Jack Stephens

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, ApprenticeBillionaire said:

He cannot be here next season.

 

Agree but who wants him/can afford him? Argyle would but we’d have to pay 80% of his wages. 

That is one of the worst individual top flight outfield Saints performances I’ve ever seen from a player. A fan from the away end would have been a huge improvement. He’s nowhere near even being Champ quality now. 

I say outfield as Bazanu is a category of toilet all on his own in goal.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

8 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Agree but who wants him/can afford him? Argyle would but we’d have to pay 80% of his wages. 

That is one of the worst individual top flight outfield Saints performances I’ve ever seen from a player. A fan from the away end would have been a huge improvement. He’s nowhere near even being Champ quality now. 

I say outfield as Bazanu is a category of toilet all on his own in goal.

From kicking the pitch instead of the ball in the first minute, to hoofing the ball back to Rambo without hardly looking, to giving away free kicks, to being nowhere near Vardy when he scored...and then not seeming to care. I agree. He was totally out or order. Should have been hauled off after 15 minutes.

Perhaps nobody will come in to buy him but somehow we need to get rid. On loan somewhere. Anywhere. He can't be near our club next season.

[trousers]

Plymouth....?

[beatlesaint]

6 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

From kicking the pitch instead of the ball in the first minute, to hoofing the ball back to Rambo without hardly looking, to giving away free kicks, to being nowhere near Vardy when he scored...and then not seeming to care. I agree. He was totally out or order. Should have been hauled off after 15 minutes.

Perhaps nobody will come in to buy him but somehow we need to get rid. On loan somewhere. Anywhere. He can't be near our club next season.

But but but last week some people were singing about Super, Super Jack! A small child held up a poster stating he was a hero, the defenders of Capt Twat insisted he cares about the club so all is well…….

Glen was correct on TSP last week when he said the pattern is he’ll have a few decent games then follow up with a stinking performance.

Whatever happens I honestly don’t want Stephens here next season…….then again I haven’t wanted him here for the last 6 or 7 !!!

[Matthew Le God]

18 minutes ago, trousers said:

Plymouth....?

Even if they were still in the Championship they could not get remotely close to his wages, let alone in League 1. 

Stephens is currently on PL level wages probably north of £60k per week. Even with a 40% relegation paycut, non parachute payments Championship teams could not afford him, let alone Plymouth in League 1.

He'd really need to want the move for it to happen, as it'll be a monumental wage cut!

Edited 17 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[trousers]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

Even if they were still in the Championship they could not get remotely close to his wages, let alone in League 1. 

Stephens is currently on PL level wages probably north of £60k per week. Even with a 40% relegation payocut, non parachute payments Championship teams could not afford him, let alone Plymouth in League 1.

He'd really need to want the move for it to happen, as it'll be a monumental wage cut!

Some might say that loaning him out and paying some /all of his wages would be better than keeping him here... 

[Gloucester Saint]

13 minutes ago, trousers said:

Plymouth....?

We’ll be paying the bulk of the wages but yes, seems an obvious move, good for Jack to be near family and yes, League 1 about his level these days.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

Some might say that loaning him out and paying some /all of his wages would be better than keeping him here... 

A lot might say....

All players can have the odd good game where, probably by chance, they're in the right place at the right time to make a tackle, or swing a foot at the ball and it goes in the right direction, but no, he is a contributing factor to our decline. We got rid of him once to Bournemouth, but like a bad rash, he keeps coming back.

[Whitey Grandad]

8 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

A lot might say....

All players can have the odd good game where, probably by chance, they're in the right place at the right time to make a tackle, or swing a foot at the ball and it goes in the right direction, but no, he is a contributing factor to our decline. We got rid of him once to Bournemouth, but like a bad rash, he keeps coming back.

Same with Bednarek.

[Gloucester Saint]

16 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

A lot might say....

All players can have the odd good game where, probably by chance, they're in the right place at the right time to make a tackle, or swing a foot at the ball and it goes in the right direction, but no, he is a contributing factor to our decline. We got rid of him once to Bournemouth, but like a bad rash, he keeps coming back.

He’s certainly more Herpes than Hyppia

[Andy Hill]

Quite simply he is not a footballer - needs to find a different career.

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Andy Hill said:

Quite simply he is not a footballer - needs to find a different career.

