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Comment | Whats Happened To Joe Aribo ?
at 23:10:00
underweststand: you're chatting nonsense about him not being up to the level.
Only JWP and Che have scored more goals than him (with more appearances). He was Ranger's most creative player and helped them reach the Europa League Final in which he scored. He's also represented Nigeria and scored against opposition like Brazil. How you've come to the conclusion that he's not good enough beggars belief especially when you see players like Moi getting the nod ahead of him. That's why this article exist in the first place!
You don't become a bad player overnight. We also have to contextualise this is his first season playing in the EPL.
Listen, this is going to be a tough relegation battle. We need all the quality we can get at the moment. |
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Comment | Whats Happened To Joe Aribo ?
at 08:57:48
Being frank, Joe Aribo's sudden loss of minutes is symptomatic of NJ's management style and more specifically his lacking in understanding football. The truth is we don't have the necessarily quality on the pitch to win matches at this level. It's not enough to be physically fit to win at the highest level. YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO PLAY FOOTBALL! Otherwise what is the point of watching the sport as a spectator. The late great Pele once said, "The English try to outrun the ball, The Brazilians play with it".
Ultimately, if football was all about athleticism then we'd all have better chances on becoming professionals. No one in their right mind would compare to David Batty to Dennis Bergkamp simply because the former was not as effective as the latter. Dennis Bergkamp never struck me as someone who ran more than David Batty and unlike Le God he played at the highest level. The same could be said for other great players like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Messi, etc. The great managers ensured players played to their strengths and people knew their roles. I definitely don't get that vibe from NJ.
With our team (attacking wise) Aribo, Armstrong, and to a lesser degree Djenepo are our most creative outlets. How I wish we have a manager that actually understands football.
Only Poch and Koeman really knew what I'm talking about at the highest level. |
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Comment | Moussa Djenepo Signs New 3 Year Deal
at 12:45:40
I think this is excellent news! Moussa has been a revelation this season.
I don't agree with the sentiment that he can't add more value further up field. I do, however, agree he's surplus to requirements for LB. For me, Moussa is currently better than Moi and Edozie. Fundamentally the goals against Spurs as well as the comeback against Leeds both involved Moussa being at the heart of/lead up to the goals despite him being played out of position. Even as LB he still looked solid defensively. Edozie most probably has a higher ceiling but is still very young and raw. This season should be all about getting EPL mins and development. Any thing else should be seen as a bonus!
Djenepo is at a different stage of his career. Due to personal reasons, his form and development definitely staggered after that positive debut of form.
Nonetheless, he's proven useful as a utility player but needs to start adding value and ultimately move the needle for the team further up the league.
As we bought him as an attacker I'd like to see him provide more goals and assists. He definitely has the ability but needs to work on his composure, decision making in the final third, and, most importantly, finishing/shooting. I'm confident he can do so with right attitude coupled with the aide from Ruben Selles and co.
Hopefully Ralph sees him and Edozie as longer-term replacements for Theo and Redmond. |
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Comment | Saints Agree Loan Deal For Jack Stephens
at 07:59:44
While I never rated Stephens as a player he played an important role in keeping us up in those dark moments in the club's history under managers like Puel, Pellegrino, and Hughes. I am grateful for his contribution and wish him all the best in his new endeavour. |
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Comment | Hasenhuttl Expecting In's & Out's Before Transfer Deadline
at 09:12:53
I think all players mentioned in this article have made at some stage a positive contribution to the football club--in particular Romeu. Like Nick, I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
Hopefully, this will trim the wage bill and we have adequate replacements for squad depth. |
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Comment | Southampton V Manchester United The Verdict
at 09:04:26
Decent performance from the lads and unlucky with VAR. What puzzles me is why there hasn't been a definitive explanation as to why the handball wasn't overturned. Surely at this stage the referee can provide a real-time explanation for the decision? Otherwise what are being paid for?
We're also lacking a clinical edge up top too. A striker is definitely needed coupled with a creative midfielder.
Moi was very anonymous for much of the match and Aribo to a lesser degree. While it's still early days and he's adapting to the club and league I hope the backroom staff gives Aribo a kick up the backside. He's a real talent but isn't influencing matches enough. Hopefully, it's just a fitness issue and he'll get better with more game time.
Chelsea next. Goodness me our opening fixtures have been horrendous! |
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Comment | Saints Handed Boost In Pursuit Of Striker
at 13:01:03
We need someone with more experience and I don't think it makes sense to hand over such a critical position through developing another PL team's player. To be frank I thought this transfer was put to bed once we signed Sekou Mara?
