Jack Stephens

[saint michael]

If you didn’t know last Friday was “speak like a pirate day”. Apparently coming from the West Country he gave a rousing uplifting speech in pirate lingo to the team resulting in the performance of at Hull. Go Captain Jack…

[disconnect]

Sadly making him captain was a truly terrible decision and had coincided with us being generally awful. Wasn't our unbeaten spell of the promotion season when he was out injured?!

[Gloucester Saint]

Just now, disconnect said:

Sadly making him captain was a truly terrible decision and had coincided with us being generally awful. Wasn't our unbeaten spell of the promotion season when he was out injured?!

Ironically he’s been our best defender this season so far although that’s not saying much and he was at fault nearly as much as the hapless THB for the second on Saturday.

THB is so dreadful he will keep Jack in the team.

[Dusic]

Been pretty good this season overall I think. Certainly not one of the main issues facing the team at the moment.

[Gloucester Saint]

13 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Been pretty good this season overall I think. Certainly not one of the main issues facing the team at the moment.

Bar the second goal Saturday, he’s been far from our worst performer, which there is huge competition for. THB, Mads (surprisingly), Flynn, Downs and Baz (2nd worst Champ keeper on stats, one better than 23/24) all stinking the place out.

[Miltonaggro]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

He’s the judge when players have their internal courts for breaking rules

hes been here years and knows the club 

world class at clapping and pointing

Second only the Hojberg in post match lame defeat  “we must do better” interview 

what more do you want?

In his early years at the club the senior pros identified him as the resident wet behind the ears dinlo, and gave him the nickname 'Trigger'.  I have seen no evidence that this early psychological evaluation requires reassessment.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

That’s his super power for sure 

His cheat code bruv

[gio1saints]

10 hours ago, Edmonton Saint said:

For a guy who had his contract renewed due to his so called leadership, is it pertinent to ask where is this leadership? Second worst premier league team of all time, to being rooted at the wrong end of the championship , where we are conceding goals left , right, and centre in what seems to be a badly organized and shambolic defensive structure .

Not to mention being bullied each week by whatever journeyman striker our opponents have. Again I’ll ask where is this leadership ? 
 

If you ask me, renewing his contract so early in the summer was rewarding failure and as a club we accepted that mediocrity is ok. 

So who would be your captain then? Which player would you say has shown the qualities you require? 
 

Leadership and captaincy credentials are not always so easily defined as by how good the player individually is or his team performs.

He is my Captain on merit vis the rest, no doubt 

[Miltonaggro]

1 minute ago, gio1saints said:

So who would be your captain then? Which player would you say has shown the qualities you require? 
 

Leadership and captaincy credentials are not always so easily defined as by how good the player individually is or his team performs.

He is my Captain on merit vis the rest, no doubt 

To be honest I would have bought in a new skipper, clean slate and all that.  If that didn't come off perhaps tried harder to tempt Romeu back on a free, with a bumper one to two year deal.

[gio1saints]

8 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

To be honest I would have bought in a new skipper, clean slate and all that.  If that didn't come off perhaps tried harder to tempt Romeu back on a free, with a bumper one to two year deal.

Romeu had the class and stature for it yes agreed. But of the current squad? Jan and Adarma were simply bad. THB I still have hopes for. Not Gavin. Leaves me with Shea and THB as the realistic captains. My choice would be Shea. But he might need this season.  If we had the luxury of a Milner available I get it. But we don’t and that most probably won’t happen - so Jack is what we’ve got- and currently, imo, is the only realistic man for the job. 

Edited Tuesday at 09:38 by gio1saints

[Paul_B]

10 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Agreed…how he has managed to retain his position in the first team, let alone be Captain is reflective of the predicament the club finds itself in. Steeped in mediocrity.

Mediocrity would be lovely right now!

Re Jack, I don't mind the guy. Saw him in M&S about 8 years ago. I'd happily have him in the Monday night 5-a-side team. Maybe not so much in the Saints team.

[ally_uk]

3 year extension ?

Should of been sold and upgraded 3 years ago.....

[derry]

A serial ball watcher along with the out of form THB gives us a porous back four. I'd drop them both. Bring in Wood and Quarshie and give the two Danes a go as full backs. Whoever does the coaching needs to be shot. Players standing marking space with the aerial ball coming in is stupidity. McBurnie had a running jump. The players needed to be attacking the ball not standing underneath being outjumped. Neither Stephens or THB do this defensively just spectating and ball watching just exposes the goal.

[die Mannyschaft]

Its none of the players fault,  its the manager who selects the team and someone (who knows who it is) that buys the players. Same as last season when we got a goal keeper £27m  when we needed 2 or 4 goal scorers. Did didn't matter how many goals went in as more likely to win lots of 3-2 games by scoring more than let in. Maybe its some 4th division Spanish, French or Luxembourg team with are tied in with who manage Saints behind the scenes. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

8 minutes ago, die Mannyschaft said:

Its none of the players fault,  its the manager who selects the team and someone (who knows who it is) that buys the players. Same as last season when we got a goal keeper £27m  when we needed 2 or 4 goal scorers. Did didn't matter how many goals went in as more likely to win lots of 3-2 games by scoring more than let in. Maybe its some 4th division Spanish, French or Luxembourg team with are tied in with who manage Saints behind the scenes. 

