Southampton verdict

[Michellis]

Abject first half. Some improvement second half.
Absolutely ridiculous penalty decision to give us a handhold back into the game.
Simply stunning from Patricio.
Simply stunning from Neto. He's a turbo-charged version of Jota and will no doubt be wearing a blue or red jersey this time next year I'm sad to say. That's how it works unfortunately.

 

[Surrey Wolf]

Like chalk & cheese....Shockingly bad 1st half... really good 2nd half.... these players can do it, just wish they could play better more often. Filthy goal from Neto

 

[Incognito]

Nuno understandably emotional at the end. One thing we can never accuse him of is not giving 100% to his job. My dad is seriously ill in hospital at the moment and thank you Wolves for making me smile. 30 points feels like a big milestone and should now cast aside any fears of the dreaded drop...

Sorry to hear your dad is unwell. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

 

[Wonder Boyo]

Nuno understandably emotional at the end. One thing we can never accuse him of is not giving 100% to his job. My dad is seriously ill in hospital at the moment and thank you Wolves for making me smile. 30 points feels like a big milestone and should now cast aside any fears of the dreaded drop...

It's amazing how football can lift you, even in dark days. I found out that myself last week. All the best to you and your dad, I hope he recovers soon.

 

[Incognito]

Abject first half. Some improvement second half.
Absolutely ridiculous penalty decision to give us a handhold back into the game.
Simply stunning from Patricio.
Simply stunning from Neto. He's a turbo-charged version of Jota and will no doubt be wearing a blue or red jersey this time next year I'm sad to say. That's how it works unfortunately.

Do you want a bet? PM me.

 

[TheConcourse]

What reaction? Turned it off at full time

Huge hug for 10 seconds with one of the back room stuff (forget his name). Genuinely looked like he was going to cry.

 

[VancouverWolf]

I think if we are all honest - we’d be furious about the penalty award too.

Yes, like Killman’s at Leicester....lousy that

 

[Deleted member 8913]

Excellent result, excellent second half....dodgy first half and 13th game in a row we have failed to open the scoring.

work in progress and happy valentines

good to see Marcal back....now only missing Boly,Podence and Jimenez.....all helps a lot

 

[JonahWolf]

I’m one of the doomongers but happy to be proved wrong and take any abuse given.
Il still have a bit of a rant though, first half was abysmal, second half was like night and day we played so much better, pressed attacked with intent moved the ball quicker, that’s all I want to see win or lose, which makes the first half and how we have been playing lately **** me off even more as that’s how we can play.

Get a new contact infront of Neto ASAP

3 points and I can chill for the rest of the weekend, rather than be ****ed off.
(I don’t think it was a penalty btw same as I didn’t think Kilmans was against Leicester)

That’s pretty positive for you .
Neto signed a bumper extension start of the season.

 

[Norway Wolves]

As everybody else has said, 1st half an embarrassment but to be fair he tweaked it tactically. Much better control and half.

That is any relegation worries totally eradicated, and for that I am glad.

 

[sillytuna]

Switching Neto and Traore was a master stroke. They were being outnumbered out wide so switching and bringing them narrower suddenly opened the game up for us. Midfield 2 noticeably improved with that too.

Good tactics by Nuno. He’s had plenty of pelters and deservedly so, let’s hope he gets the credit he deserves for this.

The credit will come if we actually play like that more often instead of persisting with something that doesn't work week in week out. We were so much better because the players cut inside and we attacked the box.

 

[Ajfox254]

What is this bull**** debate in the handball decisions? Bertrand arm is protruding from the silhouette, blocking a goalbound shot.

Dendoncker sees it at the last second and it hits the top of his arm, it wasn’t goalbound, and not in a dangerous position.

Its quite simple

 

[Antonline1987]

Amazing how your mood can change so fast in a hour
Fuming at ht and delight at ft. Like others have said credit nuno for swapping the wingers It made a big difference the the performance. Let's just hope we can start like start the Leeds game like we played the second half because if we play like the first half we will be 3/4 down against them

 

[Big Mack]

Delighted Nuno read the Mix at half time and took advice from the armchair warriors. He obviously knows nothing.

Laughable some of you slagging the team off after 90 seconds.

Yes, very poor first half, but second half proved he still has the players and the know how.

