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Comment | Southampton At Newcastle United The Verdict
at 10:28:35
I would thought that there are two culprits for this loss:
(i) the board for not getting a new EPL quality keeper in before the start of the season when we all knew this was a priority as Alex Mc can’t play this type of possession game and isn’t that great anyway and Bazunu, who is good with his feet, is both injured and an even worse keeper. RM surely knows this and would want a new keeper.
(ii) Alex McCarthy - it’s pretty generous of commentators not to blame him. He wasn’t under any great pressure and has needlessly passed the ball straight to one of their best players. I think we should expect most goalkeepers to be able to make a ten yard pass in the modern game.
That aside it looked like we played well and were very unlucky to lose against a team that will likely finish in the top 6. If we get a decent keeper in I think we can stay up providing we stick with the style of play and perhaps the core of the playing staff that has got us this far. It’ll be tight though. |
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Comment | Southampton V Montpellier The Verdict
at 15:11:58
It’s always hard to assess how well a team will do from pre season friendlies, especially with all of the changes that are made by both teams. I thought both Dibling and Amo were excellent again and should be given a chance in the EPL. Both look physically stronger and Amo looks better without the ball now when he has defensive work to do. That aside I think everyone knows we need a new keeper and we possibly another option up top given the injury concerns around RS. Sagawara looks like a good addition at right back. Thought we played well, but on another day we could easily have conceded a couple more. As stated in the article Mara’s penalty was awful. He’s very fortunate to be given so many chances given the lack of return. |
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Comment | Saints Can Now Start Planning Their Transfer Strategy For The Premier League
at 17:12:16
We are clearly going to need to strengthen. We will definitely need a new left back and a keeper. We have a quality right back and 3 decent or better CBs. We could definitely do with keeping Downes if possible. Given Stueys age we could probably do with another attack minded CM.
There’s plenty of deadwood , or more kindly players that don’t fit the style of play to sell.
Charley doesn’t fit the style of play and I’m not convinced Perraud does either. Tall Paul simply isn’t good enough for the EPL and is get rid of Sulemana too (who had a disappointing season). Off those out on loan I could only really make a case for keeping ABK, who with time could turn into a decent player for us. |
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Comment | Southampton At Preston North End The Verdict
at 12:49:22
I think overall a point is a decent outcome against a very well drilled PNE side. My biggest complaint would be why we continue to persevere with Mara. His goal scoring record is abysmal and the other aspects of his game do not in anyway compensate for this. His amount of game time seems particularly unjust when other youngsters such as Doyle and Sam A-A, who appear to have more to offer (in different positions), don’t seem to get any game time at all. |
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Comment | Southampton At Sunderland The (Damning) Verdict
at 12:49:56
Despite enduring the long trip and a poor display I am still willing to give RM the benefit of the doubt. There some simple lessons to learn going forward:
1. Play Shea Charles in DM. He is clearly one of our best players and this is his best position.
2. Play H-B alongside Bednarek at CB. Whilst Holgate didn’t have much prep time, he was awful on Saturday and his performances at Everton suggest he should be back up rather than a starter.
3. Do not play Mara on the wing. We have plenty of others who could play there (Fraser, Stu or Sam A-A). Mara is not a winger nor good enough to be in the starting XI.
