Russell Martin gave a big indication of what he sees as the foundation of the squad that he will have to work with at least in the opening weeks of the the coming season, the result was a defeat, but the team are moving forward.

New manager Russell Martin has set up his stall to play possession football and he has warned that it may take some time to implement, the first few pre season games have seen him experiment with his line ups, which must be very difficult given that half of his squad may not be Southampton players in a months time.

But you can see his squad beginning to take shape and it was about the players that didn't play a part in this game as much as those that did.

The absence of Bella-Kotchap, Salisu and Sulemana have played little part in the pre season and none of them have appeared in the last three friendlies including this one, Tall Paul Onauchu was on the bench for the Az Alkmaar game but didn't get on the pitch.

This suggests that Martin feels that they are not going to be in his squad for the coming season, perhaps they have little injury niggles, but you just have the feeling that the manager doesn't think their attitude is right.

Perhaps Lavia, JWP, Livramento, Alcaraz & Adams may also leave, but they are professionals and have a professional attitude.

So the squad he put out for the visit of the Dutch team AZ Alkmaar who included former Saint Jordy Clasie seems to be getting near what he sees he will put out for the opener at Sheffield Wednesday, but a week is a long time in football and there may well be a few ins and outs even before the trip to Hillsborough.

It is clear though that we need to get rid of several of our central defenders and bring in at least two more, new signing Zach Awe was not in the squad, nor where most of the youngsters who have featured in pre season who were down in Torquay for the B team friendly.

But it was still a strong squad, but still one that Russell Martin can't be sure will be together much longer.

Gavin Bazunu was back in goal and I would expect him to be the number 1 next season, he has made a couple of errors, but they can be sorted out on the training ground and he is the best suited to play out from the back as the manager want.

At the back Shea Charles started the game in a central role again, almost as if to give him a game to get him match sharp for when he surely steps into Romeo Lavia's boots in the next week or so.

James Ward Prowse did start the game and played 73 minutes before coming off for Lavia, it was notable that Will Smallbone played the full 90 minutes and it is likely that he will play a big role in the coming season.

On the pitch Saints looked to be progressing with getting to grips with the possession game, with Charly Alcatraz looking lively, if they can keep him for the coming season, this could make a big difference.

Also busy was Nathan Tella who now look like he will stay after Burnley signed two wingers in the past week.

In truth Saints were the better side, but once again they got their pockets picked, Gavin Baznu almost blocking the shot, but the ball spun up and into the goal.

Aside from Livramento coming off at half time with a minor knock, the manager didn't make any changes until the 73rd minute, Sam Amo-Ameyaw setting up Will Smallbone with a sublime reverse pass, the midfielder curling the ball just wide.

There was plenty to be optimistic about in this game, but no one is pretending that firstly there is the problem of who will stay and who will go and that secondly we really need to bring in an experienced central defender.

There are still those that will point at at Russell Martin's possession game and claim that we will get caught out and finish in the bottom half.

But they should remember that last season Martin got his Swansea side within 3 points of the play offs with a side far worse than Saints in terms of quality, if he could do that with the Welsh club, then there is no reason why he shouldn't do better in the coming season with Southampton.

It might not run completely smoothly, but we should be competitive and able to challenge for promotion at the very least.

The key will be utilising those who might start the season here but leave and getting a good start and then replacing those that leave with quality & experience.

Photo: Action Images

JoeEgg added 21:48 - Jul 30 All very well Nick. How many goals did we score? Same old problem.
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Saidou added 22:12 - Jul 30 Possession football my ass!It never worked for us under Claude Puel, and Ralph Hassenhuttle did well with us until he started prioritizing possession. Why can’t we play like Burnely did last season; no nonsense brutal tactics, Or at least get a manager that can do so? Who else misses Ronald Koeman?
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City_boy added 07:16 - Jul 31 I really don't see this style of passion football working for us, a) we don't score enough goals and B) we routinely get caught playing around with it and conceding. It's fine for teams like Man C who have some of the best players around. I fear that even if Martin does get it working with the team, we will have lost too much ground against the top teams. Finally why do we keep taking about how Swansea 'nearly' got into the top 6 as if this is some sort of achievement ?

