Jack Stephens

[hypochondriac]

20 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Yeah. Lots of possible moves. Bednerak had interest, THB could easily go if our price is met, and ABK could hopefully be sold/get a loan fee for.

Stephens is fine to be a squad player, who gets plenty of Championship minutes, if not a starter.

I'd not be extending the contract until we see how things pan out though.

 

Agreed. If we get promotion again then I'd bin him at that point. I certainly wouldn't be making him captain. Maybe club captain which is more of a ceremonial role. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

19 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Agreed. If we get promotion again then I'd bin him at that point. I certainly wouldn't be making him captain. Maybe club captain which is more of a ceremonial role. 

Like the new avatar, by the way. 🙂

[Gingeletiss]

Get rid. Two sendings off in the manner his were, whilst captain, was diabolical. Just get rid.

[Charlie Wayman]

He was past his Use By date 3 year ago. 

[gammon cheeks]

Crap player .get rid .

[Mixedkebab]

22 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

I don’t really want to see many of the players again next season, but he’s one that I really hope fucks off. 
 

Actually there are quite a few players that I’d like to never, ever see again. 

Bednarek, Stephens, Bazunu, Sulemana, Sugawara are the main ones. Just have absolutely no desire to ever watch them play football, let alone pay for the privilege. 
 

Utterly, utterly shit, pointless players. 

Agree on all these but I would also add McCarthy, Manning, Bella-Kotchap, Harwood-Bellis, Aribo, Smallbone, Dibling, Downes, Fraser, Stewart, Onuachu, and Archer.

Either lazy, bad attitude, or just shit. Fuck off! 

[Whitey Grandad]

22 hours ago, Gingeletiss said:

Get rid. Two sendings off in the manner his were, whilst captain, was diabolical. Just get rid.

If he is as useful as some claim then there should be plenty of takers.

[sadoldgit]

For a tall guy he is very poor in the air and his positional sense is appalling. We really should have sold him on years ago. 
Passion and being ok at blocking occasionally is all well and good on a Sunday morning on Hackney Marshes, but it really doesn’t cut it in professional football nowadays.

[Saint Fan CaM]

To be fair to Stephens he’s managed to cut himself a football career at the highest level - you don’t get that by being complete poop. The fault lies in the successive seasons of the club diluting the quality of the squad and relying on players such as Stephens who have been in the past 3rd or 4th choice to be first choice and even Captain.

It’s no wonder we’re not attracting better players when some of the senior players in the squad are seen to be so sub-standard.

[gio1saints]

Please all his detractors:

Jack does not need to be good enough to play against Mo Salah or Cole Palmer next season.  He only needs to be good enough for the Championship players he is facing next year to get into Saints 1st team squad. Is he good enough to help nullify the Preston’s or Swanseas attackers for example? It’s a totally different and lower skill level required. And he will be more than fine there. Plus he’s the biggest voice we have in a silent team. 

What we do need is a goal scorer. Am I convinced by Archer and RS? No. Am I convinced AA is not past it after 3 goals in 16 at WBA? No. Am I convinced TP is staying? No. Sulemana? No. Will Sam E come back and tear it up? Unlikely. Will Tyler be around? Maybe. No. But we need some goal scorers - not resurrection jobs like BBD and that West Ham South coast holiday project we took in with Mr Cornet out of desperation. Oh for a Rickie Lambert! 
PS. I’ve a sneaky suspicion Patrick Bamford will be a Saint shortly..

Edited May 8 by gio1saints

[Bakovnetski]

Stephens is nowhere near good enough for the PL but the Championship is OK if, and only if, he is playing to his best potential. Otherwise he is not good enough for that league either. If he is on his better form, he has an excellent line in shithousery that will come in useful (as we have seen before) providing that he stays on the pitch.

[Hamilton Saint]

On 03/05/2025 at 16:43, The Kraken said:

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.

Yeah. That old joke when I was a kid. Where do you want Stephens to be for this match? Left back--left back in the dressing room.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Please all his detractors:

Jack does not need to be good enough to play against Mo Salah or Cole Palmer next season.  He only needs to be good enough for the Championship players he is facing next year to get into Saints 1st team squad. Is he good enough to help nullify the Preston’s or Swanseas attackers for example? It’s a totally different and lower skill level required. And he will be more than fine there. Plus he’s the biggest voice we have in a silent team. 

