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Comment | Southampton V Bristol City The Verdict
at 10:26:40
We were beaten for speed and the accuracy of passing, particularly in the first half but, unfortunately for them, Ballard and Co couldn't hit a barn door (or when they did Peretz or Schlotterbeck were on hand to repel them). On another day Dom Ballard might have had a hat-trick or better. We weren't helped by a very poor referee, and neither were BC. More satisfyingly, we have goals in us from virtually every player but, is it me or has JWP slowed down our approach play by his sideways passing. I was concerned that we gave the ball away in midfield when starting an attack too often for comfort. |
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Comment | Southampton V Swansea City The Verdict
at 10:52:34
One can't complain when your team has put the league leaders to the sword and a 5-1 scoreline would have better reflected our dominance. For me, yet again, Flynn Downes was MoM. Being given the captaincy seems to have inspired him and his partnership with JWP does look very promising. I couldn't tell from my seat what exactly happened with Bree and their penalty but, I can say that had the "foul" on Scienza resulted in a penalty for us it would have been the softest I've seen for some time and grossly unfair on Swansea who came to play football. Credit goes to Manos, the Swan's manager, in acknowledging that we were the better side and the fact that there were hardly any fouls during the match. I wish Tom Fellows hadn't become anonymous in the second half, he played well and got in some telling crosses before the break but, he has to play and give his all for the ninety minutes. Another plus was Mubama'x cameo. He did put himself about. Overall a very satisfying evening. |
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Comment | Southampton At Lincoln City The Verdict
at 14:13:36
It's apparent that we haven't come together as a team yet. Too many players playing their own game, a prime example of this was Mubama who did nothing off the ball and, indeed, very little on it. Sam Edosie wasted his opportunity to shine by running round in circles to no effect. Larin is not the type to win the ball against giant defenders, he needs feeding to run onto which simply didn't happen. I didn't think Lincoln were particularly dirty, more that Saints need to man up, especially Scienza who, whilst having more skill than most, if not all, other players on the park, falls over every time he's touched. Matsuki simply couldn't cope with having to do his job and cover for Leo every time he conceded the ball in the hope of getting a free kick. We made too many changes at a vital time in the game and this followed a similar pattern to Birmingham and Watford. Sadly for Tonda, the subs added nothing. |
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Comment | Southampton At Birmingham City The Verdict
at 10:55:36
This was an awful performance in my opinion. Larin barely won a header all game and the ball never stuck when he received it. Mubama looked cocky as though he was better than all those around him, and is no replacement for Stewart. As has been stated above, both Peretz and Scienza had, possibly, their worst games for Saints.Birmingham attacked us in a similar style to Watford. We couldn't cope then and with Schlotterbeck mimicking Stephens in respect of schoolboy errors, we didn't cope last night. I'm not going to blame Wood who, along with Matsuki, Azaz and Downes, was one of our better performers. From what I've seen so far this season, Tonda has his work cut out, in whatever time he has left in the event the Sword of Damocles descends, to tidy our performances up and make us more robust as he did last season. I wish him luck. Saints support was, as ever, outstanding last night. |
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Comment | Southampton At Watford The Verdict
at 11:10:28
I suppose that's what you get from having a pre-season against weak opposition (against who we didn't really shine) and playing different sides in each half. As others have noted, what has happened to Nathan Wood? He displaced the unreliable Jack Stephen on merit last season and finished the campaign well. Is he carrying a knock. To be honest, we looked and sounded in the run-up to yesterday as though we could just waltz our way through Watford to three points. Instead we got a very rude awakening. Only Flynn, Matsuki and Edosie looked up for it. Harwood-Bellis had his mind elsewhere, Manning and Bree hadn't been practicing their crossing and Leo had the stuffing kicked out of him early on. We now need a confidence-boosting outing against Stoke as Millwall are not going to roll over. The Larin/Dobbin partnership needs time to develop but, already we don't have that luxury. Eckhart might find the fans less forgiving over poor form and dashed expectations than they have been over the spying fiasco. |
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Comment | Tonda Eckert Charged By The FA
at 16:02:23
Bowlercow, they already are. They are hoping for a 6 or 12 months ban. After all, in the words of the Mail it was "the spying scandal that shocked English soccer last season". I have no doubt that the Mail will change "season" to "century" before his punishment is handed out. |
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Comment | Southampton Make First New Signing Of The Season
at 14:26:25
An interesting signing. Obviously there is some talent there which we might be able to fully bring out. This must mean bye-bye to Cameron Archer as Dobbin doesn't seem to be a replacement for Stewart but, could cover for Azaz. Perhaps Downes will be brought along by Eckhart as cover for Larin. I can't wait to see how things pan out. |
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Comment | Will Anyone Meet Leo Scienza's Southampton Release Clause Fee
at 16:19:39
From my point of view Leo could be deemed a bit lightweight for the EPL. He is a wonderful runner with the ball and he has an eye for goal but, in the latter few games of last season I didn't see him as being as effective as earlier on and quite easily brushed off the ball. He's undoubtedly the fans favourite at St Marys, seems at home here and I hope that he will agree that he's better off here, where he's virtually a shoe-in for every game. |
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Comment | Southampton Increase Season Ticket Prices But Is This A Poor PR Move
at 11:09:37
£566K probably pays the wages of ticket office staff - fair enough. It's not the raising of ST prices that's the problem, it has been poor communication from the club to the supporters and that has been the case for some years. Whoever runs that team, customer relations, is probably swanning their way towards retirement. How Dragan can make such positive noises about the welfare of our club, followed almost at once by a disaffecting, albeit trivial price increase with no softening explanation, proves to me that there is a communication gap between the top and middle management. |
