Jack Stephens

[skintsaint]

3 minutes ago, Dusic said:

I would think a factor is that they knew Bednarek was going and also that THB likely will too. They also knew we were going to bring in Quarshie (21) to go alongside Edwards (22) and Wood (23) and potentially may have Kayi-Sanda (18) as part of the squad too.

Unpopular as it clearly is on here, Stephens is a player with a lot more experience (frequently requested on here), who last time in this league captained a promotion winning side (experience of promotion frequently requested here), including playing very well in the pressured situation of the playoffs (undeniably good experience to have).

Charlie Taylor probably fits this bill, but then again for some reason is more likely to be off than Stephens.

[Lighthouse]

6 minutes ago, Dusic said:

I would think a factor is that they knew Bednarek was going and also that THB likely will too. They also knew we were going to bring in Quarshie (21) to go alongside Edwards (22) and Wood (23) and potentially may have Kayi-Sanda (18) as part of the squad too.

Unpopular as it clearly is on here, Stephens is a player with a lot more experience (frequently requested on here), who last time in this league captained a promotion winning side (experience of promotion frequently requested here), including playing very well in the pressured situation of the playoffs (undeniably good experience to have).

We aren't going to sell Bednarek and THB (Our two first choice CBs from our last promotion) and replace them with just Quarshie. If they do both go (probably for something not far off £35-40m) we'll be bringing in a new first choice player.

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

He shouldn't be anywhere near the first team. He's a liability. Nathan Wood would do a better job! 

[SambaMaverick]

1 hour ago, Dusic said:

I would think a factor is that they knew Bednarek was going and also that THB likely will too. They also knew we were going to bring in Quarshie (21) to go alongside Edwards (22) and Wood (23) and potentially may have Kayi-Sanda (18) as part of the squad too.

Unpopular as it clearly is on here, Stephens is a player with a lot more experience (frequently requested on here), who last time in this league captained a promotion winning side (experience of promotion frequently requested here), including playing very well in the pressured situation of the playoffs (undeniably good experience to have).

He has been at Saints for nearly 15 years and obviously those closer see the value that he brings, as Ryan Manning clearly articulated recently.

I think its absolutely clear that the contract is probably a year too long but I'm also sure the wages are affordable.

I am also certain that he is nowhere near as bad as the hysteria on here suggests. Last time in the Championship he played pretty well in various roles (remember him being solid at LB away to West Brom in an unfamiliar role) and as we saw with Bednarek who pretty much bossed every striker he faced in the Championship it is a much lower level than the PL which is where most of this judgement is Stephens comes from.

Personally think fans need to just let this go now, especially once the games start because getting on his back won't help anyone, not least our new manager!

That's a lot of words to say he doesn't have one single redeemable attribute

[AlexLaw76]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

We aren't going to sell Bednarek and THB (Our two first choice CBs from our last promotion) and replace them with just Quarshie. If they do both go (probably for something not far off £35-40m) we'll be bringing in a new first choice player.

we have already replaced them...Edwards, Wood, Quarshie are already at the club.

Remember, the plan all along was to prepare for THIS season, LAST season

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

He shouldn't be anywhere near the first team. He's a liability. Nathan Wood would do a better job! 

A plank of wood would do a better job.

[Dusic]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

We aren't going to sell Bednarek and THB (Our two first choice CBs from our last promotion) and replace them with just Quarshie. If they do both go (probably for something not far off £35-40m) we'll be bringing in a new first choice player.

Potentially, but I am not certain that would happen. We have clearly bought Quarshie to play a decent part and have Edwards and Wood who would both also expect to start at this level.

If we were to then sign someone else and relgate them to 4th/5th choice I am sure both would be pushing to leave (and fair enough).

Also might still have Taylor who is a cover CB option too.

So much change still to happen!

[saintant]

Some seem to be overlooking the fact that Captain Jack is a sure fire starter. Ignoring his presence in the squad won't make him go away or prevent him from being one of the first names on the team sheet. 

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

[sfc4prem]

18 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

I'd be grateful too for being paid more than many people's annual salaries each week.

