Midfield_General

Three words to strike a chill into any heart: Frank Lampard's Southampton. Careful what you wish for.

Uh-oh

He's at least being able to show what he can do, which is presumably what he wanted. At least three great saves today, would have been an ugly scoreline without him. Regardless of the result, you don't have people talking about any great saves you made if you're sat on the bench every week.

The psychological collapse was what was most concerning there. For the first 35 mins we played them off the park. The shape was loads better, we looked well up for it, we were first to everything, we were much more forward-looking and direct, and they couldn't handle Dibling at all. Lesley should have put that free header on target before the penalty was given, and it was criminal that no-one had taken up a position for a cut-back tap-in when KWP dribbled it all the way into their six yard box. But as soon as we missed the penalty you could visibly see the belief drain out of them. That led to the first goal and then we just collapsed and were lucky not to concede three in that fifteen minutes before half-time. Second half, there was just nothing there, the belief had completely gone. We've seen a thousand times, usually from teams we're playing against, how going 2-0 down is far from a sure defeat - pull one back and it's game on. But we didn't get anywhere near that because there was no belief that we could. We were beaten as soon as things went against us. Our heads went down the moment we missed the penalty and didn't come back up again for the whole match. Individual performances aside, it looked like the players are already starting to doubt that they belong in this league. That's really worrying this early in the season, although hardly surprising after four defeats in four matches. If they're looking that dejected already, Martin's got a huge job on his hands just picking them up and keeping confidence and belief in the team, because when that goes and heads start dropping every time you concede, you really are screwed. The Ipswich game is massive now. He has to find a way to scratch some sort of result out of that, however ugly it might need to be to get it. We need to find some street fighting mentality to get some points on the board however we can and then build from there. Ramsdale was good though. Thank god we've got him, because with any of our other keepers that was five or six today, easily.

One more player and that side would probably do alright in the championship

United starting Eriksen and Fernandes together in midfield with Mainoo means they don't really have a recognised DM. That's a midfield that can be bullied if we get it right. Fuck 'em up Big Les. Rashford starting over Garnacho is an interesting one. And no Casemiro. United fans not happy at all with their line-up.

If we give ourselves a chance by not doing anything silly at the back then that side is more than capable of giving them a proper game.

Love that. We need to get Dibling's contract sorted! Smallbone goes from starting to completely out of the squad.

Turkish window closed. Looks like he’s still with us?

Pretty much all of them! But if pressed - Egil Ostenstadt, Gordon Watson, Matty Oakley, Ken Monkou

Good news. KWP and Dibling next please.

Cool. Think he's said he tends to prefer the left as he can cut inside and shoot, but if he's flexible enough to play either side then that's great as we look a little bit light on the right otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing him. Edit: Re Cornet

Fair enough. If you're dropping Dibling to start Fraser on the left though, who have you got starting on the right?

I'd go 4-3-3: Archer Cornet Dibling Fernandes Downes Lesley KWP Bednarek THB Sugawara Ramsdale Subs: Macca, Stephens, ABK, Lallana, Aribo, Fraser, SAA, Stewart, BBD. No room for Armstrong, Smallbone or Taylor - sorry lads. We won't though.

Martin's right when he says we have a bloated squad now. When everyone is fit and available for selection, there are going to be plenty who don't even get amongst the 9 subs, let alone the starting XI. For example*, this weekend we could put out a first XI of: Ramsdale; KWP; Bednarek; THB; Sugawara; Downes; Fernandes; Lesley; BBD; Archer; Cornet With a subs bench of: Macca; Stephens; Smallbone; Aribo; Lallana; Fraser; SAA; Dibling; Armstrong Which would leave no place at all in the squad for Taylor, ABK, Bree, Stewart (now apparently fit), Larios, Edwards, Wood or Manning, plus Onuachu and Sulemana (when fit again) who we know they're trying to shift out. Most of those you could argue we won't miss, but it seems a bit harsh on Taylor for example, and who drops out of that squad to fit Stewart in? (which presumably is the plan, given how long we've spent getting him ready). I really hope it's not SAA who has to step back down. (* It's just an example, I'm not saying this will be the formation, team or bench)

Declared fit and available for selection vs. Man Utd.

