saintant

Nobody is pissing themselves.

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Maybe these discussions about 'the coast' could be moved to The Lounge.

Ronnie came to us with the potential to become a regular first choice but so far it hasn't happened. He is still young and hopefully will develop although may not get much first team action this season. To take the extra step he will probably need to toughen up because, at times in our first game, he did get bullied by Keiffer Moore. Also he'll need to improve his ability to compete and win aerial duels but is not tall for a centre back. Currently, among his strengths, seem to be reading the game, passing and bringing the ball out of defence. Maybe another loan would have been the best thing for him unless Will thinks he can work with him and improve his deficiencies.

Aribo is well capable of doing a good job in the Championship and may well have been in the manager's thoughts but for the fact that he made it clear he wanted to move on. Still has repeatedly said he does not want players who do not want to be here. However, if Aribo doesn't find another club I think he should be reintegrated into the squad and considered on merit - if so he would be a valuable asset.

Exactly this - I am amazed he didn't just bin this interview instead of putting it out there for Saints fans to listen to when it is so critical of a player we have just signed. Blackmore should know better.

That's how it came across to me.

No five at the back thanks - horrible formation.

This German guy hardly had a good word to say about him 🙂

Presumably you have a better idea of the true figures and will share the details with us in short order.

Isn't he banned from St Marys? If not he should be.

We're better than Plymouth and Exeter 🙂

They've sign an aging goalkeeper on a free in Begovic, Jordan James and Aaron Ramsey on season long loans (not exactly inspiring) plus Julian Carranza on a season long loan with option to buy. He scored goals in America but not many elsewhere. All pretty uninspiring to me but we'll see.

I disagree and think Will Still is likely to want two centre backs on the bench. As to who starts in a back four your picks of Stephens and THB are probably right. Along with others I prefer THB in a centre back partnership of two and think he feels more comfortable with it too as it means his role is clear. Stephens still worries me as he never seems aware of danger lurking around him and is reactive (usually too late) rather than proactive. He's captain so will continue to start but, if he doesn't sharpen up, I hope Will has the nous to drop him.

Agree, not a fan of a centre back taking long throw-ins deep in opposition territory unless it's late in the game and we are losing.

Regards Dibling I think what we lost when he left was potential because let's be honest he did very little apart from the odd spark early season. So we didn't lose a player who was scoring for fun and providing assists. I think Fellows and Scienza will be upgrades although Tyler, of course, may eventually fulfil his potential.

He looks superb in the clips. There is one where he is tight to the right touchline, he flicks the ball over his opponent, cuts past another player then threads a sublime pass though to a team mate near the edge of the box and, from absolutely nothing, a goal is scored.

I'm expecting the goals to be shared around and we won't be reliant on Archer. I think Will Still is going to be asking Fellows, Scienza and Azaz to all look to be regular goal scorers not just providers. All 3 look to have the tools to be able to take on opponents, get in the box or within shooting range and should give us a fair bit of extra fire power.

I think he's considered a valuable squad member and will probably get plenty of games.

Yes and the club shop can finally sell some of those letter Z's that have been clogging up the stockroom.

I think Will Still quickly realised that he needed to be utterly ruthless in removing the linger of Russball from the squad and he's done that in a clinical manner. It had to be done although I never thought we'd see so many out of the door. He now has the chance to put his own stamp on the side with players brought in to fit his systems and I can imagine he's very excited about that. We'll know after about ten games whether this root and branch reset is going to work but I have high hopes that it's going to revolutionise us in a good way.

Don't agree that the Pompey game will be a litmus test or much of an indicator other than maybe how we cope under pressure. It's a one-off huge derby game and the first for some in the squad so trying to play football will almost go out the window. Much rather judge in a handful of games time when Will Still has had more time to work with the squad and the players start to gel.

Think we can safely confirm it'll be Will Still's team whoever he picks. This is an almost total reset and has been too long coming. Not saying it's sure to be a success but it feels like an exorcism.

Yeah if you want an old bloke propping up your defence 🙂

Which tweet?