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Gordon Mockles

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Everything posted by Gordon Mockles

  1. He’s been outstanding this season and in the form of his life. Many writing him off and claiming his legs had gone but he’s always been solid. This season he seems to be in astonishing form. Today he was one of many whom could have been motm. All offered the team unique strengths. His defence reading of the game is always exceptional but now he has enhanced his game with this new, outside the box proclivity of Frank Lampard esque shooting. Long may it continue. First we we Vestergaard doing a Gerrard v Brighton, JWP doing a Beckham v every team and now Mc Carthy doing a Petr Cech. 😉😂😂
  2. On the poll, I was torn between Vestergaard and Armstrong. Vestergaard definitely needs more votes as he was faultless. He even run off his line to intercept a couple of 50:50 balls and was like a greyhound out of the traps which is a huge HUGE improvement in mentality. This was hugely impressive. A superb all round, team performance. Concessions to my earlier criticisms of Vestergaard who has been a revelation this season and almost flawless in this match. Perhaps Leicester were right when tracking him, despite our disparaging comments. Romeu equally outstanding this season. Both have gone up a gear. Did you notice the madness of the defensive players attacking? Bednarek (CB) in the Newcastle goal mouth being set up (very unselfishly) by Vestergaard (CB) only to be blocked on the line and moments later, our defensive midfield stalwart (& obligatory yellow card oxen) who never scores - Romeu (CB) - nearly scoring another this season. Another stinging drive too, astonishingly saved by Darlow and tipped onto the crossbar (hats off to Mc Carthy for us at the other end who pulled off a worldie). Djenepo defending everywhere. Che was brilliant again and Armstrong was outstanding. KWP & JWP their usual, consistent class. Vestergaard almost faultless and must be our first choice centre back now. He’s learnt to read the game so much better this season. Stephens did well considering that’s not his natural position at full back although he had chance to pass forward a couple of times and sent it back but understandable as they are the defensive habits of a CB and he played it safe but that would be a harsh criticism. A brilliant team performance and even Sisquo was all over the park and defending and haranguing Newcastle like a demented Carlton Palmer dipped in peroxide. Let’s bask in the sunshine for 16hrs or more and hope United don’t mess up & we can enjoy the moment until Sunday at the very least. It must be so rewarding for Ralph to finally see the fruits of his labour finally taking root. He looked pleasantly surprised at how well the squad have taken the mantle. Well done to the squad and the entire coaching set up and Crocker. Hard work pays off. We were not perfect first half and after an initial boost and early goal, Newcastle settled and intercepted many passes and we hoofed and lost a fair few longer balls but we chased the ball back. That was the difference. We were organised and the entire team performed. What we sometimes lack in finess, we more than made up for in work ethic. We don’t have any multi million pound individual stars but we have a strong work ethic and huge self belief and that showed today. We hunt the ball like ravished wolves. The opposition are beginning to see that, we are gaining respect &, dare I say it, some opposition fear us. If they don’t. They should. Respect.
  3. Salisu not even on the bench...again. Why did we even sign him if he is not better than who we have or he is unable to play football? He’s played against Real Madrid and Barcelona (Messi, Bale) and gave a good account of himself according to press reports but he can’t manage to play against Brighton or Fulham (arguably, the worst defensive team in the Premier League) So infuriating. The Danso / Ralph effect. Why do we keep doing this? Makes absolutely no sense. We haven’t even properly announced the poor guy. Destroy his confidence before he has even set foot on a football pitch. There may be some valid reason but since the club don’t communicate, how the hell are we meant to know and it’s happened time and time again. This has to change. Any live links for the match today? Excited to see Theo starting. I wasn’t sure about his signing at first but I think he’s got something to prove and he seems so so motivated being back at Southampton. I’m very interested to see Diallo too. Wonder what he & Theo have that Salisu doesn’t?! COME ON YOU SAINTS!! Shame I can’t watch the match despite all the subscriptions I paid for despite no income.
