Rebel

I have to admit I was hoping that we'd have signed a few more players by now so that we could hit the ground running. Unfortunately its starting to look like we will have a slow stuttering start to the season as we try to move the players on we don't want and bring in players we do want. I just hope it doesn't cost us when it comes to the end of the season and the race for promotion. It does look like we need to sell some players before we can bring others in - issue with the size of the wage bill and limited transfer funds I would guess - and we seem to be struggling to get rid of players. The difference is in Maddison Leicester had a player that other clubs wanted as he is seen as a match winner and a player that can change games - which meant they could sell him early and start spending the money. Unfortunately I don't really think that Ward-Prowse or Lavia are seen that way - and they are probably our most saleable assets.

Shea Charles looks like a great signing..... to add some depth to central midfield and provide some cover and competition at defensive midfield.... but we still need some experience and leadership in the middle of the pitch. I am taking it as done that Lavia and Ward-Prowse will be leaving but even if they were both staying we still need more experience on the pitch- and dare I say it some leadership. If we add Grimes and Downes as well I would be very very happy. if we are raiding city's academy again can we come back with Calum Doyle as well please - left footed centreback who excelled in the Championship at Coventry last season. If we can keep Stephens and Bednarek for their experience and add some youth and potential like Doyle and Nathan Woods at the back we should be more than OK at the back next season. What I don't want to see is a back 4 with 3 or 4 players under 23 - or a team with 50% of more of the players under 23. To get the best out of young players you need a solid frame or spine of the team to hang them on.

What about Weymouth, Dorchester and dare I say it Bournemouth. There used to be a lot of Saints fans based in those places. What about Alresford - that's a Saints area as well? Newbury? There was a group of Saints fans who used to sit behind use from Gosport and there are quite a few based in Fareham. In reality I think Saints catchment area is really most of Hampshire (excepting the South East Corner) plus large areas of East Dorset and South Wiltshire, as well as a parts of South West Berkshire. The rise of traditionally smaller teams such as Bournemouth and Reading has had an impact though. Its really anywhere in the wider South Coast / South Central socio economic area which is centred on Southampton. You could argue the core areas are really Southampton itself, Eastleigh, Romsey, Winchester and Totton. Eastleigh Town didn't exist when I was a kid - they were callled Swaythling then if I remember correctly. I grew up in Eastleigh, but both my parents grew up in Southampton, and I now live in Winchester - a pattern which is similar to many Saints fans I know. I also know a few Saints fans who went to University in Southampton and stayed around and now support Saints (but grew up in Essex and Kent for example).

I don’t know what world you live in - probably a bit of a strange one. There was no nudge nudge wink wink. Just some guy being a bit cheeky and asking JWP the question where is he going - more as banter than anything else. And he answered he didn’t know yet - which could also be taken as the most nothing answer he could give without being rude or giving anything away. Very JWP. The guy wished him well and he said thank you.

I think people are severely underestimating how many players are going to leave this summer. I think its pretty much a forgone conclusion both Lavia and Ward-Prowse are leaving. A lot of players will want to leave and we will need the money sales bring in to sign new players, pay any debts off (transfers and loans) and fund the club for the next 3 years. We also need to cut our bloated squad and our wage bill (even with the salary cuts) (as an aside JWP was in Winchester Sainsbury's last week and someone asked him where was he was going - and he didn't say nowhere - he said he didn't know yet - which I read as he is going to leave Saints for a premier league club) If we took Downes on loan for a season with an option to buy as part of a deal for JWP I'd be OK with that. But I can see JWP ending up a Fulham for about £30M - means he can still live in Shawford/Compton and commute down the M3. I don't think he will be the first choice of any of the bigger clubs - not helped by his form last season and confusion over whether he's an 8 or a 6.. He needs to go somewhere where he will play as an 8 and not a 6 - back to his original and best position. We need at least 2 defensive midfielders or 6s - we only really have Lavia and he is off. JWP is really and 8 and he will be off as well. Alcaraz and Smallbone are 8s really as well (maybe 10s) as is Stuart Armstrong. I was hoping for Grimes at a minimum - Downes as well would be great. Ampadu as a 6 who can drop back in the CB position - or as a right CB that can move up in to midfield would be a good addition.

My brother in law was a skate bastard. But the good news is my sister divorced him and took him for almost everything. And my nephew is now a Saints fan. But the punch line is her new man is good friends with Mr Westwood (but supports Liverpool).

