SaintJackoInHurworth

I think the challenge for Saints in many positions and especially striker is not just to sign players that will do well in the Championship. We already have plenty of those in many positions. In terms of goal scorers, all of the following are pretty good at this level: Stewart Armstrong Archer Brereton-Diaz The problem is that none of them have shown the ability to replicate that at Premier League level (though Stewart's injuries did not help him!) While providing more passes to strikers will help, maybe we also need to explore whether we can sign players who may be able to demonstrate great goal scoring ability at the highest level.

Like others I feel the analysis in this seems pretty insightful and it will be interesting to see if we are linked with any of the players mentioned. Johnstone, for example, sounds like a good possibility in goal. Having said that, however, I would be surprised if as many players as they are suggesting actually leave or are sold. In effect they are suggesting that all of the following will leave: GK: Ramsdale, Bazunu, Wright Defenders: KWP, Sugawara, THB, Bednarek, Stephens, ABK, Taylor, Larios, Lawrence Midfielders: Aribo, Fernandes, Brereton-Diaz, Lallana, Forwards: Sulemana, Dibling, Robinson, Onuachu, Ballard While I can see a lot of those being sold and others being loaned out, I would be surprised if all of those were to be out of the building by the end of the transfer window! In particular, I would be happily surprised if Stephens were to leave! But who knows?! If we did shift that many players and those ones in particular, I would guess we might bring in up to £150m for that lot (some bringing in significantly more than others!).

No!! The late 1970s kits all had black shorts. Blue shorts was from a much earlier time - 1950s or something like that. Personally I don't get the interest in having blue shorts with a home kit. I think it is better to have blue shorts with an away kit.

Southampton Squad June 2025 I am posting this as a kind of mark in the sand of where we are now! With all the returning players and before anyone is sold or released who hasn't already been sold/released, I think this in effect is our current senior squad: Goalkeepers: Ramsdale, Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley, (Wright) Defenders: Walker-Peters, Sugawara, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Wood-Gordon, Bednarek, Stephens, Edwards, Quarshie, Kayi-Sanda, Bella-Kotchap, Taylor, Welington, Manning, Larios, (Nico Lawrence) Midfielders/wingers: Downes, Charles, Smallbone, Aribo, Fernandes, Fraser, Sulemana, Dibling, Edozie, Armstrong, Brereton-Diaz, Robinson, Lallana, Kuryu Matsuki Forwards: Stewart, Archer, Onuachu, (Ballard) I have not included Amo-Ameyaw as he has effectively already been sold. I have included the players on loan to Goztepe as all of their contracts expire this summer. (Edit Juan is returning to Goztepe, so I have removed him) I have also included Lawrence as he is too old for the academy but still has a year to go on his contract and has previously been talked about as a future prospect. I have also tentatively added Ballard to the squad as a player who may be considered for the first team and still has a year to run on his contract. I have included Wright as he still has a year on his contract but is too old for the U21s. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the coming weeks: Which players will be sold, released or loaned out? How much money will that bring in? Who else will be brought in? Will the Goztepe players stay there with renewed contracts or will we add them to our squad? Similarly, what will happen with Lawrence, Ballard, Edwards, Wright, Edwards, Armstrong, Brereton-Diaz, Charles and Edozie following their loans this season? Will we replace Walker-Peters? Will we renew Lumley's contract? Will Lallana retire? Will he be given a coaching role? What will happen to Simon Rusk? Will Larios find a new club or will he now finally be able to get sufficient fitness to be able to push on? (Edited - I incorrectly thought his contract expires this summer) What will we do about players that we don't want but who we can't sell? Will we have to put up with Onuachu, etc. for another season if Will Still doesn't want to include them in his plans? Presumably we will have to announce our retained player list soon. The rest of the Championship clubs had to announce these a couple of weeks ago!

