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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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Comment | Southampton V Ipswich Town The Verdict
at 11:12:25
Three months after our last Prem. win this gave many of us a feeling of genuine relief. A good showing for both Grönbaek ...and Welington who looks like being a real find.
It's games like this when we feel that we shouldn't sell Onuachu, and Sulemana showed us some of the skill that was missing during his long exile under Russell Martin.
Recalling the home game in September, (where we concede their equaliser in the 98th minute) it felt like a deserved win. In all honesty we looked a bit wobbly at the back at times , but we have played better this season ...and still lost.
It's taking time for Juric' attacking style to sink into a team that is changed every match, but we are looking like an attacking side and scoring goals and taking more shots. (averaging c.11 shots per game under Juric, against av. 6 per match under RM.)
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Comment | Southampton Sign Victor Udoh
at 10:50:06
Thank goodness we got got at least ONE deal over the line. It seems that the prospective deals for Sylla to Saints, and Armstrong to WBA may have both failed to "beat the clock".
Stats. about sub. apps aren't so exciting and goals and assists aren't always a good guide to quality. Looking at Dibling's stats.(with just 2 Prem. goals) doesn't suggest that there is a £50 million price tag there, but his performances on the pitch speak volumes.
One can hope that Udoh isn't judged by fans purely on his first few sub. appearances, as I can recall that Sadio Mane had a rocky start to his Saints career with" one genius" quickly comparing him to Ali Dia. We must give the lad a chance. |
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Comment | Stuart Armstrong Set To Join Shea Charles At Sheffield Wednesday
at 11:35:25
The fantasy of getting a "fan favourite" back in the fold maybe a tad sentimental if we think they can make big contributions to performances. The truth is, it seldom happens.
It maybe a nice memory for a returning player, who spent his early career at SMS, but that is history and perhaps only worth a few nice photos in the album.
Getting Theo Walcott back for a couple of seasons rang out like a verse of Old Lang Syne, and a few games showed a real touch of class, but clearly his best days were long gone.
Like many others I liked some of Stuey's games which were inspirational, but his catalogue of injuries proved he was seldom going to be a starter again, and those desperate sub. apps. when a game was already lost, did little to improve his image.
Making a move away to get game time is good for such a player, and the chance for his successor to move up, although we must consider the consequences of keeping such players at the club on high salaries, when providing so little in return.
Players past 30 are looking toward their final years in the game, but it's only the likes of Messi and CR who hit the jackpot with a big money move in their declining careers.
I would have liked to have seen Shea Charles back with us, but a few months playing alongside Stuart Armstrong will go a long way towards improving his footballing nous.
Let's hope we don't miss the opportunity to get him back at the end of the season.
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Comment | Has Kyle Walker-Peters Played His Last Game For Southampton
at 16:05:28
This is a tough one. It's Saints last chance to get anything from a deal by selling him at the eleventh hour, but he will have his own demands if he does choose to go somewhere.
A move now will mean he gets a new contract (2-3 years?) and a decent salary compared with the 22k he's on now. If he waits till summer as a free agent, he can get a better deal as clubs will be able to avoid any fee and offer him a much better salary.
Ironic as he is likely one of our best players a.t.m. and someone we would want to keep. |
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Comment | Trabzonspor Once Again Trying To Get A Southampton Player On The Cheap
at 11:01:58
IF ...anyone wants a product they must pay the price. We may have made mistakes in signing Onuachu in the first place (our fault) but there is no way we should give into this sort of bargaining, and if we have any suitable offer from elsewhere we should take that and not give in to this sort of crude blackmail. Onuachu may be a square peg in a round hole (with Saints), but I'm fairly sure that he will be back scoring goals in another club.
The player is an investment but if Sport Republic want to get any profit from a deal, they might consider a loan to Götzepe who seem to be better-placed in the Turkish League.
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Comment | Sulemana Linked To French Club
at 13:53:36
On those rare occasions we have seen him play it 's easy to see that there is an exciting player - in there somewhere, but he had no real chance in the Martin system, and needs to be playing in an attacking side that can benefit from his talents.
Whatever the outcome, we will lose a packet on the deal with the only saving grace being that if he has a good second half of the season (somewhere) and shows up well, we may be able to claw back some of the huge loss we are anticipating at present. |
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Comment | Tyler Dibling Could Be Sold By Saints In January But loaned Back
at 14:38:06
Dibling's performances have set him apart from any other Prem. talent in his age group.
Neither Saints or Tyler will want him to be seen as " a Championship talent" come the summer and so a January deal will brand him as a Prem. "star" and teams with "money" AND who are struggling for former glories both Spurs and Man. U fit the bill at present.
Aside from the occasional Euro campaign, or winning one of the domestic cups neither of those clubs has had much for their fan base to crow about in the last decade.
The "£20 million bid that never was" can be seen as those clubs hoping to scare us into a quick deal by paying us a fraction of his real time value and Saints were good to disregard any discussions around that. The fact that those clubs are now returning and will consider meeting our £55 million demand proves that they see TD's real value and need a quick fix to please their fans and stave off sacking yet another highly-paid manager and his staff.
Those of us who recall the terms of the Gareth Bale deal are still licking our wounds over the way that Spurs screwed us by deleting our sell-on clause for a paltry sum before going on to sell Bale to Real Madrid in a record £90 million shortly afterwards.
