Sekou Mara - Official: Signs for Strasbourg

[S-Clarke]

He's not going to be our only answer up front this summer, so that will take the pressure off of him somewhat and allow us to blood him slowly. Didn't really see much from him to form any opinion today. Only thing I could maybe say is that he doesn't suit a lone role, he needs another striker who is a bit more experienced close to him. (Stu Armstrong was more of a 10)

[revolution saint]

5 minutes ago, The Cat said:

Fair summary from Ralph.

Will take him a bit of time to get used to the pace of the Premier League but he definitely has something about him.

I dunno that it’s fair to be honest. Lad had zero service and we weren’t pressing at all in the first half so running around and being a pest wouldn’t have done much good on his own. Standard stuff from Ralph though and I expect he was always going to say that whatever his performance. He’d be better off addressing the lack of chances we create for strikers before criticising a lad who hasn’t even had a full week of training with us.

[S-Clarke]

Is it just me who didn't see any criticism in Ralph's comments? Just passing observations? (which I thought were fair and most fans would agree with)

Edited 30 July, 2022 by S-Clarke

[revolution saint]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Is it just me who didn't see any criticism in Ralph's comments? Just passing observations? (which I thought were fair and most fans would agree with)

Out of interest what’s the difference? If he’s saying something negative then it’s being critical and there’s no way you can dress up needs to work harder as a positive. Most other managers would have kept it private anyway. Obviously it’s not the worst dressing down but I still think it was needless. You said yourself you didn’t see enough to form an opinion and that’s entirely down to the lack of opportunities he had in that half. It wasn’t as if he even had many chances to at least hold the ball up and lay it off. 

[Baird of the land]

10 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Is it just me who didn't see any criticism in Ralph's comments? Just passing observations? (which I thought were fair and most fans would agree with)

I think the 'He's got some qualities on the ball' sounds a bit odd(& slightly negative). Probably just a 2nd language thing.

[Saint86]

12 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Is it just me who didn't see any criticism in Ralph's comments? Just passing observations? (which I thought were fair and most fans would agree with)

Agreed.. He have a good assessment of how he performed and if anything excused any dissapointment that anyone could see. 

[david in sweden]

On 30/07/2022 at 21:35, Saint86 said:

Agreed.. He have a good assessment of how he performed and if anything excused any dissapointment that anyone could see. 

45 minutes against one of the best sides in Europe isn't an ideal comparison

to make on his debut considering he's new to the club 

[rooney]

New Team mates, new pitch, new stadium and  new City and new style of play. We have to let the lad settle in, just as we did when James Beattie came and look how he turned out for us.

[Dellman]

On 30/07/2022 at 20:33, Baird of the land said:

I think the 'He's got some qualities on the ball' sounds a bit odd(& slightly negative). Probably just a 2nd language thing.

That's not second language problem, its perfect English and perfectly true. What's wrong with telling it as it is?

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

On holiday and happened to meet a Bordeaux fan today. He brought up Mara and said he's very young but very talented and felt he'd be a top striker in time. He thought he'd need at least a season in the Prem before we saw the best of him. He didn't see him as an instant starter but I guess we thought that about Broja last season too, when he first signed, so who knows. He was keen to see how Mara got on though.

Interestingly, he didn't really see Saints as saviours of their club but more a business decision they took when we made our bid which ultimately saved their club (arguably the same thing but I took his point as we got a player we wanted rather than benevolently offering the money and then picking which player we'd like!).

[Turkish]

Sekou Maras gonna get you

scores with his feet and his head

better get yourself together, he'll leave your defence for dead

Sekou Maras gonna get you

Hes our number eighteen

We dont need Armando Broja, Maras the best we've seen

What on world do you think

are a superstar?
How right you are

well we all shine on

with the moon and the stars and the sun

Everyone, c’mon

 

 

Tune - Instant Karma

Edited 4 August, 2022 by Turkish

[Mr X]

On 04/08/2022 at 15:18, Turkish said:

Sekou Maras gonna get you

scores with his feet and his head

better get yourself together, he'll leave your defence for dead

Sekou Maras gonna get you

Hes our number eighteen

We dont need Armando Broja, Maras the best we've seen

What on world do you think

are a superstar?
How right you are

well we all shine on

with the moon and the stars and the sun

Everyone, c’mon

 

