HarvSFC

Goalkeepers are obviously key, but more so in this fixture, we need a strong pair of hands between the sticks. We've seen a top goalkeeper in Niemi bottle it at Fratton Park. Even in 2019, we started quite slow and they came out of the traps flying and it needed a few decent stops from McCarthy to prevent them from taking an early shock lead. Fortunately, we had Ings, Bertrand, JWP and Romeu back then, some quality that could actually beat lower division sides, with some credible players like Cedric, Hojbjerg, Redmond and Adams, rather than the current shower of crap that has lost against Grimsby, Gillingham and Burnley in the last few years. Also, we were quite fortunate that Gunn was the first choice in 2019 and McCarthy was our cup goalkeeper, as I think Gunn would have bottled it and conceded from the aforementioned early Portsmouth chances. Essentially, we can't go to Fratton Park with Bazunu, as he definitely isn't up to the occasion, Ramsdale will be off, so a goalkeeper is a priority once again this summer.

The epitome of what is wrong at this football club. Some players were actually fine with losing every week and playing a style of football that saw them make the same mistakes every week and give up goals for fun. They were fine with sitting on five points after 16 games and heading towards becoming the worst Premier League side in the history of the league. They were fine with this because they could just doss about in training all week, passing the ball around a few times, enjoying plenty of days off and not giving a crap about the stain it was going to have on their career because their mate was in charge. Essentially, preferring an easy life over self-pride, lacking that elite mentality. It was only last season Downes was having a go about Ipswich fans after the reception he got there. Short memory. But, he has got a history of this, hence why the Ipswich fans didn't like him.

The summer was directionless, had no strategy and put too much faith in play-off winning, not title, individuals, whereas in January 2023 we at least tried something. Sulemana's was signed because of his pace and World Cup appearances, Onuachu's height and a semi-decent goalscoring record in Europe, Orsic had a good rep, Bree was a Jones favourite and Alcaraz was a decent punt. Contrast that with the summer - Lallana wouldn't have got a contract at any other Premier League club. His legs are gone. Taylor wouldn't have got a contract at another Premier League club, a perfect example of why Les Reed would once say he would only sign players capable of improving the first 11, not squad players. Edwards and Wood were unnecessary signings. Cement yourself in the league first, focussing on the short term and then look to the future. Sugawara's been a poor signing. Didn't need him with KWP staying either. He's not good enough to be KWP's replacement and that's probably why we signed him for £5.9m. Downes - £20m would have been better going elsewhere, although that is a big hindsight comment as I loved his signing early in the summer. Brereton-Diaz and Archer. Two of the Sheffield United front three. I believe we went cheap on these two as Martin and the club had faith that Armstrong would continue last season's form and bag at least 5-10 goals a season and then BBD and Archer alongside those goals would be sufficient in keeping us up. Of course, Southampton fans would've told you that Armstrong would have flopped up here again and we'd have needed more, and he/we did. But, instead he got a new contract. Fraser, again wouldn't have got a contract at another Premier League club. Barely good enough for us as a promotion chasing Championship side. Then two of our loan spots used on Cornet, a player who had been plagued by injury for years and Ugochukwu, who didn't fit the manager's style, but is since looking serviceable, but not great. Add all the youth and Goztepe signings to these for now pointless signings, as as we've seen with Meghoma and SAA there's no guarantee the youngsters will even stay with us before breaking through. Two good summer signings. Fernandes, who definitely won't be here next season, but credit him as he has always stuck at it in every game despite playing with the crap around him and Ramsdale, who was a panic signing as the club thought they could go into the season with McCarthy while Bazunu recovered. So, to sum up. From January 2023, Alcaraz contributed, Sulemana and Onuachu are now contributing two years later. Whereas, from the summer, while we've got Fernandes and Ramsdale, they'll both be gone after one season and then who has a long-term future here, I don't think any of them if we actually want to be a competitive Premier League side. Edwards and Wood the closest, but again they're hardly Lundekvam, Svennson, Lovren, Alderweireld or Van Dijk. Some saying January 2023 hampered us in the summer. But we were still capable of spending over £100m in the summer. We just chose to spend it on a load of crap. Rather than highlighting key positions - goalkeeper, centre-back, centre-mid-winger-striker and going from there.

