 | News
Comment | Saints Have Make Or Break 10 Day 4 Game Xmas Period
at 10:22:14
I'm all for being optimistic but I like a little realism.
We're ten points behind Ipswich and 13 behind Leicester.
If Leicester lose all their Xmas games and we win all of ours, they will still be ahead of us.
If Ipswich draw two of their games and we win all of ours, they will still be ahead of us.
Chances are we will not win them all. I'd hope for 10 points but settle for 7. That may see us stay behind Leeds but hopefully also stay ahead of WBA and the others.
It's a lazy cliche loved by sports columnists to say that a game or series of games "makes or breaks" a season. Please don't use it.
And given RM's stubborn refusal to see the problems created by having too much possession and not enough shots on target and making some changes (which should not include starting Mara) , perhaps even 7 points is too optimistic. |
| News
Comment | Southampton Made Strong Promotion Statement On Saturday
at 12:59:10
I remain of the view that RM and the team is few percent short of automatic promotion candidates.
Realistically Leicester have won the league already excepting a huge meltdown.
That leaves presently three teams (us, Ipswich, Leeds) looking at the other automatic spot.
(WBA etc being five points back now, I have discounted).
I hope/expect Ipswich to have a stutter and then it's between us and Leeds.
Perhaps it's being a Saints fan which makes me think that we will be pipped for that second automatic promotion because I think RM does not have that killer instinct which drives teams into the last five games of the season with belief in their hearts. |
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Comment | Southampton At Huddersfield The Verdict
at 15:38:26
There is a disturbing lack of vision from the manager here.
He saw us fall into a lacklustre situation in the second half but his one change was arguably like for like and didn't improve things. After the game he was full of "not good enough" etc but he needs to think on his own inaction.
Once again however he is a victim of having no ability to reshape his tactics when the opposition chose or are forced to. If we are a goal up and showing no signs of getting another, by all means take off a player who is being double marked but either put on a speed merchant to threaten on the break or another midfield player to deny the opposition some space.
We failed to do that and paid the price. |
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Comment | Southampton At Middlesbrough The Verdict
at 12:15:05
I've posted elsewhere that I think the present situation is very much the fault of SR and RM.
The possession/passing game is not suitable for this league. The recipient of a pass will get closed down (and the ball taken off them) quickly because they don't have the skill or confidence to be able to avoid the incoming tackler.
It's not just this season that the failure of the possession/passing game has been evident. It did Swansea no good. Previous PL teams dropping into the Champ who tried to maintain this style soon reverted to a more direct strategy.
This is not rocket science. If your defenders cannot pass a ball 15 yards; if nobody is willing to warn recipients of the ball of being closed down; if the team is unable or unwilling to maintain the passing game when it works, but abandon it when losing, then it's not working and should be changed.
RM seems to be a stubborn man and is basically saying that his system will work. I hope he is right, but I fear he is not.
By the time the team is playing "his way", we'll be deep into season.
I see comments about the present passing game not being the "Saints way". Fair enough. Letting in three but scoring (or trying to score) four is exciting and many of us would prefer that to the frankly boring and ineffective fare we have now. That is not however what SR want and the manager is prepare to do what the owners want and not what the supporters want. That can end only one way, a schism between fans and the club. That is already evident in what we see.
If the team is playing at or close to RM's "way", we're in trouble. If RM's "way" will not get us promoted - why stick with it? If RM's "way" will maintain us for a couple of seasons in the Champ before going to L1, but keep the owners happy, at the expense of boring football and fans disillusioned, why stick with it? |
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Comment | Romain Perraud Loan Departure Proves Russell Martin Will Follow His Own Path
at 12:55:21
I think the assessment of last season, the part played (or not) by Perraud and the "fact" that one transfer can be confirmation of a new style of play, is at best premature and at worst a poor justification for losing a good player.
Perraud was (in my view) better going forward than defending. His defensive positioning was at times suspect. He was not helped by the defensive midfielders staying central which often exposed him to two players to mark. Going forward though he offered options which when KWP player at left back, were missing because he always wanted to come inside and that was predictible.
The team/squad from last year has seen a number of departures, often of players who arguably fit the passing/possession style that we're told RM wants to adopt. JWP perhaps the more obvious example of somebody who probably made more passes than anybody else in the team of the bottom half of the PL last season. I know the reason will be given that he was a quality player who wanted away but of RM had a strategy and was prepared to stand by it, JWP was the last player who should have been allowed to go.