What we do need is a goal scorer. Am I convinced by Archer and RS? No. Am I convinced AA is not past it after 3 goals in 16 at WBA? No. Am I convinced TP is staying? No. Sulemana? No. Will Sam E come back and tear it up? Unlikely. Will Tyler be around? Maybe. No. But we need some goal scorers - not resurrection jobs like BBD and that West Ham South coast holiday project we took in with Mr Cornet out of desperation. Oh for a Rickie Lambert! 
PS. I’ve a sneaky suspicion Patrick Bamford will be a Saint shortly..

Biggest voice? As a captain he is an absolute disgrace. Two sendings off this season, mouthing off at the officials after the first sending off, great example to be setting. Should be nowhere near the squad this season or next. 

[qwertyell]

Chris Rigg (Sunderland): "“I laugh at it, you’ve got to enjoy it or football isn’t the game for you. There was this one time, we were playing Southampton and I was shoving one of their defenders. I was marking him and he just said: ‘You’re still getting breastfed, aren’t you?’ That was a good one, but it doesn’t knock me out of my stride. They are testing me mentally as well as physically.”

Got to be Stephens, the dressing room bantsmeister general.

[Charlie Wayman]

11 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

If he is as useful as some claim then there should be plenty of takers.

There must be at least one team in the EFL who will regard him as an upgrade 🤞

[Charlie Wayman]

7 hours ago, Bakovnetski said:

Stephens is good enough for the Championship if he is playing to his best potential. 

Don't say that, somebody at the club might take you seriously enough to be a seal of approval. Just imagine if he leads us out at Preston in our first match in August…….   

Edited May 8 by Charlie Wayman

[Willo of Whiteley]

2 hours ago, qwertyell said:

Chris Rigg (Sunderland): "“I laugh at it, you’ve got to enjoy it or football isn’t the game for you. There was this one time, we were playing Southampton and I was shoving one of their defenders. I was marking him and he just said: ‘You’re still getting breastfed, aren’t you?’ That was a good one, but it doesn’t knock me out of my stride. They are testing me mentally as well as physically.”

Got to be Stephens, the dressing room bantsmeister general.

Surprised he didn’t retort that the baby is schooling the adult in how to play. 😂

[Gloucester Saint]

12 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

If he is as useful as some claim then there should be plenty of takers.

On 25% of the wages (even taking the relegation reduction into account) he’ll be earning next season perhaps.

Ditto McCarthy. 

[Oh no Mick Mills]

On 03/05/2025 at 20:32, 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.

This isn't true. 

We actually gained more points when Stephens played than when he didn't. 

He played the first four games which we won 3 and drew 1. He then got injured and we lost 4 on the bounce. 

We then had our unbeaten run which he featured in the last 7 or 8 of those games. 

Our first defeat after the unbeaten run he was on the bench, he came back into the team and we beat WNA and was then benched for the Hull home game which we lost. 

He also played every minute of the playoff semis and final where we conceded 1 goal. 

He's a poor Premier league defender that's for sure. 

Along with all our other CBs. 

He's OK in the Championship.

Personally I've thought THB has made more mistakes leading to goals and looked out of his depth , he also cost us 20M whilst Stephens was a about 500k I think. 

[Oh no Mick Mills]

Thought he was pretty decent yesterday. 

He gave Wellington a big cuddle just before kick off and spoke to him .     

A captains performance.  

[beatlesaint]

41 minutes ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Thought he was pretty decent yesterday. 

He gave Wellington a big cuddle just before kick off and spoke to him .     

A captains performance.  

Sorry but if you cannot see that Stephens is a big part of the problem I cant help you. Even in your detailed defence you say "He's OK in the Championship"

Mate, he's no effin difference in the Championship, all the things he does badly in Premier League he does badly in The Championship. Ok he gets away with it a bit more often but thats not the point. We need to rebuild, the last 2 seasons have shipped far too many goals, with or without Stephens in both leagues. Whoever comes in needs to completely overhaul the defence. KWP, THB & probably Bednarek will be gone anyway. Time for Stephens, Bree and Manning (unless you revert him to his original left sided midfielder position) to go as well. 

Yesterday was the first time this season any of this lot actually threw themselves in front of a shot, played tightly and compactly as if their lives depended on it. One swallow does not make a summer, esp when you celebrate moving onto the magical 12 points! 

Edited May 11 by beatlesaint

[sfc4prem]

He's alright defending for his life in a formation and game where we position our defensive unit as two banks of four close to our own goal.

If you're looking to play more expansive football with a higher line? He's shite.

Edited May 11 by sfc4prem

[coalman]

All our centre backs share the same faults. They are poor positionally, have a tendency to ball watch and are easily outmuscled by teams played fast counter attacks. Into that mix we've comprehensively coached into them (and the whole team) the tendency to give the ball away in stupid positions.

