gio1saints

You would have thought so - but there are examples of a Club Captain not being an automatic starter. Or indeed not making the first team much after being displaced. FWIW I’d make him Captain if he was playing - but I don’t think he will play as much as some think - my on pitch Captain in his absence would be AR - if he’s still here. I did not rate FD or AA or JB as Captains so as an alternate ~ and proviso is it’s someone who will def be playing if fit ~ I’d make MF - if it helps him stay another season with us - the captain. He would be a Lead by example captain rather than a shouty shouty. No shortage of energy running and skill or fight in him. Voice possibly only downside. But if he can play and skip as well as his compatriot at Man Utd does…

FWIW to those bemused at JS contract extension. 1. Club Captain for a reason. 2. Experienced academy product and a winner at this level. Shows you can make it through the Academy. 3. When he last renewed his wage was c £35kpw. I’m not certain if that included the relegation cut clause - but if not it means he would be on 40%-50% of that in this last year ie c£14k-£17.5kpw. 4. He (or his agent) negotiated a three year contract NOT got given and I’m certain with his age, experience etc he would be looking for at least that £14-£17.5kpw figure. If not more. How much more? (5) Otherwise-he gets a free transfer to practically any other Championship Club for a likely same or bigger wage plus a sign on bonus. (6) Try recruiting someone with his age credentials experience know how etc and pay them to baby sit a load of young players -plus be captain - it’s not easy it’s not cheap it takes time and oh btw probably a transfer fee is involved and higher wages.The only player close is Jan- and he’s leaving. (7) Bin JS anyway cos he’s rubbish? Why? Cutting out nose to spite our face He is Someone who, if THB stays if Wood stays Quarshie RE and Sanda turn out good will prob be on the bench all season? And be a happy team player. You just will not get find or get that package all that easy. Keeping JS in context was a very easy decision for Still and Spors. Get promoted he may even be sold at a profit for those of you still on the ££ issue.

Dont forget We’ve still got our potential MLT / Gascoigne at the club. I’d give him the #10 shirt. If he stays that is( Tyler). Don’t reckon him as a RW or a LW cutting in - but as an attacking MF -8 or 10 he could become ridiculous. With right coaching and support he’s the best we have.

Nicely put together analysis @SaintJackoInHurworth. 🙌. I found that really helpful in thinking about who may or may not be on the plane so to speak. FWIW : (1) Could Aaron (strategically) stay at Staplewood? Big clue if he does. (2) I think THB, RE, JB and MF may stay at Staplewood for (also strategically revealing) “fitness testing” purposes. Putting them into match situations overseas when he’s not had a proper fitness evaluation of them is a nice plausible deniability cover story. But it also suggests sellability. BK - surely not! (3) For that reason I think Quarshie and Sanda travel. (4) The experienced utility defender evaluation of CharlieTaylor by WS seems to be high - or is he being fluffed up publicly to be sold? That he was babysitting two kids at CB last match was relevant. (5) Trying RF as a kind of #10 was interesting. With Matsuki injured and still an unknown IMO it’s got to be TD and MF for that kind of task - so RF is a very distant third. Unless the latter two are being sold - hence let’s see what RF can do..can def see a purchase in this position as I feel JA -the next obvious one is gonna be sold despite his capabilities. (6) Has to take JR! (7) who he takes or leaves out of the rest of the attack will mean end of saints careers possibly. A shock is possible imo.

Not taking a young player like Tyler on the Spain trip is a massive message. He would/should be desperate to go. Even if he’s not fit I’m taking Tyler to Spain if i was Manager. Leaving him at home sends a “ i dont care” message about him and I’d rather Still did NOT give him that message. Even if he is likely to be sold take him to Spain is my view.

Still is basically saying those not selected for Spain are offski. Much of the speculation will be resolved in next 48 hours then I guess. Anyone else caught that part where Still mentions it was interesting to see who went into there own little islands under pressure? Who do you think he meant? It could be the kids but I’ve got my suspicions it might include BBD and SE - but frankly it could include AA and CA and RS - the whole front line seems to go missing under pressure.

Rangers will be ok whoever the manager is. But my personal view is that they may well sack RM by Xmas if he’s not started well! They are not a project or a potential team - they are RANGERS and Rangers fans are not Saints fans… The level of opposition and the quality of their squad vs the rest means he’s got a similar situation to when he took Saints up in his hands. He should do ok given enough time - but in this case though it’s certain Rangers fans will only want the title-runners up won’t do- so if they drop cheap points early doors and lose a derby his job is in jeopardy. I’d make him favourite for first sacking in Scotland myself.

