SaintJackoInHurworth

I think it is a little bit unfair to say that Bednarek is prone to lapses of concentration. All of our centre backs are prone to that and if anything Bednarek is better than the others in that regard - though not perfect; and as I have said above, often the reason that he is found out of position is not entirely his own fault, because sometimes or even often the issue is that he is covering for others who are out of position! On the other hand, as you have said, one issue with Bednarek may at times be his reading of the game and yes, he doesn't always look particularly happy with the ball, but that is not necessarily top of the criteria for judging a centre back - albeit it is something he needs to work on. As for Salisu, I would agree he is physically strong and his speed is not too bad, though I don't think Bednarek does too badly in that regard either. I am not convinced his reading of the game is as good as you say at all though - he definitely needs to improve in that area and his recklessness is a result of that! Concentration is also a major concern. It is so frustrating seeing him suddenly realise that he is miles ahead of the play and needs to get back or that he is the nearest player to the ball and that the ball that is not being picked up behind him is the one that he should be getting! While I agree that Salisu has potentially greater long term potential than Bednarek, I would still argue that at present Bednarek is, in some respects at least, still the better defender, though his form and confidence has been battered this season.

The problem is that he rarely gets the chance to do just his own job as he ends up covering for others. Whether that is his own fault or whether that is what has been asked for him, who knows? Even so we would probably criticise him even more if he didn't make the effort to cover for Salisu, Stephens or Lyanco when they go missing. Which leaves him as the mug who is always blamed; and when he is the one being continually blamed his confidence drops and he begins to just look desparate - which is where he has ended up. I just have to ask the question: why, when he plays with a decent defensive partner (e.g. for Poland) has he always looked a much better player? He is never going to be a world beater and I am not for a moment claiming he is a GREAT defender, but I definitely think that at his best he can be semi-decent and that some of the criticism he recieves is over-the-top.

This is a very good point! What we need is a right-sided centre back (or two) and then let Salisu and Bednarek fight it out for the left centre-back berth.

OK - it's obvious to state the fact that Bednarek had a really poor end to the season. It is also true to say that at the start of the season Salisu did do some good stuff and showed some solid improvement... However.... While Salisu has great potential, he is still young and still very inexperienced; he is still prone to far too many errors for a first choice Premier League defender. He has a very annoying tendency to get himself out of position and is slow to get back in position when he does; and like many of the central defenders we have had in recent years, he has a tendency to ball watch at times. Bednarek is the experienced central defender who has done well in the past but has been expected to cover for the others; and that is a hugely demanding role when we play both full-backs as wing back and when Salisu also loves to charge forwards! It leaves Bednarek exposed and struggling to cover everyone else. The result has been that he hasn't been able to do that - after all he is only human and cannot be expected to do the job of four players! I think some of the finger pointing that has been aimed at Bednarek should also be pointed at Salisu. I also think that some of scapegoating of Bednarek has not been great for his confidence and he has always struck me as a confidence player. Don't get me wrong... I'm not saying that Bednarek is without blame, but I do wonder if we would see much better from him if paired with a higher quality central defensive partner; and maybe in the future when Salisu has reached the required quality, then maybe Bednarek and Salisu will be able to form a decent defensive partnership in the way they have failed to do this season. I would personally be happy for Bednarek to be kept on - either as the second CB in a partnership with a new quality CB, or as a quality reserve option to bring in when another CB is injured. I hope that if that happens, our fans will stop lambasting and blaming him for any and every mistake - even ones that are not his fault - and will give him the confidence to shine.

So, it is pretty obvious that significant changes are needed at Saints, but the reality is that even if Sports Republic are able to offer a little bit more money than we have had at our disposal in previous years, they won't be able to change everything in one go. So what are the priorities? I think the first priority has got to be central defence. Salisu is dreadful! He has potential, but is prone to drift out of position and other errors. He needs time to get to Premier League standard. Bednarek is better but spends too much time covering for other defenders (especially Salisu) and his own form and confidence has suffered as a result. Stephens, Lyanco and Valery are also not up to much (although Valery has done better this season than previously). I believe we need one or even two decent central defenders with a bit of experience in the Premier League who can bring a bit of stability and can help the other CBs to improve. I would prioritise someone like James Tarkowski who has just got relegated with Burnley, but is a semi-decent centre back who we might, possibly, have some chance of buying. Secondly, we also need a decent striker as none of our striking options have delivered anywhere near enough goals. Thirdly, of course, we also need a keeper. If we have any money after that lot, I would try again to find a decent creative/attacking midfield player/winger. Walcott has failed; Redmond has lost his way; Elyounoussi has had a better season but is still not great; Djenepo has failed to deliver and still looks like a headless chicken most of the time and Tella has not done enough to suggest he can make the role his own. Only Armstrong can be trusted to regularly deliver any quality. Finally, though I doubt we will have enough money for this, we need to do something about developing a player who can cover for Romeu when he is injured or off-form. All of our other reserve central midfielders (Diallo and Smallbone) are better as cover for Ward-Prowse than for Romeu. We can talk all we want about the manager - and he has definitely made mistakes - but until we get our squad sorted we can't really complain. What he does need however, is a decent assistant. So alongside up to six decent squad additions I would argue we also need to improve in that area.