That's true - but it's also due to Ballard missing almost two seasons of football with injuries. Of course, that time out with those injuries could also have an ongoing impact that may never be overcome. However, his finish to the season suggests he may yet still rediscover his previous form and hopefully he will finally be given his chance in a few matches under Will Still. Personally, I think it is such a shame that Ballard was never given the chances that Dibling and Robinson have been given, especially bearing in mind our attacking struggles of the past few years, but maybe there are valid reasons for that. While Ballard has seen success in the U21s alongside players who know him and are therefore keen to pass to him to score, the demands of first team football are obviously much higher. Similarly, while a midfielder/winger has a degree of flexibility to come deep and/or find space out wide, the positioning demands for a striker are very different. (* Sorry to take so long to reply - been busy and haven't visited this forum for ages!!!)

Lowe initially overspent on the stadium then became incredibly tight with player recruitment. The impact of that was that we were relegated. That in turn left us without the Premier League money and up the creek without a paddle. He had no clue about how to invest and spend wisely; he had no plan, no heart, no commitment. Just failed dogma. Just like his political views and those of the people with whom he has been associated, arguments and fallouts aside. Defending Lowe is to defend the indefensible.

Would you say that is Dibling's ceiling too? Bearing in mind Ballard was for a short time ahead of Dibling only a couple of years ago, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Ballard will begin to rediscover his best form and if and when he does I personally hope it will be to fire Saints towards promotion next season. He has had a tough time with injuries but hopefully he will soon be back to full fitness and can become the player that it seemed he was going to be just two years ago.

To focus on the topic of this thread: Juric is not good enough and should not be here next season. He is also not going to bring about any improvement of performances and morale this season. He is liable to undermine the confidence and affinity with Saints of any players worth keeping. He is liable to confuse the tactical nous of the players in our squad. Taking all of that together there is nothing to be gained in keeping him until the end of the season and everything to lose in doing so! Much better to get rid and internally install a caretaker manager who has a good relationship with the players. In relation to other issues that people have raised about the failures of both Juric and SR: The failure to bring in a Premier League striker is unforgiveable. We would have been better to keep and develop Ballard as our striker than rely on Archer, Onuachu and Sick-note-Stewart. There are players with future potential, but undermining their potential with poor managers and demoralising tactics and defeats is not the way to develop those players. There are not enough players who are of Premier League quality now. I would suggest the following might just about scrape into this definition when they are playing at their best with good tactics: Ramsdale, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bella-Kotchap, Welington, Fernandes, Dibling - most of those will be gone in the summer. Some of the other players can be coached towards PL standard with the right appointment this summer. I am hopeful that Rohl may be that man. However, we still need to bring in other players ready for the Premier League.

Are you sure that is right? THB has always played at RCB and Bednarek as central CB; Juric said a few weeks ago that ABK cannot play at LCB. That having been said I think a few weeks ago THB was played at LCB, so I think he can play in that position. Personally, though, I would prefer that we left Bednarek on the bench and played this defence: KWP....THB....ABK....Wood....Welington Alternatively, as suggested above we could play 4 at the back (KWP, ABK, THB and Welington) with Downes and Ugochukwu as a pair of CDMs to protect central midfield. It would still leave us vulnerable out wide though unless we play KWP as defensive full backs and Sugawara and Manning as wingers who drop back to become roving wing backs and allow us to create two lines of four in defence - something like this: KWP............ABK............THB........Welington Sugawara..Downes..Ugochukwu..Manning ................Dibling..............Sulemana............ Personally I am not a fan of Manning and think we must play Fernandes though so perhaps it would be better like this: KWP............ABK............THB........Welington Dibling....Downes...Ugochukwu...Sulemana .........................Fernandes............................ .............................Archer...............................

