Nathan Tella

[washsaint]

Ripping it up at Burnley.  Pleased for him.

I know the Championship is very different from the Prem but think he would do a better job (with pace) than Moi, Adam Armstrong or Stuart Armstrong (or any of the dross such as Walcott sat on our bench).

For me, this shows Ralph is out of ideas and struggles to coach players to improve. 

[EBS1980]

I think a season playing every week and scoring a few goals will benefit us long term. He needs game time, he wouldn’t be starting with us

[Dellman]

17 hours ago, EBS1980 said:

I think a season playing every week and scoring a few goals will benefit us long term. He needs game time, he wouldn’t be starting with us

He's scoring freely, why wouldn't he be starting for us?

[Saint Mikey]

6 minutes ago, Dellman said:

He's scoring freely, why wouldn't he be starting for us?

Because he’s not good enough at this level, as demonstrated in the last two seasons. He’s doing well, but I’ve also watched games where he’s been poor this year. 

His technique and decision making is nowhere near Prem level, and he’s not young. I expect him to be a bit like Obafemi - decent in the Champ where you’ll get a run of games and plenty of chances, but not good enough for the Prem where you need to be clinical.

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, Dellman said:

He's scoring freely, why wouldn't he be starting for us?

Because he’s only doing what Armstrong, Vydra, Rasiak, Earnshaw, Akinbeye, Solanke and countless others have done before. Rip it up in the Championship and be absolutely useless in the Prem.

[skintsaint]

Showed nothing the last couple of seasons to suggest he will be a good top flight player.

[Christophenburg]

57 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Showed nothing the last couple of seasons to suggest he will be a good top flight player.

I'm not sure that's quite fair - he's got 2 goals and 5 assists in all competitions (and more if you include PL2). That's comparable to Elyounoussi (who has played more games) and I'd argue Tella causes more trouble for defences then Moi does

[Baird of the land]

Personally hoping we have ability to recall in Jan.

Used correctly I think he could help us.

[Lighthouse]

He's scored twice in two years and those goals were against Newport in the cup and relegated Fulham. He's not, by any metric, a Premier League player. Saying we should get him back because he's better than Moi is like saying a punch in the face might be a good Christmas present because it's better than rabies.

[LGTL]

Found his level. 

[niceandfriendly]

17 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

He's scored twice in two years and those goals were against Newport in the cup and relegated Fulham. He's not, by any metric, a Premier League player. Saying we should get him back because he's better than Moi is like saying a punch in the face might be a good Christmas present because it's better than rabies.

You're almost certainly right, but it's quite understandable that some look longingly at Tella as our current striking options are so woefully lacking that we forget Nathan's shortcomings. What a terrible window we had ffs.

He'll be a decent option should we go down.

Edited 9 October, 2022 by niceandfriendly
too many commas yo

[Bakovnetski]

20 hours ago, Saint Mikey said:

Because he’s not good enough at this level, as demonstrated in the last two seasons. He’s doing well, but I’ve also watched games where he’s been poor this year. 

His technique and decision making is nowhere near Prem level, and he’s not young. I expect him to be a bit like Obafemi - decent in the Champ where you’ll get a run of games and plenty of chances, but not good enough for the Prem where you need to be clinical.

That pretty much sums up 75 % of our first team squad. 

[Barsiem]

Scored again today to kickstart Burnley’s recovery from 2-0 down away at Sunderland to win 2-4.  5 in 13 games for them, which I have to say surprises me a little.  It’s Good to have a player doing so well on loan and hopefully he’ll come back much more prepared for a first team role here

[SNSUN]

23 minutes ago, Barsiem said:

Scored again today to kickstart Burnley’s recovery from 2-0 down away at Sunderland to win 2-4.  5 in 13 games for them, which I have to say surprises me a little.  It’s Good to have a player doing so well on loan and hopefully he’ll come back much more prepared for a first team role here

Depends what League we’re in. He’s shown he can be an asset in the Championship and we’d need him if we went down, if we stay in the Prem I genuinely hope we’d sign better.

[Dellman]

On 09/10/2022 at 12:04, Saint Mikey said:

Because he’s not good enough at this level, as demonstrated in the last two seasons. He’s doing well, but I’ve also watched games where he’s been poor this year. 

