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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 08:31:37
To Doctor Sleep.. Sadly I was only dwelling on the most recent events that came to mind.
I agree, and the list is endless. It didn't get much attention at the time, but Salah looked questionably offside when he received the ball before scoring one of his goals at SMS.
Both of Wolves goals at Molyneaux might have been called into question, and no-one has given a good explanation as to why Manning's " goal " was disallowed. Not even the Brighton keeper knew why our " winning goal " was disallowed in the away fixture in November, and our misfortunes were compounded when losing valuable points... in those lengthy periods of added time ....in both our home fixtures v Ipswich and Leicester.
In all honesty I can't wait for next season, when we can see " who is left " in the dressing room, and then maybe give some game time to a few of our excellent U21 lads.
The prospect of playing league matches - without the curse of VAR - does sound quite appealing, (although I have always been in favour of the system - at least in principle).
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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 17:00:23
Conspiracy theories-or not ? I've felt that a number of debatable VAR situations of late went the other way ...when every ref's subconcious tells him ....Saints are already down, they don't need the points and it might be more beneficial to the other side.
Whether Will' s. big toe was offside or not L'pool deserved to suffer one goal against them, as his angled shot beat 4 defenders... and the goalie. Good anticipation.
On another day ...and with another ref. Nunez would have been off without recourse to VAR, but what brave ref. would send off a home player at Anfield.?
As it was he was still on the pitch after HT, and went down easily enough with Small bone at his back and no tackle. At 2-1 the game had already gone, and L'pool's 3 HT subs changed the balance of the game and our chances were few and very far between.
In retrospect, such a scoreline was not unexpected, but we were better than the result might suggest to a neutral reading the results, (much as was our game at Old Trafford). |
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Comment | Crystal Palace Linked With Southampton Defender
at 08:44:25
Every player wants to play at the highest level they can, and after getting his England debut - and a goal, it's no surprise that THB would want to move on, and such would be a win-win situation. Sad as it maybe, fans shouldn't lose their cool when players want to leave for better opportunities but we must acknowledge that ambition is not a dirty word especially in a sport where you are only as good as your last game, and that the next bad injury might be career-ending.
It's clear that there are others who will disappear during the summer, and it's not a case of who will leave, but who will be left afterwards. Looking at options and possible new signings, I think we need a real striker with a good career tally, and although it may cost a packet for his salary, we could do worse than have Danny Ings back in the twilight of his career when his WHam contract goes out in the summer.
What might our squad look like in August ?..I think Bowlercow had a few good suggestions (above) and when looking for a new back line maybe Wood and Edwards would be a good CB partnership plus some promising U21 lads like Ballard, Robinson, Payne and Bragg and with Sam A-A and Edozie still on the books there is a lot of new blood good enough for the Championship. Our problem before has always been losing those good young talents because " the regular player " is always first choice, and they lose out.
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Comment | Ex Southampton Striker Has Plaque Unveiled At Highbury
at 16:20:47
Not a new name to me. My late father was in the same generation as Ted Drake, and when discussing goalscorers of later generations, he always quick to return and praise Drake, and perhaps only the post-WW2 Charlie Wayman could be held with the same high regard.
Sadly, as far as Saints are concerned we only see one such player in every decade, and so we can only hope we find a talent who is happy to stay with the club longer term. |
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Comment | Ivan Juric Sacking Rumours Surface
at 11:34:03
Is it really all Juric's fault . He inherited a squad, weaned on slow-motion "Russ ball" and a squad that isn't able to compete at the highest level, and which we all saw that early on. Yet the same might also be said of the other two promoted sides who we will compete against next season - back down in the Championship.
The "skill gap" between the two leagues has widened in the last 4-5 years, and both with hindsight both Bournemouth and Forest can count themselves lucky that they survived their first seasons back up and have seemingly weathered the storm. With less than a dozen games left, perhaps the recent promotion of Simon Rush (?) to the first team group is a signal that he might try for the rest of the season and we give Juric gardening leave?.
