Minsk

Not to dampen the mood for everyone but I thought that you all would want to know. Minsk passed away on the 8th. I'm sure that he watched the game from where ever he is right now. Hope we do well this season. - Minsk's daughter

3 hours ago, the boy from saints said:

If you wouldn't mind sending over the spreadsheet then I will give it a go to keep it updated Minsk. My email is tbfs25@ntlworld.com. Cheers!

Cheers fella. No spreadsheet. I go at it blind, cross referencing with official website and/or soccerbase. Do the math from previous gameweek.

4 hours ago, Toadhall Saint said:

You ok Minsk?

Terminal disease mate. Feels like reaching endgame. No more power. Apologies to all I upset on here. Saints fan forever. x

Hi guys. Can somebody please take over this thread. Won't be able to do it any more. Enjoy the rest on the season and all seasons to come. It's been fun. All the best Minsk.

SOYS

1 hour ago, Teddeer said:

Said weeks ago that Howe would be very aware of the talents of Salisu. Hope they don't offer him really silly money on the quiet to unsettle him and then try to get him for a lower transfer fee than he is worth. We all know how football works.

Looking at how he has behaved since joining us and all that has been written (about him being shy, taking time to settle in new environments, being level headed, etc) I'm not going to worry myself about him having his head turned just yet. Even if we were to do so (which we won't this month for sure) I also don't think there is any chance we would sell for anything south of £50m. White cost Arsenal that and, imo, Salisu is better. 55-60m for me.

On a side note, couldn't understand why some posters were wetting their knickers over KWP demanding a move away last week. Hopefully his post match comments on Saturday have put that rumour to bed.

Still more than 2 weeks until our next league match. Thought I would update this now and maybe 'bump' it after the cup match.

Match Day 22

Match Day Comparison:

Last season we lost this match day 3-2 away to Newcastle. Saturday's draw sees improvement in both points and GD.

-4 points; 0 GD

Head-to-Head Comparison:

Last season we lost this fixture 1-0. The 1-1 draw means gains in points and GD here too.

+12 points; +12 GD

Next up on Match Day 23 is an away trip to the North London Yobbos (Wednesday 9th Feb; 7.45; BT Sports). Last season we lost 2-1 away to Spurs. We also lost match day 23 by the same score, at home to Wolves.

Spurs are having a strange season, but are still sat up in 7th. Conte has got them better organised and Kane has remembered how to score again. That said, in all honesty, I really wish we were playing them this week and not in 2 weeks time. No doubt by then Son will be back and they would have signed a player or 2. Not going to call it just yet but, right now, see no reason why we couldn't get something from this one. Just best not to go in with expectation I suppose.

COYS

Match Day 21

Match Day Comparison:

This round last season saw a defeat in Manchester to a score that won't be mentioned. On the bright side, Saturday's loss to Wolves gives us a positive swing in GD. No change in points.

-5 points; -1 GD

Head-to-Head Comparison:

Given we drew 1-1 at theirs last season, Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Wolves sees us lose points and GD here.

+11 points; +11 GD

Next up, for Saturday evening's Match Day 22, is a visit by Pep and his Champions. Last season we lost 3-2 away to Newcastle on match day 22; whilst City went away from St Mary's with the spoils having narrowly beaten us 1-0. 

City have won their last 12 league matches on the bounce. The last time they failed to win in the PL was on October 30th which was, bizarrely, a home loss to Palace. Surely that must come to an end somewhen, right? The optimist in me wants to believe that will be tomorrow; the realist tells me to stop dreaming. Dream on Minsk; Dream on!! Come on Saints, at least give us a draw to savour.

COYS

On 18/01/2022 at 07:54, tajjuk said:

I'd agree with TWar there, Phillips to me is an out and out DM. I feel like his passing/playmaking ability seems a little over rated from what I have seen. He builds up Leeds play and is obviously important to them, but I feel like a lot of that reputation came from the championship more than the PL, I mean since they have been promoted he has scored one goal and got two assists. 

