Midfield_General

Yeah, would’ve thought that was fairly obvious tbh.

11pm Tuesday or NO DEAL. Show we’re not to be pushed around.

That damn scar tissue again. Because it couldn’t possibly be anything to do with him, could it? Two points from three games (including against two promoted sides that were in League Two last season), no wins and currently only outside the League One relegation zone on goal difference. Still, apparently they’re going to “control their energy inside the building”, so I’m sure it will all be fine.

League games, yep. Since August 2024 he’s managed more clubs (three) than he’s won league fixtures (two). But people just need to trust the process. The results will come.

Superb result. Didn't see that one coming, especially after the first 15 minutes. Well done Saints. 3 points off the play-offs and the best GD in the league. We're up and running now.

Not sure what's going on behind the scenes but something appears to be very wrong. There's no effort, none whatsoever.

Bolton have always had a blind spot with keepers. I remember they had some permed midget in goal for an FA cup game under the lights at the Dell in the early 90s and Barry Horne lobbed him from about 35 yards to equalise in the last minute and take it to extra time. Pitch invasion, absolute scenes Then he scored again in ET to win it Edit: found it

Replace Wood with THB’s replacement and upgrade Fellows and that looks like a decent first XI for the season to me (assuming Schlotterbeck is competent), especially with Jander hopefully also available to rotate in.

Watching the realisation slowly sink in is going to be hilarious Sweepstake for the first comment on their boards along the lines of ‘It wasn’t a clanger, but does anyone feel like maybe he should have got to that one?’ followed by 2 seasons of some nutter in denial insisting that every single shot he faced was completely unstoppable actually

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