Time will tell, but there isn't much of that left. |
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Comment | Henrik Kraft Resigns As A Director Of Sport Republic
at 11:19:44
The rot set in after Jacob Wilcox returned to Mancunia (this time to United) but even he
might get the chop if Jim Radcliffe continues to axe staff at Old Trafford. We never found a suitable replacement with footballing nous who could run our club on the shoestring budget we live on, and it left H. Kraft to find bargain buys, and that simply didn't work.
Our return to the Prem. was doomed from the start and many saw that "Russball" was never going to work given the poor quality of the squad we started the season with and our position was worsened when the Board persisted with RM when all could see that ..it wasn't working and Martin persisted with his formation and refused to consider a Plan B.
Our own " trimming of finances " post-Martin - resulted in the loan out of the only players with any history of goal-scoring and left Juric trying to create an alternative attacking formation without the benefit of established strikers.
As this thread.. is about Henrik Kraft ..he may learn from his mistakes and stay away from the football world in future. Now it may well cost Juric his job (remembering he was Dragan's choice in the first place) but the cards were already stacked against him before he started when he inherited the dregs of previous managerial squads which has left him with sub-standard defenders, and outfield players who had been brainwashed into tap-tap, slow motion football and lacked both pace and skill. A bit of blame all round.
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Comment | Southampton V Brighton The Verdict
at 11:32:14
Inheriting a squad who had been brainwashed into "Russball" for 60 plus games (many of whom just aren't upto Prem. level - even on a good day) has been tough on Juric and it's hard to convert to an attacking formation without recognised goalscorers at this level, as we never replaced Danny Ings (who despite injuries) still managed a good goal tally in his time, and likewise Romeu was more of a permanent DM that anyone thought, and never successfully replaced. Harwood-Bellis. who had previously shown up well in his loan to Burnley (and last season with us) showed up well in the Championship, but just can't seem to cut it at the highest level. Praise laid on Stephens and Lallana as "a good voice in the dressing room" dwindles away when they aren't on the pitch to help deliver.
Our defence has been decimated by both injuries and poor form for the last month or more and the prospect of seeing any of them back soon, means that the appearance of Bella-Kotchap at CB may become an absolute necessity for the foreseeable future.
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Comment | Juric Gives Reason For Albert Gronbaek Absence ! Why Sign Him Then
at 11:06:09
To be fair I don't think I can blame any party. After enduring 60+ games of Russball, it's becoming hard for Juric to find a workable attacking formation when we have only one recognised striker and too many injuries to talk about. We haven't seen enough of Gronbaek to make any judgement, but he looked to be an attacking MF but Fernandes is already one of our few dependable players and is in that spot. Very little MF creativity, and Smallbone is still lacking form, and Downes (whilst out of the doghouse) isn't the same player as last season. Even if the players are trying to be positive from the start, it isn't only fans who drop their heads after the first goal goes in, andhold on to the hope that we don't concede too many more before the final whistle.
We can't attract " the better class of player " when we are priced out of the market over transfer fees and the higher salaries demanded by their agents, and despite some valiant efforts by certain individuals it's clear that (like Ipswich and Leicester) we just aren't good enough for the top tier at present. It would be good to get a few more points as some sort of recompense before the end of season, but in all fairness I feel that after the summer it won't be a case of "who will leave", but more likely - who is still left.
We may never get a good look at Gronbaek, and his long future with Saints is probably no better than many others.
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Comment | Kamari Doyle The Southampton Starlet Who Found The Grass Not To Be Greener At Brighton
at 12:24:31
It is a common problem to see youngsters who may have been at a club since junior school age get to advance to U21 level (even if they are still U18's on paper) and begin to yearn for a chance of game time in the first eleven, when they see others " making it "
In a world where even players in their pre-teens have already got agents, the urge to make a move elsewhere becomes more important than it is.
We've seen this before, and indeed Tyler Dibling had his disappointments after the move to Chelsea and found that the grass isn't always greener "elsewhere" . A similar situation occured with J.J. Morgan, who made his move to Chelsea but is still wallowing around in the enormous pond with other amongst Chelsea's U21 recruits.
