Jack Stephens is not the greatest

[Sunglasses Ron]

Jack Stephens - A Temu John Stones

Edited October 1 by Sunglasses Ron

[Wade Garrett]

Can we appeal for an even longer ban.  For our captain to be so insulting to the officials, it should be at least 6 months.

Totally unacceptable behaviour.

[FarehamSaintJames]

Can we appeal for ten games and a stripping of the captaincy.

[Gloucester Saint]

Get him starting songs in the Northam Wall

He’d love ‘My Old Man said be a Pompey Fan’, especially the lyrics in the last two lines.

[Football Special]

32 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Get him starting songs in the Northam Wall

He’d love ‘My Old Man said be a Pompey Fan’, especially the lyrics in the last two lines.

Don't hear that song enough nowadays 

[rallyboy]

It'll be interesting to see how many extra games Bruno Fernandes gets for chasing after the referee following his dismissal and getting right up in his face.

I'm pretty sure it will be zero.

[saintwbu]

3 minutes ago, rallyboy said:

It'll be interesting to see how many extra games Bruno Fernandes gets for chasing after the referee following his dismissal and getting right up in his face.

I'm pretty sure it will be zero.

He’s just had his red card overturned, so minus 3 is your answer.

[Gloucester Saint]

25 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Don't hear that song enough nowadays 

Surprising as it’s about them and a healthy sprinkling of swear words. Right up the youths’ street.

[bangkoksaint]

10 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Can we appeal for an even longer ban.  For our captain to be so insulting to the officials, it should be at least 6 months.

Totally unacceptable behaviour.

Absolutely this………is it little wonder that the younger generation think such behaviour is acceptable when they see the supposed captain of their team speaking to people in authority in such a way? Teachers, Police Officers, firefighters, nurses the list goes on are abused on a daily basis because it seems to have become the norm that this sort of abuse is acceptable. Sorry but personally I think he should be stripped of the captaincy and got an even longer ban. RM talks about ‘bravery’……well Russ be brave and do the right thing.

[beatlesaint]

3 hours ago, bangkoksaint said:

Absolutely this………is it little wonder that the younger generation think such behaviour is acceptable when they see the supposed captain of their team speaking to people in authority in such a way? Teachers, Police Officers, firefighters, nurses the list goes on are abused on a daily basis because it seems to have become the norm that this sort of abuse is acceptable. Sorry but personally I think he should be stripped of the captaincy and got an even longer ban. RM talks about ‘bravery’……well Russ be brave and do the right thing.

Thing is if he'd been hard done by it would be a little more understandable but come on Jack, you must have known it was a bad one and you ran a real risk of going off in this day and age. 

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

Thing is if he'd been hard done by it would be a little more understandable but come on Jack, you must have known it was a bad one and you ran a real risk of going off in this day and age. 

He was just n the wrong position. He shouldn’t have been out there.

[beatlesaint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

He was just n the wrong position. He shouldn’t have been out there.

Out there as in out there on the pitch you mean ? Totally agree 🤣

[Turkish]

😂

[St Louis]

It just shows what a sorry state of affairs we find ourselves in. We are leaking goals left, right and centre.... and not one of us thinks that our longest serving Centre Back and CAPTAIN of the team can help us (even one bit) to fix the defensive issues, and instead we unanimously call for him to be banned for longer 🤣

Edited October 2 by St Louis

[david in sweden]

While the emphasis of media attention seems to be on the lifespan of Russell Martin as manager, and a section  of our "fans" continue denigrating

the players at every turn, the sight of our team captain being further punished for a mouth full of insults to the match officials does little to improve

the club's image as one of the country's top 20 sides.  Our mismatched squad is composed of a mix of "veteran" players, and some promising young

talents, alongside a handful of players best-known for their performances in the Championship, who have yet to prove themselves at this higher level,

and so the bad string of opening results, whilst disappointing, are not really so surprising.

 

As this thread is supposed to be about Jack Stephens, we ought to consider his situation.  Jack will be 31 in January and despite his long,

and loyal service in the club ( 13 years to date ) he can hardly be considered to be one of the best CB's we've had in that time.  

 IF  his suspension has taught him any lessons, he will get his act together and start to show up as the role model that team captains are

apparently  supposed to be.  His enthusiasm and dedication cannot be called into doubt, but life in the Prem. is a tough call for many players

and particularly those over 30,  and so his future performances will be particularly interesting to watch  (as soon as he gets back to play)

plus  the fact that his contract is due to run out next summer.

There does not seem to be a " natural successor " for the role of captain, even though a few have been given the armband on occasions.

