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Episode 352: Matchday Preview: Away again to Middlesbrough!
5 Plays1 month ago
Southampton – The games sure do come thick and fast! Away to a team that hasn't scored in 7 hours of play... what could possibly go wrong?
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Transcript
Podcast Independence and Future Plans
00:00:04
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Daily Saints pod.
00:00:17
Speaker
I am your host, Greg Elliott, and as always today, joined by my good friend and wonderful co-host, Zach.
00:00:23
Speaker
How you doing, mate?
00:00:24
Speaker
You alright?
00:00:24
Speaker
Yeah, not too bad.
00:00:25
Speaker
As you've probably heard, there's some differences going on behind the scenes here.
00:00:29
Speaker
This probably explains a lot of our chaotic upload schedule.
00:00:33
Speaker
But yeah, we've done a little name change, done some cheeky changes across the socials.
00:00:38
Speaker
You'll probably be able to see.
00:00:41
Speaker
So yeah, I thought we may as well address it.
00:00:43
Speaker
Like me and Greg were talking before, like, do we address this?
00:00:45
Speaker
Do we just change it?
00:00:46
Speaker
Well, considering we changed the entirety of the intro, probably should.
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:00:52
Speaker
We're flying solo now and hoping to be better for it.
00:00:58
Speaker
And rolling with that.
00:01:00
Speaker
No disrespect to GSPN.
00:01:01
Speaker
It was a wild time with those guys.
00:01:04
Speaker
They've decided to go off in sort of... It didn't quite... Their project didn't quite go the direction they wanted to go.
00:01:11
Speaker
And so they're closing it down, which means that, you know, obviously...
00:01:16
Speaker
We want to carry on because we've been doing this daily for, what, 350 episodes, 51 episodes at this point.
00:01:22
Speaker
So, yeah, we're all solo and independent.
00:01:26
Speaker
So hopefully you'll stick around.
00:01:28
Speaker
Thanks to everyone that's been listening thus far.
00:01:31
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:01:32
Speaker
What that does mean as independent creators is that if you are liking what you're hearing, giving us a like, giving us a rating, giving us a review, giving us a subscribe, wherever you are listening, goes a long way to help out the show.
00:01:46
Speaker
But that is enough of that.
Football Schedule and Its Impact
00:01:49
Speaker
Zach, we have got more football coming up because it never ends.
00:01:53
Speaker
It comes thick and fast.
00:01:56
Speaker
And we might be in January now, but...
00:01:59
Speaker
There's another game on a different day of the week, this time on a Sunday.
00:02:05
Speaker
I got nothing left.
00:02:06
Speaker
That's how I feel.
00:02:10
Speaker
I mean, my concern is that if we're feeling like that, how are the players that have to spend 90 minutes running around the pitch in it?
00:02:18
Speaker
But we've swapped out some of them.
00:02:20
Speaker
That's the thing, right?
00:02:21
Speaker
We basically started with four changes the other day.
00:02:24
Speaker
You know, there's some that always want to play and will play, but at the same time, yeah, it's probably tiring.
00:02:32
Speaker
But, like, you pointed out last show, Middlesbrough haven't scored in what, like seven hours?
00:02:38
Speaker
Seven hours of gameplay.
00:02:39
Speaker
If we can manage a goal and keep them out, we can win the game.
00:02:44
Speaker
Now, I know that we essentially talk about that every episode and somehow drag it out to be 30 minutes, but...
00:02:51
Speaker
It's vitally important we get something, because I swear I'm going to lose my mind with Tonda being like, yeah, it's really important we put in a performance against Middlesbrough.
00:03:00
Speaker
And I'm like, it's been really important we put in performances every game.
00:03:05
Speaker
This is such... I thought about this after we recorded our match reviews app, but how much...
00:03:15
Speaker
I talked a bit about the fatigue of the fixtures and coming up, and we talk a lot about the physical energy of being on the pitch, but what we haven't really given much airtime to is...
00:03:27
Speaker
how dirty the fixtures have done us in this period, because in these five games in what feels like five days, right?
00:03:37
Speaker
We've been away for three of them.
00:03:39
Speaker
So that's additional travel.
00:03:42
Speaker
Like that is a lot considerably harder than playing at home for so many reasons, right?
00:03:46
Speaker
There's a personal toll that takes.
