Holmes_and_Watson

Excellent possession and xG stats. A bit of player trading, and it's a storming SR season.

It's not just the Christmas cheer you'd be enjoying with your fellow nupties. We'll be storming League 1 by then too! Well, we'll have the certainty of our second manager of 26/27 turning it around in 27.

I thought SaintsWeb would be smarter than 23rd.

"Capture the moment. Capture the tradition." Southampton are proud to combine the zeitgeist of the SR age, with the history of the club! Home kit: Stripes, in excrement brown. Away kit: Stripes, in cowardly yellow. Third kit: Stripes in relegation mourning black. Money grabbing anniversary kit: Burning car wreck orange, inscribed with the names of SR transfer duds.

Satyr

Comedy

It's not the Roy of the Rovers I was after. But it would still be an improvement. 🙂

Next season’s squad is already full even with 12 departures over the summer. This is after a massive overhaul last summer. It just illustrates what an utter mess the club have got themselves into. Our massive clear out needs a massive clear out. This is something SR will find themselves repeating, in the absence of a structure above the squad, being able to manage and coach them properly. GK Gavin Bazunu 27, Aaron Ramsdale 28 DR Yukinari Sugawara 28, Rads Roerslev 29 DL Ryan Manning 27, Juan Larios 27, Welington ? DC Taylor Harwood-Bellis 28, Jack Stephens 28, Nathan Wood 28, Joachim Kayi Sanda 29, Joshua Quarshie 29 MC Cam Bragg 27, Shea Charles 27, Flynn Downes 28, Caspar Jander 29 AMC Kuryu Matsuki 28, Finn Azaz 29 AML/R Samuel Edozie 27, Tom Fellows 29, Jay Robinson 29, Léo Scienza 29 SC/FC Adam Armstrong 27, Ben Brereton Diaz 28, Cameron Archer 28, Damion Downs 29, Rento Takaoka ? That’s 27 players already. Apparently, there’s an offer for Larios. It’s not likely Edozie will play again, having been in the bomb squad all season. All the same gaps. Not to mention that the above isn’t in SR’s mandated 3 at the back formation, that forces Fellows out of position. Of those with contracts ending in 27 are AA, who is still our top scorer, Bragg and Charles. 3 you’d want to keep. Of those leaving this summer, if there’s a contract extension for ABK, we might exercise it and get loan money, or a fee back. He’s not likely to return. None of the others leaving this summer have made enough of an impact. Stewart has improved us, but never for long before injury. Jelert has looked okay. But we’ll have two others in the squad, more if we are playing RWB. The others, like most of our squad, are caught in a cycle of changing systems, managers and declining support. Bree and Taylor did little wrong when here, but put out on loan. Smallbone developed under Martin, but will be gone too. As for who we should keep or try and move on? It will depend on SR’s next throw of the dice. We’ve had a sequence of managers coming in to squad’s not fit for their style of play. The basics of power, pace, physicality are completely missing from our squad, and certainly our spine. There would be good places to focus recruitment on.

Laughing

Didn't you have to sign a non-disclosure, before being given the secrets of SR's recruitment strategy?

Another sliding doors moment for SR, that they are always on the wrong side of. Ballard had been injured, and he was probably a season back on pushing through. We went with the more proven Archer. It's not so much bringing in Downs, as Ballard being behind top scorer AA and 15 million Archer. We could, and possibly should, have extended his contract and loaned him out for the season. Assuming he was willing to do that. Then moved Archer on, if possible.

Well done Baz!

Only to and from the grounds for games. 🙂

SR's centre forward gets one. No need for a y re-enforcements in that position in the window.

What they're up to on their rest day tomorrow. If there's a y shopping they need to get. Things to think about when defending against Archer.

2 players on him, he manages to still get the header, while Peretz has come across only to flap as it goes past him. We've had a few chances. But the lack of momentum in getting them, and our defence-for-a-laugh is grim.

Utter mess trying to pass it about from the back. Our gift that keeps on giving.

Nope massage board 🙂

Flatulence

I read "deflect" as "defect" and was picturing Front Line Farage, sent to the Russian front, having been lied to about having a non combat role. 🙂

Our thoughts are with Gaëtan Courtet and his family at such a difficult time. As expected, he did well coming on tonight. He's the one player you know will raise the standard when he's on the pitch. Really pleased he got the goal as a tribute.

What a difference having a target man makes. I felt for Courtet not starting, as Moulin went with 1 up front again. However, there was more shape to the formation. Abi worked a central area, ahead of the rest supported in numbers from midfield. VA had a decent tempo too for a while. On 20 they headed onto the post. On 27 the visiting keeper saved off the line with his feet. The breakthrough was on 35. A poor defensive pass was intercepted by Abi. He spotted a gap between the defender in front and the keeper. The ball hit the post, but Abi was first to a kind ricochet back in his direction. Diomande tried hard to also provide an outlet. He'll be disappointed with a couple of tame efforts. Bourg-en-Bresse had offered little more than a scuffed effort from range. But VA didn't push on, and the visitors came back into it. While Abi had a memorable debut, Passi did not, losing his man on 52 mins, and allowing a crisp shot for the equaliser. He was at fault a few minutes later as Louchet had to save as Passi allowed an effort to go across goal, for what was nearly a second. Moulin made changes on 65, going two up front. Only a minute later, having attacking options paid off. An excellent run on the wing from Koum resulted in the ball going in towards Abi in the box. The opposition defence were drawn to stop the target man, allowing the deflected ball to be rattled in by Courtet. A good goal involving good play from 3 VA players, finally having decent outlets in the side. Although Abi was the target Courtet, bright for not having had to run himself into the ground for a change, took down a lovely throw from Louchet. He was also instrumental in the third, doing enough to get between the defenders and get the ball to Ipiele, who also looked lively from the bench, to slot home a third. The visitors had tried to push late on, with Louchet making sure of one, without being too troubled. There was always a little tension of losing a very late equaliser, but the third finished it. Our Rento came on with a few minutes left. He got involved in some attacks, intercepted to concede a throw in, and couldn't stop his man going past him to create a late attack. Mixed, but we'll see where, and if, he's going to fit with Abi's arrival. A solid win, in a quiet stadium. A fair amount still to work on, but a start and some hope of more attacking, dominant football.

It's another step towards the end of the football manager seasons that gave us wonderkids/ top youngsters in the game of Bazunu, Larios, ABK, Salisu, Edozie and Mara.

My concern is that they form a coalition with the Greens. Then noone can see how much my boobs have enlarged under hypnotherapy because of the height of my yogic flying.

There's that party with an identity comprised of tutting at wherever the other parties are, run by a former Post Office minister who was utterly useless as people lost livelihoods and freedom, and who imploded at the first sign of having to make a political compromise. There's the more credible monster raving loony party I suppose. 🙂