gio1saints

So so many upset saying Saints are boring predictable and worst of all - being unbeaten! Damn Martin and his boring predictable unbeaten football! My view is I will take boring predictable unbeaten 13 matches in a row 100/100 times thank you very much. I’m not used to seeing saints do this - only in my dreams do we go unbeaten every week. We Draw when we play bad, we win when we play ok and we’ve not even hit top gear and our attackers apart from AA cannot score. God knows if we could actually score and these missed shots went in where we’d be!! Yet it’s not good enough apparently. There’s even an argument if only we could lose and get “galvanised” - didn’t we have enough of being “galvanised” every week last season??? I would rather be Saints this season than the other teams (bar a couple) who have spent most of their matches against us with a deep back line playing anti-football hoping for breakaways and set pieces. A 13 match run in which we have often not played our best yet remain unbeaten is a bloody good sign of things to come. Used to be a sign of a good team. Here, and this bemuses me, it’s a badge of shame - for some.

Eight shots so far in 35 mins. Be fair.

In the net for saints…disallowed. We are being aggressive and attacking . AA just cut in and had shot saved.

Keep scrolling right to the bottom. It’s there alright on NOW.

We can only dream that our passing style is reminiscent of Man City’s - the best team in England last five years and current best in Europe. It took Pep Guardiola, billions of Arabian pounds and six years to get to their current footballing dominance. If Saints are even close to replicating elements of that style without the billions and without Pep and measuring progress after 5 months not 5 years we can count ourselves as doing very well. The unbeaten run IS relevant. It shows that there is some kind of core resilience and aversion to defeat going on that’s starting to become innate. Let’s face it- last season we often played like a team of plucky losers. Not this year. I don’t care for comparison to amazing out -performers Ipswich and Leicester City - good luck to them - but they are not my team. If it seems Saints are becoming incredibly hard to beat week in week out - regardless of opponent - instead of pushovers once first goal goes in- well that’s what I call good progress. If it’s enough to get out of this league we shall see, but being incredibly hard to defeat is definitely a good first step after years of NOT being hard to beat.

I think we can do it. Sure it looks tough and improbable from where we are now but I’m not giving up hope that automatic promotion is possible and hope neither do our supporters and players. Our away support is magnificent and really helping the team on tough trips. If our home support can keep to that level ( and not give up depressed because it’s impossible we’re doomed to fail etc) then SMS can be our fortress ( for , like, the first time ever.) Despite the gloominess I think there are MANY positives about SFC. Years of being EPL whipping boys gradually starting to fade and a tiny little bit of self confidence in ourselves club players and support starting to re-emerge. Long may that continue! COYS😇

Chelsea have spent half a billion and are still rubbish. By that measure how much would Saints have to spend if we went up?🥺 How much do you want your match ticket or ST renewal to be a better question imo. The teams that essentially “spend” the most dominate the league. Occasionally outliers can disrupt that monopoly- but not consistently. I’d prefer Saints not bankrupt itself trying to keep up with Arabian financed clubs. It’s not a level Playing field and never will be - not even with wage caps and draft picks US style. Unlike me to be pessimistic but probably the Best chance Saints will have of being English champions is in ten years time when the European super league has begun and all the best players already play in Saudi…

Fucking nonentity cunt austsaint. Try saying that to my face in person you spineless piece of cyber warrior shit.

I’m not travelling to Watford but am just about to collect my wife from LHR after trip to Serbia using M3 so will report if it’s a travel mess. Good luck and safe driving all Saints fans! Score prediction: 1-3 Saints COYS!😇

At age 60 I think I just got called got called a nerd! 😂😂😂😅 I’m still surprised when posters start attacking the man rather than the argument. In logic talk it’s called an ad hominem attack. Stats have a place in the game, I’m not a massive fan of them and the way tech has overwhelmed footie - you only have to read what I wrote to see that ( but I forgot most cant be bothered with that) but it is what it is. Ergo: I must be a spreadsheet loving nerd. 😳 Ion : Trying to have a somewhat intelligent conversation on here sometimes is like stabbing oneself in the eye. It’s really not a good idea. But I know there are some - a quiet minority or majority who knows- that appreciate a more informed and nuanced discussion than just the usual “ Manning is shit” or “ legohead is a prick” kind of conversation taken as not out of the norm only a few weeks back. Ah well.