His technique and decision making is nowhere near Prem level, and he’s not young. I expect him to be a bit like Obafemi - decent in the Champ where you’ll get a run of games and plenty of chances, but not good enough for the Prem where you need to be clinical.

People go on loan to get experience and improve. Is it possible that might happen or have you already branded him 'not good enough'?

[Lord Duckhunter]

28 minutes ago, Dellman said:

People go on loan to get experience and improve. Is it possible that might happen or have you already branded him 'not good enough'?

Exactly. Look at Harry Kane. I’m not saying he’ll be anywhere near that standard, but writing him off already is fuckwittery of the highest order. If he does well on loan, he deserves a shot back with us. It’s not like we’re pulling up trees without him. 

Edited 22 October, 2022 by Lord Duckhunter

[The Kraken]

Good luck and all the best to him, he’s doing very well at Burnley.

The step down a level helps. Also, at that level, Burnley are a good side and he’s surrounded by players who are often better than their peers. He’s also being played to his strengths, wide left/right in a 4-3-3. In pre season we played him as a central striker, which was mad.  Playing wide in a 4-2-2-2 / 4-2-3-1 isn’t ideal for him imo, hence why he struggled with us. He’s showing he’s a valuable player at that level, if we go down then we’ve got him, if we stay up then he may have earned a chance, and if it’s a different manager with a different team shape it may suit him more.

[bpsaint]

I’d rather have Tella on the bench than Walcott tbf

[saintant]

19 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

I’d rather have Tella on the bench than Walcott tbf

I'd rather have Tella on the wage bill than Walcott tbf

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, bpsaint said:

I’d rather have Tella on the bench than Walcott tbf

I couldn't call it either way personally, both were useless at this level last season. If Tella has taken a step forward with Burnley and can take another next year then great, but that's a big 'if' in both cases. There are plenty of players for whom that's just there level. Tella will be 24 in summer, it's getting into sh*t or get off the khazi time for him.

[woodsaint1]

3 hours ago, Barsiem said:

Scored again today to kickstart Burnley’s recovery from 2-0 down away at Sunderland to win 2-4.  5 in 13 games for them, which I have to say surprises me a little.  It’s Good to have a player doing so well on loan and hopefully he’ll come back much more prepared for a first team role here

Doesnt surprise me at all. Was arguably our best wing option 18 months ago when he got a good run of games. Then his game time evaporated and Ralph went back to preferring Redmond, Moi, even Walcott fs

[Dark Munster]

1 hour ago, bpsaint said:

I’d rather have Tella on the bench than Walcott tbf

I'd rather have cushions on the bench than Walcott.

[Streaky]

Tella would suit our system unfortunately Ralph Hassenhuttl still thinks Elyounoussi and Walcott are better options and that's why Hassenhuttl is shit. 

 

[saintwbu]

A good attacker in the Championship commands pretty decent money these days, so even if we don’t deem him good enough for us, he should be worth a good fee if he continues his good form.

[The Cat]

Good to see him doing well.

What position is he playing for Burnley, and is he being used in a similar role every game? 

[Charlie Wayman]

He may be our player in principle but his relationship with the club will have soured after he was farmed out to Burnley (perhaps unwillingly even?). All the usual management crap about giving him game time is just political claptrap, truth is the club more or less told him that he wasn't good enough to get that game time here.

If Nathan 's form continues and he keeps scoring at the current rate then he will be a hot property and a few clubs will be looking at him quite seriously not least Burnley themselves who could well find their way back to the top flight at the first attempt. He has settled in well there and if Burnley are a Premier League team next season and Nathan was key part of getting them there then, why would he want to come back here to be treated like **** again by Hasenhüttl but even more pertinently why would Burnley want to let him go.

It will be embarrassing for the decision makers when one of the loanees actually turns out to be a hidden gem and the player tells them to sod off when they try to make a claim on him. His success will have had nothing to do with Flopp, it will be down to the skills of the Burnley coaching staff.

Good luck Nathan!

[S-Clarke]

29 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

He may be our player in principle but his relationship with the club will have soured after he was farmed out to Burnley (perhaps unwillingly even?). All the usual management crap about giving him game time is just political claptrap, truth is the club more or less told him that he wasn't good enough to get that game time here.

