Saints take on Grimsby Town in the 5th round of the FA Cup with a place in the last 8 at stake, can we continue or good form in the cup competitions this season. The odds say we will prevail but this is Southampton Football Club.
On the face of it this should be a victory for Saints, but as we know, things don't always go as planned with Southampton FC, Grimsby arrive firmly in lower mid table in League Two, they sit 16th, their 38 points meaning that although they are 12 points off the relegation places and it would need a major disaster for them to go down, but in contrast it would need a major run of wins to make even the play off spots, they are 15 points off that group although in fairness they have 2-3 games in hand over those currently in that position.
CHRIS NICHOLL PLAYED FOR SAINTS & GRIMSBY
So it could be said this game is their shot at glory, they haven't gone this far in the FA Cup since the mid 1990's and to reach the last 8 would be a major achievement for them and a little bit of glory in what is a mid table season so far, not to mention the money that this run has brought the club so far and could do if they win at St Mary's.
They will bring 4,000 or so fans with them, that doesn't sound too many, but it is around two thirds of their average home attendance, sadly in League football in the top two divisions at least the days of massive away supports in terms of a % of the home crowd is long gone, due to small away allocations.
From a Saints perspective, we too want to progress, Ruben Selles has spoken about how a good cup run can stimulate a return to winning ways and he is right, that was certainly the case back in 2018 when we reached the semi final and escaped relegation by a whisker.
So what side will our manager for the rest of the season put out, I would expect some changes but not too many I hope.
Two who will miss out are Che Adams & Salisu who are both still injured.
In goal there is a clamour amongst some Saints supporters for a change in goal, personally I don't think that is necessary, Gavin Bazunu has played in front of a shaky defence, he has done well, I don't think a different keeper would have done much better and we should all remember that Alex McCarthy didn't cover himself in glory the last time he had a run in the side which is 15 months ago, since then he has played just two Premier League games.
But I would expect him to play tonight, he came back to action after a lengthy spell injured in the B team at the weekend, but it maybe a little bit early for his return.
In defence I would like to see Duje Caleta-Car return, he offered a little bit of organisation before he was axed by Nathan Jones, a decision that on the face of it was bizarre and hinted at an issue on the training ground.
Other than that the squad is so large these days it is hard to second guess just what side Ruben Selles will put out.
On social media there is a clamour for youth team striker Dominic Ballard to be given a chance, whilst the youngster is potentially a first team player in the making, we also have to look at whether playing him is the right thing for his development.
What amazes me about those demanding his inclusion is the belief by many that a 17 year old who has played just 15 minutes of first team football is going to be the saviour, I would suggest that very few of them have actually seen him play and those that have, just 15 minutes at Cambridge, yet the fact that he notched a goal in a game against a League two side that when he came on where 2-0 down and going through the motions has given him legendary status for some.
Despite the fact that players including Adam Armstrong and Sekou Mara who have both scored not only for Saints but for other teams, Armstrong in particular 28 goals in one season in the Championship, are seen as not up to it furthers the case that to throw Ballard in will not solve the problem, we have plenty of goalscorers in the squad, but they are not being given the chances to score, Ballard running around up front with no service will change nothing.
We have plenty to lose, look at Nathan Tella, he broke into the Saints team in the summer of 2020, a month short of his 20th birthday, he has spent the next two seasons on the fringe of the team starting 17 games plus 16 as sub in the Premier League and scoring just one, even Theo Walcott was ahead of him, yet in 24(7) games at Burnley he has notched 12 goals, nowhere near Armstrong's total for Blackburn.
That shows the gap between even the Championship and the Premier League, yet we are expecting Ballard to bridge the gap between the youth team and the Premier League at 17 and barely into double figures in appearances for the B team.
Why do you think that he hasn't been tried ? Possibly because those in the academy don't think he is ready, they know that throwing him in now into a struggling side will hinder his development, that the same people who have never seen him play but are demanding his inclusion will very quickly be the same ones who after a few games will be screaming about how the academy doesn't produce any talent anymore.
However having said this, perhaps there is leeway to put him on the bench and then and only then, if we get a decent lead, we could throw him on, but we do not want to further impede his development by throwing him in before he is ready.
Ruben Selles has stated that this game can be a springboard for the season and that means giving the chances to those who can score but haven't done so with enough regularity so far, that means game time for Tall Paul Onauchu & Sulemana, as well as Adam Armstrong & Sekou Mara and perhaps more importantly Charly Alcatraz, who truly has the talent to change games.
So this is a chance for Saints to kick start the season, the squad is to hand for Ruben Selles he just has to use it properly, the Chelsea game provoked a flood of social media frenzy for the new manager, the Leeds game another one this time against him.
What is needed now is calm and let the manager get on with things, teams that have unity between manager, players and also the supporters are the ones that stay up, those that are constantly chopping and changing go down.
But tonight it is about the FA Cup, let us hope this game sees us get some sort of momentum going and that goes forward into our League form.