Southampton Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2020/2021

DeanAustin

Green Giant wrote: »

This time last season Saints had conceded something like 20 goals in the league. Now they've conceded two.

Bearing that they have the same defence again this year except Dejan Lovren, has he perhaps been the signing of the summer? Or has there been a mass collective improvement in that department?

In Pochettino I Trust

Have to say that, as a neutral, I thought they were insane and extremely harsh in getting rid of Adkins. Thought Pochettino would be gone and forgotten about in 12 months.

So far, the sacking of Adkins may have been harsh but you have to say it was the right call by the Southampton board in terms of results.

Green Giant

DeanAustin wrote: »

Have to say that, as a neutral, I thought they were insane and extremely harsh in getting rid of Adkins. Thought Pochettino would be gone and forgotten about in 12 months.

So far, the sacking of Adkins may have been harsh but you have to say it was the right call by the Southampton board in terms of results.

I still maintain that getting rid of Adkins was ruthless in the extreme, but to his credit Pochettino has kept up his predecessor's good work.

If Saints do get a top half finish this season I would hope that the work of Adkins in getting the club promoted 2 years in a row and seemingly keeping them on track to stay in the EPL is acknowledged. That is not to take from the excellent job Pochettino is doing.

slingerz

Green Giant wrote: »

This time last season Saints had conceded something like 20 goals in the league. Now they've conceded two.

Bearing that they have the same defence again this year except Dejan Lovren, has he perhaps been the signing of the summer? Or has there been a mass collective improvement in that department?

In Pochettino I Trust

think the midfield has improved too giving the defence more protection that they had previously

DeanAustin

Green Giant wrote: »

I still maintain that getting rid of Adkins was ruthless in the extreme, but to his credit Pochettino has kept up his predecessor's good work.

If Saints do get a top half finish this season I would hope that the work of Adkins in getting the club promoted 2 years in a row and seemingly keeping them on track to stay in the EPL is acknowledged. That is not to take from the excellent job Pochettino is doing.

I fully agree with you. If I was Adkins, I would still be very, very bitter after what he did for the club. To get them to the EPL was a monumental achievement and to be sacked whilst looking like he was keeping them up was c**tish in the extreme. An awful decision in so many respects.

That said, if you accept that business is business and results are all that matter, the decision looks a lot better than I ever thought it would.

zztop

Wanyama appears to have a made a difference by breaking down attacks.
Harsh on Jack Cork though who is hardly getting a look in.
Sky analysist at weekend reckons Saints will be very hard to beat away
from home the way the team is set up.A draw at Man U then.

GBXI

The 3 best defensive teams in the Big 5 (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France) leagues so far this season are, Roma (conceded 1 goal) Bayern Munich, and Southampton (both conceded 2 goals).

Some stat!

3greenrizla's

Cortese was a guest speaker at the Leaders in Football conference.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/10731717.Cortese_lifts_the_lid_on_his_time_at_Saints/?ref=twt

It's an interesting read, covering his time at Saints.

On changing managers...

You don’t just change managers for the sake of it. Ultimately we all want the best for the club and if you plan a manager change it’s because you have hard facts, insight of what’s going on in your club – facts which are not known to the public who ultimately make the judgement if it’s a good change or not a good change...............

On the changes he made...

I remember when we did the change with Alan Pardew we took about three weeks to bring a new manager in and from the first day everybody said it was a stupid decision to make that change if you don’t have anybody lined up.

And then two years later you do the change and have somebody lined up and that was seen as controversial and a cruel decision.........

edit - the mirror take a different slant.

3greenrizla's

Here is a nice non-biased piece building up to this weekends game
http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/16/can-this-mid-table-team-hold-off-the-title-chasers-when-they-clash-at-old-trafford-4147880/

Rascasse

Good to get a point at Old Trafford. To be honest I was expecting the worst for today. Nice little run of games now with Fulham, Stoke, Sunderland and Hull before Arsenal. The way the team are playing we must be aiming for 9 or 10 points out of the next four games.

Ramirez not in the squad again, definitely gone in January.

mike65

One supposes that football gravity will take hold at some point (one thinks of Hull, Wigan, WBA and Burnley among others who had a brilliant first third of a season then declined) but right now they look very compact and just hard to beat. The danger is that injuries crop up at the back cos the front line does not look like turning a deficit into a win.

zztop

Listening to talksport Monday
Lambert,Lallana,Ward Prowse,Rodriquez & Shaw mentioned for England squad.
No support for Clyne.

Duzzie

zztop wrote: »

Listening to talksport Monday
Lambert,Lallana,Ward Prowse,Rodriquez & Shaw mentioned for England squad.
No support for Clyne.

