Dan Johnson

Fantastic fee. He’s a very good defender in one on one situations but he’s not a great footballer with the ball. He’s also prone to a mistake/sloppy play. i think he’s the kind of player who has a purple patch and a great run of games where he looks like a world beater by putting in the odd eye catching tackle but for the main part in every other aspect of his game he’s very replaceable. Personally thought he was our worst performing Center back last season (admitting Lyanco) and was one of the reasons the bad run of results started. (Said so at the time to friends) I wasn’t surprised to see him dropped. We’ve been blessed with top quality CBs since our return to the prem (VVD, Lovren, Alderweireld) I was hopefully based on the first few performances we’d found another in Salisu but after a few seasons I don’t think he’s at their level and personally don’t think he’ll ever get close to it, if anything his performances have been on the decline for the last 18 months. whether that’s been due to a commitment issue to the club (or even his professionalism) or not, I don’t know. id much rather see stephens at CB than Salisu. I think Salisu offers more as an out and out defender but stephens overall game is better

https://www.westhamzone.com/players/southampton-could-re-sign-danny-ings-as-west-ham-united-exit-development-emerges/ reported here too

I rate Che and think he’s a decent player, however the weakest part of his game at prem level is his finishing. I think the term “support striker” suits him perfectly, his hold up play is exactly what’s needed to take the pressure off the defence at times and he “puts himself about a bit” He also has great positional sense which is how he seems to score most of his goals however he’s not a natural finisher. his game is more suited to the premier league in the late 90s/early 00s and is comparable to the likes of Duncan Ferguson, Heskey, I suspect they all have similar goal ratios, roughly 1 in 5. Good for 7-10 goals a season. id keep him personally, I think he’ll be a 20 goal a season striker in the championship where his physical attributes will suit the league better

Oršić leaving official https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/orsic-completes-trabzonspor-move?fbclid=IwAR03LwnVC17xIu9JIJxx2r9NPDn5xpDZVvZF1b8d_E3Zw494_Q8OfON8MUg_aem_AZXZ0ic1UcHB0TLMGIEnpxwjhV_EJFTUtqFK84d2-2lv51gpkoAnvaqFgPe3M5tD9r4

This. The fact we didnt have anyone to sell last time meant we almost went out of business!!! I never understand the attachment fans have to players, over the club, unless they've been absolute legends (Tiss, Ricky) Tino is a good player, he's played a relatively small amount for the club, we have a massive financial black hole to fill now so I'm keen to get ride of him if it helps us survive financial ruin.

Ryan Fraser is a solid signing. The kind we could have done with last season

Miles better than Aribo IMHO, still not saying we should move for Barkley as he'll cost allot but he'd be decent in the Championship

Completely agree. we have been crying out to play 4-2-3-1. With the middle of the 3 being the most creative and having a drifting role (Stu or Alcaraz) with pace on the flanks, Theo, Djenepo, Sulemana, Edozie, Adam Armstrong putting in crosses for Adam’s or Tall Paul. the holding 2 of JWP and Lavia. We had 2 managers especially who tried to be too clever, went completely negative to nick a result. there’s a reason managers like Dyche, Redknapp, Alladyce, Hodgson can turn a group of underperforming players around it’s because they do the absolute basic right. Pick players who have been playing in their positions since they started playing at 5, pick your best players, if you’re not scoring, pick players who can actually be creative, score goals jones and Selles didn’t do anything of the sort

Gives us a good insight

I think he’ll leave. He’s one of the players that’s done enough to get a move and stay in the Prem, he’s probably one of only a few in the current squad I’d try and keep too.

We’ve built a team around Ward Prowse and that’s one of the reasons we’re so passive. He’ll be a better player when he moves into a team where not everything has to flow through him like it does for us. his worst 2 asset are his inability to pick a pass that unlocks defences or running at defenders with the ball, as a result the ball always goes back or sideways when he’s in possession and our attack and build up play is pedestrian as a result. in a team where you have a more creative player who can get on the ball and make those passes he’ll flourish because his biggest asset (work rate) will be better utilised we need him to move on, he needs to move on. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it

he has only scored 6 but he's been a real threat in allot of games i've seen him play in. He's definitely growing as a player and I expect him to be a 15 goal a season striker very soon.