00:03:49
Speaker
True.
00:03:49
Speaker
But how many of these players do you reckon actually live inside them?
00:03:54
Speaker
Like, mate, I've been trapped in traffic on the M27 before when it's not moving.
00:03:58
Speaker
That's just as bad if you're trying to get from Winchester to Southampton.
00:04:02
Speaker
To be clear, I get your point.
00:04:03
Speaker
I'm just being facetious.
00:04:04
Speaker
But, yeah, there probably definitely is a toll.
00:04:08
Speaker
And, yeah, it's definitely done us a little bit dirty.
00:04:11
Speaker
But at the same time, like, there should be no surprise.
00:04:14
Speaker
Like, this is a career they choose to do.
00:04:16
Speaker
This is a career that is part of it, right?
00:04:18
Speaker
Like...
00:04:19
Speaker
you know, if you choose to do a job where you're on call over Christmas and then you'd be like, well, think about these people who are on call over Christmas.
00:04:26
Speaker
It's like, yeah, I get that.
00:04:27
Speaker
But also this is the career you've chosen.
00:04:29
Speaker
And that can unfortunately be part of it.
00:04:31
Speaker
And that's kind of where I'm at.
00:04:33
Speaker
That doesn't mean that I don't think that, yeah, it's probably been mentally tough for a few of them, especially where we have very much landed on a first sort of 11 and we're trying to figure out ways to play that first 11, you know,
00:04:47
Speaker
that many times in five days, you know that the fatigue is going to kick in.
00:04:51
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that that for sure is an added stress, but also other teams have managed to deal with it.
00:04:57
Speaker
And this is where I have a point of contention and a bone to pick in the fact that, like, we seems to have been like, well, woe is us, woe is our ability to play these games.
00:05:07
Speaker
It's like, yeah, but we're not the only team in the championship which is dealing with this problem.
00:05:13
Speaker
And other teams are managing to deal with the problem and win off the back of it.
Team Performance and Transfer Speculations
00:05:17
Speaker
And like, arguably, maybe we were a little bit harsh with a nil-nil draw against Millwall.
00:05:22
Speaker
They're a better side than we probably give credit to.
00:05:24
Speaker
They, you know, we managed a clean sheet.
00:05:27
Speaker
Baz actually pulled off a really good save.
00:05:31
Speaker
It wasn't the worst game in the world.
00:05:32
Speaker
But the thing is, is again, it's you're setting the standards of we should be winning.
00:05:36
Speaker
We should be trying to aim for promotion.
00:05:38
Speaker
It's not where we want to be.
00:05:40
Speaker
So ultimately, we're all going to end up frustrated.
00:05:43
Speaker
Plus, mate, it was boring.
00:05:46
Speaker
The fact that he said that it wasn't boring was like, mate, come on!
00:05:50
Speaker
What are you talking about?
00:05:55
Speaker
Sorry, Greg, do you want to go on your edge, Waze?
00:05:57
Speaker
No, you're right.
00:05:59
Speaker
It's exactly that.
00:06:00
Speaker
But I just think that...
00:06:03
Speaker
it's easy to be super critical, right?
00:06:05
Speaker
And we knew that this, you know, the fixtures came out in August.
00:06:09
Speaker
It was no surprise that we were away across this period of time.
00:06:12
Speaker
I just think that, you know, the amount of travel we've had to do is particularly tough and we should, you know, pay heedance to that.
00:06:21
Speaker
And like you said, we're not the only team to suffer with it.
00:06:24
Speaker
Some teams have managed through and some haven't.
00:06:26
Speaker
And that, I guess, is the blessing and the curse of the league.
00:06:30
Speaker
But,
00:06:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's... The more I try and remove myself from the emotion of sitting through the game, the more that Millwall feels...
00:06:46
Speaker
almost passable.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like losing to Oxford, unacceptable.
00:06:50
Speaker
Drawing with Millwall, probably not the end of the world.
00:06:55
Speaker
If it was winning against Birmingham, winning against Oxford, drawing against Millwall, I don't think that would be that much of a bother.
00:07:01
Speaker
It's the fact that it came off the back of, you know, a okay performance at Birmingham, but nowhere near where we'd want to be, and a performance against Oxford that...
