Southampton banter 2

04 Apr 2024 15:04:58
Guys what kind of players can we sign this summer that could've make us a Premier league or at least survival team. At the moment we aren't bazunu really isn't fulfilling his potential and letting goals pass him. So like what kind of keepers and strikers could be sign?

04 Apr 2024 20:52:34
Downes is crucial, we must try and sign him permanently. Looking at the loan players, Fraser and Rothwell are realistic but I’m afraid we’ll lose Harwood Bellis and Brooks. Adams Stu and Mccarthy are leaving, I expect Onaucha, Caleta Car, KWP, Sulemana and Lyanco to be sold. We should move Manning on and consider bringing back Perraud Bella kotchap and Alcaraz, unless Juventus pay silly money. I think Bazunu is worth persevering with as is Bree Mara Charles . Add Maghoma Larios Dibling Amo Ballard Payne and Stewart, give them some playing time and it could get interesting . Like to see a couple of experienced heads and maybe an ilias chair / Asprilla type player to create more in the final third. James of Birmingham is going to be a hell of a player.

05 Apr 2024 07:33:38
Very insightful @2408.

So, your predicted team would be something like the below?

Bree.ABK.Bed.Perraud
Smallbone.Downes.Alcaraz
AA.Stewart.Fraser

Then with Edozie, Rothwell, Aribo, Ameyaw and Mara etc. off the bench?

Would love ABK, Perraud and Alcaraz back but I am not sure they want to be here, unless we get promoted or change manager.

03 Apr 2024 01:11:44
Automatic promotion was never on the cards for me. I mentioned the manager/team was never enough to get us there on first try. However I do think playoffs is the best option overall.

If by some miracle we got automatic promotion we would have seen a false confidence, no only from the board but also and more importantly.the fans. I've always stated that fans need a reality check. Hopefully now as a collective we can all see ourselves for what we are a decent promotion chasing team .rather than this automatic/deserved to be in the premier league team.

No one deserves anything. You get what you get on merit. Look at Ipswich, sure they're possibly be straight back down again next season but it where they are right now is where they deserve to be and likewise so are we.

So, hopefully for us going up the more painful way (if we manage promotion) will humble everyone and show there's still a hell a lot more work to be done.

On that note I'm not totally against RM, I know he isn't a premier league manager for sure but wether it's by luck or not he has kept us up and towards the top of the league all of the season. If we don't go up I'd probably give him another season. Why? Because of stability.I'd rather the board take Thier time and find the right man (even if that means replacing RM at a time when the team is at its best) rather then knee jerk decisions. Knee jerk decisions are only ever a gamble and we could find ourselves tumbling down the league, least for now if we have to have another year in the championship we know with RM were at least be up and near the top.

The one thing I would change overall though is Bazuna. I'm sorry dude but youve had 2 full seasons for progress with us, one of which is dropping down a league but you aren't getting where you need to be. he's very athletic and would arguably be a great sweeper keeper except for one vital part .He NEVER saves anything?! He ways gets down low and dives where he needs to be but never gets the ball. We need a SOLID keeper who makes one or two decent saves a match, one that dives and pushes away/stops the ball, not a keeper who is essentially just another defender.

03 Apr 2024 08:06:42
lesleee A very constructive, sensible and well thought out post—well done!

04 Apr 2024 16:08:13
I agree, very thoughtful post. but I do disagree, in that I think we should be getting automatic promotion.
Firstly our goalkeeper - quite simply not good enough, way too many goals conceded which could or should have been saved.
I agree totally that RM is not an EPL manager.
I also think that RM is hugely responsible for our league position. His insistence on playing Stephens, breaking up the hugely successful partnership of Bednerek and Harwood-Bellis, has completely destabilised our defence. Not only were we scoring goals, we were conceding little. Stephens may work hard, wear the badge with pride, but he pulls others players out of position with his poor positional play.

Dropping KWP against Ipswich? He’s messed around with KWP so much this season, Left back, right back, right midfield/wing .

His substitutions have been late, wrong players, wrong tactics .

Picking players out of form, dropping players in form .

05 Apr 2024 02:33:34
I'm not disagreeing on RMs faults . He's a stubborn bastard. What I am saying though is that if we don't get promotion this year and the fans call for his head then anyone who comes in HAS to get promotion, because anything short of that and we may as well stick with RM. I can't think of anyone willing to join us who will guarantee us promotion.

For all his faults RM this season would have done everything but get us promotion, meaning anyone else who takes his place would be no better unless promotion is guaranteed with them. All in all i'd rather someone who knows the team/players have another crack at it then gambling on the unknown because with RM you know that we're going to be competing again whereas with an unknown sure they might be awesome but there's also a very real chance than when you roll that dice that new manager ends up sinking the ship and sends us down the league.