Ralph, spotted the problem and shipped Bednarek and Stephens out on loan where Bournemouth and Villa both saw little point in playing them regularly. And that's the problem - they are decent backups to have on the bench and if paired with a good centre back they'll do ok. Building a team around them and making one of them captain was madness and highlights the mind boggling recruitment that Sport Republic have overseen since they took over.

THB's price tag is extremely flattering and his judgement is highly questionable - coming out and saying that Martin's system was working but the fans were too dumb to understand shows a lack of footballing and emotional intelligence on many levels.

Edited May 11 by coalman

[Oh no Mick Mills]

1 hour ago, beatlesaint said:

Sorry but if you cannot see that Stephens is a big part of the problem I cant help you. Even in your detailed defence you say "He's OK in the Championship"

Mate, he's no effin difference in the Championship, all the things he does badly in Premier League he does badly in The Championship. Ok he gets away with it a bit more often but thats not the point. We need to rebuild, the last 2 seasons have shipped far too many goals, with or without Stephens in both leagues. Whoever comes in needs to completely overhaul the defence. KWP, THB & probably Bednarek will be gone anyway. Time for Stephens, Bree and Manning (unless you revert him to his original left sided midfielder position) to go as well. 

Yesterday was the first time this season any of this lot actually threw themselves in front of a shot, played tightly and compactly as if their lives depended on it. One swallow does not make a summer, esp when you celebrate moving onto the magical 12 points! 

On the whole I agree with you. 

I wish we had at least a couple of better defenders. 

Stephens is limited but give him his dues when he's had a decent game and he's had a few decent ones recently barring Leicester .

We're chock a block with mediocre players all over the pitch , i just dont understand when he's crap why so many pile on him whilst THB seems to get a free pass whilst being even worse and costing 20m. 

 

 

 

 

[beatlesaint]

1 minute ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

On the whole I agree with you. 

I wish we had at least a couple of better defenders. 

Stephens is limited but give him his dues when he's had a decent game and he's had a few decent ones recently barring Leicester .

We're chock a block with mediocre players all over the pitch , i just dont understand when he's crap why so many pile on him whilst THB seems to get a free pass whilst being even worse and costing 20m. 

 

 

 

 

I think its the length of time he's been here and the fact he's never risen above average at best. I dont think RM helped his cause by talking him up every opportunity like he was our own modern day Bobby Moore, I'm sure thats contributed to why people pile on him so much.

As for THB, yeah, I agree. It always puzzled me why Kompany didnt want him when Burnley were promoted, last season in the Championship I just dismissed it but bloody hell you can see why this season.  

[East Kent Saint]

Jack is Jack and will always be Jack , he did have a short rebirth of new aggression etc like JWP . Yesterday he had a great moment clearing a goal bound ball but he’s still Jack.

[davefizzy14]

Jack was great yesterday, proper captains performance and a vital goalline clearance too 😊

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Just now, davefizzy14 said:

Jack was great yesterday, proper captains performance and a vital goalline clearance too 😊

He had a massive smile after that clearance, as he was aware that he could have thumped it into his own net. But he got there, and saved us conceding.

[gio1saints]

THB, JB and JS have more experience combined than any other back three in the Championship. 

If we are going to blood a bunch of new players, including a goalie , I think it would make sense to retain SOME experience in the squad even if they don’t always start. 

Defensive solidity above all else seems to be the primary objective of the current management and I cannot see it changing much next year. Look at Burnley if you want to see where being miserly in defensive can get you in that league. 
 

THB will probably leave in any case so that leaves just two. We’ve got two younger ones lined up of course and perhaps Shea may also be an option ( though he seems a shoe in for CM) but experience IS valuable and ditching it because they not cutting it at EPL level is cutting your nose to spite your face. 

Edited May 11 by gio1saints

[S-Clarke]

He's good in those backs to the wall games, where all you do is defend and your concentration is kept fairly high as you're always defending.

But when we have to be slightly on the front foot and more progressive, he's found wanting. Usually because he switches off when he has to defend again, is caught out of position or plays a hospital pass.

If all we do is play for 0-0's and defend with a straight back 5 then he's not bad, but there's more to football than that and we do still need to move on from him.

[Gingeletiss]

2 hours ago, gio1saints said:

THB, JB and JS have more experience combined than any other back three in the Championship. 

If we are going to blood a bunch of new players, including a goalie , I think it would make sense to retain SOME experience in the squad even if they don’t always start. 

Defensive solidity above all else seems to be the primary objective of the current management and I cannot see it changing much next year. Look at Burnley if you want to see where being miserly in defensive can get you in that league. 
 

