Jack Stephens

17 with half a dozen first team games at Plymouth and as you say, certainly not `one of our own'

Of course Plymouth played a big part in his development, but he is still a Saints academy product. He played for both the Saints under 18s academy team and under 21s/23s.

Of course Plymouth played a big part in his development, but he is still a Saints academy product. He played for both the Saints under 18s academy team and under 21s/23s.

bit like Walcott and Chamberlain being regarded as products of arsenal I guess

No, not really.

Arsenal bought both of them for big fees and threw them straight into the first team.

Great performance from Jack yesterday. Most of us thought we'ce concede goals at Bournemouth but the main reason we didn't was a big change in the centre of our defence. We often keep clean sheets when Stephens plays. It's noticeable how many of our best defensive performances he has featured in, including the 0-0 v Burnley, the 1-0 win at Brighton, and the 1-1 at Everton in the EFL Cup this season and the 0-0 draw at Man Utd and the 1-0 win at Swansea at the end of last season. He is developing into a very fine player. Hopefully, he will go on to become the replacement for Fonte and leader of our defence we've been looking for.

Agreed, excellent yesterday. His weaknesses are in the air usually and poor marking. Yesterday pretty much faultless. Always been a talented footballer. Hoet good too yesterday but Stephens shaded it for me.

Hughes said in his post match interview on Solent that he had spent the international break working with the defenders who had not gone away and the reason that Hoedt and Stephens got the nod is they had responded well on the training ground to the coaching.

Lets hope its the start of a more solid defence.

The boy did good yesterday.

I'm not a fan of him personally, but thought he was excellent yesterday - fair play.

Stephens Season Stat.

3 clean sheets in the 4 games he has played in the league this season, 2 goals conceded in 360 minutes.

Those might be about to take a hit.......

Stephens Season Stat.

 

3 clean sheets in the 4 games he has played in the league this season, 2 goals conceded in 360 minutes.

 

Those might be about to take a hit.......

Did he play in last seasons game up at City?

Stephens Season Stat.

 

3 clean sheets in the 4 games he has played in the league this season, 2 goals conceded in 360 minutes.

 

Those might be about to take a hit.......

Obviously he can't do it all on his own but he has been one of the few bright spots this season. We have kept clean sheets in 5 out of the last 7 games he's played in, including the final two last season: the 1-0 win at Swansea Swansea and the 0-1 defeat to Man City, when we were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet.

Obviously he can't do it all on his own but he has been one of the few bright spots this season. We have kept clean sheets in 5 out of the last 7 games he's played in, including the final two last season: the 1-0 win at Swansea Swansea and the 0-1 defeat to Man City, when we were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet.

Against City he got on the wrong side of the attacker. He may be learning this season but he had a problem connecting the ball with the attacker, often losing sight of one or both through ball watching or being caught on the wrong side of the attacker. He was caught several times last season by opponents attacking the ball and getting caught underneath both the ball and the opponent. He's not the only one, Yoshida and Vestergaard have been caught out. Zonal marking at set pieces doesn't help. Defenders have to attack the ball.

Cough, cough, splutter! Are we really now taking Stephens seriously? How far have we fallen?

Cough, cough, splutter! Are we really now taking Stephens seriously? How far have we fallen?

Two years ago some were declaring him a better prospect then the then much hyped Maguire at Hull (having watched them in the same match at St Mary's), and a more outlandish claim was that he brought the ball out of defence in a style not seen since Beckenbauer.

Perhaps after a brief lull he's rediscovered his potential !

In Jack Stephens and Christoph Klarer we have two central defenders far better than the ones Ross and Les have wasted the van Dijk and Fonte transfer fees on: Vestergaard, Gardos et al. The point is we still have a few talented players left at the club and I think that if they were played regularly in the first team, they would give us fans players to identify with. It's just unfortunate that a lot of the useless dross the club has wasted tens of millions of pounds on gets in the way of that.

