There when Franny scored Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 It seems fairly likely that Dan Seaborne will start for us tomorrow in the absence of an expected new centre-back ahead of the Leeds game. Personally, I'm really pleased about this. Let me explain why. As many have frequently noted, Seaborne is not the finished article and certainly cannot match the composure and athleticism of Jose Fonte. That said, I feel he has real potential. One of the most gratifying parts of the current footballing revolution at St Marys is the genuine commitment to the coaching and development of players; the desire to identify talent and potential, provide a supportive and impeccably professional environment and then watch it flourish. Football has changed. The turnover of players is so frequent, that we rarely have the chance to built an affinity and rapport with any individual players. To a certain extent, Adkins bucks this trend. I love the way he is so positive about the contribution made by the whole squad and the way that he reiterates that there is genuine quality amongst our players. This in turn makes me really want them to succeed at our club. Of course it must be a balance. There are those who simply won't have what it takes to 'make the step up' but I know that Adkins will at least give them the opportunity to try. I applaud him for this. Think back to the dark days of Redknapp. God I hate that man. From the moment he was 'in the building' he went to great lengths to tell all his media crony mates how bad our squad was. He had no intention of coaching or trying to improve the players he had and, without a cheque-book, showed just how limited a manager he really is. Fly-by-night mercenaries seemed to be coming and going on a daily basis, making it impossible for fans to get to know them and get behind them. Anyway, I digress. Seaborne may not be good enough in the end, though I think he will be. Let's back him tomorrow and whenever he wears the red and white. He does have pace, is decent in the air and contrary to what most people think has a good range of distribution. The balance of a left and right-footed centre-half pairing also has its merits. I think Seaborne also has the appetite for a fight. I remember away at Sheffield Wednesday last season. Dying moments, Saints 1-0 up and under a barrage of pressure. He was superb and did a great job on Clinton Morrison. Let me be clear. I'm not saying that Adkins shouldn't buy a centre-back and improve the squad in anyway he can. However, in the meantime, if Danny boy gets the shirt, then it's his to keep and any new player will have to wrestle it from him. For me, that's how football should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Agree completely. Too often we write players off forgetting how much a player can improve. Seaborne has got potential, playing alongside Fonte can only help him improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWD Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Great post, well said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceandfriendly Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Think back to the dark days of Redknapp. God I hate that man. From the moment he was 'in the building' he went to great lengths to tell all his media crony mates how bad our squad was. He had no intention of coaching or trying to improve the players he had and, without a cheque-book, showed just how limited a manager he really is. Fly-by-night mercenaries seemed to be coming and going on a daily basis, making it impossible for fans to get to know them and get behind them. I was only thinking about this today. Remember that game live on Sky vs Southend in the cup? He played a few youngsters and we lost, and after the game all he could do was moan about the lack of quality in the squad and I believe he said something like "hopefully that should stop these youngster knocking on my office door and asking for a game"! Good one Harry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Lej Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I was only thinking about this today. Remember that game live on Sky vs Southend in the cup? He played a few youngsters and we lost, and after the game all he could do was moan about the lack of quality in the squad and I believe he said something like "hopefully that should stop these youngster knocking on my office door and asking for a game"! Good one Harry. Actually we won that game 3-0. The game in question where he belittled the youngsters was Mansfield away. Think he gave the interview to solent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry the Badger Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I was only thinking about this today. Remember that game live on Sky vs Southend in the cup? He played a few youngsters and we lost, and after the game all he could do was moan about the lack of quality in the squad and I believe he said something like "hopefully that should stop these youngster knocking on my office door and asking for a game"! Good one Harry. He was obviously trying to put pressure on Lowe to release funds for signings, but it failed spectacularly when Lowe held firm and Harry was left with the players he'd spent months trashing. If Seaborne plays I desperately hope the bloke who stands near me has gone, I'm not sure I can cope with 90 minutes of "Seaborne you ****ing useless bastard blah blah blah" at the first game of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingeletiss Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 He was obviously trying to put pressure on Lowe to release funds for signings, but it failed spectacularly when Lowe held firm and Harry was left with the players he'd spent months trashing. If Seaborne plays I desperately hope the bloke who stands near me has gone, I'm not sure I can cope with 90 minutes of "Seaborne you ****ing useless bastard blah blah blah" at the first game of the season. Could be anyone of half a dozen posters on here, who are eager to see