Yes - we have kind of upgraded it by bringing in that greater depth - but I agree we haven't upgraded with sufficient quality. In addition, Ralph has failed to find the ways to help enough players to develop their abilities. For example: Salisu, despite some fans adulation has been dreadful and Bednarek has suffered with trying to cover for his frequent lapses, with the result that he (Bednarek) has often looked like the one who has mucked up by gettimng out of position covering for Salisu. Bednarek always looks better when Salisu is not playing at centre back. The reality is that Salisu is probably more of a left back than a centre back. Adam Armstrong was on paper an ok appointment, but Ralph has failed to find the way to unlock his talent and has instead undermined his confidence. Diallo has some abilities but very little confidence. He is also not a holding player so should never be played as cover for Romeu. He is at best a back-up for Ward-Prowse if he is injured, but would probably be better utlised in the same way that Stuart Armstrong is best played - as a link player between midfield and attack.

I'm sad to say that I have now probably moved into the camp of those who think it is best for a change of manager, though I'm not sure he can take all the blame and we have still got to be very careful what we wish for. I see it like this: Ralph adopted a weak, demoralised squad with no direction after several disappointing managerial appointments. He made good changes to our tactics which began to turn us round and got us moving back in the right direction - not least the re-introduction of the high press which had been so successful under Poch. Changes in the back room made some improvements to our transfer strategy, but not enough. We continued with a compromised, half-baked, idealistic transfer strategy that was a shadow of what we had previously had under Poch and Koeman. Budgetary limitations further limited our ability to be effective in the transfer market. We were slow to realise flaws in our academy model and were left glorying in a past academy success that had long since evaporated. Some fans were impatient for change and put the blame for failings wholly upon Ralph's shoulders. Ralph was initially stubborn to change things - in some ways a good thing, but in other ways a failure to recognise the need for the ability to change strategy within a game. Injuries also compromised what Ralph was attempting to achieve and a lack of squad depth did not help with this. In order to improve squad flexibility and depth and beginning to see the need for a bigger range of tactical approaches, Ralph tried some changes - some succeeded but others backfired badly. As time has gone on Ralph has begun to tinker more and more with the squad. Potentially Ralph may also have been under pressure to utlise more of the squad including players that were failing like Diallo and Elyounoussi. We have been left with a compromised set of tactics and ambiguous team selections. This all leaves me feeling that whether or not it is all Ralph's fault, we need a change. However, we must avoid a knee-jerk sacking without having a clear idea of who we might replace him with.

I'm pleased Armstrong gets to start even though he has not yet delivered for Saints. A little worried by the selection of Diallo. I'm most excited by the inclusion of Dibling on the bench. Also pleased that Stu Armstrong starts. Oh - and great to see McCarthy back on the bench.

I haven't contributed on this forum for a while and must admit I get frustrated with the continual bickering. Fwiw, while MLG may get a bit pedantic and is easily drawn into arguments with certain others, he also makes some good points and it is frustrating that those who argue with him are as argumentative as he is. Is there any chance the lot of you can just calm it down a bit and try to have respectful debate without resorting to the slanging matches? And so, getting back to the topics at hand... Personally I have mixed feelings about Alli for many of the reasons that others have shared: At his best he was a key part of the England side - if we could sign him and he could rediscover that form that would be great. He would not be the same type of player as Redmond, Djenepo or Elyonoussi - they are much more the sort of player to dribble past players, whereas his skills at their best are much more similar to those of Stuart Armstrong - positioning, timing, passing, forward momentum, etc. - though, of course, there are some overlaps. There are big questions about whether he can rediscover his form. He could block the development of players like Smallbone and others. If he would accept the option of signing for us after a loan it would have to be on the basis of him taking a considerable cut in wages. I agree that Carvalho would be a more likely signing - whether he would be a better signing in the short or long run remains to be seen. Nevertheless, with West Ham and Liverpool being linked I also doubt he will come to Saints. I think it is more likely that if we make any signing this January they will be similar to the signings of Livramento and Small in the summer and/or signings like the one that is anticipated for Will Armitage from Cheltenham.