Finally a shout out to the away following- they were magnificent in the 2nd half! |
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Comment | Southampton Land First Signing Of Transfer Deadline Day
at 10:12:38
This looks like excellent business, especially with the option to buy at the end of the season. If we are able to sell ABK today or perhaps a loan to Dortmund with an option to buy then we can use this money to buy Taylor. It’s going to be interesting to see who our first choice CBs will end up being as there is now stiff competition between Jack, Bednarek, Holgate and Taylor. I strongly suspect the latter will take one spot. |
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Comment | Southampton At Gillingham The Verdict
at 11:27:26
Definitely not a great performance, although this is only RM’s second competitive game as manager, so I am not sure it’s quite time for sack the gaffer remarks that are currently appearing in other forums! I thought both Bree and Onuachu, when he came on, were awful and it’s difficult to understand why the latter was brought on ahead of Ballard. On the plus side I thought S Armstrong played well in the first half and credit should be given to Sam A-A, who looked a threat and kept going to the end, and Doyle, who looked decent in the 2nd half. RM definitely deserves some criticism for playing Perraud as a CB, which was never likely to work, and Mara as a AM. I think we might be better off dispensing with both Mara and Che and bringing in Piroe. |
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Comment | Southampton V Bournemouth The Pre Season Verdict
at 10:12:36
Not too much should be read in to pre season friendlies, although it’s a bit odd that we keep playing players who seem to be near the exit door. Also does anyone know what has happened to Sulemana and Ballard who don’t seem to be featuring in preseason? |
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Comment | How Many Of The Southampton Squad Will Still Be Here After Transfer Window
at 19:27:02
I think the £150m figure is a reasonable guesstimate.. We do have a large squad with some decent players who we can sell for large fee as a lot of them are still young and have a few years left on their contract. We are also in reasonable financial health so don’t have to sell players on the cheap. It would be good if Martin factors in our academy as the likes of Ballard, Dibling and Doyle should be given a chance next season. I’d love to see Tino, Alcaraz and Sulemana stay. I suspect at least one of them will go. This is probably a minority view but I am not so convinced by Adam Armstrong- I know he’s scored goals in the Championship a few years back, but he’s a limited footballer and we might have better options. |
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Comment | Southampton Fans Want To See Youth Given A Chance In The Last Two Games
at 13:20:45
I agree with Kenis, there’s little chance that Tella will be with us next season, Burnley will very likely put in a bid and he’ll want to move so he can play in the EPL (you can’t blame him for this - he seems like a good lad, so personally I think it would be better to sell and reinvest in areas of the ten that will need strengthening like CM). So there’s no point playing him.
I think I would start a couple of the academy players. Let’s be honest we are very likely to lose the next 2 games so we have absolutely nothing to lose by starting Ballard and either Doyle/Dibling. It would be different if they were playing at the back but attacking midfielders and strikers shouldn’t be impacted by a drubbing and more likely they’ll be buzzing at being given the opportunity. Besides it’s not as if any of our current crop of attackers have done anything to warrant starting. Give the kids a chance… |
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Comment | Southampton V Brentford Postponed This Weekend As A Mark Of Respect For The Queen
at 14:23:02
A sad day. She was certainly a wonderful, understated and dutiful monarch. However I do think the weekend games should have gone ahead. The fans could have paid tribute to her with a 2 minutes silence/applause, which would have been a fitting way for the public to show their respects and I suspect this is what the Queen would have wanted. Also a lot of travelling fans (not me) would have already made commitments to travel, paid for hotels etc - they don’t seem to have been considered here. |
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Comment | Southampton Interested In Manchester United Veteran
at 12:00:32
He will surely want high wages. Whilst he is undoubtedly a “battler†he lacks composure on the ball and has a tendency to dive in - a quality Salish already possesses. Not convinced he’s what we need. |
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Comment | Southampton FC Confirm That The Takeover Has been Completed
at 20:41:39
I think this is great news, we have owners who have a track record of success in Denmark and Brentford, they’ll tweak what we already do well and make evidence based improvements. They might not splash fortunes, but we were never likely to get a multi billionaire owner. I’d rather have smart owners that invest sensibly and in a sustainable manner. Our best transfer business this summer was buying Tino for £5mil. We can thrive by being shrewd rather than trying to compete with bigger clubs that just waste money. |
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Comment | Southampton At Everton The Verdict
at 21:53:20
Agree with the comments on Redmond. There have been times in the past where he has been unfairly picked on, but last night he was really poor.
