Pre Season Friendlies 2024/25

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

It might sound harsh but both of them are weak links for us at PL level IMO. So is Stephens to be fair, but his place looks solid as long as we’re going for the 3 CB approach.

Although I’m not sure I see Adarma, BBD and another striker as our starting lineup.

Adam, BBD and a striker would be our best chance of scoring goals imo. 

[The Kraken]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Adam, BBD and a striker would be our best chance of scoring goals imo. 

Definitely would, I don’t disagree. But I think it would also leave our midfield massively exposed.

[EBS1980]

The ref was very card happy today. I lost  count, thought it was about 10/11 in the end?

Edited August 10 by EBS1980

[Eric The Red]

10 minutes ago, EBS1980 said:

The ref was very card happy today. I lost  count, thought it was about 10/11 in the end?

Disagree about the ref. I thought all the cards (I remember) were justified

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, Eric The Red said:

Disagree about the ref. I thought all the cards (I remember) were justified

Agree, I thought he was decent. Booked Getafe players for most of their sh*thouse antics.

[Zorba]

5 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

 

Is this board getting taken over by bots?

[trousers]

8 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

We’re going to have a tough season

Without wishing to patronise, a club in our position is always going to have a "tough season" TBH...

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

3 hours ago, trousers said:

Without wishing to patronise, a club in our position is always going to have a "tough season" TBH...

Well, I'm not sure how bad our position is,  but burying that question mark for now - apart from the Pochettino era, Koeman era and a portion of the Puel era,
YES, we are most likely in for a very, very tough season 👍

On the whole, In my view, right now, we seem to be where we were in the majority of the 90s, where player prices and salaries really began to go through the roof, and where we had to battle REALLY hard - because of our limited budget and the small (but legendary) stadium -  season after season - to maintain our elite division status, which we managed to do. 

Personally, I have strong belief in Russell Martins skills as manager - plus , after all,  let's remind ourselves that we "just" have to stay above 3 teams to survive,
for instance B'mouth (who just sold Solanke), Leicester (who may start with a point deduction AND finally lack the old rat Vardys magic), Ipswich (who might find it difficult to perceive themselves as a PL team after so many years), Nottingham Forest (unconvincing manager imo), Everton (who seem to keep continuously spiraling downwards), Brighton (new manager, seem to loose key player(s) again), Palace (loosing key players apparently) -  and, not least, small club Brentford (who may finally run out of both player recruitment wonders and STEAM. especially when they sell Toney + Frank is a very serious contender for the job as manager of Denmarks national team within maximum the next 6 months).

Call me naive if you want, but personally I think we can actually manage to survive for much more than a season, having seen Saints survive in the elite division for so many seasons since 1980 (1978 actually).  If we keep hold of RM and if we can improve in developing youngsters and signing the right players at the right price, which I hope and believe we can, why should we go down and not 3 of the teams mentioned above?

Just my opinion.

Time will show.

Come on you Saints 💪

Thank you.

Edited August 11 by Kristian Loekkegaard

[Kenilworthy]

10 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Agree, I thought he was decent. Booked Getafe players for most of their sh*thouse antics.

I thought the ref was quite restrained. He was really forced to show the cards he did and could have shown more to players on both sides. It might have been good though for him to call the managers together and tell them that this is supposed to be a friendly and if it carries on he will get his red card out.

[64saint]

3 hours ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Call me naive if you want, but personally I think we can actually manage to survive for much more than a season, having seen Saints survive in the elite division for so many seasons since 1980 (1978 actually).  If we keep hold of RM and if we can improve in developing youngsters and signing the right players at the right price, which I hope and believe we can, why should we go down and not 3 of the teams mentioned above?

Just my opinion.

Time will show.

Come on you Saints 💪

Thank you.

You're last paragraph has just pulled me out of my pre season spiral of depression.  Thank you 👍

I do so hope you're right 🙄

Edited August 11 by 64saint

[suewhistle]

5 hours ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Well, I'm not sure how bad our position is /SNIP/

Of the teams you mention the one that surprises me the most is Bournemouth. I've driven past the ground and seen it a number of times when flying out of Bournemouth and it appears almost non-league in size and you can see why the capacity is a lot less than half St Mary's. They'd miss not having TV money even more than we did.

[davefizzy14]

We looked very solid defensively and great to see KWP back 😊 really hoping he stays. I think Onuachu could be an option this coming season 😊 was good to see him get 20 mins or so yesterday. We do put a lot of crosses into the box so this something that he will obviously thrive on.  We didn't create too much however its pre-season. But we still need added quality in the top areas if the pitch, that is clear to see and I'm sure RM is pushing the board to do this. 

[davefizzy14]

The opposition were such a bunch of dirty and diving cheats, really wound me up, especially that number 6! Everytime he was touched he went down. The elbow on Yuki was a disgrace.

Edited August 11 by davefizzy14

[Nordic Saint]

2 hours ago, davefizzy14 said:

The opposition were such a bunch of dirty and diving cheats, really wound me up, especially that number 6! Everytime he was touched he went down. The elbow on Yuki was a disgrace.