00:07:11
Speaker
Yeah, it's unacceptable, but also fair play to Oxford, because clearly we're the ones that went in going, oh, we're going to get, you know, we're going to absolutely trounce them, and then
00:07:19
Speaker
They're the ones that beat us.
00:07:20
Speaker
So I think it definitely adds a bit more of a sting to the result than it probably should do.
00:07:26
Speaker
But the reality of this situation is we're sat in the bottom half of the league heading... You know, we're past Christmas now.
00:07:32
Speaker
We're heading in... We're into the new year.
00:07:35
Speaker
Like, it's not really where we thought we'd be or where we'd want to be.
00:07:40
Speaker
And judging by the sounds of, like...
00:07:43
Speaker
What we were told regarding transfers, I don't know how much of that's true.
00:07:48
Speaker
They might end up going in a little bit harder than they've said they have, but they've tried to play down the prospect of many people coming in.
00:07:55
Speaker
We have this potential goalkeeper coming in from Bayern, right?
00:07:57
Speaker
That seems to be pretty nailed on far more than it was yesterday.
00:08:01
Speaker
Which is crazy.
00:08:03
Speaker
Like, it's crazy to come out in an interview and say, it's going to be a quiet January, lads.
00:08:09
Speaker
And then literally day one, be like, but we are bringing in this pretty exciting goalkeeper from Bayern.
00:08:14
Speaker
Well, that will also be technically our fifth goalkeeper, right?
00:08:17
Speaker
And technically sixth if you include Dylan Moody.
00:08:20
Speaker
Because at that point, you're going to have Ramsdale, who's out on loan, that isn't coming back.
00:08:24
Speaker
And they should just activate the clause to follow him because, you know, if he does come back, I'll be baffled because the things that he posts, like his Instagram and how much he loves Newcastle and everything, it's very much like, man does not want to come back here.
00:08:35
Speaker
You've got the, you know, the loany who's there to make up numbers.
00:08:40
Speaker
George Long, right?
00:08:42
Speaker
Yeah, right.
00:08:42
Speaker
And then you've got Baz and McCarthy.
00:08:44
Speaker
I mean, likelihood is that maybe he goes back.
00:08:47
Speaker
You don't know what other sort of parts are in motion.
00:08:50
Speaker
Correct.
00:08:51
Speaker
If he's third choice and this guy's about to come on first, Baz is going to become our second and McCarthy comes our third.
00:08:57
Speaker
You're right.
00:08:57
Speaker
That'll probably be like a result.
00:08:59
Speaker
I don't remember if it was to the end of the season or just six months.
00:09:01
Speaker
If I remember rightly, it was end of season.
00:09:03
Speaker
So there's just a lot of, yeah, coming out and saying it's going to be quiet and then everyone be going like, okay, but what are you going to do about this position, this position, this position?
00:09:12
Speaker
And then them just being like, hopefully it gets good.
00:09:15
Speaker
And you're like, it's not been thus far, is it?
00:09:18
Speaker
This is the problem.
00:09:18
Speaker
We need more options.
00:09:20
Speaker
We need better.
00:09:21
Speaker
Actually, we don't need more options.
00:09:23
Speaker
We need better options.
00:09:24
Speaker
And the problem is, is that if a lot of the current team aren't willing to move on, it's the moot point, really, isn't it?
00:09:31
Speaker
That's probably why.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:33
Speaker
I mean, that's, that's the thing, right?
00:09:35
Speaker
We talked yesterday about whether promotion or staying in the championship might be better just to give us that opportunity to, to clear it out properly and, and sort of go from there.
00:09:47
Speaker
But it's going to be, I mean, look, seeing how we come up against Middlesbrough who at the moment are in, I mean, that form has dropped off a cliff, right?
00:09:57
Speaker
It's safe to say.
00:09:59
Speaker
Uh,
00:10:00
Speaker
lost draw, lost loss in their last four games.
00:10:06
Speaker
So is ours by that standard.
00:10:07
Speaker
But I guess the question I'd want to ask you, Greg, before we get too much into the Middlesbrough stuff, I know it's a match preview, is with our current squad, would you want to be promoted?
00:10:20
Speaker
No, I mean, we've currently sat 14th in the championship and just lost to Oxford, mate.
00:10:28
Speaker
Like, it's not in a solid enough position.