In my view, the fact is that RM may have a preferred style of play and may well consider some players fit that better than others, but ultimately as the owners seek to balance the books in the Champ and pay for some of last seasn's mistakes (Orsic, Tall Paul, etc) he will be told to make do with whatever is left on September 1st.
His influence on who stays and who goes, is limited - and that worries me. The owners clearly did not see soon enough the disaster of last season and when they did react it was to install two inept managers and not improve the squad. By the time Selles arrived, it was too late and he had a disheartened group to work with.
I get that the lead article here (as many are) is positive and looking to be encouraging but I fear that on this occasion the "facts" and the conclusion are too distant from each other.
In my view we are still at least one defender short of a squad good enough for promotion and probably missing a creative midfielder and a striker.
I'm also unconvinced that a passing/possession based game is the way out of the Champ (look at QPR this weekend with 25% of the ball and as many shots on target as us) and that the lack of Plan B when we are 1-0 down at home in February and need a goal and need forward going players, all we have is people wanting to pass isdeways. |
| News
Comment | Southampton Owners Admit Mistakes Were Made
at 09:50:08
It's a little worrying that they were prepared to "send money to the kids" (and so much money) without making sure it was well used. They seem to be engaging in a little financial whitewashing rather than taking on some of the blame.
The drop to the Championship is going to cause a lot of changes (and perhaps a halving of income) and will need more "kids money" to survive if the ambition is to bounce back in one season. Given the lesson learned that money is not the answer, they are placing a lot of faith on Wilcox.
The appointment of Solak as an active board member is one to please the investors who will no doubt be looking for some sort of return quickly now.
The comments about JWP are plain - he's for sale to any reasonable offer.
As said above, let's eee where we are 10 games into next season. |
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Comment | First Official Approach Received By Saints For Summer Fire Sale
at 14:39:06
We need somebody like Graham Potter in first and then he can run his eye over the squad.
If he thinks the present squad is not good enough to be back next season (i think it is not but somebody like Potter would be in a better position to judge) then building for a 4 or 5 season long campaign is the aim and JWP/KWP/ABK/Salisu Bednarek and a couple of others should be allowed to go to generate funds.
If he thinks we are good enough then it's cheaper to ignore the relegation clause in contracts and continue to pay PL salaries to the above to keep them.
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Comment | Referee Watch With SFC Ref 20th February
at 17:14:42
Got to say that if Marra received a red it would be harsh in my opinion. He had no idea what was behind him and if he had a duty of care toward other players, so did the defender and he should not be putting himself into danger. |
| News
Comment | Referee Watch With SFC Ref 23rd January
at 09:26:49
I think for me the main issue with the alleged "stamp" (which implies a deliberate rather than an accidental act) was the interview comments from the Villa player afterwards.
He said that he felt contact and that in his view "it was enough to go down". So he made a decision to try to con the ref - and it worked.
As for your questions:
1. Don't know
2. Keeper is red carded (denying goal scoring opportunity) and indirect free kick where he picked the ball up.
3. Corner, throw in, goal kick(?) ball from opposing player who meant to play it. |
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Comment | Saints Are Tackling Issue With Away Fans In Home Areas At St Mary's
at 15:46:18
I was in the Kingsland toward the Chapel end for the Arsenal game and we saw perhaps half a dozen people helped out of the ground for standing and cheering their goal.
Next to me however was a man, woman and child of perhaps 8 or 9. They spoke to each other in perhaps a Polish or eastern European language.
The guy was careful to applaud politely when we did well but the boy was not able to exercise self control.
I could have reported them but did not. The boy wanted to watch "his" team, he was causing no trouble and to have been thrown out would have ruined his experience.
Kicking out gobby inconsiderate types - absolutely.
Moving on those who may not support us but who show some respect - no. |
| News
Comment | Southampton Reported To Have Approached Liverpool For Right Back ! But Why ?
at 08:21:09
He fits the moneyball philosophy.
Young, talented, able to play week in, week out in our team at full back or midfield and in a season or two will be a seasoned pro and still only 22 and probably worth £10m more than we paid.