In all honesty, I actually feel positive about it. If we hung on and survived I don't think the depth of the clear out would have been as deep as it needs to be. In 05 I was worried about us financially as we had very few saleable assets, in fact I think it was only Crouch who went for a fee in the summer after relegation? This season we could potentially pull in £200m in sales. The younger players who stay will hopefully benefit from a season in the Championship and we can change our style as the players who go a long way to dictating that style (JWP\Bednarek etc) will likely move on.

for all his excellent commitment over the years, I wont be too disappointed when he leaves. I really feel like the time has come for him to move on, for both parties sake. Having Lavia in the midfield this season and watching Harrison Reed yesterday against Leicester has really highlighted just how passive Ward-Prowse can be in comparison, we are sooo pedestrian in possession and Ward Prowse (and Hojberg when he was here) was a massive part of that. I think a move will do him good, challenge him and he'll go on and be a better player. We can get midfielders in who will change our style of play, use the ball quicker and turn defence into attack much much quicker, even if they're not as good technically.

We’ve been there, under Koeman we were sensational at times 2015/2016 we finished 6th 3 points off champions league and that was the season we had a terrible run of games too, winning 1 in 8! I suspect Brighton will be very close to Champions League this season, probably 6 points off and likely to finished 6th too That 2015/2016 side feels allot like the current Brighton side. players in there who went on to win Champions League and Premier League medals, 3 future ballon.d'or nominees (Tadic, Van Dijk, Mane) mixed with seasoned pros like Bertrand/Davis and club stewards like Fonte. I see soo many similarities in the current Brighton side to the saints era towards the end of poch and under Koeman. Brighton have the club stewards like we had in fonte, with dunk and Groß they have the seasoned pros like we had in Davis and Bertrand in players like lallana, welbeck etc then they have the future superstars in Ferguson, Caicedo, Mac Allister Mix in a succession of decent managerial appointments (potter then De Zerbi, like we had with Poch then Koeman) I really hope they can keep their group together and break into the elite but they wont, they’ll be plundered. Exactly the same as what happened to our 2015/2016 side.

Absolute amateur managerial decisions today, even at the lowly level I played at, you know just how important your forwards hold up play is when under the cosh, for everything he lacks in goal scoring ability, Che Adams hold up play is his biggest asset. How a manager can watch the first 5 minutes of that second half, away from home, 1-0 up and completely under the cosh with the pattern of play heading only in one direction and not make changes is completely beyond me, to the point of negligence. If I can see it, if other fans can see it, if commentators can see it, how the fuck can our manager not see it? I’m not saying Che Adams would have made a massive difference, he may have won us a foul or two, gave our defence the breather they needed to recover, making decisions at the correct moment in games all goes towards proving competency, an understanding of the game, momentum, when the players see Armstrong coming on instead of Che Adams they must despair inside, Jo Tessem summed it up beautifully on Solent “Adam Armstrong hasn’t had a touch in this game, in fact I don’t think he’s had a touch since Arsenal” The game was heading away from us, then Selles subs accelerated it beyond reasonable doubt. Joke of an appointment, he’s as bad as Jones

I’d be happy with someone like Vieira, a Scott Parker, a Steven Gerrard. next manager needs to be a figure head, someone who comes in and gets the respect of the remaining players who don’t leave, straight away. Someone who will attract top young talent to the club on loan in the championship and give us a competitive edge in the transfer market. Vieira is used to working with young players, he’s young enough that he can be part of a rebuilding project too. what i definitely don’t want is another money ball stat driven appointment where we try and be too “clever”.

Our whole business model is recruiting young players on the basis when the move to a bigger club comes, we won’t stand in their way. It’s how we get the likes of Lavia. I know it’s not worked out well this season but if we’re seen to be a club blocking transfers, we won’t get the likes of Lavia again. If the bored stick with the recruit young talent strategy, all players with a big move will be allowed to leave imho