Key points from RM's press conference ahead of Man Utd: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c30308dly86o Summary: The manager said "changes will be made" to the side for the game against Manchester United, adding: "After three defeats, there inevitably will be changes. How many, you'll have to wait and see and who. It's such a difficult position because I feel fiercely loyal to players who have got us into the Premier League so I have to balance that loyalty from what they did last season to what some of them are actually doing now and the place they are in right now." The Saints boss feels his side "have learnt a lot in the first few games" and that they are "really close to being who we want to be and what we want to be". On the international break: "I've enjoyed the break in terms of seeing what we really need to focus on." Ben Brereton Diaz was substituted 35 minutes into Chile’s 2-1 loss against Bolivia in their 2026 World Cup qualifier but Martin said it is "not an injury so I guess the coach has his own reasons". On the scrutiny he has faced in recent weeks: "It doesn't overwhelm me one bit, it's just part of the job. It's the same last season, we had a period at the start where we had a really tough time and then people can say what they want with very little recourse and will judge us based on a highlights reel of eight minutes so I treat it all the same. There were people that called me a terrible appointment for the club and said they need to make a change after losing four games [last season]. There will be the same people doing that now after three games, three defeats, so I treat it all the same." All players have come back injury-free which is "all you can ever ask for as a manager after an international break". Martin said the club didn't plan to have such a big squad, stating: "Some of the outgoings didn't come off and didn't quite go to plan so leaving a lot of good players out of the squad isn't easy but it's up to us to manage that."

Was that the one where Michael Owen was on co-comms and tried to argue that it shouldn’t be given offside, proving that he didn’t have even the most basic understanding of what offside was?

The only ‘media source’ so far is Football Insider isn’t it? Which is a complete joke of a site that no-one takes seriously. No quotes, no sources named, just ‘Football Insider believes that Russell Martin will be under pressure if he keeps losing games’. Like, no shit lads. At this stage, with no credible sources backing it up, it is indeed just chancers making obvious headlines for clicks and ad revenue. Unless I’ve missed something more credible?

I'm just talking about the reaction of the crowd though. Where I was in the Itchen I didn't hear any booing or anything that suggested that the crowd was ready to turn en masse. I haven't been to an away yet this season so maybe it's harsher away. You may be right though that it could take a nosedive if we lose three more, although I think the style we play will have as much of an impact on how people react, as the results will. We'll see I guess.

The crowd hasn’t really turned yet though has it? At the last home game (Forest) it was disappointment, but no booing or obvious signs that anyone was turning on him. I think he’s currently got a lot more goodwill in the bank than that, though that may obviously change if we keep giving away these stupid goals. Jones was toxic pretty much from the off because the crowd was already down from the end of the Ralph regime, then Jones came in who nobody wanted and who proceeded to play shocking football and continue to lose with awful performances. I don’t think Martin’s anywhere near that level yet, nowhere near. And rightly so. He’s generally much more popular as a bloke and he’s just won us promotion. He’s earned a lot more goodwill and the opportunity to get it right.

Ipswich at home is very obviously a game we should be capable of winning

I very much hope Russ swallows his pride and changes things sufficiently that a change is not felt necessary. Just play a bit more pragmatically to give ourselves at least a chance in some games and make everyone feel that we gave it a good crack and did everything we could, even if we go back down. The thought of an SR-led new manager recruitment process, especially without a DoF in place, is not pretty. Who knows who they’d bring in. I can see them being persuaded to give Lallana a go, which would be another big box ticked in the tried and tested ‘how to guarantee relegation’ blueprint (the one where you end up having three managers in a season).

I've clicked it so others don't have to. Doing the Lord's work here. 'Sources say', with no quotes or evidence whatsoever. Absolute fraud of a site. Ignore.

Spot on.