 

Tune - Instant Karma

That will definitely catch on so easy to sing too 

[badgerx16]

On 04/08/2022 at 15:18, Turkish said:

Sekou Maras gonna get you

scores with his feet and his head

better get yourself together, he'll leave your defence for dead

Sekou Maras gonna get you

Hes our number eighteen

We dont need Armando Broja, Maras the best we've seen

What on world do you think

are a superstar?
How right you are

well we all shine on

with the moon and the stars and the sun

Everyone, c’mon

 

 

Tune - Instant Karma

 

2 minutes ago, Mr X said:

That will definitely catch on so easy to sing too 

We'll end up with "Sekou, Mara. La la la la la laa", to the tune from the kiddies program Miou Miaow.

[SuperSAINT]

*Bump*

[Baird of the land]

Lovely assist. Also nice to see a striker confident to have a shot, which forced a good save. Don't let that be drummed out of him.

[Matthew Le God]

Impressive cameo debut. Looked more confident than vs Villarreal.

[The Kraken]

He’s definitely got ability. What a through ball that was. The shot was impressive too, barely any backlift and he thumped it.

I think we’ll need to be patient with him, he seems like the type of player who will drift in and out of games. No doubting his talent though, looks like a very useful prospect.

[Suhari]

Looks about 15 years old and I want to shower with his mum.

Also: he's a player. That assist was sublime. When was the last time anyone in a Saints shirt played a pass like that? (And I loved the snapshot near the end too).

[Saint Billy]

First time I've seen him play and liked what I saw. That was a great assist and shot at goal. He has something about him that suggests an exciting prospect. 

[LiberalCommunist]

Thank goodness the newbies all look good. I'm looking forward to them forcing their way into the team. We need change now more than ever. 

[jamesfp1]

Did enough to start against Leicester for me

[Ekelund]

1 hour ago, Suhari said:

Looks about 15 years old and I want to shower with his mum.

Also: he's a player. That assist was sublime. When was the last time anyone in a Saints shirt played a pass like that? (And I loved the snapshot near the end too).

Exactly, that pass was something else. It’s been underplayed imo. I was at Villarreal and he seemed miles of it. Much better today, heard the Aribo interview where he said he needed it to. Go time perhaps? 

[Baird of the land]

23 minutes ago, jamesfp1 said:

Did enough to start against Leicester for me

I wouldn’t rush him. Use as an impact sub.

[S-Clarke]

He's more of a presence than I thought he'd be, had a bit of strength about him to hold off and turn to play that magnificent pass.

19 years old isn't he? Certainly has something about him. Not afraid to have a pop and a sprinkling of quality and good decision making.

[Turkish]

Very risky ball. 8/10 that doesn’t come off and we lose the ball. I’d hope he now spends a bit of time on the training ground learning our way of checking back and passing sideways or backwards to a team mate rather than playing risky balls like that. 

[SNSUN]

1 hour ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Thank goodness the newbies all look good. I'm looking forward to them forcing their way into the team. We need change now more than ever. 

I’ve said it over the summer that the new transfer policy (talented youngsters to improve and sell for a profit) is risky and didn’t make me feel entirely comfortable (bar Aribo who is proven) but if they keep going as they’ve started then I’m all aboard the Sports Republic transfer policy bus.

[Convict Colony]

Re-posting just because its so filthy.

 

[Saint_clark]

Would like to see him and Adams start together up top next game.

[ozzmeister]

Didn’t Armstrong have a very similar debut? 

[jawillwill]

I think his touch before the Aribo goal was intentional too and not a bad assist itself.

[AlexLaw76]

That pass was ridiculous.  

[so22saint]

11 hours ago, Turkish said:

Very risky ball. 8/10 that doesn’t come off and we lose the ball. I’d hope he now spends a bit of time on the training ground learning our way of checking back and passing sideways or backwards to a team mate rather than playing risky balls like that. 

Totally. Bazunu was open

[saintant]

11 hours ago, Turkish said:

Very risky ball. 8/10 that doesn’t come off and we lose the ball. I’d hope he now spends a bit of time on the training ground learning our way of checking back and passing sideways or backwards to a team mate rather than playing risky balls like that. 

