Pre Season Friendlies 2025/26

[suewhistle]

55 minutes ago, saintant said:

Are we going to dump those we don't want in Spain then? 🙂

I can think of one or two candidates..

We might even have the same ones in mind!

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Still isn't inexperienced, and his track record at every club he's been at is one of success and improvement.

Zero experience in the championship is the point. I think he will do well for us but it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a few games to find his feet in a new league. 

[saintant]

34 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I will continue to say, and you guys can believe me or not, but clubs aren't interested in Dibling anywhere near the price we want. His sojourn to Chelsea has flashed up too many red flags. 

He will still be owned by Southampton next year.

If this is indeed the case then it is up to Will Still to get Dibling playing in the way many think he is capable of - I still hold doubts about his potential but we'll see. At the same time Dibling will need to work his arse off to prove himself. If those two things happen then we'll have a player the big clubs will want and get decent money for him. The problem will be his agent because he may try to manipulate a transfer now at a low fee which will not help us and will mess with Dibling's head. 

[Matthew Le God]

36 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Zero experience in the championship is the point. I think he will do well for us but it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a few games to find his feet in a new league. 

Does the same apply to opposing managers 'finding their feet' in a game vs a Will Still team? Do the two cancel each other out?

Edited 9 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, Verbal said:

Bookmarked for praise/ridicule

That's fine, but make sure you read and interpret my post correctly.

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

Does the same apply to opposing managers 'finding their feet' in a game vs a Will Still team? Do the two cancel each other out?

If the opposing manager has no championship experience either then possibly yes. 

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

If the opposing manager has no championship experience either then possibly yes. 

How is the league label making a difference to the match?

[Willo of Whiteley]

Dibling will still be a Southampton player at the end of the window. Clubs aren’t paying more than £30m for him, and that’s only cos he’s English so there’s a tax increase on him of about £20m.

[SNSUN]

7 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Apart from Jack Stephens 

Fair.

Do we even know what kind of contract he’s on now? I have him down as the Lancashire/Walcott/Lallana youth “poster boy” past this season (even though he came from Plymouth….)

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

Castellon should provide a good test tomorrow, they beat Valencia in a friendly at the weekend (wouldn't know quality of line-ups involved) but decent opposition at this stage. Espanyol will be a step up on Saturday - club billing this as 'behind-closed-doors' but Espanyol giving free entry to their fans if members which may add more of an edge.

https://www.rcdespanyol.com/en/new/ticket-process-for-friendly-against-southampton-fc/18884

Edited 31 minutes ago by TheAlehouseBrawlers