HarvSFC

Shame to see Ward-Prowse go. Felt that when the inevitable struggle to breakdown teams was going to occur this season that at least we could look to win a few free-kicks around the box and then use his weapon to get the decisive goal. We've also usually had a good free-kick taker since I've been supporting Saints. Bale, Lambert, Ward-Prowse. Who takes over now? Guess the set-piece coach does have to do some work now, but it will also be nice to have someone else take over corner duties as every manager has put Ward-Prowse on them through default of him being good at free-kicks. Who we replace him with is also key. We won't be able to get a player as good as Ward-Prowse in the Championship. But, Downes and Hamer are probably the two best realistic options. Grimes would be a good Smallbone replacement, but going from Ward-Prowse to Grimes would also be a big drop in quality. Also replacing him with another unknown youngster would be a bit of a shambles. For Ward-Prowse, plenty of better players have left us for other English sides and struggled over the years. Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Lallana, Clyne, Lambert, Lovren, Fonte and Ings. Van-Dijk, Mane, Alderweireld and Shaw after a couple of ropey years at the start the outliers and they were all elite when they were here. It's definitely a risk on his side and he could be giving up being the poster boy of Southampton, worshipped by many and being remembered for a lifetime, for becoming a forgotten bit part player at West Ham like Fonte. They aren't exactly known for their sound recruitment and Moyes' future is in doubt already. He could have been the captain that led Saints back to the Premier League. That's 2/3 players selected to model the new shirts gone this summer. Last time I take any notice of that!

Ah well, we knocked Man City out of the cup last season and it meant nothing overall, other than adding another achievement for Nathan Jones to bring up in every post-match interview. 46 game league season is tough enough without the league cup. Would've been nice for some of the squad players to surprise us, but again, we know from the horror of last season that they are mostly shit. Can we not go old school and put McCarthy, Lyanco, Bree, Perraud and Onuachu with the Under-23s. PSG are doing it with a load of theirs at the moment, including Mbappe. Would hopefully force a few of their hands, or they'll be happy to see out their contract. Even better, send them to Goztepe, or Valenciennes. Hopefully with the sales of Livramento and Salisu and expected sale of Lavia, we can afford to pay a part of their departure as no one's going to pick them up on the wage they have here.

Sold out away end to watch this horror show.

Varane and Guardiola didn't have the same energy for player safety and fatigue when their teams were jetting around USA, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Ireland and Scotland this summer to face the likes of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. They're talking as if it's 10 minutes added on from 0 minutes last season.

Imagine signing Caleta-Car and Maitland-Niles in the same window...

His finest work came yesterday:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66423028 Guardiola already complaining about the added time. But, of course, he did campaign for five substitutes, which massively favours City given their elite squad and of course adds further delays to the match. This is going to be like that time when referees said they were going to allow a bit more physicality in the game. I remember Stephens won the ball off Fernandes and we scored against United from it. United thought that Fernandes was fouled, Solskjaer moaned in the media, Guardiola and Klopp moaned in the media regarding incidents that affected their own sides and then it quickly went back to a non-contact sport. What would be better for these managers is that they tell their players to walk off at the nearest touchline when being subbed off, rather than strolling across the pitch, lapping up the ovation, which they would still get, just to high five their teammate and manager. Also, stop your players (Grealish) from rolling around on the floor, demanding the physios after a slight bit of contact, which he is then able to run back on from immediately. You also never see a player from a team chasing a goal go down with cramp in the dying minutes of a match. Then there wouldn't be 10+ minutes added on. 🤷‍♂️

Get Kelvin Davis back in to have a word with him.

Leeds takeover going well then. Signed Ampadu, Darlow and Byram while loaning out six. Not really addressed their squads problems in defence and a fit striker. A nice reminder that they did pay £25m for Dan James.

Wright was one of the few hundred strikers we had a little link with last season. Probably not a Premier League forward, but looked good since coming on and a lot better than Simms. Leicester get the three points.