Unless he's as talented as Kane was 7-8 years I don't think it's worth the gamble and even then it would have to be at the very least a loan with the obligation to buy.
We need to have higher standards and bite the bullet on a proven striker. We also need to get an experienced CB who can lead and marshal the defence. ABK and Salisu are good but need guidance via good leadership from an experience CB. This will more than likely accelerate their development longer-term. |
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Comment | Spanish Club In Negotiations For Southampton Midfielder
at 11:30:49
Agree with GRIM (sorry I clicked down by accident!) and the other comments. OR has been a brilliant signing and very loyal to the club. I wish him all the best if the rumours are true.
That being said, in a more ideal situation, I think we should keep him for at least one more season to rotate with Lavia. We don't want Lavia burning out (he is 18 yrs after all!). If we get Garner then he'll definitely add extra competition to the midfield (that includes JWP).
For me, the longer term play should be to have Garner as JWP's longer-term replacement--especially when a big offer comes in--and Lavia to replace Romeu. Still think Diallo and Smallbone have a future but need to prove themselves with regular game time.
Diallo could do with a stint on loan at a decent Championship for a season I think. |
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Comment | Moussa Dembele Transfer Moves Closer But To Whom !
at 11:08:08
Yeah completely agree. It's a privilege to play in the EPL and it's clear that Dembele thinks he's better than he actually is. The reality is he's had a decent stint in a farmer's league (Ligue 1).
We need people who want to grow as players and understand what it means to earn a move to a so-called bigger club.... |
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Comment | Dembele Once Again Linked With Saints But Armstrong Set To Stay
at 11:10:17
I completely agree with felly1 and WestSussexSaint.
One more thing to add is that if the move for Dembele works out we could potentially get a decent resell value as he's the around the same age as Adam Armstrong.
Also, think we need another creative midfielder longer-term to replace Armstrong (as he's getting on) and to a lesser extent Romeu. For me, Tino Anjorin would be a good option. I would like to get Eberechi Eze instead but he'll be too expensive for our club's price point since he's got EPL experience. |
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Comment | Saints At Klagenfurt The Verdict
at 12:04:35
What we need are two decent strikers (with Che & Adam Armstrong as backups), a left back to challenge Perraud, Adama Traore if the rumours are to be true that he's worth £10m and a creative midfielder in Jan. Now some of you would disagree on Adama but the reality is he is far superior to the rest of our wingers and is approaching the peak years of his career at 26. If the coaching staff can get the best out of him (through bettering his end product, mindset, positional awareness and fitness) we'd have an absolute world beater. We could even recoup a resale value if the move works out after a couple of years or so.
We also need to clear out the deadwood. More specifically, Nathan Redmond, Tella, possibly Djenepo, Walcott, possibly Valery (depending on Tino's injury), Stephens, and McCarthy.
We need to keep Jan B and promote Simeu or possibly even buy the Chelsea lad Levi Colwill.
Strikerwise, I'd like to see us buy two of any of the following: Dembele (Lyon), Kalajdzic, Delap, and Cornet.
If we don't address the above then we're definitely going to struggle this season and likely be embroiled in a relegation fight. We were lucky last season to have an in-form JWP, KWP, and to a lesser extent Salisu, Broja, and Forster. |
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Comment | Minamino In Talks For St Mary's Return
at 12:42:06
If we invest heavily into our Sports Science/Injury Prevention team (a million or two) I think we'd be better off going for Oxlade Chamberlain. Minamino is too light weight for me.
Also feel the main priority should be sorting out the coaching staff followed by a GK, a main striker with Che Adams as deputy and a solid CB to pair up with Salisu. We also need more creativity in centre-midfield. |
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Comment | Saints Sack Coaches As Long Needed Revamp Begins
at 11:57:33
While it's sad to see Kelvin Davis leave the club under such circumstances I am very grateful for his service in getting us to where we are today. His contribution will not be forgotten and I for one would like to see him continue his relationship with the club in another capacity maybe as a club ambassador.
As Nick pointed out the club needs a real shake-up and I think the coaching staff is a good place to start. I for one would like us to poach coaching staff from top clubs in other leagues such as Germany (i.e. from Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Dortmund, and Bayern Leverkusen), Netherlands (Ajax & PSV), France (PSG, Monaco, and Lille), Spain (Sevilla and Athletico Madrid), and to a lesser degree Scotland (Celtic & Rangers). The talent there would be cheaper and more likely to come due to the higher salaries in the EPL.