Big Money moves may seem like a win-win for both player and club(s) concerned, but the player may come down to Earth with a bump , when playing alongside big name / International players. Historically, The likes of Walcott, Bale and Shaw all had nightmare introductions to the " big time " and took time to adjust.
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Comment | Southampton V Brighton In Pictures Part 2
at 12:08:21
Nice set of pics. (NIck) but we surely want to make a few comments about Saturday.
Seemingly Juric has made peace with Flynn Downes - and without help from Donald Trump - but I hope fans realise that disagreements can occur in all workplaces and whilst some may often "go under the radar", others may get big headlines without good reason.ยจ
IF ...we see Downes on the pitch v. Brighton, I hope fans will embrace his return and not resort to unwanted abuse, as that is no sort of encouragement to the player or the team.
Although Flynn hasn't been at his best this season, he has made some good contributions in the past, and he may well have been overly-affected by Russell Martin departure and the events that followed.
Enough has gone wrong this season, so the players need some good performances to help regain some self-respect and hopefully finish the season with better showings - regardless of where we eventually finish in the league. |
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Comment | Have Southampton Fans Finally Lost Faith With The Club
at 14:39:01
Yes we are all disappointed. This squad must be one of the worst I can recall in more than 60 years as a Saints fan. Poor seasons were always part of the deal in the past, and the team relegated to L1, (20 years ago) on points deduction and not just bad results) but it was still a tad better than this one.
Our present squad is the residue of 4 different managers who all had their own varied formations, and the current mob is still recovering from the 60 game "brainwashing" of Russball and last season's team was quickly cobbled together with loans and youngsters clearly not good enough for survival in the top tier. The other promoted teams are performing little better than we are, which again highlights the huge difference between those three places separating the two leagues. After struggling to get up, why do people seemingly think we should ..." automatically " be top half of the best league in the World.
Success for many clubs - is simply surviving in the Prem.
Juric is trying to conjure up an attacking formation from a squad without any traditional strikers, whilst players like; Adams, Armstrong, Brereton-Diaz and Alcarez have left to go elsewhere - and are scoring goals. Add to this suspensions, injuries and a small number of fit players who are more interested in collecting their salaries, whilst refusing to play.
Few of this squad could even be considered to be " average Prem. standard " whilst they come up against good international players almost every week. I'm sure they try their best, but after conceding the first goal, or losing matches in the last quarter, there is very little to be enthusiastic about. We can only hope that we can divide " the sheep from the goats " before May and then invest in a squad capable of returning to the top in the next season, or two. We simply have to grin and bear it - regardless of whoever is manager.
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Comment | Southampton V Bournemouth The Verdict
at 12:45:50
I don't blame Juric, as he is trying to find a workable combination from an unfamiliar, and mismatched squad who had been brainwashed into Russ Ball for 60 odd games, and he is now attempting to get an attacking formula despite without recognised strikers and two CB's on the injured list. Under RM, players who couldn't play his possession style football were simply left out, or in cases (like Alcarez) were let go because they didn't.
Despite the vast number of defeats; I think the players are attempting to make a game of it, but two goals concede in 5 minutes surely depletes the enthusiasm. We still have a problem in mIdfield and worse with Aribo forced to play CB , whilst Will Smallbone hasn't recovered his best form and Flynn Downes sulking because he can't get his own way, and Fernandes is getting kick around for his valiant efforts.
If there is a better /perfect start side in Juric's thinking, we haven't seen it succeed yet.
Bournemouth didn't have a great-looking side but went about their task, knowing that sooner or later they would score, and go onto win. On Saturday it was the former.
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Comment | Are Things Far From Ok In The Southampton Camp ?
at 10:20:14
Further to my earlier post (above) Flynn Downes in particular is doing nothing to increase his reputation, or his worth to the club. After this latest spat of throwing his toys out of the pram, he will need to go a long way to showing his worth to Juric, in what is an already depleted squad which has very few names that we can boast about.
He is best off out of the club. If he undergoes a period without game time, away from an already shell-shocked dressing room, even his beloved Ipswich may not be interested in him come next season. Saints will want to recover the outlay on his signing, which clearly reflects poorly on Russell Martin, who went from hero to zero in a space of a few months.
