Adam Armstrong

[Saint_clark]

3 hours ago, benali-shorts said:

I thought he was dying with us in those last few months and forcing him to play wide when he’d made it clear that he didn’t want to play there wouldn’t have helped - he needed a fresh start, and so did we. 

This thing about his position is so weird to me. Can anyone tell me why he is so adamant he wants to play through the middle, and is apparently miserable playing on the right, when he has almost always been fucking dogshit playing centre forward and has banged in goals and assists from the right wing? Surely you'd be much happier providing goals for a winning team than running around like a headless chicken in the middle for a losing one?

[pimpin4rizeal]

4 hours ago, benali-shorts said:

I thought he was dying with us in those last few months and forcing him to play wide when he’d made it clear that he didn’t want to play there wouldn’t have helped - he needed a fresh start, and so did we. 

Really? The games that got tonda the job like charlton away he was immense. Plus he was a great option for two positions .everyone talks about how hard it is to sign decent strikers/forwards in January but doesn’t seem to stop us letting ours go  people seem to be making stuff up to make them feel happier about it 

[Lord Duckhunter]

9 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Not even posting this because of scienza , but I really think it was a pointless dumbass move getting rid of AA, even if you don’t rate him as a cf which he still did a good job and was top scorer at one point surely he offers a shit ton more product then fellows and matsuki on the right ? .

The whole atmosphere seems to have changed round the club since he left. THB & Downes are digging in and looking like completely different players. Attitudes look far better since the “vice captain” was binned. Coincidence? Maybe, but this doesn’t look anything like the  club  Alfie House said needed to lose a few bad apples…

Edited yesterday at 13:25 by Lord Duckhunter

[benali-shorts]

37 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Really? The games that got tonda the job like charlton away he was immense. Plus he was a great option for two positions .everyone talks about how hard it is to sign decent strikers/forwards in January but doesn’t seem to stop us letting ours go  people seem to be making stuff up to make them feel happier about it 

He hadn't scored in ten, and had looked Increasingly ineffectual in most of those (imo). We were looking to change to a big striker in January which would have meant his chances would then be restricted to playing wide, and he has made it clear he sees himself as a CF. We all expected Fellows to have more success as a RW, which would have made AA even more redundant. With 18 months left, it made sense for both parties to move on. I wish him well, but completely understand the reason for selling from both player's and club's perspectives. 

[HKsaint]

Fellow cannot replace AA. We miss AA badly.

[Chez]

9 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

We miss AA badly.

Do we? We seem to have done pretty well since we replaced him with Larin and a "fit" Stewart.

[saintant]

15 minutes ago, HKsaint said:

Fellow cannot replace AA. We miss AA badly.

We miss him so much we are unbeaten since he left and in the quarter finals of the FA Cup 🙂

[Chez]

42 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

He hadn't scored in ten, and had looked Increasingly ineffectual in most of those (imo). We were looking to change to a big striker in January which would have meant his chances would then be restricted to playing wide, and he has made it clear he sees himself as a CF.

With 18 months left, it made sense for both parties to move on. I wish him well, but completely understand the reason for selling from both player's and club's perspectives. 

Agreed. He wasn't at the top of his game and he didn't offer us that physical presence we badly needed. If we could have sold Archer, I think that would have been the club's preference, but no one want to buy him. 

Having sent him out on loan the previous season, I was surprised he didn't force a move in the summer. He can't have been happy.

I think the move made sense to all parties. Removing his wages has paid for Larin/Peretz.

[bpsaint]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The whole atmosphere seems to have changed round the club since he left. THB & Downes are digging in and looking like completely different players. Attitudes look far better since the “vice captain” was binned. Coincidence? Maybe, but this doesn’t look anything like the  club  Alfie House said needed to lose a few bad apples…

Was going to say something similar before I read your post. There’s been a noticeable change in attitudes since the likes of ArmA and Fraser have left the building.

[stknowle]

4 hours ago, HKsaint said:

Fellow cannot replace AA. We miss AA badly.

With respect I have to disagree HK my old pal. We’ve looked a better side since he left.

[Midfield_General]

I for one am delighted I no longer have to watch a hologram in goal and a dwarf at centre forward. We look like a proper football team now, and that’s not a coincidence. 

Edited yesterday at 19:49 by Midfield_General

[S-Clarke]

13 hours ago, Midfield_General said:

I for one am delighted I no longer have to watch a hologram in goal and a dwarf at centre forward. We look like a proper football team now, and that’s not a coincidence. 

That's it in a nutshell really, when you have a 'proper football team', you can have off days and still get something (as we did against WBA). We had a few off days under Adkins at this level, Leeds away one of those - we were awful, but we were a team with those two key attributes you mention - and we got the points because of that.

It was never rocket science and it never required us to sell everyone really, just stop with the square pegs and play players in their right places. I'm not saying Armstrong is a bad player, but we were often tempted to play him as the 9 because of our options in the wide areas - but it never worked. It felt a bit forced with Armstrong around, but it's more of a natural attack now.

[spyinthesky]

I would rather have Armstrong in the squad than Archer.

That said, hopefully, the money received from Arma's transfer can be put to good use next season to buy a 'proper' Championship central striker.

[Lord Duckhunter]

21 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

I would rather have Armstrong in the squad than Archer.

 

I’d rather be kicked in the balls than hit over the head with a baseball bat. 

[BarberSaint]

12 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I’d rather be kicked in the balls than hit over the head with a baseball bat. 

