Saint Fan CaM

Which side?

On first thought you’d have feel underwhelmed by a 19 year old, however the interesting part is that it’s expected that he’s able to command a 1st team place, plus he’s from Arsenals squad so can’t be too shabby. For us in the Championship it’s probably a good move to replace ABK and Salisu.

The way things are moving in the transfer market it’s difficult not to imagine a selection problem for Martin in the early stages of the season. I’d be wanting to field my strongest team at Wednesday, however does he do that or leave out Lavia, JWP, Tino etc. in favour of starting to gel the longer-term team? Yes, for me it’s go with the strongest players as points on the board early doors will provide a buffer and increase squad/supporter moral before any possible outgoings (or indeed incomings needing to get up to speed with the system).

I was a bit shocked to see Charles in at CB last night…did an ok job, but it’s clear ABK and Salisu are out in the cold. The GK situation is a disaster in waiting - neither Baz or McCarthy have what it takes. At times there were huge holes left in central midfield which will be ruthlessly exploited by most of the teams in the Championship, but the introduction of Smallbone helped. Think Che and Arma we’re not great last night, although I lost count of the number of times Che could have been fed the ball but was ignored. The team are obviously under strict instructions not to change the system and resist changing from a pass it out from the back method, which I personally think is a big mistake as it stifles invention and creativity. They must have an opportunity to put one over the back for Tella or AAA to run onto occasionally (in fact this happened a couple of times in the 2nd half and it worked). Intro of Stu Armstrong really turned the game for us…he’s such a good influence on the ball and his goal was superbly taken. He should be a starter as (at his best) he’s more effective than Alcarez. Overall we could be a very effective and successful side, however I can see that there are big risks to how Martin wants us to play. There will be many turnovers in midfield leading to breakaway goals. It will be a season of ups and downs, but I doubt it will be one that ends in promotion unless a decent striker and a better no.1 are brought in.

Something tells me they and JWP are not too particularly bothered if he’s sold or not, hence the price they’ve set. I don’t think Downes is needed even with Diallo gone, given Smallbone is back in the mix. Lavia is the most obvious leaver from midfield so yeah, not sure we’ll see JWP leave.

😳 blimey that’s not good…why, is it being boycotted for some reason?!?

Well yes I knew it was on the badge FFS, but still doesn’t really explain why! And having it on the badge doesn’t really explain why they’d think it a good idea to put it on the shirt…it’s a bit of a mess. Think a design that utilises the Bargate would be much more appropriate. lol

Baz needs some decent competition to keep him sharp. McCarthy is not that man…we need better.

Think the new third kit is ok, with of course the exception of the oversized sponsor logo. The black with yellow works. Have to say though, I don’t really get the New Forest on the shirt thing…Southampton and it’s suburbs are not really in the Forest - even Marchwood/Staplewood. Is there some historical connection such as ship builders using timber harvested from the Forest?

I decided to get a ticket before the Reading game in anticipation of things starting to click and one of the few opportunities I’ll get this season to get to a match. I agree, a great deal of pleasure would be taken from a win, but a stuffing would be hilarious. It’s unlikely though - we’ve still got most of the squad that relegated us and they’re getting better.

And that right there is indisputable proof why we were relegated bottom of the league. Plus we didn’t sign a decent striker after Ings left. Plus we hired not one, but two, out of their depth Managers in Jones and Selles.

Absolutely this. Let’s remember, he was brought in to be our no.1 in the PREM! No EPL keeper let alone Championship keeper should be making those kind of rookie mistakes. It’ll end up costing us.

I’m pleased to say that there WAS visible improvement, we won comfortably (despite two Baz howlers) and I do think the team is moving in the right direction. What I am less sure of is whether we’re near a level that will get us near the playoffs…think the quality in the teams that have been in the Championship for a while might come as a bit of a surprise.

Disagree. Bednarek was at fault for gifting the opportunity yes - but Baz was at fault for making hardly any effort to stop the shot. His positioning was really poor and consequently he was not able to make himself ‘big’ in front of the on-coming player to give himself maximum chance to save it. If he’d done that and they’d still scored I wouldn’t be blaming him at all. Most decent Pro keepers manage to get those kind of basics right 99% of the time - he’s going to cost us points unless he ups his game quite considerably.

For someone who gets behind the team so unconditionally, this really takes the biscuit! Do you realise quite how contradictory those highlighted statements are? And lastly, I think you need to calm down a bit and realise that supporting the team at a game and posting on an internet fans forum are very different things. 😂

Mmm, a good result and generally good performance against a poor L1 team and let down by some very dodgy keeping. Pretty much all of the Championship teams will put up a more determined test against us. Baz made his best impression of a statue for their first by not moving out to face the oncoming attacker, the got his positioning all wrong and gave them the softest of late goals. I’ve not wanted to be overly critical of the lad but those types of mistake will be the difference between us challenging for promotion or not. Think he needs some time away in L1 to gain experience, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen…all our GK eggs are in the Baz basket.

Smallbone has not been too bad to be fair, but I’m not sure he’s a good pairing with JWP.

Yes, just came on here to say the same. Pretty poor showing really.

This game in general will be interesting to see if there’s any visible improvement in how the players are reacting to Martin and his coaches. Let’s face it, if we were still in the Prem with this squad you would expect us to win comfortably against Reading, but psychologically speaking I’m not sure we’ve shaken off the losing mentality yet. Fingers crossed this game moves the team in right direction.

Hun, you do realise this is a fans forum right? You know, a place to air one’s thoughts on the club, the manager/coaches, players etc. You may be a relative of Smallbone I guess which might make for difficult reading, but if that’s the case perhaps you need to consider not putting yourself through it.

It’s all going Pete Tong for Lyanco. What a mess.

I’ve added my take above on who should stay or go… keep 5, get Piroe. We need a completely different mindset in the forward line of players.

It’s starting to become apparent that the thoughts of many in terms of the squad being quiet and ‘son-in-law’ types is actually not too far from the truth. RM’s referral to Manning and him being loud/verbal speaks volumes…wouldn’t be surprised to see him made Captain if JWP departs.

Perhaps he’s happy here but there’s work being done on a contract extension and the club have told agents/suitors he’s not being sold? Pure speculation of course.

The club can only sell when offers come in and if the reports are true, Tino has the firmest interest ahead of KWP and Bree (😏) so he’s most likely to be the one going. If the club then sell KWP too I’ll start to question the sanity of the Board because Bree and an understudy will not be promotion grade.