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Defender's Absence Noted Amid Questions Over Attitude
Tuesday, 11th Apr 2023 09:14

Just as Saints need every member of the squad to be putting in 100%, leaks emerge that one of our defenders is missing due to concerns about his attitude.

If Saints are to perform a Great Escape and get out of relegation trouble, then it needs a squad with spirit and commitment to dig in and pull us out of this hole, but it seems that one player is not with the programme on this.

Before we reveal who it should be noted that the news on this will have come directly from someone within the club, if not from an official PR leak to trusted journalists, then from a squad member disgusted with the player in questions attitude.

It should also be said that this is far from concrete, but the evidence is there from the outside.

That man is said to be Mohammed Salisu according to online football news outlet The Athletic.

They report that his absence in the Southampton side is nothing to do with injury, but is do with his attitude.

Salisu has barely played in the first team since the defeat to Wolves on 11th February, indeed despite being an unused substitute in many games, he has played just once and that came when Armel Bella Kotchap had to go off with a shoulder injury against Spurs. In truth in that game he appeared to have 100% commitment and there was no sign of an attitude issue.

With the German defender out you would have hoped that this would have seen Salisu step up to the plate determined to get his place back in the team, but instead it seems that he has preferred to not play at all.

But it is not just Southampton he seemingly has an issue is, after a decent 81 minutes against Spurs he went off on International duty with Ghana, up to the World Cup he had refused to play for his country after falling out with a previous manager, but he returned to the fold back in September and played in the World Cup.

He went away with his country after the Spurs game, but then came news of an un named injury that kept him out of both of Ghana's games

When he arrived back at St Mary's there was no further information on just what injury he had picked up and he was missing for the trip to West Ham & then again on Saturday for Manchester City, just when his club needed him.

This has lead now to the news from the Athletic, that he is far from injured and it is his attitude problem that means he hasn't even been on the bench for these games.

This is not the first time questions have been asked about Salisu, when he arrived at St Mary's in the summer of 2020 he came with a good reputation, but it would be February before he made a first team appearance, initially his absence was given as a muscle injury, he finally appeared in a matchday squad in December and was an unused sub until then it was announced he had picked up a hamstring injury in January.

At the time there were whispers about his attitude and that rather than injury he was struggling to adapt to his new environment.

Now it seems he has found attitude again after being a virtual ever present up to that defeat against Wolves .

It seems that he has fallen out with Ruben Selles the following weekend when he was dropped to the bench for his Spaniard's game in charge at Chelsea, with Jan Bednarek now returning to the fold and preferred to partner Bella-Kotchap by the new manager.

Since then he has been out of the picture, although he has almost become the forgotten man with more questioning the absence of Caleta-Car or Orsic than that of Salisu.

Salisu's 4 year initial deal is due up in the summer of 2024 and the Athletic reports that he has refused to enter new contract talks until the summer, this though should not impact on his ability to play for the team or be committed to it.

It is not unusual for a player to ask to wait until the summer before negotiating, especially when the club's own position in the League is unclear, I would not put this down to the reason for any attitude issues.

Just what is behind Salisu's current attitude is unclear, whether it is just his failure to make the side or whether he has fallen out with his manager or even team mates.

What we do know is that there is evidence that he is a player that downs tools when he doesn't like things that are happening, both at International level and perhaps in his initial time at St Mary's.

The fact that this story has emerged perhaps suggests that the club itself is not happy with the player and that for whatever reason he is making himself unavailable for selection directly or otherwise and that someone within the club is keen to let the fans know what is happening.

Photo: Action Images



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felly1 added 09:41 - Apr 11
I remember going to the open training session at SMS earlier this season with my lad.
Him and Bazunu were exchanging views and wagging fingers at each other in a break in the session and all of a sudden the players were having to hold back Salisu as he clearly wanted to take on Bazunu.
Not what I expected at a kid friendly open training session!
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dirk_doone added 10:55 - Apr 11
Salisu is probably p!ssed off with the poor attitude of the other players. He was our best player in his last appearance v Spurs. It can be frustrating for a good player who wants to win games when his team mates are a bunch of losers and worse still when inferior players get picked ahead of him.

It was probably a mistake for him to come here. He'll do well in a better team when he moves on.
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saintmark1976 added 11:22 - Apr 11
Nick, rather than posting a non story about Salisu perhaps it would have been better to let us know your thoughts about the story which is all over today’s Daily Mail, The Times and Southampton Echo concerning the club’s owner?

It’s suggested that he has to repay a loan of £110 million pounds ( I assume plus interest? ) by the end of 2024, the money having been borrowed as part of the funds necessary to purchase S F C in 2022.

5

Fordy added 11:38 - Apr 11
He's almost certainly going to go in the summer. I don't know why he can't just knuckle down and give it everything until the end of the season but he doesn't seem like that kind of character.
1

SonicBoom added 11:43 - Apr 11
Salisu is great at making last ditch tackles.
Mind you, if he passed the ball better, or didn't get in all the wrong positions, he wouldn't need to make those last ditch tackles.
1

1885_SFC added 11:56 - Apr 11
Eddie Howe has told him not to get injured ahead of a big Summer move to Newcastle. Salisu has taken his words literally by not playing since March.
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A1079 added 12:03 - Apr 11
The news about Salisu is not actually a surprise to me. I have doubted his commitment to the club since day one, though he has signs of being a good defender, though Sonic makes a good point.

The thing is I actually doubt Salisu is the only one whose "head" is not with Saints. The truth is (however you dress it up), this whole season has been and continues to be a bl**dy mess on and off the pitch and news about the finances just adds to the overall gloom hanging over the place.
1

SanMarco added 12:06 - Apr 11
Any one else think that it would be nice if this fecken awful clusterfeck of a season ended now...
5

codge added 12:10 - Apr 11
Seems like another Van Dyke situation to me, sulk your way out to get a transfer to another team that’s already turned his head.
0

PaleRider added 12:15 - Apr 11
Maybe he's just a coward and doesn't have the stomach for a fight.
0

Block8 added 12:33 - Apr 11
Perhaps he is moaning because he's overworked compared to the forwards lol
0

JoeEgg added 13:16 - Apr 11
Perhaps he's just fed up with the Football club. Three managers and all with different favourites. Perhaps like many other individuals in our squad he is disillusioned and can see that relagation isn't best for his future?
Then perhaps he's just a selfish bugger who has heard that some BIg Clubs want him so why bother with the mess at Saints or his National side?
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StRipper added 13:44 - Apr 13
I haven't seen Salisu's failings on the pitch during matches. But based on the team selections, failure doesn't seem to be a problem with Selles.
Its all about statistics and analytics with our current leadership. So if you train hard you get to play in the next match, even if your last match performance was dire.
Square pegs in round holes all over the pitch, but yeah. Lets pile blame onto a player who isn't even getting selected, and even if he does get picked it will probably be to play him on the wing or something. He's clearly going at the end of the season, which I think this story is just a preamble to the forthcoming news that he's signed for Newcastle to soften up gullible fans.
When our relegation is confirmed there will be a hell of a lot more than just Salisu on the way out of the door. In reality our football club hasn't yet woken up to that realisation that it is not just a business as normal situation we're currently in. All of those stories being leaked by the club about our potential summer signings are just pie in the sky if we get relegated. Go Team Rankersen.
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