Saint Fan CaM

Forgotten how rubbish listening on the radio actually is with commentators biased to the underdog club and not actually helping the listener to visualise the game. As for the football, this is how our season could pan out with lesser skilled but more ‘robust’ pressing teams finding us short. Let’s hope Martin rips ‘em a new one at half-time because they’re not doing a good job convincing the Manager they should be starting in the Championship. Well, apart from having really fucking great passing/possession stats. This is a definite banana skin for these also rans.

Anyone know if there will be streaming via Saintsplayer / Smarters app? Can’t see it there at the moment.

We were very dominant in possession, with a bit of a blunt tooth and a lack of height in defence. Our team in general lacks height and strength at the back…in particular Smallbone could do with bulking out a bit as he can get outmuscled quite easily. Overall a very satisfying first visit to Hillsborough even if it was sat in amongst the home supporters. The problem of course with new players is who do leave out when a system is clearly working??? Incidentally I was sat very near to the dugouts and it was interesting to see the difference in how the Managers interacted with their team - Martin has much more command of his players than SW’s man, who had players shrugging at him in the first 15 minutes not knowing what to do to counter our play…didn’t seem to know what their roles were. I said to my friend that their team was setup wrong and not able to press us at the back which might have given them a chance.

My Sheffield Wednesday supporting friends Son said we were the best team he’s seen at Hillsborough baring none and including Newcastle in the cup. They were very impressed with the the team, the Manager and style of football.

Is that the one we put four past?

Did we really or did they lose their nerve on a player that has risk associated with him? Seems the deal is actually not going to deliver the £40m we believe Saints wanted, but it still represents a good deal. Hopefully it will show the bin dippers and West Ham that we actually do mean to stick to our valuations…shit or get off the pan!

He should get through the medical - there was nothing from the last match…just a knock to an ankle and he was clearly due to be rested for tomorrow probably at the insistence of Newcastle. Good deal for Saints, but let’s hope we keep KWP with Bree a backup and use the money on a very good striker or CB.

Yeah…if that’s the level of quality Wilcox intends to bring in, third place or not, we’re in for a torrid season by the time the best players leave. Promotion push my arse! 😉

Yes we did and as I said, we do have players that can score. However, 4 goals against a very poor Reading and two goals against a Bournemouth side that looked pretty poor for a Prem side is not really an arbiter I would argue, plus we ended up losing (but that’s another story!). AZ provided a much more realistic test commensurate with the Championship we’ll be competing in and we struggled to test their keeper at all.

I agree with and applaud your positive outlook. Unfortunately mine is tempered by the fact that we’ve yet to see any improvement in our ability to score goals. Until that changes we’ll find it difficult to win games despite high possession stats and pretty passages of football. We’ve got players that can score - have we got the system and nouse to get them firing? I predict that 3 games into the season without a win or draw will see fans support start to turn quickly away from Martin and his system - tolerance levels following a terrible last season and relegation will be at a very tangible low. Let’s hope we see a marked improvement tomorrow evening because a win and three points would be a significant morale boost and a sign that actually Martin has improved the squad since last seasons defeat to SW. COYS!

The latest marketing vid has Tella talking about the first game of the season (no JWP or Lavia). Got a feeling Tella will still be with us for a little while longer.

Quite interesting to see ABK in training photos…can’t believe he’ll start on Friday, but almost certainly on the bench you’d think. Any interest in Bednarek and Lyanco seems to have dissipated for the time being, but I reckon if the right offer came in for anyone of our CB’s they’d be off. I hope we’re not relying on Charles to start as a CB, even if that’s for a short period of time.

Think €20m, but certainly more than we paid.

He did show some quality in games he wanted to play in, otherwise not that great. Glad we managed to off-load and make a profit. Just hope his replacement will be better.

I’d be surprised to find Sulemana here come close of window. There’s been so little news around him it looks like he’s on his way out. Perhaps he’s lost his tools like Salisu? 🤔🙄

In the Prem even when I had an ST I rarely got the chance to go to away games due to other commitments, but this is a Friday and so it works for me. I've always wanted to visit Hillsborough and my friend had said when I got the chance to visit he'd arrange for a seat, but of course we didn't expect that to be a Saints vs SW league match and the arrangements were made well before the 2nd release of away tickets. I'll enjoy the trip and the social part of the visit as the missus will be with me, but hopefully more so with a win!

Wow - that's some statement. I hope SFC and Lavia's agent ensure Lavia is aware of the mess he would have placed himself in by joining them. 🤣 NB: It'll still probably happen now - in fact it's probably even more likely!

Funny thing is, I can see Lavia fitting into a Chelsea team more than a Liverpool team - I really hope the Board resist the disrespectfully low offers for this World-class lad comparatively easily worth £50m given he's destined to be worth £90m+ in three short years time. I hope the dippers pull out and he goes to Chelsea - the dippers will then need to pay twice as much to pull him away which for all their underhanded tapping-up will be well deserved.

Possibly, if there was suitable evidence to demonstrate he was the right fit in the squad and could play the system employed. Value is about potential until proven. In the case of Tella, he's proven he can score goals (which, in case you've forgotten 😉, wins games) within the squad and system Burnley employ, so his value should be commensurately higher.

Absolutely - £20m for a proven Championship goal scorer of notoriety is a joke…should be closer to £30m in todays market unless he has a release clause.

Errr, actually…🤣

Because I have a SW supporting friend who has offered me one of his seats. Why do you ask?

Anyone else keeping their head down in a home stand like me? 😀

I do wonder if Martin will buckle to the temptation of starting a 'safe pair of hands' with Stu Armstrong? We've seen this before with three previous managers.

If I were a Burnley supporter I'd be hiding behind the sofa hands over my ears, singing "lalalalala", hoping it all goes away! Beyond embarrassing!