Im not sure what you mean by “unreliable” -most of the data is readily accessible on the internet and comprises simple (as much as possible) objective measurements. Such as : How many forward passes did Saints attempt, how many were successful. That kind of thing. It’s not really a question of reliability unless the tracker and the analyst is bias or asleep during the match. How people - especially coaches, managers and players and now TV USE this mine of new hitherto unknown information is a different subject altogether. I think thats probably where most people’s antipathy probably lies ( dare I say VAR?) rather than in the tech itself. Incidentally if you ( like me) fondly recall days of yore before Expected goals and so on became the norm, measurements have always been involved- Even MLT had to step on a weighing scale you know. 😂

I think I know where you are coming from as this does sound rather like some modern football trends are not to your liking. A lot of people would agree with that including myself. Much of modern football makes me sick. I really really hate it. I am surprised though that you found the facts that contextualise what the OP said on our goalscoring ability bothersome. It was just ( I had hoped) helpful info to the original point Football analytics have always been around. And I do not and would not ever claim they are the be all and end all of a game either. Players are not computer programmes basically, thank goodness! However the kind of stats that you find bothersome CAN be helpful - and are just one way, of many, to assess a match or performance. You certainly must be aware Saints measure the heart rates of their players or km covered, top speed, position taken up on the pitch etc as a guide to their fitness/recovery/ability? They wear sophisticated GPS type trackers constantly And what’s more the date generated significantly informs the starting 11 every week as much - if not more than sometimes - RM saying “ I fancy James Bree this week at LB”. If we want football to stop measuring stuff I think it’s too late.

It is a concern but in a nutshell its why we bought RS. One can only surmise what the figure might have been if he had actually played any matches to date but the intention was clear - he was recruited to rectify the problem. Despite AA over performing to an extent this season I think that ( aside from learning russball) the relative absence of goals from our other more forward type players ( CA, KS and Charlie in particular) has been a key factor. A good number of chances are being created but not enough are going in, as you point out. Hopefully that will change. Or AA will have to start scoring two or three every match!😇

According to OPTA we are 4th for SCA ( Shot Creating Actions) per 90 minutes with c 27.5, that’s after 19 matches. Top are Ipswich with c 30 then Sunderland and Leeds. We are ahead of LCFC on this metric. I personally think we are good enough to be top of this metric in this league but, and this is just a guess, we’ve taken time to “ learn” the russball system and this is reflected in our current placing. Earlier in season our build up play was collectively much slower and less SCA helpful as was our midfield passing. These obviously all contribute to the SCA scoring. We have been able to go through the gears a bit faster of late though so I suspect for the last half of the season we will be ( much, hopefully!) higher than 4th for instance.

A lot of people pouring cold water on any thoughts that AA may be able to bring this current form, playing in this current team style, into the EPL if we are promoted next season. I could list the logical fallacies at play here but only one suffices for now: 1. You were rubbish in EPL before so you will forever be rubbish at EPL. This is plainly absurd. Everybody knows how bad we were last year but that does not necessarily mean if we get promoted this season he and we will be that bad again. One has to look at the overall context - so writing him off as just a championship striker using that argument is tenuous to put it mildly. Saints are playing in a completely new way and he has got an integral role in that new style. Wether that style and his ability/role will be good enough in the EPL is a subject for debate- not him being written off already as some appear to be doing.

AA in his current form is possibly the most tenacious small stature saints forward we've had since the days of Steve Moran and Kevin Keegan. I’ve read the entire thread and it’s clear there’s a view that because he was mostly anonymous for his time in the EPL that he has that hanging over him until and unless he does actually replicate this kind of current form versus the big boys. His form does behove very well however and if the league 2nd highest goalscorer is not good enough for the EPL then by that yardstick none of the others behind him are. I personally think he is absolutely making the most of his capabilities - we have other players with more promise more potential, perhaps, but they do not follow through with goals and consistent performances. AA, no disrespect to him, may have more limited technical and physical skills but he maxes them out every single week for saints currently. I’d add that the responsibility of being Captain has added vim into his legs and as far as “ heart” is concerned he’s got it in abundance. He is prepared to sacrifice himself all night long for the team Great guy to have as our leader. And fair play to RM too for seeing that quality in him as I for sure did not think that this Adam Armstrong existed at start of season. Top man.

