Princewill Ehibhatiomhan

[Golac's Iron Gonads]

My Dad mentioned a young bloke scoring lots of goals for the under 21s, I'd never heard of him but then the Youtube algorithm suggested Saints under 21s 5-2 win at Palace and he looked very composed when slotting in what I believe was his second hattrick this season and he's banged in 15 goals in 10. Anyone know why he's not getting on the bench? I've only seen the aforementioned highlights.

 

 

[Patches O Houlihan]

There was a theory that Adam Blackmore was pulling strings to keep him out of the match day squad so he wouldn't have to pronounce his name - but in fairness he made a passable attempt at the weekend so that's one conspiracy theory blown 🤷‍♂️

[Football Special]

49 minutes ago, Golac's Iron Gonads said:

My Dad mentioned a young bloke scoring lots of goals for the under 21s, I'd never heard of him but then the Youtube algorithm suggested Saints under 21s 5-2 win at Palace and he looked very composed when slotting in what I believe was his second hattrick this season and he's banged in 15 goals in 10. Anyone know why he's not getting on the bench? I've only seen the aforementioned highlights.

 

 

His goalscoring record is so good you'd have thought they'll have to give him so first team minutes soon or a decent loan in January, certainly a prospect. 

I went to a couple of random games at Reading last season where his brother Kelvin played , was a real handful for defenders , came into the hospitality lounge after the game to accept player of the match award and seemed like a good lad so young Princewill is following in his brothers footsteps 

Edited October 28 by Football Special

[Matthew Le God]

43 minutes ago, Golac's Iron Gonads said:

 Anyone know why he's not getting on the bench?

Scoring goals for the u21s doesn't mean he'd be effective for an auto promotion challenging Championship team. He struggled to score in both League 1 and League 2 last season and doesnt warrant replacing Dobbin or Mubama on the bench. For his development he needs another loan with regular games and not the fringes of our 1st team.

[Viking Saint]

Am fairly sure he was on the bench for a game earlier this season. Will try to find the relevant team sheet......

[Badger]

23 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Scoring goals for the u21s doesn't mean he'd be effective for an auto promotion challenging Championship team. He struggled to score in both League 1 and League 2 last season and doesnt warrant replacing Dobbin or Mubama on the bench. For his development he needs another loan with regular games and not the fringes of our 1st team.

Agree, although as he can’t go anywhere until January it might be worth giving him an occasional run out for 10/15 minutes to see how he does. 

[Willo of Whiteley]

49 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Scoring goals for the u21s doesn't mean he'd be effective for an auto promotion challenging Championship team. He struggled to score in both League 1 and League 2 last season and doesnt warrant replacing Dobbin or Mubama on the bench. For his development he needs another loan with regular games and not the fringes of our 1st team.

Also doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be effective.

See Harry Kane. You never know… 🤷🏻‍♂️

[LiberalCommunist]

Don't throw him in. But lets be having a conversation with the kid, and showing him the path. I'd rather watch him fail than the City loanee. But, just imagine if it did work out. Love that sort of magic, and we used to be specialists at it. 

[Lighthouse]

Goals in age group football mean very little. Seager, Mara, Obafemi and plenty of other forgettable players were all banging them in at one point. I highly doubt he’s better than Mubama.

[Golac's Iron Gonads]

I've not seen much of him still, but the other clips I've seen he seems to have a real knack of being in the right place at the right time and finishing with either foot. Looking forward to seeing more of him and of course there's far more to being a number 9 than just sticking it in the net, especially in the championship and above.

Edited October 28 by Golac's Iron Gonads

[Themotherfunky]

Hopefully we can loan him out and it's more of the Charles/Shef Wed.

 We've been so poor in recent years with loans when it comes to development. They rarely come back better than when they left. 

[Lighthouse]

5 minutes ago, Themotherfunky said:

Hopefully we can loan him out and it's more of the Charles/Shef Wed.

 We've been so poor in recent years with loans when it comes to development. They rarely come back better than when they left. 

That's the nature of football academies, the overwhelming majority aren't going to make it in the football league at all. The minority that do will spend the majority of their careers in Leagues 1 and 2 and only a very small number will make it as PL players.

[Doctoroncall]

9 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

That's the nature of football academies, the overwhelming majority aren't going to make it in the football league at all. The minority that do will spend the majority of their careers in Leagues 1 and 2 and only a very small number will make it as PL players.

And they develop/advance at different times. Always tricky to find the right blend. Achieving being a professional footballer is good. 

[Saint_clark]

14 hours ago, Patches O Houlihan said:

There was a theory that Adam Blackmore was pulling strings to keep him out of the match day squad so he wouldn't have to pronounce his name - but in fairness he made a passable attempt at the weekend so that's one conspiracy theory blown 🤷‍♂️

Lad needs to have "Princewell" on his shirt, far cooler anyway.

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

Lad needs to have "Princewell" on his shirt, far cooler anyway.

Even better if it's "Princewill" 😉

[Verbal]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

Lad needs to have "Princewell" on his shirt, far cooler anyway.

In which case you'll see him every week outside the club shop asking to get his shirt name spelt correctly. 

