Tommy Mulgrew

On Sky channel 404 starting after the ads that are on now. Enjoy.

Are you Gavin Bazunu?

I see Bazunu played in goal for Stoke today and made two whole saves for a clean sheet, albeit against Sheffield Wednesday.

sounds like he had a good game: “superb solo effort” but a shame that it consigned Truro City to relegation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/cvg08l04n9pt three goals in the last 10 or so minutes.

Straight up is better. Straight down is worse. Straight backward is … well, let’s just say, the least desirable option.

Continuing his unstoppable upward trajectory, Russell Martin is surely the obvious choice to confirm Spurs’ relegation in the coming few weeks and achieve the subsequent promotion from the Championship. He has impeccable form, albeit the promotion came last time before the relegation of his team after he was sacked. Come on Spurs; you know it makes sense.

This is the Israel team tonight; I hope the right D Peretz comes back to St Mary’s: ISR 1Daniel Peretz 18Omri Glazer 12Stav Lemkin 3Roy Revivo 21Yarden Cohen 13Nikita Stoioanov 5Idan Nachmias 2Eli Dasa 14Guy Mizrahi 8Dor Peretz 6Omri Gandelman 16Gavriel Kanichowsky 7Yarden Shua 15Eliel Peretz 11Oscar Gloukh 9Tai Baribo 10Dor Turgeman 17Anan Khalaili 19Stav Torial SUBSTITUTES 4Or Blorian 20Yarin Levi 24Liran Rotman 22Itamar Noy 23Niv Eliasi

Jayden was Eastleigh’s MotM in his first game for them; a promising start.

Absolutely. 🤩

Paul Gilchrist: not the luckiest player to wear a Saints shirt. DATE OF BIRTH 5 JAN 1951 DARTFORD TOTAL APPEARANCES 12013 SUB YEARS PLAYED 1971 — 1977 GOALS 22 “Overawed”, he confesses, as a teenager at his local club, Second Division Charlton, Paul Gilchrist was much out on loan, even dropping into the Southern League at Yeovil, before he found a niche at Fourth Division Doncaster. But this was March 1972 and Davies had scored only four goals all season. True, the arrival of Gilchrist appeared to galvanise Ron, who scored another seven in April. Even so, he finished behind Mick Channon in the scoring charts for the third consecutive season. Indeed, Ron’s dominant role had become one of “putting Channon in”. Gilchrist’s subtlety of touch equipped him well for this part. This attribute also meant that he was comfortable, playing deeper, as he most productively demonstrated in his fourth full season of 1975-76. In the FA Cup Fifth Round v West Brom, he came in for Peter Osgood, who had been playing behind Channon and Bobby Stokes. Having scored a spectacular goal when the tie went to a Dell replay, he became a midfielder upon Osgood’s return, replacing Nick Holmes in the Sixth Round and then Fisher, all the way to Wembley, contributing another goal in the semi-final. He had played a one-two with Osgood, 25 yards out, and when “no one challenged”, he “decided to have a shot.” The break-up of the Cup-Final team, the next season, came quickly. Paul was among those dropped after the opening-day defeat at home to Carlisle. He would make only two more appearances for the Saints, both of them – in the League and League Cup – back at The Valley, before he made a couple of unwise career-choices. First, he opted for a one-year contract on loan to Alahfi in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Both on and off the pitch, this proved a “disaster”. He returned after three months and soon moved to Third Division Portsmouth – an even bigger mistake, he reckons. He remained in the lower divisions with Swindon, where being signed over the manager’s head by Danny Williams the Director of Football he was never really accepted by the manager, Bob Smith despite scoring six goals in ten games. This lead him to Hereford where he was ever-present in their 1979-80 run-in, scoring in their last-day win that was not enough to spare them having to seek re-election. They were voted back, but Paul had played his last game in competitive football. During a pre-season friendly behind closed doors against Wolves, he suffered a snapped cruciate ligament in a less-than-friendly tackle. It rankles to this day that not one Wolves player came to see how he was after game. although it took a year of unsuccessful treatment before it was decided that he was finished before he was 30. There was talk of Southampton arranging a testimonial for him with a present Saints side taking on the FA Cup team which would have been raised a nice sum to retire on, but Lawrie McMenemy ruled that there was no dates available in a busy schedule and so it was Paul had to make do with a “pitiful” £750 payment from the PFA. With bills to pay, he and a partner opened a fitness centre, catering for businesses in Swindon. The first of its type, it was widely copied – so much so that Paul sold up after seven years and moved near to Tunbridge Wells. although he worked for BMW in Redhill, where he was an after-sales/service adviser. He then worked for Caterham Cars for a few years but has now retired and found the time to have a full knee replacement.