Hyperbole. Sure he isn't Premier League level. But he is fine in the Championship. 

[beatlesaint]

4 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Hyperbole. Sure he isn't Premier League level. But he is fine in the Championship. 

Short memory old son, if you remember last season it went all to hell when he recovered from injury and RM did everything he could to shoehorn the guy into the team.

[sockeye]

Along with Bednarek he is the poster child of our diabolical defense. Sell. Loan out. Make him train with the U21s for his last year if that’s what it takes.

[Matthew Le God]

13 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Short memory old son, if you remember last season it went all to hell when he recovered from injury and RM did everything he could to shoehorn the guy into the team.

And that makes him "not a footballer"?

[beatlesaint]

6 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

And that makes him "not a footballer"?

Don’t be so pedantic all the time, you get the drift of what people mean.

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Don’t be so pedantic all the time, you get the drift of what people mean.

We have an exceptionally bad season and people lurch to extremes. Sure, we've been absolutely terrible this season and completely put of our depth in the Premier League, but that doesn't mean our players are League 1, League 2, non league or should never be footballers. We have a Championship level squad with a handful of PL quality players. That is why we have 11 points after 35 games, along with some dreadful managerial decisions.

[The Kraken]

57 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Hyperbole. Sure he isn't Premier League level. But he is fine in the Championship. 

Depends on what level of the Championship you’re talking about.

Personally I wasn’t all that disappointed when he got injured last season and it forced us to play bendy and THB for much of the season. Cant deny Stephens did ok when he came back in later in the season but I thought we were a better team with two centre backs not three, and he was the third (in my opinion).

Edited 15 hours ago by The Kraken

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

We need people like Jack in the dressing room next season. 

[The Kraken]

1 minute ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

We need people like Jack in the dressing room next season. 

As long as he stays in the dressing room while the rest go out to play, no problem. He can do a proper sweeper’s job.

[Matthew Le God]

41 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Depends on what level of the Championship you’re talking about.

3rd or 4th choice centre back for a promotion chasing Championship team. Not regularly starting and not kept if promoted again to the Premier League.

Edited 15 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[The Kraken]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

3rd or 4th choice centre back for a promotion chasing Championship team. Not regularly starting and not kept if promoted again to the Premier League.

Yeah that’s where I’m at too.
 

Like others I felt the whole captain thing really put Martin in a difficult position with Stephens, he basically was under pressure to play him when fit. As I said, I thought we were better with 4 at the back and when Bednarek THB were our CBs. It was, for me, a really strange decision to make Stephens skipper.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 minute ago, The Kraken said:

Yeah that’s where I’m at too.
 

Like others I felt the whole captain thing really put Martin in a difficult position with Stephens, he basically was under pressure to play him when fit. As I said, I thought we were better with 4 at the back and when Bednarek THB were our CBs. It was, for me, a really strange decision to make Stephens skipper.

One result of such intensively drilled systems, for us, is that it lends itself to having automatons for players. 

It's an odd balance. One one side, not having the highest quality team, a system can get us punching above our weight. On the other, our systems are mostly flawed, and rely on individual quality to dig us out. Something that goes against being an automaton.

The result is that we've a squad with little to no leadership in it. Just lots of similar level players who need to be led by the hand in a system.

Nathan Jones certainly mentioned how quiet the squad was. By the time he arrived, nearly all of the higher, more independently minded, quality players had departed. Martin inherited that. It was at the stage if you showed some Pashun and shouted a bit, you were considered a leader. So that was Stephens and Lallana. Horribly enough, that did make a difference on occasion. The rest were so timid, they needed someone shouty with them. It's just a shame our top shouty person has a glaring error a game in him.

[sockeye]

57 minutes ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

We need people like Jack in the dressing room next season. 

Yes, Ipswich’s dressing room.

[vectraman]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

3rd or 4th choice centre back for a promotion chasing Championship team. Not regularly starting and not kept if promoted again to the Premier League.

His contract is up at the end of next season - as long as we don’t do something monumentally stupid and extend it if we were to get promoted again 😱😨

[benjii]

Stephens is one of those players who got very lucky to have the career that he did with multiple years on PL wages. He could easily have played League One/Champ his entire career earning a fraction of what he has. 

[Pamplemousse]

He's been poor all season. Given away stupid penalties through a lack of discipline in a couple of games and yesterday was one of the worst individual performances I've seen in a long time. He should've been subbed off after their second.

