CamSaint

I thought though that one of Still's attributes was that he wasn't irrevocably wedded to one system? I'm sure he said in one or more interviews (no, can't remember which, so can't provide a link) that he was prepared to change systems during a match or from match to match depending on what he thought would give his team the best chance of winning. That's exactly what he did on Saturday with his substitutions, and it made a big difference. Having said that, he will obviously want to evolve a basic style of play, but until the squad takes its final shape at the end of the window and we hopefully acquire some creative options, I suspect that we might see quite a variation in personnel and formations that many won't be particularly happy with!

https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/saints-and-brighton-face-each-other-in-behind-closed-doors-training-exercise

Martin's goalkeeping coach was replaced in June by Rubén Martinez as part of Still's new coaching team (https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/new-additions-boost-stills-coaching-team) 'New to the club is Rubén Martínez, who joins as Goalkeeping Coach. The 48-year-old represented Barcelona’s B team in his playing days and later worked alongside Tito Vilanova as a coach. Martínez has since held coaching roles at Brighton and Watford, as well as Maccabi Tel Aviv, RB Salzburg, Saint-Étienne, Olympiacos, Celta Vigo and Stade Reims on the continent, all alongside Óscar García, before working with Still for a period at Reims. Martínez has also enjoyed success with the Spanish FA, helping Spain reach the final of the 2023 European Under-21 Championship and winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024 at the expense of the much-fancied host nation in the final.'

Ollie Wright has joined Accrington Stanley on a season-long loan.

It will be interesting to see if Edwards is included in the squad for Spain. Still mentioned in his interview yesterday that he and Fernandes were back and had done a couple of light training sessions. Also possible that Downes & Dibling may not travel if they are injured, which will set the rumour mill going!

Yep, training camp in Spain next week & playing Espanyol behind closed doors next Saturday.

Another RB?!!

One interesting comment (IMHO) from Still's interview was: "We're being hard on them, especially physically, which they're not used to, or weren't used to in the previous years. They've run a lot, we've worked incredibly hard and we're going to keep working incredibly hard." It reinforces what many people thought about fitness levels under RM, especially last season, and suggests that it is a key area that they are working on. Fitness levels at the start of pre-season are usually pretty low in general, but it sounds like there is a fair way to go to get to where Still wants them to be.

Who was the on-field captain in the 2nd half?

True, but Bazunu, Edozie, AA & BBD have also come back from their loans and we've since added Quarshie & Downs.

Also Big Les & Groenback

Fair enough, I didn't realise that. I thought that perhaps Burnley were being ruthless, as probably we should have been last year with AA, as stats-wise (I know, I know) Brownhill wasn't anywhere near as prolific in the PL in 23-24 when they got relegated.

I've seen Josh Brownhill mentioned on here before. Currently without a club having been released by Burnley. 18 goals and 6 assists in 42 Championship matches last season and 7 goals and 8 assists in 41 matches in the 22-23 season. Could he fit the midfielder profile we're supposedly still looking for? Obviously Burnley don't fancy him as a PL player, but bags of Championship experience (and end product). A 2 year contract might work (although in fairness, the last 2 year contract we offered to a player released by Burnley (Taylor) hasn't worked out very well).

I notice that Bryan Mbeumo joined Brentford (then in the Championship) in 2019 from French Ligue 2 side Troyes. He scored 15 goals in 42 league games for Brentford that year and one in the play-offs. I wonder what the reaction would be on here if Saints signed a striker from Ligue 2?

Thanks. As you say, it could be earlier as the Eastleigh friendly is July 12th.

Does anyone know when the players report back for pre-season training? That will be Still's first opportunity to look at the squad at first hand, which will presumably influence some of our transfer dealings. I assume those on international duty will come back later than the others.

My brother (who was a goalkeeper) played in a game featuring Ron, and those were exactly the words that he used!

His contract expires in 2026, so next season is absolutely pivotal for him. If his injury problems continue, he will be available on a free, presumably with not much prospect of getting another club. If he can stay (relatively) injury free and start scoring, he has a decent chance of continuing his career somewhere.

Taylor was on the bench for the Bournemouth game, although not used.

I have seen Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour in concert several times over the last 15 years or so. Perhaps the most memorable was at The O2 in 2011 when RW was doing his 'Wall' tour. When Comfortably Numb started the spotlight focused on the guitarist standing on the wall and after a few seconds, everyone realise that it was actually DG! The performance was quite extraordinary as you might expect, but even more so as no-one had the faintest idea that it was going to happen. DG only played that song, but it turned out that Nick Mason was also in the audience that night and RW called him up on stage when the band took their bow. Despite their mutual animosity, apparently Waters & Gilmour had agreed to do each other a favour for some reason (I've no idea what). If anyone likes the early (pre Dark Side of The Moon) Floyd material, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets are absolutely brilliant live - they include Guy Pratt & Gary Kemp.

No, his work permit had not come through yet so Rusk was still in charge. Rusk took the previous midweek cup game against Liverpool and the Fulham match. IJ's first match in charge was West Ham.

That was a brilliant night and a great atmosphere. Saints played some scintillating football.

Perhaps I should rephrase 'crown jewels' as 'assets of the highest potential sale value' for clarity.

This summer potentially could result in a massive reset. Firstly, we all know that the 'crown jewels' of Ramsdale, Fernandes, Dibling and THB are likely to be sold. Then Lumley, Lallana and KWP are out of contract, Les will return to Chelsea and possibly GronBaek will return to Rennes or go somewhere else. Perhaps the most interesting conundrum is that at the start of next season the following will only have 1 year left on their contracts: McCarthy, Bree, ABK, Stephens, Taylor, Aribo, Smallbone, SAA, Fraser, Ounachu & Stewart so what do we do with them? Do we try to offload them for as much as we can get in the summer (obviously we wouldn't get anything for Stewart), or do we offer contract extensions to some or do we let them all run their contracts down so we can make a fresh start in season 26-27, whatever division we're in? Who out of that lot would you want/try to keep for the Championship campaign?

Is Ballard injured or is there a chance he might be included in tomorrow's match day squad?