The third game of Saints pre season saw another double header, this time against sister Sport Republic club Valenciennes who sit in the third tier of French football, but it was not the comprehensive victory that Will Still was expecting at this stage of his preparation.

In the first game Saints started well, but on 17 minutes gave away possession in their own penalty area in a scene reminiscent of the worst days of Russell Martin's style of play and were punished for it to go 1-0 down.

On 47 minutes another fine finish from Cameron Archer who scored his 3rd goal of pre season to equalise and that is how the game ended.

Game 1
Saints: Ramsdale, Bree, Stephens (c), Wood, Manning, Charles, Downes (Sesay 36), Edozie, Fraser, Brereton Díaz, Archer.

Goal: Archer (47’).

On to the second game, it was all change in the starting line up and took an early lead through another great finish, this time by Adam Armstrong who swept home the rebound after Ross Stewart had his the post from a tight angle.

But this would prove to be the only goal of the hour long game, despite domination and some good chances it remained at 1-0.

Game 2
Saints: McCarthy, Sugawara, Kayi Sanda, Quarshie, Taylor (c), Welington, Aribo (Sesay 49), Smallbone, Armstrong, Stewart, Robinson (Dipepa 49).

Goal: Armstrong (12’).

Speaking to The Daily Echo Will Still had this to sa, feeling that this was more about getting his squad fit than the result.

"The players ran between eight and nine kilometres yesterday, which is not a normal thing to do the day before a game

"It's all about fitness levels. It's about grinding whatever result you can, even when being tired and the psychological effect of playing while under fatigue.

"I think we could see with some decisions and passes, they weren't quite what we expected, but it's good. It allows us to learn and show how important fitness levels are.

"Today was more about how to deal with the moments in games where you are fatigued. I think next week will be vital, spending so much time around the group."

He added: "We've got Ronnie (Edwards) back in the door, Matty (Fernandes) is back. We are getting a global idea of everyone, next week we will turn towards the competition.

"We will start talking about where we want to go with it all. These three weeks are all about fitness and getting players ready for that."

I do agree with what Will Still was saying, his pre season methods are a little different from those we have seen in previous seasons, more focused on fitness and getting the squad in tune with his methods than simply playing a few pre season friendlies.

He is right it is not about results, but he must still be disappointed with the players that he has to hand, that we are not being a little bit more clinical, not only our finishing but in possession.

However overall I think he will be quite happy with the first two weeks of pre season, he knows that the players need to be fit to be able to play the way he wants, something that was lacking under Russell Martin who seemed to think that if you keep the ball you don't need to be mega fit.

But a fit good player is better than a good player who isn't fit and as our fitness levels increase, performances will improve.

It appears that yesterday Still had trained his players hard the day before so that they would be more tired going into this game than usual, teaching them to play when fatigued and both muscle and brain is tired, this effects your decision making and the aim is to get you used to playing in this state and improve performances in the latter stages of games.

This is a type of training used by the elite marathon runners although I haven't heard of it being used by football clubs before and perhaps evidence of Still's reputation for being a forward thinking coach.

So the end verdict is that little is to be learned from the result of these two games, but a lot is found out about Still's way of doing things, so far I have been impressed, but he will know that his squad may well be far different at the moment than how it will look after the transfer window closes in early September.

That is his main problem, he has to prepare with what he has, but no one know at the moment knows who will go and more importantly who will arrive.

All Photos Via Reuters

Bowlercow added 09:28 - Jul 19 In these games next week I want Jack to make more gaffs like the one yesterday.It will perhaps show that he is no longer upto the required A few players not yet seen in Edwards,Fernandez Downs and THB I'm a bit disappointed not to have seen Ballard but I don't know if he is injured The ball appears to get to the front men quicker than we saw all last season which can only be good I didn't particularly rate Archer but he is certainly giving himself a chance at a starting spot

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kevleykeegle added 09:53 - Jul 19 What kind of fan wants a player from the team he supports to drew up so that he can be dropped?! How decked up is that.
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kevleykeegle added 09:56 - Jul 19 What kind of fan wants a player from the team he supports to screw up so that he can be dropped?! How fecked up is that.
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mumps added 10:11 - Jul 19 We still have 8 traditional centre backs in the team so with ABK, Beders and THB not included and offering the greatest sales value, can we assume they are not in Still’s plans? Also Bree and Taylor can cover in there if required. Plus although just paper talk we were linked with another young CB - Xavier Mbuyamba, although he would be low risk and one for the future.
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mushinexile added 10:20 - Jul 19 I am glad that Still is working hard on fitness levels. He has to. Players have in the past few years come to Southampton for a good skive, so it seems. Those who earn their money will improve and improve their value and that of the club so it is to be welcomed. It will also weed out the rubbish. I think Slack Jack is a waste of space but if he starts to be a useful player under Still, I would like to see it, wouldn't we all?

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WoolstonSaint2 added 10:59 - Jul 19 Poor quality so far, no different to last season.
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Colburn added 11:45 - Jul 19 All Still can really do at the moment is get every player fit, work out who is likely to be good enough to stay and who we will end up losing by September. The other thing he can do is blood the new players and the youngsters, although it only looks like 2 or 3 of them. Archer does look like the best finisher so I can see him getting over 20 goals if he stays fit. I think we’re better geared up for a 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 with the players we have so Archer and Downs could be the combo. We desperately need to get rid of about 10 players but obviously little interest in them..

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mascott514 added 21:36 - Jul 20 I am pleased to see fitness is the key driver at the moment. For too long Saints have looked sluggish and most can’t play 90 mins at full pace. It at all. The tactical stuff will get tweeked week by week but you can’t start the season looked jaded. Looking forward to seeing how we develop. Not worried about players. Plenty will be off in the window
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