Interesting analysis of the Oxford game: https://www.attackingfootball.com/how-southampton-beat-oxford-2-0-tactical/

No shots, no assists, no chances created, no tackles attempted, no passes made, no fouls committed, no fouls attracted; absolutely nothing to show from his 30 minutes on the pitch (23 minutes plus 7 minutes extra time). Mind you, he did not commit either of the two fouls that gave away penalties that Dortmund scored from. Not much different from his time here. 🙁

A bit like us, then. 😇

A really pertinent quote from Tonda after the game yesterday: ”… Southampton has not been known for being a team that suffers and accepts not having the ball for a couple of moments but being resilient - and we are making some good steps in that direction. …"

For a few weeks now, we have benefited from the results of a whole load of other games going our way in a way that I cannot remember before: usually in a promotion chase or a relegation battle other games tend to throw up an ever increasing succession of hurdles for us to overcome. This time, it could not have been better for us if we could determine others’ results ourselves. Hence, I think I shall steel myself for a swinging reversal of our fortunes in a few weeks time. We’ll get into the play-offs all right. But then the pay-back for our good fortune so far will kick in and kick us up the jacksie. That’s what a long lifetime of supporting Saints does to you!

Rambo recognition from Deeney on BBC website: “After every round of Premier League matches this season, BBC football pundit Troy Deeney will give you his team and manager of the week. Here are this week's choices. Do you agree? Give us your thoughts using the comments form at the bottom of this page. Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle): He was a huge part of why they won against Chelsea, not just for his saves and collecting balls into the box, but for his ability to play out from the back as well. ...”

He's made that position of not offering anything in attack, and yet not supporting or defending his very own. Tonight: 13 passes and an astounding 15.4% passing accuracy; no goals, no assists, no chances created, no tackles made; he played for 83 minutes and committed three fouls (he was, however, fouled once). Some things never change.

New deal for Saints midfielder Williamspublished at 16:01 GMT Barnaby Williams has made two appearances for Southampton this season Southampton midfielder Barnaby Williams has signed a new contract with the Championship club until the summer of 2029. The 19-year-old was out of action for several months after being involved in a car crash in 2024, but he recovered from his injuries and was handed a first senior appearance as a half-time substitute in Saints' 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in November. Williams also appeared in the FA Cup fourth-round win over Leicester City last month. Saints' director of group talent strategy Andy Goldie said: "After an incredibly challenging season, Barnaby has bounced back even stronger, regularly impressing with the Under-21s and grabbing his opportunities with the first team."

Try this, it’s basically the same article: https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/tonda-eckert-huge-southampton-changes-some-bizarre/

Crumpet for afternoon tea, steak for dinner, a sticky pudding for afters; watched the rugby go to the final kick; now waiting for the @Convict Colony-inspired finale. As for our match, we rode our luck but we made it by a performance that was so unlike us in recent years and the sheer grit, determination and shithousery was a sight to behold and, for me, made it the most satisfying performance for many years: a proper football match between two (almost) equally matched teams. Peretz, Bree and Downes men of the match.

This chart illustrates what subjectively most of us have thought of Azaz so far this season: a lot of creative potential but not much else: Now, Ireland international Finn Azaz is consistently finding space in front of the midfielders. He can drop to provide support during an opposition press. As the Saints progress, he will operate behind the striker, where he’s most effective in dictating play in the final third. He comfortably operates among the highest in terms of playmaking, finding himself in the 97th percentile for key passes and the 60th percentile for progressive passes. Finn Azaz (25/26) stats by DataMB. Finn Azaz (25/26) stats by DataMB. Almost the very definition of a luxury player. He flickers brightly in some games but is too easily snuffed out in others. To those of us brought up on MLT, he leaves a lot to be desired. But beggars cannot be choosers. In the Championship he is worth having in our set-up but (IMO) he won’t cut it in the EPL.

West Brom deserve this; they have fought well and outmuscled us. We are pedestrian, purposeless and pathetic. If we do manage to get a point (and as I type this we SCORE), it will be an injustice. Excellent cross from Edozie and a great header from Larin. Now we awake from our slumber and go for the winner. On the balance of the whole game we do not deserve it.

Peretz comes across well in this video of him talking about 1976 although he did not seem to realise that Saints were a second division club at the time: https://www.facebook.com/reel/889621920576037/ For those who love a bit of nostalgic action, I’ve added two brief reminders of our ability to score at Fulham: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1275461907835869/ https://www.facebook.com/reel/1733262260020320/?locale=en_GB and the highlights of our 4:2 victory from 2:0 down with 24 minutes remaining; magic hattrick from Beats, and one from Omerplod (even Fabrice shines in these clips): https://www.facebook.com/reel/1733262260020320/?locale=en_GB

Going down on the ref and gobb(l)ing him off. I must have missed that this afternoon. Whatever next! 😳