Soton player ratings.

[Candidcamera]

Fulop 6

Stears 5

McAuley 5

Kisnorbo 3

Sheehan 5

newton 0

King 5

Clemence 3

Hayes 5

Cort 1

Hume 3

Worst for ages - oh dear

[Thracian]

Fulop 6

Stears 5

McAuley 5

Kisnorbo 3

Sheehan 5

newton 0

King 5

Clemence 3

Hayes 5

Cort 1

Hume 3

Worst for ages - oh dear

Burnley was worse. But that's no comfort.

[Mort]

Fulop - 6. Nothing exceptional, pretty much solid as always.

Stearman - 4. Can't defend to save his life, poor... Chambers must be injured and Kaebi utterly usless to let Stearz in!

McAuley - 6. Poor today, though I'd suggest he was noticeably more assured than Paddy.

Kisnorbo - 5. Very much out of sorts and IMHO clearly the weaker of the two centre backs today.

Sheehan - 6. Very confident display today, one of the few to play consistently today or over recent weeks.

Newton - 3. Utterly dire, once again showed he's simply not up to it, as with Stearz there are better options!

Clemence - 5. Started off alright, faded dramatically from the end of the first half onwards, disappointing.

King - 6. Provided us with an undeserved equalizer and did alright.

Hayes - 5. Enjoyed some nice spells of play, but still inconsistent and seemed lightweight at times.

Hume - 5. A diabolical miss early on set the tone for the rest of his and the team's game, energetic but poor.

Cort - 3. Didn't deserve the viscous barracking he got, but very poor ad totally without consequence!

Subs:

Sappleton - 6. Should have come on earlier with Cort so obviously failing, initially seemed nervous.

Chambers - 6. Good, though took a while to settle (confused positioning early on).

N Gotty - 6. Once again should have come on much earlier with both Kisnorbo and McAuley out of sorts (I fail to see how he isnt one of our first choice centre backs).

[Thracian]

Fulop - 6. Nothing exceptional, pretty much solid as always.

Stearman - 4. Can't defend to save his life, poor... Chambers must be injured and Kaebi utterly usless to let Stearz in!

McAuley - 6. Poor today, though I'd suggest he was noticeably more assured than Paddy.

Kisnorbo - 5. Very much out of sorts and IMHO clearly the weaker of the two centre backs today.

Sheehan - 6. Very confident display today, one of the few to play consistently today or over recent weeks.

Newton - 3. Utterly dire, once again showed he's simply not up to it, as with Stearz there are better options!

Clemence - 5. Started off alright, faded dramatically from the end of the first half onwards, disappointing.

King - 6. Provided us with an undeserved equalizer and did alright.

Hayes - 5. Enjoyed some nice spells of play, but still inconsistent and seemed lightweight at times.

Hume - 5. A diabolical miss early on set the tone for the rest of his and the team's game, energetic but poor.

Cort - 3. Didn't deserve the viscous barracking he got, but very poor ad totally without consequence!

Subs:

Sappleton - 6. Should have come on earlier with Cort so obviously failing, initially seemed nervous.

Chambers - 6. Good, though took a while to settle (confused positioning early on).

N Gotty - 6. Once again should have come on much earlier with both Kisnorbo and McAuley out of sorts (I fail to see how he isnt one of our first choice centre backs).

Big thing about N'Gotty is that when he wins posession he gives the simple ball. King or Clemence would expect it and far more attacks would be launched in a constructive way.

[teblin]

Fulop - 6 maybe at fault for the first goals, but shouldn't have got that far.

Stearman - 3 terrible

McAuley - 5 BAd game

Kisnorbo - 4 Out muscled, at fault for first goal, should have scored.

Sheehan - 6.5 Played well, brilliant set peices deserved better.

Newton - 4. Wasn't quite as bad as he get made out to be, good runs no end product, having stearman behind him doesn't help.

Clemence - 4. poor game, but is a good player, its just not clicking at the mo.

King - 6.75 Does the easy things well and scored a fantastic goal. MOM

Hayes - 6. Looked dangerous when he didn't have to think, when it was knock and run. decent game.

Hume - 4. Sorry This guy get less stick than most and he is having a woefull season, lots of huff and puff nothing else.

Cort - 4. He was poor, but the reation he gets is terrible, hume stearman and others were as bad if not worse today. I'm not corts biggest fan but even if the guys had a good game (ehich he hasn't at home) he would get booed.