00:10:33
Speaker
And I don't know if we've got the ability to build up in, you know, one window effectively in the summer.
00:10:44
Speaker
to a Premier League
Upcoming Matches and Promotion Goals
00:10:46
Speaker
standard team that can sort of fire from the hip in the Premier League because, you know, our top goal scorer is Adam Armstrong, who is a proven commodity in this league.
00:10:58
Speaker
And I don't think it's unfair to say has had his chance in the Premier League and the proof of the pudding there was not promising either, right?
00:11:08
Speaker
And at the moment, we're seeing him, you know, be up and down hot and cold.
00:11:14
Speaker
here and it's just we need more consistency uh to make that step up i think and it's i just don't think we're there yet i think that we need almost need another season down and i'm sure that that in itself is an entirely fresh challenge right because i think we lose our parachute payments and then it becomes a whole potentially different issue completely financially but yeah
00:11:39
Speaker
we're much further away than I think anyone would want to be.
00:11:45
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with that.
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:48
Speaker
Oh, that's upsetting.
00:11:50
Speaker
Anyway, let's talk about us potentially beating the second in the league, right?
00:11:53
Speaker
They still second at this point somehow?
00:11:55
Speaker
They are down to third, Ipswich climbed up to second.
00:11:58
Speaker
Oh, dang.
00:11:59
Speaker
With their win.
00:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, so, like I say, sort of dropping off as perhaps expected at this point in the season.
00:12:07
Speaker
Struggling.
00:12:08
Speaker
You mentioned earlier, seven hours in play without a goal.
00:12:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
History also backs us in this feature.
00:12:15
Speaker
In our last seven matches against Middlesbrough, we've got three wins.
00:12:19
Speaker
They've only got two with two draws.
00:12:21
Speaker
But the interesting stat that jumps off the page to me in these historic stats, Zach, is Middlesbrough clean sheets, 0%.
00:12:31
Speaker
Oh, I stuck.
00:12:38
Speaker
That's not great, especially considering how, like, not great we've been.
00:12:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:43
Speaker
Yeah, our last meeting with them, of course, at St.
00:12:46
Speaker
Mary's in September, a 1-0 draw.
00:12:50
Speaker
Our previous meeting with them at St.
00:12:51
Speaker
Mary's, a 1-0 draw.
00:12:55
Speaker
September 2023, they beat us 2-1 at their place.
00:13:00
Speaker
Other than that, yeah, just...
00:13:03
Speaker
low-scoring games, but no clean sheets for them is what this has written all over it, right?
00:13:10
Speaker
Does that just mean it's going to be another one-on-pro?
00:13:14
Speaker
What's the other problem that I've got?
00:13:16
Speaker
Does that just mean... I don't know if I can mentally handle watching another 1-0 draw.
00:13:21
Speaker
Or even just a draw.
00:13:22
Speaker
I know at least when there's a 1-0, there's a goal.
00:13:26
Speaker
The Millwall game was just painful to watch.
00:13:28
Speaker
But maybe I should just not be so miserable about it.
00:13:34
Speaker
Maybe we should... If the fixture...
00:13:37
Speaker
historically favours us maybe we should look at it favourably and see hopefully we get something out of it but I just feel like win or lose or draw the haul of points from this run has just been so disappointing that it doesn't really give me the boost that I want it to if we win does it even pass up the table
00:13:56
Speaker
where would we end up sitting?
00:13:57
Speaker
So we win.
00:13:58
Speaker
I mean, it depends on the games around us.
00:14:00
Speaker
We're still underneath 10th, right?
00:14:03
Speaker
Depending on the games around us, at best, we would go up to 11th.
00:14:07
Speaker
which is where we sat at the end of this run, quickly grouping up the table.
00:14:11
Speaker
I think the only good thing about it is the fact that Pompey lost last game and are very, very likely to fit into that relegation zone.
00:14:20
Speaker
And that's pretty much all I can take from this last couple of games, right?
00:14:24
Speaker
It's not really been great for us, but it'd be nice to get one over on Middlesbrough.
00:14:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:31
Speaker
Look, their form at home is markedly better than their away form, although losing in their most recent home fixture.
00:14:39
Speaker
But it's going to be interesting to see if we can break that down.
00:14:45
Speaker
I mean...