 

 

Edited October 2 by david in sweden

[Roo1976]

3 hours ago, david in sweden said:

While the emphasis of media attention seems to be on the lifespan of Russell Martin as manager, and a section  of our "fans" continue denigrating

the players at every turn, the sight of our team captain being further punished for a mouth full of insults to the match officials does little to improve

the club's image as one of the country's top 20 sides.  Our mismatched squad is composed of a mix of "veteran" players, and some promising young

talents, alongside a handful of players best-known for their performances in the Championship, who have yet to prove themselves at this higher level,

and so the bad string of opening results, whilst disappointing, are not really so surprising.

 

As this thread is supposed to be about Jack Stephens, we ought to consider his situation.  Jack will be 31 in January and despite his long,

and loyal service in the club ( 13 years to date ) he can hardly be considered to be one of the best CB's we've had in that time.  

 IF  his suspension has taught him any lessons, he will get his act together and start to show up as the role model that team captains are

apparently  supposed to be.  His enthusiasm and dedication cannot be called into doubt, but life in the Prem. is a tough call for many players

and particularly those over 30,  and so his future performances will be particularly interesting to watch  (as soon as he gets back to play)

plus  the fact that his contract is due to run out next summer.

There does not seem to be a " natural successor " for the role of captain, even though a few have been given the armband on occasions.

 

 

being the captain of this team ATM dosnt  matter a jot,cause the twat in charge of picking the team and tactics aint got a clue.

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Roo1976 said:

being the captain of this team ATM dosnt  matter a jot,cause the twat in charge of picking the team and tactics aint got a clue.

Indeed he hasn’t. He kept picking Stephens.

[Miltonaggro]

I have it on good authority that during the Pochettino / Koeman era at Saints, Captain Jack's playful nickname within the squad was 'Trigger'.  This may have been somewhat optimistic.   

[Saintinnot]

Stephens was irresponsible in getting sent off and getting caught swearing-   as captain he should be setting an example.

However IMO he is no worse than the other CB’s we have - take a look at the defending for the last 2 games - it’s really improved hasn’t it .

i did some maths on last years games and in league games (excluding playoffs) we achieved 2.06 points per game in which he played and 1.66 points per game in the games he didn’t play.

yes maybe he isn’t good enough but then so aren’t Bednarek and THB, so I don’t get the hatred towards Stephens and not the others.

 

[Saintinnot]

I meant last seasons games 

[m4]

34 minutes ago, Saintinnot said:

Stephens was irresponsible in getting sent off and getting caught swearing-   as captain he should be setting an example.

However IMO he is no worse than the other CB’s we have - take a look at the defending for the last 2 games - it’s really improved hasn’t it .

i did some maths on last years games and in league games (excluding playoffs) we achieved 2.06 points per game in which he played and 1.66 points per game in the games he didn’t play.

yes maybe he isn’t good enough but then so aren’t Bednarek and THB, so I don’t get the hatred towards Stephens and not the others.

 

I think the issue is the constant Shoe horning of the side for him to be in it, not how good of a player he is

[Saintinnot]

Yes , but you could argue that for 2.06 points per game when playing we should have been shoehorning him in ?

[Turkish]

On 03/10/2024 at 11:13, Miltonaggro said:

I have it on good authority that during the Pochettino / Koeman era at Saints, Captain Jack's playful nickname within the squad was 'Trigger'.  This may have been somewhat optimistic.   

it was, i heard that too

[East Kent Saint]

On 03/10/2024 at 11:13, Miltonaggro said:

I have it on good authority that during the Pochettino / Koeman era at Saints, Captain Jack's playful nickname within the squad was 'Trigger'.  This may have been somewhat optimistic.   

Do you mean Tigger ? 😄

[Whitey Grandad]

3 hours ago, Saintinnot said:

Yes , but you could argue that for 2.06 points per game when playing we should have been shoehorning him in ?

You’ve been looking at too many statistics.

It wasn’t 2.06 points per games this season, was it?

What the hell is 0.06 of a point anyway?

[BarberSaint]

16 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

You’ve been looking at too many statistics.

It wasn’t 2.06 points per games this season, was it?

What the hell is 0.06 of a point anyway?

 

The mean average number of points we'll get this season over  38 league games.  HTH.

[Whitey Grandad]

21 minutes ago, BarberSaint said:

 

The mean average number of points we'll get this season over  38 league games.  HTH.

Do you really think I was being serious?

Mean and average are different things. If that helps.

[Oh no Mick Mills]

4 hours ago, Saintinnot said:

Yes , but you could argue that for 2.06 points per game when playing we should have been shoehorning him in ?

I've never understood the constant hounding and criticism of Stephens. 

Certain people on here seem pretty obsessed with him tbh.

Always found it strange to dislike one of our own players so much.