Subs:

Sappleton - 5. Not ready

Chambers - 5 as above

N Gotty - 6. Should be playing.

[Simi]

Holloway - 4 (for letting himself be conned that Clemence and Stearman are decent players )

Are you ****ing kidding me?

How the **** can you say Clemence is not a decent player? He wasn't captain of a side that went up last season for the sake of it! Granted, his past couple of games he hasn't been the best player for us, but saying he is not decent is quite frankly a joke. I'm not sure if you remember Steven Hughes last year? Clemence is a massive improvement on that. He's the only player that at times can actually put his foot on the ball and offer us some composure.

Until we're able to tempt Jason Koumas away, I think we will do ok with Clemence.

[Hullfox]

Are you ****ing kidding me?

How the **** can you say Clemence is not a decent player? He wasn't captain of a side that went up last season for the sake of it! Granted, his past couple of games he hasn't been the best player for us, but saying he is not decent is quite frankly a joke. I'm not sure if you remember Steven Hughes last year? Clemence is a massive improvement on that. He's the only player that at times can actually put his foot on the ball and offer us some composure.

Until we're able to tempt Jason Koumas away, I think we will do ok with Clemence.

You're wasting your time Chedders.

Talking sense makes no difference to some.

[Mort]

Big thing about N'Gotty is that when he wins posession he gives the simple ball. King or Clemence would expect it and far more attacks would be launched in a constructive way.

As opposed to the frantic hoofing that PaddyK always seems a little too keen on.

[Toby or not Toby]

No numerical rating, dont deserve it.

Fulop- At fault for the goal.

Stearman- **** off. Now. Skinned numerous times. The best was when the was a ball to be won, Dyer got there before him, Stearman thought 'Right you little ****er, im gona knobble you for all the times you've done me today' - he tried, but bounced off someone whos 5 foot nothing and built the same.

Kisnorbo- Poor, at fault for the goal. Kicked it out under minimal pressure for their goal.

Big Mac- Poorer. Could of been at fault for 2 goals on another day.

Sheehan- Decent, a few good set pieces as normal.

Newton- Poor, seems scared to take control, over the hill i think.

Clemence- Poor- but at least he tried to do things instead of freeloading and therefore not making any mistakes like the rest. Shame he had to play like this after that silly 'Clemence overrated' thread, the numbskulls might actually think they're right.

King- Apart from the goal, average. simple ball every time.

Hayes- Decent, put some great balls in that 2 decent strikers would of put away. Seems to drift infield a bit though, causing the team to lose its shape. Strange.

Hume- This running around business, giving it 100%, does'nt do it for me anymore. Not good enough.

Cort- Poor, ball bounced off him, but booing him is'nt gona do him any good. Hopefully it will make Ollie realise he aint good enough though.

Subs:

Chambers- Didnt notice he was on.

Sappleton- Damn right Thracian, this guy is nowhere near first team and if he thinks he is he can **** off back to QPR.

N'Gotty- N/A

Holloway- This striker injury crisis has come at just the wrong time. The sooner DJ and John are back, the better.

What wrong with the simple ball? better than going complicated and fooking it up, What a TIT

[Chimp]

What wrong with the simple ball? better than going complicated and fooking it up, What a TIT

I think he meant it as a compliment.

[Chimp]

Fulop - 6 Was possibly at fault for the first goal as he came for the ball as it was crossed over without there being any hope of getting anywhere near it. This left him woefully out of position when it was headed back in. That said, I'm not sure he could have saved that shot even if he was in the right position. Other than that he didn't have too much to do and was fairly solid as always.

Stearman - 4 Completely out-classed on too many occassions. He seemed very naive yesterday and over commited himself in the tackle which more often than not left him vulnerable.

McAuley & Kisnorbo - 5 Neither of them looked as confident or as self-assured as they have done recently. Too many wasteful passes from both of them. Too many wrong decisions when in possesion of the ball.

Sheehan - 6 Some superb balls from set-pieces, some okay defending but I would of liked to have seen him get forward a bit more often. Plenty of times you could see Hayes waiting for an overlap which never happened. Can't really criticise him too much as he was one of the better players on the day.

Newton - 4 It's almost as if he thinks he's a better player than he actually is. You can see him try stuff that would be bread and butter to a player like SWP, but doesn't have the pace or skill to carry off.

Clemence - 5 Didn't seem sharp, confident or hungry for the ball at all yesterday. We know he can play better than this so lets hope he up's his game from this point on.

