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Comment | Depth Of Southampton Squad Is Will Still's Problem
at 19:32:34
Just when we thought we'd clear the decks in the summer we are still " stuck" with some of the old guard who won't get game time, and seemingly no-one who wants to buy them.
The main problem seems to be that too many were bought to play "other managers formations " and Will has other ideas, and so we have too many square pegs to get rid of.
Who you, I or anyone else likes is really down to Will's choice so we must wait and see.
Ramsdale wants to be in the England squad before a World Cup (like Prowsey did 3 years ago) but he will stay on the bench at Newcastle - unless Pope gets injured.
Certainly the " new look " line-up seems promising, so now we have even more bodies who must move on - if they want regular game time, but it's too early to see who is likely to be Will's first-choice starting side. |
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Comment | Southampton Plotting Return Of Former Hero Ostracised At West Ham
at 14:32:34
Well, who couldn't see this story coming? Changing managers always leaves someone on the beach, and even 100K /week is no compensation for those wanting to play every week. Contributors on here have created a MARMITE situation with 49% thinking he was a waste of space and only good for his fantastic free-kicks (which they seldom praised, along with a fairly good record of converting penalties), whilst those who looked at stats. noted he covered most ground every match and rarely missed games. His ability to play almost anywhere on the right was obvious, although he was landed with the sh*tty end of the stick when taking up the DM role after Romeu left and the club failed to replace Orry.
Once Gareth Southgate's Golden Boy in the England U21, he captained the team and played over 30 times but was unsurprisingly dumped by GS after he got the England job.
Like all England managers before him, he surrendered to the hostile TV media types who make or break a manager if he fails to meet their expectations or favourite player choices.
Compare Prowsey's stats with Grealish's, (who cost Man City £ 100 million), and after he got found out, now City can't get rid of him. Prowsey's move to West Ham was his last chance of making the World Cup squad that followed. Once again Southgate ignored him and pathetic England barely took a decent free kick, or corner in the whole competition.
I feel sorry for JWP (even with his big salary). No-one doubts his loyalty to Saints (15 years - man and boy) but like Lallana before him, he deserved a good move to a better side and it didn't happen, and (like AL) he was criticised for his ambition by those who felt he should stay and rot in the club regardless of our status.
and so ..should we get him back? If we are in a Top Six position by mid January, it would be a no-brainer to ignore the opportunity to loan him back - even for the last 20 games, and make a decision afterwards.
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Comment | Southampton At Sheffield United The Verdict
at 13:57:08
Needless to say 3 points is welcome anytime, (but as NIck said) it wasn't pretty at times, but we have played better and lost, so I think we should be glad for the result. As a long standing critic of McCarthy I have to admit that he made some excellent saves, and given the chances we can see that Wood has the makings of a good CB along with Edwards.
Despite Adam A.'s miss (yes they've all done it at times) the combination of him and Stewart has the look of a good strike pair, something we have missed for quite a while. However, the best to last is that Ross Stewart has started to "look the part" let's hope his fitness continues to improve. A good result at Derby would put another complexion on the rest of the season.
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Comment | Southampton V Middlesbrough The Verdict
at 11:35:36
Agree with most of you (above) but you were a bit scathing with some comments (NIck).
With exception for a few familiar faces ..it looks like we have a whole new team and with a good attacking formation. Will S '. new look has only played 2 league games together so far, and against a better class of opposition. Some of the squad which started the season looked "shell-shocked" from last season's fiasco. The new boys are a breath of fresh air.
If Middelsboro' are the best we will come up against, then I can see us picking up a few good results quite soon against "ordinary sides", especially if we start scoring properly. |
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Comment | Southampton V Middlesbrough The Preview
at 14:10:18
without meaning to sound sarcastic , I think THB and Capt. Jack are suffering from the football version of PTSD. Last season was a nightmare for everyone and the thought they might get through a game without conceding ..must be a humbling thought every game.