It makes you wonder why this always happens. Obviously in Ballard's case he has had issues with injuries that have impacted his fitness and potentially his confidence, but it does seem that far too many players that we have expected to make the grade have fallen short. Is it a problem with what Saints do? Selecting the wrong clubs for loans - clubs that are not going to give our players the opportunities they need - selected more for their outlook than opportunities? Not giving our players the right fitness regimes to ready them for competitive football? Not establishing good diets for our players? Putting short-term loan payments before selecting what is best for the players? Selecting clubs that are likely to struggle in their division, so that they end up changing their managers? Not establishing rigorous contracts with loan clubs to ensure that players are given opportunities to play? Assuming that it is always best to send a player on loan rather than keeping them at Saints and using them in cup competitions? Failure to select them in cup competitions while at Saints and getting eliminated early from these? Failure to train players with potential to a high enough standard to ready them for competitive football? Or is it just bad luck or just a case of Saints not getting enough players of a high enough standard?

For those that are saying that Dibling was way ahead of Ballard, I would actually disagree somewhat - the truth is actually slightly more mixed! There was certainly a time a few years ago that Dibling was ahead of Ballard and that was when he was poached by Chelsea. However, that obviously didn't work out and while Dibling was gone, Ballard and Jimmy-Jay Morgan alongside him came to the fore. Then, of course, JJM went to Chelsea and Dibling returned to Saints. On his return to Saints, though, Dibling was initially a shadow of his former self and he was regularly being outshone by Ballard who was scoring shedloads of goals. I was at a match against Middlesbrough at their training ground in January 2023, for example, and such was Dibling's demise at that time that he was only a substitute, while Ballard was proving a major threat in front of goal supported by Sam Amo-Ameyaw and he bagged a couple of goals. Dibling, by contrast, only came on for the last 20 minutes and did nothing much of note. I remember being rather disappointed in what I saw of him! He seemed lazy, disinterested and low on confidence. In the last couple of seasons though things have switched around. Dibling has not been loaned out and has regained his confidence and form, while Ballard has had two injury ravaged seasons that have affected his fitness and confidence. The key points to note in all this are these: Loaning players to other clubs does not always help players (though it can do) Injuries can also have a major impact on player's progress - as is the case with Ballard Fitness and confidence also plays a major part Ballard is a quality player and given his chance (and if he get up to full match fitness) I hope he will again show the promise he has previously shown.

So, just as an update to my previous post about our January transfer business, with about a week to go, things now look as follows: IN Albert Grønbæk - AM, signed on loan from Rennes for remainder of this season Welington - Previously with Sao Paolo, permanent signing Joachim Kayi Sanda - signed from Valenciennes Lewis Payne - returned from loan at Cheltenham Dom Ballard - returned from loan at Blackpool Cameron Bragg - returned from loan at Crawley Town Rumours/News: Andre Garcia from Reading - bid of £2m made Ollie Tanner from Cardiff linked with Saints and several other clubs OUT Cornet - loan cancelled & sold by West Ham to Genoa Brereton-Diaz loaned to Sheff Utd Ronnie Edwards - loaned to QPR Rumours: Bazunu - rumoured that he is to go on loan somewhere for the rest of the season to build up fitness as he recovers from his injury Onuachu - interest from Turkey has been mentioned, but nothing concrete. Dibling - wanted by other PL clubs and by RB Leipzig but hopefully won't go anywhere until at least the summer Walker-Peters - a few rumours linking him with a move away but not many; may well leave for a free in the summer. Ramsdale - a few vague rumours linking him with a move away SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT Charles - returned from loan at Sheff Wed, then loaned back to them for improved loan fee.

So, our main transfer business is looking like: OUTS Edwards - loaned to QPR *Done Deal* Cornet - loan cancelled & sold by West Ham to Genoa *Done Deal* BBD - Rumoured that he is off to Sheffield Utd Onuachu - rumoured interest from Turkey Dibling - wanted by other PL clubs but won't go anywhere until at least the summer Walker-Peters - rumours linking him with a move away (E.g. Everton for £5m) but could leave for a free in the summer. Ramsdale - rumours linking him with potential move away - probably in the summer. INS Welington - Purchase completed from Sao Paolo Sanda - signed from Valenciennes Charles - return from loan at Sheff Wed There are also a number of U21 players back from loan and some others going out on loan, including: Ballard - return from loan Payne - return from loan Bragg - return from loan Bazunu, Welington, Sanda and Charles may all be considered for a first team squad number. Sanda is U21, but Charles is 21 so don't know if he counts as u21. Assuming he is u21 then all four can currently be added to the first team squad, following the transfers of Edwards and Cornet... or did Edwards count as U21?