Ralph will have had a quiet word in his ear to put him right 🙂

[so22saint]

Got to be said again though, what.a.pass!

 

[revolution saint]

12 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

He's more of a presence than I thought he'd be, had a bit of strength about him to hold off and turn to play that magnificent pass.

19 years old isn't he? Certainly has something about him. Not afraid to have a pop and a sprinkling of quality and good decision making.

There’s a piece in the Athletic that talks about Joe Shields and our priorities for recruitment and one of the things he pays particular attention to is the physicality of players. That’s why most of our new signings have been been physically on the larger side. Makes sense to me and definitely gives younger players more of a chance to succeed earlier in their career. Doubt we’ll be signing Messi anytime soon.

[64saint]

On 21/07/2022 at 09:16, Pilchards said:

Sorry guys but he’s no better than some of the crap we are trying to offload.

Umm, really 🙄 !!!!!    (Should add, that comment was made the day we were signing him and before he had played for us but even so, always best to wait and see how they perform in a red and white shirt !! )

Amazing how players are written off before they have kicked a ball for us.   

Not a bad defence splitting pass yesterday for WPs goal was it !!   

Edited 14 August, 2022 by 64saint

[Pilchards]

36 minutes ago, 64saint said:

Umm, really 🙄 !!!!!    (Should add, that comment was made the day we were signing him and before he had played for us but even so, always best to wait and see how they perform in a red and white shirt !! )

Amazing how players are written off before they have kicked a ball for us.   

Not a bad defence splitting pass yesterday for WPs goal was it !!   

I thought he was brilliant yesterday and I’m delighted to be proved wrong.

if we was going to be good enough for Manchester City then he’s good enough for us.

Just hope our regular scout has less say in things now we have the City scout on board.

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

Just hope our regular scout has less say in things now we have the City scout on board.

What do you mean by 'regular scout'? Martyn Glover was head of 1st team recruitment, he left to join Leicester. Joe Shields is now head of 1st team recruitment. 

Edited 14 August, 2022 by Matthew Le God

[RobM]

3 hours ago, ozzmeister said:

Didn’t Armstrong have a very similar debut? 

I had a similar thought. Armstrong initially had a natural tendency to shoot on sight, it was instinctive and confident. That was beaten out of him after a couple of games. 
 

What Mara showed yesterday was similar but more effective, and he showed a more physical and slightly uglier side too with some of his challenges and hold-up play. I think we’ll need to be patient as he'll have good and bad moments, but early signs are impressive. 

[John Boy Saint]

No need to rush him in from the start just yet - keep him hungry, he has enough about him to bring on and scare the life out of the opposition especially when they are flagging.

 

[Dman]

7 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

Re-posting just because its so filthy.

 

It was a fantastic pass and I don’t think we have anyone else in the team who can thread a ball like that… however, people do love an overreaction don’t they.

 

”this boy is going to be a star” 😂

[macca155]

5 hours ago, John Boy Saint said:

No need to rush him in from the start just yet - keep him hungry, he has enough about him to bring on and scare the life out of the opposition especially when they are flagging.

 

Very much this, talented young player but needs to be given a low pressure start. He'll score soon and then all hell will break lose in the media.

[davefizzy14]

The assist from Mara for KWP's goal was incredible

[Whitey Grandad]

7 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

The assist from Mara for KWP's goal was incredible

Outrageous 

[PercyR]

1 minute ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Outrageous 

Ridiculous 

[Matthew Le God]

Insane

[SNSUN]

Unbelievable 

[Lighthouse]

You guys sound like the theme tune for Fun House.

[SNSUN]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

You guys sound like the theme tune for Fun House.

Use your body and your brain if you wanna play the game

[Bad Wolf]

On 13/08/2022 at 21:19, Turkish said:

Very risky ball. 8/10 that doesn’t come off and we lose the ball. I’d hope he now spends a bit of time on the training ground learning our way of checking back and passing sideways or backwards to a team mate rather than playing risky balls like that. 

Ngl, I'm honestly gutted this didn't get any bites. Great effort