[suewhistle]

Either way, it's 3 letters short of his surname so easier to fit on.

He's probably called 'Will' on the pitch for speed..

[macca155]

The step up from U21 to Championship is significant but others have done it. He's clearly a good finisher and is learning to get himself into the right positions to actually have the opportunities to score. A further positive is he is a big lad and pretty mobile so can fit into our current style of play. Is he going to be a Shearer, no obviously not at this stage, but unless these youngsters see a pathway to the first team, the club will struggle to attract top talent.

Its win win really. Mubama is probably going back to City, so might as well put our own talent on the bench and give him a few run outs when the opportunity arises. As others have said he needs a decent loan in Division 1. A club where he will be valued and given significant playing time. Ballard sorted that for himself in the end at Orient, and is now bedding himself in as a Championship striker. He's not starring yet but neither is he disgracing himself either, he's only 21 so plenty of time yet.

I watched the Palace game highlights and whilst he grabbed the headlines, there were others in that team who looked pretty decent as well. bodes well for the future.

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, VectisSaint said:

Even better if it's "Princewill" 😉

Autocorrect is so weird, Princewell isn't even a proper word.

[suewhistle]

4 hours ago, macca155 said:

He's clearly a good finisher and is learning to get himself into the right positions to actually have the opportunities to score.

I was thinking that some of the goals were rebounds and loose balls, but as you say, right positions. Some of the threaded balls from midfield were a delight so there may be one or two others to come through, although physically they still look pretty lightweight.

[Midfield_General]

His surname's pronounced 'a-bash-a-mun' 

it doesn't seem that difficult to me, but then some people struggled with 'Bazunu' for four years, so what do I know

[Weston Super Saint]

41 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

His surname's pronounced 'a-bash-a-mun' 

it doesn't seem that difficult to me, but then some people struggled with 'Bazunu' for four years, so what do I know

Pronounced "Ba-zing-ga"??

[davefizzy14]

I definitely think Princewill is knocking on the door. His goalscoring form for the under 21s so far this season is incredible. He is 6ft 3in so definitely fits in with the physical profile of striker that Tonda likes.

Edited October 29 by davefizzy14

[BarberSaint]

2 hours ago, suewhistle said:

I was thinking that some of the goals were rebounds and loose balls, but as you say, right positions. Some of the threaded balls from midfield were a delight so there may be one or two others to come through, although physically they still look pretty lightweight.

True. Very good footballers, but put them in a first team game and I think they'd really struggle. I would like to see a few of them get a few minutes here and there, however. 

[benjii]

On 28/10/2026 at 22:06, Golac's Iron Gonads said:

My Dad mentioned a young bloke scoring lots of goals for the under 21s, I'd never heard of him but then the Youtube algorithm suggested Saints under 21s 5-2 win at Palace and he looked very composed when slotting in what I believe was his second hattrick this season and he's banged in 15 goals in 10. Anyone know why he's not getting on the bench? I've only seen the aforementioned highlights.

 

 

That's easy for you to say.

[suewhistle]

Just noticed that at the end of November we have 3 games in 7 days:  Sat/Tues/Fri! Think he'll get a chance then..

[Football Special]

10 hours ago, suewhistle said:

Just noticed that at the end of November we have 3 games in 7 days:  Sat/Tues/Fri! Think he'll get a chance then..

Especially if Larin is back late from international duty as the Saturday game is 12.30, the Tuesday game up north in Sheffield and the Friday game is the massive Middlesbrough hyped up occasion 

[Suhari]

Now known in our house as PrinceWilliam Bitmibum.

I'm sure he'd be thrilled.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 minute ago, Suhari said:

Now known in our house as PrinceWilliam Bitmibum.

I'm sure he'd be thrilled.

Impressive that he's a household name at his age. It's only your house, but still. 🙂

[westmidlandsaint]

On 28/10/2026 at 19:06, Matthew Le God said:

Scoring goals for the u21s doesn't mean he'd be effective for an auto promotion challenging Championship team. He struggled to score in both League 1 and League 2 last season and doesnt warrant replacing Dobbin or Mubama on the bench. For his development he needs another loan with regular games and not the fringes of our 1st team.

Dom Ballard springs to mind, scored plenty at youth level, didn't really do much out on loan in lower divisions, didnt look at the time e was gong to make the cut. Soon as we sold him permanently he started banging them in.  

Agree a January loan would be a good move.

[chiknsmack]

Two seasons ago he scored 13 in 1400 minutes (not counting the National League Cup) for the U21s. Last season he scored three in 1200 minutes at League 2 level for Swindon and Salford. This season he's scored ten in 513 minutes (again not counting the National League Cup) for the U21s.

So two seasons ago he was good and deserving of a L1 or L2 loan. Last season he had two L2 loans and disappointed. This season he's too good for the U21s (as a 21 year old) and probably deserves another shot at L2.

But, there's a shortage of striker options for the U21s with Oyekunle away on his first loan to L1 and Dipepa coming back from long-term injury. Coming off the bench in the Championship after what he showed in L2 last season is probably asking too much of Ehibhatiomhan, and having him on the bench of the senior side impacts his availability for the U21s.

