Will Still

[Football Special]

On 27/05/2025 at 09:55, Turkish said:

The last few years have shown how hard that is. Weve probably got 5 players other premier league teams would want, one of them is out of contract. The rest aren’t premier league level but even with their wage reduction will be on money out of the reach of most clubs in Europe and definitely other championship clubs. So you’re either looking at loans or selling cheap. Remember how hard it was to get rid of Hoedt, Lemina, Tall Paul, we had to pay Carillo to leave FFS. 

Agree, it's not a realistic approach, got to wait and see who makes offers for our players and whether they make sense financially, then sign replacements, nearly all championship clubs have several loan signings and most of those happen towards the end of the window so no point panicking, just got to wait and see. 

[aintforever]

On 27/05/2025 at 09:43, Maggie May said:

I’m hoping we will have a massive clear out. Regardless of who we bring in under Still, it’s imperative we shift a few players who we know are not up to standard and never will be. 

You are forgetting that we are in the Championship, players can be utter gash in the Prem and still do a good job in this league, Russel Martin got promoted with mostly the same players.

The squad definitely needs freshening up but I think there is plenty for Still to work with.

[trousers]

5 hours ago, E_H_Saints said:

I like that he is 32 which is probably why he is so eager to win

Winning is so overrated, it's all about the performance... he needs to grow out of that mindset sharpish...  

[Sheaf Saint]

24 minutes ago, trousers said:

Winning is so overrated, it's all about the performance... he needs to grow out of that mindset sharpish...  

I'm not going to go all Fanboy here like certain posters, but I do think this quote has been over-exaggerated by many looking for any stick to beat him with.

There have been many times watching Saints over the years when we've lost, but I have felt satisfied that we actually played really well and either didn't deserve to lose or just came up against superior opposition.

On the other hand, there have been many games I've watched where we've won, but held on by the skin of our teeth and got away with some horrendous errors in possession and tactical naivety, and only got the points because the opposition strikers were having an off-day.

So I can accept what he's saying here without getting all hysterical about it having some deeper meaning about him being so deeply wedded to his philosophy that he would rather see us lose playing Russball every week than ever see us win ugly.

Edited May 28 by Sheaf Saint

[coalman]

20 minutes ago, trousers said:

Winning is so overrated, it's all about the performance... he needs to grow out of that mindset sharpish...  

The scary thing is he's sort of right but for the wrong reasons. It's possible to play well, create lots of chances and lose and play badly create nothing and score from your only chance. As long as you're creating lots of chances and conceding few chances you can expect to win more than you lose. With Martin he was happy as long as he was controlling the football. He didn't mind if we gave our opponents multiple clear cut chances as long as we did it his way. He himself said he was upset that Saints didn't follow his game plan in the playoff final - though I don't remember him being too cut up about it at the final whistle.

[Saint Fan CaM]

14 minutes ago, coalman said:

The scary thing is he's sort of right but for the wrong reasons. It's possible to play well, create lots of chances and lose and play badly create nothing and score from your only chance. As long as you're creating lots of chances and conceding few chances you can expect to win more than you lose. With Martin he was happy as long as he was controlling the football. He didn't mind if we gave our opponents multiple clear cut chances as long as we did it his way. He himself said he was upset that Saints didn't follow his game plan in the playoff final - though I don't remember him being too cut up about it at the final whistle.

Absolutely spot on…

[Maggie May]

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

You are forgetting that we are in the Championship, players can be utter gash in the Prem and still do a good job in this league, Russel Martin got promoted with mostly the same players.

The squad definitely needs freshening up but I think there is plenty for Still to work with.

Yeah but these players are the second worst team ever to play in the Premier League, and looked second rate against teams in lower divisions.  It will be hard to shake off. 

[Matthew Le God]

7 minutes ago, Maggie May said:

Yeah but these players are the second worst team ever to play in the Premier League, and looked second rate against teams in lower divisions.  It will be hard to shake off. 

We still have the majority of the squad that got 87 points in the Championship.

[coalman]

8 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We still have the majority of the squad that got 87 points in the Championship.

Exactly. Oh wait, you're saying that as a positive.