Noted for posterity.

 

Personally, I'd rather we just bought centre forwards and if we go for the short, go for the Ings-type (when he was on form and fit).

[Toussaint]

17 hours ago, bpsaint said:

Was going to say something similar before I read your post. There’s been a noticeable change in attitudes since the likes of ArmA and Fraser have left the building.

Little man syndromes? I always had the Feeling Fraser was a little shit, in fact he has history of being a little shit. Going on strike at Bournemouth, being exiled at Newcastle for leaking information to the press, long periods of unexplained absences at Saints. We really should never have taken him on permanently. I don’t have an opinion on AA, other than he seems to think he is much better than he actually is. 

[Toussaint]

37 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

I’d rather be kicked in the balls than hit over the head with a baseball bat. 

Be careful what you wish for!

[Tom57]

22 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The whole atmosphere seems to have changed round the club since he left. THB & Downes are digging in and looking like completely different players. Attitudes look far better since the “vice captain” was binned. Coincidence? Maybe, but this doesn’t look anything like the  club  Alfie House said needed to lose a few bad apples…

Take this with the huge pinch of salt it probably needs as it comes from Will Still->Contact of Will Still->My brother's friend-> My brother-> me, but apparently Adam was bullying Damion Downs and was reminding him of his miss against Wrexham at every opportunity and was just generally a nasty person to be around. 

[malcolm waldron]

11 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

Little man syndromes? I always had the Feeling Fraser was a little shit, in fact he has history of being a little shit. Going on strike at Bournemouth, being exiled at Newcastle for leaking information to the press, long periods of unexplained absences at Saints. We really should never have taken him on permanently. I don’t have an opinion on AA, other than he seems to think he is much better than he actually is. 

I don't know a lot about Bournemouth but I've got a recollection that the 'strike' he went on wasn't that straightforward?  Didn't Eddie Howe want him to play in that Covid summer series of games but he was out of contract (and they wouldn't extend it) - and therefore he was one injury away from a real problem career wise?

There also seems to be a suggestion from a few people on here that Adam A was a problem behind the scenes.  Is this just gossip/rumour or do we actually know of any truth behind these views.  Sometimes one person can start a rumour and it can then become a fact very quickly.  

[Holmes_and_Watson]

38 minutes ago, Tom57 said:

Take this with the huge pinch of salt it probably needs as it comes from Will Still->Contact of Will Still->My brother's friend-> My brother-> me, but apparently Adam was bullying Damion Downs and was reminding him of his miss against Wrexham at every opportunity and was just generally a nasty person to be around. 

You'd have thought 1 viewing of the AA show reel of misses would have shut him up a bit. 

"Now back into training for one of the wide positions, and not another word from you."

[pimpin4rizeal]

Everyone is taking this the wrong way way though, point I’m trying to make is if you put Armstrong into this side at right wing it would instantly improve us massively as fellows has been offering little to nothing and matsuki is way to slow .and we know he was a absolute goal and assist machine there from the season under RM.

yes cf he’s too small to hold the ball up etc but I think it’s absolutely nuts if you don’t think he would put out a ton more goal contributions then what we have on the right wing 

[pimpin4rizeal]

22 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

The whole atmosphere seems to have changed round the club since he left. THB & Downes are digging in and looking like completely different players. Attitudes look far better since the “vice captain” was binned. Coincidence? Maybe, but this doesn’t look anything like the  club  Alfie House said needed to lose a few bad apples…

It’s a lot more likely the atmosphere changed due to results being hugely improved getting in a decent keeper and finally switching to a back four like everyone asked for, don’t you think?

also don’t buy this Armstrong being a bad apple he was top scorer in the league and always worked hard and ran a lot . 

[Midfield_General]

2 hours ago, malcolm waldron said:

There also seems to be a suggestion from a few people on here that Adam A was a problem behind the scenes.  Is this just gossip/rumour or do we actually know of any truth behind these views.  Sometimes one person can start a rumour and it can then become a fact very quickly.  

I know for a fact that @Tom57's brother's mate said he heard it from a contact of Will Still who reckoned Will Still told him that he'd heard it from Damion Downs about Armstrong

And that's good enough for me

STRING HIM UP

Edited 6 hours ago by Midfield_General

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

also don’t buy this Armstrong being a bad apple he was top scorer in the league and always worked hard and ran a lot . 

You can be brilliant at football and incredibly fit and still be a snidey wanker behind the scenes

Proof: me

[Chez]

1 hour ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Everyone is taking this the wrong way way though, point I’m trying to make is if you put Armstrong into this side at right wing it would instantly improve us massively as fellows has been offering little to nothing and matsuki is way to slow .and we know he was a absolute goal and assist machine there from the season under RM.

yes cf he’s too small to hold the ball up etc but I think it’s absolutely nuts if you don’t think he would put out a ton more goal contributions then what we have on the right wing 

Possibly. I always like Armstrong's work rate and pace and felt one of his better games was against Newcastle in the league cup semi final a few years back when playing right wing. Although he is not a winger, he always gave you something, wherever you play him. he did provide pace, but I am not sure he gives you the dribbling that fellows provides.  Fellows hasn't been as bad as some make out. The Leicester game was bad, and he hasn't been great since, plus his overall goal contributions (is that the right way of describing goals and assists) isn't good, but he has still contributed. His keeps the ball well and usually he does go at the fullback.