Defensively maybe he is better than JWP, but I am not sure he is as a good as a link player and he tends to sit for Leeds whereas JWP is box to box for us and more on the front foot intercepting and pressing. 

England for me with Rice and Phillips are too defensive with both in midfield, asking Phillips to push forward is making him do something he doesn't really do for his club. I'd personally say those two should be competing for the same spot and JWP should be competing with Bellingham and Henderson. The former is an amazing young talent but I think JWP should have gone to the Euros instead of the injured Henderson and I think he should take his spot for the World Cup if JWP keeps up his form. Henderson will be approaching 33 and has not been in form this year, plus seems to pick up a lot of injuries. Plus games in a short space of time, in likely a lot of heat, taking arguably the fittest and most consistently hard working centre-mid in the country seems to be a no brainer to me.  But I reckon Southgate will stick with his favourites and JWP will need injuries to get in. Though with Phillips and Henderson's injury record over the last 18 months it's likely they could be out, especially as everyone will be playing right up to the tournament, no gap to get fit. 

Good post. Fully agree with everything above.

13 hours ago, Dman said:

Is there or has there been a better free kick taker in world football? I’m not sure there is, every single one is on the money. Almost as good as a penalty to us. 
 

Beckham is the only one who comes close, but to be honest, I think JWP is better than him. 
 

todays was a complete joke. 

And yet if you had your way he wouldn't even be on the pitch! According to you Diallo is a much better player and we play much better as a team when JWP isn't in it, or something like that......  🙄 (all demised after Prowsey missed his first game for 2 seasons). 🤣

14 hours ago, Dman said:

I actually think Bednerak is one who has regressed since Ralph has come in, specifically since the start of last year where at points his confidence seemed completely shot. 

. 

Same old anti-Ralph agenda. In what ways was Bednarek better pre-Ralph? Complete garbage.

1 hour ago, egg said:

Yep, of course. I go back to the point of who is it suggested that we upgrade Bednarek with for the same money that we sell him for? 

That's up to the scouting network. I have no idea. Had never heard of Salisu before he joined (for example). Also, what would one consider an upgrade? Someone more agile? More dominant in the air? Greater positional awareness? Of course, all 3 would be fantastic but even an upgrade in 1 of those (providing other elements were equivalent) would still make the player an upgrade. No?

No one is saying that it would be easy to upgrade him. Unrealistic? Not really. Unlikely? Sure. Personally, I don't think we should sell Bednarek right now. He is an experienced international and an average PL CB. Plenty worse than him about. A fair few better, especially at clubs higher up. There are some CBs better at some things but lacking in others compared to him. No matter how good they are though, all CBs get punished for making mistakes. And they all make them. Do I want better than him as a starting CB here? Yes. I also realise that we are an average (currently) midtable team, so about his level. But we could upgrade, even for whatever fee we might get if we did sell.

52 minutes ago, egg said:

Possibly mate but I was responding to the point that TWar made that we sell for £15m now and upgrade him now for the same money. No suggested replacement has been named and I don't see it as a realistic idea. 

Do you think a player's transfer fee is based purely on their current ability? Or would you agree that other factors come into play such as: need/desire of selling club for player to leave; length of contract at selling club; age; potential/experience; nationality - to name but a few. 

11 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Hope you get out soon Minsk and hopefully you're feeling better!

Thanks. 

6 minutes ago, OttawaSaint said:

Oh shit! Sorry to hear this.

Take your time. No rush. Sorry.

Thanks.

No worries Ottawa. Sometimes I need a kick up the arse. 🤣

Match Day 20

Match Day Comparison:

Last season we lost match day 20 by a goal to nil at home to Villa. Tuesday night's 4-1 win reduces the deficit of points and GD.

-5 points; -8 GD

Head-to-Head Comparison:

For this comparison I am using Sheffield Utd results from last season, who we beat 3-0 at St Mary's. The 4-1 win over Brentford means no change to either points or GD.