 

[mcwolf]

great win . over the moon.

 

[Deleted member 8913]

Yes, like Killman’s at Leicester....lousy that

Exactly so...too many penalties given for minor cause....accidental but arm away from body.

 

[Autistic Kangaroo]

A view from the opposing camp....'Losing to such a poor team is so infuriating. Screwed once again by the officiating'.

We were very very rubbish first half. The handball rule is a farce. Gutted for them.

We were far from poor ALL of the second half

 

[Incognito]

About time we had a bit of luck with the penalty. It cancels out Kilman's v Leicester at the start of the season.

 

[Pengwern]

we got lucky getting a pen when their appeal was refused but we earned the points by fluidity up front.

 

[Deleted member 5276]

Welcome back Jekyll and Hyde. At half time you have no idea how we are going to get back in the game and 45 mins later, with a strke of good fortune, we end up with all three points.

Second half we showed how poor Southampton are as we totally dominated. First half we were abysmal with passing seemingly an impossible task and no link up between defence and midfield and midfield and our lone striker. Second half we pushed up the field 10 yards and instantly Saints were under threat.

A fortunate penalty and we're away at the races. From players going through the motions to genuine belief the game was there to be won. We know we have the talent and the quality but this game totally demonstrated our woeful season.

Rui - Fantastic first half save and a good double block in the second to keep it 2-1 although it may not have counted as the ref gave a free kick. 8
Semedo - useless first half and frankly not a lot better second. 5
Saiss - usual mix of some good and some bad. He was consistent over both halves but still average. 6
Coady - Good leadership but again, poor distribution at times 6
Dendoncker - awful first half and improved a little second. 5.5
Otto - still feeling his way back. OK in the first half, faded in the second. To be expected. 6
Moutinho - not great first half as allowed Saints to dictate play but improved second half. Hard not to really. 6
Neves - Awful first half but much better second when pushed up the field a little more. Good pen and good distribution from the time he leveled it up. 6
Adama - completely useless first half and obviously had a roasting at half time as he improved a little second. Still running into blind alleys and giving it away unnecessarily putting us into trouble. 5
Jose - Not in the game at all but at least becomes a focal point and can actually keep the ball....sometimes. 5
Neto - Poor first half but second half he came alive and scored a wonderful goal to win the game. 7

Marcal - OK. 6
Silva - continues to be pushed off the ball too easily.
Kilman - no time.

Nuno - I don't know what to say. Obviously had a go at them and changed it at half time to have the desired effect but why do we always have to be on the back foot to start games? 6

Ref - Thought he gave us some decisions today if I'm honest. Overall, tried to let the game flow but I'll never agree that was deliberate handball. When you see the slow mo it makes a better case but in real time, I have no idea what Bertrand is supposed to do. 6

Sanits - As I said in the week, a very poor team. We gave them too much respect first half... respect they haven't earned. They are really going to struggle next season if they don't add some quality. As for Ward-Prowse... over two games he's shown he's a donkey who can take a free kick. 4

So, that probably means we are safe from relegation now. Going by the Allardyce scale we need 8 more points, so effectively three decent results. Who knows what we'll get next though?

 

[Macman]

As everybody else has said, 1st half an embarrassment but to be fair he tweaked it tactically. Much better control and half.

That is any relegation worries totally eradicated, and for that I am glad.

This for me too. Needed the 3 points to ease relegation concerns, now I hope we push on from here and keep playing like we did in the second half. Great win though!

 

[Bossworld]

I think if we are all honest - we’d be furious about the penalty award too.

Just checked and we’ve conceded 8 penalties this season, the joint highest in the league.

I’m sure at least two have been the same situation (close proximity handball), though perhaps one was last season? All blurring into one for me

Ally McCoist has just bleated that it’s going to get to the point that defenders have to defend with arms in unnatural positions. Look at how we’re defending these days, we’re already doing it as a precaution. Once bitten, twice shy.

 

[Focke Wolf]

I think Freud himself would need therapy trying to analyse the Wolves.

The only thing I can think of is that they must have had a packet of pork scratchings at half time.

 

[Supadavewolf]

Nuno understandably emotional at the end. One thing we can never accuse him of is not giving 100% to his job. My dad is seriously ill in hospital at the moment and thank you Wolves for making me smile. 30 points feels like a big milestone and should now cast aside any fears of the dreaded drop...

