austsaint

As a judge of players, you make an excellent Administrator. Perhaps you should do more administrating?

What I believe to be true is that Martin couldn’t wait to bin a young, talented midfielder like Alcaraz off in favour of a not so talented midfielder named Smallbone who Martin described as making him very happy whenever he was on the pitch. That told me everything about Martin’s judgement concerning recruitment and retention of players.

He could. I remember the astonishment as each week of the transfer window 12 months ago passed and KWP was still here. Fernandes staying would be equally miraculous; it would give the whole Club a huge boost. If he is to be sold, I hope the Club stay firm with a valuation of at least 40 million pounds. Even at that price, the buying Club would be well rewarded.

The three (or six I suppose) most satisfying wins next season would be Pompey, Leicester (if Russell gets the job) and Charlton…. in that order.

I could see him as next seasons “super sub” , our own Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

There were a couple of hiccups early in Mane’s Saints career, yet you could see very early on that he was a special talent. From memory it was an early game v Arsenal where he drew a penalty; made several attacking runs and troubled the Arsenal defence. He remains among the very top Saints players in my 35 years watching the Club. Sulemana divides opinion, but given his transfer fee, has been disappointing….. he’s more than a sprinter with a trick though. Watching his spirited performance on Sunday, it was notable that no other Saints attacking player could keep up when he made several counter attacking runs. Despite what some posters claim, he was wilfully overlooked by Manager Martin. Given that Will Still knows Sulemana well, it wouldn’t surprise if he remained and played the Championship season. He may yet, belatedly repay some of that record transfer fee. He’s no Sadio Mane though.

I’m wondering how new manager Still is going to decide who goes, and who stays. I’m assuming he hasn’t seen many Saints games to base his opinions on. Who does he take advice from; how many video replays does he watch? Will he try to convince a gem like Fernandes to stay. I’ll be majorly disappointed if players like Bree, Manning and Smallbone are in the frame to be starters, or even on the bench when August comes around. How the new manager sorts out the many average players on our books is going to be his first major test.

Kreist almighty Farmer; there can’t be much happening on the estate at the moment. I’ll have to clean out my old storeroom in search of my trusty old Oxford Dictionary to see if it’s worth having a semantic tussle with you.

Oh no, not the dreaded “I question your Football knowledge” from the Footballing oracle, Farmer Saint. I actually said, the squad measured up to Leeds and Leicester; nowhere did I claim they were better. Team selections; tactics and style of play adopted by RM were other reasons many supporters weren’t happy with the Manager.

It was a pretty good achievement. My complaint with Martin is what he did (or didn’t do) following promotion. He made a virtue of the scar tissue associated with the squad he inherited, yet he showed a derelict naïveté in thinking the squad he shaped for the Prem could be competitive. His legacy is tainted by the shocking squad he assembled for the Prem and the ridiculous style of play he dogmatically stuck to.

Yet we finished 9 points and an inferior goal difference from the automatic places. Plenty of glitches alongside the famous run.

The quality of the squad in the Championship was not poor. It measured up favourably to Leeds and Leicester. The squad was shit in the PL, largely because Martin didn’t have the judgement to re-shape a competitive squad last summer. Following the Wilcox departure he had considerable say in recruiting and retention. The result?…… players of the calibre of Manning, Smallbone, Wood, BBD, Arma, Stephen’s were Martin’s picks to give the Prem a red hot go.

The promotion was wonderful, and of course Martin deserves credit, even if you could argue it was a harder won thing than might have been achieved by another Manager, given the quality of the squad. I’d say Martin created a shitshow following the promotion, rather than inherited one. S. Clarke’s forensic summary above details many reasons why he won’t be fondly remembered by many Saints supporters. Should he be given the Leicester job, I hope he comes in for Manning, Wood, Smallbone, Fraser, Bree and Bazunu. The least he could do for us in the circumstances!

Not so much “on the beach” as lost at sea.

Surprised Aribo is starting ahead of Ugochukwu.

Wellington is a good LB, and like Downes, is exactly the sort of player we need in the Championship. Will be In the top bracket of players lining up in the division. Manning would be ok backup, no more…..Wellington is by far the more gifted player.

I believe Downes is a cricket pitch in front of Aribo, and two cricket pitches better than Smallbone. But your observation is correct; we were vulnerable in CM during Martin’s Championship tilt and hopelessly exposed in the Prem.

Quite a few have praised Stewart, but I couldn’t see a player we should be putting much faith in next season. A lumbering type, without speed - not much of a hold up game. The run he made resulting in the correct non penalty ruling, was courtesy of an inch perfect KWP pass; Stewart had time to launch a shot but dithered and gave the CB time to recover. Not for the first time this season our subs weakened the team while Fulham’s did the opposite. The arrival of Traore exposed the defensive frailties of Manning and upped the Fulham pressure for most of the second half. Downes and Ugochukwu did well. You’d have to hope Downes is with us next season, and Chelsea are going to be returned a much improved young midfielder in Les. No surprise Ramsdale, KWP and Fernandes were Saint’s standouts again.

Not normally a fan of re-signing players, but Valery at RB next season would be fine with me. How old is he now, 26, 27. Showed a lot at times when a Saint as a young player.

I’m really doubting the idea that if Will S. beefed up and increased his muscle mass he’d be a better player. His limitations far exceed his attributes. I see someone who has a good first touch and is a technically good passer or recycler, particularly when not under any pressure. He would look impressive on the training pitch. It’s what made him so well suited to Martin’s game. Clearly though he can’t handle a two man partnership in CM and he isn’t good enough to play as an attacking midfielder. His good games and moments in the Championship for us were very well spaced - there were many mediocre, anonymous games where he was content to knock it round at the back as the possession stats were racked up. I think he should be moved on. The baseline for next seasons CM should include players like Charles, Downes and Ugochukwu, with a Fernandes type able to slot in when needed. Similarly, if Spors has ambitions of automatic promotion he needs better attacking midfielders than WS.

Les and Downes as the CM pairing laid the foundations for the spirited performance today. Athletic, aggressive, box-to-box players, they are the prototype for what’s needed next season - if not them, similar players. No more Smallbones or Airibos please; learn the lesson and make the CM solid, aggressive and with the capacity to trigger transition. Their performances compared well against the predictable,cautious JWP approach, which often seemed to slow the Hammers play down and allow a tempo which suited us. Sulemana was a handful, unlucky not to score, and despite his detractors has done enough to make a mockery of his treatment from Martin (Les too) and ensure the Club will recoup a good portion of his record transfer fee if he moves on in the Summer. Fernandes again impressive; what a player he is, and will be. Ramsdale , though not busy, made the saves others wouldn’t have to keep us in it until the Ugochukwu screamer arrived. Even our much maligned CBs played with structure and shape to deny all but the Bowen strike, made possible by some Manning slackness. Rusk played it down but it was good to draw level with Derby’s tally and it will be a moment of relief when another point or two leaves them with that unwanted record.

I like him, but a lot of gloss came off with those subs today. Smallbone for Sulemana shredded a lot of Rusk’s credibility. Archer, who showed some quality, being replaced by Stewart also weakened us. I’m trusting/hoping that Spors and his managerial appointment will realise that players like Smallbone and Stewart are not good enough to be first choice in the Championship next season.

At least you should have plenty of room to stretch out.

He is, sadly. Bang below average! Will that descriptor do?

Bang average at Prem level. Very, very good in the Championship. The evidence is overwhelming.