 | News
Comment | No Togetherness No Character No Fight
at 11:30:12
No we didn't have character and fight earlier in the season. What we had was a long unbeaten run where things were going our way. That's not the time to assess character and fight. You only see the real character when things are going against us, as they are now.
And yes, this is to do with tippy tappy football. Our players are only coached one way, to play pretty passes and walk the ball into the net. Sometimes you need the opposite. You need some crunching tackles and aggression. You need to launch the ball long and then fight for it. We will never see that under RM because that's not his way. |
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Comment | Southampton At Leicester The Debacle
at 10:18:55
Comments above that Leicester are aso a tippy tappy team are wrong. They can play possession football, yes, but it is not a religion for them and if playing a different way is required, then that is what they will do.
They didn't win 5-0 with 33% possession by accident. They knew exactly what they were doing because they were coached to play that way. The chances of RM being able to do that are zero. |
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Comment | Southampton At Queens Park Rangers The Verdict
at 18:06:10
Totally wrong to say that RM's style is just the modern game. No other team is as obsessed with possession as we are. We have the highest possession stats in the league (and higher than any team in the PL). Other teams have styles that worry less about possession and attack more. They make more use of the ball when they have it. That's why we are not heading for promotion and they are. |
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Comment | Southampton V West Bromwich Albion The Verdict
at 13:25:04
Mason Holgate isn't "proven Premier League quality". He failed at PL level. Everton moved him to right back and he didn't do too well there either. Good to see him do well yesterday but let's remember this is the Championship, not the PL.
All in all a good win. Ever since RM changed the style to be less tippy tappy and suicidal we've done well. Long may it continue. Playing like this we should certainly get a play off place and if Stewart adds another dimension to our game, we might do even better. |
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Comment | Southampton V Rotherham United The Verdict
at 10:01:53
Good first half, terrible second. RM just reverted to what he is comfortable with, which is basically pointless passing. We should have been out of sight but we barely created any chances because that isn't a priority for RM. He's more worried that if we try something positive we might lose the ball. As a result, we don't do anything positive, we just recycle possession.
In trendy modern circles this is called "good" football. It isn't. It's c**p. Good football means scoring goals which we don't seem very interested in sometimes. Good football is attractive to watch. This is painful to watch. |
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Comment | Southampton V Leeds United The Verdict
at 10:29:37
Yes agreed - we need to praise this performance. Much better. Also to praise RM for changing tactics. We lost the possession stats (good!) and won the more important goal stats. Seems that RM is capable of learning and adapting. I only hope he doesn't revert back to his purist ways if we start winning. This was much more like the way we need to play. |
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Comment | Southampton V Ipswich The Preview
at 09:56:24
So we conceded within 21 seconds because the players were ignoring all the coaching they'd been given and charged up-field? Nonsense. |
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 11:01:45
More nonsense from Nick, who seems to think professional teams are like pub teams with some knackered old geezer at the back barking out orders. That's not how it works. The players are doing what they're told by RM and an extensive coaching team. The problem is that the tactics are always going to ship a lot of goals because they take a lot of risk.
In the case of the 4th goal, at the moment we lost the ball, we had 2 players further back than any Leicester player - one at left back and Smallbone in the middle. The player at left back (Manning?) was looking to overlap and Smallbone was holding. The others were in and around the box looking for a cross that never came. The players were no doubt following the instructions for that stage of the game. The problem is that this is a dangerous game and the players aren't very good at executing it. When the ball was intercepted, the Leicester players were facing the right way to break immediately and were hungrier than their Saints counterparts.
The only good point was that after the game RM acknowledged that we are vulnerable on transition, so maybe in future games we won't be taking quite so many risks. But have no doubt, this is the way that RM sets his teams up. |
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Comment | Gavin Bazunu Needs Backing Not Sacking
at 13:16:07
"we have to hope that Holgate shows the form he did for several seasons at Everton"
You must be joking. He was terrible. Everton tried him at CB and realised he would never make the grade and did the same at right back. He will probably always be a terrible defender. The reason we bought him is because he's comfortable on the ball. |
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Comment | Southampton At Sunderland The (Damning) Verdict
at 10:44:02
"How on earth did we go a goal down after only 55 seconds, especially as we had a corner in the first 30 seconds, the answer was quite simple we piled forward like a bunch of schoolkids and left no one back on the half way line."