I'm stuck in two minds. On the one hand, it was sensible not to go out panic spending after the clusterfuck of the January two years ago. On the other hand, the passivity of those at board level at the club this entire season has been a bit concerning. From Russell Martin getting more time than any other club would allow (After a 4th placed finish), only now getting in a serious director of football and still no set-piece coach, to today. On the first point. It's probably for the best. Our alternatives to O'Riley, Delap, Carvalho and Clarke in the summer all turned out to be crap apart from Fernandes. But, then it also feels wrong to accept we're better off signing nobody, because SR would more than likely get it wrong again. Juric clearly wanted another centre-back with Sylla, similarly to when Hasenhuttl wanted a striker, but we didn't have anybody else in mind after the Gakpo and Ramos deals fell through. It's also a bit strange that we have two remaining loan spots available, one of those being a Premier League loan and we haven't utilised them, especially as it was very clear that Cornet would be heading off this window. On the departure front. I'm still a bit annoyed regarding the sale of SAA. He barely got a chance here, but when he did, he at least seemed to create something as opposed to our other players who can't do much with the ball apart from look for the safe square pass. One of the very few positives of signing Brereton-Diaz and Archer in the summer was that it setup a proven Championship goalscoring front line. One of those has gone and doesn't look to be coming back, the other knows that Leeds want him after barely getting a look in recently and now Adam Armstrong looks to be heading out too. Hopefully he'll come back in the summer and it hasn't pissed him off, he'll fire us to promotion again and then we can sell him. But, yeah. Just thinking about the summer. New contracts to Martin, McCarthy, Bednarek and Armstrong. Three of those are now contributing nothing here and the other should be our third choice centre-back, if we had any idea about recruiting players. And contracts to Lallana, Taylor, Edwards, Wood, Sugawara, BBD, Archer and Fraser, who are all also not contributing anything. Disgraceful and big changes still needed across the board. Good, early signings needed in the summer to show the club did have a plan regarding the lack of activity this window.

Alfie House reporting the Sylla deal has collapsed now, as well. So, we sell Amo-Ameyaw to Strasbourg and they then go and strike a deal with another club for Sylla.

Izzet any furkan good?

Rubbish. Looked decent against Cardiff earlier in the season and could have been an asset next season, certainly causes more problems than a lot of our other wing options, who can't take a man on. So, that's now Morgan, Doyle, Meghoma, Alleyne, Gomes-Rodriguez, Miles and now SAA who were all rated in the academy and left without making an impact on the first team under SR with the Bath Academy also being shut down. We were lucky Dibling came back. It's a shame.

I made the point at the weekend that neither of our January signings so far were fit enough to play in January, so got me thinking of the crocks SR have signed: ABK - Picked up a few long-term injuries in our relegation season, injured during his loan to PSV and now failing medicals at other clubs. Lavia - Missed large spells of the relegation season and he was our hope that season. Now properly crocked at Chelsea. Larios - Disappeared. Sulemana - Plays a few times before suffering injury. Stewart - What was the point? Downes - Bit of a sicknote. Will miss the odd couple of games every now and then. Lallana - What was the point? Ramsdale - Suffered two injuries this season - Goalkeepers are usually more reliable. So, in three summers, 8 players who spend a lot of time with our medical staff. Bazunu and Orsic also suffered long-term injuries, Orsic after leaving, but I think they're one offs. While, before Ramsdale we were going to sign that crocked goalkeeper from the Netherlands, and Cornet also has a poor record with injuries.

I judge Smallbone on previous midfields. Not the Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Davis era. But, the Schneiderlin, Cork, Hammond and Chaplow one that got us the autos. They're all slightly different midfielders to Smallbone and in some areas they're weaker, while in others they're stronger. But, I don't think Smallbone gets a game in that midfield and that's what we need to be looking for again, rather than settling on what we already have. Next season we already have Downes and Charles, who I would prefer in our midfield. Smallbone will never make it at this level either, because he can't play on the turn and physically he is too frail. His best spell last season came in the play-offs and I thank him for that. But, McCarthy had a similarly good spell in the play-offs.

Jan Bednarek is our joint top goal scorer in the league. After 23 matches.

I like how the two first team players signed this month haven't been fit to play this month, not even on the bench today. Trademark Saints. Like a lack of fitness is what we seek in a player.

We could actually make a £3m profit on BBD if Sheffield United activate the option.