[Hodgey]

I’ve seen him a couple of times, looked a world away from being Championship standard. That’s not to say he may not be a late developer, but I think if you saw him vs Mubama in training there would be a huge difference.

He needs another loan to a l2/1 outfit and we need to look elsewhere in Jan for another fwd option. 

[washsaint]

How is he not getting any minutes when we have the utterly shit Dobbin and Muamba playing so appallingly?

[Pilchards]

He’s 21 years old and not exactly a baby.

Get him on the pitch and bin off those two fucking muppets that we are calling strikers.

[Mboto Gorge]

Add to that he’s 6ft 3 and physical presence who would clearly put himself about more than the lazy mubama who seems to think he’s already made it . Surely it’s a no brainer to give him minutes bearing in mind the alternatives

Edited 2 hours ago by Mboto Gorge

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Just now, Pilchards said:

He’s 21 years old and not exactly a baby.

Get him on the pitch and bin off those two fucking muppets that we are calling strikers.

Got to give him a chance at some point, never know unless he gets a chance. Can't be any worse than than what we are trying at the moment.

[bpsaint]

This is where I miss the old style reserve leagues, so players like this can have a run out against some competent opponents and see if they’re worth a call up to the first team.

[Lighthouse]

Last season he scored once in 25 appearances in League 2. I've no idea why people think he can't be worse than Dobbin and Mubama. He quite clearly can be and almost certainly is.

[egg]

17 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Last season he scored once in 25 appearances in League 2. I've no idea why people think he can't be worse than Dobbin and Mubama. He quite clearly can be and almost certainly is.

He made 2 starts for them in the league.

That was last season, and he'll have developed since then.

Mubama offers nothing whatsoever. The kid is in form and will be confident.

I'd rather throw him on in the last 10 mins when we need something than Mubama. 

 

[Harry_SFC]

Another 2 goals and an assist today. Not sure we can ignore him much longer given we've currently got an absolute carthorse coming off the bench 

[Harry_SFC]

4 minutes ago, egg said:

He made 2 starts for them in the league.

That was last season, and he'll have developed since then.

Mubama offers nothing whatsoever. The kid is in form and will be confident.

I'd rather throw him on in the last 10 mins when we need something than Mubama. 

 

Yeah, no point giving Mubama minutes. Tonda clearly doesn't rate him at all and he's not even our player. 

[egg]

3 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Another 2 goals and an assist today. Not sure we can ignore him much longer given we've currently got an absolute carthorse coming off the bench 

Yep. 2 assists as well. 

Edited 1 hour ago by egg

[Lighthouse]

12 minutes ago, egg said:

He made 2 starts for them in the league.

That was last season, and he'll have developed since then.

Mubama offers nothing whatsoever. The kid is in form and will be confident.

I'd rather throw him on in the last 10 mins when we need something than Mubama. 

 

The fact that he was being kept out of a L2 team by some guy called Ryan Graydon six months ago isn’t much of an endorsement. Between that and the manager who currently watches him every day in training not playing him, I don’t think we’re missing out on much.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

The fact that he was being kept out of a L2 team by some guy called Ryan Graydon six months ago isn’t much of an endorsement. Between that and the manager who currently watches him every day in training not playing him, I don’t think we’re missing out on much.

At the very least he might be more of a physical presence for us, unsettle defenders, create a bit of space for others. 

[egg]

12 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

The fact that he was being kept out of a L2 team by some guy called Ryan Graydon six months ago isn’t much of an endorsement. Between that and the manager who currently watches him every day in training not playing him, I don’t think we’re missing out on much.

I'm not saying he's the next Haaland, but when what you've got isn't working, and you can't sign anyone else for a couple of months, there's no harm in rolling the dice imo. 

[Pilchards]

Another two goals today.

On Monday [knock, knock]
Tonda ‘Come in please?’

Prince ‘Seriously gaffer I’m banging goals in for fun, when do I get my chance as any other team in the championship would start me first.’

Tonda ‘I have to start Divin first as it’s in the contract when we got him on loan, also Dobbin costs us 9 million.’

[door slams behind him]

Edited 1 hour ago by Pilchards

[Football Special]

36 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

Another two goals today.

On Monday [knock, knock]
Tonda ‘Come in please?’

Prince ‘Seriously gaffer I’m banging goals in for fun, when do I get my chance as any other team in the championship would start me first.’

Tonda ‘I have to start Divin first as it’s in the contract when we got him on loan, also Dobbin costs us 9 million.’

[door slams behind him]

I've heard we paid Man City a chunky loan fee for Mubama so there probably is some pressure to play him

The Prince has certainly been cooking in PL2 this season, league table makes good reading, hang it in Southampton Art Gallery 

[macca155]

It really is frustrating when we have absolutely nothing to replace Larin, and a lad who is banging them in isn't given a look in.

I totally accept he probably isn't 'Roy of the Rovers', but we all know confidence is a massive player in sport, and his level of self belief must be sky high. I'm convinced he'd have put one of those guilt edged chances away.