him fail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I've never really understood peoples gripes with Seaborne, he's really not that bad and christ we've had worse players than him in the last 4/5 years! He's still young for a CB and prone to the odd lapse every now and then, but with the coaching that should hopefully disappear from his game. Other than that I think he's got a bit of pace about him, pretty composed on the ball and is positionally pretty strong. It's just his distribution and lapses in concentration that can let him down, but I see no reason why he can't improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stattmeister Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I just can't wait... whoever plays tomorrow I'll be right behind them! So excited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Garrett Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 He's not that bad, just a bit slow and a bit weak. Has to be given a chance though, he's still young. Just think it's our weakest position and we know that NA has been looking for an additional CB to be first choice alongside Fonte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerceSaint28 Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Sorry guys i completely disagree...Seabourne is a League 1 player and will be well out of his depth in the Championship. With regards to pace, he is relatively quick but still got caught by CMS with a 5 yard start...he was utterly inept in that game and there is nothing in his performances thus far that makes me think he can be a decent player for us. The fact that he plays shows the weaknesses we have at the back...should be sold in my opinion With regards to Redknapp...im not the biggest fan myself but the old adage is "you can't polish a turd" and that unfortunately was how bad some of the squad was. He said i couldn't give some of these boys away and he was right. I remember Saints had about 4 right backs at the club and they were all crap. So he was just saying the plain honest truth im afraid... Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giordano Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 "You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow" That's a disgusting way to denigrate one of our players. The opening thread was an excellently put comment on the spirit of development and progression for our players and our club and your response is to start name calling our probable starting centre back before even the first match of the season? Wow. Dan Seabourne is no Rio Ferdinand or John Terry right now but "SeaSpunk"??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintrich Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 (edited) Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tomorrow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push The point made in the opening post is not arguing whether centre back is a flawed position or not... it's the point that Seaborne is likely to start and we should get behind him and see what he can do. You've been moaning all summer that we aren't signing players, but half the players you've suggested are signings that wouldve been ok last summer but Would hardly push us on now (Ledesma, Pearce, Baldock etc) signing players doesn't always guarantee success... Just look at what Burley did. It seems apparent that we have a hungry, happy squad, with plenty of backup available and options. Also there is no point in you moaning about centre back when it's already been reported we've had bid for Gorkks accepted... It's not like we're not trying to improve that area. Edited 5 August, 2011 by saintrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70's Mike Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Sorry guys i completely disagree...Seabourne is a League 1 player and will be well out of his depth in the Championship. With regards to pace, he is relatively quick but still got caught by CMS with a 5 yard start...he was utterly inept in that game and there is nothing in his performances thus far that makes me think he can be a decent player for us. The fact that he plays shows the weaknesses we have at the back...should be sold in my opinion With regards to Redknapp...im not the biggest fan myself but the old adage is "you can't polish a turd" and that unfortunately was how bad some of the squad was. He said i couldn't give some of these boys away and he was right. I remember Saints had about 4 right backs at the club and they were all crap. So he was just saying the plain honest truth im afraid... Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push Same sort of things were written about Mark Wright,Jason Dodd and countless others give him a chance to fail and trust in Nigel. CMS ran away from most defenders last season so to knock him for that is very unfair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Great point by the OP that in these times of instant gratification, we forget that players can develop and improve. Many fans (and MerceSaint aptly proves the point) believe that if they are not good enough today, they will never be good enough tomorrow. Coaching is not just for the under 21's and players develop at different paces. One of the joys of following team is seeing the development and improvement of players - James Beattie being one of my favourite examples. I am really excited - if not a bit nervous - to find out how important a settled squad and team spirit is to achieving success in the championship. We have had so many changes over the past 8 years that we have forgotten what a settled squad can do - a la Strachans squad between 2001 and 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Sorry guys i completely disagree...Seabourne is a League 1 player and will be well out of his depth in the Championship. With regards to pace, he is relatively quick but still got caught by CMS with a 5 yard start...he was utterly inept in that game and there is nothing in his performances thus far that makes me think he can be a decent player for us. The fact that he plays shows the weaknesses we have at the back...should be sold in my opinion With regards to Redknapp...im not the biggest fan myself but the old adage is "you can't polish a turd" and that unfortunately was how bad some of the squad was. He said i couldn't give some of these boys away and he was right. I remember Saints had about 4 right backs at the club and they were all crap. So he was just saying the plain honest truth im afraid... Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push Really? Who were they then? I can only remember Baird (and he was ignored by Redknapp). Remembering that he let Dodd go on a free at the end of the 04/05 season as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leslie Charteris Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Great OP! It is so refreshing to see a manager building a team from within, encouraging the "we are all as one" ethic. I think an almost certain route to failure for us would be to get in a "star", a Billy Big B*ll*cks, and build a team around him, because what happens if that player gets injured, goes into a sulk or leaves? NA seems to be building a team where players can be swapped seamlessly without disrupting the balance of the team - a lot of them even look alike from a distance! It's also good to see that he wants to nurture and develop players and he wants people to learn and improve from their mistakes. I am sure not so many would have renewed or extended their contracts if this was not the case. As the original poster stated, NA is bucking a trend, and I am very happy with that. I hope that everyone inside and outside the club give him and NC the support they deserve, now and through the tough times that we will inevitably go through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I think you are wrong, Jaidi will start for obvious reasons, we're going to need all our experience and guile to keep Grayson's terriers out in the first 30 mins. Seaborne may come on later when Jaidi is knackered or we're 3-0 down but he isn't good enough to start in this league Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I think you are wrong, Jaidi will start for obvious reasons, we're going to need all our experience and guile to keep Grayson's terriers out in the first 30 mins. Seaborne may come on later when Jaidi is knackered or we're 3-0 down but he isn't good enough to start in this league You may be right. Jaidi hasn't featured much in pre-season, but maybe that's a way to prepare him for the leeds game? (We all know that he can't play too much, or train too hard these days) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I think you are wrong, Jaidi will start for obvious reasons, we're going to need all our experience and guile to keep Grayson's terriers out in the first 30 mins. Seaborne may come on later when Jaidi is knackered or we're 3-0 down but he isn't good enough to start in this league Paynter and McCormack up front for them, not too terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kraken Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I'm not a huge fan of Seaborne; defensively I think he's ok (but not great), but when he's got the ball he's just so prone to the big hoof. I thought for a while it was being coached out of him, but the last few performances I've seen from him its been back to the old ways. Also, at this level of football, I truly believe you need one real mountain of a centre half; in the mould of Jaidi. We already have Fonte who, while not small, is more the "player" of the pair. Jaidi, despite his criticisms, rarely loses anything in the air and is a real intimidating presence for strikers to be up against. Seaborne doesn't have that same sort of aura about him. Gorkss, for me, is the player we need at this level. Seaborne is IMO more a replacement for Fonte when he's unavailable than Jaidi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patred44 Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 (edited) I too believe Jahidi will start, it's most likely that S'born will get a game against Torquay. probably with Martin. Adkins will have to nurse Jahidi through games, making sure he can recover in between. He will miss several games, I hope we can get someone in soon before this untenable situation with our CB's costs us dearly. By then we will also be looking to replace Connolly, who, no doubt will be injured. Pessimistic? No realistic! We have had since the beginning of June to sort this out.. somewhere along the line someone has failed to make sure we have the best opportunity to get off to a good start...FFS Edited 5 August, 2011 by patred44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
London Saint Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I'm not a huge fan of Seaborne; defensively I think he's ok (but not great), but when he's got the ball he's just so prone to the big hoof. I thought for a while it was being coached out of him, but the last few performances I've seen from him its been back to the old ways. Also, at this level of football, I truly believe you need one real mountain of a centre half; in the mould of Jaidi. We already have Fonte who, while not small, is more the "player" of the pair. Jaidi, despite his criticisms, rarely loses anything in the air and is a real intimidating presence for strikers to be up against. Seaborne doesn't have that same sort of aura about him. Gorkss, for me, is the player we need at this level. Seaborne is IMO more a replacement for Fonte when he's unavailable than Jaidi. Spot on. I would go with the experience and power of Jahdi tomorrow, esp in a high pressure situation like opening day of the season and live on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 It seems fairly likely that Dan Seaborne will start for us tomorrow in the absence of an expected new centre-back ahead of the Leeds game. Why seaborne and not Jaidi? I would have imagined Fonte and Jaidi would be our first choice pair at the back with our current CB. Personally