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Comment | Southampton In Advanced Talks To Sign Goalkeeper On A Permanent Deal
at 10:35:29
I think Peretz is a better goalkeeper in the making than Ramsdale and more of an on-pitch leader. He's the best since Niemi and the loudest since Flowers. It would be worth accepting a slightly smaller fee than he's worth to get Ramsdale of the books. |
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Comment | Now That The Dust Is Settled Lets Have Some Transparency
at 15:49:29
Could it be that Southampton FC has been privately advised to keep its head down or the punishment will get a whole lot worse. It's the old saying "Say nothing for a long time and then say nothing". You never have to fill a silence, especially when you don’t have anything useful to fill it with. Everything you say may well be used against you. |
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Comment | Southampton Announce Appeal Fails
at 12:06:26
I haven't posted anything speculative on here regarding this matter and I still don't think the dust has settled as I believe there is a fair chance of FA charges successfully being made against the club and individuals. I also think that there is a possibility of crowd trouble particularly at away games with opposition fans labelling our supporters as cheats, which won't go down well with our more ardent supporters. I have been in East Anglia for the past few days and the word "cheat" was being bandied about. If asked, how many will own up to being from Southampton, not many, I bet. It might sound drastic but, if I was Dragan Solak I'd dispose of the club asap. The sale of players should cover any losses. It will be a real gamble for anyone to buy in to such a discredited organisation. |
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Comment | Will Southampton Be Signing The Two January Loan Signings In The Summer
at 14:16:05
In my opinion, until Peretz we have not had a goalkeeper who volubly organises not only the defence, but also the midfield since Tim Flowers, although Peretz is somewhat more polite in saying what he thinks. As for Larin, he constantly keeps the opposing defence interested, chases back, is defensively effective and scores goals. He's going to the World Cup as a vastly experienced striker who has rediscovered his form at Saints. Tonda did say a week or so back “He’s only getting better and better. His impact today was outstanding. I think everyone was just so happy to have him on the pitch. Excellent development for him so far, and I’m sure he’ll have a big impact for Canada at the World Cup.”Sometimes players are suited by certain clubs and these seem to me to be such cases. I'd be happy to see both stay whichever division we're in. |
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Comment | Southampton V Blackburn Rovers The Verdict
at 17:19:34
I'm unsure about Archer but, have even greater doubts over Tom Fellows who, unlike Edosie mostly avoids going outside his man and rarely delivers a telling pass. I also thought last night that the defenders opted for Manning as the most likely positive option. It's a shame that Fellows is seen by some as our weak link and, hopefully, Tonda will address that. The danger for Tom's future is the return of Jay Robinson because, if he gets going and commands a starting slot, Fellows will lose game time. Although we won 3-0 there was a point in the game where we went casual and a poor Blackburn side was given hope. Yes, we did regain control but, my view was that the initial subs resulted in an imbalance in the side, with less of a bridge between the defence and the attack. In the first half I thought that Blackburn looked overawed by the prospect of trying to wrest anything from this game. I hope we can similarly frighten Swansea into abject surrender. |
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Comment | Southampton At Coventry City The Verdict
at 10:57:42
My only complaint is the standard of refereeing again. The penalty against Charles was a con. Their man was in the throes of diving when Charles brushed his heel. He should have been booked for the dive. The resilience of our team shone through and Peretz is showing what a good performer and director he is. Amongst all the heroes a word for Manning who frustrates the hell out of me but, in this performance, I thought he had his best game this season. |
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Comment | Southampton At West Bromwich Albion The Verdict
at 18:03:41
This Saints team is the Jekyll and Hyde of the Championship. I have one real issue. Why put Fellows on when Edosie is the natural left wing replacement for Scienza - and last night proved it. Fellows has only one thing in mind, simply run horizontally across the pitch followed by a weak or scuffed shot or the loss of the ball. He should not be retained on current form. |
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Comment | Southampton At Fulham The FA Cup Verdict
at 11:16:21
Counter attacking superb. Defensively stoic. Shooting squandering. A great result, a boost for all. Difficult to pick a MoM but, THB, Azaz, Wood and Peretz all stood out. Let's hope the same determination is displayed at The Hawthorns. |
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Comment | Southampton At Sheffield Wednesday The Preview
at 11:37:20
With Barry Bannan out of the club Sheff Wed haven't really got a playmaker, whereas Azaz and THB do have that capability. If we can't open them up it will further demonstrate that we are not ready to be promoted this season. Oh for another Stuart Armstrong - perhaps Cameron Bragg will become as gifted. |
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Comment | Southampton V Queens Park Rangers The Verdict
at 15:26:52
I was unconvinced for the period between the Azaz goal and the first from Matsuki. We looked as negative as we were against Charlton, with the same old players, especially Manning, happy to pass backwards and sideways. Why can't the ball be pumped forward when our (speedy) attackers make forward runs? And we looked unconfident playing out from the back. Peretz is good throwing and kicking out of his area so why pass to Manning or THB last night, both prone to get into trouble. That said, you can't argue with a 5-0 result. I thought Matsuki's perfomance might have generated something special from Fellows but, it didn't. Looks like Tom has slipped down the pecking order. I'd have like to have seen Larin on with Stewart, Archer didn't offer much again. Bree is a solid RB, pity Welington is injured. |
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