Saints 1-3 Newcastle - Match Thread

[Badger]

28 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Spoke to some Geordies last night in the pub, they were surprised that we weren't doing protests and said if it was them there would be a demo every home game, difference is they see it through the eyes of wanting Ashley out at all costs, we don't really have a board out motivation knowing they'd likely be replaced by others just as bad? 

 

 

 

 

Our supporter base is far too passive though. In the Branfoot era I thought the SISA initiative was a good one and hoped it would continue, could do with something similar now.

Unfortunately though the original as I understand it fell apart. Not sure why was once told due to egos and internal squabbles. 

But as you say, what is the protest against, shit results ? I don’t think people are against Sports Republic as such, or Dragan, so much as some of his employees and their decision making. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

From where I was Sat it was a penalty, I was actually amazed the ref pointed for a corner, and even more amazed it took so long to overturn his error. 
 

As for 3 centre halves it looks to me like he’s trying to get Bree over lapping and creating an over load ( a bit like Sheffield Utd did during Wilders successful season). If you’re going to get centre halves to play this role, Bree is the only option on the right side of the 3. Not saying it’s right or wrong, but explains why Bree is starting over Wood.

 

 

[Hatch]

Look at Luton this season.   That’s where we are heading with this squad. 

[Lighthouse]

7 minutes ago, Hatch said:

Look at Luton this season.   That’s where we are heading with this squad. 

Two teams who finished below them last season are second and third

[StrangelyBrown]

11 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Much of that is true, but Newcastle have been more limited in what they can spend by FFP and Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton don’t have Saudi backing. Much as I detest Stockley Park the main reason we are hating this season is that Sports Republic have completely destroyed anything and everything we valued about SFC, which was already hollowed out under Gao.

Tony Bloom is worth the same kind of ballpark as Dragan but the attention to detail and clarity on their transfer business and structure means that they not only trade players like we used to but when De Zerbi left, they got the succession right again, just like they did when Potter went to Chelsea, Bournemouth have the equivalent of Pochettino as manager, very highly regarded. Fit, high tempo style of play, beat Forest 5-0 today, who have been superb themselves under Nuno. On 12000 gates.

We’ve got the best foundations out of those clubs but so, so, so poorly run. The only way to sort it is new CEO, DoF, First Team Manager and biggest budget in the Championship. Big names. Clean the squad out as far as possible, and blow the division out the water like Wolves did under Nuno. Re-make the entire club. Then SR might, just might not be regarded as a total fucking joke by the industry, media and our fanbase. And it’s the least they owe the fanbase and city of Southampton frankly, we’re not even first in their food chain of clubs. 

Spot on - but sadly Rasmus and Kraft are founders and still part of the ownership of SR. This is what needs to change - otherwise they will continue to influence things they shouldn't and we'll continue to waste Solaks money.

[Nordic Saint]

The funniest moment of the game came in the 79th minute when that fan who'd won a prize to play in a Premier League game came on and replaced Ugochukwu! The manager had obviously told him. "Jog around a bit. Don't get in anybody's way. No need to worry, the ball won't come anywhere near you and if it does another player will run and get it. We'll give you a shirt signed by all the players at the end of the game."

[S-Clarke]

12 hours ago, Winnersaint said:

Put on and pull up your big boy pants!

Sorry, I realise I must have overreacted at us losing 19 of 23 games of top flight football. Easy to turn that around for sure, my mistake.

Edited yesterday at 10:35 by S-Clarke

[saintant]

Juric has a tough task and I think he is doing a lot of things well and improving us despite the continuation of poor results. However, I'm not convinced about playing with a back 5 and we are doing it very badly. A back five should never part like the Red Sea and allow an opponent to waltz unchallenged through the middle to score - it happened twice yesterday and will carry on happening unless we are better drilled. The 3rd goal was a complete joke because THB and Bednarek were miles apart and I don't even know where Bree was. In addition we are still failing to close down, mark players or put in tackles when opponents attack - this is basic stuff and an unfortunate carry over from the previous manager but IJ must drill the players to carry out these basics. We cannot continue to ship 3 goals every game. I'd like to see him try 4231 which is what most sides play these days. THB is never happy in a back 5.