That No.6, the Nigerian, Christantus Uche, was the most prolific diver and moaner I've ever seen at St Mary's, and there have been a few. He should have received several yellow cards for simulation and several more for constantly complaining to the referee about non-existent fouls. It's a pity the new Premier League rule that only the captain can speak to the referee wasn't enforced or half the Getafe team would have been sent off, with Uche leading the way.

It was hilarious watching Getafe players dive, anticipating a Saints player making contact, when the nearest Saints player was more than a yard away from them. They'd lie down, holding their leg for a while and then realize that everybody else was getting on with the game, and shamefacedly, get up, except for Uche, who would still go and complain to the ref.

 

Edited August 11 by Nordic Saint

[Saint Fan CaM]

17 hours ago, trousers said:

Without wishing to patronise, a club in our position is always going to have a "tough season" TBH...

Oh absolutely - but I was referring to us, the supporters (which is slightly different to say the team conceding lots of goals and losing more games than winning them). However, there is a glimmer of hope when you see some of last seasons over-achievers start selling off their prize assets. And who knows, there may be a signing before the end of the window that’s the catalyst to a great season. Maybe.

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

On 10/08/2024 at 16:43, CSA96 said:

Fuck me, that is a criminal offside. Edozie plays it to Sugawara who is behind the play... and the flag goes up

Yes, a goal - most likely from Aribo - who was ready to receive a cut back from Sugawara to put the ball into an empty goal, was stolen because of the lines mans blindness.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

IMO Edozie, not Sugawara, was offside.

[Whitey Grandad]

11 minutes ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

IMO Edozie, not Sugawara, was offside.

Did the linesman (assistant) wave his arm back and forwards?

[Osvaldorama]

6 hours ago, Nordic Saint said:

That No.6, the Nigerian, Christantus Uche, was the most prolific diver and moaner I've ever seen at St Mary's, and there have been a few. He should have received several yellow cards for simulation and several more for constantly complaining to the referee about non-existent fouls. It's a pity the new Premier League rule that only the captain can speak to the referee wasn't enforced or half the Getafe team would have been sent off, with Uche leading the way.

It was hilarious watching Getafe players dive, anticipating a Saints player making contact, when the nearest Saints player was more than a yard away from them. They'd lie down, holding their leg for a while and then realize that everybody else was getting on with the game, and shamefacedly, get up, except for Uche, who would still go and complain to the ref.

 

They are top of the red and yellow card lists in La Liga for a reason. 
 

Absolute shit houses. (We probably need to learn a thing or two from them tbh. Glad we coped with it quite well). 

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

My concern from Saturday was that we seemed to play with everyone very wide, and no direct threat from anywhere. At points, BBD and Arma were the widest players on the pitch, and nothing was being offered through the centre.

[trousers]

On 31/07/2024 at 20:45, LeG said:

We are going straight back down with Macca as No.1 Surely RM is pressuring SR behind the scenes. I refuse to believe we will stick with him. I will ask the question and report back.

Hi @LeG - any report on your findings? Cheers 

[Bushey Saint]

On 10/08/2024 at 18:23, Fabrice29 said:

 

Is this board getting taken over by bots?

Someone holds an opinion at variance with yours, so they must therefore be a 'bot'.  Okay.

[Fabrice29]

3 minutes ago, Bushey Saint said:

Someone holds an opinion at variance with yours, so they must therefore be a 'bot'.  Okay.

It’s more the baseless and badly put together opinions that I have problems with and come across as just being said for the sake of a narrative, like a bot. We’ve just had one of our more exciting seasons as a club, so anyone peddling the ‘Boring, predictable, terrible, dull style’ narrative doesn’t feel like they are actual real people.

[BarberSaint]

Just my late thoughts on the games vs Lazio and Getafe. First time I'd seen this lot live.

Lazio

Wood. Very poor on the ball and otherwise I think it's questionable if he's a professional-level player.  I cannot see why he was signed based on that showing.

Manning.  Poor.

Edwards. Slow but seems to read the game well and looks very consistent. Seems to have a lot of promise. I think he'll do well.

Dibling. Plays with head up. Always looking around. Receives the ball well and shields it and directs players as to where the ball should go. Knows what he wants to do before he gets the ball. Can use his right foot well but heavily favours his left. See no reason to not play him at this level. Looks perfectly at home and seems to just like football.

Brereton. Apart from the goal, did very little.  Can't say much.

Charley. (obviously now irrelevant). Moves forward and into space but then gets isolated. Does look to pass the ball in the direction of the opposition's goal.

Getafe. Boring and very closed-down game. We seem to have no forward impetus at all.

KWP. Same as. Poor defender, ok going forward.

Sugawara. Not bad. Presume he played in the first game as well. Not sure how he is at defending. I like defenders who defend. If they can play then that's a big bonus, but if they can't defend they shouldn't play.

Harwood-Bellis. Slow. On that showing, saw nothing to excite me. 

Armstrong. When he got away the once I didn't think he'd score, I thought he'd miss. Lacks precision and speed of thought but does make a lot of runs off the shoulder that aren't picked up.