| News Comment | The Knives Are Out For Russell Martin In The Media But Do They Have Substance at 13:27:53
It isn't just the amateur journalists as the Ivory Tower brigade like to call them that have been super critical of RM this season. The ' far from amateur' journalists on Match of The Day have expressed their very serious concerns about RM's tactics with the very 'ordinary' squad that he has put together; It is difficult at the moment to imagine any scenario or system which will enable our squad of players to score more than the occasional goal. A continuation of RM's tippy tappy defensive system will concede goals regularly to the vast majority of Premier League teams. We have brought in a new army of Premier League hopefuls and it remains to be seen just how successful and effective they will be. The best teams got promoted irrespective of the efforts of their managers - they quite simply had the best players and pulled well clear of the remainder. This season is different and we will see just how good or bad RM is when coping with better quality opposition on a weekly basis, and deploying his only slightly more competent squad to deal with it! |
| News Comment | The Knives Are Out For Russell Martin In The Media But Do They Have Substance at 13:21:05
It isn't just the amateur journalists as the Ivory Tower brigade like to call them that have been super critical of RM this season. The ' far from amateur' journalists on Match of The Day have expressed their very serious concerns about RM's tactics with the very 'ordinary' squad that he has put together; It is difficult at the moment to imagine any scenario or system which will enable our squad of players to score more than the occasional goal. A continuation of RM's tippy tappy defensive system will concede goals regualrly to the vast majority of Premier Lea |
| News Comment | Southampton At Brentford The Damning Verdict at 10:24:21
Agree with much that you say Nick, but I too think you are being much too generous to Russell Martin. Having said that if you look at the complete League Table it is amazing that after just THREE games, it already looks much as you might expect it to look at the END of the season. Captain Jack's comments that he doesn't think we are really committed to the RM style is even more worrying - until of course you realise that Russell has two weeks now to iron out all the problems and then presumably everything will be alright! The way the manager tries to 'big up' the players and their performances is his way of desperately getting the team to support him with constant references to 'brilliant in that moment' or player X was 'fantastic'! So the players love him and RM can claim he has the full support of the entire squad! Even the television commentators are claiming that his players are not good enough to play the RM way. The Premier League will punish us every time - especially as we do not possess a confident goalscorer to place the opposition under any real pressure. Sports Republic will stick with their man - and presumably there is just a chance we will get some better results from time to time before Christmas. I repeat, RM thinks he is good enough for bigger and better things ahead - maybe even the Man City job. Maybe, maybe one day - but his stubbornness and arrogance right now is doing Saints no favours at all. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Cardiff The Carabao Cup Verdict at 18:16:44
Not quite sure why so many have taken to commenting on the Cardiff match. This match bares no resemblance whatsoever to a Premier League game which is all the excuse that Russell Martin needs to roll out Stephens, Smallbone, Manning and co on Saturday. Scoring five against Cardiff Reserves will also count for nothing if the manager persists in playing all his forwards wide with no experienced centre forward. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Cardiff City The Carabao Cup Preview at 09:23:18
Almost impossible to offer any comment right now that will not seem foolish by the time anybody reads it! Will we get a goalkeeper and that striker we so desperately need? Is Russell Martin seriously considering lining up against Brentford as we did against Forest? Eleven new faces lining up against Cardiff - will it be Gillingham all over again? And so it goes on. For me the biggest question mark now is just how is Russell Martin going to convince the majority of fans that he is the right man for the job? |
| News Comment | Southampton V Nottingham Forest The Verdict. at 09:25:21
