gio1saints

KWP needs locking away in a cellar during the window he is vital to our promotion prospects. Replacing him like for like is near impossible in a short space of time and would mean that we’d probably be looking at Bree and Ryan as starting full backs.. which is acceptable - but obviously a drop in quality. And with NO back up as Larios is untried and anyways seems always injured. Any new FB brought in must learn russball - and weve seen it can take months. Saints : DO NOT SELL KWP this window! As for CA and KS. Attacking talents/ prospects who currently, statistically, do not score enough do not create enough and who, currently, are our least reliable at defensive out of possession work are probably most vulnerable to being sold if a good offer comes in. I personally think both will get better and better - though I’m a little disappointed at them not tearing this league up ( yet) as it should be easy pickings for their quality - but it takes time I guess. In any case they both have got a much higher resale value if we get promoted. So, again, for me, not for sale. That Fraser and Sam, Aribo and Amo are all in the background does suggest SR could be tempted if a ridiculous offer comes in though.m for them. And I think Che is obviously going to be a target for someone.. In Terms of buy or loan my #1 priority would be an experienced two footed full back please.

He's doing better now, at a lower level. We all want that to continue, so spare us your hand-wringing sanctimonious super duper fan act. Despite the current common use of the term to mean "excessively cheerful", Pollyanna and her father played the glad game as a method of coping with the real difficulties and sorrows that, along with luck and joy, shape every life. My offering an alternate viewpoint and doing so coherently has really clearly upset a small number of posters. Those most upset seem to be those who insist on finding negatives at every corner and who, increasingly, seem to be clutching at straws to find something to beat Saints,, SR, RM, JW and in this case Gavin, up with . Apologies if I’m wrong and that what appears a consistently glass half empty point of view on Saints for some means anybody who dares to suggest otherwise fully deserves your ire and scorn but the comments against me here are quite lame compared to what they and others have said in last three months or so. I’m happy to debate anything saints on here with anybody- especially those who consistently revert to personal abuse as a means of trying to prove their point. But the insults are childish and tiresome so please let’s stick to the issue. Cannot do anything about last years goals conceded but we can via our support encourage this obvious upward trajectory in Gavin. Discouraging that positivity is almost the same as being a Pompey supporter at SMS to me. Unwelcome.

Don’t flatter yourself that I might take advice from a bright little ray of sunshine like you. Though, if you are available as a professional wailer at funerals or similar I could be interested. You’re also excellent at sneering. ✅ Default scepticism and inveterate cynicism is a common path to take, especially for long term Saints fans. We can all dig up stories on how bad saints are and have been. It can become an endless cycle which can infiltrate ones non saints life if not careful, however. And you end up just being that grumpy old man nobody likes being around as there’s always something you can find to moan about.

Last years goals conceded by saints would have killed most young keepers. This years horrible start / run ditto. He does not save all the shots he might BUT he has got better and better. Improvement and learning he is demonstrating. Anybody not notice he’s getting better? Is there a magic goalie that’s more experienced, a better shot stopper and can actually kick / pass the ball too. Oh, and does not cost over say £15m? I’m not sure there is and what is more I’m not sure what’s happened to any saints fans not feeling empathy for a young player showing the courage he does and has week after week in the context he’s had Do you think he is deaf to the terrace groans? That theyve largely stopped to be replaced by fans chanting his name is quite some turnaround. For which he deserves credit not sneering. I feel proud of him. If we win or not I feel proud for his courage as a Saint. It’s what I love to see in a Saints player and team more than anything.

I don’t understand why Burnley did not buy him outright. Or do more to buy him outright. Losing a player of his calibre was a huge gamble /criminally careless of them. If we go up our obligation to buy for£20m will be a bargain. And given the criteria for CB’s being selected for the full ENG squad ( basically are you English ✅does your epl team pick you at cb ✅) and the fact the limited maguire still starts most games ) suggests to me THB staying uninjured will make the full England squad by this time next season ( whether it’s with us or a n other epl team). And at his age that means his value basically trebles.

