gio1saints

I saw BBD do ONE good thing - score that goal v Lazio, but other than that every match he played for Saints I was perplexed. He came with a BIG reputation but did nothing. Played at left wing by RM in our style was a mistake - obviously - but all he did was literally try to compete for high balls and pass the ball backwards to any passes he received. Never took a player on. Never tried a shot. Never put in a through ball. Rarely put in a winning challenge in a fifty fifty. Just took up a position wide left on the field. We could have put a dustbin in there and it might have been just as effective - though it would have covered marginally less distance on the pitch with work rate ( what’s that?) than BBD. The ONLY good thing he did was find a cheating way to get the barcodes player sent off then laugh at the afters. Literally that is his highlights reel. Please buy him Sheff Utd! NB: He has NO pace no tricks and cannot dribble past his man neither can he outmuscle his defender nor win a header. He is not a shoot on sight selfish striker attacker but neither is he a selfless assist machine. And the only off the ball runs he makes are at start and end of the game entering field of play them back to the showers. He does not use his experience to talk and mentor others through the game and his example is precisely of what NOT to do. What IS a BBD? PS. I suppose that’s what you get for £35k pw. But seriously, £35k per week for doing nothing???? FFS!

Regarding Tyler : If I was him i don’t care what the fee is if it’s £150k pw I’m in. He will want the fee low as possible to facilitate the wages and longer contract. He’ll earn in one year what takes must of us a lifetime. Icing on the cake it’s a challenging for honours club but I think it’s probably a step too far in that situation. He’s more an ambitious mid table club in EPL or an Aston Villa than an Arsenal or Man City imo. Most likely would be a Spurs or Man Utd actually. He could be the new Cantona.

It’s called a straw man argument trousers and I’m rather surprised at you as a poster of some discretion and no small amount of calibre that you climbed off that fence of yours, got out the tweezers and extracted the biggest splinters, before making a rather elementary error in debate. There’s NO hardcore bunch on here saying anything like “ worship RM and venerate his unbeaten run”. You’ve created it to in order to knock it down. Classic straw man argument. I’m sure that is correct because I’m on the Board of the official Russell Fanboy society and can assure you that nobody in my group was calling that unbeaten run miraculous or world class or overegging adoration of the God-man Russell. His heroic moustache was enough! In any case We were too busy building shrines to his tactical excellence and chanting “ pass it backwards” for 80% of the time during prayers. For a Saints social media team starved of anything like good news for years I can understand them going a bit extra on it-can’t you? Even downgrading it to pretty good is a bit mean - but I’m on the side of Saint Russ of our Possessions so anything below a Good on his report card from that season I’m going to challenge - as is expected from those of us on the Board. 😂

This sour thinking on RM getting us out of the Championship - based on him failing in the EPL - really does not give him the credit for the promotion season he deserves. Many Championship clubs would be excited to have him next season. Whichever new Manager we pick, if they fail to get us promoted first time or even start to look like they won’t get us promoted - I’m worried our fans pent up frustration on our shit show EPL season will be funnelled onto the new guy very early doors. How Russell managed to turn around a poor start after that crap relegation, go on that run and ultimately get us up…well instead of revisionist sneering maybe Saints fans should just allow ourselves a smile. It was bloody great to win and dominate matches for once in our lives as Saints fans! Our Championship season was a success. Our EPL season a shit show. Let’s not confuse the two.

I think it’s clever from LCFC. Won’t be a more motivated manager in that league than him. RM will attempt to leverage the points deduction up into a massive club wide grudge. His team indeed the whole club, will start with this “unfair” handicap in their heads and he will use this and his player relationship skills in particular to turn that grudge into a fighting against the odds tight squad and team. He will then attempt to turn that tight team into a replica of his last championship team playing possession based football but with tweaks. I expect interesting times!