Well I guess that was a fairly predictable summary Nick and not one you were hoping to write. Unfortunately Russell Martin is an arrogant and stubborn young man who is convinced that he's going to make it to the very top in management even if we aren't! Without some new forward strength I really cant see where the next Saints goal is coming from at this level. We dont get the ball forward quickly enough and any forwards that we have already got are lost out on the wing somewhere. I am sure Smallbone is a great fan of Russell's, but to expect him to power his way into the box and score us a goal or two at this level is at best incredibly shortsighted. The Premier League can be divided once again into two halves - the Clubs with money and quality players and then the rest that will struggle and fight each other to stay in the League. If we dont sign a true goalscorer at this Level we will finish in the bottom three without any doubt. At Newcastle McCarthy rightly took the blame, but he would be the last person to blame for the defeat against Forest. The blame for our poor start lies firmly at the feet of the manager and it remains to be seen how long his arrogance and stubbornness prevails and prevents us from moving forward. |
| News Comment | Vacancy- Ball Playing Goalkeeper Wanted Apply St Mary's Stadium at 09:38:05
Ha ha!! spot on Nick. We live in dangerous times. Can one reasonably hope that behind the scenes we are already close to signing an experienced top level keeper. Its not looking good for Ramsdale now - a nervous time indeed for all Saints supporters! |
| News Comment | Southampton At Newcastle United The Verdict at 09:19:39
A perfect summary by Nick "The Premier League can come down to fine margins, especially down in the bottom half, so it was frustrating to see a point and possibly 3 thrown down the drain." I have to admit that I was surprised how well we coped although I dont think Newcastle are anything like as good as they think they are! Apart from needing a goalkeeper, my main concern is our inability to unleash a goalscorer. A Danny Ings type of player is what we need - a player with a history of finding the back of the net. We just dont have one - Edozie and co can do amazing things at time but sadly all our young stars NEVER look like finding the back of the net. We will ALWAYS be vulnerable to conceding silly goals playing out from the back, so our greatest need is still finding someone to do the damage at the other end! |
| News Comment | Southampton About To Break The Bank For Greek Forward at 11:13:51
While agreeing with much that is written above, I am fairly certain that neither Onuachu nor Adam Armstrong will regularly get us goals in the Premier League. O'Reilly would most probably be a tremendous asset in midfield but we still need someone to stick the ball in the back of the net. We are still missing a goalkeeper and a goalscorer - how many times does it need to be said! |
| News Comment | Kyle Walker-Peters Situation Is Win Win Says Russell Martin at 10:39:29
KWP is one of the few players that we have at the moment that can compete and more than hold his own in the Premier League. In stark contrast I would argue is our Captain Jack, who Martin continues to parade as one of his chosen favourites. Martin has a great deal still to prove for someone who gives the air of Mr super confident, an individual who feels he can do little wrong.. We do not have the quality that we need in key positions on the field, so whatever system Martin plays we will be found sadly wanting. If he choses to play his tippy tappy possession style tactics we will be annihilated by the best teams and that could well include Newcastle on day one of the new season. |
| News Comment | Southampton Hold Talks with Goalkeeper at 09:45:29
The clock is running down and at the moment we are fodder for the majority of PL clubs. We dont have the overall quality and we dont have a goalkeeper or a goalscorer. Surprise that we didn't concede yesterday, but no surprise that we didn't score! |
| News Comment | Southampton V Getafe The Pre Season Preview at 10:46:58
I should think Newcastle will be licking their lips at the prospect of their first game of the season being against Saints - McCarthy, Manning, Stephens et al. Our attack poses little or no threat and our possession football will suit the Newcastle players down to the ground. I cannot believe, unless his hands are tied, that Russell Martin seriously believes that we are ready to take on the Premier League. But then he seems convinced that the likes of Manning, Stephens and Mara are ready and suited to the task! |
| News Comment | Southampton Goalkeeper Loan Deal Agreed at 13:41:01
And now we are told there is no more money available! Did we fix the goalkeeping position or the central striker? Loans deals appear to be the only hope for Saints; Once again we have created our own mess. |
| News Comment | Southampton V Lazio The Verdict at 06:50:53
Never mind McCarthy being a disaster waiting to happen, the whole team is a disaster waiting to happen! Week after week it is clear what we need and still with a few days to go before the start of the season we are without a decent goalkeeper and a quality central striker, and many of our players are simply not up to PL standard. If Martin thinks that this team is good enough to play possession football in the Premier League then he is very quickly going to be in for a nasty shock. Time is running out and the last thing we need is an embarrassing start to the League season. |
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