Yes - absolutely - if Ankersen is involved we might get a rubbish(?) manager like the one he installed at Brentford. What a disaster that would be for all the moaners and Pompey fans who just come here to slag the club off. Come to think of it, let's recruit Brentford fans to protest against the management of Thomas Frank!

Not quite sure why there is such a lot of hate for the idea of appointing Kasper Hjulmand. He has a pretty good record: He managed to take a weak Danish international squad to the semi-finals of the European Championship. He took a previously little-known Danish Club from obscurity to winning the Danish Superleague (not unlike the success that Graham Potter had in Scandinavia before Swansea appointed him). He has a win record of around 42% which is pretty decent. Of course, there may be concerns that he flopped outside of Denmark when managing Mainz 05, but some of the best managers are those who have had setbacks and moved on through them to learn from their mistakes (e.g. Eddie Howe). Having said all of that, I would personally love it if we could appoint Edin Terzić, former manager of Dortmund, who has just about the best stats of any manager with experience of managing in a top European league and who is currently without a job. It is probably highly unlikely that we could attract him to come and manage us, but if we could that would be a major coup!

Personally, I believe we must sack Martin now, but I don't believe the board have the guts to do it. We haven't had leaders that decisive at board level since Cortese (love him or hate him) left. The board will probably dither for a few weeks just like Katerina Liebherr and her board did with Pellegrino. After all, they have created a friendly match in a couple of weeks time where one side is labelled the 'Russell Martin XI'. Also, they only gave him a new lucrative contract in the summer, so sacking him will not be cheap! If we do sack Martin (eventually), Potter is likely to be the favourite unless he has found a job elsewhere in the meantime. Who else is likely to be in the running? I would venture a guess that we will be linked with Danny Rohl, John Eustace, Carlos Calderon, Michael Carrick and probably also Chris Wilder. A left-field suggestion might be Michael Skubala from Lincoln because of his Man City and England youth coaching experience as well as the fact he is doing quite well at Lincoln City. And what tactics should they adopt? Whoever it is, I think they need to bring Bella-Kotchap in to play alongside Harwood-Bellis and need to think long and hard about how on earth we are going to get goals! Personally, introducing incisive pace into attack will help, so we need attacking players who can be responsive to that. For me that means we need Walker-Peters and Sugawara on either flank with Dibling and Amo-Ameyaw as wingers and probably Arma running through to break the lines and beat the offside trap to get on the end of telling balls from those four and Fernandes and Lallana. My line-up would be: Ramsdale, Sugawara, THB, ABK, KWP, Downes, Fernandes, Lallana, Dibling, Arma, SAA.

Martin got a lot more right today than he has for most matches this season. However, when it came to it he made one key error which cost us the game. That error was taking Fernandes off and replacing him with Aribo. Before that we were in control of midfield but after that the midfield opened up for them and we were under the cosh. The result was the equalising goal. In addition, it was also Aribo's failure to stand up in front of Morsy's shot that also caused the goal. If he had stood up (or not been on the pitch) the ball wouldn't have deflected off him and Ramsdale would have saved it. That's a double failure from one decision and it has cost us the win.