He is not the best CB in the league. - but depends on who you are comparing him too. For the Championship he is plenty good enough imo. And as third or fourth choice he’s excellent. ✅ Summary — Championship Centre‑Backs 2025–26 Who is better than JS out if these : Birmingham City: Marc Roberts, Nico Gordon Blackburn Rovers: Scott Wharton, Dominic Hyam, Ashley Phillips Blackpool: Marvin Ekpiteta, Andy Lyons Bristol City: Tomas Kalas Derby County: Matthew Clarke, Curtis Nelson, Callum Elder Ipswich Town: Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess, Jacob Greaves, Elkan Baggott Leeds United: Diego Llorente, Pascal Struijk, Max Wober Leicester City: Wout Faes, Conor Coady, Caleb Okoli, Harry Souttar, Jannik Vestergaard, Ben Nelson Middlesbrough: George Edmundson Millwall: Jake Cooper, Japhet Tanganga Norwich City: José Córdoba, Shane Duffy, Ruairi McConville, Kellen Fisher Oxford United: Michal Helik Preston North End: Jack Whatmough, Jordan Storey, Lewis Gibson, Matthew Olosunde Queens Park Rangers: Liam Morrison, Jimmy Dunne, Jake Clarke‑Salter Rotherham United: Richard Wood Sheffield United: Anel Ahmedhodžić Sheffield Wednesday: Ben Heneghan, Jaden Brown Stoke City: Aden Flint, Morgan Fox West Bromwich Albion: Kyle Bartley, Torbjørn Heggem, Nat Phillips, Caleb Taylor, George Campbell Wigan Athletic: Steven Caulker, Tendayi Darikwa, Joe Bennett, Ryan Nyambe

Well it’s NOT always him but I totally agree with the sentiment. Horizontal passes across your own penalty area and especially in between the goals are a NO-NO in the Gio book of how to play football. But they still happen. God even the World Club Champions think it’s a good idea! Good players can pass the ball and retain possession. But not 100% of the time. Every rondo they practice in training eventually breaks down. This modern obsession with rondo style football- in your own penalty area / own six yard box sometimes - is just some kind of crazy mind virus. No fan likes it and as for the players- is it a machismo thing ? Is it trying to turn football into a bungee jump or a parachute dive for the sake of it? Can we score from our own six yard box by showing how clever we are at keeping possession? Does outwitting the CF in your own six yard box directly lead to plentiful goals? No it does not. Being clever in the opposition half and solid in defence leads to goals. Try telling that to kids today and they won’t believe you( with acknowledgements to Monty Python). 😁

Excellent work @Whitey Grandad. Those quotes are still true today! I was/am a big fan. “I understand that if I am not completely satisfied then I have been had"- said every Season ticket holder at SMS last season! It was the best social commentary /satire disguised as a comic book ever published imo. Certainly well ahead of its time and following in the footsteps of people like Swift etc. More contemporary is Hislops Private Eye but that does not present its messaging as well as MAD did and VIZ on the more comic side was /is a very blunt instrument. Maybe that’s what I enjoy about this saintsweb forum. Occasionally, some of the posts here are brilliant social commentary disguised as Southampton football club chit chat. Occasionally. 🥰

The Athletic did a nice article today on the six different types of running fitness tests most commonly used by teams. None were 8 or 9km so does not sound like a structured fitness test kind of run. And, frankly, running 8-9km for a pro footballer should be a walk in the park ( it probably was with RM but that’s another story) a warm down. TBH I did not like to hear it after the relatively bad performance v tier 3 VFC. It sounded like a convenient excuse, nicely lined up. I want to buy the idea of our players playing in “ exhaustion” territory like never before - but running 8k thursday befire without explaining context is not that.

@Holmes_and_Watson did you ever read editions of a magazine /comic entitled “ MAD” by any chance? Or even contribute to it writing for them? Probably back in the seventies? Your dry, occasionally disturbing humour reminds of that style. You have a knack of making even the banal sound, well, mad, and it’s usually well constructed comedy prose as well ( as long as you don’t mention the footballing stuff, nobody can make that funny). Unlike some who I shall not mention by name you are obviously made of superior humoured mental mettle. Think it’d be called dry humour sometimes verging on the side of sick occasionally the weird or tangentially mental but often very accurate in a cruel to be kind of way. Please do carry on posting. Think it’s worth the £5 just to read some of your stuff. But then there are others who are worth the entrance money also I hasten to add. @trousers is one - I always enjoy reading his nice pieces and seeing him agreeing with everyone on everything makes me believe that World Peace is, truly, possible. 🙏