If Nathan 's form continues and he keeps scoring at the current rate then he will be a hot property and a few clubs will be looking at him quite seriously not least Burnley themselves who could well find their way back to the top flight at the first attempt. He has settled in well there and if Burnley are a Premier League team next season and Nathan was key part of getting them there then, why would he want to come back here to be treated like **** again by Hasenhüttl but even more pertinently why would Burnley want to let him go.

It will be embarrassing for the decision makers when one of the loanees actually turns out to be a hidden gem and the player tells them to sod off when they try to make a claim on him. His success will have had nothing to do with Flopp, it will be down to the skills of the Burnley coaching staff.

Good luck Nathan!

Yet another pearl of wisdom from Charlie.

[LuckyNumber7]

29 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

He may be our player in principle but his relationship with the club will have soured after he was farmed out to Burnley (perhaps unwillingly even?). All the usual management crap about giving him game time is just political claptrap, truth is the club more or less told him that he wasn't good enough to get that game time here.

If Nathan 's form continues and he keeps scoring at the current rate then he will be a hot property and a few clubs will be looking at him quite seriously not least Burnley themselves who could well find their way back to the top flight at the first attempt. He has settled in well there and if Burnley are a Premier League team next season and Nathan was key part of getting them there then, why would he want to come back here to be treated like **** again by Hasenhüttl but even more pertinently why would Burnley want to let him go.

It will be embarrassing for the decision makers when one of the loanees actually turns out to be a hidden gem and the player tells them to sod off when they try to make a claim on him. His success will have had nothing to do with Flopp, it will be down to the skills of the Burnley coaching staff.

Good luck Nathan!

I know you're trolling but what a load of bollox! The whole point of these loans is for the player to hopefully develop and come back better, which it appears Tella is doing.

As for the bit in bold, he's not Burnley's player so it's not their decision to make. 

[goodymatt]

Tella scored 1 goal in 33 apps for us in the PL. Hard to argue it wasn’t the right decision to let him go and get some game time at the next level down to see if he can develop into a player that can actually contribute for us in the PL, beyond speed in a straight line on the counter.

6 goals in 14 games for Burnley is encouraging. Let’s hope he keeps it up, stays injury free and is a more useful option for us next season. I wonder how Edozie would be doing in the Championship? I think he’s technically a better player than Tella based on what I’ve seen so far, albeit limited minutes.

Edited 23 October, 2022 by goodymatt

[skintsaint]

Lets hope Burnley get promoted and give us a cool 12-15m for him.

[steve green]

On 23/10/2022 at 00:36, Dark Munster said:

I'd rather have cushions on the bench than Walcott.

 

I bet you'd charge extra for them though

 

Tella is looking better at champ' level, though I think we sometimes forget how poor some defences in that league can be. For me it's his overall attitude that's the most obvious change, he looks interested and very up for it. If that attitude follows him back to St Marys we'd be fools not to utilise him, we are hardly rich in attacking options. Otherwise get a few £ and move on.

 

 

[Charlie Wayman]

We are their feeder club now, goals galore from the ex-Saints and Burnley go top. If they go up and we go down Nathan will have made the right choice.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62762046

[Chez]

58 minutes ago, steve green said:

Tella is looking better at champ' level, though I think we sometimes forget how poor some defences in that league can be. For me it's his overall attitude that's the most obvious change, he looks interested and very up for it. If that attitude follows him back to St Marys we'd be fools not to utilise him, we are hardly rich in attacking options. Otherwise get a few £ and move on.

you thought he `didn't look interested' or `up for it' when at Saints?  My eyesight must be on the wane, as that isn't something that I spotted. Poor touch and ineffective, certainly, but looking like he's not bothered? I didn't identify that trait.

[Baird of the land]

See echo suggesting we won’t recall in Jan, which I find very disappointing given our poor options and how well he has performed.

[skintsaint]

3 hours ago, Baird of the land said:

See echo suggesting we won’t recall in Jan, which I find very disappointing given our poor options and how well he has performed.

Why would we, 24 next season and showed nothing in the PL. If he gets a good season in the Championship he is more sellable rather than just sitting on our bench doing cameos till then.

[Sheaf Saint]

6 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Why would we, 24 next season and showed nothing in the PL. If he gets a good season in the Championship he is more sellable rather than just sitting on our bench doing cameos till then.