That's true, but to suggest this is not RM's fault is wrong. Positioning at set pieces is something that is decided on the training ground, not by individual players or "leaders" on the pitch. At least that's how it works at every other professional football team in the world. If SFC leave it to individuals then we are no better run than a pub team.
It will take time for RM to get the team playing his way and he hasn't had enough time yet. Fair enough, but this game showed clearly how Tony Mowbray out-thought RM and got his team prepared the right way. We were a shambles and the manager has to take his hare of the blame for that. |
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Comment | Southampton At Sheffield Wednesday The Verdict
at 12:26:23
I agree with much of that report but I think to give a full picture we have to note how bad Wednesday were. They didn't often threaten to lay a finger on us but when they did they showed that we are still vulnerable at set pieces.
Overall though, many more positives than negatives and just enjoyable to see us being the obviously better side. That hasn't happened in a league game for a while. |
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Comment | Saints Launch New 3rd Kit For 2023/24 Season
at 13:12:04
I can't think of any other club that is so confused about what kit it plays in. We hear a lot of crep from people about the club about our "identity", by which they mean some pissy little tactic that is the lastest fad on the training ground or playing a team full of kids. Well red and white stripes are a much bigger part of our identity than that sh1t. It's time the club started respecting that. |
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Comment | Southampton At Goztepe The Preview
at 09:29:19
All squid are damp. You probably mean "damp squib". The phrase comes from fireworks. A damp squib causes a disappointing explosion.
As for the game, it is probably a desiccated squid. It is a stupid idea to train in Turkey in July. It's obviously a financial decision. A football decision would be to train in the mountains where you can put the work in, play in realistic conditions and improve fitness. |
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Comment | Saints Lose Opening Pre Season Friendly
at 09:45:22
The main point for me was the amount of suicidal passing at the back. We got away with it every time in this game - but only just. We were lucky, plus Bazunu pulled off a great save. Russ says we have to "be brave" but I wonder where the line is between bravery and stupidity. |
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Comment | Saints Announce First Russell Martin Signing
at 11:31:18
I'm sure there are a few ex-opponents who still remember Mark Dennis as well, as they hobble around on crutches. Hopefully Ryan Manning will play with a bit more control or he wont be on the pitch for long. It was a different game back then. |
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Comment | Southampton Hold Talks With Everton Over Defender
at 09:49:47
When I've seen him play, live and TV, he's been the weak link. Yes, he once had promise but at 27 he should be the finished product and he's not. I can see why Saints would be interested because he's good on the ball and so can play possession based football, but as a defender he's not good enough for the PL so what's the point of signing him? |
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Comment | Tall Paul Onauchu Set To Leave Southampton
at 18:14:02
Good luck to tall Paul. Hopefully the manager at Schalke will have a clue how to use him, unlike Selles who clearly didn't. He's not the greatest player in the world but I'm sure there's a useful CF in there for whichever team will actually give him some crosses. Given that most of our forwards provided absolutely no goal threat last season, and if we just carried on as we were then we were obviously doomed, it's a shame we never tried this tactic. |
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Comment | Southampton Refusing To Bow Down To Trabzonspor On Orsic Transfer
at 11:11:54
I don't think it was a bizarre transfer. It's just that Selles didn't play him because he didn't rate his work against the ball. For Selles that was more important, which is why he liked Moi for example. RM will want technical players who he can trust with 75% possession. That might open a door for Orsic but I suspect that train has left the station and Orsic just wants out because his relationship with the club has been poisoned for a while now. |
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Comment | Saints Prepare For Life Outside The Premier League With Redundancies
at 13:59:53
I have a different view and because we fans ultimately pay the wages, we all have a right to say. My view is that, while I feel sorry for these employees individually, this is the right thing to do. Every business and government department has a tendency to build up excess and needs to scale back from time to time.
It's a good thing for the club to see if it really needs these people. If it really does then it will recruit again. But my suspicion is that many of these posts do not need to be replaced. Like all businesses, when we were flush with cash, we probably over spent. Now belts are tightening, but if we don't need them in the Championship then I can't see that we needed them in the PL either.
When the season ticket prices were announced I said the price reductions were a good thing but I felt sorry for the people who would lose their jobs. The two things go hand in hand. You can't comment on one without the other. Taken together, I say they are a good thing. |
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