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Posted (edited)

For those who haven't seen it. Posted 4 days ago: Half hour interview from 6:00m to 36:00m. Starts with highlights of our comeback win against Inter where he set up Virgil via the crossbar

Edited by Patches O Houlihan
  • Like 5
Posted
1 hour ago, OldNick said:

Oriol Romeu returns to Southampton as a free agent.The player from Ulldecona is back in England.

Player manager? 🙂

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

If there was a player who could command respect from the players, staff and the fans, who would come to us, it is him.

He was literally playing for Barcelona and in the Champions league 18 months+ ago. No doubt he is still in tip top shape and would need just a few friendlies to be ready for the first team.

He is a player (and personality) someone like Downes could only dream of becoming (and will never make it).

Listen if he needs a few friendlies to get match fit enough to be a better option than the current losers he must be over the hill. Stick him straight in the side on Wednesday and give him the captain's armband.

  • Like 2
Posted
1 hour ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

I didn't think we'd see signs that SR 'get it'. But this might be one. For me he gets the Captain's armband within a fortnight.

Why wait 2 weeks? 
 

Finally, a proper fucking leader off and on the pitch. 

  • Like 5
Posted
4 minutes ago, OldNick said:

We must temper the great news that he is 3 years older and so not to expect too much

His decline only has to have been slightly slower than our own in order to still look like a world beater 

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  • Haha 5
Posted
30 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

The dressing room culture needs to fundamentally change; Romeu will help address that.

Yeah, time to put your handbags away lads.

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Posted
22 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

I

I had a rare bout of optimism at the end of this seasons Transfer deadline only to fall into an even deeper depression after the new signings (apart from Scienza!!) have made precious little improvement to the team.

I just hope that Oriol's return makes a difference.

He is a very decent bloke off the field but a Jimmy Case/Alan Ball type competitor on the pitch.

I just hope he still has the legs for the full on challenge of games in the Championship.

He'll be fine for us - we already play walking football most of the time.

  • Haha 6
Posted (edited)

I haven't seen any of him since he left, however I was pleased to see he's 34 (I assumed at least 2 years older) and he's not been retired since he left, he's been playing at a level better than we are. I'll not have sky high expectations but hope he'd improve us on and off the pitch. Please let it be true. 

One OR stat I loved (assuming true) is that he got 60+ yellows and no reds for us. In complete control after an early reducer on the oppo.

Edited by saintstowin
  • Like 3
Posted
12 minutes ago, OldNick said:

We must temper the great news that he is 3 years older and so not to expect too much

We must also remember that whilst he may have slowed down a little the guy has a football brain and we ain’t overblessed with players that have one of those !

  • Like 4
Posted
29 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

For those who haven't seen it. Posted 4 days ago: Half hour interview from 6:00m to 36:00m. Starts with highlights of our comeback win against Inter where he set up Virgil via the crossbar

I enjoyed that.
Thank you for posting

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

We must also remember that whilst he may have slowed down a little the guy has a football brain and we ain’t overblessed with players that have one of those !

I'm hoping that we see the really strong solid guy who reads the game really well sitting in front of the centre backs with Jander and possibly Downes to do most of the running for him. [both have a good engine] He won't have forgotten how to pass a ball or spot an attack developing and hopefully he can be empowered to communicate that message amongst his team mates - like having a coach on the pitch.

Edited by Patches O Houlihan
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Posted (edited)

I mentioned being told that Romeu was at Staplewood in the summer discussing a comeback ‘role’, week after Saints wrapped up their Spanish tour.  Delighted if this comes off now, first part of the amputation of the scar tissue for our resident primadonnas! 

Edited by Miltonaggro
  • Like 5
Posted
4 minutes ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

I'm hoping that we see the really strong solid guy who reads the game really well sitting in front of the centre backs with Jander and possibly Downes to do most of the running for him. [both have a good engine] He won't have forgotten how to pass a ball or spot an attack developing and hopefully he can be empowered to communicate that message amongst his team mates - like having a coach on the pitch.

….sitting in front of TWO centre backs. 

  • Like 10
Posted
15 minutes ago, saintstowin said:

I haven't seen any of him since he left, however I was pleased to see he's 34 (I assumed at least 2 years older) and he's not been retired since he left, he's been playing at a level better than we are. I'll not have sky high expectations but hope he'd improve us on and off the pitch. Please let it be true. 

