 | News
Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 05:47:19
The Man City and Liverpool results these past couple of weeks really weren't surprising. They're the only two sides in the division that want to attack _all_ the time. In other words, unlike the seventeen other EPL sides, they never resort to getting everyone behind the ball and leaving us to pursue our own undoing (except that we managed to do just that anyway against Liverpool!).
I honestly can't say what we're paying Martin to do. (Is his job description to organize charity matches? To be a Puma clotheshorse? To entertain Lucy Pinder?) He can't pick the right side. And he's doing FA as a tactician (in fact, to call him one would be downright absurd).
If all this was our plan all along, we should have stayed in the Championship and continued to enjoy ourselves. I can't even be bothered to hit the "on" button on the remote anymore at this point. |
| News
Comment | Do Southampton Need To Recall Bella-Kotchap For Liverpool Clash
at 18:22:03
My best guess is that the rift between ABK and everyone else at the club is too far to bridge. Premier League managers find out how to overcome such stuff. But managers whose imagination doesn't extend beyond the Championship apparently find ways to leave proven talent on the wayside. |
| News
Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 00:13:57
I'm sure to get some stick for this, but it's been a long time since I enjoyed a season of football like the past one in the Championship. The Premier League is just a big poker table rigged by the "Big Six/Seven/Eight," and we're always doomed to nail-biting and looking over our shoulders because we don't have the chips. In other words, it's just not been fun.
If the goal is to return to the Championship—which I think I wouldn't mind—then keep Martin and we'll have another enjoyable go of it next year. Perhaps our only punishment is to punch above our weight and spend seasons in the Premiership for it. |
| News
Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 00:12:59
This article does a nice job of patiently pointing out the problems: https://defector.com/southampton-is-too-stubborn-for-the-premier-league.
In the meantime—and I'm sure to get some stick for this—it's been a long time since I enjoyed a season of football like the past one in the Championship. The Premier League is just a big poker table rigged by the "Big Six/Seven/Eight," and we're always doomed to nail-biting and looking over our shoulders because we don't have the chips. In other words, it's just not been fun.
If the goal is to return to the Championship—which I think I wouldn't mind—then keep Martin and we'll have another enjoyable go of it next year. Perhaps our only punishment is to punch above our weight and spend seasons in the Premiership for it. |
| News
Comment | Southampton V Arsenal The Preview
at 18:29:32
Well, if recent seasons are anything to go on, we've got to get 9-0 out of the way at some point, so it may as well be tomorrow. |
| News
Comment | Southampton V Ipswich Town The Verdict
at 19:17:23
I am buoyed by the positive comments here, because most of the time I dwell on the suspicion that we don't have the personnel—the manager or the players—to compete in the Premier League. Here's hoping I am wrong. |
| News
Comment | The Solution Is Clear For Russell Martin If He Is To Stay In His Job
at 19:54:08
I get that the idea of tippy-tappy football starting at the back is to suck opposing players into pressing high, to beat the press, and then it's off to the races. But why can't we do this sort of thing in relatively defined vertical zones up the pitch? Tippy-tap all you like on the wings in the middle third (so long as you eventually go forward). |
| News
Comment | Southampton Nearing Cash Plus Player Transfer Deal
at 18:23:18
No disrespect to Flamengo, but a player of his age and ability should be seeking playing time in Europe. There seemed to have been some interest there, but apparently it dried up. |
| News
Comment | Southampton Still Have Two Irons In The Fire For A Goalkeeper
at 05:46:49
I have long admired Ramsdale. I was thrilled when i saw that Saints were linked with him. He's a very good shot stopper and distributer of the ball—via his throwing, not so much his kicking. Arsenal evidently feel similarly, as they got a "sweeper/keeper" last year, haven't looked back, and have relegated Ramsdale to the bench. If he isn't good on the ball, we'd be taking a risk establishing him in our system. In which case—lemme see some tape on that Dutchman. |
| News
Comment | James Ward Prowse To Be Allowed To Leave West Ham United
at 01:17:54
Dunno if i agree with naysayers here. The old JWP wouldn't be the one returning, of course. But we might expect his work-rate, dead-ball efforts, and leadership. For me, however, if he's still got the legs he can put in a shift _off_ the ball. (His rivalry with Wilfred Zaha, how he could mark that guy right out of the game, comes to mind.) So I say that if he can be got on the cheap, he _should_ be got. He won't marshal the midfield again. But he'd be a huge shot in the arm. |
| News
Comment | Southampton Announce New Shirt Sponsors
at 20:17:08
In a sports world that's flush with cash, it nevertheless feels as if the financial frontiers everywhere are in online gambling. There's an "easy" way to get gambling companies' names off of clubs' shirts: just stop gambling. This approach makes sense of me—but my addictions are other than gambling, so it's an easy call. |
| News
Comment | Saints May Have To Cash In On Star Defender
at 19:03:56
Ideally we keep him. And/But, to survive in the Prem we need lots more steel in central defense. Sell him or keep him, we need to recruit someone else, preferably a Dean Richards type (Dean being doubly missed, having passed, and at such a young age). |
| News
Comment | Southampton V West Bromwich Albion The Play Off 2nd Leg Verdict
at 23:31:16
I can only comment on the second half after Smallbone's goal, as that's all I had time to see (was still in Friday meetings out here in California!). It was a bit surreal; from my post-50th-minute perspective it looked as if WBA had never even bothered to show up at all, and we dispatched them accordingly. But it was a playoff semifinal! So I can only surmise that Martin had got our tactics spot on. Credit to him and Saints for carrying out the second half game plan. We'll just have to see if he can, or needs to, pull a rabbit out of the hat against a more dynamic and inventive Leeds side. |
| News
Comment | Southampton V Stoke City The Verdict
at 16:12:52
Some weird results at the top of the Championship this weekend suggest that the top four have run out of gas and are just drowsily jockeying for position. Automatic promotion is still at stake for Leeds and Ipswich; but they seem as spent as we are. Meanwhile, Leicester won the league without even kicking a ball. I hope I'm right in surmising that the real football has yet to begin, and that we're just taking a power nap for the time being. Time will tell. If the trend continues it's obvious that RM has to go. If we gain promotion—_then_ what do we do with him? |
| | YosemiteSaint
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 0 | | Comment Votes: | 125 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 125 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.