+12 points; +13 GD

Next up on Saturday is an away trip to Wolves. Last season we drew 1-1 there. Match day 21 however was THAT match up at Old Trafford. Don't think I need to mention the score........

Wolves are having a good season to be fair. Certainly doing better than I thought they would before it started. They are also the only team (so far) to have beaten us at St Mary's this season - and that defeat still hurts. We were certainly the better team on the day. Just the one defensive howler, and a good finish from Jiminez. I think Saturday's match will be a close affair. It could go either way. Would certainly be happy with the same 1-1 this time round, while obviously hoping for an away win!

COYS

Now, where is that nurse? And where is my cuppa??

1 minute ago, OttawaSaint said:

@Minsk

Minsky give us a wave, Minsky Minsky give us a wave!

👋

Sorry haven't updated yet. Still in hospital. Was trying to put off until I got home. Was told today, now tomorrow, but might be Saturday..... Just hope I get out. Nurse is meant come check my stats and bring me a cuppa soon, so might give it a go before sleeping. Bear with me.

6 hours ago, Mattster said:

My thoughts exactly. This smacks of sabotage more than any particular player strategy for Newcastle, and it might just come off - and for that reason it might also end up being good value. Incoming bids for Sarr and Dennis?

I would love Sarr or Dennis here, so wouldn't surprise me if they tried to unsettle them. That said, can they bid for Dennis? Can he move clubs in successive transfer windows? I think not, which is probably why they have moved for Woods and not Burnley's best attacker, Cornet.

Lambert, Ings, JayRod - for certain. 4th a bit of a choice - Pelle if you are looking at just how they were at that time, but he doesn't really offer anything than central striker; Gabby is a different type of striker, good finisher but maybe not as many goals in him as Pelle; Broja for his all round game, pace and potential. Looking at that - Broja gets my pick.

3 minutes ago, MAY-Z said:

Provided the assist for the only goal in the win at Watford and scored the only goal against villa, that’s 2 pretty important contributions in 2 pretty important wins

Also got the assist for Che's goal against Utd, which was wrongly given as a Fred OG.

1 hour ago, JRM said:

Get well soon Minsk . Are you still based there? I visited for football in 2008 thought it was an interesting city, unusual place for a Saints fan to end up! 

Thanks.

I'm currently back in the UK now (in Winchester hospital). Went there because Mrs Minsk is from Minsk. Came back primarily so my daughter can finish her education here. Far better prospects for her future and she would even be paid more if she worked back there.

Minsk is a lovely city and Belarus is a beautiful country. The locals are very friendly, except some arms of law enforcement. To be honest even they are okay if you follow the rules and they only do what they do to preserve the country how they think it should be run - far from American and EU influence. It is a very safe place to live. Women can walk home at night without fear. Only saw 3 drunken scraps in 14 years there, and they were 1v1 handbags stuff.

Was at that match as well, with a bunch of local friends and a group of family members who flew over. Even though I had been there 4 years by then I was still surprise at how many locals actually supported England that night. They were all over the stadium.

Still have a flat near the city centre and a dacha (basic house) in the countryside (back gate leads into a forest). God willing, will move back there one day. Hopefully things will be more stable by then, with direct flights back on.

Who is available who didn't play any minutes on Saturday? (Who has started Prem matches.)

Salisu, Lyanco, Adams (Possibly Walcott - don't know why he wasn't at least on the bench).

Who was subbed on/off? (Less minutes in legs.)

Redmond, Stu Armstrong, Adam Armstrong, Diallo, Tella, Eleyounoussi, Broja, Long

That gives us 11/12 who didn't put a 120+ shift in, but with obvious omissions in goalkeeper and defence, and of course the machine to whom 120 minutes is a casual stroll - JWP = 12/13.