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I'm not going to go all Fanboy here like certain posters, but I do think this quote has been over-exaggerated by many looking for any stick to beat him with.

There have been many times watching Saints over the years when we've lost, but I have felt satisfied that we actually played really well and either didn't deserve to lose or just came up against superior opposition.

On the other hand, there have been many games I've watched where we've won, but held on by the skin of our teeth and got away with some horrendous errors in possession and tactical naivety, and only got the points because the opposition strikers were having an off-day.

So I can accept what he's saying here without getting all hysterical about it having some deeper meaning about him being so deeply wedded to his philosophy that he would rather see us lose playing Russball every week than ever see us win ugly.

Yeah, fair point. One's tongue was somewhat in one's cheek (just for a change)

[bugenhagen]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We still have the majority of the squad that got 87 points in the Championship.

That doesn’t mean much. Different manager and playing style. Even the players might have changed. Look at Armstrong. 
There is no guarantee that a player will perform as well as last time. 

[AlexLaw76]

26 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We still have the majority of the squad that got 87 points in the Championship.

I bet Luton (season just gone) had much of the squad that got promoted not that long ago.

Hey ho

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

I bet Luton (season just gone) had much of the squad that got promoted not that long ago.

Hey ho

They didn't hamstring themselves playing MartinBall both in the Championship promotion season and PL season.

[Fabrice29]

20 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

They didn't hamstring themselves playing MartinBall both in the Championship promotion season and PL season.

Stop saying "MartinBall"... you're a grown man. 

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, coalman said:

The scary thing is he's sort of right but for the wrong reasons. It's possible to play well, create lots of chances and lose and play badly create nothing and score from your only chance. As long as you're creating lots of chances and conceding few chances you can expect to win more than you lose. With Martin he was happy as long as he was controlling the football. He didn't mind if we gave our opponents multiple clear cut chances as long as we did it his way. He himself said he was upset that Saints didn't follow his game plan in the playoff final - though I don't remember him being too cut up about it at the final whistle.

Has he? Go on...

[RedArmy]

2 hours ago, aintforever said:

You are forgetting that we are in the Championship, players can be utter gash in the Prem and still do a good job in this league, Russel Martin got promoted with mostly the same players.

The squad definitely needs freshening up but I think there is plenty for Still to work with.

Evidenced by the fact that despite being utterly gash we still beat 3 of the 4 championship teams we faced in the cup this season. 
 

The only team we lost to were Burnley who got 100 points in the league and only conceded 16 goals in 46 games. 
 

If we’d lost the final and kept largely the same squad we would have been comfortably top 6 again this season even with that dipshit in charge. 

[coalman]

28 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Has he? Go on...

Yes

[Fabrice29]

1 minute ago, coalman said:

Yes

Where's that then?

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

They didn't hamstring themselves playing MartinBall both in the Championship promotion season and PL season.

 

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

I bet Luton (season just gone) had much of the squad that got promoted not that long ago.

Hey ho

Interesting video about that from a couple of months ago. Sounds like the main thing was they lost their best and most creative players and their main striker went well off the boil so he didn't convert any of the chances they made:

 

[SaintsLoyal]

Knew I’d seen him before

 

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Fabrice29 said:

Stop saying "MartinBall"... you're a grown man. 

Echo this.... It's "Russball" FFS

[Pamplemousse]

The thing about Luton is that they massively overachieved. Once teams stopped underestimating them it all went to shit.

[BarberSaint]

4 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

I'm not going to go all Fanboy here like certain posters, but I do think this quote has been over-exaggerated by many looking for any stick to beat him with.

There have been many times watching Saints over the years when we've lost, but I have felt satisfied that we actually played really well and either didn't deserve to lose or just came up against superior opposition.

On the other hand, there have been many games I've watched where we've won, but held on by the skin of our teeth and got away with some horrendous errors in possession and tactical naivety, and only got the points because the opposition strikers were having an off-day.

So I can accept what he's saying here without getting all hysterical about it having some deeper meaning about him being so deeply wedded to his philosophy that he would rather see us lose playing Russball every week than ever see us win ugly.

Except we know he means it like he does and not how you do, so it's a very valid stick. 