Edited yesterday at 12:52 by saintant

[Badger]

11 hours ago, Challenger said:

Can someone end this misery, just put a sack over the entire club and then hit it with a fucking big stick .

 

Know how you feel.

At kick off yesterday the overwhelming thought was oh, Christ let’s get this over with, not the sense of anticipation that we used to have.

 

[Lighthouse]

20 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Sorry, I realise I must have overreacted at us losing 19 of 23 games of top flight football. Easy to turn that around for sure, my mistake.

Nothing's easy at this level of professional football but it's well within the realms of possibility if we get the managerial appointment right and recruit fairly sensibly.

[redkeith]

44 minutes ago, Badger said:

Our supporter base is far too passive though. In the Branfoot era I thought the SISA initiative was a good one and hoped it would continue, could do with something similar now.

Unfortunately though the original as I understand it fell apart. Not sure why was once told due to egos and internal squabbles. 

But as you say, what is the protest against, shit results ? I don’t think people are against Sports Republic as such, or Dragan, so much as some of his employees and their decision making. 

I was heavily involved in SISA.

After Branfoot was removed and reqular meetings between SISA and the board it did all fall apart really, as there was nothing left to protest about as the club was being well run .

  

[saintant]

I guess if you want to emphasise how bad we've been this season then 16 goals scored and 53 conceded in 23 games speaks volumes.

[S-Clarke]

15 minutes ago, saintant said:

I guess if you want to emphasise how bad we've been this season then 16 goals scored and 53 conceded in 23 games speaks volumes.

Just to emphasise that even further, Jan Bednarek is joint top scorer with 2 goals - alongside Aribo, Tyler, Archer and Armstrong. 

I think even the most negative of Saints fans expected better returns than that.

[Disco Stu]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

Our supporter base is far too passive though. In the Branfoot era I thought the SISA initiative was a good one and hoped it would continue, could do with something similar now.

Unfortunately though the original as I understand it fell apart. Not sure why was once told due to egos and internal squabbles. 

But as you say, what is the protest against, shit results ? I don’t think people are against Sports Republic as such, or Dragan, so much as some of his employees and their decision making. 

I certainly am.

[S-Clarke]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

Our supporter base is far too passive though. In the Branfoot era I thought the SISA initiative was a good one and hoped it would continue, could do with something similar now.

Unfortunately though the original as I understand it fell apart. Not sure why was once told due to egos and internal squabbles. 

But as you say, what is the protest against, shit results ? I don’t think people are against Sports Republic as such, or Dragan, so much as some of his employees and their decision making. 

I don't think people are against Dragan, he's put his money where his mouth is. The issue we all have is the management of said funds and how it's been used.

That's on SR as an organisation and their 'plan', which I don't think anyone really knows. Everything they have touched has gone south from the moment they gained real control. Staff turnover is huge as retention seems to be difficult. Recruitment has been an unmitigated disaster and we have financially lost so much money.

The only people we can point at is the organisation running the club up to this point, which is Sports Republic. The slight positive is that Dragan has now stepped in himself to oversee much more closely so we'll see if things improve.

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

56 minutes ago, redkeith said:

I was heavily involved in SISA.

After Branfoot was removed and reqular meetings between SISA and the board it did all fall apart really, as there was nothing left to protest about as the club was being well run .

  

I went with a couple of mates early on, that first night in the rammed Captain's Place pub was very good that got everyone there onboard. There was also good nights at the Hulse Road Social Club and, in particular, Bally's arrival in the Polygon Hotel. A lot of good came out of those meetings and served a purpose but it eventually went down hill especially once it started getting too political (as did the UI fanzine), MacMillan and Chorley seemed to hijack it to push their own agendas.

