Brighton 3-1 Saints - Match Thread

[Convict Colony]

To be honest selles might be a terrible defensive manager but he answers questions and acts like a proper manager, its just a pity his tactics and team selections let him down

[Micky]

Pretty standard result for us these days, the club probably considers it pretty good to only lose 3 - 1 away to a team that has qualified for Europe.  Our bar is very, very low, yeah 3 - 1 against mighty Brighton is decent really. 

[Dellman]

2 hours ago, aintforever said:

Bunch of gutless, useless cunts. Happy to see the back on any of them.

Don't agree. Bunch of frustrated professionals needing to be managed and coached by competent and experienced professionals, not too much to ask

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Dellman said:

Don't agree. Bunch of frustrated professionals needing to be managed and coached by competent and experienced professionals, not too much to ask

I agree some are. The majority just not good enough for the Premier League. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

17 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

The only thing that's holding it up is Mo's looking for a three year deal, but we have offered five years

C'Mon guys! Do ti for the club... do it for the fans... compromise on a four year deal. 🙂

[BranfootsLoveChild]

It will be ok. We've got a top class manager coming in......oh fuck.......

[AlexLaw76]

what is Selles trying to say, and to who?

 

[danjosaint]

Fucking deluded like most of the pricks at sfc

[Lee On Solent Saint]

8 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

what is Selles trying to say, and to who?

 

They are literally no words to express how utterly clueless this guy is. Basically taking the piss out of the fans with comments like that.

[S-Clarke]

So competitive that we will finish 10 points adrift in one of the worst bottom halves of the leagues in many years, maybe ever.

[Forester]

Stupidity demanded that we travelled for this.  We left as the stoppage board went up to try and get a connecting train from Brighton.  To my utter astonishment we were outnumbered by Brighton “fans” choosing to skip their European lap of honour!  Incredible complacency from a club fan base about to realise how you have to enjoy these moments that don’t last forever.  
 

Anyway to the game.  Aribo again guilty of embezzling his salary.  Is he the laziest player ever to line up in a Saints shirt?  Cannot believe this guy was in a European cup final a year ago.  Thought Lavia was well short of normal standards, assume speculation all getting to him.  And McCarthy needs to be better with first (under him, not point blank) and third goal (beaten at near post).
 

Positives were good performance from Theo and return of Tino.  That really is it.

Edited 21 May, 2023 by Forester

[bangkoksaint]

1 hour ago, Dellman said:

Don't agree. Bunch of frustrated professionals needing to be managed and coached by competent and experienced professionals, not too much to ask

I agreed to a degree. However be professional, turn up on time, train hard, look to continually learn and work your socks off during a match. Sadly this minimum requirement has been absent in pretty much our whole squad. 

[EssEffCee]

4 hours ago, The Cat said:

Was quite a good laugh in the away end. The celebration for the disallowed goal was superb, people flying everywhere.

 

'Goal' celebration was brilliant, probably best I've been part of years I reckon. Typical it was disallowed!

[The Cat]

4 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

 

'Goal' celebration was brilliant, probably best I've been part of years I reckon. Typical it was disallowed!

Yeah, people singing "2 nil and you fucked it up" as we looked at the screen saying VAR check. FFS. 

At least next season we'll see people flying around an away end celebrating goals that actually count!

[Cabrone]

Resurrecting this outfit is going to be a hell of a job. They are way way worse than the team that went down in 05.

If possible I'd get the new guy in before the Pool game, Selles is done so why bother prolonging the inevitable.

Some serious surgery is needed in the next 2 months.

[64saint]

7 minutes ago, Cabrone said:

Resurrecting this outfit is going to be a hell of a job. They are way way worse than the team that went down in 05.

If possible I'd get the new guy in before the Pool game, Selles is done so why bother prolonging the inevitable.

Some serious surgery is needed in the next 2 months.

Don't think the new guy would fancy starting with a 9-0 ( or maybe 10 🙄) in his first game and have to live with that over the summer.    No, let Sellers suffer through next Sunday and the new guy start from scratch.

[SNMPT]

52 minutes ago, Forester said:

Stupidity demanded that we travelled for this.  We left as the stoppage board went up to try and get a connecting train from Brighton.  To my utter astonishment we were outnumbered by Brighton “fans” choosing to skip their European lap of honour!  Incredible complacency from a club fan base about to realise how you have to enjoy these moments that don’t last forever.  
 

Anyway to the game.  Aribo again guilty of embezzling his salary.  Is he the laziest player ever to line up in a Saints shirt?  Cannot believe this guy was in a European cup final a year ago.  Thought Lavia was well short of normal standards, assume speculation all getting to him.  And McCarthy needs to be better with first (under him, not point blank) and third goal (beaten at near post).
 