Moreover, it would be great to poach some of the backroom staff from Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, and West Ham.
The next step, would be to remove the deadwood. Here's my take below.
Out: Shane Long, Forster, Stephens, Lyanco, Che Adams, Adam Armstrong, Djenepo (too much drama), Walcott.
Maybes: Redmond, Moi, Alex McCarthy (if he doesn't want to be a backup), Bednarak (if he doesn't want to be a backup), Romeu (need a longer-term replacement).
Keep: Diallo (gets one more season), Smallbone (gets one more season), Tella (gets one more season), KWP, Tino, JWP, Broja (if he's interested in joining), Salisu, Perraud, Stuart Armstrong.
Players we need to bring in:
- A solid GK ideally in their mid-to-late 20s. Someone like Dean Henderson or Nick Pope.
- A solid center-half with at least 3-4 years of experience in an elite European league (EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A). Ideally Tarkowski or someone similar.
- A playmaker. This could be a hidden gem from an elite club academy but unable to break into the first team e.g. Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid. Ideally someone similar to Tino Anjorin or Eberechi Eze.
- A solid box-to-box central midfielder to provide additional depth and quality to the midfield. Might need to dip into France, Holland, and Germany as it'll be cheaper.
- One possibly two solid strikers (depending on Broja) who have scored at least 10 to 15 goals in all competitions in leagues such as Germany, Spain, and the EPL. This is will be the hardest to find. However, I know Cornet (from Burnley) is on the market. Pukki would be an ideal replacement for Che or Adam Armstrong.
Once we have addressed the above I suspect we'd comfortably finish in the top 12. |
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Comment | Southampton V Crystal Palace The Verdict
at 14:10:20
Forgot to mention I really appreciate what Ralph has done for this football club but I genuinely believe he's taken us as far as he can.
Steve Cooper would be a brilliant replacement! |
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Comment | Southampton V Crystal Palace The Verdict
at 14:06:16
Thank you A1079,
I've kept quiet on this forum for the past few years precisely because of that type of mindset. I think the club has a lot of potential and quite frankly should be regarded as a household name across Europe if not the rest of the world.
Not for one second would I want Southampton to turn into a Man City or Chelsea. Heavens if that was the case I'd likely stop supporting. Chelsea and Man City might have an embarrassment of riches but the hard truth is no true football fan cares if they win anything. They are both soulless football clubs used as pet projects for billionaire owners. Money shouldn't be the primary differentiator for success. It should be hard work, innovation, creativity, a genuine love for the sport, enjoyment of the game, and most importantly, the unifying components of the sport that brings people together in a positive way.
When you look at English football, for decades, with the exception of Nottingham and to a lesser extent Birmingham and Leeds, it has been dominated by the cities of Manchester region, Liverpool, and London.
The north is likely to change now with the emergence of Newcastle. This will take time like Man City did in the 2010s but will likely be accelerated as they have a blueprint.
Within the South, London will always dominate but could be counted as a region in itself. Which leaves the spoils of London's success to the rest of the South.
Those spoils should go to us! With the exception of the club that shall not be named and Brighton, we are the biggest city in the South East.
Back in the 2013/2014 season, we were at the beginning of making our mark on English football with Cortese, Paul Mitchell, and Poch at the helm. Unfortunately, this was curtailed by Kat Liebherr putting her money ahead of making history.
Since then Paul Mitchell has gone on to establish himself as a highly sort after recruiter. His record has brought about the likes of Wanyama, Son, Trippier, Toby, and the list goes on. We all know what's going on with Poch. Cortese has left football altogether but at one point was courted to become AC Milan CEO.
Hopefully, the new ownership is genuinely different from what we have we have been accustomed to. They need to give the club the necessary kick up the backside to get to where we deserve to be. What is that exactly?
We should be a blend of Ajax, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, and Atletico Madrid. We're never going to be title contenders and spend crazy amounts of money.
No, we're always going to the club that buys the future stars and cultivates them into megastars. We're going to be the club that is constantly challenging for Europa League and from time to time has stints within the Champions League.
We should be the kind of club where players between ages 18 and 25 are devastated to not be playing for us. We should be the club that embarrasses the likes of City, Chelsea, and Man United by poaching players who are not getting enough game time and subsequently improving them.
That's the sort of club we should be. We're not at the Dell anymore. Le Tiss (dare I say) retired nearly 20 years ago.