THB will probably leave in any case so that leaves just two. We’ve got two younger ones lined up of course and perhaps Shea may also be an option ( though he seems a shoe in for CM) but experience IS valuable and ditching it because they not cutting it at EPL level is cutting your nose to spite your face. 

If you keep on playing the same shit players, you will get the same shit football. Never forget what this ‘captain’ contributed this season, a great example of leadership.

[coalman]

3 hours ago, gio1saints said:

THB, JB and JS have more experience combined than any other back three in the Championship. 

If we are going to blood a bunch of new players, including a goalie , I think it would make sense to retain SOME experience in the squad even if they don’t always start. 

Defensive solidity above all else seems to be the primary objective of the current management and I cannot see it changing much next year. Look at Burnley if you want to see where being miserly in defensive can get you in that league. 
 

THB will probably leave in any case so that leaves just two. We’ve got two younger ones lined up of course and perhaps Shea may also be an option ( though he seems a shoe in for CM) but experience IS valuable and ditching it because they not cutting it at EPL level is cutting your nose to spite your face. 

Let's hope we're not planning to play a back three in the Championship.

Jack as a squad player is ok. Jack as a captain is madness. Your captain is who new players look to for the standards you want to set. I would hope we're looking to change the culture in the team after this season and the new manager, whoever it is, can recognise that.

[Whitey Grandad]

5 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

Jack was great yesterday, proper captains performance and a vital goalline clearance too 😊

It was going wide.

[Pip]

18 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It was going wide.

Oh give it a rest

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Pip said:

Oh give it a rest

?

[suewhistle]

23 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

We need to rebuild, the last 2 seasons have shipped far too many goals, with or without Stephens in both leagues. Whoever comes in needs to completely overhaul the defence. KWP, THB & probably Bednarek will be gone anyway. Time for Stephens, Bree and Manning (unless you revert him to his original left sided midfielder position) to go as well. 

What may be desirable isn't necessarily going to be practicable. Like selling cars you need to have something desirable to get a good price or sell it at all. Even WBAC might only give you scrap value for some of the old cans I've sold in the past. Turning players over will cost and you might get another dud. If (big one I know) we get promotion again that will be the time to make bigger changes.

Some of the players will be good enough for another season in the Championship: Bree for example did a good job on Doku on Saturday and would do a job for us next season. He's certainly not a name that makes me groan when you hear he is in the line up: I remember Lee Todd, for example! 😉

[Lee On Solent Saint]

21 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

Jack was great yesterday, proper captains performance and a vital goalline clearance too 😊

Shame those captain performances only happen about once a season. Wasn't much of a captain when he was getting sent off twice this season. 

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, suewhistle said:

Some of the players will be good enough for another season in the Championship: Bree for example did a good job on Doku on Saturday and would do a job for us next season. He's certainly not a name that makes me groan when you hear he is in the line up: I remember Lee Todd, for example! 😉

Lee Todd.....oh dont, i too remember that little fella only too well.

I take your point about Bree, I just think with those three going (1 definite, 2 almost certainly) now is the time to completely restructure that defence. Wellington at LB is a start, Edwards back from QPR is another, I'm still undecided about Wood tbh.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

15 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

?

In fairness you called me a troll for daring to defend Jack. 

A lot of people failed to appreciate that as somebody eloquently pointed out, was a 'voice in a silent dressing room'. He is a low end premiership defender that is is why is still with us. He is though one of the few players that generate team spirit in the dressing room and that has a considerable value. I like him because he is Saints through and through. If we are to get out of this death dive it will be down to loyalists like Jack. If and when we get back to the premiership he can fire up the team from the bench.

[saintwbu]

His limitations are clear for everyone to see, but the reality is he is still probably our second best CB based on this season. Yes, probably a reflection of our poor recruitment, but why he gets so much abuse when others are and have been far worse is beyond me. THB for example has been an absolute disaster this season, but he barely gets a word.

[Ken Tone]

1 hour ago, beatlesaint said:

Lee Todd.....oh dont, i too remember that little fella only too well.

I take your point about Bree, I just think with those three going (1 definite, 2 almost certainly) now is the time to completely restructure that defence. Wellington at LB is a start, Edwards back from QPR is another, I'm still undecided about Wood tbh.

Edwards is a very good player but he's 4 or 5 inches too short to be a top CB. I'd give him a try as a defensive midfielder. Along with Shea Charles and Flynn Downes (when he's not suspended and if he's not left us) we'd have really solid midfield options to give a base for creative players to build on in front of them.