Two years ago some were declaring him a better prospect then the then much hyped Maguire at Hull (having watched them in the same match at St Mary's), and a more outlandish claim was that he brought the ball out of defence in a style not seen since Beckenbauer.

 

Perhaps after a brief lull he's rediscovered his potential !

No, he looked alright playing under the ultra cautious Puel but is frequently found out when we try to attack or when he comes up against better opposition.

No, he looked alright playing under the ultra cautious Puel but is frequently found out when we try to attack or when he comes up against better opposition.

And now he looks much better under Hughes. In fact, he's probably 2nd only to Hojbjerg as our player of the season so far.

Charlie Nicholas said he was 'magnificent' today.

He is good in a back 3, less so in a four. Composed and calm alongside more aggressive players.

Was very good today, as were all the defenders.

He is good in a back 3, less so in a four. Composed and calm alongside more aggressive players.

 

Was very good today, as were all the defenders.

Yeah, I think the 3 suits all our defenders at the mo.

70 million for Maguire.

So Stephens must be worth 150 million?

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/07/02/report-aston-villa-could-return-to-southampton-for-centre-back-j/

please please please

70 million for Maguire. Very , very overpriced... decent but not good enough to warrant that priceSo Stephens must be worth 150 million?

As far a Stephens goes you are just being silly

Who’s offering to drive him there, £5 million and snap their hand off

Wonder how much we would be able to get for him. If you ignore the fact he's a liability, in this market that's probably £15m.

Wonder how much we would be able to get for him. If you ignore the fact he's a liability, in this market that's probably £15m.

& that is purely because he’s english & played games in the premier league.

I can’t actually find who wrote the original article.

To be honest, I can’t believe it’s true.

I can’t actually find who wrote the original article.

 

To be honest, I can’t believe it’s true.

Cool, cheers. Thought John Cross focused on Arsenal.

Hope it’s true.

As far a Stephens goes you are just being silly

No **** sherlock

He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

Agreed. Under the watchful eye of Terry at Villa, and a dominant CB alongside him he actually could do well there. If Targett is an £11m + player, Stephens is worth at least that. If we could get decent cash for him it'd be a good move all round.

He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

He runs away from the ball. I still have a nightmare vision of him at Wembley running away from Ibrahimovic and allowing him a free header.

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/07/02/report-aston-villa-could-return-to-southampton-for-centre-back-j/

Dear God, PLEASE

He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

Lol

He will save us points by not being on the pitch

Give him away for free. Absolute liability

He runs away from the ball. I still have a nightmare vision of him at Wembley running away from Ibrahimovic and allowing him a free header.

That was because he ran towards the ball, not away from it.

But, either way, he can't mark.

First Targett and now Stephens. Have Villa scouts ever watched us try to defend?

Jesus. Have the scouts at villa lost it?

I can see why they’d be interested. He’s clearly talented, he’s just far too prone too switching off in terms of concentration for my liking.

Villa building for the championship

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He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

sorry, that is wrong on many levels

If they take Stephens as well as Targett I will personally go up there and shake the hand for whoever is responsible for the purchases and will also be lumping on them going straight back down whilst those two are starting together.

Thank you Aston Villa.

Do they want Elynoussi too?

Do they want Elynoussi too?

If they carry on like this, I might give them a call.

Any chance they could take Forster and Hoedt?

Make it a 3 for 2

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Any chance they could take Forster and Hoedt?

 

Make it a 3 for 2

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or a 2 for 3 the way they’re doing business this summer.

He's not as bad as many make out, he's still fairly young for a CB, played over 60 times for us inc key clean sheets like away to Liverpool in a cup semi final and i remember watching him score the winning goal for England u21s at St Marys. Definitely should be looking at minimum £10M transfer fee.

Wonder what our overall record is for those 60 games.

He might as well go. If Ralph goes with two centre backs he must be fourth choice behind Vestergaard, Bednerek and Yoshida.

Fourth choice and that’s before we sign a new defender.

That was because he ran towards the ball, not away from it.

 

But, either way, he can't mark.