Said before the game that the five subs rule would be key. 😉 Shame we probably won't have Adams for the entire season though, given his contract situation and the need for a more consistent striker. Had a bit of a feel of last season when Armstrong started the season, Adams was brought off the bench and scored two against Leicester. First half was great, guess the only complaint you could have was that we didn't score more than one. Second half was a bit more of a fight, and we won it. Must remember that Sheffield Wednesday came into this match with the momentum of a play-offs win, while we were still looking to shake last season's losing mentality. Last two times we got relegated we started the following season with a 1-1 draw against Millwall and a 0-0 draw against Wolves. So, to kick off with 3 points is key. I thought the wide players, Tella and Edozie were especially good tonight. Edozie just missing that final ball, but he did get two of their players booked, which again we were all saying he was able to do last season while Elyounoussi was selected ahead of him. A few too many crosses in the second half, but again, with a proper forward, not A. Armstrong that could be a good tactic. Smallbone was also very good in the middle. A few times we were missing a bit more steel in the middle and he was beaten in the air for their goal, but he was excellent on the ball and keeping our moves moving. And again, I wasn't his biggest fan before this pre-season. Alcaraz, again, like the Reading pre-season match was quiet. One of our few hopes last season, but now we're dominating he's going missing a bit. Hopefully it's just a case of him getting up to speed of a more physical league. I thought S. Armstrong looked a lot better coming on. Needs to stay fit and then he can be an asset for the season. Telling that Lavia didn't come on, despite his composure and control being a good piece to add at the end of the game, maybe a move is more imminent, not that it was ever in doubt anyway. But, again, I've not really seen us close out a 1 goal lead so easily before, usually it's back to the walls and nail biting, especially with 9 minutes added time. 3 points is 3 points. Top of the league, 45 matches to go and hopefully Norwich is just as good next weekend.

5 subs is going to be brilliant here. Adams, S. Armstrong, Lavia and possibly Djenepo and Aribo start for most Championship sides. Then you have the hidden gem in Amo-Ameyaw.

Sorry Andreas, but our long throw "specialist" has just left for Monaco.

Escalated quickly. Shame to see him go, as I think he could have been a similar player to the Bale we had in a full-back position in the Championship with us. However, there's also no guarantee that he would return to previous form given his injury and we do still have KWP, a more than capable right-back for this level. Hopefully we've got a good fee from the limitless budget of Newcastle and allows ourselves to move a bit more on our own targets.

Nyland's a worse keeper than McCarthy. Would hope he's Caballero's replacement rather than being signed because he's a keeper who can kick a ball.

Met him earlier outside Pitcher and Piano down in Ocean Village. Didn't ask for a picture or anything, because I'm not weird. Did ask if he was Russell Martin, though, just to double check. Shook his hand and he asked whether I was excited for the new season. Seemed like a good bloke in our little five second interaction. Unfortunately, didn't ask any transfer questions.

Damn, Burnley became more embarrassing than the big four over night and they have no substance to back it up. We'll have switched places with them in a year's time and probably spend a few million to try and keep us in the Premier League and secure our targets, rather than looking for handouts.

Absolutely, if he's available to the Championship again he should be the first name on our centre-back target list. Surprised Burnley haven't gone back in for him, or they're offering City £750k for him.

Arsenal Under-21s only kept the one clean sheet in the league last season, so he should fit right in.

Also every chance Burnley get relegated from the Premier League next season and us, with Tella get promoted.

Throwing it back to the Tella chat quickly. If he wasn't a Southampton player and we were being linked to him, a player who got 17 Championship in 39 appearances from a wide position last season, we'd be loving it and championing the club for targeting the right players. Therefore, must stay.

Same cost as Leeds spent on Dan James.

He'll be the break through youngster this season. Ox, Walcott, Bale style.

Fuck sake. £15m was a great deal for him given his contract. Would’ve been the 2023 Vestergaard and given us a bit more flexibility. That’s Lyanco and Salisu. These centre-backs are cursed.

Went off injured in Fulham’s pre season match tonight with a shoulder injury.