[suewhistle]

35 minutes ago, Ken Tone said:

we'd have really solid midfield options to give a base for creative players to build on in front of them.

I think solid midfield options have been lacking to defend the players behind them! Ugochukwu has certainly improved over the season with the experience, but we do need that level of physicality which we can see is startlingly absent in players like Smallbone.

[OldNick]

23 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

It was going wide.

from where I was sat, in the Itchen and was an angle it looked to be going in

[Whitey Grandad]

8 hours ago, OldNick said:

from where I was sat, in the Itchen and was an angle it looked to be going in

Same for me in the northern Kingsland but from the other angles in the highlights it was some way off.

Not that it's important it needed clearing anyway.

[coalman]

18 hours ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

In fairness you called me a troll for daring to defend Jack. 

A lot of people failed to appreciate that as somebody eloquently pointed out, was a 'voice in a silent dressing room'. He is a low end premiership defender that is is why is still with us. He is though one of the few players that generate team spirit in the dressing room and that has a considerable value. I like him because he is Saints through and through. If we are to get out of this death dive it will be down to loyalists like Jack. If and when we get back to the premiership he can fire up the team from the bench.

One might also argue that the reason we're in this death dive is due to "loyalists like Jack" and our inability to recruit better. I'd also question whether he's here because of his love for Saints rather than because he can't find anywhere better to go.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

16 hours ago, coalman said:

One might also argue that the reason we're in this death dive is due to "loyalists like Jack" and our inability to recruit better. I'd also question whether he's here because of his love for Saints rather than because he can't find anywhere better to go.

His love of Saints is probably because he has been here a long time. I would argue that one of the reasons we got relegated before was because they cleared out all of the backroom staff who had been with us for years. They were the ones who told all the incoming plyers why they were privileged to play for our club. I want to support a club that I like the players - although of course there is a balance.

[coalman]

9 hours ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

His love of Saints is probably because he has been here a long time. I would argue that one of the reasons we got relegated before was because they cleared out all of the backroom staff who had been with us for years. They were the ones who told all the incoming plyers why they were privileged to play for our club. I want to support a club that I like the players - although of course there is a balance.

I get he's been here a long time. I'm not sure whether it's possible to extrapolate a love for the club from that. Though everyone will interpret that through the lens of their own opinion.

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, coalman said:

I get he's been here a long time. I'm not sure whether it's possible to extrapolate a love for the club from that. Though everyone will interpret that through the lens of their own opinion.

I honestly do get this thing about Jack. I just think he’s getting slagged off a bit too much on here ~ he’s served suspensions, been dropped etc and been vilified relentlessly for getting sent off not giving a good account of himself and club as captain etc - but mostly for not being as good as other EPL CB’s. But, c’mon, Give it a rest time perhaps?
 

Speak to him. Or speak with people who know him and speak with him. He is an honest pro,  passionate about his role leading the Saints squad. What he allegedly lacks in technical skills nobody can deny he makes up for in heart.
 

In an era where that’s regarded as irrelevant and players are interchangeable and disposable it’s surely refreshing to have a throwback  “old school” player with “old school” values-like Jack, at Saints, certainly for long time supporters who can actually remember when Saints ALWAYS Had a player or two like JS in the team going back to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Incidentally and maybe coincidentally ( or not..) times when we were figuring higher up the league usually. 

 

[Andrew Watson]

He might be one of the few senior players who cares about the club,which is nice to see.Should this be enough to get him in the team ? Not  in my view,but the new manager when appointed will have that decision to make. He switches off too easily and like the other centre backs tends to mark space and not the player.

[coalman]

5 hours ago, gio1saints said:

I honestly do get this thing about Jack. I just think he’s getting slagged off a bit too much on here ~ he’s served suspensions, been dropped etc and been vilified relentlessly for getting sent off not giving a good account of himself and club as captain etc - but mostly for not being as good as other EPL CB’s. But, c’mon, Give it a rest time perhaps?
 

Speak to him. Or speak with people who know him and speak with him. He is an honest pro,  passionate about his role leading the Saints squad. What he allegedly lacks in technical skills nobody can deny he makes up for in heart.
 

In an era where that’s regarded as irrelevant and players are interchangeable and disposable it’s surely refreshing to have a throwback  “old school” player with “old school” values-like Jack, at Saints, certainly for long time supporters who can actually remember when Saints ALWAYS Had a player or two like JS in the team going back to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Incidentally and maybe coincidentally ( or not..) times when we were figuring higher up the league usually. 

 

I think we're in a you're welcome to your opinion, I'm welcome to mine scenario. I do get to have an opinion however.