  4. The matches were split equally between the BBC, Amazon, Sky and BT Sport. Or, they were until this weekend.
  5. Couldn’t agree more. For once I thought the world was pulling together to offer the public some much-needed light & a mental boost during these arduous times. I almost praised the rich broadcasters for giving a little back to society. Stupid romantic daydreamer I am. I knew it wouldn’t last & it felt too good to be true. Nothing comes for free in this western world of capitalism and greed and profit comes before everything. Even protecting our planet 🌍
  6. But with Sky you can even pay on the nose and pay cinema prices at home. You underestimate the greed of Rupert Murdoch. 💷💷💷 £15 to watch the latest films like ‘Ava’ with Jessica Chastain. It could be on in the cinema. Bringing the cinema experience to your front room...but not. 🙌🏼 “it’s like a family trip to the cinema, in your front room”. Basically nothing like the cinema. Just another overpriced, pimped up Sky Store rental but even Sky’s marketing fails to add appeal to justify the £15 price tag to simply rent a new movie. I’d rather save that sort of money for a much better cinema experience at Showcase - a real cinema - which is infinitely more immersive. I only recently paid for BT sport for the rip of monthly price of £25 (missed the £10 deals) rolling contract because of all the live games. So, to see the additional cost of £15 to see Saints on BT PPV is an utter f***in’ p*** take. 🛎🔚 Especially when you consider it favours the big clubs, as everyone has so rightly pointed out. I think I may cancel my BT subscription entirely if this is the case. I’ll keep Sky as the coverage is way better & UHD. Live streams are a hacking/spyware delight and they are always dropping off but I might consider that if I can find a good link. The money hungry sports broadcasters seem to be more adept at shutting them all down. 🤬
  7. I was hoping that the group interested in Newcastle may have diverted interest to Southampton. Just optimism and wishful thinking but they left that deal too easily and my instincts made me think that they may have seen a better alternative but that’s clutching at straws mixed with a smidgen of optimism. Nothing wrong with a little bit of an imagination and optimism and I’ve had most of my optimism beaten out of me this year Lets get our midfielder’s medicals done & player signed before anything else or we won’t have a Premier League club for potential owners to buy. Jim Ratcliffe would’ve been the best owner
  8. Well, not really. I blame Turkish. 😆😆
  9. Probably the same reason why they are alluded to Quincy Promes. No real intention of signing him at all but keeps the fans quiet. If his attributes are weaker physically and defensively, with our physically demanding style, surely that’s asking for problems in the PL. As we experienced with Clasie.
  10. He’s mustard. 25 goals as a full / wing back in a poor Fulham side says it all. Yes, he lacks premier league experience but I’m confident that when he gets it, he’ll become a defender of much higher value and demand and he’s British so understands the leagues. If we loaned him in though, we should definitely insist on an option to buy and I don’t think Levy would agree to that. As for the Dutch chap, who really knows. They have often fooled much smarter footballing brains than us. At some stage, we have to trust our scouts and we can’t keep dwelling on the failures as I have perhaps unfairly done. We will get one right eventually. I’ve simply seen so many recent transfer articles with fans getting angry with the club about links we probably never had, I assumed this was just another unproven, young Dutch kid wanting to make it big and get his big, Premier League move. My point is, is Veerman really of the calibre to deserve a move to us and become a first choice midfielder? If he isn’t, then we shouldn’t be signing him. He may indeed be exceptional and my