Are you seriously complaining about the signing of Rambo?!!

You seriously would have split up his purchase fee amongst "2 or 4 goalscorers" who would have made more of a difference - in a league where the average proper goalscorer now costs £25-40m. Really? You'd have played Baz or McCarthy and hoped your new £5-10m '2 or 4 goalscorers' would have pumped them in for fun. Or are you buying a £5m goalkeeper out of that "£27m" as well?

See earlier comment about football fans in the modern era wanting the 'moon on a stick' and anything less shocks them to the core.

Real life is hard. Professional competition is very hard: At the top level everyone is paying attention, and spending a fortune to leave no stone unturned.

[saintant]

4 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Romeu had the class and stature for it yes agreed. But of the current squad? Jan and Adarma were simply bad. THB I still have hopes for. Not Gavin. Leaves me with Shea and THB as the realistic captains. My choice would be Shea. But he might need this season.  If we had the luxury of a Milner available I get it. But we don’t and that most probably won’t happen - so Jack is what we’ve got- and currently, imo, is the only realistic man for the job. 

Does it really matter who is our captain because as far as I can see he does nothing more then lead the team out, take part in the toss for ends/kick-off and mumble some rubbish in the huddle. It's a role anyone should be capable of.

[Turkish]

5 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

His cheat code bruv

Bro he’s 99 rated 

[Oh no Mick Mills]

6 hours ago, Dusic said:

Been pretty good this season overall I think. Certainly not one of the main issues facing the team at the moment.

Surprised no one has set up a dedicated thread to criticise Harwood Bellis. 

Stephens is the favourite plaything for the playerhaters amongst you. 

He's a mediocre championship standard CB who cost 500k...what do people expect..prime Maldini? 

Who's made the most mistakes over the last two seasons, costing us goals.

20m transfer fee full England international THB?

Or 500k Stephens?

Who got forward in injury time to score the goal and get us our only win we've had this season...anyone mentioning these facts...nah. 

Keep slating boys. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Surprised no one has set up a dedicated thread to criticise Harwood Bellis. 

Stephens is the favourite plaything for the playerhaters amongst you. 

He's a mediocre championship standard CB who cost 500k...what do people expect..prime Maldini? 

Who's made the most mistakes over the last two seasons, costing us goals.

20m transfer fee full England international THB?

Or 500k Stephens?

Who got forward in injury time to score the goal and get us our only win we've had this season...anyone mentioning these facts...nah. 

Keep slating boys. 

The contract extension was ludicrous but still, THB has been our worst defender by far. I know he didn’t have a pre-season, but Hull away was akin to Alan Bennett v Palace and Scowcroft.

If he doesn’t pull his finger out, Andreas Jakobsson is getting displaced in our worst ever XI, that‘s how dreadful THB is at the moment. 

[S-Clarke]

4 hours ago, derry said:

A serial ball watcher along with the out of form THB gives us a porous back four. I'd drop them both. Bring in Wood and Quarshie and give the two Danes a go as full backs. Whoever does the coaching needs to be shot. Players standing marking space with the aerial ball coming in is stupidity. McBurnie had a running jump. The players needed to be attacking the ball not standing underneath being outjumped. Neither Stephens or THB do this defensively just spectating and ball watching just exposes the goal.

This is exactly how I've always read him, he doesn't have a proactive bone in his body and his game is literally built on reactiveness. His best games come in the backs to walls efforts, where he's reacting and blocking all the time - but if he needs to read a situation prior to it evolving (i.e if we're on top, and they try to break on us) - he struggles.

It's not a new thing, this has simply been his game for however long I've had to watch him. 

THB frustrates me too, I look at him sometimes and he seems to mirror Jack in a lot of ways these days - is there a possibility that Jack brings the rest down to his level? 

He's a frustrating player because he clearly cares and you have to appreciate him for that, but he just doesn't have the ability to contribute to a successful team - and that's all it boils down to really. I want good players in my team, not 'good lads who care' as harsh as that sounds.

Edited Tuesday at 16:41 by S-Clarke

[Oh no Mick Mills]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

The contract extension was ludicrous but still, THB has been our worst defender by far. I know he didn’t have a pre-season, but Hull away was akin to Alan Bennett v Palace and Scowcroft.

If he doesn’t pull his finger out, Andreas Jakobsson is getting displaced in our worst ever XI, that‘s how dreadful THB is at the moment. 

Agreed..should have been 5 years....

Joking aside 3 years was a bit dumb .

1 year extension would have made sense with a review at the end of it. 

I'd love us to bring in better CBs but we keep trying a failing. 

Salisu and Bella Kotchup were the most disappointing ones. 

Clearly two naturally talented defenders. Strong , quick , great tacklers and in particular AMK was pretty decent coming out with the ball at his feet....but two total bellends attitude wise. 

I like the comment from the Peterborough fan saying give Edwards 5 games. 

I agree with this..just give the lad a chance to bed in and don't slaughter him when he makes an error ...similar to Downs really..disgraceful to cheer when this 20 year old lad gets taken off.