I like his softly spoken voice for the interviews. He appears modest, self effacing and the opposite of brash or arrogant. Think it’s a refreshing alternative to the cult of Russell. I suspect that the softly spoken does not extend to if players do not play like they been shown however. I would like to see him angry! So far, not heard of any player issues but I think an important milestone will come after he’s selected a few squads some starting 11’s and maybe we start to hear from a few disgruntled not playing players unhappy with bench life. Or even stands. How he deals with that be a good test for him. I think RM managed that very well last time in Championship with his good interpersonal skills. I’ve got a feeling there’s going to be a prominent example made - which will leave squad in no doubt that what he says is how it’s going to be and they can either get with the programme-or be outsourced. Hope so anyway. It’s always helpful at start of new management job to sack someone senior. Everybody usually bucks up thereafter and stop trying to see how much they can get away with and how longs the leash. 😎

You have def misunderstood me. You quite literally gave a statement of fact in your previous post. “ it strikes me that could conceding 60 goals is a statement of fact”. I agreed. My point was that fact - plus other golden nuggets from others like “unbeaten runs “ and getting promotion are just being collapsed together into one bin called “rubbish” when that is not so. My agreeing with your opinion should not offend -if anything I’m reinforcing you.😍

I don’t disagree. Facts are facts. But how the fact of that “unbeaten run” and promotion first time of asking after a miserable relegation the year before has been converted into something to ridicule the club and RM - and some of his players over - is something I struggle to understand. We’ve had two terrible years interleaved with a year in which we actually played some great football and won a bunch of games. But it’s like it’s been airbrushed out of our history because of the anger of how bad we were the two years before and after. A bit of perspective. And @trousers yeah being pragmatic is not the same as by default continuing to support glass half empty posts. Just a gentle idea but try thinking for yourself instead of selecting what you think will be the most popular line. You are perfectly capable of doing so when your need to be popular ( and my goodness you certainly ARE v popular ) urges have not overtaken you. 🤣

Classic English putting people down attitude very prevalent here unfortunately. I don’t know what’s better - conceding 60 goals and getting promoted or conceding 60 and not getting promoted. Better still going on a record unbeaten run and promoted or not going on a record breaking run and not promoted? The glass for many Saints fans seems often to be half empty. Instead of being so God- awful miserable and looking for scapegoats most or all the time you do know you can choose NOT to look on the dark side for once? Choose NOT to revel in the cynicism like pigs in shit? Amazing things can start to happen. You become more grateful for ever smaller things in life. You can become happier and at ease, less restless and permanent-angry. Saints results even player performances don’t even matter so much after a while - you enjoy a sense of community with no expectations. You can decide now : This season I will enjoy watching the team! Just repeat five times daily morning and night and should all be fixed in a month or two.

My observation is that we have obviously been practicing the under lap ( as opposed to the over-lap) in which a runner moves into a space somewhere between the ball holding wide player and the near post edge of the penalty area - something we’ve done in the past but not all that regularly last year. From what I saw v Eastleigh and from the limited excerpts of Gillingham it’s happened a lot more often than statistical chance. It’s a planned move alright. BBD -for all his deficiencies in my book- does have the football nous and technique for this - as the wide guy giving the pass that is -not as the runner - JR could have passed the ball many times for wellington who made countless ( fruitless) underlapping runs - but ultimately he managed something adjacent to it with his ball for CA to score for instance. On the other wing first half AA was not really supported enough by bree to do that nor was RS making the right runs( nor is he frankly the right player to make that run) whereas SE working with TD second half we saw multiple examples of under lapping passing. Causing problems in penalty area. Yep. It’s a thing. IF that’s Wills plan then the wide player is essentially a decoy and it’s the full back or wider mf needs to have leg speed and a decent left foot/right foot to either shoot or pass to the feet of our knows where to be incoming forward.

Compared to his teammates he still is upper quartile though - low bar perhaps ~ and probably reflective of a weakness we all suspect throughout the team - below par athleticism. Which Spors seems to have prioritised resolving.

IF Tyler is valued at >£30M by Saints then he is right to want to be paid at or close to the going rate for that kind of player. The “ going rate” salary ahead of that transfer fee being banked though, would have to take into account he’s done fuck all so far except show glimpses of high potential in some EPL matches. And he is v young with NO track record or medals/experience to back him up. All he’s done is get relegated.m and played u21 football. Given all that he still believe it’s in Saints interests that he be offered at least the median rate in the squad if not upper quartile. If he is still on £5k pw it would be right to add a zero ( to £50k pw) and extend his contract 3 years - imo. He can still leave next year if he’s good enough and wants to and if so we’d get more ££ ~ and he’d be a better player for it. Be the right solution all around I’d hope. Leaving now before season starts - bit of a sickener really.