Clyne should be the first in. I'd say he's a better player than Walker. Shaw would be trying to displace Baines and Cole, so i'd say he'd miss out over them. Of the rest, Lambert and Lallana probably deserve a call up, especially as Lambert's main competition appears to be the hoofball one trick pony Carroll.

That all said, I'd rather they concentrated on the club team rather than England but can understand why the'd want a call up to the England team.

zztop

Surprised JRod made it..Lallana deserves the call up imho.

Green Giant

I was a little surprised to see Rodriguez called up but on current form he's worthy of being given a chance at least.

Great to see Lallana in there too, hopefully he might get capped this time.

Duzzie

Results couldn't have gone much better for us this weekend which leaves us 3rd on merit. A tough run of games coming up starting with Arsenal at the emirates, anything from that game will be a bonus, but Arsenal did struggle when ManU played a high tempo pressing game today which is exactly the style we have played so successfully this season, and the confidence of the team is sky high, so perhaps we can get something from this. I wouldn't be confident about Chelsea away but feel we can get something from Man City at home, but today and previous results this season have shown that on the day, anyone can beat anyone this year, no-one seems to be standing out from the crowd.

I have been following Saints for over 30 years and have been burnt many time before. I am waiting for the true Saints to bring me back down to earth with a bump, but until that happens, I'm going to enjoy the ride.

Food for thought: We beat Arsenal by 2 goals and Liverpool fail to beat Everton, and we'd be top of the league. Discuss

OWTSGMI

mike65

That would be fun Cue a rush of articles from the likes of Michael Cox and co about the tactical genius of Pochettino

3greenrizla's

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24893777

Match of the Day 3: Liverpool or Southampton for the title?

MOTD3 pundits Martin Keown and Alan Shearer debate whether there could be surprise winners of this year's Premier League title.
....

Third-placed Southampton have taken advantage of the teams around them dropping points and Shearer says that there is a new "respect" for Saints, with Keown adding that they could have a "huge say" in deciding who will eventually become champions.

Our next 9 games are obviously tough.

Arsenal (a), Chelsea (a), A.Villa (h), M.City (h), N.castle (a), Spurs (h), Cardiff (a), Everton (a), Chelsea (h).

We have already went to Man Utd (reigning champions) & Liverpool (then league leaders & unbeaten) and returned with 4 points & are currently third. We could be top if it were not for points 'dropped' against Sunderland/Norwich/Stoke. The games against Villa and Cardiff are the ones I can see us leaving disappointed.

That run of games brings us to Jan 1st, it will be an interesting transfer window if we are still in the mix/top 6 at that stage. I suspect that we'll break our transfer record (again) & sign the player we hoped Ramirez would be.

It's a strange time to be a Saint, I had a couple of very strange experiences recently when I found myself cheering England goals (scored by SRL).

Rascasse

Back page of the Herald today reckons Saints are going to make a £7m bid for Aiden McGeady in January. As I have minimal interest in Scottish or Russian football I know little about him. Any thoughts? Would he be a replacement for Ramirez?

zztop

Tremendous dribbler but a bit of a headless chicken.
Doesnt score goals either.Is he better than Punch:cool:

zztop

It appears Ramirez is on his way ....cant say he will be missed.

Duzzie

zztop wrote: »

It appears Ramirez is on his way ....cant say he will be missed.

I really wanted Gaston to be a good signing, he is undoubtedly a hugely talented footballer, but he just doesn't seem to fit into our system. He doesn't seem able to adapt to our high pressing game. I don't know whether it is that he is unwilling to put in the extra effort / fitness required or whether it just isn't in him, but he just cannot seem to adapt.

We the stunning form of Lallana so far this season, and the apparent preference of playing Rodriguez, I cannot see Gaston getting more that a few appearances off the bench. Perhaps that could spur him on to up his effort, but that doesn't appear to have happened so far. It may be better to cut our losses on him and look for a more suited player, such as Benega.

Gaston will be a big player in world football but unfortunately I cannot see it happening with Southampton.

zztop

And now Danni appears to ber on his way in January.
1 goal only so far.

BigMoose

Really? We're selling him after half a season? I agree 1 goal for our top spend is not good enough, but is half a season long enough? Esp as I assume he'll not go for anything like we spent on him..?

zztop

8 golas in 3 games conceded and nil points.
77% possession vs Villa and lose goals to stupid defending.:eek:

BigMoose

That was one of the most frustrating games I've ever watched! Such overwhelming possession and they only had 3 shots on target all game. But 3 goals! The recent defending is worrying...