@Holmes_and_WatsonCouldn’t resist…. “One-dimensional” and “philosophy” overlap. Culturally, generationally and football tactically. Philosophy is a term of abuse on this and many fan forums but that’s largely ( though will be denied) because ( big generalisation coming up so please spare me the pitchforks) whatever the average football supporter does not understand, he instinctively hates. Guardiola plays a philosophy based football that is arguably quite close to one dimensional - if by that term you mean there’s only a plan A and just keep doing it til we breakthrough …RM tried copying. Guardiola wins -loved, RM loses- hated. It wasn’t the philosophy - it was the results - yet the term seems inextricably linked to negative sentiment - unless you win of course in which case it’s being a genius manager or have great players. Mourinho is at other end of the spectrum. There’s little “philosophy” and any winning tactic goes. His pragmatic football may be described as the opposite of philosophy football if you like ( though whisper it quietly and don’t tell the children but Pragmatism is ALSO a Philosophy) . It’s even been called “ anti-football”. Both approaches are, were, and will continue to be, successful. Football idealists and dreamers prefer the former, football realists tend towards the latter. Saints fans are a mixed batch and the sentiment slides up and down a scale. Currently the scale says many fans want pragmatic realism. It may be the right thing at this time. But it should not be the right thing ALL the time or else football will just become extinct and die. It must continually reinvent itself to survive and thrive - and without the dreamers idealists, and yes “philosophy ” there’s no creativity, no art, no beautiful game.

Angus Gunn on a free?

The other side of that argument is that I think about £40m for two top championship quality forwards is going to be the going rate. Think Borja and Sargent for example. Anything less and we are recruiting provably average players -who may not be good enough to get us up. Priority has to be get promoted -not develop some young new strikers who look a cheap bargain I feel. Think we been there done that with that ploy though it’s obviously a gamble. Don’t forget we find a cheapish new young forward and he does well it’s likely he leaves if we get promoted anyway..think delap for example who ( u usually) gave Ipswich an EPL season but could easily have left.

This is very true. 5 loan players might be the equivalent of spending £120m -£150m on the open market if Les’s Chelsea fee is anything to go by. IF Saints spend £40m,say, on two decent ( forwards please) players plus get 5 EPL loan quality players and a Manager with a pulse we’ve surely got ourselves a decent first team. Only problem with that is loans usually are at end of window.

Wade you’ve gone off on one haven’t you? The email you are referring to was one sent to all the players before start of season. And you’ve even misread it. The original email warned our players not to run ON the pitch. I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that this year despite all the criticism. Mateus nearly ruined it towards end of season and there was a patch mid season when they had to have a stern word with Tyler but, on the whole, Saints players have complied with the not running on the pitch instructions very well this year.

I think get a manager with a pulse, steal Sainz and Sargeant and get Shea back we are top six certainties. NB. Some people say that the mark of a genius is spotting the obvious before everybody else. I could not possibly comment. 😂

If Rohl has not made up his mind by midweek it’s not as simple as oh- don’t worry, Will Still will take the job. One has to bear in mind the career trajectory of these guys. For both Rohl and Still Saints are about the right and realistic level, imo, but they may feel that, especially for Rohl, that (another) season in the Championship is a bit meh. As is managing a team that’s so utterly shit that just got relegated into it for Still. We could well be in third fourth or even just some rando choice territory- much like how player recruitment has been for too long. Im beginning to feel that this lack of decisiveness once a target has been identified is endemic and a key infrastructure weakness at SR- and for SFC.

They won’t say it but the unspoken reason for some of the posters here disliking him is he’s less than half their age and ginger.

If it is Will Still I think that spells goodbye for Adam Lallana. He will look to be an assistant manager under a more experienced Manager elsewhere is my bet. Championship probably. As I understand it Stillcomes with a full package of coaches so it would be all new regime from Day one. One thing I’ve not seen is his approach to preseason training and the level of fitness in his teams - an obvious weak point this year at saints.

I certainly had a bit of trouble outside the ground on the way to the match by that bridge. Me and a mate got swarmed by a bunch of right geezers. I’d made the ( mistake in retrospect) decision to wear my cutaway jean jacket with saints crest on it hells angel style plus other saints badges ( it was considered football supporter edgy stylish /bovver trendy then, I know I know..) so I was a walking target. I thought “ it’s only Orient “ but yes, of course it was open season on saints fans that day and I’d put a target on my back. Naive or what! Or just stupid fearless youth I guess 🤣. As for West Ham Iirc have had interesting differences of opinion with them both in the Archers and at Upton Park. They are still one of my favourites though because as far as I’m concerned they are still a relatively authentic club, well most of the support is.

Think that was Orient away in the FA Cup following year. Was disgustingly literally packed like sardines you couldn’t move and underneath you the urine was flowing. We won though!

