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Comment | Southampton Squad Should They Stay Or Should They Go !
at 13:19:09
I don’t think Bazunu is as bad as people think but neither is he the finished article. There is no doubt that at 23 he is still young as a keeper and will continue to develop. He may well be a fine keeper in 5 years but we need him to be a top keeper now.
I would retain him unless a silly offer is made but ideally he would be the back up and we get a better immediate option in. |
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Comment | Returning Loan Players Could Be Crucial For Southampton
at 13:21:26
This shows how the loan system, used well, has been a real benefit to the club. Edwards, Charles and Edozie certainly should be key contributors for us next season. Bazunu too if his injury is not a big issue as while he was suspect in his shot stopping I think Russell Martin teams in general conceded plenty of goals so the issue was likely more tactical than solely down to the keeper. That said if his injury remains a concern an incoming loan could give cover for him and McCarthy. I hear Forster is a free agent ;).
Adam Armstrong will be an interesting one. I think his time with the club will largely depend on
a) whether Archer stays - reports of Leicester interest if the appoint RM as new manager.
b) his fit with WS formation - my understanding is WS likes getting crosses into the box. Great for Stewart but not sure this is a strength for AA.
c) where his head is at - will he want to put his all into a promotion campaign only to be dropped again if we are promoted. Last time in the Championship he had a point to prove but I don’t think he has that motivation this time. Possibly better he goes elsewhere to re-energise his motivation, if we can get a reasonable fee.
For me it is Centreback which will need the biggest attention assuming THB, Bednarek and ABK are all sold. Stephens, Wood, Edwards and the youngsters can DAJFU but I think we will need depth in this position for a long season. |
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Comment | Southampton V Arsenal The Preview
at 09:17:29
Like all new incoming managers Will Still will have my support. Why would any Saints supporter want him to fail? Clean slate and let’s get behind him and whatever squad he ends up with through this summer.
As for the match, let’s get through it and consign this season to the bin where it belongs. I just hope the club have read the mood music and don’t do a lap of appreciation. As you have said only a very few players deserve it and I doubt there will be many fans left in the ground anyway. |
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Comment | Will Still In Pole Position For Southampton Job
at 12:34:22
The situation around Rohl is partly to do with Sheffield Wednesday but also partly that Rohl has attracted interest from other clubs and he is hedging his bets. In particular there maybe some attractive options in the Bundesliga and if serious would likely be a preferred option for Rohl than a Championship level Saints. |
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Comment | Joe Aribo's Performance Against Man City Has Saints Fans Asking Questions
at 12:53:47
I agree that as a coach you shouldn’t need to immediately sub a player on a yellow card but subbing Les at HT was absolutely the right decision. He was already lucky to still be on the pitch with similar fouls that only one resulted in a booking and then stopping a free kick showed a lack of experience/common sense.
As for Joe being the replacement he may not have been a natural CDM but he is miles better in that position than Smallbone as showed during the second half. I expect if we get an decent offer for him this summer we will sell but if not I think he can be a good player for us in the Championship. |
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Comment | The Odds Are Out On The Next Southampton Manager
at 20:20:57
Boris1977, unless there are Saints fans out there with VERY deep pockets, your suggestion of being fan owned is a non-starter for a club looking to be successful in the Championship let alone the PL. just look at our blue “friends” down the road who were fan owned to stave off extinction but were going no where in league 2 until the Disney guy bought them. The fact is, being successful takes a combination of a lot of money and good decisions. SR have invested a shed load into the club. The big issue has been the poor decision making. Hopefully Spors can be the first good decision which leads to another in a new manger and then buying the right players. We can only hope! |
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Comment | Sky Sports Reports Ivan Juric Sacked
at 13:09:14
I suspect the timing was a financial decision. SR probably would have had to pay compo if they had sacked him prior to relegation being confirmed. |
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Comment | Ross Stewart Could Feature Against Crystal Palace
at 12:55:06
“Most Saints fans would struggle to pick Ross Stewart out in a police identity parade“ How appropriate given he has robbed us blind over the last 2 seasons paying his wages. |
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Comment | Back To Reality For Saints On Wednesday But Sadly Nothing Has Changed
at 12:52:40
