Sheaf Saint

He was poor in the Championship because he was shackled by RM's dogmatic possession first philosophy, and was under instruction to play in such a way that doesn't suit his strengths. On the few occasions he was able to express himself, he showed more ability on the ball than anyone else in the squad. He absolutely would have improved our attack last season if he'd have stayed and been given a bit of freedom to run at players and take risks in the opposition third, but with RM in charge that was never on the table.

Sadly that says more about the rest of the squad than it does about him. He's still a massive liability defensively.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/4258478.stm#:~:text=BBC SPORT | Football | League Cup | Mansfield 1-0 Southampton&text=Managerless Mansfield bounced back from,beat hesitant keeper Paul Smith.

Yeah it was Mansfield. I went to that game, and the lineup was essentially most of the U21s plus Neil McCann. It's no surprise we lost.

Steady on Trousers old chap. We don't want to actively discourage him from staying, do we?

This is Saintsweb. It's never too early to write anyone off for some posters.

I'm not going to go all Fanboy here like certain posters, but I do think this quote has been over-exaggerated by many looking for any stick to beat him with. There have been many times watching Saints over the years when we've lost, but I have felt satisfied that we actually played really well and either didn't deserve to lose or just came up against superior opposition. On the other hand, there have been many games I've watched where we've won, but held on by the skin of our teeth and got away with some horrendous errors in possession and tactical naivety, and only got the points because the opposition strikers were having an off-day. So I can accept what he's saying here without getting all hysterical about it having some deeper meaning about him being so deeply wedded to his philosophy that he would rather see us lose playing Russball every week than ever see us win ugly.

The last time we took one of Everton's unwanted CBs for a season in the Championship it was disaster. I've watched a lot of Everton over recent years, and Keane is no better than Holgate IMO. When they played together as a pair, not even Pickford could save their blushes. No thanks.

I'm seeing a potential flaw in this plan.

I don't know how many, but he did provide the pass for Arma to score the winner in the playoff final.

I've watched the replay of that 2nd goal yesterday multiple times, and I still can't actually believe just how fucking abysmal his contribution to it was. It's like he didn't even make the slightest attempt at making life difficult for Odegaard. Even a still pissed from the night before Sunday league player would have done better. He's a tidy passer of the ball in a team that dominates possession and where he's not expected to do much defensive work. But the way he just lets opposition players breeze past him is so appalling bad that you have to wonder how he got so many minutes this season, even after his biggest fan Russ was sacked. Some people say he needs to bulk up, and they might have half a point, but as the old saying goes: "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog". The truth is he's just a bottler who's too scared to put in a tackle. I really hope that's the last time we've seen him in a Saints shirt.

That is fucking pathetic from Smallbone.

Oh cacky poo. If course we couldn't actually take a point today could we.

Let me guess - a hugely questionable refereeing decision going in United's favour?

Is it just coincidence that we've actually looked a bit better in defence today with all of THB, Stephens and Bednarek missing?

Uh oh. Tater just said we've been "brave" in the second half.

He's playing like a man possessed today. Where has this been all season?

Applying some Nivea cream?

How on Earth did that stay out!?

It is indeed pathetic, but given that only once this season have we managed to score first and hold on to win, it's really not that surprising.

Yeah, WTF was he on about?

Well at least I get another local game next season. Will be interesting to see how Sunderland fare in the PL.

Same reason Saints managed to win two games this season.

17 goals for a second/support striker is a very decent haul IMO. Plenty of teams won't have got that many out of their top scorer.

I think this is the sad reality for many of us.