I wasn't disappointed with the back line v Liverpool, so if it ain't broke ...you know the rest. |
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Comment | Southampton V Middlesbrough The Preview
at 14:10:18
without meaning to sound sarcastic , I think THB and Capt. Jack are suffering from the football version of PTSD. Last season was a nightmare for everyone and the thought they might get through a game without conceding ..must be a humbling thought every game.
I wasn't disappointed with the back line v Liverpool, so if it ain't broke ...you know the rest. |
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Comment | Southampton At Liverpool The Verdict
at 18:39:12
Good performance - pity about the result. Cannot recall the last time I saw a Saints attack without sideways passes, or play back to defenders. OK - it was Liverpool's "B team" but that doesn't mean they lacked big money buys, or the help of more experienced names.
If this was a new Saints trial start side, I was impressed. Once again we were robbed by the woodwork only to concede 30 seconds later, and whilst Liverpool fans were glad to finally see Isak gifted his first goal, he might admit that he'll never score an easier one.
Had VAR been in operation, L' Pool might not have been credited with their second goal.
My one regret is that we are unlikely to see the same side starting on Saturday, when Will returns to usual back line, who will then doubtless make their "normal mistakes", when
I thought that Quarshie, Wood and Edwards really looked the part on the night.
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Comment | Southampton At Hull City The Verdict
at 15:51:15
Adam Armstrong's excellent but very late finish was the only positive, in that it we didn't finish with zero goals. The 70% + possession was reminiscent of Russell Martin's slow-mo format but failed to one create decent chance, but the breakaways that led to their first two goals was sadly reminiscent. Whatever our " best CB partnership" is, clearly it is not going to be THB and Capt. Jack.
Both lack pace when coming up against a speedy attacker and Hull's third goal was a disgrace (from Saints viewpoint) with our defenders playing "statues" like kids in a school playground, whereas Hull will take pride in McBurnie's performance, as he gave our defence a rugged time from the first minute and deserved a reward for effort he put in.
Where do we go from here, Will ?. I do have sympathy both for Will S. (and those new foreign signings) who have yet to learn each other's names, but we do need to get a few league wins PDQ - one way or another. With Liverpool already assured of giving their best names the evening off, we can only hope that we can put out a decent start side and give some of the "also-rans" a chance to show up. In some ways the League Cup result is almost immaterial as neither club is likely to field the same line-ups next Saturday.
Liverpool will give a few of their young hopefuls some game time and a chance to play at Anfield, and the best that Saints can hope for will probably be a clean sheet - before the penalty shoot-out begins. |
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Comment | Southampton V Portsmouth The Verdict
at 12:57:31
one point that few have mentioned (from our side) is the three-man incident where the Pompey goalie was injured. Now the Pompey manager seems all set to seek a Police charge accusing Fellows of deliberately injuring his two players (!). Dangerous stuff.
It was a loose ball that all three wanted to contest and their goalie took it on himself to come a long way out and challenge instead of leaving it to his defender to deal with.
Obviously It is bad news if the goalie has a serious injury, but it almost seems that the two Pompey players caused their own injuries in the collision. The thing I find most disturbing is that the Pompey manager seemed more aggressive than most of his players were and what began as " sour grapes" has stoked up the atmosphere for the return fixture.
Bearing in mind the scenes following the 2019 League Cup fixture, I hope he will calm down before then instead of fanning the flames as he has done so demonstrably.
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Comment | Southampton V Portsmouth The Verdict
at 11:28:45
Verdict; SAD. An over-publicised "non-event " with Saints players almost too afraid to make mistakes (of which there were many,) and a Pompey side who squandered enough chances to win two games, yet we ended with neither side able to score a goal.
Some encouraging solo efforts from a couple of the "new boys" , whilst the likes of Azaz and Manning looked a bit stale after three games in a week. It seems that Archer can only score "by accident" but the rest of the time is almost anonymous. Stewart might have been more of a threat at the start, with a "fresh" Archer on as sub. later. We have FIVE strikers (?) on the books yet 4 of our 6 league goals have been scored by defenders (!).
