gio1saints

Arrived today with a pleasant looking We March On badge. 😇

Collected mine at SMS no problem Tuesday

He could easily fall out of favour when Moyes is sacked come December and they get some extravagant European name in, who wants technical skill rather than 'a good engine' Ahem, i really cannot let that comment pass. JWP is Second only to Beckham and will overtake him if and when he next plays EPL in the list of all time goals from direct free kicks. Hitting a dead ball straight into the net despite the best efforts of the worlds best goalkeepers and worlds best defenders is a definitive measure of technical skill. Just stop for a moment and reflect on that. Our Captain. Southampton FC. A World Class exponent of the ultimate technical skill. It rather suggests JWP has technical skill of the very highest level AS WELL AS a "good engine". I think he overtook Messi last year in the top five European leagues or was he only second behind him? I think his running and consecutive performance stats are better than "good" also.. In deference to the fact you are a long time poster I think you may have meant he is not a super fast runner or he cannot dribble much and inadvertently forgot. NOT having a go at you personally but its undeniable that JWP IS a genuinely world class football technician. If he leaves there will be a VERY lucky club who gets him whatever the price.

So do I. I think he’s perfect. Been with Saints a long time. Willing to do dirty stuff, shout square up etc but also defend and, latterly, reinvented as a ball playing CB ( well kind of but he’s trying). I think he’s a good fit for Captain if JWP moves on. ( which, I think he will unfortunately as I love him and he is a bona fide club legend in my eyes).

Nathan Tella is the kind of player that if he stays at SFC and scores a few goals pre Xmas will be on the radar of every misfiring EPL team in the Jan window. And £20m will be cheap for him then.

He was already captain in Saturday last 20 mins.

He quite obviously was instructed to hold the ball, even patiently walk it up field a bit, Bazunu style - and wait until he found the right pass to a full back or midfielder in the match v AZ. Did it multiple times. He’s not going anywhere. He’s a starter. And I think JWP gave him the armband when he came off in that match - which is another signal of trust. Shea and Stephens are my most likely starters at CB for Sheff Wednesday. Bednarek to get first start at Gills.

Noting that a certain C Alvarez was 66/1 I’ve put down £11 EW ( to 4 places) on him for this season. Returns just over £900. I know it’s a silly bet but I can see him scoring every week if he gets into his stride. I think he’s a class above and the most likely saints player to score most matches recently. So, IF we are winning most of our matches ( say at least 23-30/46 to get promoted ) its probable he’s scoring in most those games and some of the draws and losses too is my theory. That might be 25-30 goals which is plenty good enough for top4 in the Championship goalscorer. 😇

I think QPR will be the last chance to see JWP in a Saints shirt. He will salute the crowd and will deservedly get a standing ovation. And then he will join WHUFC and play one last season on the international stage that is Europe.m and the EPL. Before joining al hillal as the marquee EPL all time direct free kick goalscorer for a £10m sign on fee and double his wages. I may be wrong but I think I saw his first goal ( Coventry away in an da cup match at the Ricoh a lifetime ago) and I hope to see his last too…

Think you got ten out of eleven of the starting line up Friday. Edozie starting my only change for Amo.

I thought KWP looked strangely withdrawn on Saturday. He seemed to get his mojo back after a while and managed a few good movements but he looked a bit funny to me. Wether that means he’s leaving or staying who knows. IF Tino and KWP leave this window then it’s odds on we will add another attacking FB. If Aaron’s is available why not.

Classic moneyball buy. Let’s hope he’s another Sir Rickie.

I’m taking my car with three empty spaces from SO18 Bitterne Triangle so get back to me anyone wants to car share there and back.

The “ staying over to watch Eastleigh at Solihull but” made me feel proud to be a Southerner! 😁

Do you work in logistics? Great itinerary !

I last went to Hillsboro in 1984 for our FA cup quarter final - a 0-0 draw and we won the replay as you will all know. Went with travel club coach and was not a bad journey though the game was meh. I’d be quite happy to see similar result tbh. Promoted teams are always feisty early doors at home though, especially as it will be full house 40,000+ there again I would imagine.

