I was on Twitter last night and saw something from True Faith’s Alex Hurst which gave me real reason to believe we should be quietly confident of getting an all important win over Southampton tomorrow.
Here’s my take on Alex’s three points raised in his tweet below, with each giving me genuine hope that we’ll deliver the performance required in tomorrow’s relegation six pointer at St James’ Park.
1. We’ve tended to deliver when it’s REALLY mattered this season:
As Alex explains below, we’ve pulled out some huge wins when we’ve been up against it and in dire need of points. West Ham home and away, the new years day win at Stoke and the home victory over Man Utd being three prime examples.
We’ve been poor at home this season, going through the motions in spells, but we can see the finish line now and I’d expect Rafa and the lads to be fully focused and ‘at it’ tomorrow afternoon.
Reasons to be cheerful for Sat:
This season when it’s really mattered we’ve delivered – W Ham x 2, Stoke (a), Man Utd (h)
We were better than them at their place
They’re under more pressure than us – manager especially.
— Alex Hurst (@tfalex1892) March 8, 2018
2. We were better than them at their place:
We controlled the vast majority of the game and we felt pretty disheartened to come away with just a point that day after taking the lead twice.
They were toothless up front for the most part (and have struggled in that department ever since), with it taking a rash challenge from Florian Lejeune to gift them a penalty with just 15 minutes to go.
We’ll remember that and be keen to get one over on them on this occasion.
3. Pellergrino is under pressure
I’ve spoken to quite a few Saints fans over the last week and every single one of them seemed dejected by the fact Pellegrino was still in charge.
They find his tactics negative and it’s easy to see why with just 1 win in their last 16. They fear his conservative approach will get them relegated, and there’s plenty to suggest he won’t change that this weekend.
This is summed up by his comments prior to tomorrow’s game, with him stating how happy he’d be with a point in a game many Southampton fans feel they should be pushing to win.
They’ve drawn 9 of their last 16, so they’re not always easy to beat, but he desperately needs a win to appease the Saints fans calling for his head.