judgement wider of the mark than a Shane Long finish but I would be extremely surprised if he was. We would have heard more chatter and buzz. Most of us will admit, we are completely in the dark and base on judgements on very little. Even those in the industry or with family whom are. Some more so than others. I would be extremely pleased to be wrong. It’s extremely difficult to successfully scout & land a low-cost, European gem as every club knows about them and wants the same. Clubs with a much larger scouting budget than Southampton. Then, the chances of luring said player to Southampton, with our non-existent plan for future success, even slimmer. We have no dream to sell anymore. Sadly. We have signed very few players in recent transfer windows and the point I was making is, we now have to make every signing count. Double scout them if needs be. Is it worth taking a gamble on an untested kid from a league which is nowhere near as pressured & physical? Maybe but can we, as a club, afford to take that risk? Probably not. We are painfully thin in midfield and in squad depth in general, we have little available transfer money & we need a first choice, midfielder to boss & set the tempo of matches. It is a huge responsibility. We are after signing a player to replace our captain, the linchpin of the team. We have lost a very experienced premier league captain (despite me not being a fan) so need to replace like for like. Or not far from it. It’s all very well bringing in some young players with potential but not continuously as we have done or you get weaker and weaker and weaker until relegation. Ings, Redmond, JWP. Then Romeu and Bertrand. Aside from them, goalkeepers included, there’s not really any other players I’d be rushing to put on my team sheet. That’s a symptom of continually diluting the quality. We need to strengthen and think to the future. Players like Sessegnon. Even a hidden gem in Europe. They are out there but they’re so hard to find and even harder to compete to buy. Signing any cheap or budget youth player or a high risk signing at this stage is stupidity and we are too threadbare to weaken the squad further. We have zero depth. Zero. Ralph said it. He had to player player recovering from injury & not fully fit (Armstrong) as we have no alternative aside from Smallbone. We cannot afford passengers and we still have 4 or 5 hitchhikers that need dropping off (or booting off the bus). We need a quality, first team starter in CM but I am confident Crocker & Semmens know this (Reed & Ross have gone...yay!) which is why they’re taking so much time as we have to get the right player and we simply cannot afford any more costly mistakes. Plus a lot of the transfers are like buying a house and tied up in a chain. A string of moves awaiting deadline day. Maybe I’m giving them unfair leeway but I’m bloody hoping that’s what they are doing. Especially in this current climate. We will be linked with every player under the sun but the player we sign, we will likely only hear about last minute. *fingers crossed* 🤞🏼
  11. Pelle and Tadic were not flops (nor were they nobodies - both established internationals) so why would I list them with the flops? Not all were European such as Gaston Ramirez but he was signed from Europe - Italy (Bologna). Why Sessegnon? Because he’s class. England international. The youngest ever player to score in a Championship match. Bagged up tons of goals as an attacking full / wing back for Fulham. Instrumental in helping Fulham’s promotion to the Premier League previously. Scored 15 goals and won shed loads of awards. He scored 25 goals in total for Fulham, as a full back / winger, before joining Spurs. He oozes class. Levy is notoriously careful with money and I don’t think spurs would’ve paid 25 million for someone they thought was crap. I doubt we will get him but I would be over the moon if we did as we need a long-term replacement & competition for Bertrand.