I don't want to say any of our players is crap, but I don't understand Russell Martin's determination to make Stephens his captain and pick him every game. Last season in the Championship he couldn't get into the side for much of the early part of the season. He has had a part to play in most of the goals we have conceded this season. He hasn't shown leadership - often being the player to fail to mark the opposition player I recognise that he has a good attitude, in contrast to Bella-Kotchap for example, but ABK is a far superior defender and surely there comes a time when we have to play our best players and not the worst ones? Aside from Bella-Kotchap, how must Wood and Edwards feel when they see Stephens selected every time while they can't even make the squad? I personally think it is high time that Stephens was dropped - from the squad, not just the starting line-up. What does anyone else think?

Here is our squad now (with new signings in red) plus details of ages of under-21 players: Name Position Other Aaron Ramsdale GK Gavin Bazunu GK Alex McCarthy GK Joe Lumley GK Jan Bednarek CB Taylor Harwood-Bellis CB Armel Bella-Kotchap CB Ronnie Edwards CB Age 21 but counts as under-21 Nathan Wood CB Jack Stephens CB/FB Charlie Taylor CB/FB Kyle Walker-Peters FB Yukinari Sagawara FB James Bree FB Ryan Manning FB Juan Larios FB Age 20 Flynn Downes DM/CM Lesley Ugochukwu DM/CM Age 20 Will Smallbone CM/DM Mateus Fernandes CM/AM Age 20 Adam Lallana AM/Wing Tyler Dibling AM/RM Age 18 Joe Aribo AM Maxwel Cornet Winger Sam Amo-Ameyaw Winger Age 18 Kamaldeen Sulemana Winger Ryan Fraser Winger Sam Edozie Winger Age 21 but counts as under-21 Adam Armstrong Winger/Striker Ben Brereton-Diaz Winger/Striker Ross Stewart Striker Cameron Archer Striker Paul Onuachu Striker Probable/possible incomings not yet announced Noel Buck CM/DM Age 19 Rory MacLeod Striker Age 18 Obviously, the last two are probably under-21 squad players at this stage. This is a maximum size squad in terms of over-21 players with a squad of exactly 25 over-21s (assuming that Bazunu will be excluded from the squad until January). There is still potential for some players to leave to go to leagues where the transfer window remains open, e.g. Onuachu to Turkey

I thought the point of selling Alcaraz was to bring in money to cover some of the transfer costs and help us avoid getting into trouble over FFP? Bringing in another player as part payment seems strange - although I suppose it does mean we are not left short in the attacking midfield area. Nevertheless, presumably Hugo is a downgrade on Alcaraz, which leaves us weak in the AM position. Despite his recent improvements, Aribo is not great and Lallana has not really got the legs any more! True, Dibling shows promise in that position, but two promising young players as backup to Aribo is a bit worrying. I guess the difference is that Martin seems set to play a different system this season - playing Armstrong and BBD as a false nine duo doubling up as wingers, with a back five in a kind of flexible 5-3-2 line-up. However, presumably he will still want the option of switching to the more familiar dynamic 4-3-3 which he utilised for most of last season. Personally, if all of this is true, then I think it is a big shame as Alcaraz has huge potential and offers something a little different than other players. Also, whatever some people may feel about him not quite delivering everything they were hoping for, his stats are impressive, with nearly all of our wins at the start of last season coming when he started and very few wins being achieved without him until Stu Armstrong was fit.

So, where are Saints up to in terms of signing a keeper? We seem to have been linked with at least four candidates in the past couple of weeks and several others before that: Aaron Ramsdale - www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24450616.southampton-reportedly-weighing-up-move-aaron-ramsdale Sam Johnstone - www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24500418.southampton-reportedly-interested-crystal-palaces-sam-johnstone Vladyslav Krapyvtsov - www.footballfancast.com/southampton-ready-to-offer-contract-vladyslav-krapyvtsov-ahead-of-chelsea Jason Steele - www.givemesport.com/southampton-interested-in-brighton-goalkeeper-jason-steele Are we linked with anyone else (other than the guesses that Rui Patricio might go to Goztepe and then be loaned to Saints)? Is anything going to come of any of these links? I certainly hope we sign a keeper and if Lis is going back to Goztepe the club must be fairly confident that they will sign someone!