from the games I saw last season I would have Martin starting before Seaborne. Nothing against Seaborne I just think Martin is a better CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St_Tel49 Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Spot on. I would go with the experience and power of Jahdi tomorrow, esp in a high pressure situation like opening day of the season and live on TV. Judging by what I have seen of Jaidi pre-season I think that he would be a high risk selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsk Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 (edited) It seems fairly likely that Dan Seaborne will start for us tomorrow in the absence of an expected new centre-back ahead of the Leeds game. Personally, I'm really pleased about this. Let me explain why. As many have frequently noted, Seaborne is not the finished article and certainly cannot match the composure and athleticism of Jose Fonte. That said, I feel he has real potential. One of the most gratifying parts of the current footballing revolution at St Marys is the genuine commitment to the coaching and development of players; the desire to identify talent and potential, provide a supportive and impeccably professional environment and then watch it flourish. Football has changed. The turnover of players is so frequent, that we rarely have the chance to built an affinity and rapport with any individual players. To a certain extent, Adkins bucks this trend. I love the way he is so positive about the contribution made by the whole squad and the way that he reiterates that there is genuine quality amongst our players. This in turn makes me really want them to succeed at our club. Of course it must be a balance. There are those who simply won't have what it takes to 'make the step up' but I know that Adkins will at least give them the opportunity to try. I applaud him for this. Think back to the dark days of Redknapp. God I hate that man. From the moment he was 'in the building' he went to great lengths to tell all his media crony mates how bad our squad was. He had no intention of coaching or trying to improve the players he had and, without a cheque-book, showed just how limited a manager he really is. Fly-by-night mercenaries seemed to be coming and going on a daily basis, making it impossible for fans to get to know them and get behind them. Anyway, I digress. Seaborne may not be good enough in the end, though I think he will be. Let's back him tomorrow and whenever he wears the red and white. He does have pace, is decent in the air and contrary to what most people think has a good range of distribution. The balance of a left and right-footed centre-half pairing also has its merits. I think Seaborne also has the appetite for a fight. I remember away at Sheffield Wednesday last season. Dying moments, Saints 1-0 up and under a barrage of pressure. He was superb and did a great job on Clinton Morrison. Let me be clear. I'm not saying that Adkins shouldn't buy a centre-back and improve the squad in anyway he can. However, in the meantime, if Danny boy gets the shirt, then it's his to keep and any new player will have to wrestle it from him. For me, that's how football should be. Excellent post. Sorry guys i completely disagree...Seabourne is a League 1 player and will be well out of his depth in the Championship. With regards to pace, he is relatively quick but still got caught by CMS with a 5 yard start...he was utterly inept in that game and there is nothing in his performances thus far that makes me think he can be a decent player for us. The fact that he plays shows the weaknesses we have at the back...should be sold in my opinion With regards to Redknapp...im not the biggest fan myself but the old adage is "you can't polish a turd" and that unfortunately was how bad some of the squad was. He said i couldn't give some of these boys away and he was right. I remember Saints had about 4 right backs at the club and they were all crap. So he was just saying the plain honest truth im afraid... Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push it was obvious that one of his (Seaborne's) detractors would come out with somethine like this though. I really can't understand why so called 'fans' do so, however. Although it does reveal the mentality of such persons when have to name-call like an errant 8 year old. 'SeaSpunk'? What a lovely to 'support' an up and coming young player in our squad! I understand Seaborne has his faults, and I will be very happy if Gorkss comes in to partner Fonte enabling him to have more time to develop as a player. But there is no need for such infantile abuse. As for slating him because CMS did him for pace...... I think you will find Seaborne is faster than Fonte, therefore Jose must be carp as well; no? CMS is fast. Pace is his main weapon. he outdid most CBs for pace last season. Hardly a reason to believe Seaborne is the worst of our CBs. And, if we are blaming people about THAT gane then in my book there is only one person who was responsible for us not getting all 3 points. He is the one who needlessly gave away the penalty in the last seconds of the match. It doesn't mean I think he should never play for Saints again though; or that I am going to make up a childish, insulting, nickname for him. Edited 5 August, 2011 by Minsk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenue Saint Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Seaborne is a poor defender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFSFC Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Went on a night out with Danny after the saints awards dinners, top top lad. Wasn't sure he'd be at the club this season but personally one of the most down to earth saints players ive met, along with Bart who was also "enjoying" the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 (edited) very good on the ball, quicker than most and has a very handy left foot that makes defending easy at times (you'll only notice when a right footer has do the same