 | News
Comment | Mark Hughes Passes The First Test
at 13:23:46
@1970 - no all Europa league places not gained through winning a cup now go back to the league, so winning the FA cup is just about the only practical route back into Europe next season. |
| News
Comment | Saints At Stoke City The Verdict
at 11:05:05
For the first time in a while, I think I agree with pretty much everything Nick has to say here.
In short MP has to change the starting line up.
Tadic really lost it for a period of the match and Redmond was anonymous, these 2 players are key to getting the right patterns of play in the final third and they have both not quite been at the races this season. Both have shown glimpses, but that is not enough to warrant continually starting.
Boufal showed enough to warrant a start and Gabbiadini is always a threat with his runs etc but never gets the service, so these were probably the right subs to make. The question is, is MP going to take a risk and change things up sufficiently from the start in the next game to make a difference. |
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Comment | Saints At Crystal Palace The Verdict
at 11:23:23
Highlights for me were:
The whole team looked really up for it and were willing to fight for everything.
Individuals of note were:
Davis, 200 games and a goal, enough said.
Hoedt was solid, in particular his use of the ball was excellent with accurate long diagonal passes used to turn the play around.
The midfield play from Lemina, in particular his ability to win back the ball with really effective tackles, as the game developed he started to show that he can get involved to help the attack too.
The hold up play from Long was great, and of course his constant work rate, although he still doesn't look a significant goal threat on his own.
Tadic had a good game and his attacking the byline, beating the defender and getting a cross in created the goal.
Bertrand made saveral brilliant defensive contributions.
Forster pulled off two excellent saves at critical times in the game.
Redmond had a mixed game, some positive attacking play but nearly gave away a goal when he slipped and his goal attempts lacked power to sufficiently threaten their keeper.
Overall positive signs, although we were helped by the fact that Palace and in particular Benteke was lacking confidence, but we are still lacking sufficient goal threat.
On the subject of Long, listening to the pre-game chat on Solent it seems that Pellegrino feels that Gabbi and Long are too similar to play together and each would be better paired with Austin if we were to play 2 up front. I have to say that this performance showed to me that Long can hold up the ball as well as most and a partnership with Gabbi could be really effective. |
| News
Comment | The Real Issue Is Creating Chances Not Scoring Them !
at 15:57:20
I agree with LordDZLucan, not for the first time we were outmuscled by Watford and we completely lost the midfield battle which is predominately what starved Gabbi of service when he was the lone striker, mostly being forced to feed off long ball scraps without any support.
Taking off JWP and replacing him with Tadic at half time seemed like the biggest missed opportunity for me, I would have expected the change to be to introduce Lemina to bolster the midfield.
In addition if MP is going to switch from 1 to 2 up front then I would like to see Long introduced to stretch the game and support Gabbi for at least a period of time before swapping out Gabbi. |
| News
Comment | Dutch World Cup Hopes Boost Help Saints Van Dijk Situation
at 00:09:36
Not sure about that skiptonsaint. Fine print or not we know that there are no guarantees about the PL authorities taking any significant action and January may be enough of a gap for Liverpool to feel they can make a move.
However all that aside I would expect that Saints wont consider a January move unless VVD has failed to reintegrate and maybe not even then as it would be rewarding unprofessional behaviour.
We can expect the club to sit down with the player this week and discuss the way forward with the most likely plan being for him to commit to the club for this season and then get a move next summer with the support of the club, specifically ruling out a January switch.
If that approach fails then the situation is likely to get very messy for both the club and the player. |
| News
Comment | Dutch World Cup Hopes Boost Help Saints Van Dijk Situation
at 19:29:40
highfield - My guess for why no offers were received was that everyone knew that if an offer came in and was considered then it would have opened the door to Liverpool making an offer, and all the other clubs who were interested calculated that Liverpool were probably willing to outbid them. So it made the most sense to simply not bid and therefore not help strengthen another club they would consider a significant threat. |
| News
Comment | What Now For Virgil Van Dijk !
at 13:42:11
Personally i don't see the injury as being a significant factor in his performances moving forwards. Being a great defender is mostly about making the right decisions and is not so dependent on speed or other attributes that a striker for example might depend on.
Whats key here is his state of mind. We all know he is a great player, he knows he is a great player, he now needs to prove this again to the world and everything will follow that.
So the best course of action for him and coincidentally for Saints is to commit to producing the best season in his career to date.
So Virgil what's your play from here? |
| News
Comment | Good Window For Saints
at 13:25:34
Regarding net spend here is a list from the mirror:
Premier League net spend table
1. Man City ﾃつ｣138.1m
2. Man Utd ﾃつ｣136.2m
3. Chelsea ﾃつ｣89.75m
4. Everton ﾃつ｣54.2m
5. Liverpool ﾃつ｣54.05m
6. Brighton ﾃつ｣39.65m
7. Huddersfield ﾃつ｣38.9m
8. Watford ﾃつ｣36.7m
9. West Brom ﾃつ｣32.1m
10. Crystal Palace ﾃつ｣31.3m
11. Bournemouth ﾃつ｣30m
12. Newcastle ﾃつ｣23.7m
13. Southampton ﾃつ｣23.15m
14. Leicester ﾃつ｣18.85m
15. West Ham ﾃつ｣17.3m
16. Tottenham -ﾃつ｣2.65m
17. Stoke -ﾃつ｣9m
18. Burnley -ﾃつ｣15.2m
19. Arsenal -ﾃつ｣18m
20. Swansea -ﾃつ｣19.5m
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