normally give us 3 points.

 

Kepa is weak at well placed free kicks from any range. We are very vulnerable to set pieces yet we continually give away free kicks in stupid areas ( same at West Ham). Why are our players not thinking about that ? Is it Potter fault or are they just a bit thick?

[chara]

6 minutes ago, NoblyBobly said:

Kepa is weak at well placed free kicks from any range.We are very vulnerable to set pieces yet we continually give away free kicks in stupid areas ( same at West Ham). Why are our players not thinking about that ? Is it Potter fault or are they just a bit thick?

Most keepers are NB!☺️,,,but I understand what you are pointing out...part of the job of a coach surely is to take steps to minimise or counter balance the weak areas in a side.

I have seen little sign of that unless you count playing Silva and expecting him to plug the gaps. 

[Michael Tucker]

Not sure that any of this is down to Kepa, tbh. Is he perfect? No. But blaming him (or his inadequacies) is clutching at straws, imo.

 

[Original 21]

29 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

Sadly, I think that they probably will.

I miss Roman’s ruthlessness. Even when he went too far I kind of admired his intolerance of mediocrity. It set a standard and let everyone know where they stood. I doubt that Roman would’ve even contemplated employing such an ordinary manager as Potter in the first place, but he’d be out of a job by now after that disgrace of a performance. How is that even acceptable? What does it say about the owners that they can tolerate such a shambles? 

[Michael Tucker]

4 minutes ago, Original 21 said:

I miss Roman’s ruthlessness. Even when he went too far I kind of admired his intolerance of mediocrity. It set a standard and let everyone know where they stood. I doubt that Roman would’ve even contemplated employing such an ordinary manager as Potter in the first place, but he’d be out of a job by now after that disgrace of a performance. How is that even acceptable? What does it say about the owners that they can tolerate such a shambles? 

Totally agree with you buddy.

And it says plenty about the owners. Unfortunately!

[johnnybozo]

If Tuchel hadn't got us the points he did at the beginning of the season we'd be in a relegation battle. Not good enough.

Also I'm not sure what Potter wants us to do? I don't see much overlapping with the fullbacks when James isn't playing. Crosses which come in are bizarrely floated rather than drilled in when we have midgets up front. We play out of the back but struggle to make triangles to get the ball out against journeymen players. We have pace but don't utilise it in counter attacks.

Honestly our current squad suits someone like Simeone so well. Possession football is boring anyway I have no idea what the fetish is with wanting to have 60-70% all the time.

Potter out, Simeone in.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Just want to raise a point that we all largely seem to be touching on and in agreement with, but nobody seems to have pushed further forward.

Potter is out of his depth and clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing it, but, what about those that hired him?! The owners are the people that thought it right to pay all the money to bring him in and are now sitting there watching these performances for our club and are just accepting them, because of what I can only presume is ego and not wanting to admit they messed up.

I am in no way saying ‘Boehly Out’, but eyes have to be looking firmly at the owners as well and seriously questioning what they are doing. It feels like they think a rebuild here is the same as in the US, but it really is not. Get too far off the pace and you have some serious work to do to build back up. Look at Liverpool, Man United and Arsenal and how long it’s taken/taking them to get back to the top.

We’re in the stage of laying the foundations of a major rebuild and it’s a lot of change on and off the pitch, but during that time you have to at least be seeing signs on the pitch that the foundations are working. We need to have a manager capable and with the experience to show these players what it takes to be the best and where they should be aiming for.

I think most fans were accepting that this would all take time and that this season wouldn’t be easy, but this is something else. No signs of improvement or even direction on the pitch. We’ve got to a point where actually the score line in matches is almost irrelevant because the performances are just so bad that a win wouldn’t paper over the cracks, the cracks are now gaping holes everywhere. But where are the owners of our club? They’re watching and letting it happen.

For the first time in a really long time or possibly ever, I haven’t even checked the other results or league table after our match as it’s all pointless at the moment.