Hope your dad recovers soon, Andy.

 

[Hawkguy]

Great second half to secure the win. 15 points up on Fulham and a realistic shot at the Top-10 if we continue to press offensively. Let's continue to press and end the season with some direction.

@VancouverWolf Just a heads up that David plays today at in 1 hour, 45 minutes if you're staying up! Kid is on fire.

 

[Deleted member 11332]

Biggest change second half was the intensity and pace we played at, along with the tactical change with Adama and Neto.

 

[JR WAS KING]

Watching the penalty in slow motion the only thing I would say is Bertrand did move his arm up towards the ball. Still be ****ed off if it was given against us, as I was in the Leicester game.

 

[Hoganstolemywife]

Terrific win from the lads.

Awful first half - perhaps the worst. Wonderful second half. Back to.the best.

 

[MotorWoden]

If we every game we didnt hamstring out attacking players from the start by making them cover the wingbacks and midfielders we would be doing vastly better. Talk of 4 or 5 at the back is by the by, its the tactics of having Jose/Silva/Jimenez totally isolated while having ten players sitting deep that kills us more often than not. Plus the fact that our wingback options are very weak defensively, and only moderately effective going forward. We only play when we are a goal down.

 

[Hawkguy]

Nuno understandably emotional at the end. One thing we can never accuse him of is not giving 100% to his job. My dad is seriously ill in hospital at the moment and thank you Wolves for making me smile. 30 points feels like a big milestone and should now cast aside any fears of the dreaded drop...

Best wishes to your father.

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

Rubbish first half, tactical change and we win. Exactly the same as last season.

nice to see the normal doom mongers are no where to be seen. We lose and they can’t wait to start multiple threads telling everyone how bad the world is. Win and they’re completely absent.

 

[Black Coffee]

The definition of a game of two halves that second half is exactly what we need to do carrying on.

Neto is top drawer it's frightening he's only 20 and he's that good

 

[Deleted member yltz11841]

That’s pretty positive for you .
Neto signed a bumper extension start of the season.

Il still hold back as it’s only a good 45mins we need to go on from it not just the odd half here and there

 

[Andywolf74]

Sorry to hear your dad is unwell. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Many thanks for your kind words. The strength is in the pack.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

At half time I was sat thinking this season has been so frustrating as we know how good this team can actually play.

Simple thing of switching Traore and Neto over made such a difference. Freed up Semedo when going forward, him and Adama make too many similar movements, and Neto is just his brilliant self.

Have to say though that Patricio was superb. It will get overlooked by most because of the attacking changes and the 2 classes goals in the game but he kept us in it at 1-0. He made a few crucial saves at 2-1 and claimed a couple crosses with great confidence.

100% Said a few weeks back we should switch Adama to the left when Semedo plays as they often occupy the same space.

Chuffed by the second half come back.

 

[VancouverWolf]

Nuno understandably emotional at the end. One thing we can never accuse him of is not giving 100% to his job. My dad is seriously ill in hospital at the moment and thank you Wolves for making me smile. 30 points feels like a big milestone and should now cast aside any fears of the dreaded drop...

Sorry about your dad. Hope he does well soon.

 

[Frank Lincoln]

Fortunate penalty? Remember the ones given against us at Burnley last season, and Leicester this season. If they were penalties, so was the one today.

 

[Incognito]

At half time I was ready to give up watching games this season. That first half was truly pathetic.

a luck break with the penalty - but as soon as we got that we had a vintage second half with everyone passing to everyone else - smiling when things didn’t quite come off.

adama, samedo and Neto were absolutely brilliant.

but don’t forget Neves was absolutely everywhere - must have won the ball back 15 times and Rui had kept us in the match with another towering performance.

Agreed he was everywhere, even had a run down the wing. He needs a wee bit more help than what Joao is capable of these days. I do feel Nuno is ignoring that for some reason.

 

[North West Wanderer]

Neves was brilliant second half as well.

 

[Hawkguy]

Fortunate penalty? Remember the ones given against us at Burnley last season, and Leicester this season. If they were penalties, so was the one today.

I think the issue most have with it is that it shouldn't be. And neither should a bunch of others.

At the very least if it was, Dendoncker's should have been as well.