By the time the meetings were held at the Maple Leaf it was all but done.

[Lighthouse]

28 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Just to emphasise that even further, Jan Bednarek is joint top scorer with 2 goals - alongside Aribo, Tyler, Archer and Armstrong. 

I think even the most negative of Saints fans expected better returns than that.

I can't say that I did, personally, who were you expecting more goals from? All those numbers (aside from Dibling) are basically on par with what those players have done before at this level. In their most recent season, Archer and Armstrong scored four and two goals, respectively.

[S-Clarke]

8 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I can't say that I did, personally, who were you expecting more goals from? All those numbers (aside from Dibling) are basically on par with what those players have done before at this level. In their most recent season, Archer and Armstrong scored four and two goals, respectively.

I expected around five at this stage from both Armstrong and Archer, not ground breaking numbers by any means but even that would have probably put us closer to the pack. I naively thought we'd discovered the best way to use Armstrong, he was coming into this season on the back of 25 goals and with the same managers/coaches who got that out of him, so I think most would have expected more than 2 at this stage tbh.

I also expected goals from BBD, not ground breaking numbers either but enough to at least put us in the pack.

I'm not saying any of these guys are any good, but I still thought they were a tiny notch better than this. 

Edited yesterday at 12:54 by S-Clarke

[ApprenticeBillionaire]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Nothing's easy at this level of professional football but it's well within the realms of possibility if we get the managerial appointment right and recruit fairly sensibly.

LOL

Yes because SportsRepublic have a Great track record of that right...

Managerial and player recurtment has been a complete fucking shitshow since the day they arrived.

[benjii]

58 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

I went with a couple of mates early on, that first night in the rammed Captain's Place pub was very good that got everyone there onboard. There was also good nights at the Hulse Road Social Club and, in particular, Bally's arrival in the Polygon Hotel. A lot of good came out of those meetings and served a purpose but it eventually went down hill especially once it started getting too political (as did the UI fanzine), MacMillan and Chorley seemed to hijack it to push their own agendas.

By the time the meetings were held at the Maple Leaf it was all but done.

Wasn't Chorley trying to raise money for a fact-finding trip to Barcelona at one point? Haha

[benjii]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

I guess if you want to emphasise how bad we've been this season then 16 goals scored and 53 conceded in 23 games speaks volumes.

Puncta: res ipsur loquitur.

[FarehamSaintJames]

4 hours ago, Wsaint said:

Let's see the bet slips, the odds on anyone beating us will be absolute dog shit 😂 unless you're holidaying at the local shopping centre.

I’ve just put a few quid here and there, nothing major.

But it all adds up, and the last few years Southampton have been constantly predictable. We can all see the glaring errors, mistakes coming, player to be booked, number of goals - because we predict it every single week. 😂

The last six weeks I’ve noticed the odds have dwindled down to near pointless doing it. 🤣

[Football Special]

27 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I’ve just put a few quid here and there, nothing major.

But it all adds up, and the last few years Southampton have been constantly predictable. We can all see the glaring errors, mistakes coming, player to be booked, number of goals - because we predict it every single week. 😂

The last six weeks I’ve noticed the odds have dwindled down to near pointless doing it. 🤣

Once we took the lead Newcastle went to Evens, too good to turn down when we all know what's going to happen 

[Miltonaggro]

15 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Much of that is true, but Newcastle have been more limited in what they can spend by FFP and Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton don’t have Saudi backing. Much as I detest Stockley Park the main reason we are hating this season is that Sports Republic have completely destroyed anything and everything we valued about SFC, which was already hollowed out under Gao.

Tony Bloom is worth the same kind of ballpark as Dragan but the attention to detail and clarity on their transfer business and structure means that they not only trade players like we used to but when De Zerbi left, they got the succession right again, just like they did when Potter went to Chelsea, Bournemouth have the equivalent of Pochettino as manager, very highly regarded. Fit, high tempo style of play, beat Forest 5-0 today, who have been superb themselves under Nuno. On 12000 gates.