I remember watching Choudhury play for Leicester and thinking he can't play football - he couldn't really control the ball or pass it very well and had very little awareness of what as going on around him when he had the ball (bit like Diallo). All he had really was a heavy tackle.

Agree with all that but I'd argue a key missing ingredient was a starting defensive midfielder to play alongside Lavia, allowing JWP to play further forward. Not too mention a second left back to provide competition and cover for Perraud (and allowing KWP to stay on the right) as well as a good replacement for the injured Livramento. But these were all needed back in the summer - not January or never.

Ryan Manning and Joel Latibeaudiere Monday 3rd July.

I think the reality is we do need to sell players - firstly to get players of the wage bill and reduce it to a level that we can afford over the next 3 years of parachute payments, and secondly so we have money to bring in new players (fees and wages). Even with the parachute payments I am not sure we could pay all of our current wage bill commitments - or afford new players unless we sell some players first. And don't forget players will need to be paid off to leave (have their contracts paid up) - so if we sell a player for £10M we are not necessarily going to see all of it after sell on %, contract pay-offs and agents commissions. So selling one or two players won't be enough. I don't think Sports Republic are going to be putting any more money in - we will need to fund our promotion push over the next 3 years from player sales and the parachute payments. Unfortunately it looks like Livramento might be a victim of this situation - relatively cheap to pay off and we'll get a reasonable fee for him (minus any sell on % to Chelsea). I wouldn't be surprised if we replaced him with Joel Latibeaudiere at right back - once of Man City's academy and on a free transfer from Swansea. I can see Perraud being replaced by Ryan Manning at left back in the same way and for the same reason - another free transfer from Swansea. At least both players will be used to Martin's system. Harry Winks looks like he would be perfect for Martin's system - would be quite happy to see him at St Mary's next season.

We did have a style of play under Adkins - maybe not as idealistic. We tried to play out from the back and used the fullbacks to give us width and carry the ball forward - but we weren't adverse to playing on the break or the long ball to Rickie Lambert who would drop deep and wide to the left to receive the ball in space - and then turn and look to pass or carry it forward.

Sulemana may well speak French - but the official language of Ghana is English. Tanswell's article suggested the French Speakers and the African players had formed 'cliques' - whether this was one or two cliques was not clear. Mara, Djneppo, Lavia, Diallo and Perraud speak French. ABK was born in Paris and his dad played for Cameroon (French speaking) - so although he's German he probably speaks French as well. Oaunachu (Nigeria) plus Salisu and Sulemana (Ghana) speak English - but possibly French as well given the West African connection. Would Aribo count as one of the African players given he plays for Nigeria but was born in London? Personally my instinct would be to get rid of any player that was part of a disruptive clique and didn't show commitment to the team.

Hummel seem to over design the kits - too much designer detail. The 21/22 kit was pretty good apart from the shaded chevrons in the stripes which ruined it. This seasons looks more like Ajax than Saints - with a little bit more thought and a couple of think stripes they could have made it more like the early 70s kit and sold probably twice as many shirts. But surely the obvious thing for Hummel to do is go for the half and half shirt we all remember from the last time they were our kit suppliers. If they are looking for somethiing different another sash shirt would have been the way to go. As the saying goes keep it simple stupid

Does anyone think any of the young players out on loan will return and get a place in the squad next season, apart from Tella and Smallbone? What about Caleb Watts, Kegs Chauke, Dynel Simeu, Dan N’Lundulu, Kazeem Olaigabe, Thierry Small, Jack Bycroft? Surely Watts, Olaigabe and Chauke can give us some depth in midfield. And what about Jake Vokins - he’s already back from loan. Could he provide cover at left back? And could Lewis Payne provide competition at right back?

