Saint Fan CaM

Aribo certainly could possibly do a job as a central attacker - knows how to trap and defend a ball and can turn his man. I can see no reason whatsoever why Still should not give him a go for the first half and see if it clicks with AA playing off him on the right and Scienza on the left and Azaz behind him as 10.

This maybe be correct. Thing is you get another manager and typically he’ll say he needs 6 new players and will drop X number of players because they can’t play his style. And on it goes - bloated, poorly performing squad that’s not getting results because they don’t suit or don’t get the system they’re being asked to play. SR are floundering and the easiest option right now is stick and hope it falls into place.

Hang on - that must be incorrect…Pompey are nowhere to be seen? 😉😂😂😂

To my mind, if a player can’t self-motivate himself to play the beautiful game while collecting a millionaires salary he should not be playing professional football. FFS in my day we would give our right arm to get the chance to play for our local lower league club, let alone a huge city based club like Saints. If any criticism can be aimed at Still it’s that he has found it seemingly hard to transform the style and system of play to one that is progressive in attack. It improved when he found a way of leaving out the players that had scar tissue or naturally don’t want to take charge of the ball and move forwards (Stephens, Manning, Downes), but now that has been possibly brought into question with two players from the spine of the team injured (Quarshie and Stewart). He needs to maintain the newer players in the squad (Jelert, Jander, Scienza, Fellows) - allowing a slip back to starting the old guard will inevitably lead to old results, bringing with it a lack of confidence and more pressure.

I think there’s a huge case for giving some time in the U-21’s - namely he’s not doing the basics well. Lack of pace and hard graft, can’t trap a ball, can’t get into the right positions in the box (too late or too early), can’t provide an assist and can’t shoot on target for toffee. The first team should be a place to exhibit what you’ve learnt and proven at Staplewood, not used as a training match to develop confidence. £15m worth of striking talent? Someone’s ’avin a laff!

Yes, that’s a good point. We’ll, it would be if it were not for the fact that Mane could trap a ball, run past several players and actually look like he had a chance of scoring. Downs appears to have none of that promise based on the times I’ve been unfortunate to see him play.

No - he didn’t play, we won 3–0, but then we had a better team with Ramsdale, KWP, Bree, Bedders, Big Les, Dibling and Sully. Of course it was better than Championship standards in general and indeed better than our side now, but nowhere near good enough for the EPL.

Better than what we’ve got? 😉

The Jelert story appears to be somewhat premature, however IF (and it’s a huge IF) SR have woken up to the fact that we’re royally fucked without a decent CF, then perhaps they’re saving their milk bottle tops for a Stewart / Downs replacement in January? Nah, I don’t think so either, but hey it’s a nice thought.

If Quarshie is out then it’s an excuse to shoehorn Cap’t Jack back into the team, which means more calamity in front of goal, especially if Manning is given the go-ahead to pussy around at the back and Baz is given another chance to test out his concrete boots. 0-2 Swansea.

It’s a very real issue. At this stage Charles is exactly the type of player we need to grow with us - selling him would more than likely mean we replace him with a lesser player…it is the way of Southampton FC unfortunately.

Excellent this evening - that is all.

Why is this bollox still being spouted? That team only just scraped the play-offs and importantly were assembled to play slug football to suit dear old Russell’s system. There have been too many players still featuring from that lot that are just not suited or good enough for what Still’s system…e.g. McCarthy, Stephens, THB, Manning, Downes, Fraser.

It’s generous and friendly offer, however I’m not sure I see the attraction of supporting a team in a PO postcode, over a true Southampton club such as Sholing FC who are incidentally somewhat better (recently beat Fareham in the cup 0-3 and are unbeaten in their league). In Southampton we are blessed with some very decent non-league teams - Eastleigh, Sholing and Totton immediately come to mind.

That gives the club an easy out in my view. With £15m + wages spent on Downs and Stewart (for example) we could have tempted a good range of strikers to join - instead we spunked it on a crock and a guy that would struggle in L1. How did Derby manage to scout/sign their US striker (can’t remember name) - he would be 10 times better than what we currently have to endure. 4-5 seasons of utter blindness to the need for a solid CF now. Urgent action needed Mr. Spors!

Aribo, Aribo! The Saints fans shouted from the remaining stand of the once magnificent St Mary’s Stadium, after their talisman 35 year old striker slotted home his 10th goal of the 2029 League 2 season. It’s all looking roses for Saints now sitting in 15th in the table.