Key quote from today - "If you're good in the Championship, it doesn't mean you're good in the Premier League." If only the decision makers realised this in the summer when they decided to give Adam Armstrong a new contract, instead of selling him when his stock was high. Contracts to McCarthy and Fraser too, while persisting with Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek at the back. All of which have struggled in the Premier League previously. Rewarding a team for finishing 4th in the Championship. The Downes and Harwood-Bellis drop offs were at least surprising.

His redemption story ended a lot quicker than I expected it would after he was given the Wolves captaincy.

Ex-academy player Jason McCarthy has become a coach for Brighton Under-21s. https://www.brightonandhovealbion.com/pages/en/media-article/mu21-academy-jason-mccarthy-january-2025

The worrying thing is, is that a lot of our successful signings last year can be attributed to Wilcox/Martin, and they're no longer here. Shows the need to get a good footballing person in, who knows the Championship. Manning - Not so good last season, better this one, a Martin signing. Charles - Still got potential. Wilcox signing from the City academy. Downes - Key last season, Martin signing. Fraser - Did a job as a squad player last season, ex-roommate of Martin, his signing. Harwood-Bellis - Wilcox signing from the City academy. Brooks - Wilcox worked with him within City's academy and Brooks mentioned him in his signing interview. All of these players barring Charles, who had the least influence last season also had Championship experience. All speculation, unsure if true, but we'd be better off getting Romulu rather than another right-back. Goztepe are 4th and still chasing a Europa League spot. It would be a bit worrying if SR are willing to sell their top scorer for less than £10m mid-season with a lot still to play for.

Nice win. Despite the opposition, these results aren't a foregone conclusion, as we've learned all too well in recent years. Scraping through against Cardiff and Stoke's reserves earlier in the season under Martin, getting soundly beaten by Gillingham last season under Martin and losing to Grimsby under Selles. So, at least today we met expectations and restored some pride to the shirt in what has been a very dismal season. Sulemana wasn't shackled this evening by the need to constantly turn back and retain possession. So, he can do it against Championship opposition, as he was a bit underwhelming last season. Doubt he'll give another Championship season a go though, if all these European sides are interested. But, Edozie could do similar. At least it shows the side's confidence isn't completely shot to bits and we are at least still able to comfortably dispatch Championship opposition going into the next season. A former assistant to Russell Martin, is the Swansea manager and we took full advantage of those awful tactics that gift goals away for fun.

Archer really pissed the club off with that goal against Liverpool. Alcaraz used to do the same. Five at the back and no striker at home against lower division Swansea. Credit to anybody who's going to this one.

Yes. Another example of a decision that the club has made, that makes no sense regarding McCarthy's contract. There's no sell on opportunity, he's 35. He spent most of last season as our third choice goalkeeper, Lumley was our cup goalkeeper and then he came in at the back end of last season, playing a good role in getting us promoted, but all were aware that he isn't good enough to be a Premier League number one. He could have left the club in a good light. However, the decision makers thought we could go into the season with McCarthy as our number one and it soon become apparent that we could not, hence the Ramsdale panic signing. A good signing, but one good signing among plenty of other poor decisions. McCarthy must have been one of Martin's favourites, is the only explanation I can find and now we're stuck with him until 2026 when he's had around two contracts too many here.

Championship signings can work, but like with many signings we've made, it's all about who you go for. Crystal Palace and West Ham have recruited from the second division well with Bowen, Olise, Eze and Wharton to name a few. Ipswich also signed a Championship super team. The top scorer in Szmodics, two that we were linked with, but reportedly outbid on in Delap and Clarke and then one of the centre-backs in the team of the year in Greaves, while we were going for Swansea and Peterborough centre-backs. Now signing Philogene also, who also looked decent in the Championship. If Ipswich go down, they're the best setup to go back up.

Vincent Pericard and Gregory Vignal - Two more capped at youth level for France.

As crap as he has been, I think Martin let him down a bit by telling him to hug the touchline and play as a traditional winger, rather than an inside forward, coming in off the left, where he has been most successful for his other clubs and I think he could have been some use for us next season. Armstrong, Brereton-Diaz and Archer all have good records at Championship level and could all play together in a front three. It's just Premier League football that they aren't cut out for, but we're a Championship club in a few months, so logic would suggest we keep hold of these guys while we're a Championship club. So, not fully on board with the option to buy. But, SR don't really do logic.