One OR stat I loved (assuming true) is that he got 60+ yellows and no reds for us. In complete control after an early reducer on the oppo.

Won a good few bets with oriel getting a yellow. Was always impressed with his ability to get a yellow in the first 10 minutes then avoid a second yellow for the rest of the game 

Posted

Make him captain immediately. Need someone who is actually going to lead and raise the standards of the bunch of pricks we have at the moment. 

Hopefully Stephens and Downes both leave in January, seen the article about Saints players wanting Martin back can only be those two.

  • Like 10
Posted
Just now, Saint_clark said:

Make him captain immediately. Need someone who is actually going to lead and raise the standards of the bunch of pricks we have at the moment. 

Hopefully Stephens and Downes both leave in January, seen the article about Saints players wanting Martin back can only be those two.

Manning/Wood??

  • Like 1
Posted
1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

Make him captain immediately. Need someone who is actually going to lead and raise the standards of the bunch of pricks we have at the moment. 

Hopefully Stephens and Downes both leave in January, seen the article about Saints players wanting Martin back can only be those two.

What article?

Posted

Our fortunes are not turning around based on a one single player. Oriol Romeu was brilliant, delighted if it’s true that he’s coming back, but let’s be realistic, the problems are a lot deeper in the club.

  • Like 2
Posted

after witnessing some of the half hearted tackling on Saturday, this is great news. Boy does our back four need a shield in front of it and hopefully (legs permitting) he can still provide it. That little extra quality on the ball, won't go amiss either. We need a better weight of pass, midfielders playing on the half turn and at least a few attempts and playing it between the lines.   

  • Like 3
Posted
22 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Our fortunes are not turning around based on a one single player. Oriol Romeu was brilliant, delighted if it’s true that he’s coming back, but let’s be realistic, the problems are a lot deeper in the club.

Agree but it's a solid step in the right direction. Someone who doesn't get blown over by a puff of wind.

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Posted

Absolutely no downsides to this news.

I'd imagine they've finally realised there's a lack of leadership and obviously we are light in that position anyway. 

As others have mentioned, before this season he's been playing regularly in La Liga and he seems the kinda guy to keep himself in top shape.

We should've signed Fonte as well when we had the chance.

  • Like 3
Posted

Just hope he’s not too old/slow and is mobile enough to be a starter. 

I think he could offer leadership, but also something we really miss this season- game management. How and when to slow a game down, kill off some boring 1-0 wins.

Posted

Losing Romeu played a big part in our general decline. He was never the quickest but he could read the game, retain and pass the ball better than nearly every other premier league player when we had him. If he had pace we would have lost him years before to a top club. Brilliant move.

  • Like 7
Posted
7 minutes ago, The Wyvern said:

Just hope he’s not too old/slow and is mobile enough to be a starter. 

I think he could offer leadership, but also something we really miss this season- game management. How and when to slow a game down, kill off some boring 1-0 wins.

Played 30+ games last season and the Championship is a league at least lower.

34 isn’t that old Welbeck still going strong and papers want him for England ! Milner is 41 still getting game time at Brighton

  • Like 2
Posted
11 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

 

We should've signed Fonte as well when we had the chance.

There was talk of this after relegation in 2023, think Fonte referred to it in an interview. Had he come back then I suspect many would have been calling for him to replace Martin within a few weeks. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

For those who haven't seen it. Posted 4 days ago: Half hour interview from 6:00m to 36:00m. Starts with highlights of our comeback win against Inter where he set up Virgil via the crossbar

The more I think about it, the more I think the timing of all this is not a knee jerk reaction to this week's events on the pitch. This is a video the club put out. It will have been filmed and edited a week ago. During this interview Ori and possibly the others would have known he was joining. 

Posted

I’m far from his biggest fan but I would not be surprised if Ratty had something to do with getting Romeu here and convincing him to re-join us.  If he did, that would be the first decent thing he has done for us since several weeks before he left for Liverhampton.

Posted
1 hour ago, Obstacle1 said:

Won a good few bets with oriel getting a yellow. Was always impressed with his ability to get a yellow in the first 10 minutes then avoid a second yellow for the rest of the game 

Apparently he had the most yellow cards whilst playing for Saints in the Prem.
Second in ranking was MLT!!!