I sympathise with Will Still - as he hasn't found a workable formula yet, and some of his new signings are still getting to know one other, but now that "derby hoodoo" is over, it's getting back to "normal fixtures" and we need to see some good results PDQ - if we are to make a serious challenge for a quick return to the Prem. |
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Comment | Two Outcasts Return To the Southampton First Team Squad
at 16:01:53
YES - these two may have hoped for opportunities to move, but in the long term it may be a blessing in disguise, whilst we wait for the new recruits to "show up". Although Sam DAJFU and scored a few goals, he was not always first choice, and several times injuries robbed him of a regular run of games. Joe Aribo will be hoping to keep his place in the Nigerian squad prior to the World Cup, but he always put himself about whenever he got game time, and he will be a valuable asset on the bench in the event of injuries, or for a need to change formation.
Assuming we are challenging for promotion, (and our new players will deliver the goods), having these two in the squad will do no harm at all. After only 4 league games Will Still needs to look deeper at his various options, but we know what we have with these two.
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Comment | Does The M27 Derby Mean As Much To the Players As The Fans
at 11:53:52
Nick ..Your long diatribe (Ok go and look it up) covers most points of the history of these encounters, including that they were very few and far between covered almost a century. The fact that the geography dictates that this is a "derby".. seems only to fuel the bad feeling that seems to exists now, but it was not always so.
My late father was of a generation that recalled Billy "Farmer "Haines (a CF who played for both clubs in the 1920') and his adoration of the young Ted Drake in the early 30's before Ted went on to play for Arsenal and England. Dad also commented that often Saints fans would travel down to watch Portsmouth (twice title-winners in the late 1940's) in the post WW2 days when Saints were playing away and long travels were both difficult and costly.
The aforementioned Docks dispute between the two towns soured feelings in the 1950's and only worsened by those "on-field battling games" in the early 1960's. In retrospect I suspect that it was that generation of fans that has fueled the aggression that still seems apparent to both fanbases more than 50 years later.
Back then very few players were "local" and to my knowledge the only So'ton-born player to ever captain a Saints team for any period was Nick Holmes in the 1970's, (although we recall that over a longer period Winchester-born Terry Paine had that task in the 1960's).
Looking at the starting games so far, it was hard to find even half-a-dozen Saints players who were even born in England, let alone in Hampshire. With the latest signings we will likely see half the team more experienced playing on the Continent, and who couldn't find their way down the M27 armed with a compass and an OS map without the aid of a GPS.
Local derbies seem only important to " we locals", and (despite what they may have been told) for most of the current Saints players, it will be "just another match".
I sincerely hope that any form of violence (both on-and-off the pitch) will be avoided.
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Comment | Countdown To The Date With The Skates
at 17:05:49
Very few meetings between the clubs (as you noted Nick) but it's strange how the volume of aggression generated in both camps has seemingly covered several generations. The rather impolite name (given to Saints by Pompey fans) might date back to a 1950's Dock strike in Portsmouth, when stevedores from Soton were brought in to service the port's services which then upset the Pompey strikers.
A decade later.. in the early 1960's there was more violent reactions ON the pitch, with those notorious tussles between ..Saints' 5'7" winger Terry Paine and Pompey's 6' 4" LB Roy Lunnis which led to fisticuffs and red cards on more than one occasion with Paine never flinching when coming up against his burly ex-Marine opponent.
Another long pause in derby games, brought only bad memories and ill feeling that has sadly spilled over to both fan bases, but hopefully common sense will prevail remembering that these meetings should be about football - and not physical revenge. |
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Comment | West Bromwich Albion In Talks For Southampton Defender
at 15:39:08
Pity about this one, as Charlie seems a likeable type who can DAJFU on the pitch and will be missed on the training ground, but looking to the future is someone whose age is already against him, (but I may have to bite my tongue if he turns out to be another James Milner). |
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Comment | So What Deals Did Southampton Do On Transfer Deadline Day
at 15:34:31
Will Still continues to clear the decks of those (indirectly) responsible for the relegation and a few others who simply don't "fit the pattern" he has in mind. The oversize squad he had inherited were a combination of those who survived the "Ralph era" and the misfits who came afterwards, many of whom were panic buys from the bottom of the barrel.