A lot of people seem to be very much glass half-full here, especially in relation to Lyanco. I think he may turn out to be better than some of you fear. I also think that suggestions that he will not be used in defensive midfield may be incorrect. From what I saw on the videos he looked very much like a player who would fit well in that position fulfilling a similar role to Romeu. Since we have not signed anyone else to fulfil that role, I think Lyanco may well have to be the one who covers for Romeu if he is injured. However, I also think that he could produce decent competition for Salisu in the left hand central defensive role and I would not be too surprised if he even manages to jump ahead of Salisu in the pecking order - at least for some games. We now have a squad with at least two players (and in some cases more) in every position plus several youngsters who also have the potential to begin to challenge for a place in the first team. We can be confident that this season we will not be seeing Saints struggling to put together a side with enough cover in every position.

If we are seeking to sign a fifth defensive misfielder, then I'm surprised that we haven't made a move for a player like Claudio Gomes from Man City, though I don't know whether he is more of a Romeu-type DM or a JWP-type DM. I think our shortage is cover for Romeu rather than cover for JWP. As I see it our defensive midfield options look like this: Traditional UK Number 4 (in Germany a number 6) - defensive holding midfielder Romeu More attack-minded or box-to-box style DM - traditionally a number 7 or 8 in the UK JWP Diallo Smallbone While JWP or Diallo can switch into the number 4 (6) position, that is not their greatest strength. Nevertheless, I do wonder if there is a player in the academy of one of the big clubs who could be given a chance at Saints in that position, in the same way that Livramento and Small have been given the opportunity to challenge at full back.

So, for all the talk and rumours, we didn't sign any of these: Nat Phillips Boubakar Kouyate Flavius Daniliuc Thomas Delaney Ainsley Maitland-Niles Rob Holding James Tarkowski Phil Jones Issa Diop Japhet Tanganga Omar Colley Philippe Sandler Erik Palmer-Brown Jason Denayer Andreas Hanche Brandon Williams Gary Cahill I notice Maitland-Niles is now linked with going to Everton on loan with an option-to-buy. With his ability to play in a number of positions including defensive midfield I always thought he would be one that we might consider, but obviously not!

I suspect we may give run-outs to a couple of younger players - if not in the starting line-up then on the bench. If Small is fit enough then he could start, but if as has been suggested he is not match-fit then how about Olufunwa? After all, he has been training with the first team. It also makes sense to give a run-out to Simeu in central defende and Watts or Chauke could get an opportunity in central midfield. Another factor is the risk of cup-tying players who we might want to send out on loan (or sell) like Long and Valery Thus here is what I think we could see: ForsterKWP Bednarek Simeu Small? (or Olufunwa)JWP/Diallo Watts/ChaukeElyounoussi(?) RedmondTella/Obafemi BrojaAlso, like with Long and Valery, there may be questions about cup-tying Elyounoussi and/or we might want to give the opportunity for Stu Armstrong to build up some match fitness.

There are a lot of negative posts here from what I can see from a quick scan. Let's just wait and see shall we? Personally, on looking at those videos I find myself seeing both massive potential and yet also some things that may be of concern. Whether they will be of concern remains to be seen as does whether we can bring out the best in him. Nevertheless, this is what I observe so far: He has far more flair pushing out of defence than your typical centre back and great ability moving forwards. That makes him a potentially great defensive midfielder. He looks good at turning a defensive position into an attacking one. Again this makes him good at both CB and DM. He looks good at intercepting passes within a high line - that suits the Saints way of playing. Also good as a DM. He looks good at making raking long passes out of defence. That replaces what we have lost in Vestergaard. His marking in the 7-0 defeat was ok at first but seemed to drift as the game went on. He may need some coaching in that area. In the 7-0 defeat the other defenders around him seemed particularly hopeless, especially for some of the first few goals where Lyanco was not to blame at all. No defender can be expected to do it all - they operate as a defensive unit. We will need to ensure that our defence builds that level of understanding. There is limited evidence of him tackling. Potentially he may need some coaching in that area. He looks good in attack - both scoring from headers and making telling assists. That's brilliant and exciting to see. He may be more of a Ward-Prowse type DM than a Romeu but may have potential in both styles of DM play. Hopefully by buying a cheaper player we can also buy a couple of other players such as Thierry Small and who knows, maybe another player too?!