job). One problem, he does not dominate in the air against big strikers. If opponents don't have a lump up front then he'll do fine, if they do we have the perfect man for the job. How many NPC sides have big strikers these days? I get the feeling its not quite as many as the last time we were there. I guess the only other issue is set pieces. With Jaidi we have been bulletproof, but without him I am a bit more nervous. Edited 5 August, 2011 by Chez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 I think we needed to be a little bit more ruthless when it came to letting players go in summer. Jaidi and Seaborne are two I would have tried to offload. Jaidi I think is just too old for a campaign in NpC. Seaborne I just don't think is good enough. I'd love him to prove me wrong, but he was found badly lacking against the better strikers in League 1 last year (had a 'mare against CMS at London Road). It doesn't get any easier up here. I'd start with Fonte and Martin personally. The latter seems to be a lot like Bart for some reason. Gets very limited pitch time, but is generally impressive when he does play. Yet, for some reason, people have decided he can't cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigchrisy Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Martin has more potential than Seaborne for sure (judging by seeing every game each has played in). Plus in due respect he is now 24, how long can you wait for a player to show 'potential'? I wouldn't go as far as calling him Seapunk or any other pathetic nicknames though. If he plays i'll be backing him like every other member of the squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Balls Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 'He's born by the Sea, He's born by the seeea, Danny Seaborne, he's born by the sea' I still think Martin is the better player and would rather he started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 if pre season is anything to go by (not that it is) then it is seaborne all the way. Jaidi has been abysmal in pre season...at yeovil it was terrifying to watch...but then he is the sort to pull it out of the bag... seaborne was class at times in pre season....then again, it was only pre season....hard choice really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Martin has more potential than Seaborne for sure (judging by seeing every game each has played in). Plus in due respect he is now 24, how long can you wait for a player to show 'potential'? I wouldn't go as far as calling him Seapunk or any other pathetic nicknames though. If he plays i'll be backing him like every other member of the squad. He's already shown potential. A CB doesn't really hit his peak for me until 27/28, sometimes later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 if pre season is anything to go by (not that it is) then it is seaborne all the way. Jaidi has been abysmal in pre season...at yeovil it was terrifying to watch...but then he is the sort to pull it out of the bag... seaborne was class at times in pre season....then again, it was only pre season....hard choice really That sums up Jaidi all the time. If the balls in the air Jaidi wins it 9/10 times if he has to use feet .......... Jaidi was written off early last season and then pulled it around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 One thing that strikes me is saying Jaidi isnt going to be great this season, just like last year. I hoping for a repeat performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ribbo Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 very good on the ball, quicker than most and has a very handy left foot that makes defending easy at times (you'll only notice when a right footer has do the same job). One problem, he does not dominate in the air against big strikers. If opponents don't have a lump up front then he'll do fine, if they do we have the perfect man for the job. How many NPC sides have big strikers these days? I get the feeling its not quite as many as the last time we were there. I guess the only other issue is set pieces. With Jaidi we have been bulletproof, but without him I am a bit more nervous. it's a shame everyone remembers him against the best forward in the league last season, posession wise and distribution wise the back 4 works a lot better with seabourne in than Jaidi for natural balance. This season it'll be horses for courses, if we need a solid defence he'll use Jaidi, if we need to keep posession at the back more he'll use Seabourne and move the leftback forward, infact if you think about how the shape changes having a left footed centreback allows our shape to be very fluid, especially with the way lallana drops infield and morgan/dean like to come short to collect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lighthouse Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 That sums up Jaidi all the time. If the balls in the air Jaidi wins it 9/10 times if he has to use feet .......... Jaidi was written off early last season and then pulled it around. One thing that strikes me is saying Jaidi isnt going to be great this season, just like last year. I hoping for a repeat performance. He is a year older and playing at a higher level. He will find things a lot tougher in NpC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 He is a year older and playing at a higher level. He will find things a lot tougher in NpC. yep but his experince helps him out a hell of a lot in that respect. I wouldn't suggest we play Jaidi all the time but against big lump attackers I'd take him over Sebourne every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Fan CaM Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Good OP with some fine sentiments. Trouble is that alone will not win games. Always get behind any player who wears the shirt, however we really do need to raise the competency across the backline starting with a quality partner for Fonte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saints