00:14:46
Speaker
Having them not scoring that long but still have a couple of draws in the mix implies that they're pretty solid defensively.
00:14:55
Speaker
I don't know if this is going to be another one of those games that comes down to us trying to break down a low block as opposed to a team coming at us.
00:15:05
Speaker
Or if because they're at home and they haven't scored in this long, they're going to come out and be super aggressive.
00:15:11
Speaker
It's just hard to see which way it plays out.
00:15:14
Speaker
But, I mean, hopefully we can take advantage and get some of this dynamic flow in football back and just try and recapture the vibe and head into the new year with some positivity because... That's what we want.
00:15:27
Speaker
Our game after that is Doncaster.
00:15:31
Speaker
I don't really even feel positive that we can go into that game and win...
00:15:36
Speaker
you know, by blowing them away.
00:15:38
Speaker
And I think that's, that's a worrying indictment of kind of where we sit and that we went from this kind of like, where we're still sour football to, you know, like the absolute, what felt like a revelation to now kind of more of the same insert sports Republic football.
00:15:56
Speaker
Right.
00:15:57
Speaker
And it would really, I think just help sort of revitalize the players go into another game.
00:16:02
Speaker
And if they could get like two wins on the bounce, start to,
00:16:06
Speaker
kind of build back up as we go back into the championship because obviously after that we're against Hull and Hull are a team that we talked about expecting to beat but Hull have had a really good season this season and you know we shouldn't we can't really afford to underestimate them either but going into that game off the back of two wins significantly better than I think the last time we played them so yeah I really really hope we take something away from it like you mentioned earlier mate as the time runs out and the clock runs down
00:16:34
Speaker
games become more and more important because of our missed opportunities up until this point.
00:16:40
Speaker
Regardless of our opinion on whether this squad's good enough for promotion or not, if the aim of the club is still to get promoted, we're getting pretty close to a point where every game becomes a must-win because otherwise that opportunity disappears because there's enough teams above us that not all of them are losing every week.
00:17:00
Speaker
That's just as simple as that.
00:17:04
Speaker
Let's get into some predicted lineups.
00:17:06
Speaker
Do you think we're going to see a return to this sort of favoured XI after seeing, you know, four, five changes against...
00:17:18
Speaker
against Millwall, although four from what I would say is like the expected XI, Cienzo being the fifth, came back in.
00:17:26
Speaker
I think so.
00:17:26
Speaker
I'd expect, I think maybe Stephens out for Kwasi might be potential.
00:17:32
Speaker
That's interesting because I think Stephens had one of his better games.
00:17:36
Speaker
Yeah, but isn't that literally because as you pointed out, he was clearly the one driving the ball forward.
00:17:41
Speaker
And he was the one that was given that role that Harbour-Belis usually has.
00:17:44
Speaker
Like you made that point.
00:17:45
Speaker
And I think that's probably why it's because we just saw him do more.
00:17:49
Speaker
Also from just a fatigue perspective, like he's played pretty much most of them, right?
00:17:53
Speaker
I'm pretty sure he's played in the last two weeks.
00:17:54
Speaker
That'd be kind of mad to put him back in.
00:17:57
Speaker
But yeah, I'd like to see a return to our favoured XI just because I just want us to go away in the first half and do what we've done all of those times previously.
00:18:06
Speaker
What I don't want to do is just sit around, pass it about, get to 0-0, go 1-0 down, panic, manage to score and then end up finishing the game 1-0.
00:18:17
Speaker
And that's what I'm really worried is going to happen.
00:18:19
Speaker
But to be able to do that, we're going to need everybody firing.
00:18:22
Speaker
And if you put that team out that has done...
00:18:28
Speaker
so well in previous fixtures and you put them all out together and you tell them, hey, go do the thing that you've done previously, hopefully that would give them a little bit of a boost.
00:18:38
Speaker
But I know that that's wishful thinking, isn't it?
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, there's other considerations as well, right?
00:18:44
Speaker
Like Leo coming off after 45 minutes and supposedly just because of managing minutes,
00:18:51
Speaker
I mean, does that mean he might not be fit enough to even start this Middlesbrough game and we might be looking at sort of dealing with that?
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah, like, what does the front line look like?
00:19:03
Speaker
I think that it's precaution.
