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Comment | Southampton To Play £100 Million Hardball With Manchester City & Spurs
at 16:25:41
Historically, very few deals where Saints have had to sell the " Crown Jewels" have been qquite so favourable in the end and often we drew the short straw (especially with Spurs).
Tyler Dibling's potential will demand the best deal for both Saints and the player, as this is a once-in-a-decade type deal for Saints and they shouldn't be afraid to go for bust.
It's hard to judge TD right now, but the history of the young Bellingham and Sancho who grew into their successful roles with bigger clubs who were prepared to bring the player on steadily and not go for glory in their first season.
Clubs who have (and think nothing of) paying out £100 mill. for big talents understand that and must decide whether "to stick or twist" and this may turn out into a Euro auction, but in reality we are unlikely to get the whole sum in cash, and such a deal would likely be a cash + player type arrangement, provided WE get the right player(s) deal in part ex.
Clearly, Dibling WILL move on, and Saints are right to try and get the best deal we can, especially as we will have to re-think the entire squad personnel before the start of next season, especially the manager and those deals won't come cheap either.
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Comment | Sugawara Wanted By Italian Giants
at 12:34:06
To..Dell Boy and San Marco, good points well made, but clearly Juric has problems, too.
He's not afraid to experiment with a squad overfull of less-than-standard players that he's inherited from 3 previous managers, and hardly any is in form and Onuachu often ignored.
Ivan tries to create a more attacking formation than Martin, (who had no Plan B), but now without 3 of our registered strikers, the line-up often changes from game to game.
As this thread is about Sugawara, I also go along with your comments and although he looked good at the start, the pace of this very demanding league has shown that he hasn't the stamina required of a 90 minute Prem. player, but not to say that he wouldn't do well in the less frenetic Italian league. He rightly needs a move, as he joined a Prem. side in August, and with Japan already qualified for the World Cup, he won't want to play in the Championship and lose his place in their national squad. The humble fee we paid for him will surely be doubled / troubled if he moves abroad to a top club, and rightly so.
This may be the first of a series of similar articles (from Nick), as I can see that those players who want to move away, may also be joined by those who, for one reason or another, won't fit the bill for next season.
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Comment | Danny Rohl Might Not Be Arriving At Southampton After All
at 11:03:22
Tickets going awry is one thing, but little little can compare with the sad 1970's storyline of the young lad who journeyed to Nottingham to watch Brian Clough's title-winning Forest side entertain a Saints team, but got lost and found himself on the wrong side of the river when arriving at Notts County's somewhat drab arena and watched County's reserve side.
As for Danny Rohl..or anyone else ..gaining a manager who knows our club and can command the right degree of respect should go a long way to choosing the next manager. |
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Comment | Sport Republic Can Be A Big Success For Southampton Says Spors
at 10:30:47
I'd agree with Joe Egg (above) as we have had a succession of "defence-minded" managers who saw no problem in playing 5 at the back, but then relied on a single striker for goals. Whilst Adam A. got goals in the Championship, (like many others) he didn't adjust well to the Prem. and in truth we haven't had a decent CF since Pelle left, (although thankfully Danny Ings' contributions helped keep us up for a couple of seasons under Hasenhuttl ).
SR still hasn't got their message over, but Spors sees that every player is a Sport Republic employee regardless of which country / league they are playing in. Even the Championship is a higher level than some European top leagues, but getting " young imports" to play a season or two at the "adult level" is a good test of suitability to play in the English league.
Many fans underestimate the vast "chasm" of quality between Championship and Prem.
and with last seasons three going back down again, is little surprise. It's rare for two promoted sides to survive more than one season, and the ongoing costs are enormous.
Our promising youngsters may show up well at U18 / U21 level, but it is still just "glorified schoolboy football", and while it's good experience to loan our youngsters out into the world of "men's football", it can still be a shock to the system, even at L1 level.
Playing abroad may not suit everyone, but those lads who play well at U21 level are still living a world away from our first team players with 100-plus games, and those who have international games to their credit.
Regardless of who is manager after the summer, I expect to see another massive turnover of players before August, but those who arrive won't have to dwell on the task of facing the likes of Man. U, Chelsea, or LIverpool in the first months of the new season.
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Comment | Southampton Considering Alternative To Danny Rohl
at 11:28:26
The question is (assuming that Juric doesn't outlast the summer) ...what do we expect from a new manager. Big Q. about Rosenior is...what formation does he want to play?