King - 6 Largely annonymous in the first half except for the superb goal. When he does get the ball he keeps it simple, which is good, but as with Sheehan I would have liked to have seen him get forward more often. COmmit himself a bit more to creating something in midfield. He seemed to play with too much fear, which I guess is understandable given his relative inexperience. Hope to see him develop into something a bit more special.

Hayes - 7 Always willing and eager to get forward, good movement and never seems afraid when in possesion. A player like this needs understanding and support from those around him to be truly effective. Unfortunately he didn't get that today.

Hume - 4 The usual effort and endeavour but, more often that not, seemed very un-confident when in possession. Too many times he kept hold of the ball for too long, never released the ball when he should have and consequently too many attacks broke down. I think Hume is suffering from a huge lack of confidence, I would really like to see him have a couple of good games and get a few goals, I'm sure we'd see a massive improvement.

Cort - 3 Outmuscled, outmanouvered and outsmarted at every opportunity. Doesn't seem motivated at all and was ponderous and hesitent when he should have been sharp and committed.

[reynard]

Fulop 6 Maybe at fualt for 1st goal and some iffy kicking but also some good save at feet of attackers.

Sheehan 6 As usual played in some very good set pieces. Won plenty of defensive headers. A steady if not spectacular game.

Kisnorbo 2 A simpy woeful performance. Gave away uneccesary throw in and then failed to mark up for the first goal. Was turned and skinned comprehensively for their disallowed goal. His passing and distribution was poor at best and his attacking headers from set pieces were not upto much either. The worst I have seen him play. Exposed time and time again on the ground.

Mccauley 3.5 Only slightly better than Kisnorbo. Not too bad in the air but how many times did he give the ball away with his aimless long hoofs. Poor.

Stearman 5 Defensively not great but was one of our very few threats going forward.

Hayes 5.5 Did some good things and showed good pace. His positional play is questionable and I thought he faded badly in the second half.

Clemence 2 For a captain and senior pro to perfom as badly as this is just not acceptable. He shows no drive and he is clearly not an attacking midfielder. His shooting is poor and his passing yesterday was awful. Starting to look a waste of money. Clearly need better players around him and for his role on the pitch to be more defensive.

King 5 Let's start with the goal. Simply stunning and a great piece of skill. However, apart from that I thought he looked quite ordinary and faded away badly towards the end of the second half. His loss of possesion also indirectly led to the penalty. He looks like he could be a good player but the fact he is having to play shows how bereft of quality we are.

Newton 4 He's just not good enough or interested enough any longer. Doesn't demand the ball and doesn't do anything with it when he has it. Fortunately his contract expires at the end of the season and he does nothing to indicate it should be extended.

Cort 3.5 Patently not anywhere near any sort of fitness level required to play at this level. He's not offered anything all season and on this showing he never will do. However, whilst he plays for us I won't be booing him and I just wish others would lay off our players a bit. No wonder we are crap at home when the atmosphere is so hostile. We never get really behind the team when they fall behind and booing individuals will do no good at all. Is it his fault we were prepared to sign him knowing his fitness record and the fact that he had only scored 2 goals in 2 years? No it is our fault. Personally I don't rate him but there were others out there yesterday who were much worse.

Hume 6 Typical high tempo effort with the usual lack of end product. Should have scored early on but fluffed it.

Sappleton 5 Just like Cort got no service at all but his first touch was no better and he didn't really win much in the air either. Looks a long way off being good enough for a regular first team position.

chambers 5 looked completely lost wide on the right and didn't get the ball played to feet which he clearly need. Good pace but didn't really get the chance to show what he can do.

[The Reverend]

What wrong with the simple ball? better than going complicated and fooking it up, What a TIT

No, you're the tit.

Whats the point in playing the simple ball when we were twice down. Midfielders are meant to make things happen.

Come back when you understand the game properly, cnut.

[Simon]

Fulop- 6

Stearman- 5

McAuley- 4

Kisnorbo- 4

Sheehan- 6

Newton- 5

Clem- 4

King- 5

Hayes- 7

Hume- 6

Cort- 4

Chambers- 5.5

The Sappletiser- 5

N'Gotty- Not on long enough really

[The Stig]

Are you ****ing kidding me?