00:19:06
Speaker
If they've talked about how he's...
00:19:10
Speaker
not used to the pace of this game.
00:19:11
Speaker
They've been bringing him on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off, right?
00:19:14
Speaker
I feel like they brought him off the 45 because they won him for the 45 on Saturday, right?
00:19:19
Speaker
That's what my personal perspective is.
00:19:20
Speaker
I think by the looks of it, it was always planned that a lot of the changes that were going to be made were made.
00:19:26
Speaker
Maybe not exactly the times and stuff, but I feel like that half-time was he was going to get a half.
00:19:30
Speaker
He was going to get the first 45 minutes to try and score.
00:19:33
Speaker
Got two shots away.
00:19:35
Speaker
You know, we kind of hoped for better for him.
00:19:38
Speaker
everyone.
00:19:39
Speaker
We didn't quite get that.
00:19:41
Speaker
So yeah, I have a feeling that if you put out the best 11, they'll maybe do what they've done previously.
00:19:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's pretty much where I'm at.
00:19:51
Speaker
I don't know if you've got any other opinions on who should be changing around.
00:19:54
Speaker
But also, the same thing you've talked about previously, you start changing stuff around too much and then you upset the balance a little bit.
00:20:00
Speaker
And I think that's potentially what's happened.
00:20:01
Speaker
We've had to upset the balance because of injuries, etc.
00:20:05
Speaker
And then off the back of that, it's never really clicked back into place, right?
00:20:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:10
Speaker
I don't know why.
00:20:11
Speaker
I don't know if there's potentially injuries behind the scenes.
00:20:14
Speaker
I don't know if there's some big grand conspiracy that Tonda's being told to play a different way.
00:20:19
Speaker
I don't really think that's the case.
00:20:21
Speaker
I think it's the same issue as always.
00:20:22
Speaker
Maybe it's just become harder to play that sort of aggressive style of football because now there's more tape on it.
00:20:27
Speaker
Other teams have sort of worked it out and worked out the...
00:20:30
Speaker
the pressure points and how to play against it.
00:20:32
Speaker
And so it's become more difficult, and so you are able to see it less because it kind of gets marked out of the game.
00:20:39
Speaker
And then they are tired.
00:20:40
Speaker
The real answer is it's going to be a combination of all of the above, right?
Team Strategies and Predictions
00:20:46
Speaker
That's just how it is.
00:20:48
Speaker
I don't think it's like we don't have the...
00:20:51
Speaker
the sheer quality that some of the teams that try to play like this have to see them through the fact that people know how to play against them, right?
00:21:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:00
Speaker
And that's no disrespect to our players.
00:21:02
Speaker
It's just the reality of the situation is that we know we aren't... I think you summed that up perfectly yesterday, mate, where you don't understand why every team that isn't Manchester City tries to insist on playing sort of a really fast, high-paced level of football that they're unable to sustain.
00:21:21
Speaker
Just pepper and football, mate.
00:21:22
Speaker
We've got a whole series of episodes on it.
00:21:25
Speaker
Go back and check now in the backlog.
00:21:27
Speaker
If it was sustainable, life would be significantly better.
00:21:33
Speaker
And again, it's up to Tonda to realistically try to figure out some ways to get around it.
00:21:39
Speaker
And I know that people already kind of criticize and be like, oh, we should have hired an experienced manager, which was, and I just look at like who we had as potentially a manager we could have brought in.
00:21:47
Speaker
I don't really think there was anyone there that would be able to do anything better.
00:21:51
Speaker
If anything, we'd have ended up with a couple of draws.
00:21:54
Speaker
maybe we'd have gone four at the back and forced a four at the back and conceded loads.
00:21:58
Speaker
And yeah, I just think there's a lot, there's so much, so much still to do.
00:22:02
Speaker
But I will say that the nice little period of time where we won like seven or seven games or whatever it was, or six games out of seven, was just like a really beautiful little bit of time, you know?
00:22:12
Speaker
Just had to embrace the period of time this season where we were on top and we were like the team to beat and just lament the fact it was over.
00:22:22
Speaker
it could still come again.
00:22:23
Speaker
We could go on and win the next six.
00:22:25
Speaker
And one of those six is, you know, a trip to our friends down the road.
00:22:29
Speaker
So as long as we win that one, that's going to feel even better.