Someone noted that we have had a succession of our former managers who all had careers as defenders, and not since Koeman have we had anyone will real attacking intent.
That maybe slightly unfair on Ralph Hasenhuttl (who was a striker) but if he hadn't persuaded the club to sign Danny Ings, we might have been relegated much sooner.
Rosenoir's sacking from Hull related to their owner's demand for more attacking football.
Any new manager will start with a clean sheet, (allowing for the obvious changes in player personnel already been widely-publicised) and he will want to import new names, but finding a suitable manager for a Championship club maybe less-challenging than getting someone to manage a Prem. club ...nd avoid the obvious threat of relegation .
Unless publicity about these two is just " smoke and mirrors " and the club does intend to replace Juric with a proven " big name " manager with some success in the English game, we will once again employ someone from another country, and another league and expect him to bring his magic-wand" with him, along with his own staff from previous clubs.
IF there is money left over, we may be able to buy some decent players for him to utilise.
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Comment | Where Will Juan Larios Be Next Season ?
at 11:01:18
The real question is surely.. how many left backs do we need in the club?. Personally, I was sad to see Perraud depart, but Russell Martin was quick to ditch him after playing him at CB in one disasterous Cup game.
At the moment we have also Charlie Taylor, Wellington, as well as a Manning ,who (IMHO) doesn't rate as a good Championship defender, and both the on-loan Edwards and Wood-Gordon are left-sided players, whilst almost everyone would admit that KWP is the best FB in the club - on either side of the pitch.
However, your question was about Larios - wasn't it?. At present he is (sensibly) being eased back to full fitness in " half games" with U21's. IF he has no adverse effects, and gets through a pre-season without problems, then it will be the " Manager of the Month " (whoever that will be ) to make a decision about his future.
Larios is under contract until 2027, so there is no panic for a change of mind, but when fit he will want to get regular game time, and want a move if he can't nail down the LB spot in front of the others (named above).
We could surely re-coup the £6 mill. fee in today's market, especially if he returns to Spain, but the club may regret selling him, if he turns out to become another Gareth Bale. |
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Comment | Compensation Fee For Sheffield Wednesday Manager Danny Rohl Revealed
at 07:57:50
We need to think back 3 or 4 managers ago, but it seems that Rohl was most likely the brains behind any " success " in Hasenhuttl's early days. He clearly knows our club well and the lack of a successful promotional "push" with Wednesday need not reflect on his ability, as like Juric, he can only work with the players the club has given him.
With both him and Rosenoir apparently in the frame it will be interesting to see which of our loan players they might bring with them - if given the job. (Charles / SAA)
One thing is certain, whoever it is will be able to choose his own squad given the obvious changes already on the cards. (KWP, Dibling, THB, Aribo etc. may be going , and who would blame them) and the re-building of a team fit for the Championship will be much less expensive than trying to buy one needed to survive in the Prem.
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Comment | Southampton V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 13:10:30
How often have we seen the best chances go begging in the first 20 minutes ?
Two goal Larsen was like the Invisible Man and was given the freedom of SMS, but as usuul we waited until the last quarter to put in any attacks and press their defence.
It was left for Dibling to show some aggression up front and finally his shot hit the post and rebounded in off Onuachu's leg.
I forgot it was Wolves until they all started to keel over with " injuries " , one after the other, in the last 10 minutes and break up consistency when we had spells of possession.
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Comment | New Technical Director Aims To Bring New Structure To Southampton
at 14:06:08
It sounds like Spors has the right background and hopefully we can expect to see some players from the various Sport Republic clubs getting footballing experience in other lands.
We don't see "a Dibling " quite so often but perhaps some of our youngsters could benefit from a real run-out in " the man's game " albeit in another environment.
The concept of "a feeder club" looks to be a good example, as everyone is indirectly " an SR employee " and so it may help us to avoid massive fees if we can find talents who could get game time in the English game in one league or another.
This season we have seen the drop-out of a promotion side who just can't cut it at the highest level, and we aren't alone as we will likely be playing both Leicester and Ipswich AGAIN next season. Let's hope "Spors' signings" will improve the squad effectively.
