BARCELONASAINT

This is one of those horrible games where we as Saints fans have everything to lose and only bragging rights to gain. The TV and the pundits will be hoping for an upset and the Pompey fans will be hoping for an upset and will be thinking they are playing us at a good time. A team badly scarred from being relegated, barely up and running this season with some very questionable performances and players that have no appetite for a fight. Now i would have said all of that is true BUT the close of the transfer window changed something IMHO. We have shipped out so much dead wood and those with no appetite and have replaced them with very decent players not affected by last season. We should beat Pompey and we should beat them easily, our squad is far better than the tin pot lot down the road. We just have to be mentally ready for this one!

This lad could be the best of the crop and i think Saints have made a very astute signing with the potential for his value to sky rocket. If we get a couple of seasons out of him we will do very well.

My son wrote this article on Leo Scienza last year which i thought some of you might find interesting with a deal now looking imminent. You’ve probably never heard of Leo Scienza, but he turns 26 this September and his story continues with a dreamlike trajectory for those who aren’t interested in giving up on that childhood ambition of becoming a professional footballer and reaching the top. Five years ago, he arrived to Swedish fourth division side Fanna BK from Brazilian youth football. After 18 months in Sweden and a reported 12 goals in 22 games, the winger was signed by FC Schalke 04’s reserve team, which operates as an U23 team in the German lower leagues. Two seasons in Germany’s regionalised fourth tier reaped 15 goals and 17 assists in 59 appearances. Despite a mid-season friendly appearance for the first team at the start of 2022, six months later, with his 24th birthday approaching, Scienza had to move on. It seemed that he was getting his big break into first team football at a fulltime professional level with a jump to second tier FC Madeburg, but he managed just 222 minutes over 11 appearances. Instead, he played most of his football at a much lower level than he had done so with Schalke: Madeburg’s second team in the German sixth tier. He was unapologetically rampant, scoring 13 and assisting 7 in just 10 games. With 822 minutes played, he was averaging a goal involvement every 41.1 minutes. It wasn’t enough for a second season with Madeburg, though. He was on the move again. Last season, he had consistent minutes at his highest level yet: 34 games in Germany’s third tier with newly-promoted SSV Ulm. The coach’s faith was repaid with 12 goals and 15 assists as Ulm secured consecutive promotions. Scienza wouldn’t be around for the next chapter of Ulm’s fairytale, though. He was fulfilling his own. At 25 years old, barely a year after rampaging through the German sixth tier, he became a $600k signing for Bundesliga’s Heidenheim. He’d finally made it to a European first division and his first 3 games have brought a goal in continental football, scoring in a 2-1 away win in the UEFA Conference League, an assist in the German Cup, and a 2-0 away win in his Bundesliga debut. It really is never too late - or as many hopeful players say, 'God's Timing is Perfect'. leonardolenz 51 w Pra cima Leo @leo_scienza

Thank god it's 7pm, i'm exhausted!

no i had the really big tits

This is my one concern!

Moulin Rouge was the only highlight of my trip to Paris!!

As you say there is something that does not add up about his time with Saints. Something must have gone on for him to be constantly overlooked.

Looks like our attempts to convince Donnarumma to join us have failed and he's decided on joining City....oh well

The English or the arrogant French.....that's a difficult one!

I've been to Paris and personally hated the place!

Will be gutted if he goes to Paris. I really hope the prospect of playing for a team that could be in the Premier League next season appeals to him. His story and rise from obscurity is a great one, he is the German Jamie Vardy in respect to where he has come from!

that's not happening

We hadn't discussed Jelert last time we spoke but i will ask him for his thoughts

LOL, obviously thats not his scouting report of the players, thats his one liners, distinct and too the point.

haha, this is where we have the good discussions about players:- Baz, he can't stand Stephens stealing a living THB over rated Smallbone boring boring boring Edozie, he can't stand Wellington, he would not have recommended we buy him. Not soley based on ability Damion Downs, he just doesn't rate American players and thinks its a mistake signing him. Adam Armstrong, offers nothing BBD, what were our scouts thinking These are the ones he believes we wouldn't miss if they all went tomorrow. I might have missed others he had a view on.

I really won't be surprised if Downes goes tomorrow, i honestly think he is one of the players STILL has talked about as not wanting to be here and this stems from the moment RM was sacked. He has been playing with a massive strop on ever since.

So if todays rumours are true we are potentially signing another 3 players on top of the 4 we have signed this week already! Elias Jelert, Sceinza and Doumbia. That would be two thirds of a starting 11 replaced!

I speak to my son regularly who lives abroad and has been a football scout for the last 4 years and is currently head scout for an American football team. I'm bias off course but the lad knows his players and has rarely picked a dud. I mentioned to him we were linked with Sceinza last week and he immediately said the lad is a class act and was really surprised if we were to actually sign him. Obviously i've looked at his YouTube reels and to be fair he looks mustard, a real flair player but the main thing for me is my sons recommendation. He's rarely wrong with players, we have great debates over current Saints players!!

I really hope this one gets done, this is the one i'm really excited about. He is quality!

I agree, Forest and Leeds have been showing interest in him

Translated from Turkish by Grok Southampton has loaned Livakovic with a purchase option. The option is 5.5 m€. Fenerbahçe will cover 15% of the player's salary this season. Have no idea if the posters is reliable for this or a total waster?

More dead wood shifted thank god. BBD really has been an awful signing for us. Not sure what went wrong with him. Just didn't work in a Russball team?? (who did?) Was always crap?, lacked confidence? Totally flucked a couple of decent seasons previously? Who knows, i'm just glad he's gone for now.

If it makes you feel better to blame Baz for every goal Saints concede then you knock yourself out and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

At least you are balanced in what you say and don't just lay the blame at his door for both todays goals just because his name is Bazuna. As you have rightly said both goals were hard to save.