Rebel

I think we should be more worried about who will be ready for a promotion push in the Championship next season and which players will actually stay. I don't think Ramsdale or THB will be here for the start of next season for one thing. And I am pretty sure Bazunu, Larios, Sugawara, Archer and Edozie will be gone too. McCarthy and Long will be out of contract, as well as Stewart, Larin, Taylor, Aribo, Romeu, Smallbone and Bree (who I can't see staying given we pushed him out on loan at the start of the season). Jelert and Peretz loans will come to and end - but will we be able to afford the options to buy at £8M a player I think it is. It wouldn't surprise me if Downes and Manning left as well - but even if we can persuade them and players like Jander, Fellows, Scienza, Azaz and Charles to stay SR will have a massive rebuild on their hands. For a start we will need a new goalkeeper plus cover and 2 if not 3 new strikers.

I think you are right about the club trying to reduce the wage bill - the sale of Edwards and Armstrong and the loaning out of Aribo and Archer and exit of Fraser all point to it, along with the likely exits of Larios, Edozie and Kayi Sanda. With McCarthy, Long, Stewart, Aribo, Taylor, Smallbone and Bree out of contract and ABK either sold or the same and the likely exits of THB, Ramsdale, Downs, Sugawara and Brereton-Diaz the wage bill is going to go down quite a bit in the summer. It suggests they have given up on promotion this season and are trying to raise money to spend in the summer for a promotion challenge next season - or they are just cutting costs and preparing for what will be a long stay in the championship. Or possibly cutting costs in preparation for selling the club. To be honest I hope that is the case.

I thought Kayi Sanda was off to Rennes - or was that just a rumour. The question is will we get anywhere near the fee we overpaid Valenciennes for him to help out another Sport Republic club? Aribo won't go anywhere until his contract is up - no one else will pay him anywhere near what he's on at the moment on top of a fee - he doesn't seem to want to go loan as he's not seemingly bothered about playing - and he wants the massive signing on fee you get from signing on a free transfer. I can see us selling THB and cashing in if someone offers us far more than he's actually worth.

So just like every other city and town with a football league club they talk about football in the pubs and clubs and at work. Is the reason they think they are so special because not many of them have ever been anywhere else? I don't know where they get these myths from - that they are a special club with special support. They are no different to anyone else or any other place. The reality is they are probably closer to being one of the smaller clubs in the football league by support than one of the bigger clubs. And just like any stadium or ground the support can be great or terrible depending on who you are playing, how you are playing and everything else going on around the club. At least we don't seem to have these delusions about who or what we are.

Play a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 and we may have a chance of winning by playing to our strengths. Play 3-4-2-1 to hide our weaknesses and we will lose. With Bree, Welington and Jelert fit and able to play there is really no excuse for not going to 4 at the back and using Scienza and Fellows as wingers. Put Stewart up front and either play Adarma or Archer alongside him or Azaz behind him.

The data might have told you Damion Downs as going to be a great signing - but watching him once would have told you a completely different story. The big issue is data from the Bundesliga 2 or similar leagues doesn't necessarily translate to a faster, more physical and competitive league like the Championship. But also signing players with great potential is pointless if your coaching set up is abysmal or pretty much non-existent as it is at Saints. Who do we we really have on our coaching staff that is going to make players better or help them fulfil their potential? With our set up we really need to be signing ready made and finished product for the Championship. It makes you wish RedBull had bought us instead of Sport Republic - at least RedBull would have been competent owners and RedBull Southampton would have been a competitive premier league team.

I think we should have kept Bree and played him as the RCB or RB instead of spending supposedly £6M on Roerslev and brining Jelert in on loan. But loaning Bree out for half a season made no sense we should either have kept him, sold him or at worst loaned him out for the whole season to get most of the fee we paid for him back. Jelert looks like a great footballer but he looks a little small for the aggression and physicality of English football. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. We also could have played Ronnie Edwards at RB or RCB - as that was more or less the way he played at QPR - moving forwards in midfield with the ball - and to be honest at 5ft 11 he is probably too short to play centre back at the top level. I am guessing Roerslev at 6ft was brought in to add some height at the back on the right. I hope he turns out to be good but we haven't seen that much of him yet. He looked great at times but not so great at others when he played briefly. I am guessing they decided Edwards wasn't good enough for either role - RCB or RB - or they needed to cut costs with Bree coming back. At least now we have cover at right back with Bree as both Jelert and Roerslev seem a bit injury prone.