 

[CamSaint]

15 hours ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Joking aside 3 years was a bit dumb .

1 year extension would have made sense with a review at the end of it. 

It was only a 2 year extension - the '3 years' that everyone complains about includes the current year which was part of his original contract. Nevertheless, I agree that a 1 year extension (keeping him here for 2 years) would have made a lot more sense. 

[Patches O Houlihan]

21 hours ago, derry said:

A serial ball watcher along with the out of form THB gives us a porous back four. I'd drop them both.

Players standing marking space with the aerial ball coming in is stupidity. The players needed to be attacking the ball not standing underneath being outjumped. Neither Stephens or THB do this defensively just spectating and ball watching just exposes the goal.

16 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

This is exactly how I've always read him, he doesn't have a proactive bone in his body and his game is literally built on reactiveness. His best games come in the backs to walls efforts, where he's reacting and blocking all the time - but if he needs to read a situation prior to it evolving (i.e if we're on top, and they try to break on us) - he struggles.

It's not a new thing, this has simply been his game for however long I've had to watch him. 

THB frustrates me too, I look at him sometimes and he seems to mirror Jack in a lot of ways these days - is there a possibility that Jack brings the rest down to his level? 

He's a frustrating player because he clearly cares and you have to appreciate him for that, but he just doesn't have the ability to contribute to a successful team - and that's all it boils down to really. I want good players in my team, not 'good lads who care' as harsh as that sounds.

Great post Clarkey - This is exactly how I feel about Jack too.

He clearly bleeds red & white and tries hard. You really want him to do well. But he just never quite makes the grade for more than a game or two at a time.

[Turkish]

16 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

This is exactly how I've always read him, he doesn't have a proactive bone in his body and his game is literally built on reactiveness. His best games come in the backs to walls efforts, where he's reacting and blocking all the time - but if he needs to read a situation prior to it evolving (i.e if we're on top, and they try to break on us) - he struggles.

It's not a new thing, this has simply been his game for however long I've had to watch him. 

THB frustrates me too, I look at him sometimes and he seems to mirror Jack in a lot of ways these days - is there a possibility that Jack brings the rest down to his level? 

He's a frustrating player because he clearly cares and you have to appreciate him for that, but he just doesn't have the ability to contribute to a successful team - and that's all it boils down to really. I want good players in my team, not 'good lads who care' as harsh as that sounds.

This is exactly right. Remember that Man City game we won 1-0 at home, Adams scored from about 40 yards and we spent the rest of the game in our penalty area defending. He was brilliant that day, blocks, headers out and it was because he was doing exactly what you say. When it comes to being proactive, reading the game, making decisions he is a disaster and always has been.

THB has had his Saints magic wand waved on him. We have this ability to take promising players and make them look like pub players. THB is the latest example. Was great for Burnley, was very highly rated when we got him and i was very excited. But over the last two season seems to have massively regressed. He was terrible on saturday and i'd say he is on current form at best our 3rd choice and possibly even fighting with the Cornish Maldini for last place.

[saintant]

18 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

This is exactly how I've always read him, he doesn't have a proactive bone in his body and his game is literally built on reactiveness. His best games come in the backs to walls efforts, where he's reacting and blocking all the time - but if he needs to read a situation prior to it evolving (i.e if we're on top, and they try to break on us) - he struggles.

It's not a new thing, this has simply been his game for however long I've had to watch him. 

THB frustrates me too, I look at him sometimes and he seems to mirror Jack in a lot of ways these days - is there a possibility that Jack brings the rest down to his level? 

He's a frustrating player because he clearly cares and you have to appreciate him for that, but he just doesn't have the ability to contribute to a successful team - and that's all it boils down to really. I want good players in my team, not 'good lads who care' as harsh as that sounds.

A good appraisal of the many weaknesses of Capt Jack and THB. Stephens is also very slow in thought and decision making when in possession which stops us from playing with any sort of fluidity, he just faffs about and dithers. On last night's showing Wood is our best centre back - he's strong in the air, has pace, can bring the ball out of defence as he showed last night and that block he made in the first half was superb. Ditch Stephens and THB who are holding the team back. 

[saintant]

17 hours ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Agreed..should have been 5 years....

Joking aside 3 years was a bit dumb .

1 year extension would have made sense with a review at the end of it. 

I'd love us to bring in better CBs but we keep trying a failing. 

Salisu and Bella Kotchup were the most disappointing ones. 

Clearly two naturally talented defenders. Strong , quick , great tacklers and in particular AMK was pretty decent coming out with the ball at his feet....but two total bellends attitude wise. 

I like the comment from the Peterborough fan saying give Edwards 5 games. 

I agree with this..just give the lad a chance to bed in and don't slaughter him when he makes an error ...similar to Downs really..disgraceful to cheer when this 20 year old lad gets taken off.

 

A Millwall fan said similar.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, CamSaint said:

It was only a 2 year extension - the '3 years' that everyone complains about includes the current year which was part of his original contract. Nevertheless, I agree that a 1 year extension (keeping him here for 2 years) would have made a lot more sense. 

That makes me feel a lot better...not!