Positives were good performance from Theo and return of Tino.  That really is it.

Walcott is an embarrassment - like playing with nine men when he's out there.  Counterattack in 17th minute 3 on 1 and he just has to neatly thread a 20-footer through to Aribo but has no awareness that the guy is there.  After 20-odd years of senior football, he remains an absolute moron...who was, of fuckin' course, offside again later.

Third goal was not McCarthy's fault (first goal should have been stopped by the feet), it was Aribo's, and the lazy f**kers who weren't supporting him but backing off the ball in their own box.  Goal is 24-feet wide and a keeper cannot cover that whole area, particularly when screened by a maze of players who let a guy shoot from 14 yards.

[Saint Gifford]

At the risk of being shot down on here.  
 

We have been poor at executing a plan since sacking Ralph.

We just don’t seem to have understood what the players needed.  
 

Im not saying sacking Ralph was right or wrong, but our friend Ankers has just looked at as we all know stats, and hired two managers that have zero ability of man management IMO.
 

I am not a football manager, but do have a somewhat limited understanding of emotional intelligence and coaching for performance (albeit in the business environment and not in the sporting world).

I don’t want to completely dismiss our squad, as you do not become a bad player overnight. 
 

It takes years since they were probably 7 or 8 playing and training to make it as a pro player. 

They all have abilities, it’s up to the coaches and manager to draw that out of a player and create the right environment. That is where we have spectacularly failed.

Along with decision makers, looking at an individual and not looking at a piece of the jigsaw that fits in harmony and can quickly work out the dynamics and psychological development of a group of people.

Both our last two managers appear to be and I might be wrong, hopelessly conditioned to training football skills on a training ground with no ability to look at the crossover of coaching  / leadership,or models of transpersonal coaching ect ect. 
 

Southampton has led the way in these fields for years. Ive watched Saints academy games with the youngsters and it was abundantly clear that all this stuff was really high on the agenda.

It is massively worrying if the long term vision is hiring and firing the latest so called next big manager, without considering the fit and all the Psychology that goes with a winning mentality.
 

Maybe it’s just an oversight, or I have missed the point. But it doesn’t inspire me with the greatest of confidence for next season.

[farawaysaint]

 

This is basically how I have felt the last few games. 

[Kenilworthy]

11 minutes ago, Saint Gifford said:

At the risk of being shot down on here.  
 

We have been poor at executing a plan since sacking Ralph.

We just don’t seem to have understood what the players needed.  
 

Im not saying sacking Ralph was right or wrong, but our friend Ankers has just looked at as we all know stats, and hired two managers that have zero ability of man management IMO.
 

I am not a football manager, but do have a somewhat limited understanding of emotional intelligence and coaching for performance (albeit in the business environment and not in the sporting world).

I don’t want to completely dismiss our squad, as you do not become a bad player overnight. 
 

It takes years since they were probably 7 or 8 playing and training to make it as a pro player. 

They all have abilities, it’s up to the coaches and manager to draw that out of a player and create the right environment. That is where we have spectacularly failed.

Along with decision makers, looking at an individual and not looking at a piece of the jigsaw that fits in harmony and can quickly work out the dynamics and psychological development of a group of people.

Both our last two managers appear to be and I might be wrong, hopelessly conditioned to training football skills on a training ground with no ability to look at the crossover of coaching  / leadership,or models of transpersonal coaching ect ect. 
 

Southampton has led the way in these fields for years. Ive watched Saints academy games with the youngsters and it was abundantly clear that all this stuff was really high on the agenda.

It is massively worrying if the long term vision is hiring and firing the latest so called next big manager, without considering the fit and all the Psychology that goes with a winning mentality.
 

Maybe it’s just an oversight, or I have missed the point. But it doesn’t inspire me with the greatest of confidence for next season.

There is a lot of comment about Russell Martin only finishing halfway. If we finish halfway next season I will be quite happy. Because our team is ruined and we are facing an awful time in the Championship and the fix will not be quick.

[Kenilworthy]

How was Bowen's goal for West Ham onside when he was just as offside as Walcott?

[farawaysaint]

13 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

There is a lot of comment about Russell Martin only finishing halfway. If we finish halfway next season I will be quite happy. Because our team is ruined and we are facing an awful time in the Championship and the fix will not be quick.

We have two quality championship strikers and probably even after  a mass exodus will have a quality championship spine. 
 

Honestly we are very well placed as far as I can tell.

The last time we were relegated I thought we were in for a hiding but this time with some smart trades I’m reasonably confident.