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah, that would be the big test, to be totally honest.
00:22:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:36
Speaker
That's what everyone cares about at this point.
00:22:38
Speaker
Right, mate.
00:22:39
Speaker
As we rapidly run out of time on this recording...
00:22:44
Speaker
What do you think the score's going to be?
00:22:45
Speaker
How are you going to feel going into this?
00:22:48
Speaker
Every time I predict a win, we never win.
00:22:51
Speaker
Apart from that one time I did.
00:22:53
Speaker
Every time I predict a loss, it's usually right.
00:22:57
Speaker
Every time I predict a draw.
00:22:58
Speaker
See, I said 1-1 initially.
00:23:00
Speaker
I don't want to go for 1-1.
00:23:01
Speaker
I want to go for like 2-1.
00:23:03
Speaker
Let's go with 2-1.
00:23:04
Speaker
I know it's not exciting, but I really want to just, I want something out of this week to not be... Yeah.
00:23:11
Speaker
But we're kind of doing something saint-y in breaking Middlesbrough's streak of not being able to score a goal, but still getting over the line.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:23:20
Speaker
Well, that's more that we struggle to keep a clean sheet unless apparently we're unable to score.
00:23:24
Speaker
We could keep a clean sheet if we don't score back.
00:23:27
Speaker
Who's getting your goals?
00:23:29
Speaker
Well, if we go back to the normal 11, I'd love to see one from Armstrong and one from Sienza.
00:23:35
Speaker
But that would probably mean that we have to be 2-0 up before we concede, whereas the reality of that situation isn't going to take place.
00:23:40
Speaker
So let's go with Arma and Archer.
00:23:42
Speaker
That'd be nice.
00:23:43
Speaker
Nice to get Archer to get another goal and see that... Because I think his biggest problem is he was far more impactful as a sub than a starter, pretty much...
00:23:55
Speaker
since we've had him in the few goals he's scored.
00:23:58
Speaker
Bless him.
00:23:58
Speaker
But yeah, that's where I'm at.
00:24:00
Speaker
Armour Archer, 2-1.
00:24:01
Speaker
Take it.
00:24:02
Speaker
Nice win.
00:24:03
Speaker
Unknown Middlesbrough player.
00:24:09
Speaker
I don't agree with you, mate.
00:24:11
Speaker
I'm not surprised.
00:24:12
Speaker
You never see a team.
00:24:14
Speaker
No, well, look, I mean, it wouldn't be interesting if we...
00:24:17
Speaker
the same score, would it?
00:24:18
Speaker
I've always got to feel like I've got to go different to you, but perhaps surprisingly, I think 1-0 Saints.
00:24:24
Speaker
1-0 Saints?
00:24:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:30
Speaker
Okay.
00:24:32
Speaker
I mean, it's a win.
00:24:34
Speaker
I can't really complain.
00:24:35
Speaker
I'd like to see a win.
00:24:36
Speaker
When was the last time we won a game 1-0?
00:24:38
Speaker
If we ever won a game 1-0...
00:24:42
Speaker
Like, the idea of scoring only once and then keeping a clean sheet just feel like that's alien.
00:24:48
Speaker
We have to go a goal down to then score another one to be able to, like, feel the rush of blood, you know?
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:55
Speaker
I just... Like, Prem?
00:24:58
Speaker
Is it literally, like, one of the two wins we got in the Premier League must have been a 1-0?
00:25:02
Speaker
I mean, maybe.
00:25:04
Speaker
I'm feeling like... I genuinely can't remember.
00:25:07
Speaker
So it's been a while.
00:25:10
Speaker
When we beat Ipswich, it was Paul Odoacchi...
00:25:14
Speaker
By the way, playing in CONCAF, oh no, CONCAF, sorry, AFCon, and he scored for Nigeria the other day.
00:25:22
Speaker
And I sent it to Greg and Greg was like, oh, I did not realise, I did not realise he was still playing international football either.
00:25:27
Speaker
I mean, look, fair play.
00:25:29
Speaker
Oh no, it was a 2-1.
00:25:29
Speaker
Oh right, it was Joe Rieber and Paul Oluwachi that scored those games.
00:25:33
Speaker
Yeah, see, we've just never won a 1-0.