Southampton need more than a thousand bad ideas after their whimper-less relegation - https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-southampton-need-a-complete-reset-but-can-sport-republic-deliver-ward-prowse

No identity, no intensity: How Southampton were relegated from the Premier League Relegation to the Championship means a reset in approach after seasons of poor transfer work https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/southampton-relegated-premier-league-ruben-selles-b2338324.html

We definitely need a major squad overhaul to get rid of the deadwood, and change the losing mentality of the players. We also need to add some experience and leadership to the squad - and provide a solid spine the team can be built around and create a framework upon which the good young players we have can be developed. And the other thing we need to add is some physicality to the team. Once the saleable assets - Lavia, JWP, KWP, Salisu and ABK - have been sold to generate some cashflow and the players that don't want to be here have moved on (Orsic, Diallo, Elyounoussi) we won't have much of a squad left . Even if we keep the potentially good young players in Livramentio, Alcaraz, Sulemana, Edozie, Mara and Bazunu and bring back Smallbone and Tella we will still need to add depth and experience to the squad or next season will be another one of struggle. We probably need to add 6 or 7 proven players to the squad - at the very least a first choice goalkeeper, a goal scoring striker, a central holding midfielder, a dominating centre back and a left back and a right back. And that will allow us to use the other returning players like Lis, Simeu, Watts, Chauke, N'Lundulu and Olaigbe - plus the youngsters like Ballard, Doyle and Payne to add depth to the squad - and give them a chance to develop without throwing them to the wolves.

Anyone that thinks Stephens and Tella are coming back from Bournemouth or Burnley are fooling themselves when they have a chance of playing premier league football at those clubs next season. Orsic will be first out of the door by the sound of it followed quickly by the 'saleable assets - Lavia, Ward-Prowse, ABK, KWP and Salisu. Adams has a year left on his contract and has been linked to clubs like Everton and Leeds - so I can't see him staying around whether we go down or stay up. Elyounoussi is out of contract - and by all accounts doesn't want to play in the Championship despite having a contract offer of on the table. But hopefully he goes whatever happens. Sounds like McCarthy will go whatever happens as well given his reported wage cut - again time to move on for him. Walcott and Caballero should probably retire. AMN's loan comes to an end and he is out of contract and Arsenal - I think he'd stay but I don't think we will want him. Lycano & Bednarek have both looked to move in the recent past (for game time or on to bigger and better things) and I don't think they will want to play in the Championship so they will look to move - and without being trapped by their premier league wages this time. And I would expect Caleta-Car, Peraud, Ounachu and Djneppo are all thinking the same as well. Hopefully Aribo is thinking the same thing - and we can persuade Crystal Palace, West Ham or someone to take him off our hands on the cheap. And it sounds like Diallo is having the same thoughts - he has a year left so its time to get rid of him anyway - plus he's been more than underwhelming so we should be getting rid of him anyway. Stu Armstrong also has just a year left - and doesn't seem to be the player he once was. With the cut in wages I can see him returning earlier than planned to Scottish Football and one last longer term contract somewhere like Hibs or Hearts. Adam Armstrong we should sell to Ipswich or whoever wants him. The same with Bree. That leaves us with Mara, Alcaraz, Edozie, Livramento, Larios, Bazunu and Sulemana plus some of the returning players like Smallbone, Watts, Lis, Chauke, Olaigbe, Simeu, N'Lundulu, Small and Vokins and a few of the good kids such as Payne, Doyle, Ballard, Dibling to build around. If we add an experienced spine made up of proven players from the Championship aged 24-28 such as Matt Grimes, Joel Piroe, Ryan Manning and a couple of 'young stars' on loan from Citeh or Chelski and maybe one to two 'great prospects' from abroad and we may have a chance at a new beginning. I would add that we need a good first choice goalkeeper and a couple of dominant centre backs, a proven goal scorer and a hardened defensive midfield in that 'spine' though.

it as bad as the team that got relegated from the Championship to League 1 - and that doesn't bode well

JWP will leave in the summer if we go down without a doubt. Although Ralph's 4-2-2-2 system got the best out of a limited squad for a while he failed to evolve it or move it forward. And unfortunately I don't think it gets the best out of JWP. To me his best position is on the right of a 4-3-3 allowing him to get forward and make the killer pass or get the cross in - as well as shoot himself. Being one of 2 defensive midfielders doesn't really play to his strengths. Although he did a great job alongside Romeu when the team was in its 4-2-2-2 groove. As for a manager - we need a manager with some proven experience and record of achievement as well as as defined way of playing - but one who shows some flexibility as well. When we sacked Ralph any one of Dominic Tedesco, Unai Emery or Gallardo (from River Plate) would have been perfect for us. All have a record of playing 4-2-2-2 and either evolving that system (Tedesco at RB Leipzig) or playing it with flexibility (Emery & Gallardo). That ship has sailed unfortunately - but now someone like Potter would be great for us - but they must have a team of proper qualified and experienced coaches around them. To be fair to Ralph he did lack the players he needed to move the system forward or even play it properly once Ings was sold and not replaced. Letting Romeu go without a proper replacement was probably the killer blow.