  12. Are you mad? How is any of that post by Adrian spot-on? More like a black spot. The post is utterly mental. Sessegnon is a good player that’s just not had a chance yet under Mourinho (consider the players that he’s let go or dropped: KWP, Salah, David Luiz, Filipe Luis, De Bruyne, Mata, Robben, Dier) This is the exact player we should be after. Sessegnon. A real pressing, attacking threat and a young talent with bags of potential. Exactly the remit that the club tirelessly regurgitate as “the Southampton way”. I would personally prefer a little more Premier League experience in some signings, to mentor the younger players we seem to favour. You’re praising a Dutch nobody that no-one knows anything about and talking him up on the internet to be ‘perfect for our club’ (or some are) 🤪 Crazy logic. Same madness as all these people online, writing off our club for not signing players that we likely had no interest in & the sources were probably just badly written rumours created by incoherent fans or agents to drum up interest. This kid sounds well below our level. If you stop to consider all the other Dutch successes we have had, I am surprised we even consider it. Fans read about this nobody from the Dutch league and - suddenly - ‘some’ people appear to have collectively decided that an inexperienced Dutch kid (who possibly had one run of form) is the answer to our midfield hole. Højbjerg wasn’t and he came from a much better calibre. Lemina wasn’t. Clasie wasn’t. Svensson wasn’t (going back). All of which had bags more European & International experience. Why do we decide unknown players, clearly of a lower level than all of those touted, are the answer? From a scouting report found online. Look at our previous records with Dutch, Scandinavian, Flemish or most European players (Clasie, Svensson, Forren, Hoedt, Vestergaard, Osvaldo, Carillo, Djuricic, Mayuka, Juanmi, Taider, Lemina, etc etc.) Sessegnon would be class and actual journalists praise him. Walcott would be good? Lunacy. He’s another Lallana, a Barry Venison. Nothing to offer, after a pay day, heart not in it, overpaid and on silly wages, potentially an inflated ego from being at a bigger PL club and dropping to a lower level. Not to mention, always injured. An unknown kid from Holland who has no idea of the rigours, pace, physicality or high press demands of Ralph and the Premier League will always struggle and it would be too much pressure to throw him straight in. Perhaps that is another of our problems, that we put too much pressure on a young, underdeveloped mind and we have stopped nurturing them as well as we did in the past. Some things in life cannot be rushed. Don’t write off the one decent option touted and then praise the two absolutely awful options. Follow government advice #StayAlert and maybe add #Think. 😉
  13. Good result against an organised & patient (but not overly pressured in attack) hime team. P*ss boring match. Che needs to get more clinical in front of goal but he is improving every week and scooped the goal assist to Danny despite squandering his own effort (he should’ve done better) on goal. I don’t care how we get a result, we got the result and that was a big relief. Our squad are in a state of flux and desperately need new faces to at least add some depth and quality. We are threadbare, at the end of the road after consecutive transfer windows of culling the squad and promising the manager he can build his own squad which the club have failed to fully support. Good result. Get Salisu fit. Recruit this week please board.
  14. I think it’s very arrogant to suggest that we are such a brilliant proposition in the Premier League. We are not. We were. It’s also smug to think we are better than everywhere in the world. Our league is definitely the best & most exciting league in the world *takes off smug hat* 🎩 but be a little humble. 😂 La Liga probably second and the most technical, but there are lots of factors which attract a player to a club outside of money & fame, including the power of their wives or girlfriend and family ties before you even consider the possibility of trophies. We’ve heard the tired old ‘Champions League’ justification as a metaphor for a big money move but sportsmen in general are competitive and will naturally want to start on and at least play. Some of you need to get over the fact that we are not the best club in the league and we are very mediocre and certainly no longer harvest ambition. We seem to have lost a lot of our playing pulling power but, mostly, money talks. You can’t blame the prospective players too much as the club itself hasn’t really professed to want to achieve anything and we sell every player that hits form and, after a while, you wonder what message that sends out to players and agents. People will argue about the money factor which is clearly pertinent but if there is a choice, which club would you go to: Wolves, Leicester, Burnley, Everton, Sheff United, Leeds or Saints. I can think of 4 or 5 better options. Keep the faith. We will get someone in and all the club plays games so it’s difficult to know what to believe and what not to but I do get the impression that we are messing around a little. Every club will make silly offers at first but it’s hard to tell what we are doing. I do prefer the days when Cortese would identify the best target and Markus would back the club financially and we would make a sensible offer and get the target. First time. Lambert. Fonte. Etc. Much like buying a house, being decisive doesn’t alienate the selling club & business is done quickly and effectively. It’s also fair to consider Markus tragically didn’t get much chance to do this in the Premier League which is far more expensive than the championship and League one. RIP Markus. Up The Saints. I wish we could just sign Ibrahim Konate. Can’t remember if it was mentioned but wasn’t Ralph after signing that polish winger Kamil Jozwiak? He was in the summer and we were tracking him. I think we will probably sign the player you don’t read about rather than all the agent and PR misinformation and propaganda.