We need to shake off that brand as 'relegation strugglers' and give no room for idiots like Shearer and Linekar on MoTD and wider press to give this great football club the respect it deserves! |
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Comment | Southampton V Chelsea The Verdict
at 08:20:35
Right! It's clear to see that Ralph has done the best he can given the circumstances. However, now that we have new (hopefully decent) owners with a long-term vision and plan it's more than likely that Ralph will leave this summer or potentially stay on with different expectation levels moving forward.
In my opinion, we can definitely attract better coaches/managers if we can sell the project properly. For crying out loud we're an EPL team. There's a lot more money in the EPL compared to other leagues and it's considered the most prestigious league in the world. Most managers would jump at the chance of managing us. It's like becoming a Formula 1 driver. We've been in it for nearly 10 years with a decent amount of success. The way people talk about us on this forum is as if we're still in the Championship!
Out of all the clubs on the south coast (outside of London), we are the biggest! And that includes the club that shall not be named--FYI I'm not talking about Bournemouth.
Realistically we should aim for the below profile of manager for our calibre of club:
- Experienced manager with the long-term aim of managing an elite European club aiming for honors in England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and to a lesser degree France. These clubs will also be playing in the UCL or Europa League. The win rate must be 50% and above. Minimum tenure should be 12-18-months. Effectively a Poch-type manager.
- Ideally, the coach has already got some of this experience managing feeder clubs such as RP Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Leverkusen, Lyon, Lille, Feyenoord, Ajax, Valencia, Villarreal, Sevilla, etc.
Based on the above criteria these are possible names we should aim for:
Peter Bosz, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Marcelino GarcÃa Toral and Lucien Favre.
Lastly, we could look at assistant managers at the really elite clubs who have a lot of experience and connections i.e. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Man City, Liverpool (Pepijn Linders), and Chelsea (Arno Michels). |
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Comment | Major Upheaval In Southampton Squad In Summer
at 14:17:46
Peterx: Valery's had his time, unfortunately. He had the right-back spot a few seasons ago but didn't show enough hunger to retain it and improve his overall game. This was rightly taken by KWP who is definitely an upgrade. The fact he hasn't pushed for a move away since for regular game time elsewhere given that we also brought Tino in (putting him further down the pecking order) speaks for itself about his ambition and aspirations as a footballer.
Djenepo deserves another chance but he has to change his attitude. Don't get me wrong he works really hard for the team but HE NEEDS TO CALM DOWN! Especially when he's on the ball. I can't for the life of me understand how this hasn't been fed to him in training. He's also lost a lot of confidence and most probably needs to reset. He might benefit from going on loan to the Championship or even a stint in French Ligue 1.
Nonetheless, I still maintain a confident Moussa is among our most talented attackers. |
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Comment | Southampton V Manchester City The Verdict
at 12:51:54
My goodness, that was a performance!
Completely agree with Nick. Salisu was outstanding but the whole team was very good tbf. FF should also get a mention and I really feel he's getting back to that 2014-2016 form!
Credit to Ralph for making it work the past few years. He's really brought the squad together and created an identity. I feel he's starting to build something very special. I thought Pep was being overly considerate in the pre-match conference but upon further reflection, he was deadly serious about us.
While this match in isolation was just a point it will have a massive impact on the psychology of the squad. It'll bring them a ton more confidence and hopefully, we can play like last night more consistently.
Lastly, if there's ever a time for our new owners to make a statement it'll be by the end of this transfer window:
1. Get Ralph a new deal if he's due one ASAP.
2. Keep the current spine as well as squad players. That being,
Goalkeeper: New GK (hopefully Dean Henderson)
Defence: Salisu & a new CB (need to find a partner longer-term), KWP (RB),
Midfield: Tino (RW), JWP & Romeu (longer-term Diallo)
Upfront: Broja.
Also, think we could do with a playmaker. Watching KDB really made miss Tadic :(
If we can sign Broja permanently along Henderson (as the cherry on the top) I'll be a very happy man :) |
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Comment | Southampton At Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 15:59:03
For me it was great match with terrible refereeing. On the balance a draw would have been fair. Hopefully Ralph can clean up the backroom staff and get a true number 2 to challenge his team selection in future.
Nick: I still hold onto my original view a few years ago that we should have signed Adama Traore. At the time we opted for Guido Carrillo...do I need to say anymore??? (smh)
Traore is among the best if not best dribbler in Europe (statistically) and would have created a ridiculous amount of space our team as whole when attacking on the counter---not to mention more freekick opportunities for JWP! It's a shame but it's too late now. |
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