I'd rather take the RM gamble for another season then the unknown gamble as we've had some real dodgy managers in recent times. Better the devil you know.

05 Apr 2024 03:30:57
south hants rich Agree totally with all of your observations but would add that in order to prevent chaotic destabilisation RM remains in place until the absolute right Manager becomes available ( dependent whether or not we qualify for EPL next season and whether or not the Board have the Balls to carry it out.! Furthermore an ideal opportunity would be an appointment in conjunction with a newDirector of Football ( apparently according to reports) to foster a harmonious working relationship.

02 Apr 2024 11:27:51
Fully agree Millertime!

Since the `Huddersfield Wobble` and the end of our unbeaten run, we have taken just 10 points from 8 games.

Better teams are finding us out and there is no point RM saying we were the better team last night when we LOST.

The writing was on the wall when Ipswich hit the post. We did not adapt to the threat coming and we have to defend better because we are just not clinical enough up front. Even AA needs 3 chances to score one goal.

Yes we will be a much weaker squad and stuck in the championship unless a miracle occurs in the play-offs.

Even then would Sports Republic invest enough for the Premiership? I see our French sister club are also relegation material in ligue 2.

Not happy.

02 Apr 2024 19:53:46
We aren’t cutthroat enough a club at any level, and I just cannot see that the board will replace Martin if we finish fourth and don’t go up. They’ll say ‘we got XX points (87ish), that would get you promoted automatically most seasons’.

Ipswich have done an amazing job and I want them to go up. We need to cherry pick from this league and League One and get Martin to see the error of his ways to this point. I backed the side when we went unbeaten, but the amount of times we’ve failed to kill off games has now caught up with us.

I’d like to think we can keep S Armstrong, A Armstrong, Fraser, Aribo, Smallbone, Charles and Bednarek, have Larios and Stewart fit, and sign a CDM - we won’t keep Downes - a goalie and another striker as a minimum. If we get money from KWP and Sulemana totalling £30m+, we can go and pick up several good prospects and build, because as people rightly say we wouldn’t stay in the PL with this squad.

I also don’t think the club is built on a ruthlessness to sack off Bazunu. I loved his signing but one could argue that with a hint of anticipation he saves all three goals last night.

I’d like us to go and look at the impressive players from this season. Whittaker, Szmodics, Simms, one of them would suit us. I think szmodics would be an amazing player for us personally. But I imagine we will dip back into the Chelsea and City youth pool again.

01 Apr 2024 23:02:25
Well that will be that then. As a Saints fan it's very disappointing because we have the squad to compete for auto promotion, but we haven't got that winning mentality.

A winning mentality comes from the manager. The problem is RM is too thick to change his ways.

Be honest, does anyone have a clue what his best team is.

Bree - why? KWP on the bench?

Bazuna is not good enough at the moment - give him 3 years and he may well be. But every time he plays out from the back he puts us in trouble. He's also too slow in getting down and weak on his near post. He's cost us many more points than he's saved us this season.

We need to toughen up - there's a post comparing us to the Championship equivalent of Spurs. I agree with that in terms of having a soft underbelly but as much as it hurts me to say it, Spurs play on the front foot and entertain. We don't do either nearly enough.

If we don't go up this season, I think it will be a long time before we return. Our squad will be much weaker next season so it's either play off glory or facing that lot down the road for the next few years. All quite depressing really.

01 Apr 2024 22:14:15
`We should score more and can`t concede the way we did`

So says RM. Pretty obvious really.

Surely we knew their left back was going to be a threat but we did little to deal with him. Hence first and last goals.

Yes 97th minute goal was cruel and we probably deserved a draw.

At least Ed Sheeran had left by then.

01 Apr 2024 15:37:36
Today is simple. Win or it's the play offs. If we do win, we're seven behind with two games in hand, and bizarrely now it looks like it's Leeds plus one other (most likely Ipswich) but there will be more twists to come.

If we don't win, we need to mentally fully focus on a three-game shootout. Hopefully the other three run it close and whoever finishes third is crushed and can't recover for the play-offs, then we need to get past West Brom and Norwich/Coventry.

A draw and it keeps us still thinking 'maybe' - go for broke please lads and please don't leave it as a one goal game with a minute to go!

01 Apr 2024 19:31:59
We drew, I'm just a bit upset, we should've won, I'm trying to say how we can fix it? A new signing? I don't know stats show we are doing good but final results don't say that. Draws should be wins for us well some of them especially this one. We can't survive prem like this.