 

I really do think he's made for Leicester. If he takes them up he's a miracle worker. If he doesn't, he was hamstrung by circumstances and they were doomed to failure. Even with a depleted squad ( and JV ) they'll do well.

[Whitey Grandad]

12 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Stop saying "MartinBall"... you're a grown man. 

Now you've done it 🙄

[Whitey Grandad]

12 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Has he? Go on...

I read that too at the time. 

[Whitey Grandad]

11 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Where's that then?

Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV)

[Saint Fan CaM]

13 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

 

Interesting video about that from a couple of months ago. Sounds like the main thing was they lost their best and most creative players and their main striker went well off the boil so he didn't convert any of the chances they made:

 

Very interesting, especially the fact that they didn’t do refresh on the 1st team when going down. Something many of us have been hoping Saints will do to purge the losing mentality. The other similarity is their clinging onto a primarily possession based system, but not doing that well and also losing the hard press that saw their rise to the Premier League. Dilution of squad fitness seemingly the main issue.

Quite a few similarities, however you’d think Saints having shaken up the management and recruitment teams and having much better infrastructure etc, will not allow a similar fall from grace in the Championship. 🙏🏼🤞

Edited May 29 by Saint Fan CaM

[hypochondriac]

3 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Very interesting, especially the fact that they didn’t do refresh on the 1st team when going down. Something many of us have been hoping Saints will do to purge the losing mentality. The other similarity is their clinging onto a primarily possession based system, but not doing that well and also losing the hard press that saw their rise to the Premier League. Dilution of squad fitness seemingly the main issue.

Quite a few similarities, however you’d think Saints having shaken up the management and recruitment teams and having much better infrastructure etc, will not allow a similar fall from grace in the Championship. 🙏🏼🤞

I had saints in mind when I watched it because like you say there are a number of similarities. Hopefully when we start the season we will have done enough to differentiate ourselves. 

[Saint86]

21 hours ago, trousers said:

Winning is so overrated, it's all about the performance... he needs to grow out of that mindset sharpish...  

What a pair...

[Saint Fan CaM]

Edited May 29 by Saint Fan CaM

[sockeye]

18 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

 

Interesting video about that from a couple of months ago. Sounds like the main thing was they lost their best and most creative players and their main striker went well off the boil so he didn't convert any of the chances they made:

 

We talk about the Championship being absolutely dire near the bottom but it just shows how you can't afford to get complacent for a season no matter the league you're in.

Don't expect Luton will be down for long though, and they were correct to put money towards facility improvements.

[Saint_clark]

4 hours ago, sockeye said:

We talk about the Championship being absolutely dire near the bottom but it just shows how you can't afford to get complacent for a season no matter the league you're in.

Don't expect Luton will be down for long though, and they were correct to put money towards facility improvements.

No guarantee they'll turn the slide around at all. Just over 10 years ago they were non-league. 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

No guarantee they'll turn the slide around at all. Just over 10 years ago they were non-league. 

Statistically you think they'd have a good chance given the financial disparity there will be between them and the rest of league one. No guarantees of course but Birmingham pissed it last year. 

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

No guarantee they'll turn the slide around at all. Just over 10 years ago they were non-league. 

They'll have parachute payments in League One, would be an almighty fuck up to not challenge for promotion. They have a huge financial advantage.

[sambosa75]

6 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

They'll have parachute payments in League One, would be an almighty fuck up to not challenge for promotion. They have a huge financial advantage.

As was getting relegated with them, no?

[hypochondriac]

Just now, sambosa75 said:

As was getting relegated with them, no?

Not as much given all the other teams in that league who also had parachute payments. 

[Mr X]

I hope the echo is just waffling and we are not seriously considering building a team around Ross Stewart as our main striker..... He is made of glass and will 100% be injured next season too 

[Saint_clark]

8 minutes ago, Mr X said:

I hope the echo is just waffling and we are not seriously considering building a team around Ross Stewart as our main striker..... He is made of glass and will 100% be injured next season too 

Everything he does Onuachu does better anyway. I find the ostracization of him utterly bizarre, especially if we aren't planning on replacing him and are instead just going to use an inferior, more injury prone version of him. 