I didn’t make myself clear - I didn’t mean it will be fixed in January, but the decisions made in January will be critical to finishing the fix. For example, trying to purchase a striker is likely going to be a fruitless exercise and too costly. Loaning the right player from an EPL club or equivalent could be the right option - yes, it might be costly, but then so would another season in the Championship or worst still relegation to league 1 if the squad is decimated further. An astute loan or two would allow a pathway to a continued purge of deadwood and improved signings next summer.

I actually don’t think Still views his players in that way - he’s said he will play those who suit the system to defeat the opposing team. Having said that he has come to realise that starting Stewart at CF was his best option given the system he wants to play. We saw a small glimpse of what the player (and the team) can achieve - nipped in the bud by a fragile player unfortunately, but I believe he was working hard to become one of the first on the team sheet and will hopefully be viewed as a big loss which needs replacement to mount a serious challenge for the play-offs.

True, we may need to wait until then, however there is the free-agent on a short-term PAYP contract or even the U-21’s team to look at. Relying on Downs, AA or Archer (or anyone else in the 1st team squad) to play CF would be utter madness.

To be fair I don’t think Spors has been all bad considering the overhaul task on his hands from last seasons debacle. There have been some very astute signings - Jander and Scienza for example…even retaining Charles was the right call. Obviously there have been some avoidable mistakes - Capt’n Jacks contract, lack of decent GK and lack of best in class CF being the obvious, but as I say it was a big turnabout to manage. The next window will be critical to finishing the job.

What I find hard to accept is that neither Still or more pertinently Spors have provided fans any indication that the loss of Stewart for the foreseeable future will be taken seriously and a replacement found. I understand we don’t want o look desperate, but surely the ineffectiveness of the team and the subsequent financial implications of remaining without a competent CF should be sounding alarm bells ringing all over SMS?

A chain is as strong as its weakest link. There are a number of weak links in our club (ignoring the obvious - SR). Let’s start at the back and work forward. GK: how we started with Bazunu and McCarthy in goal is a major miss from Spors and co. Neither are good enough, however thankfully McCarthy has some basic competency as shown by the saves that have kept us games. Baz is a busted flush as shown by the worst stats of any Saints keeper I believe. Defence: Manning is the biggest weak link - doesn’t know how to close down and wipe out a winger. Plus watch him - often seen just stood in no-man’s land doing fuck all and watching the game pass him by. This in turn unbalances the entire defence and it may be the reason Still can’t move to a back four. Midfield: since Jander and Charles have been together things have been much better - BUT - once Downes is called on because one of the others is knackered or on a yellow, everything goes tits up. Why? Because he is a completely different player who can’t play forward or turn - he HAS to pass backwards. Aribo would do a better job. Attack: the lack of a really great no.9 is still a massive weak link and the insistence on putting AA in the middle to compensate is insanity. Now Stewart is likely out for weeks we’ve got a huge problem because Downs is not fit for league 1 let alone lead the line for a Championship promotion hopeful. Again Spors has to take responsibility for this position. So if we’re looking to place blame it’s a combo of Spors and Still / Trollope / Lallana. Other than the key weak link players mentioned above, there is a team there which should be doing better than we are, however most of the weak links are importantly in the spine of the team, Manning aside.

You alright hun? PS: climb down from your pedestal and don’t be such a twat blaming posters on here for voicing opinions - it’s a fans forum FFS. There are some of us who recognised early signs that this season was not going to be barnstorming top of the table affair….no hindsight.

Downs continues to prove he’s far from a competent footballer at this level…disaster of a signing. We missed Stewart’s presence when he got injured - let’s hope it’s not too serious, but it probably will be weeks out. We desperately need another big presence up front because Archer is just another AA. Manning is a defensive liability (just in case my deep dislike of the player wasn’t already clear!) and a couple of decent free kicks is not enough to justify his awful positioning or defending - he basically gifted them their equaliser today. Downs just cannot rid himself of his tendency to play backwards or foul. He slows everything down and not in a good way. McCarthy, Charles, Jander, Scienza, AA and Stewart had great games today. Other than Manning, Still needs to keep the CB’s and put Mads and Jewett in as wing backs. The rest of the team picks itself, but Downs is not the answer to anything in a footballing sense.

It worked - had to move to get an optimum Wi-Fi signal in the hotel but managed to watch the game. I’ve had vpn issues when abroad - tuned out it was the hotels Wi-Fi system blocking the stream.