I agree with the fact he's a fairly mediocre player with clear flaws in his game but there's only marginal differences between him and Bedders and THB. 

 

[Turkish]

11 minutes ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

I've never understood the constant hounding and criticism of Stephens. 

Certain people on here seem pretty obsessed with him tbh.

Always found it strange to dislike one of our own players so much.

I agree with the fact he's a fairly mediocre player with clear flaws in his game but there's only marginal differences between him and Bedders and THB. 

 

I dont think anyone particularly dislikes him, we all want him to do well. Most people seem to agree that it's a bit strange the manager seemed to find a way of playing him no matter what last season in some very strange positions too. It also doesn't help that his introduction to the team in 2017 came off the back of Van Dijk being injured and Fonte leaving which really highlighted the gap in quality between a very good defender and a bottom half one.

Edited October 4 by Turkish

[Whitey Grandad]

15 minutes ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

I've never understood the constant hounding and criticism of Stephens. 

Certain people on here seem pretty obsessed with him tbh.

Always found it strange to dislike one of our own players so much.

I agree with the fact he's a fairly mediocre player with clear flaws in his game but there's only marginal differences between him and Bedders and THB. 

 

He's just not very good. His inevitable mistakes and lack of discipline cause us problems. I've never forgotten the way he rushed off and left Ibrahimovic unmarked for that third goal at Wembley. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

He's just not very good. His inevitable mistakes and lack of discipline cause us problems. I've never forgotten the way he rushed off and left Ibrahimovic unmarked for that third goal at Wembley. 

That was a frustrating moment but him and Yoshida otherwise acquitted themselves well at Wembley, Fraser’s error on the free kick was very damaging. From there I expected him to kick on but the ball watching and losing strikers has become a more regular habit than it should be for someone with what, 150 PL starts?

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

That was a frustrating moment but him and Yoshida otherwise acquitted themselves well at Wembley, Fraser’s error on the free kick was very damaging. From there I expected him to kick on but the ball watching and losing strikers has become a more regular habit than it should be for someone with what, 150 PL starts?

"Otherwise well"?

Apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

He hasn't improved in the slightest. Championship was his upper limit.

[Gloucester Saint]

59 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

"Otherwise well"?

Apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

He hasn't improved in the slightest. Championship was his upper limit.

That’s what I meant, to clarify, that he made a mistake you’d expect from a 22/23 year old back up CB against an all time great forward, but that many of us thought he could improve his concentration and positioning as he got into his mid-late 20s when players in that position typically peak. Allied to his ability to bring the ball out. And he hasn’t, really, he’s struggled even this season to look like the squad centre back he was under Ralph and at Bournemouth. Arguably, the technical ability on the ball had diminished as well. Only early 30s now and thought he’d be absolute peak now when seeing him as a younger player.

Les was a disgrace that January to have sold Fonte and only brought in a half-fit Caceres. Plus Vardy crocking VVD. 

Edited October 4 by Gloucester Saint

[BarberSaint]

On 04/10/2024 at 20:23, Gloucester Saint said:

That’s what I meant, to clarify, that he made a mistake you’d expect from a 22/23 year old back up CB against an all time great forward, but that many of us thought he could improve his concentration and positioning as he got into his mid-late 20s when players in that position typically peak. Allied to his ability to bring the ball out. And he hasn’t, really, he’s struggled even this season to look like the squad centre back he was under Ralph and at Bournemouth. Arguably, the technical ability on the ball had diminished as well. Only early 30s now and thought he’d be absolute peak now when seeing him as a younger player.

Les was a disgrace that January to have sold Fonte and only brought in a half-fit Caceres. Plus Vardy crocking VVD. 

I don't know why people thought his concentration would improve over time. If anything, the opposite was likely to happen.  That's the kind of thing you address early to make it go away or it'll stick.

 

On 04/10/2024 at 16:00, Whitey Grandad said:

Do you really think I was being serious?

Mean and average are different things. If that helps.

Serious, no? Nor was I. Last I looked mean, median and mode were still 'averages' though.

[Sheaf Saint]

7 hours ago, BarberSaint said:

I don't know why people thought his concentration would improve over time. If anything, the opposite was likely to happen.  That's the kind of thing you address early to make it go away or it'll stick.

I get where GS is coming from here, because my thoughts were similar. In his younger days, the weaknesses he showed looked like the sort of things that could be coached out of him or just improve with time and experience, because he's always shown decent ability on the ball and CBs do tend to take longer to mature. So it wasn't unreasonable to assume that he might have developed into a really good player. But, as has been pointed out, he seems to have gone the opposite way and hasn't eliminated those shortcomings from his game at all.

Edited October 10 by Sheaf Saint