People said exactly the same about Harrison Reed. But watching his performances for Fulham this season, and given how weak and lightweight our midfield is, I'd have him back here in a heartbeat. 

On current form, Tella would be a better option than A Armstrong IMO. 

[skintsaint]

13 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

People said exactly the same about Harrison Reed. But watching his performances for Fulham this season, and given how weak and lightweight our midfield is, I'd have him back here in a heartbeat. 

On current form, Tella would be a better option than A Armstrong IMO. 

We will agree to disagree. Reed is another signing that needed to go and we got good money for him for a bottom EPL/top half championship midfielder, who was not happy with being a squad player. Time will tell with Tella and would be happy to be proven wrong, but believe he won't be any use to us in the top flight as shown in the last few seasons and would rather a new signing be the better option than AA. Whether that signing will be up to the task who fricken knows! 😅

[Charlie Wayman]

 

2 hours ago, skintsaint said:

We will agree to disagree. Reed is another signing that needed to go and we got good money for him for a bottom EPL/top half championship midfielder, who was not happy with being a squad player. Time will tell with Tella and would be happy to be proven wrong, but believe he won't be any use to us in the top flight as shown in the last few seasons and would rather a new signing be the better option than AA. Whether that signing will be up to the task who fricken knows! 😅

Perhaps Hasenhüttl was incapable of getting the best out of these players as they were unsuited to his crappy 4 2 2 2 set up?

[skintsaint]

6 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

 

Perhaps Hasenhüttl was incapable of getting the best out of these players as they were unsuited to his crappy 4 2 2 2 set up?

Fair point but will nail my colours to the mast on this one. 

[Barsiem]

Bit disappointing to see him written off by some already.  What all players need is confidence and a run of games, and I would argue it’s easier to play well in the PL after a great season in the Championship than by being a bit part player in a struggling PL side.  

[Verbal]

13 hours ago, skintsaint said:

We will agree to disagree. Reed is another signing that needed to go and we got good money for him for a bottom EPL/top half championship midfielder, who was not happy with being a squad player. Time will tell with Tella and would be happy to be proven wrong, but believe he won't be any use to us in the top flight as shown in the last few seasons and would rather a new signing be the better option than AA. Whether that signing will be up to the task who fricken knows! 😅

Is that the same Harrison Reed who's delivering MoM performances for currently 7th placed Fulham?

[FarehamSaintJames]

44 minutes ago, Verbal said:

Is that the same Harrison Reed who's delivering MoM performances for currently 7th placed Fulham?

I liked Harrison Reed when he was on the books. He did the basics right and then adapted his game from there. Leaving the club to gain more experience, he’s very much an established player now, and is very good and very underrated.

Nathan Tella I really like too. But I think his lack of game time was holding him back, probably the formation too. Definitely suits a 4-3-3 type formation. Delighted to see him doing well, but he could well be another one that has probably had his eyes opened and realised there is life outside of Staplewood and that sometimes the gamble is worth it.

[skintsaint]

3 hours ago, Verbal said:

Is that the same Harrison Reed who's delivering MoM performances for currently 7th placed Fulham?

Yep that's the one, can't be too many same named players in the league? Statistically he is having a slightly worse season to JWP who we can agree hasn't got going yet. I believe Reed has played well last two games so people assume he has been good all season.

Edited 28 October, 2022 by skintsaint

[HarvSFC]

When Reed left central midfield wasn’t a problem position for us and we needed to raise every little penny we could under Gao to bring someone in. Central midfield is now only a problem because we didn’t replace Romeu in the summer. It’s self inflicted. But, I still believe we have two better central midfielders in JWP and Lavia, so again, Reed would have remained a squad player, which wouldn’t have aided his development at all.

Fundamentally, when Reed left, he needed to drop down a level to help his development. The same way Schneiderlin and Lallana did when they were first breaking through and fortunately we got to see those develop here because we also dropped down. He just joins the likes of Gallagher and Obafemi who got glimpses of Premier League football, but to play at this level you need to be a consistent performer and that’s a very difficult ask for a teenager. Shaw, Livramento and Lavia are incredibly rare, top talents and we had to bring two of them in for senior fees.

