Saint Fan CaM

There are plenty of supporters who hope that Martin succeeds here myself included, but I’ve not seen ONE single convincing argument to indicate WHY he is expected to do well. There’s just previously gained stats and with a new club with new players with differing expectations etc., that means diddly squat! For example, which players in the current team suit his supposed preferred style of possession based football? Let’s see… Bazunu - yes, can see his distribution could be nurtured. Others not so much. Defence - Tino, KWP and Perraud and even Bree are capable, the CB’s not so much. Def Midfield - JWP and Lavia are capable, but likely to be off. Diallo and Smallbone not so much. Attacking Mid - Alcarez and Stu A are capable and possibly Sulemana if he gets his head up and improves his passing. Edozie could develop well. Others not so much. Strikers - Che and Tella are capable, but reports suggest they’re both off. Possibly Mara could be OK. Others not so much. So for Martin to be successful I would guess that we need to sign at least two CB’s, two DM’s, an AM and at least one very good striker. Six great players signed and after last seasons £140m low impact spending spree…likely? Jury’s out for me.

Seems to me that this is more of a style over substance appointment and consequently it’s difficult to know how it will pan out when the squad is so up in the air. Wilcox and Martin have a huge task getting the first team sorted out and the seasons results will hinge almost entirely on getting that right. Martin has to connect with a team of players who have developed a persistent losing mentality and ensure any new recruits don’t get infected. Huge task - wish him and his staff the best of luck.

This thread is starting to plumb the depths of a pit of utter weirdness! 🤪

There are reasons for him to stay given his age...(a) he seems to like what Le Tiss did in terms of being a one club player - it's a way of standing out and ensuring your name is always associated with your parent clubs history, especially when you're team Captain (b) family ties to the area - who wants to uproot a young family or put blockers in the way of spending time with them? (c) will he actually be any more successful in the type of club that he moves to - probably not as he'll end up at a middle to lower table team and right now he's a big fish in a slightly smaller pond. (d) he will more than likely thrive under Martin's tenure as he's a ball retainer and controls midfield. The club can't force him out as he's got a long contract. There may be a relegation clause that affects his salary, but that might be waived by the club if he stays and helps fight for promotion. I suspect his position has been discussed and for the better part resolved one way or the other. I'm not too fussed if he goes, but I certainly don't think there's a clear case for him to be sold.

And here we go… …oh.

You would have to question the sanity of anyone accepting that deal! Lyanco is a seasoned pro with great stamina and heart - ok his stats may not match the best in the Prem, but at least he’s shown up there. Got to be worth £8-10m in todays market.

Being a developmental and selling club means even when on long contracts, players ultimately hold all the cards. Let’s face it, when we promise the player and his agent that we’ll sell when the big clubs come calling, that’s exactly what we have to do. If we don’t do that for whatever reason our reputation of developing and releasing the best young players goes down the toilet and the model implodes. It won’t take long for the pro football grapevine to starting talking about how Saints Academy is failing youth.

I think there’s going to be one or two of the relegated sides that will struggle and Saints will be one of them. It’s going to take a huge effort to eradicate that losing mentality that became so pervasive over the last 2-3 years, particularly against ‘lesser’ teams.

I’m amazed that Aribo still has a place in our squad…those stats are shocking for a player that supposedly is an attacking, forward thinking player. And his work rate is demonstrably poor too. I hope we don’t need to see him in the match day team because that would be a sign of gross mis-management in my eyes, however with a new coaching staff it will take a while before he’s found out.

Zzzz….zzzz….this waiting for news is as tedious as JWP’s pass completion stats from last season! 🤣

Really? You think Jones is not a decent human being or indeed a thinker - on what basis? Think you’re either being facetious or overly harsh. Of course their preferred football styles are quite different, but I believe they are ‘emotional’ characters.

I have a horrible suspicion they’re cut from the same cloth! Hope I’m wrong - this appointment is huge for us.

Very true. I should add, I’ve still got mine and its still looking good.

Obviously there are many that have saved their ‘proper’ red & white striped shirts of years gone by, hence any new shirt that is like that will sell worse than something a bit different or indeed radical. Arguably the most radical design but also the best quality shirt was the promotion run red sash shirt which I believe was the best seller ever. Quality wins every time.

^^^ this…

I’ve said before…our main problem last season was a lack of goals scored rather than those conceded. With the attacking pace of most other teams, coupled with the style of football we played which led to too many turnovers in midfield, it was inevitable we would concede a few. But given the number of 1-0 defeats that would have not been so much of an issue if our attacking prowess was a lot better. I know this probably doesn’t sit right with some here, but Lyanco was most definitely not the reason we were relegated.

Standard Saintsweb response to SR managerial appointments seem to follow a well trodden path… Denial…(it’ll be someone with a great pedigree) 😘 Anger…(what the fook are they doing?!?) 🤬 Resignation…(oh well, it could be worse I suppose!) 🤨 Acceptance…(its happening, there’s plus points, might as well get behind the bloke)😐 Impatience…(what’s the hold-up…we need this guy now?!) 😉🤣

Well I have to say the club are doing a good job of trying to bore the pants off their supporters in this close season. There’s been no hint of anything official and newsworthy regarding Wilcox, the retained squad list, new manager, coaches, development of facilities etc., just media speculation. I know relegation is a kick in the teeth and there’s lots of stuff to sort out, but surely they must realise supporters want to be kept informed about how the ‘big rebuild’ is progressing? 🤔 Or would that be impatient and too much to ask? 😉🤣

How to stretch a short paragraph out to a full article using just speculation and an unsurprisingly emotional view from a fans blog that has no bearing on reality.

Bad stuff doesn’t happen to clubs like Everton…rules are bent to accommodate them.

A shame when one player gets singled out, but he is synonymous with the degradation of the quality and balance in the squad over the last three seasons. I’m sure he tries hard to deploy what is asked of him by poor managers, but ultimately his performances have been sub-standard to the level required.

Difficult to get excited by this news - the guy left an age ago in relation to the priorities of the current re-build of the upper echelons of the management team, the coaching staff and the squad. SR's tagline should read, "...no news is good news"!

And particularly if as reported the lad is happy to be back playing with us, presumably if he gets playing time assurances.

That’s how I see it. Saints hold all the cards on this one and don’t need to negotiate downwards. We’ll struggle to buy the experience and goals this lad will offer at the price, which is a concern in itself because there’s going to be some knob who thinks they can pick up a player of equal ability for £15m (again).

One things for sure, I’d rather keep Che than Tall Paul and that’s from a Che doubter.