Southampton Discussions

26 Feb 2024 17:11:35
Just seen Smallbones stats V millwall .
will the clown pick him next game
I had to check . yes he played the whole game .
Shocked . unbelievable .

Lost possession 13 times
0 tackles
0 interceptions
0/1 aerial duals won
0/3 ground duals won
0/1 successful dribbles
0/2 successful crosses .

And he stayed on the pitch!

24 Feb 2024 20:56:08
I wouldn't say sack him right at this moment Miller. As much as I wouldn't be sad to see him go, somewhere along the line (most likely luck) he's done something to/with the team to get us in the promotion place.

I made a post a few months back, about knee-jerk reactions. Whilst long term he's not the man for us, right now I can't see anyone else coming in and doing a better job, not now the the transfer window has closed.

What the board needs to be doing is like I said, actively and aggressively looking for a the right man who's not only going to stick around but build and grown team. An Eddie Howe type manager.

I mean we did pretty much have that with Ralph.and look were that knee jerk reaction got us (cough cough).

In all honesty now we're in this hot mess I wouldn't be totally against staying in the championship for another season or two, just so that when we do finally get promotion things are in place to keep us there. Right now by some miracle we get promoted, big teams will steal our standout players of this season and we're be right back down here with some other dodgey board.

16 Jan 2024 17:09:54
Am I thinking what everyone else is thinking about the loan signing of Joe Rothwell?

I'm just a little confused as to what he will bring to an already well stocked midfield where we seem to have an abundance of options.

I can see that we need to build capacity in the full back positions and we could do with a genuine number 9 but not sure that we need more section headaches in midfield. It doesn't strike me that he's a nailed on starter so he's going to be a bench warmer I would have thought.

28 Dec 2023 14:29:16
Can we get 2nd? I have been crunching the numbers.

In the last 5 seasons, 2nd place has averaged 88 points and 90 over the last 3 seasons. If we look at the min points to finish 2nd (1 above 3rd) that becomes an average of 84 points.

This season is different I think 90 to 95 points may be needed. Ipswich are trending for 102 points on their season to date average but 93 points if they continue their 12 game average. Leeds for 87.

The last 12 games we hit 28 points, if we can make that 27 in our next 12 we reach 75. Our last 10 is tougher but 20 points would get us to 95. So 14 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses. Our full season trend now is 92 points so 93 to 95 seems reasonable, given our form.

COYR!

21 Dec 2023 09:49:32
Embracing some Christmas magic here.

Our 5 step plan to the Top 2.

1. Win our next 4 games
2. Ipswich lose against Leeds and Leiciester then take 4pts from their next 2
4. We beat Ipswich and Leeds away
5. We match the points Ipswich and Leeds get for the other 18 games.

The cumulative odds are about 0.1% for all that probably but worth a shot!

29 Aug 2023 20:12:47
A few reflections from a long dog walk .

It seems that we will be relying on a bunch of youngsters, a handful of loanees and the Armstrongs to lead the charge back to the PL.

If RM pulls that off it will be a water into wine story.

It's too early to make any sound judgments four games in, but I can foresee a time when opponents will pay us a little less respect than they are at the moment. On the other hand, with each passing month, the team should become more settled.

In short, if we make it back, RM will have performed a minor miracle.

In the words of Vincent Company, the gulf between the PL and Championship is the biggest in world football. But that's a debate for another day!

08 Aug 2023 22:10:23
Deja vu or what .

Option 1 - build on a good away win and 4 days later, play a similar team with a couple of changes with the objective of beating a league 2 side and progressing to the next round. Confidence remains high and fans appreciate they have not been undersold.

OR

Option 2 - join the list of clever dick managers too cocky by half and play a completely 'alternative' team to show how genius they are.

Already RM has shown that he has not got what it takes. Why on earth would you experiment at this stage of the season. Had we won, what would that have proved. To be smashed just makes a mockery of everything.

It would have been far more beneficial to have given the same or similar team that played at Sheff Wed another opportunity to embed this so called high possession tactic and work on improving movement and understanding.

Sorry guys, but we will be looking to replace the 'did ok at Swansea' wannabe manager well before Christmas.

No excuses - shambolic result with no excuses.

29 Jul 2023 10:36:33
With less than a week to go until our first game why have we not made any real progress in the transfer market? We still need an at an experienced center mid to replace romeu and a goal keeper in my opinion. We still have all the players who we know want out. Going to be a busy deadline day for us I think.

27 Jul 2023 11:36:50
Couple of questions would love perspectives on.

1. If JWP leaves who would you make captain?
2.If we had 50 mil to spend on transfers who would you buy or which positions would you strengthen?

01 Jul 2023 18:52:42
Leicester doing some very sensible signings in Coady and Winks for just £17.5m.

Experienced players and leaders that definitely will do a job in the Championship.

Let's hope Saints can follow suit.

13 May 2023 22:34:11
Anyone else think we should give a few u21s a start in prep for nexr season?

09 May 2023 21:05:51
@Ed
I met a guy in a London pub some months ago, who claimed to be an agent (researched him and it was legit) - he claimed Southampton owners had planned the relegation of Southampton. Board decisions, performances and results back this up - could there be truth in this? Is that even possible?

{Ed002's Note - Of course not. He was clearly teasing you.}

09 May 2023 12:22:57
As no one is posting, I thought I'd better add something .
So we finally realise/decide, that 433 / 424 / 442 worked . minimum of two up front, being fed by two wingers . about 3 seasons late!

But best of all was giving Lavia the true holding midfielder role on his own, box to box, strong, fast, agile, clever, attacking, positive .

What a difference having a midfield player like this makes .
we had Romeu in the holding role, but was too slow, caught out of position, poor in attack.
JWP neither holding or anything to be honest.
Imagine if we had built out team around Lavia all season!
Building our team around a very slow, very predictable JWP has added to our playing style. I doubt we'll keep Lavia or JWP, but it's obvious what we need . a Harrison Reed style player who we let go .

Finally we looked like scoring every attack.
Sadly let down by some poor defending and great goals from forest!

The end of our PL era. We simply have not played good enough football, our basics have been awful .

08 May 2023 22:46:02
Well.yet more baffling selections and although we played some good stuff at times, we ain't good enough to walk it into the net. Why don't the coaches teach our steikers to f***ing shoot! Time to start the process for next season in the Championship and hopefully do what Burnley have done. Get a decent, hungry manager (Lampard did OK with Derby or give Rooney a shot), back them with money we get from JWP, Latvia, Sulemana - who let's face it, are all going to go - and make us a team that no-one wants to play against! Until the maths say we r down, I will always hope.but I'm bit an idiot 😀! Saints til I die!

30 Apr 2023 22:45:39
How's that Fresh breathe of Selles air feeling now (:

"We wouldn't have got relegated under Ralph, relegated under Raaaallllppphhh, we wouldn't have got relegated under Ralph"

Fact.