We’ve got the best foundations out of those clubs but so, so, so poorly run. The only way to sort it is new CEO, DoF, First Team Manager and biggest budget in the Championship. Big names. Clean the squad out as far as possible, and blow the division out the water like Wolves did under Nuno. Re-make the entire club. Then SR might, just might not be regarded as a total fucking joke by the industry, media and our fanbase. And it’s the least they owe the fanbase and city of Southampton frankly, we’re not even first in their food chain of clubs. 

Good post.  It's an industrial enema that's needed rather than more sticking plaster.  Ground zero and the here and now.

[East Kent Saint]

Great goal yesterday , header from a cross as well !

[Dark Munster]

37 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Great goal yesterday , header from a cross as well !

I admire your positivity. You seem to be a glass one quarter full type of person. 👍

[Saint_clark]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I expected around five at this stage from both Armstrong and Archer, not ground breaking numbers by any means but even that would have probably put us closer to the pack. I naively thought we'd discovered the best way to use Armstrong, he was coming into this season on the back of 25 goals and with the same managers/coaches who got that out of him, so I think most would have expected more than 2 at this stage tbh.

I also expected goals from BBD, not ground breaking numbers either but enough to at least put us in the pack.

I'm not saying any of these guys are any good, but I still thought they were a tiny notch better than this. 

Don't know why you expected that of Armstrong, he's never scored more than 2 Prem goals in a season. 

Archer probably would have 5 if he'd started every game. Inexplicably dropped after he scored earlier in the season.

[Harry_SFC]

37 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Don't know why you expected that of Armstrong, he's never scored more than 2 Prem goals in a season. 

Archer probably would have 5 if he'd started every game. Inexplicably dropped after he scored earlier in the season.

Indeed. Armstrong has 6 goals in 88 appearances.

[FarehamSaintJames]

3 hours ago, Football Special said:

Once we took the lead Newcastle went to Evens, too good to turn down when we all know what's going to happen 

Correct, I did it for Leicester, Man United and Newcastle.

When the mentality is that weak you know they’ll crumble.

[Football Special]

21 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Correct, I did it for Leicester, Man United and Newcastle.

When the mentality is that weak you know they’ll crumble.

For Man Utd they went to 7/1 on 65th min when I backed them, could see when subs were made where it was heading. 

[Viking Saint]

On 25/01/2025 at 16:53, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Lallana was just a strange signing all round. Just another string to our shite recruitment. What actual value has he been all season? 

He's great in the changing room apparently...

[Saint_clark]

On 25/01/2025 at 16:53, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Lallana was just a strange signing all round. Just another string to our shite recruitment. What actual value has he been all season? 

Martins obsession with bearded, well groomed British "great lads" was fucking infuriating. It felt like he was trying to put a squad together that would be up for a lads Ibiza trip at the end of the season. 

[StrangelyBrown]

Isn't it time to think a bit differently? What's the point in hanging on to players who will get us out of the championship but who we know will let us down in the premier league?

I'd offload Armstrong, Bednarek, McCarthy, Stephens as a priority - all inept at premier league level.

[musesaint]

19 hours ago, benjii said:

Puncta: res ipsur loquitur.

Surely that’s Res Ipsa Loquitur??? 
 
Though roughly translated it means exactly the same - “The Fcuk Up Speaks For Itself “

[Appy]

Has Juric actually improved us? Or has he just made us bad in a different way? 
 

As much as he says he wants to be here next season, there’s no chance if he doesn’t at least pick up one or two results. 

[Whitey Grandad]

8 minutes ago, Appy said:

Has Juric actually improved us? Or has he just made us bad in a different way? 
 

As much as he says he wants to be here next season, there’s no chance if he doesn’t at least pick up one or two results. 