Be interesting who goes outside of those out of contract and for what kind of money, 5 in bold are nailed on in my opinion, could have up to £200m coming in. Lavia - £40-£50m - Will have clubs all over him, can demand a big fee KWP - £18 - £25m - Upwardly mobile prem clubs will be in, Brighton\Villa\West Ham etc Salisu - £15-£18m - Most obvious to leave, doesnt want to be here, not in the squad because of it Orsic - £6m - Will want to jump ship ASAP been a nightmare for him Che £12-£18m - Promoted team, one of the teams who just stay up will probably come in for him JWP - £ 35-£45m - Odd one, will want to leave, may leave, fee we'd want probably a stumbling block for teams who will be in for him, bigger clubs likely to go for any of the following before JWP - Rice\Maddison\Telemans\Bellingham\Mac Allister\Caicedo\Neves ABK - £20m - Up and coming German international, move back to his native Germany Bednarek - £10m - Proven international, wont want to play in the championship, a move to a lesser team in Ligue 1, La Laga etc on the cards DCC - £7m - Proven international, Champions League experience, wont want to play in the championship, a move to a lesser team in Ligue 1, La Laga etc on the cards Livermento - £20m (Dependant if clubs want to take the punt after the injury, will affect his value) Tella - will probably want to make him move to Burnley permanent, could probably get £15 - £20m for him. Onuachu - Loaned out - If selles gets the job full time, surely Onuachu will want a move, may stay if another manager sees something different in him.

We’ve 3 winnable home games in Palace, Fulham and Bournemouth. Plus away to forest. Thats 12 points and puts on 35, that might keep us up or put us in a position where we need to beat Liverpool on the last day. Liverpool probably won’t have anything to play for then and have been inconsistent. it’s unlikely and obviously we need to win all 4 of the games, but it’s not over just yet.

Best Rickie Lambert, a talisman only topped by Le Tissier in my lifetime, £1m we paid for him, Averaged a goal every other game. Sensational signing. Steven Davies, hugely underrated in my opinion and the glue that made us tick during the most exciting era of being a Saints fan over the last 40 years. I think we paid £250k set at a tribunal. VVD, how other teams overlooked him is an absolute mystery he looked world class the very first minute he stepped onto the pitch. Probably the most technically gifted player I’ve ever seen in a saints shirt. A bargin at £12m and a £63m profit Bertrand - Selling shaw for £30m and buying Bertrand for £10m was a master stroke. There was a period were Bertrand was probably the best left back in the country for 2 seasons. Should have played more for England, could easily of found himself at a bigger club. Pahars - without him we’d have gone down.

Absolutely this, I’d add optimism to that list to. I genuinely feel like we could get out of this.

Went to the game. positives. - settled back 4, Bednarek had a good game, Maitland Niles has had a few good performances in a row now. Bednarek/ABK partnership looks decent. - Alcaraz is a great signing. Improves us massively, workrate, can pick a pass, can finish. - midfield 3 of JWP, Lavia and Alcaraz is very strong - Theo/Che and Alcaraz pressing/workrate set the tone. - 2 clean sheets in 3 of Selles premier league games, in fact on conceding 1 goal in 3 games. negatives - Moi/Mara/Armstrong subs had a negative impact, especially Mara/Armstrong. We were pressing as a unit with Theo/Che/Alcaraz and it was working, Mara/Armstrong and Moi pressed individually and Leicester were able to play through it with relative ease. im all for subs at 60 minutes to maintain the tempo of the press, I get it, but the front two especially didn’t maintain that tempo and looked off the pace compared to Theo/Che. - Bazunu nearly cost us the points twice today, a few more mistakes and his careers over here, I’d take him out the firing line and rebuild his confidence in training/behind close doors games. - not yet convinced by Sulemana, few flashes of excitement, but need to utilise his pace more, plenty of chances to drop the ball in behind - first 25 minutes we were paralysed by fear, players looked really reluctant to play anything other than a safe 4 yard ball, which resulted in the ball going back more times than it went forward. Wins will hopefully change that and we’ll get more creative

Going to be a fight to the finish line, could realistically see this being a season where 40 pts maybe needed to stay up. Leeds form is terrible, no win in 10, we should be going their to win. Can see Palace getting drawn in their form over the last 10 is only 1pt better than ours now, Villa also lost 3 on the bounce. Leicester have Arsenal this weekend, if we beat Leeds and Arsenal do us a favour against Leicester, we could be going into the Leicester home game knowing a win will bring us level on points with them. Lets hope we can keep our performance levels and momentum up. Could see us winning the next 3 (the cup\ and both league games) after the weekend.

Rafa for me. Wins the dressing room over straight away, massive premier league experience, could probably convince him to sign a short term contract because of his age. keeps us up then we get Potter when Chelsea sack him 🤞