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Comment | Former Saints Striker Could Be Coming Home !
at 19:38:40
I note the nay-sayers were first to the board on this one. Yes- we know age is against him but it would be the last chance for Danny to play at a decent level, as no other Prem. side will look at him at the end of his contract. History says that older players are desperate to get game time (even if it's only from the bench) and I can think that he would be pleased to get his last contract with a club which he has admitted is close to his heart.
IF.. we are to make a good, early showing next season we need an experienced striker who can deliver and play alongside some of our younger talents. Danny almost single-handedly kept us from relegation (back then) whilst scoring 20 Prem. goals playing in a squad that was almost as poor as the present one, and had little help from anyone else.
The expenditure on Archer and Brereton-Diaz has shown little result, and we are unsure where Adam Armstrong will be playing next season. We will surely have a total turnaround in playing personnel and the new faces will need an established name to lead the line.
I wouldn't expect to see him playing 90+ minutes for 46 matches (plus those cup games)
but at least we know he can be a game-changer and with no fee involved he'd be worth the salary -even if it's not Prem. level. He knows the club well enough that he wouldn't need a taxi, or a GPS to find his way to Staplewood. I don't blame him for his moves elsewhere, careers can be short and neither of his moves did him any real justice.
Given out current financial situation, and the investment that will be needed after our relegation, I'd say that this particular deal would be a no-brainer.
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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 08:31:37
To Doctor Sleep.. Sadly I was only dwelling on the most recent events that came to mind.
I agree, and the list is endless. It didn't get much attention at the time, but Salah looked questionably offside when he received the ball before scoring one of his goals at SMS.
Both of Wolves goals at Molyneaux might have been called into question, and no-one has given a good explanation as to why Manning's " goal " was disallowed. Not even the Brighton keeper knew why our " winning goal " was disallowed in the away fixture in November, and our misfortunes were compounded when losing valuable points... in those lengthy periods of added time ....in both our home fixtures v Ipswich and Leicester.
In all honesty I can't wait for next season, when we can see " who is left " in the dressing room, and then maybe give some game time to a few of our excellent U21 lads.
The prospect of playing league matches - without the curse of VAR - does sound quite appealing, (although I have always been in favour of the system - at least in principle).
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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 17:00:23
Conspiracy theories-or not ? I've felt that a number of debatable VAR situations of late went the other way ...when every ref's subconcious tells him ....Saints are already down, they don't need the points and it might be more beneficial to the other side.
Whether Will' s. big toe was offside or not L'pool deserved to suffer one goal against them, as his angled shot beat 4 defenders... and the goalie. Good anticipation.
On another day ...and with another ref. Nunez would have been off without recourse to VAR, but what brave ref. would send off a home player at Anfield.?
As it was he was still on the pitch after HT, and went down easily enough with Small bone at his back and no tackle. At 2-1 the game had already gone, and L'pool's 3 HT subs changed the balance of the game and our chances were few and very far between.
In retrospect, such a scoreline was not unexpected, but we were better than the result might suggest to a neutral reading the results, (much as was our game at Old Trafford). |
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Comment | Crystal Palace Linked With Southampton Defender
at 08:44:25
Every player wants to play at the highest level they can, and after getting his England debut - and a goal, it's no surprise that THB would want to move on, and such would be a win-win situation. Sad as it maybe, fans shouldn't lose their cool when players want to leave for better opportunities but we must acknowledge that ambition is not a dirty word especially in a sport where you are only as good as your last game, and that the next bad injury might be career-ending.
It's clear that there are others who will disappear during the summer, and it's not a case of who will leave, but who will be left afterwards. Looking at options and possible new signings, I think we need a real striker with a good career tally, and although it may cost a packet for his salary, we could do worse than have Danny Ings back in the twilight of his career when his WHam contract goes out in the summer.
What might our squad look like in August ?..I think Bowlercow had a few good suggestions (above) and when looking for a new back line maybe Wood and Edwards would be a good CB partnership plus some promising U21 lads like Ballard, Robinson, Payne and Bragg and with Sam A-A and Edozie still on the books there is a lot of new blood good enough for the Championship. Our problem before has always been losing those good young talents because " the regular player " is always first choice, and they lose out.
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Comment | Ex Southampton Striker Has Plaque Unveiled At Highbury
at 16:20:47
Not a new name to me. My late father was in the same generation as Ted Drake, and when discussing goalscorers of later generations, he always quick to return and praise Drake, and perhaps only the post-WW2 Charlie Wayman could be held with the same high regard.