Obviously FF will be okay between the sticks (13/14) and I think we should play our only available full back, Perraud (14/15), plus one of Stephens or Bednarek (15/16) - (unless JWP plays RB/RBW and we just have a CB pairing of Lynco/Salisu - gulp, but then we would also lose him from CM again). Whether as the right sided CB in a back 3 or as a RB, I would prefer Stephens. That said, I would also prefer Bednarek against Toney than Lyanco. (16/17?)

Given the above to work with, for 4-1-4-1, I think I would start with:

                              FF  

Stephens   Bednarek     Salisu    Perraud

                             JWP

Tella         Diallo         Stu Arm        Redmond

                            Che

Broja, Arma, Moi off the bench as attacking options, with Long and possibly Theo (17) as others options. Lyanco defensive option. Oriol (18) CM option. Willy as GK cover (19). Number 20 should be another defender. Simeu is the obvious choice.

Subs: Willy, Lyanco, Simeu, Romeu, Moi, Arma, Broja, Long, Walcott

(If Walcott not available for some reason we don't know of. or even to give better cover/options, maybe one of the U23s like Chauke.)

OR go with a 3-4-3:

                                FF  

        Stephens   Bednarek   Salisu   

Stu Arm     JWP         Diallo       Perraud

        Redmond        Che        Arma

(Possibly Redders vice Stu at RWB with Tella up front? - Or simply switch Stu and JWP over?)

Plenty of options with only 3 outfield players who put in the full 120 mins. 2 CBs (one of which could be swapped out for a completely fresh Lyanco) with the other being our ultra-fit captain. And with Broja on the bench to tear them up in the 2nd half.

17 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Get well soon Minsk 

9 minutes ago, TWar said:

Hope you get well soon

Thanks. I'm trying!

3 minutes ago, saintrich said:

This particular match was chosen because it was shown on terrestrial TV so would be seen by a different audience. There was also videos on social media and time was given in the build up on TV to talk about it - Idris Elba joined the pundits to talk about knife crime and the campaign. 

All the comments on whether it was executed well are all kind of pointless given that the main idea behind the campaign is that the shirts are then auctioned off with proceeds going to a knife crime charity. Further to that Arsenal and Adidas are investing in more safe places for teenagers to go in London.

The discussion on colour - of course I'm aware you can get different colour canvases etc but generally speaking they are white and you are nitpicking - if someone said they were going to remove colour from a painting then most people would picture that as white. Arsenal arent going to remove red and then add Black and because some cynics think they should have done this campaign for a home game, again how does that in any way change the outcome of the campaign?

A few people sat in front of their TV saying "oh that's a bit stupid because I can see an Fa cup badge on the shirt" isn't a determining factor in whether the campaign was a success and could have been executed better.

 

Don't use social media. Did watch any pre-match build up. In fact I rarely watch any football with English commentary anyway.

I never expected them to remove red and add black. Where did I say I did?

Why do you think it wouldn't have been better had they actually removed ALL the red and that from a shirt containing a lot it which they were supposed to be wearing?

Maybe they could have asked Forest to wear their away strip and then worn the all white? Maybe they did and Forest refused? Churlish of them if so. No idea. Again, had neither team worn any red it would have been more effective. Have you never seen some campaign and thought 'good idea, but would have been better if...'?

Excuse me for giving an opinion on a forum about how I think it could have been done better. Just sat here in a hospital bed, with covid and a serious lung condition, trying to find things to take my off of 'keep breathing' (not that I want to stop; I just want to do it naturally) while hoping they can do enough for me without the need for ICU.

9 minutes ago, aintforever said:

I expect the Premier League wouldn't let them do it so they had to do it in the cup, I understood the message, it was quite clear.

How did you hear about the message?

7 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Would it really have made any difference to knife crime if they had done it to their home kit?

Will it really make any difference anyway? I would like to hope so.

Do you not agree it would have more effective if they would have been able to wear their home kit but wore that instead?

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Choosing a game where they didn't have to wear a change strip anyway would have been a good place to start.

Spot on!!