lua lua gets spanked up i the air all the time , dunk is not a nasty player.....end of .... good luck for the rest of the season.
It's taken Southampton a whole YEAR to get above us in the table
I can understand your sentiments, nobody likes to see players injured, however much of what you have said also applies to your players/managers treatment of Lualua.
.It's changed more than you think, it's name for a start.
If I can inject a neutral perspective here please. I did give this advice on your promotion, you'd do well to heed it. You might not like it but it's a solid gold fact about your new life in the CCC, we went through the same thing when we came up and the CCC hasn't changed a bit.
The CCC is more skilful, you get punished for your mistakes more, you rue your missed chances more, the difference between winning and losing is a finer line. However the greatest difference is the 'physicality' and 'gamesmanship' of the opposition. In the first couple of months we were gobsmacked at how dirty and cheaty the opposition were and how much bigger, faster and stronger they were than us coming out of league 1.
I have watched the highlights of your game yesterday now and I fear Poyet hasn't recognised that problem. You've made some excellent signings but you've not signed any 'man mountains' and you've not signed any 'dirty cheating wotsits'. We managed without any for a short while on the bubble of our promotion but ultimately you have to fight fire with fire. It wasn't until we signed big players, it wasn't until we signed dirty players that we could hold our own.
I was delighted with your win yesterday, it was an Argyle fan that gave you the idea to spark your resistence and as an Argyle fan going through the same sort of mill now who's followed your 14 year journey closely it was a fairytale. So i'm not coming at this with hostility but genuine goodwill and a desire to see you push on.
Poyet will spend the entire season in the stands though if he kicks out at every injustice - because players push, pull, kick, dive, spit, snarl, cheat against you. He needs to change the physicality and naivety I can see in your set-up to really push on.
You say "dirty, thuggish tackles going in on our boys by your players" an without knowing it and certainly without meaning it in the same way you're spot on. It WAS boys v players and they will be dirty and thuggish but that's exactly how the CCC is to newcomers. I can tell you now that if you get that worked up about yesterdays game you will be apaplectic before long. Donnie have always tried to play good football, Sean O'Driscoll doesn't send out particularly dirty or cheaty teams........FAR FAR worse is to come out there.........and they won't all be crippled by injuries and down to 10 men in the dying minutes either.
Albion need to learn how to get kicked and stay on their feet or learn how to make a more convincing appeal to the referee. It sucks, I know, it's not how the game should be played. But unless you want to roll over and get steamrollered every week you're going to have to learn. I know you won, i'm delighted you won but it calls to mind the win we had early on against Sunderland. It was pure adrenilin that got us through, pure occasion, but the dirtyness of their centrebacks, the size of their forwards and the manner of their physicality was shocking. Worse did come, adrenilin and occasion did wear off and while we bumbled through to survive, big changes followed and our team beefed up and wised up.
You WILL learn, trust me. Principles of good football WILL be harder to cling to.
That aside, really chuffed for the club to be back in it's own ground, I really like the fact you've gone back to the old simple badge, the one familiar to me from my years in the North Stand. Now, good luck for the season ahead but if you don't mind, can the rest of the football league have football focus and the football league show back now please?