Hopefully he goes back to Europe in the summer. We've had plenty of good full-backs over the years - KWP on his day, Bertrand, Shaw, Clyne, Bale, Bridge. Probably an obvious one I'm missing. He's not one of them.

I'm still annoyed at this. Yes, the players are shit, fair enough, but if you're shit, at least work hard. We don't. Slow, pointless, low tempo football when in possession. Half jogging at players with the ball when out of possession. Not one Southampton player broke out into a sprint yesterday, on the ball, or off it. Complete joke. How many times over the last year have we seen Bazunu, McCarthy, Lumley and Ramsdale in possession and immediately getting swarmed, either giving a goal away, or conceding possession by kicking it in a hurry. The Brentford goalkeeper had the ball countless times and Sulemana and Onuachu just stand still, waiting for him to do something, when he's happy to keep the ball for a period of time because they're 1-0 up and can then just ping it to whoever he wants. Makes you long for the days of Shane Long, who scored the fastest goal in Premier League history by closing down a defender. Sulemana and Onuachu should have been hooked as soon as they stopped moving when Brentford had the ball near them. No excuses for that. Also, still, our players are afraid to make tackles. Keep backing off and backing off until the attacker finds themselves in our box. Attack the ball. The man with the ball is the most dangerous player on the pitch. It's basics of football that we've got wrong all season. Be it passing backwards, playing around our own box, not threatening the opposition goal, jogging half arsed around and refusing to close down a player with the ball. This awful three centre-back formation too. Watching Fulham vs Ipswich earlier, Fulham 1-0 down at half time bring off a centre-back for Smith-Rowe. Us, 1-0 down yesterday, bring off a centre-back and play Charlie Taylor there. We're getting overrun in the middle. Brentford played against Arsenal on Wednesday evening, we had extra days to prepare (probably took them off) and they completely outworked and outclassed us. They're also in poor form themselves, no away wins this season before yesterday and had one win in their last six, with four defeats. But up steps Southampton. On the topic of individuals. Sell Sulemana to whoever this window. Auction Onuachu off to Turkey, bidding starts at £1m. No good saying teams haven't bid high enough when he's awful like we did in the summer. I'm unsure of how he showed skills against Liverpool as he hasn't been able to control a ball since and doesn't win anything despite his height. Get both of those wasters off the wage bill. SAA's better than Sulemana. Sell Aribo in the summer. Downes and Charles can be our midfield next season, no space for him putting in a half arsed act on the pitch. Get Bree back as a backup. I wouldn't want him starting regularly in a good Championship team. Then if we do come back up sell Bednarek, Armstrong, Manning, etc. No room for sentiment. Hammond, Chaplow, Sharp weren't giving this kind of charity when we came up under Adkins. It's time we started acting like a Premier League club. We've been one for enough years. Two years ago under these owners we signed a load of youth and asked them to become immediate Premier League regulars and then appointed Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles. One year ago we signed a crocked striker for £10m in the Championship who's played about 90 minutes in total. Didn't replace our set piece coach, and now concede from set pieces for fun and fail to beat the first man in attacking set pieces. Replaced our DoF by promoting from within and giving a new title, has worked out as predicted and we scraped promotion through the play-offs, never threatening the top three. This summer we gave new contracts to McCarthy, Armstrong and Martin, who are all not good enough. And, on top of this, this summer we signed Lallana, Taylor, Edwards, Sugawara, Brereton-Diaz, Archer, Fraser and Cornet. Eight players who can't get into our team, so they aren't getting in any other team in the Premier League. Even Ugochukwu and Wood have only recently got into the team and Wood was subbed at half time, rounding it up to 10. One successful signing in Mateus Fernandes. We're a laughing stock both on and off the pitch, and that includes the Armstrong video that came out yesterday. Suppose it's all a show for those who buy the hospitality tickets. They're the ones SR are most interested in. If Juric has anything about him, he'll be tearing into the team this week, getting them doing fitness drills, demanding that they press the opposition and whoever doesn't want to run gets dropped out of the team and can find another club to play for. We saw us go down without a fight under Jones and Selles and its happening again with many of the same group of players, funnily enough.

Edwards gone, Cornet going, BBD and Charlie Taylor available. What a brilliant summer window.