This is big news! If we don’t go up this year it will be harder maybe impossible to do so next season? That our best Players will leave and it will all be down to SR Jason and RM for fucking it up? This is very important and useful information. Why has it not been brought up before and factored into the SR business plan? They must be idiots! It may be too late already. Maybe we should cut our losses and get rid of Russ and Jason maybe get a whole new team in now before it gets any worse ( if it could get worse!) On balance it seems for once I agree with some posters here that the club has got to stop this fannying around being happy with fourth and start going on an unbeaten run. I even think I saw one of the players in Portswood high street other day and he was smiling. And dont get me started on Russ. The fool always seems to be smiling. Well I’m going go to have to tell him that it’s frankly not good enough. That will wipe that smile of his complacent face next time I see him! I will tell him “Don’t you know we are only fourth you fannying around playboy millionaire.” “Stop being happy and start winning every match. No excuses.” That should do the trick. 😛

We do have a proper DM - Shea Charles. And he can play CB too. In our current system it’s fair to say he is closest to what we might call a “DM” but Flynn Downes or Will Smallbone - both amongst our most consistent players this season - essentially fulfil that role at present. FD is only a loan and Will does seem a bit tackle light at times and neither are big lads but with Shea waiting to come on in place of them who is a bit more of a unit and a baller as well I’m not so sure a DM is an absolute priority. Unless it was as a back up to those three in which case I’d probably be looking to our young players personally as 4th choice. The CB position looks v sound to me. Once JS is back we will have four strong players now Mason has got his mojo on - but only two positions available. And that’s without the CB option Shea offers. If anything we may be a quality FB light. Larios is unproven and seems always injured so if any of RM JB and especially KWP in addition get a knock we are a bit vulnerable. And I’d rather keep Mason at cb than try him out wide messing up the whole defence cos we don’t have a proper fb. In the 1st transfer windiw due we lost Perraud and Tino but only brought in manning. I’d say an experienced, intelligent, FB that’s two footed would be high on the list.

Ryan Fraser, Sam Edozie and KS are amongst the most talented one on one players in this league. One of them has found the magic key to turning that talent and pace into goals. It’s the one with the older head on his shoulders. His experience has helped turn our possession advantage into goals. One view of why Sam and KS have not destroyed this league ( yet) is that, yes both try hard to comply with instructions and yes both are given a certain amount of latitude on the ball one on one yet both are still something of a question mark out of possession. Both guilty of switching off mentally a couple of times for split seconds has led to goals conceded. When attacking it’s apparent to me they are sometimes less instinctual more instruction based. And for players who clearly have pace, flair and rely on split second reflexes, that slight element of having to compute what it is they been told to do in a given position versus what their instincts tell them to do is just slightly losing them that edge over the FB’s of this league. It’s an age old problem for coaches of young talents. The solution is generally (unless they are truly exceptional) is yes massively encourage the instinct BUT not just to let them do what instincts say but to try to encourage good habits into that talent such that they too become instinct also - like for example knowing exactly what to do & where to be OUT of position at any given moment. Talents like KS and Sam often know what to do with the ball at their feet up front but switch off when it’s not near them. Ralph used to call it “ automatism” ie to do the right thing automatically on instinct without thinking. Top players always seem to be in the right place. Fraser has the experience already so he is in the right place more often even if his future potential ceiling is not at the same level as the other two. IF KS / SE can improve positional concentration, keep positive (but remain humble enough to be willing and able to improve)then imo they will both be superstars. The current coaching and squad composition set up is ideal for them this season. Especially with players like RF near them. Patience and coolness under pressure to take the chance when they get it is the next step. IMO Both can be £50m players if they listen and learn and we are EPL season.