Edited 21 May, 2023 by farawaysaint

[S-Clarke]

6 minutes ago, farawaysaint said:

We have two quality championship strikers and probably even after  a mass exodus will have a quality championship spine. 
 

Honestly we are very well placed as far as I can tell.

The last time we were relegated I thought we were in for a hiding but this time with some smart trades I’m reasonably confident.

This is where we are massively underestimating the Championship. In no way what so ever do we have a quality championship spine, not even close. We're spineless in whatever league we play in, it's not all about quality.

I look back to 2011 and we had Kelvin, Fonte, Morgan, Hammond, Lambo down the spine. Now that's a spine, experience, leadership, guts and quality. I can see no one in the current squad who has the attributes any of those had, given that we'll lose KWP, Lavia, JWP then for a start our CM area needs an enormous amount of work - open heart surgery you could say.

Let's not kid ourselves that we already have Championship class in this team, we don't. We have one or two players who did well years ago, but have been so far out of their comfort zone here than it will be impossible for them to ever do well for us in whatever league we are in (Talking Armstrong).

So we're not well placed, if we went in to the Champ with the team we started with today we'd lose most games. Bullied off the pitch, with zero composure at the moments that matter. We need a lot of work and given the quick appointment of Martin it seems that that club also appreciate that.

Edited 21 May, 2023 by S-Clarke

[CSA96]

8 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

This is where we are massively underestimating the Championship. In no way what so ever do we have a quality championship spine, not even close. We're spineless in whatever league we play in, it's not all about quality.

I look back to 2011 and we had Kelvin, Fonte, Morgan, Hammond, Lambo down the spine. Now that's a spine, experience, leadership, guts and quality. I can see no one in the current squad who has the attributes any of those had, given that we'll lose KWP, Lavia, JWP then for a start our CM area needs an enormous amount of work - open heart surgery you could say.

Let's not kid ourselves that we already have Championship class in this team, we don't. We have one or two players who did well years ago, but have been so far out of their comfort zone here than it will be impossible for them to ever do well for us in whatever league we are in (Talking Armstrong).

So we're not well placed, if we went in to the Champ with the team we started with today we'd lose most games. Bullied off the pitch, with zero composure at the moments that matter. We need a lot of work and given the quick appointment of Martin it seems that that club also appreciate that.

Amen. Time to blow it up and totally reset the spine of the team. I hope SR realise that (I think they do) and don't expect Martin to just tweak a couple of bits here and there and get us going like Burnley in this season just gone.

[woodsaint1]

27 minutes ago, Kenilworthy said:

There is a lot of comment about Russell Martin only finishing halfway. If we finish halfway next season I will be quite happy. Because our team is ruined and we are facing an awful time in the Championship and the fix will not be quick.

We're not the first club to go down after a horrendous PL season and fan optimism be at an all time low. However the likes of Sheff Utd, Burnley and Fulham have proven in recent years that an immediate bounce back is possible if you get the big decisions right (manager and player recruitment). Need to get that winning mentality back.

We will likely have a significant pot of cash to work with given the big sales, the parachute payment for year 1 and the fact that SR have confirmed that they're committed to funding a return to the PL. We will remain an attractive option for signing players compared to most of our championship rivals. We'll also be able to hang onto some players who will be PL quality.

If we were to finish mid-table it would be another failure under SR, regardless of how big a hole we're currently in.

Simply put, Martin needs to be the right decision and our player recruitment needs to be better than it has been. Time will tell.

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, woodsaint1 said:

We're not the first club to go down after a horrendous PL season and fan optimism be at an all time low. However the likes of Sheff Utd, Burnley and Fulham have proven in recent years that an immediate bounce back is possible if you get the big decisions right (manager and player recruitment). Need to get that winning mentality back.

We will likely have a significant pot of cash to work with given the big sales, the parachute payment for year 1 and the fact that SR have confirmed that they're committed to funding a return to the PL. We will remain an attractive option for signing players compared to most of our championship rivals. We'll also be able to hang onto some players who will be PL quality.

If we were to finish mid-table it would be another failure under SR, regardless of how big a hole we're currently in.

Simply put, Martin needs to be the right decision and our player recruitment needs to be better than it has been. Time will tell.

Didn't it take Fulham a couple of seasons to come back? Ditto Sheff U, they finished 7th or 8th in the Champ last year.

It will be very difficult to shrug off over a year of losing games, the whole culture of the club is rotten to the core which is why I'm so against continuing with anything that's in the building today. Start again, scrap the lot of it, and build again from there to hopefully put ourselves in a similar position as the 2011 team in a few years. I don't think we should be expecting a Burnley level season, we'll be more in and around what Norwich did due to the amount of change we'll go through.