Forget the fact that we already have a England international available for right back - this is all about the money. |
| News
Comment | Southampton v Liverpool The Verdict
at 09:52:33
I agree with some of the above.
Playing with a lone striker, at home, against a second string? No.
Playing Tella who cannot control the ball, do a defensive job, take players on? No.
Playing Redmond at left back, left mid and left striker? No.
Too much respect for a Liverpool team which was vulnerable on the flanks and not playing Che or SA from the start. No.
A flurry in the last 15 minutes when Liverpool had the game won and just managed the situation is not good enough.
I'm all for RH trying new things at the end of season which will see us stay in the PL, but again he left the subs way too late and the only player in our team who looked interested - KWP - was so often left with no support that it was embarrassing.
Particularly annoying was RH saying afterwards that we tried our maximum. No we didn't.
I'm a defender of RH in many ways (even if it's because we will not attract a better manager) but he tested me last night. |
| News
Comment | Charlie Austin Is Wrong ! Staying At Saints Is The Best Option For James Ward Prowse
at 16:13:11
Austin is just repeating the same tired old story that for somebody to "make it" hey need to be at a "big club".
What is today a big club, is one with money able to afford the extortionate wages of players who can fill the bench. It's not about the clubs with a glorious history of winning competitions. So the "big" clubs today are City, Liverpool, Newcastle.
The likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs are all hampered by sanctions or paying for vast stadia and are not challenging for top players. Man U are a never ending car crash in terms of playing and off the pitch owner problems. Leicester? Seems that the son of the owner who was killed a few years back is not as keen on investing as his dad was. They have not really replaced their "stars".
So where would JWP go? I can't see him as a regular starter at City or Liverpool. And I don't see him making the average teams at Newcastle, Chelsea etc into world beaters either. He's improve them but not to the extent required.
For us, he is a key component, valued by the manager and (most) fans and we've been spoilt because he's rarely missed a game in three seasons to show us what we lack when he's not around.
On his day for us, he's the difference between no pints and one or one point and three. On his off days, he's still better than most of the team.
All that said, if he sees a payday for two/three seasons warming the bench with Grealish and Foden, he owes us nothing and he needs to think about his family after football and I for one would not begrudge him a move.
As for Austin, he was always a wannabe whose "talent" was talked up but never evident on the pitch. He prospered against the lower league defenders but when faced with a more savvy opponent was lost. His voice and opinions carry no weight. |
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Comment | Southampton V Everton The Verdict
at 08:52:32
A good win and a good performance from all the players and especially the manager.
Everton matched our starting formation and that seemed to unsettle us for the first 10/15 minutes. But there was a subtle change made presumably by RH which saw SA move slightly wider which opened up the midfield and stopped the narrow press that Allan (lucky to stay on the pitch) and Beek were trying to apply. Once that happened, we began to play.
Good team goal from SA. (Interesting that each time we had a shot, for preference we went for the near post - tactical?). The Long goal was a delight with a great first time cross from Tino.
There were many moments that will linger. Salisu having a rough and tumble first half but sticking to it. Romeu beating two Everton players by basically standing still.
In a game of many fine performances though, for me JWP stood out. In one incident, he made a 40 yard right to left (KWP) pass and when Peters looked up for help, JWP was 15 yards behind him. I thought JWP was the oil that kept the team moving along and was always there when a player needed help and when a tackle needed to be made.
Chapeau to RH as well for exploiting the weaknesses of Everton with some good tactics.
Finally a sweet moment was Alli coming on and making absolutely no difference and being upstaged by an older pro in Long appearing and scoring. |
| News
Comment | Saints Have Six Players Out Of Contract In Summer ! Will Any Stay !
at 12:57:53
As we seem to have bought in to the Brentford model which is all about spotting young players and bringing them on before cashing in (and who cares about achieving something in football ambition), I can see Long, Stephens, McCarthy all going out of the club permanently.
I like Long as a player and in many areas of the pitch he is surprisingly good (he loses very few headers) but a striker at EPL level needs to be sharper than he currently is. Stephens likewise is just not quite at the level we need. Keepers are different. Whilst we all know that form is elusive, keepers cannot afford to make errors. For me McCarthy has made too many and needs to look elsewhere. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 95 | | Comment Votes: | 43 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 138 |
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