The game might have been changed from Goztepe's own home stadium to another stadium 10 miles away, but the first meeting of Sport Republic's two clubs saw a warm welcome from the home fans and another game that told us little about the season ahead.

Around 200 Saints supporters made the long trek to Asia to watch their team take on Goztepe and although this was a pre season friendly in a neutral stadium the Goztepe supporters put on an impressive display of support for not only their own team, but Southampton and Sport Republic in general, unveiling a massive flag before the game.

It displayed the two club crests intertwined with the inscription "Together we are a strong family”

This time Russell Martin didn't change his entire team at half time, he waited until the hour mark before doing that, but it was still impossible to get a flavour of what is in store for Saints in the coming season given that of the 21 players that played, perhaps around half of the outfield players could be gone by the start of September.

This leaves a dilemma for the manager, he started with Tino Livramento who is being linked with other clubs, bringing on James Bree to replace him for the final 30 minutes, I don't think there are many Saints fans who would pick Bree ahead of Tino, but does Martin play him & hope he stays, or concentrate on playing those who are more likely to be there when the transfer window closes.

In the first half Saints looked out of sorts they had little cohesion and it was the home side who looked the most threatening although it was ironically Saints own Matteus Lis now on loan at Goztepe who had the better half, making a smart save to thwart James Ward Prowse whilst at the other end Gavin Bazunu was wrong footed for the home side's goal.

When the changes were made after the hour, Saints looked a different side although should have been on level terms a few minutes earlier when JWP saw the penalty sport crumble and he blazed the ball over the bar for what I have to honestly say is the worst penalty kick I have ever seen.

Shortly after the changes though Saints were level with Charly Alcatraz blasting home.

To be fair the game wasn't the best I have seen, the most entertaining thing was watching the Goztepe fans, they spent the whole of the game jumping up and down and chanting, making for a brilliant atmosphere for a pre season friendly.

So nothing to be really gained from this game, although some of the youngsters looked impressive, Sam Amo-Ameyaw standing out with a brilliant run that saw his shot from a tight angle fizz across the goal only inches away from going in off the post.

You would now expect Russell Martin to step up the work rate in the final three friendly games, but how does he truly do that when he hasn't a clue just who will be staying and going just yet.

Photo: Action Images

Bowlercow added 20:36 - Jul 17 The interesting part for me is seeing one of the full backs going forward leaving a back 3 which quickly becomes a back 4 when we lose posession RM really has to work on the forwards and get them scoring Armstrong Adams and Tella have all done it at this level so it should be a formality
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halftimeorange added 10:25 - Jul 18 I agree that this game told us nothing new. In the first half every time Goztepe forwards got the ball I thought they might score as our defence was flat-footed and disorganised, whereas up the other end Goztepe packed the box and Saints had no-one with the guile to open them up. Our midfield was ineffective. What Adam Armstrong's role is who knows. The only thing I remember about him is running towards our goal with no hope of picking up the ball. This all sound overly familiar however, the second half introduced Alcaraz and Amo-Ameyaw and we looked like the club with better players. If the eleven we started with is Martin's preferred line-up we could well struggle in the league as they don't look to me as though they're anywhere near gelling. Only time will tell.

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SWH1748 added 11:49 - Jul 18 Since when has Turkey been in Asia 🤷‍♂️
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Monksway added 12:18 - Jul 18 Anybody know where Sulimana is? I might have missed something but nobody seems to be mentioning our record signing either as part of pre season or on his way out.
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Number_58 added 08:15 - Jul 19 "Since when has Turkey been in Asia?" Geography not your strong point, I see.
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HythePeer added 09:44 - Jul 19 Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in West Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe.
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