If he starts next season then the recruitment team have failed miserably because we need a massive upgrade.

Edited 5 hours ago by Pamplemousse

[AlexLaw76]

Nailed on skipper and starter next season 

[beatlesaint]

14 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Nailed on skipper and starter next season 

Unfortunately that is my fear.

[drd]

My input as a Bournemouth fan, is that when we had him on loan he was okish. He wasn't Beckenbauer but he wasn't the worst CB we've had in the PL. I don't know if injuries have knackered him or just playing in a team with no confidence, but from when I've watched Saints I'd say he's no worse than your other CBs. THB seems to get a relatively free pass but can't see he's much better honestly 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

57 minutes ago, drd said:

My input as a Bournemouth fan, is that when we had him on loan he was okish. He wasn't Beckenbauer but he wasn't the worst CB we've had in the PL. I don't know if injuries have knackered him or just playing in a team with no confidence, but from when I've watched Saints I'd say he's no worse than your other CBs. THB seems to get a relatively free pass but can't see he's much better honestly 

What you need to ask yourself is would he get into your team now? I don't any of our current squad would get into your starting 11. The way the fortunes of both clubs have changed over the past 3/4 years is the chalk and cheese.

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Nailed on skipper and starter next season 

 

1 hour ago, beatlesaint said:

Unfortunately that is my fear.

We don't even know who the manager is yet and you are picking his captain.

[S-Clarke]

15 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Stephens is currently on PL level wages probably north of £60k per week. Even with a 40% relegation paycut, non parachute payments Championship teams could not afford him, let alone Plymouth in League 1.

Imagine being so bad at your job that you still take home 60k per week. It's ok for some.

[The Kraken]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Imagine being so bad at your job that you still take home 60k per week. It's ok for some.

It’s really an absolute disgrace that a man who has never shown he is deserving of a Premier League starting place can command that sort of salary. He was the skipper and still shouldn’t have been deserving of a starting place in the championship ffs.

[Gloucester Saint]

3 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

He's been poor all season. Given away stupid penalties through a lack of discipline in a couple of games and yesterday was one of the worst individual performances I've seen in a long time. He should've been subbed off after their second.

If he starts next season then the recruitment team have failed miserably because we need a massive upgrade.

Trouble is, I agree but Dragan is already going to be writing off a lot of wages and fees season. Bazanu will be on heavily subsidised loans for his last couple of years as clearly is nowhere near a Champ goalkeeper as his wretched Belgian stint further underlined as if it needed to, Larios probably most of his wages when he goes back to the Spanish semi-pro leagues, Smallbone they won’t get the £7-8m Sheff Utd offered in 2023. ABK - who knows?! Ditto Taylor. 

[drd]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

What you need to ask yourself is would he get into your team now? I don't any of our current squad would get into your starting 11. The way the fortunes of both clubs have changed over the past 3/4 years is the chalk and cheese.

I guess that's true. I think Fernandes is top class but not sure anyone else would get in. We've undoubtedly been lucky with timing getting into and staying in the PL as the gap widened but have also had mostly good player buys . Saints bought too many average players instead of a few proper PL ready players

Edited 1 hour ago by drd

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

We don't even know who the manager is yet and you are picking his captain.

To do what you do regularly - Where have I said I have picked him as captain ? I said it was my fear that he could end up as captain, thats all !!

Edited 1 hour ago by beatlesaint

[Lee On Solent Saint]

14 minutes ago, drd said:

I guess that's true. I think Fernandes is top class but not sure anyone else would get in. We've undoubtedly been lucky with timing getting into and staying in the PL as the gap widened but have also had mostly good player buys . Saints bought too many average players instead of a few proper PL ready players

Your recruitment in all areas has been much much better than ours. That is the stark reality of the difference. 

[beatlesaint]

16 minutes ago, drd said:

I guess that's true. I think Fernandes is top class but not sure anyone else would get in. We've undoubtedly been lucky with timing getting into and staying in the PL as the gap widened but have also had mostly good player buys . Saints bought too many average players instead of a few proper PL ready players

Yeah, you had great recruitment and a good couple of seasons at exactly the time you needed to, just as the draw bridge was being pulled up.

[skintsaint]

Needs to play in front of the back four as a holding midfielder. Let him strut his stuff there and watch the magic.