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landsdownsaint added 07:17 - Jul 31 The game went how Russell Martin games go
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mascott514 added 07:33 - Jul 31 Got to give him PLENTY of time- lots to sort out,and its a long long season. We won't really be able to gauge untilNovember/ December I haven't seen us I any of the friendlies, but looking at the clips, I think we look ok. Really looking forward to Friday, and seeing how we look competitively We also have to learn to win again, after a terrible season as players and fans. A couple of good home wins and St Marys will come alive I'm sure! COYR

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Peterx added 08:33 - Jul 31 I sense it's all going to be about momentum, a couple of wins up front we will ride the wave, a couple of losses it could go the other way.
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SWH1748 added 08:50 - Jul 31 Saidou I beg to differ, Under Puel we finished 8th in the Premier League and reached a League cup final which we only lost due to debatable refereeing decisions. Oh but it was not good enough for the moaning Minnie’s who hounded the board to sack him. You got the rewards with a downwards spiral. Back RM and his tactics and we may just turn this club around again.
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dirk_doone added 09:56 - Jul 31 Russell Martin "got his Swansea side to" 15th and 10th. The previous season Cooper got them to 4th. Swansea's squad isn't bad. We'd love to have some of their players, like Piroe and Grimes.It wouldn't be a surprise to see them finish above Saints this season.
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highfield49 added 09:58 - Jul 31 Pleased to see that Bycroft was on the bench and McCarthy taking a rest. I suppose we won't know until the season gets under way how the side is going to play but it's incredibly frustrating to see soft goals being conceded and failure to take chances at the other end of the pitch. None of us want to see any of the panic buys we've had in recent years but equally it would be a big lift to supporters if we had a genuine goalscorer like Lambert in the side. That could all change of course if Alcaraz, Tella, A Armstrong or Adams hit a hat trick at Sheffield Wednesday. Ok, I'm only dreaming.

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SanMarco added 11:26 - Jul 31 I am not going to moan about pre-season results. I just wish the window closed before the season started. In the end giving game time to the likes of JWP, Livramento, Lavia etc is just helping other clubs with their pre-season. Abolish 'loyalty' deadlines and have the window from last day of season to mid-July. Then these pre-season games would be far more worthwhile and the line-up yesterday would have been the one we will start with on Friday rather than a mish-mash of departees and possibles/probables...

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Monksway added 11:47 - Jul 31 I think there is a lot of noise around possession football both for and against but in reality, with a brief exception under Nathan Jones, Saints have played a passing game throughout their time in the Prem. Unfortunately, in the last few years they haven't played it very well. Watching the EPL Summer Series in the States, every team was trying to play out from the back, hold on to the ball and create scoring opportunities. Even my local non league side try and get the ball down and play. A far cry from the football I watched in the the 1970s where you had to lump it in the air because of the state of the pitches and the skilful players tended to play on the wings where there was grass.

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LondonSaint76 added 15:33 - Jul 31 Spot on SanMarco, I agree 100% with your suggestion for the transfer window to go from the last day of the season to mid-July. All this nonsense with the likes of Lavia, Tino & JWP would be over and done with by now and we could all get on with proper planning and preparation for the forthcoming season. Personally I’d go one step further with the loyalty bonuses - just scrap them altogether because with very very few exceptions there is no loyalty shown by the players anymore. If they must continue then pay them one week after the closure of a set number of transfer windows to run concurrently after the player first signs a contract then annually thereafter, again a week after the window closes. Whist we are at it, scrap the Bosman Rule and in one fell swoop you’d cut out about 75% of the nonsense and faffing about that goes on in every transfer window. Bosman was a nothing player who if playing today wouldn’t even get a trial never mind a contract at Eastleigh. All well and good giving average non-League players freedom to move but to apply the same rules at PL and FL levels is nonsense. The player could still move when out of contract but for a market value fee. Any failure to agree a fee would either see it set by a proper tribunal or by multiples of the player’s current wages.

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