  15. I would realistically (not sarcastically) imagine we have to bank Hoedt and Boufal’s fees to accompany Reed & the leftover dregs from Højbjerg’s transfer fee (less KWP) before doing anything. That will leave us very little time and less options. It’s the Southampton way. We seem to have become the Premier League tyre kickers. The comments from the pundits on our transfer policy and season predictions have got worse and worse and they’re not unfair or harsh. It’s saddening. It really is our way and I’m trying to avoid my usual transfer intolerance and frustration harvested under Gao. We clearly have no money and neither Gao or Kat are keen to invest. That is their prerogative. No criticism. They do, however, decide how we budget and spend the television revenue and money we sustain in the club infrastructure. I assumed the bridging loan may have contributed. When you consider how long we have known Højbjerg was leaving, it ‘feels’ complacent and incompetent and naive in how we have managed the window. Even Ralph appears to be growing tired of the contradictory information we collectively (Ralph included) have been fed. Ralph’s comments about not having any other options on the bench (replacing Che, Armstrong & Romeu last week with Long, Tella & Smallbone) was telling that he felt the quality was not sufficient, in his diplomatic manner. . We need to replace like for like and have very few, better quality professionals left. We have some good players and some adequate players and we are yet to judge Salisu as we signed an injured player which I won’t comment on. We clearly need a central midfielder and a winger and I hope, within the next week or two, we sign precisely those positions (and even a defender) because - at the moment - it feels like we’re picking at morsels from the leftovers at the dining table for which we have thrown in a few shillings so we can stand. Like some metaphorical, all you can eat buffet. Only, fat Barry briefcase & Sheikh Barry Bethel (Or Barry Chuckle) have hungrily tucked in first and stuffed their faces, while we diminutively look over their shoulders at the tattered bones, trying & failing to find a gap through to the table. Or, that’s the impression I get. 😆 Maybe I’ve been locked down for too long and my imagination has got the better of me but we seem pretty hopeless. Maybe we would’ve been more successful if we had assigned that player recruitment specialist (or any of the players) we we alluded to last October (or in every transfer window before) but I’m not here to make tiresome, old digs. I just want us to compete effectively and improve the team. Not constantly sell until we are left with a diluted & vastly weaker Saints squad as we saw last week. Get Salisu fit. Stick him on the bench. Break protocol & sign a leading, established PL midfielder to inspire & mentor the youth. The last established player we signed worked fairly well. Eh Danny? There are plenty of MF to choose from if you look at Chelsea, Everton & even Liverpool, etc. (Surely Liverpool owe us a favour or are they just one of those selfish types that takes & never gives?!). Then maybe we can stick to the tired, old ‘Southampton way‘ policy of signing a young, pacey & powerful winger to sell on as soon as he becomes established and performing well. Just make sure the central midfielder who replaces our captain is a box to box leader. A ball winner. A first name on the team sheet...and better at passing than Hojbjerg. In the meantime, give us a nice surprise and act decisively, despite it being too late to be classed as that, and bring in a couple of desperately needed, first team starters. Stop signing cheap, inexperienced fringe players. I’m beginning to think that Djenepo will only ever be an impact player. He just never seems to be effective from the start despite fleeting moments. Like Boufal, this is a symptom of our transfer policy rather than a direct criticism of the players, both of whom I like but I think personally fall short. Lemina a similar symptom. He is different in that he has the ability but he is arrogant and absolutely mental. It’s a continuous issue and the fault lies within. Reiss Nelson from Arsenal a possible but I would prefer more first team experience. Even in another league. Mohamed Mady Camara as a central midfielder from Olympiacos. Not overly keen on Davies but at least he has a lot of Premier League experience which counts for a lot. He can’t be worse at passing than Højbjerg but knowing our budget calibre & history , he probably will be. Sorry for the long post. I can’t help it.