I think it’s telling how difficult those three quite dominant teams from the latter part of last season are finding it in the EPL. Im not sure any of those three ( maybe bar Burnley but even that’s a generous stretch ) can truthfully say they were playing their way out the Championship in a style that they planned was going to be competitive in the EPL. More truthfully, imo, match by match they did what was needed to get the points( again, bar Burnley to a degree). Same for Forest year before- they tried to insta-adapt to EPL by recruiting 20 new players when they got promoted and - God knows how but credit to the Manager - managed to stay up last year. My understanding is that, although Saints current style is hard, takes longer to learn and can drop us points in that process, over course of the season the gamble is that it should still be sufficient for Saints to get promoted. The corollary to that is that, perhaps, it’s better to learn to play this way, at this level, where we can maybe get away with some mistakes than in the EPL where we will get hammered for each error. And that the style, as it matures, refines and becomes habitual, should be robust, pragmatic and competitive enough for us to be more than just be cannon fodder next season in the EPL. Thats the plan / gamble I guess. I do think that SR could have chosen a more pragmatic Manager but I’m personally sanguine in fact happy we did not. Its so hard to say wether we’d have 30 points, 39 points or 13 points if we had done so- and moreover wether that pragmatic style would have a cats chance in hell of surviving the epl ( I doubt it look how badly the promoted teams are doing right now). We could be Burnley, sheff utd or Luton in exactly 12 months time at bottom of league looking bad every week unless there’s a plan. Thankfully it seems there is. It’s a sobering thought though.

I apologise if my response came across as condescending. Thank you in turn for apologising for your ott response. I hope that you have access to the following website so you can look for yourself and see where the stats I quoted come from. It’s been objectively helpful recently in my understanding of what’s going in with russball. But yeah, Lies damned lies and stats we all know the quote. 😇 https://fbref.com/en/comps/10/Championship-Stats#all_stats_squads_possession

Alcaraz was a 50/1 shot and I took e/w. It’s obvs a long shot not a nap. You are right though- never get cocky because betting is a losing game more often than not. So, don’t gamble kids!

FWIW Saints are TOP of the Championship for yellow cards. The number of yellow cards that are extra/over the league average are due, imo, to us not getting our defensive positioning correct early season, especially in transitions/ on the counterattack attack. I was worried earlier this season by this because we are not getting out this league playing with ten men too often. - but less so now. I think we have/or more accurately had, a tendency to over commit going forward in order to create an overload (pass and score around opponents by outnumbering them ) but when we’ve lost possession it’s necessitated a tug back or blatant foul by one of our players to break up the play before it gets too dangerous. Hence yellow cards. RM / the team seem to have noticed this and we seem less vulnerable to the break than before ( less not immune - we still suffer and it’s still a thing especially at home). Perhaps the lesson is that really only one fb should be offensive at any one time- not both as it leaves us too exposed. Bree seems to have got the message. Early season Manning was trying to copy KWP but much less successfully. Good news is that allthree ( and Larios I think) have it in their locker to bomb forward - difference is now that we are being a bit more discriminating about when and how it happens.

I’m sorry if the facts do not suit your narrative. Getting angry with me won’t change the facts. We are 5th bottom at turning shots into goals but third in numbers of shots overall and top for shot creating actions. Your premise was we don’t shoot enough. I said fair- but that an alternate was we actually do - but not enough go in. What is it you fail to understand? Why get offensive to me? I’ve posted some facts about Southampton’s play here, which are easily available online. I’ve offered an alternative point of view to your own, and backed it up. It should not elicit that kind of response if you want to discuss anything Saints here and frankly will put people off posting there opinions if anything As for some of the fellow angry comments. I recognise the names - the usual irrational anti RM mob who have had to keep quiet because, well, eight games unbeaten kind of fucks up that pov. Im a saints fan happy we are doing better then for a long time. Enjoying the moment. Enjoying the style. Many saints fans feel same. Winning Saturday when a draw was fair was karma for drawing v Rotherham when 4-1 would have been fair if you like!

I agree with keeping team as unchanged as possible. Many times we try to be clever “ resting” players it ends badly. Just pick our best fit players to beat Huddersfield and worry about Bristol and Cardiff matches afterwards. I believe our squad is very strong though small and that by end of season when the physicality of this league has really eaten into some of the less high quality squads we will pull away. That, and the fact that we will be running less than our opponents match after match should count for some end of season extra freshness for us.