[CB Fry]

9 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Didn't it take Fulham a couple of seasons to come back? Ditto Sheff U, they finished 7th or 8th in the Champ last year.

It will be very difficult to shrug off over a year of losing games, the whole culture of the club is rotten to the core which is why I'm so against continuing with anything that's in the building today. Start again, scrap the lot of it, and build again from there to hopefully put ourselves in a similar position as the 2011 team in a few years. I don't think we should be expecting a Burnley level season, we'll be more in and around what Norwich did due to the amount of change we'll go through.

Fulham bounced straight back, as did Norwich (I think twice), as did Newcastle but lots take longer. 

We can very easily be like Stoke or WBA, or indeed like Forest who spent 20+ years down. Next season there will be Leicester and Leeds and us wanting to go straight back. Can almost guarantee that not all of the three will do it.

Edited 21 May, 2023 by CB Fry

[woodsaint1]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Didn't it take Fulham a couple of seasons to come back? Ditto Sheff U, they finished 7th or 8th in the Champ last year.

It will be very difficult to shrug off over a year of losing games, the whole culture of the club is rotten to the core which is why I'm so against continuing with anything that's in the building today. Start again, scrap the lot of it, and build again from there to hopefully put ourselves in a similar position as the 2011 team in a few years. I don't think we should be expecting a Burnley level season, we'll be more in and around what Norwich did due to the amount of change we'll go through.

Fulham came straight back after appointing Silva and they were every bit as bad as us in their relegation season (28 points). Sheff Utd lost to eventual playoff winners Forest on pens last season, so not all bad.

Playoffs is the absolute minimum next season regardless of the level of change we face. It has been done given the significant financial advantage that relegated PL clubs have.

I dont accept that we dont have much 'championship class' in the team. We dont know who will leave/stay but even if we lose JWP, Lavia, KWP, ABK and Salisu, we'll still have the likes of DCC, Bednarek, Bree, Perraud, Tella, Smallbone, Aribo, Stu, Alcaraz, Che and Mara who are easily top half Championship players. We've been shite this year but theres still some good players in our squad. Just need a decent manager to get them playing

[St Steve]

 

[ErwinK1961]

2 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Fulham came straight back after appointing Silva and they were every bit as bad as us in their relegation season (28 points). Sheff Utd lost to eventual playoff winners Forest on pens last season, so not all bad.

Playoffs is the absolute minimum next season regardless of the level of change we face. It has been done given the significant financial advantage that relegated PL clubs have.

I dont accept that we dont have much 'championship class' in the team. We dont know who will leave/stay but even if we lose JWP, Lavia, KWP, ABK and Salisu, we'll still have the likes of DCC, Bednarek, Bree, Perraud, Tella, Smallbone, Aribo, Stu, Alcaraz, Che and Mara who are easily top half Championship players. We've been shite this year but theres still some good players in our squad. Just need a decent manager to get them playing

Most of that lot played against Sheff Weds (scraped through on pens), Lincoln (struggled badly against and squeezed past), Blackpool (hung on for dear life) and lost to Grimsby. Good manager or bad manager, there’s no way half of that lot can be described as easily top half championship players.

[S-Clarke]

9 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Fulham bounced straight back, as did Norwich (I think twice), as did Newcastle but lots take longer. 

We can very easily be like Stoke or WBA, or indeed like Forest who spent 20+ years down. Next season there will be Leicester and Leeds and us wanting to go straight back. Can almost guarantee that not all of the three will do it.

Think I got Fulham mixed up with their previous attempts years ago, sure that took them a few goes. Watford bombed a bit last year, but you could say that's more down to their crazy owners than anything else (hopefully we're not saying the same in 6 months)

It's not going to be easy though, but hopefully more enjoyable than the last 4 or 5 years of utter crap.

[warsash saint]

Thank fuckity fuck that is the last we see of VAR for at least 1 season 😍

Never seen anything like it after Brighton scored their 2nd & 3rd goals - near silence from their fans after they I assume were expecting VAR to intervene!

& then the Walcott pubic hair off side decision!!

At least next season we can go back & celebrate / know a goal is ruled out in 'real-time' & enjoy the game a bit more.

Modern football is shite!

 

[Dragon_man]

59 minutes ago, farawaysaint said:

We have two quality championship strikers and probably even after  a mass exodus will have a quality championship spine. 
 

Honestly we are very well placed as far as I can tell.

The last time we were relegated I thought we were in for a hiding but this time with some smart trades I’m reasonably confident.

You thinking Adams and Armstrong?