Possibly one of the few matches at which I felt a visceral anger that I can recall even to this day. I wasn’t on the pitch but desperately wanted to be - and only my being very mature very clever and sensible/law abiding and not drunk and obviously able to control my emotions from my position quite far back on the terracing, despite my impulsivity, stopped me joining in. 😉 Outside it was rather brutal as I recall..For you younger supporters who maybe don’t get why some older saints fans just cannot stand Everton…do some homework on it - 1984 is when it started -for me anyways.

Mateus has consistently been our best player, but celebrating any player award, in this season of terrible performances, seems wrong. Southampton FC supporters have been exceptional this season. So, instead of a player I’d give it to all Saints fans who watched Saints, home or away, especially the latter part of season when we were doomed. They have been excellent as the 12th man. At times the players did not deserve such support and our fans - good natured, loud and loyal, have been incredible. Saints supporters are the worthy recipients of Player of the Season.

I honestly do get this thing about Jack. I just think he’s getting slagged off a bit too much on here ~ he’s served suspensions, been dropped etc and been vilified relentlessly for getting sent off not giving a good account of himself and club as captain etc - but mostly for not being as good as other EPL CB’s. But, c’mon, Give it a rest time perhaps? Speak to him. Or speak with people who know him and speak with him. He is an honest pro, passionate about his role leading the Saints squad. What he allegedly lacks in technical skills nobody can deny he makes up for in heart. In an era where that’s regarded as irrelevant and players are interchangeable and disposable it’s surely refreshing to have a throwback “old school” player with “old school” values-like Jack, at Saints, certainly for long time supporters who can actually remember when Saints ALWAYS Had a player or two like JS in the team going back to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Incidentally and maybe coincidentally ( or not..) times when we were figuring higher up the league usually.

I think the above discussion shows how easily subject to manipulation the current FFP rules are. That’s not a great secret. FFP has locked-in the gains for the wealthy and locked out the rest, when what it should have done is create a more transparently fair playing field. Literally, if the EPL was boxing what happens is that Tyson Fury gets to fight Frank Bruno or Henry Cooper most weeks. Ie heavyweights in name and history only and no longer competitive.

Already did that a while back. 😎. It’s a bit closing the door after horse has bolted though. Timing and the decisive use of exclusive insight is critical. I think maybe the comms chains got too long. It’s entirely possible that by the time SMS becomes Land of the Giants that there’s a newer approach that renders that old hat. We need to be on the right (UP!) side of the cycle. It’s clear we have been on the wrong ( DOWN) side in last three years.

It might be if I can find a way to monetise that assessment. Otherwise, yes, it’s simply self congratulating - a concept, perhaps, you may be familiar with?

It’s no joke and Spors is widely known to favour such an approach. We should not be surprised to see the average height of the saints squad rise over the next twelve-eighteen months. Im tempted to work it out as of now and bookmark it to look again in 12-18mths. I’d bet it goes up. NB reason 12-18mths is because there will be a time lag between unloading shorter players and recruiting taller ones which may not be immediately evident - plus the possibility of promotion where it’s been widely seen that saints have lacked physicality v many/most other EPL teams and that’s been an influential factor. Height helps with that. So expect further string athletes recruitment if we get promoted as well. It’s NOT about being able to play football that’s the first thing we need to sort out at Saints. If we cannot compete physically, and EARN the right to play our football, we will get beat each week or struggle against allegedly inferior teams. I’m not saying I like it- but that’s what path I see saints going.

Nice spot and well described. My recollection is that in 2021/22 we - and many in the football biz - were still somewhat in awe of the mysterious “black room “ from whence undervalued players from all around the world came to improve us, and themselves, - then get sold at a profit. Today the “ black room” myth has been dispelled and it’s called data analysts and every club is doing it and doing it professionally. My current theory is we just maybe we were slightly ahead of the data learning curve before they all caught up-and started doing it themselves, and better. That relatively no competition exercise turned into the usual market dominated by the cleverest and the wealthiest. That’s not us ATM, btw 😁

Are you sure? Did Ryan get an 40% pay rise from our promotion? He joined when we were in the Championship and I thought it was on a free - but he got more bigger bucks weekly than if we had to pay a fee obviously. What if that means RF does not get a pay cut cos he was joined on a free? Might be one if not highest paid player in squad?