In his post-match e-mail from the St Mary’s, Martin O’Neill can reflect on a job well done on a filthy afternoon. With Christmas just around the corner he shares his goodwill between his team and its fans.
Dear Colin,
It was a big performance from us today and we got our goal at a very important time.
We weathered the storm when Southampton put us under pressure in the second half and we did well on what was a difficult afternoon.
We had to make a few changes to the team after last week and I thought the two centre backs were outstanding.
[Steven] Fletcher has scored a lot of goals for us this season, and all of them have been important ones. He was great again today.
Adam Johnson picked up a knock and I’m hoping it’s not too serious. He was replaced by Fraizer Campbell, who did tremendously.
He popped up with a great block and I think that really typified our performance today.
I’m absolutely thrilled for the team and for the supporters.
The amount of fans that followed us down was absolutely phenomenal, especially when it’s only three days until Christmas.
They epitomise the football club and it was important for us to get the win for them today.
All the best,
Martin O’Neill
Lets not get carried away Vince. Great to get the points but we were playing a team that was in the third tier not much more than 18 months ago.
Oh joy,what a relief,this win is priceless.Being Sunderland they made us sweat on the final whistle. Once again, hats off to the travelling fans.
Hopefully this will give the team some much needed confidence,which will be as good as a new midfield signing.You just have to get then maximum out of the players you have and we just have not been doing that.
Merry Christmas…..we can all enjoy it a little better now.
Thought we did well to get the three points. It made a nerve wracking second half for me listening to it on BBC radio, but was relieved to hear the final whistle.
Very important 3 points.
Where I still think we are lacking is midfield. We’re simply not strong enough. We need Catts back, and we desperately need to sign a strong, positive midfielder in the January window. No question. Makes sense to bring Meyler back too.
Until then, I’d recommend playing 4-5-1, especially against Spurs and Man City.
We need the midfielder as a priority, and a strong right back too.
We need to spend big on a dynamic midfielder, – maybe two. If we start to boss midfield we’ll be on the up.
He’s certainly right about the fans.