Saint Fan CaM

18/39 is not exactly to be sniffed at by a team like Saints, who until recently have found it difficult to score at all!

Yes, or goals in all competitions?

Don’t feel so bad. How many times have we seen him on the pitch, for how long and how many times did another player offer him the opportunity to use his head? And from what I saw he could control the ball well with his feet too. His one flaw IMO was his lack of movement, but the same could be said for others too.

Think I’d start Charles and Che to see if the extra height does make a difference both in attack and importantly in defence. Downes, assuming he signs, has to start if Smallbone is out. So difficult to predict either way but think it could be our first defeat with their home advantage…2-1. If we’re able to improve our defending, control midfield and score a couple of goals it’s ours for taking.

Report from Southampton FC Updates on X that talks have opened with Genk on a swap deal with Onuachu and Joseph Paintsil, who racked up 32 goals from 39 games. Sounds interesting.

Most issues have been highlighted already so I’ll keep this short. Enjoyable game…we deserved at least a draw. Norwich are a good team and knew how to hurt us. If we don’t sort out the weak transitions and zonal defending stuff we’ll struggle to stay in with a shout of promotion. Can’t see the two CB’s being replaced, so somehow they need better coaching. We need more height/grit…Che brought that and to some extent so did Charles…they’re starters for me. Edozie and Tella need to be prepared to bust a gut and close down the opposition quicker…the full backs we’re left exposed. Baz seems to make himself look small most of time, but credit to him for the 1v1 block 2nd half to keep us in the game. Amazing first Saints game for my Grandson to witness - not sure he was able to take it all in! Certainly one to remember.

Yeah you're right it was Kelv and although not expressly mentioned, it may have something to do with him being in goal. However I seem to remember the two positions were always a thing but I can't for the life of me remember who each were - I guess it's written down somewhere.

Yeah, you've reminded me that there once was a Club Captain and a Team Captain, but that was many moons ago and I don't think the two positions have been used for at least 3-4 seasons. It always seemed a bit false and just a way of rewarding senior players loyalty, which nowadays lets face it is pretty rare.

Seen reported this morning that JS is our new Club Captain now JWP has been confirmed as gone. Not entirely sure what I think of this…he’s been around a long time and is a vocal presence in the changing room. Just seems a bit strange that not long ago he was exiled out on loan and now he’s back in the building as a first on the team sheet. Bit out of the blue really but shows that the judgement of our previous two Managers was quite different to Martins view and where he places his trust. Good luck to him…hope he's a catalyst for more grittier, harder working team.

You could possibly argue nothing gained. In my view it’s Arma who needs to go have a fresh start rather than Che, but that won’t happen even though he’s proved himself to be a ‘one season wonder’ and not really suited to Martin’s system.

Not their defence alone…their prospects for the season ahead as a whole. It’s good you think our group is pretty decent for this level…at this point my optimism is somewhat more muted/reserved.

Yes if you mean managerial appointments - we’ve still got a lot of players on the books and starting games that have been a huge disappointment. But in fairness that’s changing, so some semblance of hope to cling to.

Of course it’s speculation - without a crystal ball or time travelling device, we only have our own intuition based on available evidence. If there was a possible way of comparing how confident Saints fans are now compared to how confident Burnley fans were at the beginning of last season, I would wager that on average the latter would more confident. You just can’t dismiss the last 3-4 seasons of utter crap football, poor defending and lack of firepower when those issues have demonstrably not really been resolved, with most of the responsible players still stinking the place out. As I’ve already said, the next 3 weeks will be crucial in making a break from the past.

It’s going to be an interesting game. I reckon on 70-80% possession and a 0-3 or 1-3 loss. Unless of course JWP and Lavia are not all that, have been holding the team back and there’s a surge of sudden understanding of RM’s playbook resulting in a demolition of the Canaries. Stranger things. On a side note, wishful thinking is that they’ll announce a really good incoming tomorrow AM just to lift spirits.

I know some will slate me for this, but the craziest thing I did at a football match was sit until the end and watch Saints get hammered 0-9 - twice. Yep, you couldn’t make it up! 😉🤣

To be honest I hope Lavia does go there and improves them. Unless they’re playing Saints I want them to do well - as it’s my birthplace they’re kind of my ‘second’ team.

True, but not perfect and think about who he had next to and in front of him!

Come on, after the shambles of last season and the continuing inability of our defence to cope with set plays high into the box, its clear there’s plenty of evidence. And in terms of Burnley, I was reflecting on their entire season, not just one game.

That’s true, Tella was a consummate professional and worked well at Burnley, but I’d argue that was because he was in a position to score goals…a commodity mostly remembered by football fans. Struggling to think of a loan that’s worked that well for Saints. The Downes link has never sounded like a plausible move to me, especially as it was reported that he was not keen. Why would he be?

I wouldn’t be so sure. Caicedo might have been key to Brightons success…raised their game significantly so that without him they’ll not be quite as good. And would a junior player really chose Brighton over Chelsea…even though Brighton are doing well they’re arguably punching above their weight with possibly a limited lifetime in the top half of the Prem table? If it was the only path back into the Prem he would take it though I suspect.

Like Lyanco. Yep that’ll do it. 😉

OK so style wise they may be similar, but their squad was and is quite different. Defensively they were one of, if not the best in the Championship under Kompany. We were and still are far from that, with little prospect of a new pair of CB’s making a difference. And I would wager if we played them now we’d be no match whatsoever.

All this comparison to Burnley is why? Because we have Tella? 😂 Lets be clear, yes Burnley did have a stellar last season and got promoted with Tella scoring a fair few goals. BUT…in the season previous, they did not have one of the worst league performances on record, as we did last season. They did not have to contend with a mass exodus of their best players (even in light of said best players being largely instrumental in the terrible previous season). They had a different squad of players with a different dynamic playing a different system to Saints. If I remember rightly, they didn’t start preseason with a completely new coaching setup, learning a new system in just a few weeks before the new season started. Sorry but I don’t buy this “we’re better than Burnley” therefore we’re going up easily bollocks.

It’s a bit like e-Bay. The seller puts a reserve on of £50m which allows bidding, but also sticks a ‘buy-it-now’ on of £50m. Towards the end of the bidding time someone comes in with a few close offers which don’t meet the reserve price. Everyone gets really fucking annoyed because actually the bidding part seems utterly pointless. Sometimes however, when the auction time has run out, the seller gets a bit desperate and goes back to the highest bidder and says, “err, £48m…fancy it still?”. 😉🤣

Why Grimes? If the JWP deal goes through then Downes seems the most logical name, unless Grimes was always going to happen anyway and Downes is by far from a done deal. Can anyone throw any light on the difference(s) between the two players for us uneducated?