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

Naturally some questions around his fitness/mobility but people forget, much as I think they did when he was here previously, that Romeu is a fantastic player on the ball too. A player with his intelligence, first touch and reading of the game should still have plenty of life left in him. I know we loved his blood and guts style but he is a real classy operator too.

Edited by saintwbu
  • Like 3
Posted

I vaguely recall him scoring a cracking goal from the edge of the area (was it v QPR) and in the post match interview it was suggested it was a tackle rather than a shot. 🙂

great to have him back 

 

 

Posted

We should let his dog play alongside him instead of that poisonous cretin, Flynn 'I want my Wussell back' Downes

  • Haha 1
Posted
12 minutes ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

I’m far from his biggest fan but I would not be surprised if Ratty had something to do with getting Romeu here and convincing him to re-join us.  If he did, that would be the first decent thing he has done for us since several weeks before he left for Liverhampton.

Why ? They didn't paly here at the same time so not previous team mates. 

Think we can  rule out the possibility that Romeu phoned him for advice on Alice bands .

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Posted

A good PR move after the recent disaster. Letting Romeu go when we did was a massive mistake, and like many others we haven't properly recovered, or replaced him since. He was deteriorating when we let him go, but it needed to be a slow and gradual transition, rather than instantly selling him. He needed to be a rotation option in that first relegation season.

Also needs to be made captain on his arrival. Despite spending 7 years here, he's a Champions League, FA Cup and La Liga winner. His CV speaks for itself and he should get instant respect in the dressing room and I think a lot of the squad do respect him if the summer is anything to go by. Even Lavia posted about him on Instagram this weekend just gone and he barely played in the team with Romeu. His confrontation with Jack Grealish all those years ago also showed he's not scared to give some home truths and hopefully he can help to reset the standards here, as you'd hope players would actually look up to him, unlike they do Stephens.

I just think Romeu works with all of our midfielders. If Downes could return to his form of two years ago, himself, led by Romeu coaching him through a game in midfield could be a good defensive base. Additionally, Romeu gives Jander or Charles, who are both a bit more attacking the license to have a bit more freedom, as currently if they attack the midfield is gone. Just a shame Romeu is unlikely to be able to play three games a week, and please don't let this go the same way as Walcott and Lallana.

 

  • Like 4
Posted
2 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Is this real and confirmed that Romeu is coming back? Absolutely brilliant if so…he’ll tutor Charles and Jander very well.

Brilliant point @Saint Fan CaM. I think he has the makings of a brilliant coach in the future ....

  • Like 2
Posted
2 minutes ago, Badger said:

Why ? They didn't paly here at the same time so not previous team mates. 

Well spotted.  My mistake; I thought they overlapped one season but they did not.

So, nothing at all useful from Ratty yet in the last two years.

Btw, although he did not get one with us, Romeu did get a red while playing in Spain, if I remember right.

Posted (edited)

As others have posted, there are no downsides here. Oriol could easily have another 12-18 months in the tank at this level, although he might need to ease in with 20-25 minute cameos.

Loves the club and will not tolerate a lot of the slacking off and leaving your job to others. The likes of Downes, THB, Manning and others had better get their attitudes in order because he will let them know in training if they don’t and in games. Not defending Still as he made lot of poor decisions but having this man at Staplewood and on match days reminding everyone what it means to play for this club, and having done so in the San Siro and at Wembley would have made his life a bit easier with the ‘we want Wussell’ cluster.

Only slight risk is that it brings Jack back in as they know each other’s games but if it leads to some clean sheets and single goals conceded then I’m not fussy. 

Edited by Gloucester Saint
  • Like 2
Posted
3 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

There is genuinely something in the JWP links by the way, loan deal for January.

Not 100% sure how I feel about that one, but it's something that is 100% on the table. Just need to see if the finances work, as we'd need WHU to subsidise a hell of a lot.

Apparently they still owe us around £15m for the transfer. I'm sure there is a deal to he done there if we really want to.

  • Like 2
Posted
24 minutes ago, Stud mark of doom said:

I vaguely recall him scoring a cracking goal from the edge of the area (was it v QPR) and in the post match interview it was suggested it was a tackle rather than a shot. 🙂

great to have him back 

 

 

Norwich I think it was.

Scored another v Villa.

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