They may have been championship quality 3 seasons ago, they've regressed since. Adams can't hit a barn door, not sure how that changes in the championship?

I have no confidence those two would get the goals needed for promotion.

[farawaysaint]

31 minutes ago, Dragon_man said:

You thinking Adams and Armstrong?

They may have been championship quality 3 seasons ago, they've regressed since. Adams can't hit a barn door, not sure how that changes in the championship?

I have no confidence those two would get the goals needed for promotion.

Yep, I’m going to back those two to score a bunch. We really only need one to come good after all and I cannot believe that they’ve suddenly become awful Championship players. 

Edited 21 May, 2023 by farawaysaint

[Whitey Grandad]

I’ve just watched MOTD2. Woeful goalkeeping. How anybody could possibly think McCarthy is the best that we have is beyond me.

VAR really is a pile of dogshit.

[woodsaint1]

1 hour ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Most of that lot played against Sheff Weds (scraped through on pens), Lincoln (struggled badly against and squeezed past), Blackpool (hung on for dear life) and lost to Grimsby. Good manager or bad manager, there’s no way half of that lot can be described as easily top half championship players.

Most of that lot also played in wins against City, Chelsea (twice) and draws home and away against Arsenal, United away, Spurs home etc. 

It has been a horrific season and the performances in those games you've highlighted were a disgrace. But also lets not forget they played most of the season under the stellar management of Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles. There are regular internationals and players who have done very well in the Championship before in that list. 

We need a manager who can restore confidence and a build a better playing style quickly. Not convinced Russell Martin is that guy, but time will tell. 

[ErwinK1961]

6 hours ago, woodsaint1 said:

Most of that lot also played in wins against City, Chelsea (twice) and draws home and away against Arsenal, United away, Spurs home etc. 

It has been a horrific season and the performances in those games you've highlighted were a disgrace. But also lets not forget they played most of the season under the stellar management of Nathan Jones and Ruben Selles. There are regular internationals and players who have done very well in the Championship before in that list. 

We need a manager who can restore confidence and a build a better playing style quickly. Not convinced Russell Martin is that guy, but time will tell. 

And most of that lot lost 25 (soon to be 26) league matches, our worst ever Prem side by some distance.

Im not saying for one minute the management has been anything other than a shambles, but this group of players are the most inept, spineless, mentally weak bunch you could come across.

It’s going to need a sea change across the club in the close season to change attitude and shed that loser mentally - that will take time. I can’t see us making the play offs.

[Appy]

Just sign a decent goalkeeper, how bloody hard can it be? 
 

That first goal is absolutely embarrassing. 

[S-Clarke]

20 minutes ago, Appy said:

Just sign a decent goalkeeper, how bloody hard can it be? 
 

That first goal is absolutely embarrassing. 

The third goal was just as bad.

Sandwiched in between a decent save though. Our GK's are bipolar.

[Appy]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

The third goal was just as bad.

Sandwiched in between a decent save though. Our GK's are bipolar.

Save was alright, straight down the middle of the goal. 

[the saint in winchester]

30 minutes ago, Appy said:

Just sign a decent goalkeeper, how bloody hard can it be? 
 

That first goal is absolutely embarrassing. 

Zac Steffen available, although Middlesboro may offer.

Dean Henderson available, as Forest expected to go with Navas. May not be within our budget, but we ought to be pushing the boat out.

[Saint Matty 76]

Thought it’d be worth putting McCarthy in a few months back but he really is just the same as Bazunu without any “potential” to make it worth sticking through. The first was terrible but the third in real time just felt embarrassing.

Good day out either way, mainly for the 30 seconds after Walcott scored. I’m sure it’s been said 1000 times on here but I truly cannot wait to celebrate a goal with no worry again.

[Bad Wolf]

18 hours ago, CB Fry said:

In the context of you just making up any old shit?

Making up any old shit.

Ngl I had a few shandys yesterday so not really sure what I meant by that...

[InTheChannel]

Evening fellow Saints fans

Post Brighton blog up now

https://inthechannel.blogspot.com/2023/05/southampton-20-leapfrog-originals.html?m=1

Appreciate your time 

[davefizzy14]

Another dissapointing result. We could play without the pressure on. It should really have been 2-2, Theo's goal should have stood. I really don't understand VAR at times. If that had stood and it rightfully should have, we could have gone on and won it. 

[Victor]

On 17/05/2023 at 18:09, Victor said:

Poll:

I have been bought tickets for the match for my birthday.  Do I say 'Thankyou'.

 

 

I decided to say thankyou after all (the Saints fans made it memorable, especially the turd!) - this is my thankyou card to them: