SaintsRoyalty

Scored another goal at the weekend and the weekend before 2 more. Now on 21 goals in 23 league games in a top league in Europe. Meanwhile we have a thread on Dom Ballard and how we shouldn’t have sold him. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Ballard and would have kept him but he wouldn’t have done the business in the champ. Just would have preferred him as an option over Archer. This for me sums up Saints fans perfectly. No active thread about a player that was actually decent and we shouldn’t have sold but a thread about someone doing alright at a lower level than we hopefully will ever have to play at. There is literally no logic here.

Nearly getting back to a fully fit squad. Who drops out of the Coventry matchday squad for Scienza, Stewart, Wellington? I draw the line at Jay Robinson getting back in but what if he’s considered? Of course you would hope that useless oath Archer would drop out but can’t see it unfortunately.

Aren’t you forgetting Cameron Archer? 😆

So you think it’s a good idea to have two pretty ineffective CMs on the bench and no wingbacks? One is old and his legs have gone and the other is new to the men’s game. Maybe have one on the bench but both? What if Bree had to go off then? Who’s playing wingback? These are the sort of decisions that show Eckart is too inexperienced to get us across the line. The teams above us are not going to give us many chances to catch them. This will be a huge missed opportunity if we lose this and you can’t blame Still for it.

Sorry but why the fuck are Romeu and Bragg both on the bench? Both nothing players which you only throw on if we are winning by a few goals. We are trying to chase promotion you idiot Eckart! Why the passengers in an obvious banana skin?? No wingbacks on the bench is ridiculous. Where is Jelert?

Credit where it’s due he managed a good game against prem competition today. Admittedly Fulham were missing their best players and were poor but we still played like a unit and created lots of chances. I still wouldn’t want him as our manager in the prem as experience and a pull factor for players is required but it’s getting harder to call him a PE teacher now.

Of course but we are not bigging up him scoring 10 goals or something or in a definitely lower league. He's scored 18 goals in 21 league games which is nearly a goal every game in a top league featuring players that play or have played in the champions league. He has more goals in the league than top strikers like Icardi (13), Asensio (11), Osimhen (11), Abraham (7), En-nesyri (7), Sane (6) etc. Some of these have played for the biggest teams in Europe and are still linked to big moves. Saints fans have a real inherent problem with the way they treat genuinely proven talented footballers just because we misused them here. The elaborate theories people have to make something fit a certain narrative is wild. For example, some people on here are saying we should have kept Ballard because he’s scored 16 goals in league 1. Yet Onuachu wouldn’t be good in the champ? Our form has clearly improved since we started playing a big guy up front.

People were saying the same thing about Martin in our last promotion run. He was the messiah, that long unbeaten run, moments of free flowing football etc but then went on to arguably show himself to be one of the most delusional and out of his depth managers in the history of the premier league. He couldn’t even get Rangers winning in a 2 team league. Winning is easy when you hold most the cards. I don’t want to be a downer or pick on Eckart, but if people can’t see the parallels between his position and Martin then it explains why it’s been Groundhog Day at this club since Koeman. Our squad is easily in the conversation as being the best squad in the league so winning nearly every game is the bare minimum. Yes he’s made some of the simple decisions that for some reason have been difficult to make at the club like doing 4 at the back, ditching the worst keeper in the whole of Europe, having a target man etc, but when the playing field is more level or worse we are an underdog like we will be in the prem, do you want Eckart on the touchline? History is repeating itself and we will be bottom of the prem with a few points but won’t put him out of his misery until Jan by which time only someone desperate will take the job with little time to do anything about us flirting with that 11 point Derby total. We had our best period in recent memory under Koeman because he’s Koeman. He has experience, pedigree and gravitas. Better players were attracted to the club and the whole standards increased. Maybe some of you can’t see it but we are on a hiding to nothing with Eckart. Just an impending dose of Deja vu.

Now on a scarcely believable 18 goals in 21 league games. We would be top 2 right now with him and Peretz.

Unfortunately, I can’t see the huge wave Wrexham have been surfing since deadpool got involved not carrying them to the prem. they have fought back from losing positions to win a number of games this season showing they have heart. When the inevitable happens and we finish outside the playoffs, I’m sure most will point to Will Still’s stint as the issue. Of course in an ideal world that gamble would never have been taken, and I was against his appointment from the start. However, what’s worse than gambling once on your manager choice? Doing it a second time(!). If we had got in an old experienced manager instead of cone man we almost certainly would be in the playoffs now. If you look at the teams that made that obvious decision, they have the likes of Phil Parkinson, Frank Lampard, Kieran McKenna, Alex Neil etc. Whilst not directly Eckart’s fault, his appointing will be the reason we don’t get promoted to the premier league.

Looks like I’ve been proved right again. Should be starting for us from now on.

This is most Saints fans in a nutshell since Koeman left. There is a semblance of a fair point but patience is not going to change the inevitable. There are three main traits. One, comparing a shit manager to another shit manager and therefore concluding first shit manager isn’t as shit as the second shit manager so must be alright. Second, giving proven no mark managers/players endless chances if they are nice quiet types yet absolutely ripping on a talented footballer if he doesn’t perform at his usual high standards every game. Thirdly, ignoring the word pedigree. Every decision in life is a gamble but you can shorten the odds if you judge the pedigree of a player or manager. As far as football managers go, Eckart is the runt of the litter. Yet the attitude is let’s give him a go in arguably the most important season for the club since we were in Europe. Add the above ingredients up and the result is mediocrity. Hence the last few years at this club. We should all take a moment to actually let it sink in that the manager of our club has never managed or played the game. We simply cannot get comfortable with that being a thing. Ibrox would be on fire if that happened there.

Interesting stat around Matsuki. In the 14 games in all competitions he has featured, we have only lost once. Granted in most of these he was a late sub but I think he’s better than people give him credit. He reminds me of Stephen Davis. Tenacious and you don’t see a lot of what he does. He of course has also scored 2 goals unlike Fellows.

With arguably the best squad in the league. So those stats are appalling actually. You are ignoring the fact that our squad would win 50% of its games purely off the back of its own strength with no one telling them what to do. A good manager gets a squad of this strength to win every game. Look at Burnley, Leeds etc in the past. I honestly feel like I’m living in a twilight zone where I’m the only one that can see blatant and unprecedented failures at this club. No other club would hire someone that not only had never managed a professional man’s team before, but never played the game. You sometimes get ex players who get bumped up a bit too early and almost always have their inexperience exposed straight away but what club hires this guy???? I’ve said before the biggest issue at this club is the fans. I honestly think if Rasmus hired his mum as the next manager but she got a few results the fan base would get behind her.

Not been on for a while as couldn’t face the usual happy clapping because we have miraculously picked up some results recently. I’m not a glass half full type of person and of course some result were much welcome not to mention the Leicester cup game gave us a brief glimpse of what it’s like to support an exciting football team. But can any of you genuinely pin down a core discernible reason why we picked up those results? The truth is like the last brief purple patch we had when Todger took over it’s completely unexplainable. A wise man would admit we were promoted under Martin in spite of him, not because of him. If we scrape in this year the same will be true for Todger. I know some fans struggle to admit it, but we probably have one of top 3 squads in the league, if not the best squad of all. Our bench today was absolutely ridiculous for the championship. I reckon all other teams would have them in their starting 11s without question. After the experiment with Still the brief was clear, get an experienced old manager in to get the basics right. We gambled again but this time on a literal PE teacher. Let that sink in…… Nothing is going to change until we get an experienced manager. We lost today because of the no mark in charge.

For those thinking let’s give George Mong a chance, he’s played twice for the u21s and let in 6 goals. Thats against kids. The 9-0 could be on. Archer starting against the same team a week after that performance last week is scandalous and a spit in the face of the fans.

Hi Gavin. How’s the injury?

Trust Saints to give Leicester the shot in the arm they needed. I bet they love playing us. No target man up front is to blame for this. Playing Archer is unforgivable from the no mark twat we somehow have as manager.

Just seen he scored 2 last week and 1 this weekend. Now got 15 goals in 18 games. We would be top 2 with him, there is no doubt.

Because you have been cornered and are too dim to think of a way out. I couldn’t have planned it better, pointing the finger at happy clappers and then you reply with a cut and paste happy clapper post. Oh if you don’t empty out your pockets and sack of your family and friends every weekend you’re not a fan. Only on a fan forum could you receive instant validation like that. one of the biggest mistakes a football club fanbase makes is thinking that the owner down to the players and staff think the same as you. They don’t, it’s just a job that leads to a payslip. As long as the pay slips keep coming, they will go through the motions just like the vast majority of us do at our jobs. The only thing that affects that is when the chance of that payslip arriving is threatened. Fans actually have the power but unfortunately the vast majority are blind to it or too scared to do anything else than watch football at the weekend.

Flushed one of you out then. The issue with people like you, well apart from being a grown man with a cartoon character as your profile pic, is that you are not bright enough to connect the dots. If there are enough seals like you going down for pints in plastic cups out in the cold, fried frozen food, playing Tetris in level 1, paying £40 a ticket to watch players looking like they are doing a light passing training exercise for 90 plus minutes then why would Sports Republic buy new players, hire a manager that’s going to say no to them and have demands, buy proven experience players rather than children so they can use the club as a player trading vessel etc. if you lot keep turning up and worse still spend time before and after the game giving them money then they won’t give a shit if we are in the national league. As to your comment on support, you might think Tom Cruise is a good actor, would you go and see every film he makes even the bad ones? Same goes for any other form of entertainment. Here’s a brainwave for you, support doesn’t equate to how much money you spend on something. If so Dragon is the world’s biggest Saints fan and clearly he doesn’t give a shit. If this club hadn’t bought a player that I’m closely related to I wouldn’t exist. So suffice to say I have a much stronger connection to the club than you ever could you grease spot.

100% this. I rarely go to games now as despite always supporting my home town club when it comes to spending money on entertainment you have to get something in return. I’d like to say I’m being facetious by saying we are usually lucky to see a goal or perhaps even a shot (never mind a win at home against a weak opponent!) but I’m not. Let that sink in, we are lucky to see one measly goal and it’s been like this for 2 seasons. However, I went to the Sheffield Inited game because a mate was offered free tickets. Yes that’s right, the club rang up where he works and said he could have as many free tickets as he wanted. I can only assume it was to make the stadium look more full. So there is some news for all of you, they are begging people to take free tickets. I was absolutely flabbergasted by the amount of people in the fan zone, buying overpriced food all game up and down the stairs, drinking pints in plastic cups out in the cold when they could be in a warm pub. The fanzine and bar was even open after the game which was boring as hell and there were still people hanging around and giving money to the club. What hope have we got with getting Sport Republic out with these absolute morons we have in our fanbase. We haven’t had an ounce of fun or entertainment in years and these happy clapping seals still turn up and empty out their pockets for nothing in return. Until this stops the misery is going to continue and Sport Republic are going no where.

29 January and not a single rumour. Not one. How are Sport Republic able to keep finding new depths of ineptitude? I bet we could google any club right now and there would be at least one player linked to them. I don’t for a second think we are going to make the play offs but we are only 7 points of it as we speak and an experienced manager and a new striker would get us there and within a shout of being back on the premier league gravy train. The biggest prize in world football and we are not even giving it a half assed try.

Exactly this. I’ve said before but we have awful local journalists. Blackmore seems to not work all week and only appears on match day. Alfie House is a total no mark and a perfect example of the dross now working in journalism. The fact he can happily post these soundbites that say absolutely F all week in week out shows how useless he is. I know managers won’t reveal confidential information but House could at least ask whether it’s incomings or outgoings, what positions, what sort of profile we are looking for etc. You know some actual news that any self respecting reporter realises is their job. He clearly doesn’t even have an inquisitive mind which again you would think is a fundamental of journalism. The biggest red flag these guys are useless is the ludicrous situation with Edozie. We still don’t know why he hasn’t appeared all season. Maybe ask the club? His agent? Through other contacts in the game? Some actual journalism?

Birmingham have just outbid Ajax for a player. £7m outlay for a club that hasn’t been in the premier league for 15 years. Meanwhile at this club who were in the prem last year and who are £74m up on player trading this year there is not a single rumour or penny spent all window. Make it make sense.