A word for those who have left ..only Dibling and Fernandes were capable of demanding a decent fee, and the Board did well to pull in those deals as well as recouping much of the money originally spent on Sulemana. The loan-outs will lead to eventual departure next year, and any kind thoughts for them won't mask the fact that they are not potential Prem. material should we bounce back up this season. IF.. Ramsdale DAJFU for Newcastle, they might buy him next summer, otherwise he will return, as he is still " our player ".
As someone who follows all the Saints teams, I'm a little sad to see the departure of Dom Ballard for what I'm sure is a pittance, compared to his potential value but we may at least recoup some with the hefty "sell-on clause" mentioned when he moves up the leagues.
The new recruits all look lively and keen, but (in part) I agree with saintmark (above) in that I hoped for some key signings who don't seem to have appeared this time around.
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Comment | Southampton At Watford The Verdict
at 11:37:01
Both teams scored opportunist goals for 1-1, and two top-rated freekicks for their second.
Watford's usual line-up of 6 foot plus " muscle boys " who can brush aside "mere mortals" of a lesser stature. Jay Robinson already getting "special attention" from defenders, and some tackles are either ignored by refs. (who may give a cheap free-kick) when one or two would have deserved yellow so far this season. Jay will have to learn to put up with that.
I thought Azaz put on a good show considering he'd barely shaken hands with everyone in the dressing room. Good to see Archer in the goals, and we can be glad that Will didn't discard Fraser too quickly on first showing. Manning is beginning to show that he might just become " the new Prowsey ". An away point is always a good result.
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Comment | Southampton At Ipswich Town The Verdict
at 12:38:21
Aside from the obvious own-goal blunder, I thought we looked strongest in the first half.
Sadly the second period proved to be a mix of ill-mannered tackles and petty arguments, which the ref. decided to ignore and kept his yellow card count down to sensible numbers.
Who can fail to be impressed by Jay Robinson's apps. A handful of games last season, and he isn't afraid to take on defenders, shooting chances. Nicely-taken goal, too.
Fraser might have been an occasional bench candidate but he now he shows pace and made a nice assist for Robinson's goal. As others have pointed out (above) - we haven't found a secure backline yet, but with half-a-dozen to choose from it may take time, but it's interesting to note we haven't conceded a goal from open play yet, so maybe they aren't so bad ..for the start of the season ..only 44 games to go.
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Comment | Southampton At Ipswich Town The Preview
at 12:57:56
I'd go along with mgprobert (above). We need to see who scores amongst our striker force.
OK if we have 4 or 5 who can make double figures, or one who finds form and reaches 20+, but just now it's hard to see which combination we start with and how they work together.
On paper we are overloaded with defenders, but again..what combination will work best.
If we are anticipating Fernandes and / or Dibling to move then we need to find the balance in the new midfield set-up after the departures... and possible new arrivals.
It's still early season and hope we have a better picture before the end of the window...or ?
As both Ipswich and Leicester were "equally bad" as we were last season, those two clubs will set the marker for how we need to perform. Ipswich ?... One point at least. |
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Comment | Southampton At Northampton Town The Verdict
at 09:01:14
to Hythe Peer..... there may be a similarity in names, but my 1950's class teacher taught these names were loosely adapted from the old Roman place names; "South-home town" in this case "North home town" and there are several other places with a similar sounding translation... e.g. Littlehampton. ...
"Derby games" (no-one has been very convincing as to why they are so called)...are usually between clubs that are geographically close and have some decent history of fixtures.
Until 10 years ago .No-one would ever have called games v. Bournemouth.. a derby fixture.
Just look at the results and difference in League positions since then (!).
We played them regularly back in Div.3 South in the 1950's since Bournemouth twice avoided relegation from the Football League / bankruptcy in the intervening years and rarely ever got above League 1.
There are a dozen other league clubs who are geographically closer than... "No'ton" with whom we have had a longer history of games. Nowadays it's B'mouth and that other side to the east ..along the M27. |
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