Not much controversy in saying his performances have not been as good as even he would probably own up to - up until recently. His defensive work as a full back judged vocally by supporters from the stands as inadequate - too often too far away from his player to stop crosses, shots, important passes. He was part of the group involved in being dispossessed in our own goal area and conceding needless goals early doors. The defensive group that every time a set piece came into our area it was chaos and we looked likely to concede. And his offensive work was largely ineffective. The tale that he was Russell’s favourite and that’s why he was picked became established and his name elicited groans not cheers when he was recalled to starting line up recently. Fast forward to last week and the return of Ryan as starting left back. I think, one obvious misplaced pass hiccup aside, that he has has had two decent matches in a row, indeed his last match was excellent. So what’s changed? Here’s my opinion. Yours will differ no doubt. 1. Team have got more capable in the possession based system. Movements on and off the ball enabling that to be done successfully hitherto having to be “remembered” from training ground are starting to become instinctive in players, and crucially, milliseconds faster. 2. Ryan Manning was often supported in his defensive duties LH side by Sam Edozie and latterly Kameldeen Sulemana. Those two are our most mercurial talents (and Amo) but without disrespecting them, they have also not quite “got” the out-of-possession side of their jobs - yet. We may never know in that period wether RM told him to “sit in” defensively a bit more as James Bree was told and has done successfully. He may have ignored that instead persisting (unsuccessfully) in trying to show why he was one of the best fb’s in the league last year. My view is he (and Russell) are showing one of their attributes better now - football intelligence. Ryan is not KWP fast or skilful dribbling-wise - and he also realises he does not have AA running back at 100mph to support him either. And he has adapted intelligently. Or listened to gaffer instructions (or both😃). 3. Playing against better teams. LCFC and ITFC for example and teams seemed focused on our LH side. They saw a potential weakness in transition situations and exploited it. Which made him look most culpable more often. Works other way as well - playing against weaker teams like Bristol and Cardiff he was enabled to show what he’s got a bit more - and he did so. 4. Playing without an obvious Left winger has benefited Ryan enormously. So obvious that he now has space ahead and the better protection in our midfield should he venture forward. I could go on with a much more detailed assessment but most of you won’t have read this far anyway! My last thoughts are that I am genuinely pleased that we are (finally) seeing the player I thought we were getting. Early doors yet though. His ability on assists crosses and general offensive play is very high at this level. He is a different player to KWP but I think he has got the potential to be as influential as him and get stronger and stronger in his current role - as long as we keep this formation/shape and he retains his football intelligence and discipline.

I’ve never seen him play two or three games in a row. Several of our players have obviously benefited from that - Bree is a good example- so I cannot tell if SM is going to be great, or if it’s just a natty hairstyle and hype.😁 What I am sure of is he is certainly not shite otherwise RM would not be putting him on the pitch this season. And he would not be a France u21 player. So, with RS injured and still question marks over Che’s future id say it’s unlikely Mara will be loaned or sold because that will leave us short/ vulnerable- unless we in turn buy or loan in another ready cooked striker.

I agree but perhaps more importantly it gives a major clue as to how we are likely to integrate RS into the team. The experiment with che Aa and Charlie seemed to work well against these. Replace Che with RS and it in theory should be producing more goals from the chances created. I must admit the idea of putting RS wide as he has been tried in his brief appearance was not one I wanted to see.m repeated too often He needs to be near the goals cos he’s there to score so this formation suits him better.

Best two half performance if the season by far. No offence intended but RM is TEACHING. The players are learning. That match was FULL of the pass around crap that you found enjoyable. Best match for Saints - cut out his odd mistakes and made some good defensive interceptions and challenges. His haters must be fuming he didn’t fuck up but they may get satisfaction yet. It’s a long season and defensively it’s clear that lh side is still our Achilles heel. What people miss though is that a major reason why opponents attack that flank is because KWP is so good the opposition can generally only defend on his side of the pitch. He’s saints player of the season by miles imo right now. He looks more like an EPL player every week and must be nailed on for the championship team of the season already.