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Comment | Southampton V Bournemouth In Pictures
at 10:03:43
Only those in my generation will recall that Bournemouth spent over 60 years ..Third Division South now (L1) as it was after WW2, and we always saw them as " little brother along the Coast" at a time when Bournemouth was still a part of Hampshire.
It wasn't until 1987 that they first managed to get promotion to Championship, then dropped back down the leagues and narrowly avoiding the drop out League Two, and a bankruptcy around the same time as Saints (2009) they followed us up to the Premier League shortly afterwards.
Since when they have survived, and our fortunes have taken a turn for the worse, and they look stable in the top half of the Prem. whilst we have one foot in the drop zone.
This will be the first of two homes games against South Coast rivals, which may finally decide our fate - if we fails to get points from either of these games.
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Comment | Are Things Far From Ok In The Southampton Camp ?
at 12:54:09
Naturally enough there are players who get agitated if they don't get game time, and those who are upset even if they don't start games. Players who arrived under "another" manager may feel unrest when the new manger doesn't see them in the same light.
During the summer w brought in half a dozen players on free transfers, and another 3-4 for very small fees.
Now w have too many square pegs and it shows. We were obligated to sign THB and RM was insistent on getting Downes who in all honesty didn't seem to have " fitted in in any club he's played for. He was RM's choice and the change of formation doesn't suit him. Bella Kotchap hasn't made the grade with anyone since he was bought in.
At the start of the season we had more strikers on the books than at anytime in living memory, yet none of them seems to have been able to score regularly. All in all it's about the worst squad I can recall for many decades. There is certain to be another fire sale in the summer - regardless of whichever league we end up in.
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Comment | Southampton V Burnley The FA Cup Verdict
at 11:18:22
Scrappy game with end-to-end play and little creativity. Predictable result?..We may have had a few near misses, but with a lightweight strike force (Dibling and Sulemana ) who looked encouraging enough going forward, but have scarcely half-a-dozen goal between them, we look distinctly " lack lustre" coming up against the best defence in the country.
With Ross Stewart (remember him?) permanently out, Cam Archer is now our only recognised striker (and he doesn't have a great scoring record either). At the back, the defence still haven't remembered that Russell Martin has gone and some of the suicidal short passing made it bad for my blood pressure, especially when McCarthy played a 6 yard pass direct to a Burnley player.
Thankfully this wasn't another 3 points lost, but we also saw a number of other Prem. sides falling to lower league sides, and without VAR in the FA Cup games we might well see Man .Utd getting to the Final with a little more of their " luck at Old Trafford ".
For those fans who haven't given up hope on a revival the two upcoming home derbies will either be two more nails in the coffin, or give some hope of another Great Escape.
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Comment | Southampton V Burnley The FA Cup Preview
at 11:04:53
At least one match where we don't risk losing three points, but it's interesting to see if .. (1) we can begin one of our beloved Cup runs and (2) how a team at the bottom of the Prem. compares with a team who sit in one of the Championship's promotion places.
Juric has said that he will play a strong side, but will be without THB and " Captain Jack "thers's a chance to see the other CB options at the club. With B-D and Adam A. gone we will may see some new faces up front, and one or two new names on the bench. |
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Comment | Southampton Confirm Gavin Bazunu Loan Move
at 08:30:38
Surely this is a no-brainer. After being out for the entire season so far, Gavin needs game time every week and see if he can regain some form, and if he is "good enough" for a return to English football. As an international keeper. he will want to impress and now has a chance to do well and increase his value should he return to us - or move elsewhere. |
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Comment | Adam Armstrong Leaves For West Bromwich Albion On Loan
at 08:24:15
Adam had a reputation as a goalscorer, but the various roles he was given under Russell Martin's reign didn't do him justice, and with hindsight he might well have scored even more goals last season had it not been for RM's defence-minded set-up.
Now he is back at the level where he flourished we may see a return to the form he had several years ago. It will be interesting to see if he is able to improve West Brom's attack, as they narrowly failed to make it past Saints in last season's play-offs.
If he can get close to double figures by the end of May ?. WBA might well seek his transfer in the summer - whether they get promoted or not. |
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