I much prefer watching us now and I feel that we are creating more goal scoring chances but defensively we are wide open.

The way that Tonali just sprinted right through our team on Saturday was pitiful. Did not playing with a standard back four have anything to do with it?

[Lighthouse]

5 hours ago, StrangelyBrown said:

Isn't it time to think a bit differently? What's the point in hanging on to players who will get us out of the championship but who we know will let us down in the premier league?

I'd offload Armstrong, Bednarek, McCarthy, Stephens as a priority - all inept at premier league level.

Offloading a proven 20-30 goal involvement player like Armstrong BEFORE we’ve actually been promoted is straight out of the Ankersen playbook of thinking differently. Bednarek is also a very good Championship CB and McCarthy is fine as back up. The time to offload them is summer ‘26 IF we do get promoted.

That said, we agree on one thing, Stephens can p*ss off.

[spyinthesky]

Just a refection on the Newcastle game.
Obviously with the money at their disposal they had better quality players but this was not only evident when they had the ball but off it too,
Newcastle moved the ball quickly and their forward players were consistently making runs into space either to receive the ball or to make space for team mates.
In comparison most of the time our defenders had to ball moving the ball forward into the opposition's half was slow. Not as slow as with Russball but still slow enough to allow Newcastle players to get into shape.
Also when our players had the ball around the Newcastle penalty area and lost possession this caused us all sorts of problems as Newcastle were able to break at pace.
Perhaps Juric can adjust tactics to assist with this.

[Greedyfly]

23 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I expected around five at this stage from both Armstrong and Archer, not ground breaking numbers by any means but even that would have probably put us closer to the pack. I naively thought we'd discovered the best way to use Armstrong, he was coming into this season on the back of 25 goals and with the same managers/coaches who got that out of him, so I think most would have expected more than 2 at this stage tbh.

I also expected goals from BBD, not ground breaking numbers either but enough to at least put us in the pack.

I'm not saying any of these guys are any good, but I still thought they were a tiny notch better than this. 

This is part of the insanity though; we had - out on the left.

 

So we thought, nah fuck that, tougher league, cleverer opposition, he's never been prolific before, lets start him as an actual number 9 instead.  One of just a number of bonkers decisions.

 

On 26/01/2025 at 10:19, Badger said:

Our supporter base is far too passive though. In the Branfoot era I thought the SISA initiative was a good one and hoped it would continue, could do with something similar now.

Unfortunately though the original as I understand it fell apart. Not sure why was once told due to egos and internal squabbles. 

But as you say, what is the protest against, shit results ? I don’t think people are against Sports Republic as such, or Dragan, so much as some of his employees and their decision making. 

Will echo Badgers comments above though, in that SR aren't really the issue, in fact we might (further down the road) be better with them than without (money, multi club model etc), but it's been the decisions of those that they have chosen to trust, to make sensible footballing decisions, that has been the issue.  Sure, that is partially their fault but they aren't footballing people, that's what they thought they were bringing in.  That's another error.  Hopefully we are starting to correct that with new appointments, though reports that we are STILL looking at cheap Championship options (Ollie Tanner - really!?!), which is basically what we have anyway throughout the squad, suggests some muppets still have too much control.

 

 

 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, spyinthesky said:

Just a refection on the Newcastle game.
Obviously with the money at their disposal they had better quality players but this was not only evident when they had the ball but off it too,
Newcastle moved the ball quickly and their forward players were consistently making runs into space either to receive the ball or to make space for team mates.
In comparison most of the time our defenders had to ball moving the ball forward into the opposition's half was slow. Not as slow as with Russball but still slow enough to allow Newcastle players to get into shape.
Also when our players had the ball around the Newcastle penalty area and lost possession this caused us all sorts of problems as Newcastle were able to break at pace.
Perhaps Juric can adjust tactics to assist with this.

Unfortunately it's going to take time to unpick the bad habits and change from walking football to something more dynamic.