Much like Bristol I expect a well organised defence and hitting us on the break or hoping to convert a set piece. Plus they’ve had an extra days rest. I hope RM has showed team vids of the many missed opportunities to switch player from Wednesday night. Though without KS we do not quite have the searing pace to escape and create from that. I suspect Ryan or Che will start instead of RS and Will to return for Shea. suggested bets : IF Will starts : anytime goalscorer 2pts. ( will insert price if I find it in time) Special : Saints win, both teams to score and AA to score anytime is 5/1. Might be worth 2pts. Che might start and if so he has a limited number of games to impress EPL teams that he is their goalscoring solution. IF he starts 2pts on Che scoring anytime might be useful. As above for the price but suspect it will be 2/1. Which is mean but meh ok maybe. lastly, I expect a win so 5 pts on 3/5 is a bit meagre but I think we are better than these. NB Do Not gamble - but if you really insist do it sensible ie always on saints not to lose lol 😂

As it’s retro kit day at SMS I think I might wear my yellow SOUTHAMPTON CARDIFF 2003 t shirt I got for the fa cup final. Beattie signed it and as it’s got both Southampton and Cardiff on it in big letters hopefully very apt for todays visitors. 20 years old approx so qualifies as retro I hope and match-worn lol so I shall be available for selfies around the ground and block 41 concourse in a few hours 😂😇 oh and 2-1 saints COYS 🙏

Yeah, cos RM is an idiot who picks his “mates” especially the crap ones not the best 11 for each match. 🤔 Surely you do not believe what you wrote? I guess at some point your view on the idiocy of our manager will come true. By that I mean we will lose a match. So, in advance : Congratulations football genius. Oh, and Manning was NOT crap and to say he was is simply laughable. As is downgrading the value of our first home clean sheet for six months.

I disagree with RM (for once) in that it was not an OK first half - all the mistakes of the match Rotherham resurrected themselves. That we went in 0-0 was about the only “ok” thing about it. I was especially disappointed by KS, for whom I had still have sone but they’re dwindling, high hopes. In his defence he was too often given the ball too late and in almost impossible positions to do anything other than pass it back or attempt some crazy magic ( which almost came off once) but which usually loses possession. I could literally see his morale dropping and his “ injury” looked as much a mental “get me out of here “ as actual physical. I get that he’s meant to stay wide but for such a speedy instinct player seeing him stationary so often was like we were playing with ten men. All Che had to do to improve us was literally run around a bit. It was 10v12 if you count the useless ref first half in that regard. Other than that the most obvious shortfall for me was the failure to switch play when we had players in Space or relatively isolated with one defender. The radius of our passing circle was too limited, too often. I do nt need twenty Hollywood passes every game but they are not out of the skill set of some of our players and I’d hope to see a little more. Especially silly when youve got arguably fastest player in the league waiting on it. Second half shape changed showed RM adapted and Bristol began to get tired and run ragged increasingly themselves resorting to big hoofs upfield which THB and Jan dealt with comfortably. One piece of quality from our best player settled it. positives: Gav has just got better and better. So proud of him. Ryan made one bad pass but showed we have three decent full backs - despite the prejudice shown to him - he had a decent match, I thought Shea was solid and impressed me. THB and Jan are very strong - but with Mason and Jack to come we must surely have best 4 squad cbs in this league? AA worked hard as usual. Charlie had one of his best games this season. Stu gave his standard 7/10 ever reliable effort and performance including a decent shot first half. Flynn - worked hard as usual. Like RM said- 10 games unbeaten is not luck. If we can do this yet so many are unhappy with him and style of play who knows what we can do as we get better and into the latter part of season with our much stronger than average in this league squad. Coys!😇

Hoping for 4 from 4 with my suggestions but I’m loath to bet on this one tbh. That’s cos It’s the First match back after an international break - so there’s plenty additional variables involved. Have players travelled too much and have leg fatigue, are they injured etc. so it’s much harder than usual. For this reason I’d recommend AVOID betting on this match. IF pushed for some fun bets I would suggest the following (but beware!) : 4 pts Saints win @ 5/6 2 pts special : AA and SA to both have over 0.5 shots on goal and it to be a saints win @ 7/2. Reason being : I think we will have massive territorial advantage so shots should be coming in a plenty - and if we beat these we go third so plenty incentive. It could be a slippery one like Leeds found out last night though v Rotherham. With the special : Stuart has both scored and assisted on international duty so I think he might take that confidence and form into this one - though he may not last 90 so it could be close. AA has had ten days to see that RS is a very good striker - so he needs to keep scoring/ assisting to keep him at bay/ on the bench - Unlike last year when there was no one. AA takes penalties also so it’s a fair chance he’s gonna have at least one shot. Both teams to score is also on my radar but cannot find a good price atm, if it comes up it may be worth it as it is Saints we are talking about after all…COYS 😇 NB having said all that if RS starts I’ve literally no idea what the formation might be or what might happen. NB. Gambling is often bad don’t do it unless you can afford to lose all your money. 😃