Welington looks a lot better defensively than Manning so I think he would be OK in a flat back 4 with Scienza providing the attacking and width in front of him. Its a bit ridiculous that we had 4 left backs on the books in the summer (no to mention Thierry Small and Jayden Meghoma as well not too long ago) and its still a position we are worried about. Saying that I would have sold Manning in the Summer and probably stuck with Welington and Taylor as the 2 left back options. I get the feeling Taylor wanted to leave so maybe we should have loaned him out and got Matt Targett in on loan - a left footed 6ft left back with a history of being one of the best in the championship in the that position. I think they did the right thing in loaning out Larios with the intention of putting him in the shop window to sell as he is just too small to play left back I think he is right footed anyway. He's probably better suited to a wide midfield role in a less aggressive/physical league anyway. When he did play he looked like he had good feet, positioning and passing but he just looked too small for the position in the EFl/Premier League. Unfortunately I think Jelert may be a in a similar situation. We should sell Manning in the summer and maybe keep Welington and sign Targett on a free.

the Leeds fans I have talked to say he is not the most physical or fastest of strikers despite his height - he's more of a second striker. So he might not be what we need most which is a centre forward. It sounds like he's more a taller version of what we have already got in Armstrong.

I not sure clique is the right word - but I do think there is something wrong with the player culture at St Mary's. We seem to have developed a loser culture and that needs to be changed. By coincidence I would have happily seen Stephens, Manning, Archer, Downes, Stewart, Armstrong, Fraser and THB moved on last summer and replaced by more physical and hungrier players. I think the individual players needed a reset somewhere else as much as the club did. The team needed a complete revamp or rebuild - whatever you want to call it.

here's the tweet from Alfie: "In an ideal summer 2026, I'd enthusiastically keep Charles, Jander, Fellows, Azaz, Scienza, Robinson and Armstrong. I'd hang on to Quarshie, Edwards and Wood. Roerslev if fit. I think I'd replace everyone else. Complete culture reset. Probably impossible though."

I have to admit I am not a Jason Wilcox fan. I don't think he's anywhere near as clever or as good as he thinks he is. Just copying Manchester City's masterplan at another club in a different league and with different environmental factors doesn't make you clever - it makes you a bit stupid really.

It was a tweet not an article - and then a series of replies to his tweet. The original tweet basically said he'd get rid of most of the players and rebuild the team around Jander, Scienza, Azaz, Fellow and Robinson I think. And then in the replies it was suggested THB, Stephens, Armstrong, Manning and Downes were a clique causing problems. More by other people than Alfie House but their omission from his list of players he'd keep said a lot. There a piece on the Ugly about it.

Teams have worked out how to play us by pressing the midfield space and inviting the back 3 to pass the ball between them until they make a mistake. And without a tall centre forward to lead the line and play direct to we become very predictable. We are relying on Scienza to magic up a chance. Fellows being back will give another attacking threat but we will still need to change it. It's time to ditch the back 3 and go to 4-2-3-1 with Scienza, Azaz and Fellow behind Armstrong. Jander and Downs in midfield and 2 fullbacks who can take it in turns to drift into midfield or join the front 4 - giving us a 2-3-5 when attacking. This would also give us more 'bodies' in midfield to play out to and the option of using the fullbacks to carry the ball forward and open up the pitch for a pass into Azaz, Scienza or Armstrong - or feed the wingers in front of them. Jander can also drop deep to pick up the ball and carry or pass it forward.

Yes - we definitely need a striker to provide cover and an alternative to Armstrong. Ideally someone physical with pace who can play as a number nine. I don't think Stewart will really play again this season - apart from maybe 1 or 2 substitute appearances at the end of the season. It looks like Archer is on his way out either on loan or permanent in January. And Downs should go out on loan somewhere to get more experience and toughen up. Josh Maja will only have 6 months left on his contract at WBA in January - maybe he could be a relatively cost effective solution if he's fully recovered from his injuries. As for Matsuki we should either play him or send him out on loan. I would have played him over Aribo at the weekend.