01 Apr 2024 19:37:13
Nevermind, we lost in the 97th minute. I can't lie as a fan I should be hoping we'll go through on playoffs. I don't think we will I can't lie. We'll bottle it. My friend calls us the Tottenham of the championship and he probably is right in this game.

I'll try keep believing but my hope is diminishing

01 Apr 2024 22:22:05
You have to admire the team spirit of Ipswich, they consistently win games in the last 10 minutes of play. As for Saints, spare a few crucial players for the final 4 games of the season and go into the playoffs with a physically fit and determined team. Let Adams leave now, he’s been poor all season and today went missing when we needed him. I would settle for 4th or 5th and playing West Brom because I genuinely think we’ll beat them. The final is a lottery often won by the team that’s best organised. I really do think we need a change of manager at the end of the season, pure possession football is not the answer in the premier league or championship. Shame we’ll lose Harwood bellis, Downes and Brooks but I do expect Fraser and Rothwell to sign permanently.

01 Apr 2024 22:53:02
2408 :
I love football and I don’t care who plays it, I enjoy watching it. Ipswich have created a team that not onjy keeps going, but make subtle tweeks to ensure they win .
we pass back first minute or 90th minute. Ipswich wanted to win and so changed things, not a lot but enough .
for a while we were both apologising that we had misjudged RM. but we were seeing him against lower teams. What a difference since our run of now losses . found out and no plan B …
As you say 2408 . Martin would be destroyed in the EPL .
there is a reason this man has never been successful and we are seeing it

30 Mar 2024 14:22:33
I was at the game yesterday, I wouldn't say we played bad, Middlesbrough played a decent game for being a mid table team with nothing to gain this season.

What I will say is that fans have to take a percentage of the blame for concerning last minute. The last 15 minutes of the game it started kicking of in the corner. From then on to the end those fans were all you could hear but rather being focused on the match it was all boos and chants of 'dont know what you're doing' directed at the stewards. That whole period saints were on the back foot. The distraction and chants were going on right until Middlesbrough scored. Then after the Middlesbrough fans who were quiet, the whole game then became the loudest until the match ended.

I read online that the fans were having a go at the stewards for kicking out two fans for banging the advertising board for trying to get an atmosphere going. You see the irony in that right .by chanting at the stewards those fans created the wrong atmosphere by creating confusing. Imagine being saints player on pitch and no idea why your fans are chanting what they are. I get their high paid professionals and should be able to focus but atmosphere counts for everything.

On here we blame players and managers for every tiny fail or detail. Yet yesterday the fans have to take some of the blame, if you/we really want promotion then the focus needed to be in the game. A 1-0 lead (whether we should have been leading by more is irrelevant) was something that needed to be protected. Those fans were acting like we had won the game. They sure as rubbish went silent after we conceded.

30 Mar 2024 10:28:02
The highlight yesterday was Rickie Lambert's half time pitch side guest appearance. That was worthwhile the 4 hour car journey down from London on the busiest traffic day of the year (nightmare).

The irony shouldn't be lost on either of our forwards - especially Adams who missed a hatful of 'unmissable chances'.

Wind back the years - Rickie would have left with the match ball - no question about that.

As the game wore on, we could all right the script - late equaliser and then RM would throw on some artillery for the remaining four minutes.

We will beat Ipswich though!

01 Apr 2024 19:39:38
This aged a bit poorly

29 Mar 2024 17:43:15
20 days have passed since our last game (and my last post).

The same old story. Failure to take chances/put game to bed. And then the late goal conceded.

Adams reminded me of his miss against Wolves with 2 lost chances.

Again, what is the point of Sulemana?

We have clearly addressed nothing on the training field in the absence of games.

Last minute of game and we are still passing backwards.

Automatic promotion was looking like a dream but now not even that.

Oh dear - RM - what have you done?

29 Mar 2024 18:52:30
It’s Martins way or no way .
stubborn and inflexible .
It’s not even exciting to watch anymore …
The opponents are changing their tactics against us, being clever when to and not to press. They are definitely not overcommitting as they know we will mess round with it and then play out …

Opponents have also stopped chasing us around to try and win the ball, because they know that all we will do is make some sideways or pointless pass.

I didn’t even bother watching the game … it’s been a very long time since I felt that

30 Mar 2024 02:48:55
After all of our Manager’s hot air has evaporated congratulations are in order to Michael Carrick after salvaging an away point with 11 players unavailable through injuries.I wrest my case Your Honour!

30 Mar 2024 06:55:11
RM’s Epitaph .
Possession football DOES win matches

29 Mar 2024 16:57:07
Yet again too wasteful in front of goal. 62% possession and 13 shots but only 5 on target.

29 Mar 2024 17:27:43
Che Adams needs putting down - awful