I think the key factor in Juric being here or not is the confirmation of our relegation. It wouldn’t surprise me that there is a clause in his contract that entitles him to the balance of the 18months wages if he is sacked before Saints are relegated. There is a break clause and I wonder if the additional 12 months is only applied if we had retained our PL status. Relegation is a case of when rather than if so I expect Saints are waiting to be mathematically down and therefore saving some money before pulling the trigger. If that is the case hopefully relegation will be confirmed asap so Rusk or whoever has a chance of restoring some pride and getting the points needed to overcome the Derby record. |
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Comment | Southampton FC Chairman Stepping Down
at 12:43:55
As you say this appears to be a positive move in the sense Dragan has had enough of the failures and is getting directly involved. I don’t expect he will have any hands on football experience but then neither does Kraft or Parsons who were more about the commercial side of the club. The indication is that he will bring in that football expertise, which I expect will be a new director of football to replace Wilcox and work alongside Parsons day to day. It’s sad it has taken this long and the almost inevitable relegation but hopefully but getting the right structure in place now it will set us up for the summer and next season. |
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Comment | Bella-Kotchap Speaks About Southampton Future
at 19:55:18
Trouble is that this is one side of the story. I’m sure RM sees it a different way. RM is gone so ABK now has a chance to prove himself to the new manager. Let’s see what happens if/when we are relegated in May and whether ABK still wants to play in a Saints shirt next season. |
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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Carabao Cup Preview
at 12:34:21
I don’t see the style of football changing much. Let’s face it the players have been playing possession football for the last 18 months so they won’t deviate too far from that despite it not being RM in the dugout. |
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Comment | Yorkshire Media Claim That Sheffield Wednesday Battling To Keep Danny Rohl
at 12:28:15
I remain unconvinced that Sports Republic are seriously interested in Rohl. Not because he isn’t a decent manager, he certainly is and has had success at every club he has been at not least Saints with Ralph and now Sheffield Wednesday on his own. However, Rohl’s footballing principles are for the high press/work hard off the ball approach which we saw for most of the time under Ralph. SR have already committed to the possession style that Russel Martin preached albeit with some pragmatism that RM couldn’t apply. If SR appoint Rohl, not only are they throwing away that philosophy which they haven’t shown any indication that they are willing to but also the majority of the current squad have spent the last 18 months playing and were brought in specifically to play. Rohl will want players that can play his way and while some of the squad will be able to adapt, we could have a situation where many need to be moved on because they don’t fit. We haven’t yet cleared out some of the players from the Ralph, Idiot, Selles period so could limit our ability to get in the players Rohl would need.
Don’t get me wrong of all the names mentioned I would put Rohl near the top, probably with Potter, but as it stands I don’t see it happening. |
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Comment | Southampton Will Recall One Player But Send Another To Sheffield Wednesday
at 12:41:07
A loan move for Edwards makes sense as he is getting very little match time at Saints, even with the U21s. Bringing back Shea Charles could mean a number of things:
- he has developed so far that RM thinks he is better than Flynn Downes - unlikely
- he is being brought back as cover in midfield- that would only make sense if we are also sending back big Leslie as we don’t need all 3
- he is being brought back as cover at CB - that would suggest Bednarek is out for a prolonged period. |
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Comment | Southampton Board Said To Have Set Deadline Day For Russell Martin
at 12:22:38
I would expect part of this period is also to sound out potential replacements. There is no point in waiting for these matches to pass, sack Martin if the results don’t meet the target and then waste another couple of games with an interim manager before appointing the replacement.
The other issue to consider is that other teams that are struggling will also be looking at the November break as a time to make a manager change. Do we want to be competing with Wolves, West Ham, Palace etc for the same limited talent pool - I expect we couldn’t either financially or potential survival prospects. |
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Comment | Southampton Already Have Their Target To Replace Russell Martin
at 09:50:41
This is the same board whose previous in season managerial change shortlist was headed by Nathan Jones. You can be impressed with all the stats but do they fit the club, can they cut it at PL level and can they get a tune out of the players without ripping up the squad and starting again.
Personally I don’t think RM is going anywhere just yet even if we lose against Ipswich. He has earned the right to get to Christmas at least. |
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