[Mr X]

14 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Everything he does Onuachu does better anyway. I find the ostracization of him utterly bizarre, especially if we aren't planning on replacing him and are instead just going to use an inferior, more injury prone version of him. 

Agree although onuachu isn't great either like his enthusiasm but he looks clumsy and uncoordinated at times, we have so many poor strikers (AA onuachu archer Stewart etc)  Stewart has only really had one good period at Sunderland in his whole career... Mad that we took a punt on him when he was already injured.... Have they ever said who was to blame for that decision? He is useful as a sub I guess but no way can we rely on him to complete 90 minutes none of our current strikers are going to get into double figures in the championship

[hypochondriac]

10 minutes ago, Mr X said:

I hope the echo is just waffling and we are not seriously considering building a team around Ross Stewart as our main striker..... He is made of glass and will 100% be injured next season too 

We've been linked with a few strikers already. The club aren't stupid they obviously aren't going to have Stewart up top as the main striker unless they have very good alternatives available. 

[Pamplemousse]

Stewart scoring on Sunday is so important IMO. He doesn't have to worry about having to get his first goal for the club. If we cross the ball a bit more than we did under Martin then he'll cause defenders a lot of problems next season.

But yes we definitely need another striker, assuming Tall Paul leaves.

[revolution saint]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

Everything he does Onuachu does better anyway. I find the ostracization of him utterly bizarre, especially if we aren't planning on replacing him and are instead just going to use an inferior, more injury prone version of him. 

All about opinions but if Onuachu is better than Stewart then Stewart may as well give up.  FWIW I disagree, Onuachu is slow, immobile, lacks stamina and, for a tall fella, pretty poor in the air.  Sooner he's out of the club the better. 

Bit early on to judge Stewart but he won most of the aerial duels against Arsenal and got about the pitch well enough.  Injuries is the big thing with him though so I wouldn't be relying on him.

[Badger]

37 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Stewart scoring on Sunday is so important IMO. He doesn't have to worry about having to get his first goal for the club. If we cross the ball a bit more than we did under Martin then he'll cause defenders a lot of problems next season.

But yes we definitely need another striker, assuming Tall Paul leaves.

It’s more fundamental than that. All he has to worry about is getting on the pitch in the first place 

[Dark Munster]

13 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

We've been linked with a few strikers already. The club aren't stupid they obviously aren't going to have Stewart up top as the main striker unless they have very good alternatives available. 

 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

 

Amend it to Spors isn't stupid if it makes you feel better. 

[BarberSaint]

6 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Amend it to Spors isn't stupid if it makes you feel better. 

 

 

You have no idea about Spors.  So that's a stupid assumption.  Seems pointless to me to speculate. Wait and see what happens on the pitch.

[Matthew Le God]

It was only a friendly, but Will Still knows how to comfortably beat Leicester City... 😉 

Something Russell Martin struggled with!

 

 

Edited May 31 by Matthew Le God

[Saint Fan CaM]

4 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

It was only a friendly, but Will Still knows how to comfortably beat Leicester City... 😉 

Something Russell Martin struggled with!

 

 

Nice to see what a Leicester supporter would be hacked off with calling it ‘extended highlights! Not sure if the result was due entirely to Will Still’s Lens being very good or Leicester being decidedly crap.  What was obvious from the outset was the intense high press, the fluidity of the players movement and the rare pass backwards/sideways. So different to Saints this last 2-3 seasons. I’m looking forward to see if Still is allowed and able to bring that to us with the squad he inherits.

[LeBizzier69]

stumbled across this on my YouTube recommended watches. Apologies if already posted but an interesting 20 min watch. Don’t know this YouTubers work at all.

[Matthew Le God]

21 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Nice to see what a Leicester supporter would be hacked off with calling it ‘extended highlights! Not sure if the result was due entirely to Will Still’s Lens being very good or Leicester being decidedly crap.  What was obvious from the outset was the intense high press, the fluidity of the players movement and the rare pass backwards/sideways. So different to Saints this last 2-3 seasons. I’m looking forward to see if Still is allowed and able to bring that to us with the squad he inherits.

It was also very early in his time at RC Lens. He had only had a few weeks training them at that point.