Charlie Mealings

Will Smallbone has had a rough week, for reasons beyond his control. Excited to have him in back, wrote a little bit about what he does for us in quiet. If you have five min: https://www.statemarys.com/p/an-ode-to-will-smallbone

Will Smallbone has had a rough week, for reasons beyond his control. Excited to have him in back today, wrote a little bit about what he does for us in quiet. If you have five min: https://www.statemarys.com/p/an-ode-to-will-smallbone

The last few games have created a problem for us: teams aren't afraid to press us anymore. I don't know how Millwall will play today, but I wrote a bit about how we need to make that a scary, fruitless tactic again. If you have 5 min: https://www.statemarys.com/p/weve-been-rumbled

The last few games have created a problem for us: teams aren't afraid to press us anymore. I don't know how Millwall will play today, but I wrote a bit about how we need to make that a scary, fruitless tactic again. If you have 5 min: https://www.statemarys.com/p/weve-been-rumbled

The last few games have created a problem for us: teams aren't afraid to press us anymore. I don't know how Millwall will play today, but I wrote a bit about how we need to make that a scary, fruitless tactic again. If you have 5 min: https://www.statemarys.com/p/weve-been-rumbled

Thanks Fabrice! I think I'm going to get a lot wrong about formations this season, especially at the start! So many new players and options. The Lewes set-up properly bamboozled me for a while, maybe even still.

Did a quick 600 words on Bazunu this morning, post-Sunderland. I don't have a view on what we should do about him, at least not a clear one. But if you'd like some nice juicy HINDSIGHT I think Sports Republic's youth-first strategy is weaker when recruiting GKs, and we maybe we could have relaxed it just in that position: https://www.statemarys.com/p/quick-one-on-bazunu

Did a quick 600 words on Bazunu this morning, post-Sunderland. I don't have a view on what we should do about him, at least not a clear one. But if you'd like some nice juicy HINDSIGHT I think Sports Republic's youth-first strategy is weaker when recruiting GKs, and we maybe we could have relaxed it just in that position: https://www.statemarys.com/p/quick-one-on-bazunu

23 October 2022 Women's football and the beers I realised the blog could be so much more interesting if it didn't centre tactical analysis (already so much of that) and reflected on the club and matchdays as a whole. Also the women's team is such a good day out. If you are sad about #SaintsFC men pay your £5-8 and get down there. https://www.statemarys.com/p/womens-football-and-the-beers

15 October 2022 Why It's Good Saints Didn't Sign a Striker This Summer The second piece I wrote was longer, polemical and bound to age poorly. If I wrote it again it would be framed quite differently, but I still think the wide players are the real root of our problems and there's much here that I think is important. https://www.statemarys.com/p/why-its-good-saints-didnt-sign-a

I've been following Southampton FC Women closely for two seasons now. I love it, but it's still incredibly difficult to follow for lack of basic info/coverage. I figured many other fans are curious, but haven't made a connection for this reason. So I wrote a Saints FC Women 101. I start with the very, very basics: where they play, what league they're in and a two paragraph history. Then I profile the squad, give a rough tactical guide, a quick review of last season, new signings, their prospects for the next. The idea being, you can become a reasonably informed fan in like 10 mins. Was really fun, learnt so much by writing it. Plan to do one every summer. https://www.statemarys.com/p/a-beginners-guide-to-southampton-fc-women?r=h1f2m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

7 October 2022 Why I don't think we'll lose 9-0 tomorrow First post. I kind of sat down and wrote this then decided it needed a blog to go out on. We lost 4-0 and I kinda felt this supported my point. One team can beat another 4-0, but for 9-0 they have to work together. https://www.statemarys.com/p/why-i-dont-think-well-lose-9-0-tomorrow

Since October 2022, I've been writing a regular blog about Southampton Football Club, called State Mary's. Most often it's about first team happenings, but I like to cover the women's team, the academy, matchday experiences, history, and wider club and community issues too. It lives at statemarys.com but SaintsWeb has been my biggest source of interest engagement, so I share it in relevant threads, and now in this dedicated one too. And on other socials too, obvs: I'm pretty active on Twitter and make everything available on Facebook.

I've been following Southampton FC Women closely for two seasons now. I love it, but it's still incredibly difficult to follow for lack of basic info/coverage. I figured many other fans are curious, but haven't made a connection for this reason. So I wrote a Saints FC Women 101. I start with the very, very basics: where they play, what league they're in and a two paragraph history. Then I profile the squad, give a rough tactical guide, a quick review of last season, new signings, their prospects for the next. The idea being, you can become a reasonably informed fan in like 10 mins. Was really fun, learnt so much by writing it. Plan to do one every summer. https://www.statemarys.com/p/a-beginners-guide-to-southampton-fc-women?r=h1f2m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Lavia and Ward-Prowse are entering the hottest market for no. 6s in years: Bellingham, Rice, Caicedo, Lavia, Tonali, Phillips, Kovacic and Ward-Prowse. All the top clubs are in. But while Lavia has completely disrupted the market, the skipper's prospects feel really slim. The change in fortunes over 12 months is wild. Wrote a bit about this here: https://www.statemarys.com/p/starboy-and-the-skipper-destinations BTW fascinating to read back some of the comments on the start of this thread, Lavia was on his way here...