One counter theory to that is that it’s probably a case of your ( and many fans) perception rather than the objective reality. Let me put some factual context into that statement : Saints are currently far and away the team with the most touches of the ball in the final third in our league (and I mean by miles), so far this season. Then, add that Saints have the third highest shot creating actions (SCA/90 mins) this season in our league and a picture starts to emerge. That’s Better than LCFC and LUFC incidentally but less than Ipswich and Sunderland. That may be all well and good but we don’t shoot enough whatever. Fair- BUT- from the data, it’s not that we don’t get into goal scoring situations final third or are lacking in shots versus the rest of league. What it is- and this is blatantly obvious if you look at the stats - is that we do not score enough from our shots on goal. Indeed we are currently 4th or 5th bottom of the Championship on converting shots into goals. And THAT is the nub of the problem. Third highest shots per match and by far most touches of ball in opposition Final third but those shots are basically bottom of the league standard in terms of actually going in. And that’s why we can summise we have bought the Loch Ness Drogba to address that major weakness turning shots into goals.

Same stage (number of games as them) last season in the championship : https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/championship/league-table/2022-2023/date/20221022

Very astute observation. Ryan has got an older wiser head on his shoulders - and if his job is to lob it over to RS to head in that’s what he will do - but KS has the speed and probably desire to “ make his name” so that altruism is not quite natural to him- yet. IF KS gets that onboard he could be a ridiculously valuable EPL player..and I think that’s how Saints see him too.

Stu was not physically fit to start/ complete 90. RM has eased him into 90 minutes very carefully. Sulemana was not able to understand his role in and out of possession plus was also coming back from injury. Edozie just “ got it” quicker so got the LW starts. Charlie has also taken time to understand his role in the team- again especially out of possession. And his discipline as well. Quality not an issue but defensive discipline a little bit.

I thought WBA were massive! And they are a play off team for sure I’d say. WBA def up there as one of best teams we played in the league, if not quite the best. I thought our second half performance was pants - but they got the job done. Last season we would simply lose that game quite easily. This season- we win and avoid losing even when not playing well. Good sign. But we really do need to sort out this second half drop off thing and put matches to bed quicker. We are good enough to do so. Hopefully they will come. Note that Watford did what we should have done to Rotherham!!!

Three out of three. ✅✅✅ And three weeks of winning Saints tips. ✅✅✅ This is officially 100% a winning tip spree. NB and I correctly anticipated the Charlie booking also. Wonder what the odds might have been all four? 😇

First pint of CLA hammer juicy pale ale 5% vol in entrance h concourse. Danci g man brewery concession. Recommended . ✅

4 points Saints to win 17/20. 2points AA to score anytime. 13/8 2pts special bet: AA to score anytime, over 2gls and saints win, is available at 9/2. Reason: 1. We are better than these. 2. I been watching the times players should have passed to AA instead of shooting ( and not scoring) and then seeing him unselfishly cut the ball back to Ryan Fraser for that late goal v Millwall. Suspect RM will have showed them those opportunities too.And pointed out AA us doing it right not them. Expect them to pass to him in this match a bit more in those positions accordingly. plus- having RS on the bench is a good incentive for our lead Striker to show why he’s not the one to be replaced. 3. Same might be said of Charlie and KS with Ryan breathing down his neck but I’m unsure if he starts so I’m going with AA for this one. Expect a card for Charlie though.

From the way RM said it my money is on Holgate for Jan (the enforced change he alludes to) and Bree for Manning. RS may make an appearance depending on the state of the game. Scenes if he comes on and scores a 95th minute winner! 😂

Thanks for the great summary again Alex. 👍. Always excited at prospect of seeing a CF make his debut - I wonder what that means for our bench? Presumably someone has to make way for RS to be there so if it’s as per what we’ve seen so far this season I think Sekou misses out? I don’t think it would be Che unless he’s still an injury doubt?

So true, and I might add, even a victory will elicit the agonising analysis of why we are still terrible for some!