Low bar but you are right. Above average performer in our EPL squad I’d say last year. And, considering his baseline ( and many fans expectations of him) it would be not be unreasonable to say he had a fair to good season- all in context and with that caveat of course - before all you mr Disappointed from Totton tell me how rubbish he is. For his limitations he played well. Compared to others with whom we had a higher expectation of performance he essentially did better. THB good example. Ditto Flynn.Ditto Adam. 😁

Will Smallbone seems a quiet unassuming good guy and not short of grey matter I’d hope. So I find it, almost, inexplicable, that he has not either been told or worked it out for himself what he might need to do to maintain at least a horizontal trajectory in his professional career for the next few years. As @Gloucester Saint said above He needs to improve his physicality. It’s quite literally his livelihood at 🥩. Why? Multiple factors : As a Midfielder he will not win most of his headers in this league - sure he’s not 6ft3 but it’s mainly, imo, because his explosive energy is limited ( relative to other pro athletes in his position not civilians) by the capacity of his musculature. And his timing for approaching those impacts sucks, again all imo. And it’s arguable this in turn has preconditioned him mentally to accept he will come off second best in aerial combat. Similar to his general tackling ability. He often cannot muscle players off the ball because, imo, he lacks the explosive pace to get into the right position to shield it ~ nor the mass to bounce players off him (see Tyler). And in a straight shoulder to shoulder he almost always comes second. IMO he is (currently) mentally preconditioned to accept in one on one tussles he majorly loses. He has to rely on timing -and he’s just not nippy enough for that way of doing it ( see Kante). What he does have is a good engine for middle and long distance running. Good visual awareness and propensity to run. We’ve seen him arrive late edge of box and slot in goals so we know he CAN score. He’s a not as good JWP as @Gloucester Saint also noted. IF he’s going to play in Will Stills team it’s only if Flynn is injured because Flynn is better than him. Playing him AND Flynn is not going to deliver the kind of powerhouse football we’re expecting. Or only if the rest of the team have mega characteristics that compensate. But frankly a player that can do all the things Will can do PLUS physicality is an obvious upgrade for Stills team imo. He will be a v good squad player but not starting-if he stays at Saints imo.

Yes you are right. I got carried away by us having a big CB who looks like he might enjoy mangling forwards. 😋

My selective players report : AM : nothing to do except dive over the cross for their goal.. GB : Ditto. Still popular with support though. Taylor, Stephens, Bree, Fraser, RS and Will :forgettable nothingness. BBD, SC, Sanda and AA : best of rhe meh lot first half. Best player : Shea. Classy and looks the part. Second half : Downes: looks a class act at Nat League level 🤣. JR: a ray of sunshine that graced the day and made the £15 worth it. Tyler : Class obvious. combined well on rh flank with SE. A difference maker. We shall see. SE : lost weight. Still got tricks still got flair still no end product and looks like has got half a yard extra pace or was his opponent just a Nat league defender? CA: took goal well. Ran around a lot. Usual Cam except the goal scored thing. Wish I could see some personality in this player 🙁. Wellington : cool dude and decent player with skills. LB this year imo.Matsuki - nothing much. Wood : did ok but rarely troubled. Yuki same. Quarshie : lovely lovely lovely big man bullying the opponents! At last. And can run and can pass and can header! Must start. Overall : Quarshie, JR and Tyler stood out.

BBD was playing on Stills side of the pitch so he was obviously under closest eye scrutiny 1st half. IMO He did what he did v Lazio last year except didn’t score. Did some movements that showed he’s experienced but I personally question whether he’s willing to bust a gut for us. No real pace and cannot beat a man. Competes in the air. Showed he is better than national league full backs -just - but Teddy Sheringham he ain’t. JR was pitched up against a triallist 2nd half and yes he had him on toast with a cup of tea - though I did notice Wellington gave him some evils a few times having made at least half dozen overlapping/underlapping runs and only getting one average pass out of it for his efforts. Did make JR look even better though so as exciting as JR was to watch give credit to wellington and bearin mind the oppo was a kid younger than him I think!

You know what? I’d love a job on £100k pw like AR just to cop over a few crosses for the goalies from the sidelines pre match as he’s doing.Trousering £100k and all he has to do is knock a few crosses in for AM to catch. Must be up there with easiest ways to earn £100k. Think it’s about £15k per cross. Nice. WP sir.