[Dman]

13 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

We aren't going to sell Bednarek and THB (Our two first choice CBs from our last promotion) and replace them with just Quarshie. If they do both go (probably for something not far off £35-40m) we'll be bringing in a new first choice player.

TBF, we've got Edwards back who is like a new player for us this season. 

 

[SW11_Saint]

12 hours ago, SambaMaverick said:

That's a lot of words to say he doesn't have one single redeemable attribute

That’s a really ridiculous statement. 

[S-Clarke]

The media soundbites are out in force on this one aren't they.

The media can't dress it up really, we know how this looks. It's an absolutely horrific decision to offer him a new deal, no iffs, no butts.

We weren't losing value on a high valued player for free in the summer. We'd have had no takers this summer so we'd have kept him anyway, then let him go next year.

I don't see why we've done it. He's not good enough to be the captain and first team starter for a promoted or promotion chasing team. The evidence was there last season and the season before. 

He might be a nice lad, good around the place - I'm not disputing that, but there's more needed than that alone (As proven by last season). I hoped we'd get ruthless this summer and stop rewarding failure and mediocrity, but alas here we are.

[goodymatt]

24 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

The media soundbites are out in force on this one aren't they.

The media can't dress it up really, we know how this looks. It's an absolutely horrific decision to offer him a new deal, no iffs, no butts.

We weren't losing value on a high valued player for free in the summer. We'd have had no takers this summer so we'd have kept him anyway, then let him go next year.

I don't see why we've done it. He's not good enough to be the captain and first team starter for a promoted or promotion chasing team. The evidence was there last season and the season before. 

He might be a nice lad, good around the place - I'm not disputing that, but there's more needed than that alone (As proven by last season). I hoped we'd get ruthless this summer and stop rewarding failure and mediocrity, but alas here we are.

I’m still pretty convinced it will have reduced his wages for a fair representation of the squad player status he will likely be over the contract period. I do agree the extension was unnecessary otherwise but that 3rd year is probably to offset those wages being spread out.

[S-Clarke]

10 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

I’m still pretty convinced it will have reduced his wages for a fair representation of the squad player status he will likely be over the contract period. I do agree the extension was unnecessary otherwise but that 3rd year is probably to offset those wages being spread out.

You'd hope so, maybe we were daft on his initial contract a year or so ago and didn't put a relegation clause in it? I guess that's one way of looking at it, it's a contract renewal to help us financially. But the 3 years still feels too long, however it's painted tbh.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

Grateful to the club! I bet he is. Three years security on a contract he should never have been given.  Ridiculous. 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

I'll give it a miss thanks. Heard it all before.

[Patrick Bateman]

17 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Why? He seems like the kind of player who would get easily wound up and sent off for something rash.

I'd rather that than backing off everything

[Willo of Whiteley]

There is no redeemable proof that he is captain material other than the occasional chatter of him being good around the dressing room.

He says he’s grateful for the new deal, probably knowing full well that he doesn’t deserve it and that he’s on probably more per week than what the average person earns in a year for being not very good at his job role.

He shouldn’t be a starter and he certainly shouldn’t be captain.

[revolution saint]

15 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

We aren't going to sell Bednarek and THB (Our two first choice CBs from our last promotion) and replace them with just Quarshie. If they do both go (probably for something not far off £35-40m) we'll be bringing in a new first choice player.

Definitely don't see us signing another CB even if THB also goes.  Presume you're expecting THB to go for 28.5 - 33.5M now?  Good work if we get that.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Definitely don't see us signing another CB even if THB also goes.  Presume you're expecting THB to go for 28.5 - 33.5M now?  Good work if we get that.

Have to hope that THB stays really. A central pairing of Quarshie and either Stephens or Wood is pretty horrific even at Championship level. 

[Andy Hill]

This was a very strange contract extension. It would be good to know the reason why ?! 

[saintant]

10 minutes ago, Andy Hill said:

This was a very strange contract extension. It would be good to know the reason why ?! 

Probably better off not knowing.

[tdmickey3]

9 hours ago, Andy Hill said:

This was a very strange contract extension. It would be good to know the reason why ?! 

Stupidity

[Whitey Grandad]

11 hours ago, Andy Hill said:

This was a very strange contract extension. It would be good to know the reason why ?! 

Some sort of personal favour?