Patches O Houlihan

Ruben wins the sack race

I noticed in the second half today that Azaz is quite tall... Maybe we could play 70/80s Dutch Total Football with the front six mixing it up 😁 Baz Roerslev/Jelert THB Jack Manning/Jelert Jander Downes/Matsuki Charles Fellows Azaz Scienza/Robinson Fraser, Arma and Archer miss out of course

He completely robbed Murphy a few times before he was even level with the edge of the area - didn't;t even get a chance to play a cross

Came on at 74' in the derby. Cool, calm, skilled. Robbed by the ref for a corner and also for the most ridiculous simulated foul. If we stay at 4-2-3-1 then Downes will be looking over his shoulder. There might be an argument for a 4-3-3 with Jander, Downes and Charles all playing. Might give us more control in the middle of the pitch.

What were literally my first words in that post!

Roerslav was not great offensively - but there seemed to be a good press on his side and not easy to thread balls to Fellows, Downes & Azaz at times. He looked pissed off that he had no options. Murphy got the better of him twice. But he beat Murphy well in defensive battles a few times too. We haven't had a FB that can defend that well since Bertrand left. It's just offensively that we see the massive difference between him and KWP. Maybe if Manning could play like KWP it would work - but he's not at that level. Would like to see what Jelert can bring.

* Fellows delivers some really quality crosses, but we couldn't get the ball to him or Azaz much at all in the first half. Better in the second. * If we're going to spend the first 70 minutes of games supplying quality raised crosses into the box for Fraser and Archer to be muscled out of it then it could be a long season. * Scienza has only played 15 mins, and already he is our Shithouse-in-Chief (also he wasn't happy about giving Manning that last free kick) * Jander - Smooth as silk. It won't take him long to work out some of the tricks common in the league. Downes has to be feeling the pressure already. * Some nice stuff from Charles but would have liked to seem him on the ball more in the first half. * There was some good 'body on the line' blocks from the defence which was nice to see. Not a perfect defensive performance, but better than some we have seen. * Interesting that in the last 4 minutes Jack & THB were playing attacking midfield, with Charles and Roerslav sweeping up at the back.

I've not watched Goztepe - but I'm imagining 10 outfield Ross Stewarts that dither on the ball, insist on wearing Tyler Dibling's miniature shin pads, and charge down every goal attempt with their face. Juan Larios plays in goal.

In the comments under the BBC article one fan suggested that SUFC were solid in 2nd place - but then lost their last 3 league games against bottom six opposition, when just one win would have given them the points to finish 2nd. Arrogance also mentioned.

But he was valued at £5.6m in the summer! How is that possible?!! 😉

Yes

Thank you for such a well written heartfelt post. Difficult to write I’m sure. But so powerful that I would be surprised if it isn’t read out by Captain Jack to the team on the morning of the game - which would no doubt please your dad immensely.

Must be tricky enough in your first language when you have a split personality like that 😉

Training First 11: McCarthy Mads THB Jack Jelert Jander Downes Fellows Fraser Scienza Archer or Stewart Match: Azaz in for Scienza to start and Fraser moves to left wing. Scienza comes on for Azaz or Fraser depending on who is more knackered. Charles comes on for Downes/Jander if one gets crocked/knackered. Whether Manning ousts Jelert depends on whether Jelert has been a rockstar in training for 2 weeks, but his experience of the team and Championship derbies might be helpful

With Charles away on international duty you'd think Jander will spend 2 weeks paired up with Flynn in midfield training, with Jack and THB behind them. Maybe that will be the core for the next one? Still says he does what he needs to do to win each match. Charles might be preferred but is away for the training period and the above could be a solid option.

It’s likely to be 4-2-3-1 which surely they all will have played at some point. Should all get at least two days to train at Saints on their return (except Downs) Away: Baz, Moody, Quashie, Manning, Charles, Azaz, Robinson, Downs Baz and Manning know how to play a back 4 with THB and Captain Jack. Roerslav will get a chance to practice. There’s a good argument for McCarthy to play this one. The absence of Azaz and Charles is annoying, but can’t be helped. I wouldn’t be starting Robinson in this one or Downs. So another way to look at it is that we have two weeks to prepare for the game with all the new boys and nearly all the starters…

Yes - see above

See above 😉

He won away 0-1 and played 87' in April 2023.

Maybe it's worth registering WS so we can sub him on 😉 Did Ruud Gullit ever sub himself on to take a free kick?

They are virtually the same height, but Tyler appears to have eaten more pies in the last year. May be a tad quicker too?

I haven't looked up Burnley Blackburn games Feel free to have a look Fraser didn't play for Newcastle against Sunderland and nor did Arma. Other big games: Aribo opened the scoring in the Europa League final which Rangers lost on penalties Bundesliga relegation playoff: Scienza was brought on as one of 3 half time subs to rescue the first leg when Heidenheim were 2-0 down and the subs changed the game to finish 2-2. He then scored a 95th minute goal to win the 2nd leg 2-1

I thought I would have a look at players in our squad who have played in significant derby games: McCarthy - kept a clean sheet at their place 0-4 (Stephens was on the bench, and was at the club for the 2011/12 matches but not in the squad) S. Charles - Lost 1-0 in both the Steel City derbies last season. Played 90' and 72'. Manning - played 90' in a 2-3 away win for Swansea at Cardiff 22/23, 90' in a 3-0 home win 21/22. Was injured for the other two derbies. Downes played 90' in both the 21/22 Welsh derbies winning 3-0 and 0-4. He also came on for the last 5' of a 3-0 away loss to Norwich in an Old Farm match. Fellows - Brought on as a sub for 23' as WBA lost 0-2 at home against Wolves, Jan 2024 in the FA Cup 4th round. Will have watched senior derbies as a junior. Azaz - lost both Middlesborough v Sunderland games last season 1-0 away and 2-3 at home. Played ~60' in each Stewart - Scored one as CF in the 2-0 home win over Middlesborough for Sunderland Jan 2023. Archer came on for 23' as a sub for Middleborough in the same game. Aribo - Old Firm: won 1-0 90' 2021, lost 3-0 away and 1-2 at home 90', also a draw (63') and an AET cup win (75') 2022. Jander & Quashie played each other in a derby last season: Nuremberg won at home 3-0 and Quashie went off injured for Gruether Furth on 41'. In the return fixture Jander played 90' in a 0-4 away win for Nuremberg. I don't think Arma or Fraser has played one. Maybe there's some more but that's plenty to be getting on with. >> "Worth adding in Jelert who has played in one of the fiercest of them all for Galatasaray v Fenerbahce, and several times for Copenhagen v Brondby." @Saint_Lambden

Whilst Jelert is a RB he has four seasons of experience playing on the left in ~30% of games according to Transfermarkt. Mads is very much right sided. I wonder if Jelert offers a little more going forward. RB - Mads is surely first choice for the skates. I'd need to see Jelert play compared to Manning - may be a little lightweight for this game; but may be technically and defensively better than Manning - and we now have proper creative forwards so don't need our FBs to bomb on quite so much