So, where are Saints up to in terms of signing a keeper? We seem to have been linked with at least four candidates in the past couple of weeks and several others before that: Aaron Ramsdale - www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24450616.southampton-reportedly-weighing-up-move-aaron-ramsdale Sam Johnstone - www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/24500418.southampton-reportedly-interested-crystal-palaces-sam-johnstone Vladyslav Krapyvtsov - www.footballfancast.com/southampton-ready-to-offer-contract-vladyslav-krapyvtsov-ahead-of-chelsea Jason Steele - www.givemesport.com/southampton-interested-in-brighton-goalkeeper-jason-steele Are we linked with anyone else? Is anything going to come of any of these links? Let's hope so!

How come Jimmy-Jay Morgan is not listed there?

So, by saying that BBD is an improvement on Adams, you are saying that our attack is better than it was in our relegation season. IN ADDITION, we now have Stewart who, even though we haven't really seen what he is capable of yet, is almost certainly going to be an improvement on Mara AND we now have a confident Adam Armstrong playing in a system that is better suited to his ability and a manager that trusts him. I am not saying I wouldn't welcome another quality striking addition to the squad, but it cannot be a higher priority than improving our central midfield. Someone has said earlier that it is no point improving on our midfield if we haven't got anyone to finish attacks, well let me turn that on its head and point out that there is no point having 5 strikers (or 6 if Ballard doesn't go on loan) if they are just going to feed off scraps because our midfield are not able to create anything. After all, one of our biggest challenges of the last few years (as has been pointed out many times) is the poor quality of our final ball. So... yes, I would love a quality new striker, but more importantly I would love to see a central midfielder like Matt O'Riley or similar. In addition I would also love a tough tackling defensive midfielder of the quality of Romeu that will allow us to be more effective in breaking up opposition attacks thus reducing our goals conceded (and also allowing us to transform defence quickly into attack).

This is where I think we are currently up to: Goalkeepers: Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley, Lis - With Bazunu injured we ideally need a keeper and Lis or Lumley should therefore be loaned out. Right Backs: KWP, Sugawara, Bree - KWP and/or Bree may leave. Another player may be signed if KWP leaves. Centre Backs: Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis, Edwards, Wood, Bella-Kotchap, Stephens - We have plenty of options at CB! Bednarek could leave if he cannot be tied to a new contract. Bella-Kotchap's future may depend on getting him fit enough. He could be loaned out but may stay, though that could leave us with a lot of CBs! Left Backs: Taylor, Manning, Meghoma, Larios - If KWP stays he can also play at LB. Larios superfluous to our needs but injuries mean few clubs will be interested. Meghoma's contract up for renewal next year, so a sale seems a strong possibility. Seems unlikely we will sign anyone else. Defensive midfielders: Downes, Charles - Limited options in this position, so a purchase would seem likely/necessary, especially if Charles is loaned out to facilitate the purchase of O'Riley. Stephens or others may need to cover this position if we don't strengthen. Central Midfielders: Smallbone, Dibling - Seriously lacking in this position. Downes could cover here but is needed at CDM! The signing of O'Riley and/or other CM/CDM player(s) is essential. Attacking Midfielders: Alcaraz, Aribo, Lallana - I can't see us prioritising further additions here. If needed, some of our wingers or Dibling can also cover this position. Wingers: Armstrong, Edozie, Sulemana, Amo-Ameyaw - Despite having four players already in these two positions plus Brereton-Diaz who can also play here, we are being linked with a number of other players in these positions including Fraser. Could any of the current batch leave if we sign someone else? Centre Forwards: Stewart, Brereton-Diaz, Mara, Ballard - It seems we are still being linked with others. With Armstrong also likely to play as CF on occasions, Mara's options will surely become limited now, unless we have serious injury problems. You've got to think he will leave on loan at the very least. Meanwhile Ballard needs experience of first team football, so a loan seems likely.