Saints 1 Birmingham 2

Match Summary
Whenever Saints start the season badly (and let’s face it, that’s always) I often fall back to the old cliche “It’s a marathon not a sprint”. Well, as Paula Radcliffe showed this morning, you can still come 23rd in a marathon – you just hurt for longer. It’s still far too early to say how Saints will do this season but already it feels like a pattern has been set.

Saints passed the ball well for the most part with far more movement off the ball and more chances created then we’ve seen for the last few seasons. However, as at Cardiff, you always felt the taller, more powerful and more experienced opposition would eventually win out. As the game wore on, Birmingham realised that they didn’t need to chase Saints in midfield they could just pack their defence and attack confident that our defence would crumble before theirs.

Losing to two of the better sides in the league is no cause for alarm in itself, especially as we could easily have got results in both games. However, most teams in the Championship plays the way Brum did in the second half yesterday and we are too lightweight both in attack and defence to deal with it. The sale of Andrew Davies to Stoke, as looks likely from Poortvliet’s comments today, will mean the loss of the one player in our squad who could have improved yesterday’s showing markedly.

Ratings
Kelvin Davis: 6 – Made some fine saves when left exposed but still doesn’t command his area the way a top keeper would.
Lloyd James: 7 – Needs to improve his defensive positioning and resist the temptation to hit it long but some of Saints best moments came from his roaming down the right to link up with McGoldrick.
Chris Perry: 6 – Not the centre-back expected to threaten from set pieces so goal was a bonus but overall the defence was shaky, in part due to Perry’s weakness in the air.
Michael Svensson: 6 – Was dominant first-half but still needs more games. Possibly overcompensating for Perry’s lack of height in trying to win everything and is then being caught out of position.
Andrew Surman: 5 – I’ve always felt Surman is a better centre-midfielder then left-winger and he’s even more out of position at left-back. Improved slightly as game wore on but too easily beaten in the air and on the deck.
Simon Gillet: 6 – Gave the ball away a few times but showed huge work-rate across the entire park. Perhaps he would be a better full-back option with Surman moving into midfield?
Morgan Schneiderlin: 6 – Looked very classy on the ball first-half but couldn’t get involved second half when Saints needed someone of his quality to move further forward and create chances.
Adam Lallana: 5 – Started well enough but didn’t create enough in the attacking midfield role.
David McGoldrick: 6 – Always gave Saints an out ball and showed some excellent touches but never looked likely to continue his scoring streak.
Lee Holmes: 5 – Similiar to Lallana, made stuff happen when given the chance first-half but simply couldn’t provide the centre-foward with enough support.
Stern John: 5 – Looked very rusty and really stuggled to hold the ball up which is where he excelled last season. Also missed a very good chance just before Birmingham’s equaliser which would probably have reversed the result.
Manager: 5 – Obviously hamstrung by the experienced players who’ve left and the side initially looked good but failed to react to a far better showing from Brum in the second half. Failed to give adequate reasoning behind the lack of bench options – even if you’re doubtful over one of your defenders you need some attacking options like Wright-Phillips or Dyer.
Birmingham: 7 – Look like a good championship side, big and strong at the back with a stupendous number of options up front. No guile or creativity but that won’t matter until/unless they get promoted.
Ref: 7 – Didn’t have any major decisions to make, didn’t break up the play too much and generally did ok. The rotund linesmen infront of the Itchen was a bit flag-happy to both sides though.
Man of the Match: Cameron Jerome – The enforced change were he came on for Nafti really benefited Birmingham as he provided a powerful and pacy threat down the flanks and middle. Benefited from Surman and James trying to get forward and being caught out at the back but looks like he could cause havoc amongst Championship defences this season.

Category: Match Reports

Tags: Birmingham, Match Reports, Saints

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