foreva Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 Just seen this on another forum from last season's league fixtures: Fonte - Jaidi Played: 27 Conceded: 21 Clean sheets: 11 Fonte - Seaborne Played: 13 Conceded: 11 Clean Sheets: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Village Saint Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 It seems fairly likely that Dan Seaborne will start for us tomorrow in the absence of an expected new centre-back ahead of the Leeds game. Personally, I'm really pleased about this. Let me explain why. As many have frequently noted, Seaborne is not the finished article and certainly cannot match the composure and athleticism of Jose Fonte. That said, I feel he has real potential. One of the most gratifying parts of the current footballing revolution at St Marys is the genuine commitment to the coaching and development of players; the desire to identify talent and potential, provide a supportive and impeccably professional environment and then watch it flourish. Football has changed. The turnover of players is so frequent, that we rarely have the chance to built an affinity and rapport with any individual players. To a certain extent, Adkins bucks this trend. I love the way he is so positive about the contribution made by the whole squad and the way that he reiterates that there is genuine quality amongst our players. This in turn makes me really want them to succeed at our club. Of course it must be a balance. There are those who simply won't have what it takes to 'make the step up' but I know that Adkins will at least give them the opportunity to try. I applaud him for this. Think back to the dark days of Redknapp. God I hate that man. From the moment he was 'in the building' he went to great lengths to tell all his media crony mates how bad our squad was. He had no intention of coaching or trying to improve the players he had and, without a cheque-book, showed just how limited a manager he really is. Fly-by-night mercenaries seemed to be coming and going on a daily basis, making it impossible for fans to get to know them and get behind them. Anyway, I digress. Seaborne may not be good enough in the end, though I think he will be. Let's back him tomorrow and whenever he wears the red and white. He does have pace, is decent in the air and contrary to what most people think has a good range of distribution. The balance of a left and right-footed centre-half pairing also has its merits. I think Seaborne also has the appetite for a fight. I remember away at Sheffield Wednesday last season. Dying moments, Saints 1-0 up and under a barrage of pressure. He was superb and did a great job on Clinton Morrison. Let me be clear. I'm not saying that Adkins shouldn't buy a centre-back and improve the squad in anyway he can. However, in the meantime, if Danny boy gets the shirt, then it's his to keep and any new player will have to wrestle it from him. For me, that's how football should be. Absolutely correct in every respect. Cant see it being popular with the numpties though. Expect a flood of "Seabourne is a Div 1 player" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 (edited) Sorry guys i completely disagree...Seabourne is a League 1 player and will be well out of his depth in the Championship. With regards to pace, he is relatively quick but still got caught by CMS with a 5 yard start...he was utterly inept in that game and there is nothing in his performances thus far that makes me think he can be a decent player for us. The fact that he plays shows the weaknesses we have at the back...should be sold in my opinion With regards to Redknapp...im not the biggest fan myself but the old adage is "you can't polish a turd" and that unfortunately was how bad some of the squad was. He said i couldn't give some of these boys away and he was right. I remember Saints had about 4 right backs at the club and they were all crap. So he was just saying the plain honest truth im afraid... Annoys me about some Saints fans...sometimes you have to see the flaws in your own squad and centre half is a massive one. You can be sure that SeaSpunk will be targeted by Leeds tommorow. Saints are still 2-3 players light, that much is obvious...it will be the difference between mid table and a play off push It really is amazing that people come on here, pontificate whilst insulting players that are doing their best, at the same time displaying a pathetic lack of awareness about teamwork and how football is played. McHail-Smith was the stand out striker in division one last year and probably the quickest, in itself Seaborne being outpaced whilst the last man was only a small part of that goal. Dan Harding, sitting square 20 yds to Seaborne's left was inept, because of M-S's pace he should have positioned himself behind Seaborne which would have pushed M-S wider but more importantly Seaborne wouldn't have been the last man, so would not have been sent off if he had clattered M-S. He wasn't able to touch M-S but M-S was able to push Seaborne. Davis also was at fault being beaten at his near post. Criticising Seaborne and trying to hang that goal on him shows a lack of understanding about what happened. For a centreback Seaborne does a lot of good things, he is still young and inexperienced (Conference, divs 2 and 1 only) and needs to be given time. Centrebacks rarely develop young and usually are in their late twenties before peaking. Edited 5 August, 2011 by derry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 5 August, 2011 Share Posted 5 August, 2011 What Adkins may well be thinking is that the movement/attackers could be quicker/slicker than last year, and there may be more passing by attackers around our box. It could be that he considers mobility in our central defenders more important. We'll know better tomorrow. For what it's worth in pre season I thought that Fonte and Seaborne looked a better balanced pair than the two right footers Fonte and Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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