Bought two tickets for £23 on the ST holder deal so my daughter and her boyfriend can help fill up St Mary’s for this important match.

I’m going and have up to three places in my car for the trip to Gillingham. Live in SO18 near Bitterne Triangle so if anyone nearby is going and looking at transport give me a shout. saintly regards Giordano

My only ambition from the remaining games we have left is that JWP equals- and then breaks- the Beckham record for direct free kick goals. Whilst a Saints player. JWP beating the record next season in any other shirt is still a great achievement and I’d be proud. But it’s not the same. James knows it, we all do, please do it for the long term Saints fans who deserve a tiny little bit of happiness from this awful season…

And here we are at it again..z

By my extremely subjective and easy to argue against criteria he is. By objective criteria such as International caps, honours, goals, awards etc of course he's not. Can anybody really argue he is better than the current European Player of the year Kevin Keegan for instance or respectively Worlds most expensive players Bale and Van Dyke? Or runner up African player of the year Mane? Or England heroes Mick Channon Peter Shilton or Alan Shearer. Maybe not even young english player of the year Steve Moran! No, of course not. He's not even the nastiest or hardest. oh but yeah actually he was better than Stevie Moran tbf. But JWP has played away in Division one at on a wet Tuesday night. And at Wembley and everywhere in-between And worked his legs off every single game he has ever played for us. He plays to the fullest extent of his ability EVERY match. He is not the fastest the strongest most vocal inspirational cleverest or the most creative and apart from hitting a stationary ball and running further than everyone else every match his stats are otherwise (relatively- please in context) unremarkable. And yet he represents the best of Saints to me as our Captain. He makes the best of what he's got and always tries his hardest. He is not graet but he busts a gut every time and is a brilliant role for making up with hard work what he lacks in other areas. That's why he my second best SFC player of last 40 years.

If we go down JWP deserves to play wherever he wants. He is certainly one player I say gives his utmost for the club badge, every time. He is already a legend in my eyes. In the last forty years MLT is his only rival as the overall "best" SFC player though id have to defer to MLT simply because he did not have the luxury of a dead ball to kick for many of his goals so not only did he have shooting but he had dribbling and ball control. Neither had any pace of course. Our speediest player of last forty years was Danny Wallace btw. Not Theo. Not Bale. Not Mane. IMO of course. Our best ever Centre back of last forty years was Virgil. Our best goalie was of last forty years Shilts. Don't know where that came from but feel free to disagree.

I'm getting rather bored of Saints players scoring at the wrong end. Please stop it. I've not done research but it seems we are in a bit of an OG goal psychological situation at present. The more we know we must not score in our own goal the more likely it is that we will do it. Surely our saints sports psychology shrink can unhitch that particularly unhelpful negative belief from our players heads? I don't know our all time highest own goal scorer but I think a look at the charts would be interesting. We have to be good at something and at least we seem to know where the back of our net is 😉 Indeed i can see them in training now putting an OG away every time and Nathan on MOTD stating that the lads look good in training and if only we could get that goal-scoring prowess going when it matters match day on the pitch , oh, and in the opponents net. then we will be fine. I've just moved back to Bitterne from Surrey so I am sure that, shortly, if i'm not there, I will be able to discern the difference between an OG cheer and a normal cheer if i walk up a bit closer. Yes its got that desperate. At least next year we can win a few more games in the Championship.

I am pro the appointment and will support him and saints whatever. Win or lose. Youngish but passionate and principled no name unpretentious manager from lower leagues suits me right down to the ground. If NJ gets the job it should be made clear that IF we get relegated he is still in charge for next season. That is on the proviso that we are attempting to play saintly football and players are always giving 100%. If that is made clear then it should be a plus to the squad and support to have that certainty and reduces chances of players or support not trying for unknown manager syndrome, or indeed players looking to leave cost they don't fancy him. My personal fear is that last point- i feel we have a squad with excellent potential - but not a winning team - yet. I would love NJ to keep playing our young players here and to develop them - not just to offload to other EPL clubs in a mass evacuation this winter and next summer as might potentially happen in that circumstance..