Midfield_General

sssshhhhh don't tell him

Well now "He was equally at home as a box-to-box midfielder with an eye for goal or, if needed, a steady left-back, a position he filled more as he turned 30" Not just a left back, but a steady one. Not that the casual armchair fan would know that https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/dave-armstrong/

SLAPHAMPTON: 3-5-2 Rosler Boa Morte Marsden Smallbone De Ridder Romeu Chaplow D. Armstrong Thomas Higginbotham Caballero Subs: Keller, Williams, Belmadi, Draper, Ings (despite pretending otherwise) Way too many midfielders. That squad has got about as much balance as it has need for conditioner

When he dissed Nuno I hope he didn't settle for the frankly rather pedestrian 'baldie' and went for a proper old school SLAPHEAD insult, yelled while getting in his face and rapidly slapping his own forehead for emphasis. Maybe even throwing in a TEFAL here and there, for the real purists watching on. It makes me realise that since Smallbone moved on, we no longer have a genuine proper slaphead in the squad any more, despite having a proud history by way of Romeu, Chaplow, Marsden, David Armstrong and so on. Coincidence, or follicular prejudice at work?

The comments both about and from Martin at Leicester are complete déjà vu. They could be taken from any point in our PL season, or his time at Rangers. He hasn’t learned or changed a single thing and they have absolutely seen through him after two games. https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/139532-russell-martin-confirmed-as-first-team-manager/page/76/#comments

I think it's fair to say that the Leicester fans have not exactly taken Macca to their hearts quite yet https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/139673-alex-mccarthy-joins-on-deal-to-2028/page/8/#comment-8220988

If true, that's at least £5m less than I thought we'd hold out for. I'm guessing that THB has made it very clear he wants to go, and this late in the window there's not enough time left to play hardball. Only hope would be a competitor coming in and offering more, but that seems unlikely given the speed this is moving. But a base fee of ~£21/22m + add-ons really does seem low for a 24 year-old who has played for England and still has two years left.

So basically now the task is: Ship out Ramsdale, Bazunu, Sugawara, BBD, Downs and possibly Archer And if we can do that, bring in 2x starting centre backs, a starting defensive midfielder, probably a second keeper and possibly another striker. In less than two weeks. And thats assuming we don’t lose any more starters in between. Quite a tall order really

Going into that game we were top 10 in the Prem, unbeaten in 9 games and about to play Man City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. That was only 4 1/2 years ago but the amount of drama and turmoil we’ve had since then is insane: relegated, promoted, humiliated, relegated, 10 minutes away from the FA Cup final, celebrating being in the play-off final, thrown out and humiliated again. We’ve had eight different managers in that time, which could easily become nine in a month or two if the FA throw the book at Tonda. That 4 1/2 years feels like an absolute lifetime.

Ideally sung way too fast, ignoring the rhythm of the actual song, with a few words changed so it doesn't rhyme and at least three pointless references to Pompey crowbarred in

He'd definitely be a better fit, but even with CL I'm not sure Celtic are paying anyone £100k+ p/w any time soon. Robbie Keane is their top ever earner I think, and he was on £65k (though admittedly a few years ago now) Though if its getting near deadline day and we're getting desperate to get him off the books, you could maybe see a loan with us covering some of the wage.

Jesus, Celtic could realistically qualify for the Champions League. They'd be the whipping boys anyway, but can you imagine the carnage if they lined up against PSG and Real Madrid with Baz in goal? Given that their fans are not exactly known for their patience and tolerance, I'd be genuinely concerned for his welfare.

This season's Eduard Spertsyan

To be fair what it says is: "Southampton’s interest was already known but we understand that Burnley have now joined the race after they came down from the Premier League last season, and look to challenge for an instant return." So it's implying there is a 'race' between us and Burnley, if it's to be believed.

Aka the Fraser Forster effect. Bazunu didn't even start playing in goal until he was 12 - he was on the books at Shamrock Rovers as an outfield player until then, which is why he's handy with his feet. He made his senior debut as a keeper at 16 so he only had four years to 'learn the trade' and basically did a crash course. Compare that with other keepers like Neuer, Cech, Casillas, Navas, De Gea etc who were all playing in goal from the age of 4-6 years old, and it's pretty easy to see why Gav has never really looked like a natural keeper. Positioning, anticipation and reflex work are some of the first things you work on as a kid. They all had a 10 year head start on him to get those fundamentals ingrained, and it shows. I hope he finds a club that values the sweeper keeper attributes he does bring.

My first ever Saints game, and my first Saints hero. I thought it would be like that every week, so in many ways I’ve got Colin Clarke to blame for the lifetime of disappointment which followed

Beat West Ham 4-0 at the Dell on opening day 1988 too. Paul Rideout’s debut and he scored two.

Threw away a really winnable opening game by getting it totally tactically wrong in the first half. Scienza is the best left winger in the league. Why on earth would you move him out of that position, especially to accommodate a very unknown quantity so far in Dobbin? Then a series of stupid individual errors, Stephens reverting to type and a lovely missed sitter at the end to top it off. A totally self-inflicted defeat against a bang average side with a shit keeper who we barely tested. Really frustrating.

Well, that was a wake-up call. Out-pressed, out-muscled, a defensive shambles and playing two up top has left us short in midfield. The shape is all wrong. Since when do we play 4-4-2 with Leo as second striker? Have we done it in pre-season? Seems a very odd choice. Add in two awful individual defensive errors and Stephens looking like he hasn't realised he's playing in a football match and it's a pretty sobering way to start a season where we absolutely need to get off to a flyer.

So much to like and so much to learn from if they show some humility

I think it’s fair to say they haven’t exactly taken to Macca either. So weird for Martin to sign him and make him first choice when he knows so well that he has literally none of the attributes that he needs for his system. https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/139673-alex-mccarthy-joins-on-deal-to-2028/page/7/#comments

“We were nowhere near good enough with the ball” Maybe because you’re asking third division centre halves to spray passes like prime Beckenbauer and they obviously aren’t good enough to do it you absolute buffoon

Cup tied. Brooks too.

Also has the physical presence of a puff of scented pink mist

They’ve just found out the designer shopping outlet doesn’t open until 2053