We will need to rebuild the spine or core of the team - call it what you will - this summer with players who are proven at championship level in the 24-28 age bracket so we have the experience and potential to get back up in 2 or 3 years. The current team - once you take out the star players JWP, KWP and Lavia who will undoubtedly leave plus the likes of Che Adams and Salisu who only have a year left on their contracts - will struggle in the Championship. I think the Grimsby game proved that. A lot of players like ABK, Orsic, Caleta-Car, Bednarek and Lyanco will also look to leave us this summer. They won’t want to play in the Championship and hopefully relegation clauses in their contracts mean they won’t be ‘stuck’ here on big wages they can’t get elsewhere. Walcott, Caballero and Elyounoussi should all be allowed to leave when their contracts end. same with AMN and his loan. Tella is not coming back from Burnley and Stephens will stay at Bournemouth if they stay up. I’d happily let Adam Armstrong join Ipswich if they are serious. Hopefully Diallo, Djneppo and Aribo will be moved on as well. The team needs a major overhaul to change its mentality - and it’s losing habit. The young players on loan like Simeu, Watts, Chauke, Smallbone, N’Lundulu and Olaigabe will be back and give us some strength in depth. But we really need to brining in players like Matt Grimes and Joel Piroe from Swansea, Gyorekes and Gustavo Hamer from Coventry - the best players in the championship from the teams that won’t get promoted - to give us that solid and experienced spine we lack. Maybe we should bring Target back from Newcastle. Add a few gems from lesser leagues abroad and maybe one or two loans from the Premier League (eg Djed Spence) and hopefully we will have a competitive team. But most importantly we need a proper manager with a defined way of playing and a team of proper coaches to support him.

I think it will be more a question of who will stay after we go down - not who will leave. Walcott, Elyounoussi and Caballero are all out of contract and should leave whatever happens. Maitland-Niles loan will be at an end so he should go as well. The 'star players' will hopefully got for big money if we go down as we are going to need the cash - JWP, Lavia and KWP. You could possibly include ABK in this list given he's a German international. Che and Salisu have a year left on their contracts so they will be leaving this summer whether we stay up or go down - hopefully we'll get a decent fee for Salisu as he seems to be a wanted man. Then there are the players like Bednarek, Lyanco, Caleta-Car, Orsic, Mara, Ounachu, Sulemana, Alcaraz who won't want to play in the Championship - and will probably have relegation clauses in their contracts cutting their wages (meaning they wont be priced out of moves away this summer in the case of Lyanco and Bednarek) or allowing them to leave on low fees. Then there are players like Djneppo and Diallo (has a year left anyway) who are probably not good enough anyway and will probably accept a move back to French football if their wages get cut. Maybe they will even push for it. Stuart Armstrong will only have a year left - and he seems to be past his best for whatever reason - and I can see him semi-retiring back to Scotland if his wages get cut for a longer contract on less money somewhere like Hibs or Hearts. Stephens will stay at B'mth if they stay up and we go down. So who stays? Perraud, Adam Armstrong, Livramento, McCarthy, Bree, Bazunu, Edozie, Lis, Larios? (McCarthy s rumoured to want out and Perraud will probably want to go back to the French League). Chauke, Simeu, Watts, Smallbone, Tella, N'Lundulu, Vokins will all be back from loans I guess (although I am sure Tella will be pushing to leave for Burnley) But if you ask me we are going to need a complete rebuild - but with proven Championship players - not youthful potential - and that's just to keep our heads above water in the Championship. I hope we keep hold of players like Mara, Alcaraz and Sulemana but I am not sure I can see it.