Sadly, as far as Saints are concerned we only see one such player in every decade, and so we can only hope we find a talent who is happy to stay with the club longer term. |
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Comment | Ivan Juric Sacking Rumours Surface
at 11:34:03
Is it really all Juric's fault . He inherited a squad, weaned on slow-motion "Russ ball" and a squad that isn't able to compete at the highest level, and which we all saw that early on. Yet the same might also be said of the other two promoted sides who we will compete against next season - back down in the Championship.
The "skill gap" between the two leagues has widened in the last 4-5 years, and both with hindsight both Bournemouth and Forest can count themselves lucky that they survived their first seasons back up and have seemingly weathered the storm. With less than a dozen games left, perhaps the recent promotion of Simon Rush (?) to the first team group is a signal that he might try for the rest of the season and we give Juric gardening leave?.
Time will tell, but there isn't much of that left. |
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Comment | Henrik Kraft Resigns As A Director Of Sport Republic
at 11:19:44
The rot set in after Jacob Wilcox returned to Mancunia (this time to United) but even he
might get the chop if Jim Radcliffe continues to axe staff at Old Trafford. We never found a suitable replacement with footballing nous who could run our club on the shoestring budget we live on, and it left H. Kraft to find bargain buys, and that simply didn't work.
Our return to the Prem. was doomed from the start and many saw that "Russball" was never going to work given the poor quality of the squad we started the season with and our position was worsened when the Board persisted with RM when all could see that ..it wasn't working and Martin persisted with his formation and refused to consider a Plan B.
Our own " trimming of finances " post-Martin - resulted in the loan out of the only players with any history of goal-scoring and left Juric trying to create an alternative attacking formation without the benefit of established strikers.
As this thread.. is about Henrik Kraft ..he may learn from his mistakes and stay away from the football world in future. Now it may well cost Juric his job (remembering he was Dragan's choice in the first place) but the cards were already stacked against him before he started when he inherited the dregs of previous managerial squads which has left him with sub-standard defenders, and outfield players who had been brainwashed into tap-tap, slow motion football and lacked both pace and skill. A bit of blame all round.
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Comment | Southampton V Brighton The Verdict
at 11:32:14
Inheriting a squad who had been brainwashed into "Russball" for 60 plus games (many of whom just aren't upto Prem. level - even on a good day) has been tough on Juric and it's hard to convert to an attacking formation without recognised goalscorers at this level, as we never replaced Danny Ings (who despite injuries) still managed a good goal tally in his time, and likewise Romeu was more of a permanent DM that anyone thought, and never successfully replaced. Harwood-Bellis. who had previously shown up well in his loan to Burnley (and last season with us) showed up well in the Championship, but just can't seem to cut it at the highest level. Praise laid on Stephens and Lallana as "a good voice in the dressing room" dwindles away when they aren't on the pitch to help deliver.
Our defence has been decimated by both injuries and poor form for the last month or more and the prospect of seeing any of them back soon, means that the appearance of Bella-Kotchap at CB may become an absolute necessity for the foreseeable future.
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Comment | Juric Gives Reason For Albert Gronbaek Absence ! Why Sign Him Then
at 11:06:09
To be fair I don't think I can blame any party. After enduring 60+ games of Russball, it's becoming hard for Juric to find a workable attacking formation when we have only one recognised striker and too many injuries to talk about. We haven't seen enough of Gronbaek to make any judgement, but he looked to be an attacking MF but Fernandes is already one of our few dependable players and is in that spot. Very little MF creativity, and Smallbone is still lacking form, and Downes (whilst out of the doghouse) isn't the same player as last season. Even if the players are trying to be positive from the start, it isn't only fans who drop their heads after the first goal goes in, andhold on to the hope that we don't concede too many more before the final whistle.
We can't attract " the better class of player " when we are priced out of the market over transfer fees and the higher salaries demanded by their agents, and despite some valiant efforts by certain individuals it's clear that (like Ipswich and Leicester) we just aren't good enough for the top tier at present. It would be good to get a few more points as some sort of recompense before the end of season, but in all fairness I feel that after the summer it won't be a case of "who will leave", but more likely - who is still left.
We may never get a good look at Gronbaek, and his long future with Saints is probably no better than many others.
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