Dusic

Performance was good. Tactical approach was good. Effort and commitment was good. Only things that can be faulted are defending for the first goal and lack of clinical final ball/finishing. Unfortunately those are the difference makers.

U18s back from 3-1 down to win 6-4. Kami Doyle scoring twice to get Saints back in the game.

Given how firm Crocker was on the underachievement within the Academy both results wise and structurally it does make you wonder about Matt Hale's future at the club, given he is the Academy Manager and the standards seem to have slipped during his reign.

Also Ralph strong on Valery and Vokins - saying they have made no impact in the Championship or L1 so basically going to be extremely difficult for them to have a place at Saints next season. Overall between Ralph, Semmens and Crocker I really feel they get it and have a lot of trust in them to do the most they can within the obvious limits we have - which they seem to enjoy the challenge of.

I thought Crocker was very good on the Academy performance and was very clear that its not been run well and the players are largely not good enough, which is proven by the dreadful results and lack of anyone coming through of late. Will take time to resolve but he spoke about some of what is already planned and it didnt need much reading between the lines to know its had a big shake up with more to follow. Scouting and recruitment - being revamped Coaching - being revamped Attitudes and desire - needs to change. He made no excuses. Good to hear.

In many ways the best performance of rhe season given some of the questions asked about this team. Things I learned: - Salisu should start every game until the end of the season - Stephens isn't the best player but he talks a lot and we don't have many like that - Adams and Redmond put in a massive shift in the thankless task at the top of the pitch. - It only takes 3mins to raise an Ofcom complaint about Martin Tyler's comment about Che Adams...

Interesting in the sense that I am fairly sure Wallace was the journalist who wrote the briefed story about Ings wanting to play CL football and not wanting to sign a new contract until he had assessed his options. Clearly he doesn't want any suitors to be put off by suggestions this injury is any more than a minor one. Would suggest Wallace is the one to watch re Ings stories in the coming months.

I don't mean this in a disrespectful way whatsoever but boy was he lucky to sign a big contract in 2016. Before that he was probably earning a very low PL player wage but at the time of signing had just proven himself to be a highly rated asset so probably got a good deal. Given that he has likely known for a long time that his career at a high level was over I would assume he has been sensible with his cash and hopefully is well setup for whatever he wishes to do next. Good luck to him, he always came across as an intelligent and grounded lad.

Well that depends on the terms of any sell on fee, which I doubt you have seen. Usually the %s are not based on profit but on the sale amount. Of course, nobody knows in this case apart from those who need to.

Good man to take over? Jeez, you clearly haven't done a lot of research. https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2020/lille-president-gerard-lopez-on-the-brink-as-elliott-management-jp-morgan-come-calling/ Why do we always seem to be linked with the ones who have no money? Very damning thread on Da Grosa, extremely worrying that he granted a period of exclusivity and just shows Gao,like KL before, will sell to anyone if the price is right.

He was in the training pics from the weekend, so presumably he came off before he did any damage.

Fair enough, but you will struggle to find a player who would not put their own career as no1 priority, so whiost frustrating - absolutely - its ludicrous to apportion some kind of blame to Ings for doing so.

Twat? Do you like anyone involved at Saints?!

Given how long these deals take to actually complete it seems very unlikely that we will have new ownership in place in time for them to make any difference this summer, and probably not in the remainder of 2021. Shame.

The Athletic suggested Semmens as a ppssible replacement for Woodward at Man Utd, as part of a larger article about EW's situation. Not suprised as think he comes across very well, calm, credible and likeable. Hopefully we get a takeover to help him out. It says: Southampton’s Martin Semmens has impressed many at Premier League level throughout the pandemic and could be an option if United are looking to poach a chief executive from another club. While it is unclear whether he would want the job, he has been pursued by other top sides in the past. Paul Barber, chief executive at Brighton, is another name mentioned within the industry as capable of making the step up. He has worked at the FA and Tottenham and has developed a reputation as an elite administrator.

Really, really awful seasons at U18 and U23 level - the frequency of thrashings is madness. Surely will be wholesale changes of coaches and players in the summer.

A couple of good articles on him: https://www.ligue1.com/Articles/ONE-TO-WATCH/2021/03/19/one-to-watch-randal-kolo-muani-nantes https://targetscouting.com/2020/11/25/fc-nantes-match-report-vs-fc-metz-22-11-20/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

https://www.footmercato.net/a7369053773371682644-southampton-sattaque-a-randal-kolo-muani This would fit with the recent comments from Ralph re fees and The Athletic suggesting we want a young striker. One to watch maybe.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56662521 Nice interview. He has tended to make an impact in the big games (LC Semi vs Liverpool, Everton away under Hughes, Hudds away under Ralph, Pompey away, Bmth away QF) so hopefully he will continue that on Sunday.

If he wanted to go before then he will surely want to go even more now.

They were awful first 25mins vs Burnley and both poor for the whole game today. Obviously both good players but not a good partnership at the moment. A bit lightweight as a pairing (WBA noticeably outmuscled us multiple times) and whilst Diallo is mobile he ends up leaving big holes in front of the CBs, where Romeu tends to stay in position more. JWP just looks knackered which is not suprising. I'm sure they will work it out but beyond the expected hysterics from a poor performance I think this area is a tangible reason. Its seems very easy to get at our back four. Obviously Jankowitz must be off in the summer otherwise he would surely have been used from the bench recently.

In fairness, Brighton have invested a lot of cash in their U23s and had Karbownik and Moises Caicedo playing whereas ours was almost an U18 side.

Ralph seemed to suggest South America might be a future option but that at the moment we don't have a good scouting presence there, so I don't expect anything soon. UK market below PL will surely be a focus area.

Embargoed section of Ralph presser quite interesting. Seems confident on transfers and said the backup players haven't been good enough this season and it has really hurt us, specifically mentioning full back. Confirmed that we are looking around the £10m mark and aren't going to be buying players for £20-30m. Refefenced Diallo and Salisu as good buys around that price and that there are good talents available that we can afford and develop. Said Brexit driven work permit issues are frustrating as if you find good cheap talents its almost like they are considered not worthy of a WP because they are cheap. But other markets are more open to us. Suggested we dont need to sell key players to buy as have others who will generate cash to lower clubs. Overall it sounds like he has been promised a decent amount of activity.

Vestergaard has improved more than anyone I think. JWP always had technical ability but hadnt got the physicality or a clear position. Romeu has been up and down but good when settled in the side. Vestergaard was previously a liability in our defence, a weak link amongst a poor back four. He now looks not just competent but quality. A massive turnaround. Fair play to him and also to Ralph for coaxing that level out of him as I don't think any fans thought he had it in him. Bednarek I think is more limited technically, but is durable, available and tends to do the basics well. He has also been a very good signing from Reed at £5m.