isn't it more or just as likely to be the footballers collapsing on the pitch weren't vaccinated and then caught Covid - maybe not badly at the time - but suffered long term consequences from Covid which led them to collapse on the pitch we don't have the information / data to say one way or the other but based on the occurrences of Long Covid I think one is more likely than the other As for Matt he is using his past and status as a footballer and pundit to comment on things he has no more qualifications or knowledge to comment on than the drunk in the pub - but he has a platform and an audience they don't maybe if the things he was saying were reasonable or actually made sense it wouldn't be so bad - but he seems to have gone a bit mad the last thing a right wing free market finance driven Tory party wanted to do was lock down the country - if they wanted to control the population they wouldn't have reduced police numbers by 20,000 over ten years or cut the size of the army and it makes me laugh when people tweet or post on social media about microchips in the vaccine being used to control them. monitor them or whatever else - do they realise what's in their hand every time they do it or what data is being collected by the app they are using he can think and say what he wants in his own home as far as I am concerned - but he shouldn't be saying it out loud in the media as he is abusing his position which comes from football he should stick to talking about football in public - but I am sure there is an element of needing to make money out of it now I met him in a pub once after a home game against West Ham got cancelled - he was friendly, down to earth and bought a round of drinks for a group of us - we got talking to his brother originally - so I always thought he was a nice guy - and got the same feedback from other family members that came across him they say don't ever meet your hero's as they are never what you hoped they were - have to say that meeting wasn't too bad as far as that goes but now he's just comes across as a bit of idiot - a bit delusional, a bit paranoid - its all a bit of a tragedy really

The club should keep well clear of Jess Thorup and/or anyone else connected to the 'statisticsball' football style and metrics of Midtylland - it may have worked in the Premier League back in the 90s and in the old 1st Division before that - and maybe still in the lower leagues now - but its not fit for the modern premier league. I think we will end up with Marsch - but mostly because he is free and available - and I would guess relatively cheap in comparison to other options. But if that ends up being the case I hope its only a 6 month contract and we appoint a long term manager in the summer. We don't really have the players for the RedBull 4-2-2-2 and the high press which is a large part of why it went wrong with Ralph so I am not sure appointing a manager whi plays the same way as Ralph - but not as well - would solve any real problems. The squad we have is better suited to a 4-3-3 and a low block. To be honest I think it is probably too late - Sports Republic's series of bad decisions and delayed decision have made relegation more or less inevitable now. If that does happen we need to appoint a young forward thinking and progressive (high press, possession based football, tactical awareness) manager like Jaissle or Knutsen in the summer with the remit to rebuild the team and get us promoted back to the Premier League There is an outside chance Marsch could keep us up - but I don't think he is the right manager for the long term. If by some miracle he does keep us up I still think we should look for a more progressive and tactically astute manager in the summer. We should keep away from managers like Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney until they have proven they are actually any good as managers (Rooney looks like he will but he's need more time to develop as coach). The same with yesterday's men like Bruce and Allardyce - they would just delay the problem. Sports Republic should have gone for Tedesco in November (Gallardo was always out of our reach) - or replaced Ralph in the summer.

I think we need to be realistic here - barring a miracle we are going down this season so whoever is the next manager at Saints will have to be willing to take on a rebuilding job over the summer and push for a promotion back to the premier league next season - and one that is not guaranteed right now Kompany is far more likely to be a Premier League manager next season if he stays at Burnley than if he moves to Saints I think we are probably looking at someone from a league outside the top 5 leagues who needs to prove himself at a higher level before managing in a top 5 league - and the Championship would be perfect for that. Just like Kompany did last summer. Knutsen from Bodo/Glimt for example. Similarly Carrick probably has a better chance of being a premier league manager in the long run sticking with Boro - he will either get them promoted this season or next or get a premier league job at a stable club after another good season in the Championship Jones is certainly part of the problem right now but I am not sure any manager would succeed with our current batch of players. I certainly have no idea what his front foot aggressive football looks like - although the evidence so far suggest its direct long ball football and fighting for the second ball. A statistics based approach that I thought was long gone at the top level along with Don Howe and his coaching manuals. But too many players (Diallo, Djneppo, Aribo, Bednarek, Adams, Elyounoussi, Armstrong, Maitland-Niles, Lycano, Bree) just aren't good enough for the premier league and many others just don't have enough experience whether they are good enough or not (Larios, Lavia, ABK, Edozie, Mara, Alcaraz, Bazunu). (and those lists aren't exhaustive) And we still have big holes in the squad - we are still missing a real alternative at left back and defensive midfielder. Sports Republic have to take the responsibility for bringing in Jones and his metrics - but also for the make up of the squad - for the focus on youthful players with potential and greater resale value rather then players that would actually improve the first team right here and now in the summer. And above all else for not signing at least one if not two goal scorers in the summer, replacing Romeu in the middle and not signing an experienced first choice goalkeeper. I think the January signings were probably too little too late to make the difference needed.