It’s a similar thing with Targett. He’s forged himself as a Premier League squad player, the same thing Reed would be if he left Fulham. But, we had a better left-back in Bertrand at the time. If we had replaced Bertrand with Targett, then we knew we’d have downgraded, so we took a punt on somebody else. If we replaced Hojbjerg with Reed, then again that would have been a downgrade, so we took a punt on Diallo, who is also lacking consistency.

At the end of the day, Reed is 27 now, so he’s well into his prime, but he’s only made 55 Premier League appearances and 17 of those were with us, while he’s also never even been mentioned in the same sentence as an England squad. Simply, we need to be aiming higher than Reed and if we still had Wanyama, Schneiderlin, Davis and Cork, which is what good recruitment gets you and what we should be hoping for then we’d never be mentioning Reed.

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, HarvSFC said:

When Reed left central midfield wasn’t a problem position for us and we needed to raise every little penny we could under Gao to bring someone in. Central midfield is now only a problem because we didn’t replace Romeu in the summer. It’s self inflicted.

JWP, Lavia, AMN, Diallo - some self infliction that.

What hit us was Lavia getting injured whilst AMNs fitness was improving.  

[benali-shorts]

Ralph on Sky Sports:

Could Southampton recall Tella from Burnley loan?

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been impressed by the progress of Nathan Tella while on loan at Burnley and refused to rule out the possibility of cutting short his stay at Turf Moor.

Tella, the 23-year-old winger, has scored six goals in 16 appearances this term, while his parent club have struggled so far and are just three points above the relegation zone. 

“I’m very pleased," said Hasenhuttl. "I know that some people say it’s only the Championship that he scores goals but I must say it’s still a big achievement for me and this is exactly what we wanted to see – that he gets a lot of game time and can show his qualities.

“I mean he has shown it also in the Premier League so far. For him, it didn’t look like he would get enough game time this season. But I think it was the right decision to take (to loan him out).

“We will see what we do. We have our eyes open and we will definitely look very detailed into what we will do with him.”

[saint1977]

With Tella, it’s a good problem to have either way. He’s dropped a level, applied himself under a good manager and increased both his prospects at SFC and his value. Look at Stephens and Bednarek by contrast who have hardly played. Jack is PL back up so might get games if AFCB get CB injuries but Jan looks like he is well out of favour already at Villa. Must have a good WC for Poland to get a move to an overseas league as finished as a starter at PL level. 

[Charlie Wayman]

4 hours ago, benali-shorts said:

Ralph on Sky Sports:

Could Southampton recall Tella from Burnley loan?

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been impressed by the progress of Nathan Tella while on loan at Burnley and refused to rule out the possibility of cutting short his stay at Turf Moor.

Tella, the 23-year-old winger, has scored six goals in 16 appearances this term, while his parent club have struggled so far and are just three points above the relegation zone. 

“I’m very pleased," said Hasenhuttl. "I know that some people say it’s only the Championship that he scores goals but I must say it’s still a big achievement for me and this is exactly what we wanted to see – that he gets a lot of game time and can show his qualities.

“I mean he has shown it also in the Premier League so far. For him, it didn’t look like he would get enough game time this season. But I think it was the right decision to take (to loan him out).

“We will see what we do. We have our eyes open and we will definitely look very detailed into what we will do with him.”

Bloody stupid decision to send him out on loan in the first place when it became clear we had only Adams & Armstrong as our strike force. How did they figure he wouldn't get enough game time this season. He would have been almost guaranteed to be subbed on in pretty much every match and on the form he is in would soon have established himself as a starter.

[wadesmith]

23 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Bloody stupid decision to send him out on loan in the first place when it became clear we had only Adams & Armstrong as our strike force. How did they figure he wouldn't get enough game time this season. He would have been almost guaranteed to be subbed on in pretty much every match and on the form he is in would soon have established himself as a starter.

Is it not possible that ‘The form he is in’ is because we loaned him out to Burnley?

[Verbal]

On 28/10/2022 at 02:01, skintsaint said:

Yep that's the one, can't be too many same named players in the league? Statistically he is having a slightly worse season to JWP who we can agree hasn't got going yet. I believe Reed has played well last two games so people assume he has been good all season.

*Statistically*. I love that swerve.