How the **** can you say Clemence is not a decent player? He wasn't captain of a side that went up last season for the sake of it! Granted, his past couple of games he hasn't been the best player for us, but saying he is not decent is quite frankly a joke. I'm not sure if you remember Steven Hughes last year? Clemence is a massive improvement on that. He's the only player that at times can actually put his foot on the ball and offer us some composure.

Until we're able to tempt Jason Koumas away, I think we will do ok with Clemence.

[Thracian]

Fulop 5.5 (Not his usual dominant self, kicking/distribution as thoughtless as usual)

Stearman 5 (At fault in leaving their man free at the far post to head across for John's goal. Otherwise just ordinary)

McAuley 5 (His distribution gets worse and it counted today)

Kisnorbo 4 (Awful game. At fault before both goals because he failed to pass back simply to the goalkeeper but tried to be more complicated than was wise or necessary. His distribution/choice of passes was rank)

Sheehan 6.5 (The only threat we had came from him. Cort and Clemence both wasted good chances from his crosses and at other times we simply didn't have anyone to get on the end of loose balls in the box. Burley did his homework in making sure his crosses were closed down as early as possible from open play but those free kicks should have produced something. Ordinary defensively but did at least try to play constructively which is more than can be said for others).

Newton 3 (Why do we play him? Should have given us the lead in the first few minutes with a shot at an open goal but missed the target completely, and by a distance. Otherwise offered damn all)

King 6.25 (Scored a cracking first goal of his career from distance but was generally too withdrawn although he did try to pass to feet and support. Largely succeeeded although city seemed incapable of maintaining the flow of any move).

Clemence 3 (Diabolical. Unnecessarily at fault in handling for the penalty although my middle son, a Southampton fan who was that end, said it was outside the box. Barely put a constructive pass to a City man all afternoon and offered precisious little leadership on a day when our midfield was mostly second best.

Hayes 6 (Tried hard until he was injured and supplied the assist for King's equaliser)

Hume 5.5 (Missed a great opportunity first couple of minutes to put us ahead and was largely ineffective although there could be no doubting his commitment.

Cort 2 (Never impressive either as a target man, a potential scorer or a maker of chances. Total waste of space).

Subs: Chambers 3 (No-one will convince me he was fit. Had no impact whatsoever)

Sappleton 3 (I said he wasn't ready for the first team and that comment was clearly justified today. Never threatened at all. But Finnegan's right, he was better than Cort)

N'Gotty 5.5 (His usual competent self for the short time he was there)

Holloway 5 (Started with a reasonably attacking team and made positive changes in good time but failed to deal with Southampton's fast, high pressing and failed to get us playing with any tempo. Bad mistake playing an unfit player in Cort. I mentioned the folly of doing that sort of thing last season. It rarely if ever works and yesterday was no different.

Southampton more than most showed the folly of us playing too many slow defenders who failed to push up. It meant that Southampton's midfield had too much time, that we couldn't sustain attacks and that Southampton were able to exploit gaps in our separate sections.

All that said much of yesterday's sub-standard performance was down to the the players. They were second to the ball, weaker in the tackle, passed poorly and Kisnorbo made nieve decisions - all things which were hardly Holloway's fault.

Hayes amended to 6 for his assist.

[Sods]

Fulop 6- Not a lot to do to be honest that i can remember. Couldnt stop the goals.

Stearman 5- Another poor home peformance, think we should just play him at home, beaten by dyer a lot.

McAuley 5- Beaten to many times go the run around all game as did kisnorbo

Kisnorbo 4- Kisnorbo you are quality in the air and off the ball. On it you are dog shite, get rid of it as quickly as possible. Apperently proffesionals should have 2/3 touches on the ball or they are taking too long, he has about 8 and then makes a 2 yard pass to stern john.

Sheehan 6- Had a better game then usual, crosses were good until second half. Maybe tired?

Newton 5- He didnt play great at all, i think this man is lacking a lot of confidence.

Clemence 6- Okay he had a nightmare up until he made that stupid handball, but after you could see he was trying as hard as he possibly could to make a difference which i liked.

King 6- Was impressed in the way he passed the ball, fans got on his back a lot when he was passing the ball back, but at least we kept the ball. Quality stike.

Hayes 6- Very good 1st half, needs to work with sheehan a bit more as they both have very good left foots and delievary.

Cort 5- Not the worst player on the pitch but possibly should have scored a header like kisnorbo.

Hume 5- Dont no what he did apart from the miss in the 1st half.

Chambers 5 not much impact

Sappleton 5 not much impact either

N Gotty 3 not enough time