00:25:36
Speaker
The last time we won 1-0, Zach, was in the Carabao Cup on the 12th of August against Northampton.
00:25:45
Speaker
That doesn't feel real.
00:25:46
Speaker
Does that count?
00:25:47
Speaker
Okay, well, it was like the last League 1-0 win feels like it must have been a million years ago.
00:25:52
Speaker
Because the fact that that's the furthest you can find going back is nuts, but...
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:58
Speaker
I didn't even think it was last season.
00:26:02
Speaker
Oh, man, we concede so much.
00:26:05
Speaker
Right?
00:26:05
Speaker
Oh, no!
00:26:06
Speaker
We're in toilet.
00:26:11
Speaker
It's sort of a harrowing way to come to that realisation.
00:26:14
Speaker
But, yeah, just think, nice, tidy, 1-0 game of football that is just...
00:26:23
Speaker
just fine.
00:26:24
Speaker
Right?
00:26:24
Speaker
Like, yeah, like I'm fine with it.
00:26:27
Speaker
I think the problem is Greg, is I just don't believe you.
00:26:31
Speaker
That's the issue that I have.
00:26:33
Speaker
Maybe my goal scorer will change your opinion on that.
00:26:36
Speaker
Taylor Hall of Bellis.
00:26:38
Speaker
That's actually more realistic.
00:26:40
Speaker
You're right.
00:26:43
Speaker
That's far more realistic, to be perfectly honest, mate.
00:26:47
Speaker
You're right.
00:26:47
Speaker
Like a snatch and grab.
00:26:50
Speaker
Yeah, 1-0 win for the first time in recorded history, it feels like.
00:26:57
Speaker
It's got to be the way.
00:26:58
Speaker
That's just how I'm feeling.
00:27:01
Speaker
Okay.
00:27:02
Speaker
Yeah.
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
00:27:03
Speaker
All right.
00:27:03
Speaker
Well, look, that is all that we've got time for today.
00:27:07
Speaker
Answers on a postcard.
00:27:08
Speaker
If you do remember the last time we won 1-0, I'm sure that by the time we get to our next episode, I'll have that information for you.
00:27:16
Speaker
I think we beat Millwall 1-0 in the 4th of November, 2023.
00:27:25
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:27:26
Speaker
Yeah, no, like, I know.
00:27:27
Speaker
That's the last time that I can see us winning a league game 1-0.
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:36
Speaker
That's it.
00:27:38
Speaker
That's it.
00:27:39
Speaker
Or, technically, technically, Greg, the Championship Playoff Final,
00:27:43
Speaker
But that's not a league game either.
00:27:46
Speaker
So... Yeah, who could, of course, forget that day out of Wembley?
00:27:49
Speaker
Oh, I don't count that either.
00:27:50
Speaker
That's... There you go.
00:27:52
Speaker
So, yeah, okay.
00:27:53
Speaker
Millwall in, like, 2023.
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:54
Speaker
God, that's...
00:28:02
Speaker
Oh dear.
00:28:02
Speaker
Well, yeah, look, that is all we've got time for today.
00:28:05
Speaker
Thank you everyone for joining us.
00:28:07
Speaker
Thank you, Zach, for joining me.
00:28:11
Speaker
We will be back after the game to talk about it though, whatever happens.
00:28:15
Speaker
let us know your score predictions in the comments on socials.
00:28:18
Speaker
We are now Daily Saints pod everywhere on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky.
00:28:25
Speaker
Hit us up.
00:28:26
Speaker
We love hearing from you and can't wait to see what you think until we talk about the game though.
00:28:33
Speaker
Have a wonderful weekend.
00:28:35
Speaker
I think is it weekend now?
00:28:39
Speaker
Like real time.
00:28:40
Speaker
This is coming from a guy, dear listeners, that turned up to work this morning, went, hello everybody.
00:28:46
Speaker
And our manager went, why are you here?
00:28:48
Speaker
Because he'd forgotten that he wasn't meant to be here today.
00:28:51
Speaker
So to be honest, mate, I don't know if you even know what day of the week it is anymore.
00:28:55
Speaker
We'll try and get back to some level of sanity if that even exists as we head into the new year.
00:29:01
Speaker
But have a wonderful time, everybody.
00:29:04
Speaker
And come on, you Saints.
00:29:10
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.