  16. Not confident we’ve resolved all of our problems yet. Surely Ralph has learned about the defensive high line but he’s a stubborn so-and-so and I’m not confident as we wouldn’t have conceded so many goals from Son if he had adapted quicker. I would like to see Forster start rather than McCarthy who should’ve come off his line quicker for the first goal that Son scored which I felt he could have won had he been fast & decisive coming off his line. Mc Carthy is mediocre at best. Gunn should go out on loan. Lineup should remain the same, mainly because we have no depth or back up. I thought Che had a decent game last match but needs to be much more clinical when given chances. He was strong and held up the ball well. I can see a 1-1 draw. Forster KWP Stephens Bednarek Bertrand Romeu Armstrong JWP Redmond Djenepo Adams Ings
  17. We were meant to get a player recruiting specialist. We definitely do need competition for Redmond who goes absent a fair bit which may purely come down to knowing he’s a guaranteed place in the 11. CM a clear priority which will will address and we could do with another defender. Sign those positions, plus get Salisu fit & starting and I would hope for significant improvement. Just stop playing the crazy high defensive line.
  18. As long as it’s not a group that want 100% secrecy, like Paul Allen’s Group cited when interested in buying the club. The Echo ran the story, the club asked them not to, there went our takeover. Thanks DE. Old news but pertinent. I do wonder if this Davis loan is just to tidy us over enough until a takeover happens because I do suspect something might be going on and it’s not the potless Yank, De Grosa. We don’t want that ex Bordeaux guy near the club If he’s using debt to buy us. That’s just the beginning of the end. I know we wouldn’t be here today talking about an underwhelming midfield loan to replace our captain when we are crying out for quality In midfield & defence & we have a board whom won’t invest a penny. I know that much.
  19. That’s quite a good and valid analogy
  20. Chelsea have a few too. Have you seen their midfield? Surely they could lend us a couple. Havertz Ziyech Pulisic Mount Kovacic Jorginho Kante Barkley Hudson-Odoi Loftus-Cheek Moses Gilmour Drinkwater Unsure about Davis. Youngest ever Everton captain & England under 21 so he’s clearly got something and maybe just needs realigning under Ralph if Ralph hasn’t lost it with his high defensive line and mental tactical lapses. I was torn about red bull in the past but I’m now starting to get so peed off with Saints perpetually disappointing and living in mediocrity, I’d happily welcome some money and success. Then we could sign someone like Ibrahima Konate. Fed up of a constantly weakened squad. The idea is to start the new season stronger, not weaker. Hit the ground running. Salisu will no doubt be a great player but signing an injured player isn’t ideal. Let’s hope we don’t sign an injured midfielder.
  21. If you’ve got Covid, you’re not gonna feckin remain fit. Depending on the reaction, he’ll be lucky if he can do his boots up by day 9. Please continue with your hilarious jokes... 😉
  22. Obafemi got his arse chewed off by the club liaison for telling some bird he was injured quite some time back. She promptly posted it on Twitter, notifying the opposition just prior to a game. Not ideal. Just a silly mistake by a young, naive player but I hope he learnt his lesson. He doesn’t seen to look after himself physically. I would get shot & bring in that young Uruguayan instead.
  23. Is this a sign they're clearing out the old to bring in my dream sponsor?! 😉 Half time will never be the same again..... 👍
  24. I like Bednarek for sheer blocking ability but Stephens has developed well this season. Bednarek does sometimes commit the opposition scoring scenario but you can’t criticise his commitment. If Salisu is signed as many well placed sources suggest, then first choice as I would hope, would it be Stephens and Salisu or Salisu & Bednarek. Smart money says Stephens as he will learn more and improve and is a higher sellable asset, being English. I hate that I have to talk about a player like that, but that’s how we work. I’d love us to push on this season with 3 or 4 well placed, additions that significantly improve the starting 11. I believe we will.
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