Where do you get 11? I would agree a few but not 11!! The ones I would say are probably deemed surplus are: Lewis, McQueen (possibly though I personally hope that by January he might begin to rediscover something of his form from several years ago before he got injured), Valery, Elyounoussi, Long and possibly Obafemi - that is 6 players. Who are your other 5? While there may be several players you do not personally like, all of the others are definitely NOT surplus to requirements and, like it or not, will form the core of Saints squad this season, even if only as reserves and subs in case of injury.

So, where does this leave the Saints squad? I would say it is something like this (players only listed in primary positions): GK: McCarthy / Forster / Lewis (3 players for one position) LB: Perraud / McQueen (Possibly Thierry Small or another LB to follow?) (2 players for one position + cover provided by Stephens, Djenepo, Diallo, Livramento, etc.) RB: Walker-Peters / Livramento / Valery (3 players for one position) CB: Bednarek / Salisu / Lyanco / Stephens (4 players for 2 positions) DM: Romeu / Ward-Prowse / Smallbone / Diallo (4 players for 2 positions) AM: S.Armstrong / Djenepo / Redmond / Walcott / Elyounoussi (5 players for 2 positions) CF: A.Armstrong / Adams / Tella / Obafemi / Broja / Long (6 players for 2 positions)

Is Worrall now definitely the leading candidate to replace Vestergaard? Have we discounted all the other possibilities including the following?: Nat Phillips Boubakar Kouyate Flavius Daniliuc Thomas Delaney Ainsley Maitland-Niles Rob Holding James Tarkowski Phil Jones Issa Diop Japhet Tanganga Omar Colley Philippe Sandler Erik Palmer-Brown Jason Denayer Andreas Hanche-Olsen Gary Cahill Tosin Adarabioyo Koni De Winter

OK - Won't our points for our teams from week 1 still count though?

Some of you lot are a joke! Please keep away from our club and go back to Pompey and give them this style of so-called support! Ralph is not perfect but he is streets better than any alternative we might get - including Eddie Howe. Let us be clear here: Bournemouth were relegated despite having new wealthy owners putting in far more to the club than Saints are able to draw upon. They were managed by Eddie Howe. If he couldn't keep Bompey up with all that financial backing, how on earth do you think he could cope with managing Saints?! We have played ONE fixture this season and if it hadn't been for an error early in the second half we could and probably should have gone on to beat an Everton side that featured multiple internationals and players that we could only dream of playing for Saints, including Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison, Dingue, Coleman, Demarai Gray and more. We played that fixture short of a centre back following the sale of Vestergaard and with our two central midfielders short on fitness after recovering from injury. Last autumn we found our club top of the Premier League with confidence sky high after Ralph, the manager that you are dissing, had led the team to play some brilliant football which showed everyone our potential with him as manager. Sadly we then faced a period of difficulty with a huge raft of injuries and, due to COVID, a lack of access to the conditioning facilities which we would usually use to prevent injuries and to help injured players to recover. SO, if you want to support a club that does not have Ralph as manager, there is a simple way to achieve that: Go and give your negative, unhelpful, morale-destroying so-called 'support' to Pompey or one of the other football clubs on offer. We don't need or want your brand of 'support' at Saints. Thanks!

I don't think either of these questions were answered. Personally, as well as my Fantasy Premier League team I have also got a Telegraph Fantasy team and one on Sky Sports. I also do Super 6 predictions. If there are Saints Web leagues for any of these I would be interested in joining. Thanks!