NO ! ...I hope that SR stand their ground and really make the deal work for us.
Should we do the deal now and have Tyler on loan until the end of the season? ...well...
I see the argument, but in this situation .. I'd say let him go now, take the money and run, and use the time and money to find a suitable replacement before next season.
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Comment | Southampton V Newcastle United The Verdict
at 11:39:48
SR - Experience and Planning went out of the door when Jason Wilcox moved up North
and whatever we might have /ought to have/ learned in the short term accompanied him.
We are stuck with a squad where almost everyone is less than a required Prem. standard.
There is no defence for the majority of the goals conceded and whilst our defenders may produce good individual displays they aren't a coordinated unit at the back and we are still playing six-a-side in our own box with a fairly predictable outcome.
( Oh.. for a Fonte or VvD who knew how to organise things).
We have suffered much at the hand of VAR, and although I still support the system, I
really think there is a level of incompetence with the officials handling it. We were all screaming at the TV in the Isak penalty incident, as the slow-mo sequence the ref. watched was from behind the goal and very unclear, whereas several other camera angles showed a totally different situation that even suggests that Isak dived over Aribo's feet.
Most of the country has already condemned us to the Drop, perhaps the officials see it as "pointless" to give Saints even a dubious decision when three points are " worth more " to Newcastle. Whilst successive managers agree that our displays are a real surprise and far better than our league position suggests they still manage to walk away with the spoils.
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Comment | Southampton Midfielder Wants To Leave In The Summer
at 09:05:27
To his credit Joe has made a brave attempt to hold onto reputation and career prospects.
He is still in the Nigerian International squad, where the competition is quite fierce, but a drop in league status would be fatal for what remains of his top flight career.
He is first choice player in our (sadly) rather poor squad but gives reasonably consistent performances compared to some others.
The Championship is a league best-suited to rising young talents and those mature players who have already reached their peak. At his age, he needs a move to a reasonably respectable side (even another Prem. club) who can use his talents to better effect. If he inevitably moves on, I would wish him well.
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Comment | Gavin Bazunu To Go Out On Loan To Regain Match Fitness
at 11:38:08
A chance for us to see how he might fare in a lower league before making serious decisions about a player who is contracted to us for ..a while longer (2027 eller ?)
He did at least look mobile in two recent U21 outings, but even if we are playing in the Championship next season it will be good to monitor his progress until the summer. |
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Comment | Southampton V Newcastle United The Preview
at 11:30:54
Of course this may only be conjecture, if the match gets blown off by the storm.
Interesting point that Juric "suggested" that Ramsdale had taken a knock (or whatever that means nowadays) and he may not be fit, but if the rumours of Eddie Howe's interest in Ramsdale are anywhere near true, then it would be " good politics " for Saints not to play him - if there is a chance that Newcastle might put 5 past us on Saturday. |
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Comment | Southampton Said To Have made Decision On Tyler Dibling's Transfer
at 15:58:52
Follow up storyline that Tyler Dibling " prefers " a move to Spurs !.
If we are insistent on demanding £55 million then I'd like to see us getting the full amount from Daniel Levy. A master negotiator he continues the tradition of screwing us with every deal we have historically made. Even back to the post war period deals with Spurs have always left us with a bad deal. Alf Ramsay was one of the first to leave Saints.
Later in 1967 we sold local boy Martin Chivers to Spurs for a (then) English record £125k, but they clawed back £45 k in giving us Frank Saul in the deal. Just 2 years later and barely 60 games to his name Saul was back in London.
Since when we had the unforgetable goalie Tommy Forecast (in a part deal) and he never made our first team and failed to impress even on loan to non-league sides. Later he was christened " Tommy Fourpast" by disappointed Saints fans. In desperate times for Saints Spurs "kindly" withdrew the sell-on clause from the Gareth Bale deal and gave Saints a paltry £1 million to help our finances, and preceeded to sell Bale to Real Madrid for £90 million and we lost our %. some years later they virtually "stole" Victor Wanyama.
More recently we made one good deal in getting Walker-Peter, but were screwed again when Spurs took Hojbjerg for a very cheap sum when he was worth far more. You can bet that any deal with Dibling going to Spurs will see us landed with an expensive Spurs reject
in the deal, and after a while he in turn will want back to London PDQ. |
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Comment | Southampton Said To Have made Decision On Tyler Dibling's Transfer
at 16:10:40
Here is the classic situation of a young talent taking a step-up to the first team and being a stand-out player in a team performing like a Sunday League outfit and he's looking good.
How good he MAY become is down to the club who are able to meet our asking price. If the recovery forecast is accurate, he will start getting game time by early March, and with some exciting runs, and a few more tap-ins (hopefully against some prominent clubs) - someone will cough up the cash, in the hope that he will rejuvenate yet another top club who have narrowly failed to win anything AGAIN, and whose new manager will see him as the answer to all their woes.
It's obvious that we will have to sell him, as he won't want to wake up in August in a newly-relegated side and where his value will drop if he continues to stay with Saints.
He is the " New Lavia ". Too good for Saints, but with the hope that some super-rich club are able to offer him a golden future - and help his agent to buy another smart car.
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