[CarefreeMuratcan]

4 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

Not sure that any of this is down to Kepa, tbh. Is he perfect? No. But blaming him (or his inadequacies) is clutching at straws, imo.

 

Of course not. We have conceded one goal less than city City, and the same number of goals as Arsenal. Only Newcastle have conceded less than us. 

The difference is that if Arsenal, City or United concede a JWP free kick, they then win the game 3-1, 4-1, 5-1. Newcastle probably draw it 1-1. 

What would have happened for us yesterday if JWP didn't score? Game probably ends 0-0 doesn't it.

Edited February 19, 2023 by CarefreeMuratcan

[ROTG]

11 hours ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

My guess is he’s tried to coach these players the same way he’s coaches previously players at smaller clubs and it just doesn’t work that way.

There lies the problem.
 

Most of the squad have been coached by world class coaches for most of their careers, then Team GP turn up.  

[ROTG]

9 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

clown

Buffoon is more apt IMO. 

[kev61]

8 hours ago, jasonb said:

 

The Ward-Prowse free-kick is not a fluke he has scored them before.

 

 

You'r right.Surely as a multi billion pound operation we could have had the nous to put a player on a post thereby giving the keeper an advantage?.Is that not "nuance".

How many times did Ashley goal clear the ball off the line after a set piece?.Was Ashley told to do that? - I doubt it - he was following his football brain.

[kev61]

There HAS to be discussion among Boehly and co about Potter's future now.

They have probably sounded out candidates a while ago.This result will accelerate their plan.

Is there a chance we could be relegated with this man in charge?...most likely not so he will probably make to the end of the season. 

 

[east lower]

If he is kept until the end of the season, that will be the second major mistake TB and his management team will have made. The damage that GP’s ways may have, could result in long lasting effects on this young group.
 

If nothing else comes out of yesterday, perhaps TB should look at Southampton,  they removed the problem and the team’s performance improves - no surprise for me there and it shouldn’t be for Todd either. If there is no change made this week then it says (to me) that TB is too stubborn to admit a mistake. Not a great trait that.

Oh, I didn’t see any great effect that our new mentality coach had either - other than a pre-game huddle, followed by one of the worst 45 minutes I’ve watched.

Edited February 19, 2023 by east lower

[johnnybozo]

Wouldn't even be against bringing in Terry, Lamps and Cech as a management co-operative to bring a bit of that old CFC spine until the end of the season. Or just make Silva player-manager until a replacement is found. Not sure Pochettino is the right one. Guy has won nothing of note even with PSG's riches (Ligue 1 is a farmers' league and doesn't count). Simeone in the summer.

Edited February 19, 2023 by johnnybozo

[Ham]

6 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

Not sure that any of this is down to Kepa, tbh. Is he perfect? No. But blaming him (or his inadequacies) is clutching at straws, imo.

 

Kepa's starting position was way too far left (from behind the goal) bearing in mind that everyone knew that free kick was going into the other corner. 

He couldn't get across quickly enough as a result.

One single positive from yesterday was Wesley Fofana who looked brilliant. Speed and composure. 

[Holymoly]

8 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

This was Southampton's  first League double over Chelsea in 35 years. Sad, but true.

We've given them over 25% of their points this season

[kev61]

18 minutes ago, johnnybozo said:

Wouldn't even be against bringing in Terry, Lamps and Cech as a management co-operative to bring a bit of that old CFC spine until the end of the season.

I'm all for that.It makes sense to spread the knowledge of top class players that have won it and wore the tee shirt.

[NoblyBobly]

7 hours ago, chara said:

Most keepers are NB!☺️,,,but I understand what you are pointing out...part of the job of a coach surely is to take steps to minimise or counter balance the weak areas in a side.

I have seen little sign of that unless you count playing Silva and expecting him to plug the gaps. 

Well I should say saveable free kicks. Lampard, TT, and Potter have not managed to make his legs and arms longer either, but to Potters credit ( if as you say it is part of his job) he has got Kepa performing far better than his predecessors.