So, what are the potential options for Saints to replace Vestergaard? Here are some of the possibilities including some of the names that have been mentioned and a couple that haven't: Nat Phillips, Liverpool - Age 24 - Strongly linked over recent days but rumours now say he is not currently of interest. Duje Caleta-Car - Age 24, Croatian international. Plays for Marseille. Two years left on current contract. Ozan Kabak - Age 21, Turkish international. Plays for Schalke 04. Nikola Milenković - Age 23. Plays for Fiorentina; Serbian international. One year left on contract. Boubakar Kouyate, Metz - age 24 - linked with Saints recently. Also linked with Newcastle and Norwich. Flavius Daniliuc - 20 years old and plays for OGC Nice in France. Has been linked with Saints and West Ham. Thomas Delaney - age 29, Borussia Dortmund. Defensive midfielder. Now linked with a move to Sevilla. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Arsenal - Age 23, usually left back or central midfield - flexible to play in a range of positions. Rob Holding - age 25, has dropped down the pecking order at Arsenal following the signing of White. Had been linked to Leicester. James Tarkowski - age 28, only one year of contract left at Burnley. Phil Jones - still on the books at Man Utd and only 29 but has had a career blighted by injury. Issa Diop, West Ham - age 24, we were linked with him a few weeks ago. Japhet Tanganga, Spurs - Age 22, he has been mentioned as possible acquisition, but has also been linked with a loan to Galatasaray. Omar Colley - Sampdoria centre back aged 28 yrs and reportedly of interest to Brighton, West Ham and Leeds at present. Philippe Sandler - Man City reserve centre back, aged 24 and Dutch, with only a year left on his contract. Has been training with first team following return from injury sustained on loan at Anderlecht last season. Erik Palmer-Brown - Man City reserve centre back, aged 24 and US international, with only a year left on his contract. Potentially about to move to Serie A side Venezia. Jason Denayer - Belgian International, age 26, only a year left on contract with Lyon. Andreas Hanche-Olsen - Age 24, Norwegian International, playing for Gent in Belgium. Two years left on contract with Gent. Gary Cahill - age 35 and available for free. Surely he is too old?? Takehiro Tomiyasu - Age 22, plays for Bologna and Japan. Apparently about to be signed by Spurs. Any others that I have missed?

Interesting article about Phillips here: www.thisisanfield.com/2021/08/nat-phillips-still-not-in-training-as-options-open-up-for-15-million-move Personally I think he sounds like an alright buy even if he is very similar to Vestergaard. I remember one match last season wheer the pundits were heaping praise on him for his performance, so let's hope that if we do sign him we see some of that!

This sums it up for me. I agree that it feels like we need to do something about our goalkeeper coaching. I seem to remember that a few years ago we brought in the England goalie coach but FF seemed to go downhill instead of getting better! Nevertheless, I don't know if that is the same coach or coaches that we have now. I also agree that AM is better in a few respects than FF. While I do appreciate the statistical analysis presented in another post above, I think that is only part of the story and doesn't give any weighting tom the relative merits of each keeper. It also only gives and average rather that what each keeper is like at their best. For me the ultimate question is which one is technically the better shot stopper and I believe that is AM. Nevertheless, his big problem at times seems to be concentration and consistency. In terms of distribution, FF is very poor but has learned that he just has to get rid of it by booting it up the field. AM is mildly better at following the preferred approach of passing to a defender, but as others have said he isn't actually very good at this. I sometimes wish he would just do what FF does and ignore the club preference for passing it out to a defender and instead just boot it up the field!

Mate, don't take it personally - I wasn't laughing at you, so no need for being aggressive! My LOL was simply at the thought of Hoddle being the lynchpin battling defensive midfielder in any side. Nevertheless, I will concede that he did probably play himself in a deeper midfield position a few times at the end of his career when he was player manager at Chelsea and Swindon and on a few occasions that may even have been as a sweeper (though not as a traditional central defender). He was hardly there in the Romeu-type role though. In those days the role as it was implemented in many clubs was more about playing within a diamond formation; as such he acted more as a link player between defence and attack, making keys passes. Also, Hoddle was the manager so was able to select himself to play that role. Whether anyone else would have selected him to play that role is perhaps questionable.

LOL - Hoddle never played as a defender nor even as a defensive midfielder! Actually the player in his era who perhaps did have that level of flexibility was Saints captain Steve Williams, though sadly he went to Arsenal and his career pretty much bombed after that! That is an interesting question and assertion. I actually think that even if we have only gone sideways in terms of first team quality, we have actually done far more than that in that we have strengthened our options/depth in reserve and for varying our formations and tactical set-up. With that in mind it is also worth remembering that in the first half of the season we were challenging at the top of the table with strong hopes of making a challenge for a Europa League place at least! Of course, we all knew it was a false position, but if it weren't for our massive injury problems and lack of cover, who knows how much better we might have performed; and now that we find ourselves with a squad with greater flexibility and depth, who knows if maybe we can maintain a higher standard throughout the season? In addition, while last season COVID prevented the club from making full use of its conditioning facilities for treating injuries, etc., hopefully this season we will be able to make more use of these, benefitting the squad even more. Nevertheless, I would love to see at least one addition to the squad and for me the priority is probably a centre back. As far as left back is concerned Salisu, McQueen, Stephens, Diallo, Djenepo, Livramento and Valery can all provide cover there should Perraud get injured, though McQueen is still not listed on the Saints website, so I wonder if his six month contract is more about providing support for him while he rebuilds his fitness.