Can’t understand playing Bednarek as a right back. He has no pace and offers nothing in an attacking sense. He should be playing alongside Vestegaard at CB. I thought Salisu was pretty poor, yes Calvert-Lewin was a touch dirty, but he barely got off the ground when jumping. Also, they were mainly hands to the face not elbows, so not quite sure why he was on the ground for a minute. The lad needs to toughen up. I think we badly miss KWP. It’s crazy that we let Valery and Vokins go out on loan. We were asking for this too happen given the fixture schedule, I just hope Bertie (who is no spring chicken) doesn’t get injured too. In their absence we could do worse than sticking Stephens at right back. He’s a bit more mobile than Bednarek. Not ideal, but what else can we do?
Having said all that I fancy us to get something from Sheff utd, maybe a point- which would be something to build on. Thankfully we have a healthy buffer over the bottom 3! |
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Comment | Despite Fan's Uproar Southampton's January Transfer Window Is Reasonable
at 13:39:40
I think letting Vokins and Valery go on loan is unwise. Given the tighter playing schedule and the demands we put on our full backs to get forward we can only expect more injuries, therefore we need adequate cover. Neither Stephens nor Diallo are natural full backs. JWP can do a decent job at right back, but given that he’s been one of our best players this season, it greatly weakens the team to move him from CM. I am struggling to follow the argument that we needed to do this to save money, when we’ve brought in Minamino. Surely neither Vokins nor Valery were on high wages? Both were likely to get more playing time if allowed to stay. Valery already has EPL experience and I think Vokins is a good prospect. It would have made more sense to keep them and play them a bit more allowing KWP and Bertrand to have a rest and for the youngsters to gain EPL experience. |
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Comment | Saints At Burnley The Verdict
at 13:52:35
A dire game of football but grateful for the win. I agree with Sandy Welsh, Romeu was my Motm. I think the article rightly highlights how poor Burnley were, which is mainly down to injuries. If we had 6 or 7 first team players out for any length of time we’d be heading for relegation. Given this our attacking performance was pretty woeful with Djenepo, who I rate as a player, having a poor game. However, our squad is thin Ralph doesn’t really have the players on the bench to change things. We could do with buying a couple of midfielders in my view. |
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Comment | Saints V Tottenham Hotspur The Verdict
at 16:22:13
For me the result was more to do with the system than the players. Trying to play an offside trap on the half way line is madness for any team regardless of personnel. You effectively give the opponent nearly half a pitch to boot the ball in to. Even with quick cbs (which we don’t have) the defensive line would be pulled all over the place. We must play deeper. We also need cover or a replacement for Romeu. Smallbone is a decent player, but he’s not a DM. For me this is the most obvious weakness in our squad and was clearly a factor in the shambolic 2nd half performance. |
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Comment | Saints At Crystal Palace The Verdict
at 21:27:46
The midfielders were at fault for the goal, rather than the CBS. Certainly can’t fault JS who had to mark two men. I thought we played ok but were a bit flat in the 1st half after conceding. Sometimes you have to credit the opposition, Palace were very well organised and were tough to break down once they got ahead. I thought Redmond had a poor game, but that some of the criticism of Smallbone is unfair, he can pick a quick pass and looks a decent prospect to me. |
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Comment | Saints After Leicester City Midfielder
at 21:07:36
I think he’s a good player, he’s not getting game time due to the quality in the Leicester midfield. If the price is reasonable he is worth a punt, especially given his age suggests he could improve with coaching and more game time. |
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Comment | Saints Looking To Offload Sofiane Boufal On The Cheap
at 22:13:43
Flashy, but largely ineffective. Showed some signs of improvement last season, but that was relative to earlier dire performances. I always thought his work rate was ok for a flair player, it’s his decision making that lets him down - it’s mainly terrible both with and without the ball. Get rid, Djenepo looks a much better bet. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 0 | | Comment Votes: | 61 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 61 |
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