K4t

Just some stats I robbed off another forum:

Southampton had 9 English players on the pitch as opposed to man city's one (milner who was replaced after an hour) during the weekend's 1-1 draw and had an average team age of 23. The cost of the saint's starting 11 was just 50m compared to city's 276m.

Robbie Savage had an article this week in which he suggests that Moye's should look to signing some Saint's players in January (Lallana and Shaw). It's hard to argue that those two wouldn't improve Utd and I'd go as far as saying there's one or two more there who could also have a claim for improving them aka Loevren/Scneiderlinn and possibly Cork/Ward-Prowse.

Amazin things being done at this club by chairman and manager and if you can hold onto key players/bulk of squad in january...plus avoid serious injury problems, I predict a top 6 finish.

Hoping to maybe get over to see a home game in January/February, just wondering does anyone here know the best way to go about getting tickets etc.?

zztop

Join as a member and providing its not one of the BIG games
you should be able to get a ticket.Also try the forums tickets
often made available there.Good Luck.

Green Giant

K4t wrote: »

Robbie Savage had an article this week in which he suggests that Moye's should look to signing some Saint's players in January (Lallana and Shaw). It's hard to argue that those two wouldn't improve Utd and I'd go as far as saying there's one or two more there who could also have a claim for improving them aka Loevren/Scneiderlinn and possibly Cork/Ward-Prowse.

If this happens I will go on a killing spree.

K4t

Green Giant wrote: »

If this happens I will go on a killing spree.

I don't think it will seeing as you're loaded now and both chairman/manager are targeting champion's legaue football within the next five years.

Definitely the most exciting club outside of the top 4 of City/Arsenal/Chelsea/Utd

GavRedKing

We'll take Shaw off yere hands next year, thanks. :pac:

mike65

K4t wrote: »

I don't think it will seeing as you're loaded now and both chairman/manager are targeting champion's legaue football within the next five years.

Definitely the most exciting club outside of the top 4 of City/Arsenal/Chelsea/Utd

K4t

mike65 wrote: »

Fair enough, top 3!

What I really meant is that I see them as becoming a stronger side than Spurs, Everton and Liverpool.
Incredible footballing philosophy at this club with the players and now the money to back it up and make the 'transition' into a top club.
Just another of the many success stories this season which makes it all the harder being a utd fan currently.

zztop

A few injuries and the form goes to pot.:(
Gazza,JOS & Fox ...Taxis required.

slingerz

K4t wrote: »

Fair enough, top 3!

What I really meant is that I see them as becoming a stronger side than Spurs, Everton and Liverpool.
Incredible footballing philosophy at this club with the players and now the money to back it up and make the 'transition' into a top club.
Just another of the many success stories this season which makes it all the harder being a utd fan currently.

the 'money' your talking about really only brings Soton into line with the likes of Liverpool/Spurs/N'Castle. Much larger fanbases and in Liverpool's case global appeal means Soton need a much larger cash base to match.

Sales of players such as Shaw etc. will boost the coffers and young Chambers looks an able replacement but they still have a way to go to matching those sides.

Having a good season at present despite the recent slump and playing an attractive all energy style so for any neutral they would be perhaps a favourite 'second' team

zztop

dare it be said
into the 5th round of the cup.

zztop

Stuck in 9th...

BigMoose

Many a season I'd be happy with that! Good to see Boruc back and an instant clean sheet.

zztop

Very worrying talk re Poch & Cortesa on the way out.
Is Saints new found 'success' about to end and with it
back to 'Struggling Southampton'

zztop

And the Liebhrrs to sell.
Crash
Bang
Wallop.
Malkay Mackay:(

Dempsey

Twitter wrote:

Scottish Sun Sport ‏@scotsunsport 2m

Southampton owner Katharina Liebherr is expected to take over as chairman with Nicola Cortese set to leave imminently.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/mauricio-pochettinos-southampton-future-in-doubt-with-chairman-nicola-cortese-about-to-leave-29919899.html

Mauricio Pochettino wrote:

"Nicola Cortese has basically been the reality at Southampton for the past four years. Me on a personal sense, I would not understand a Southampton without Nicola being here.

"When I first arrived here, nobody knew who Mauricio Pochettino was. Nicola put his faith in me and knew me from way, way back.

"When I got to know his project, we were basically on the same wavelength as to what we wanted for Southampton in the future. Basically, my future in Southampton has to be with Nicola.”

Alot of upheaval around the corner if true...:eek:

Agueroooo

Now official Cortese gone.

you guys would do well to avoid Purslow.

"@LukeShaw3: Gutted with that news, but would just like to thank Nicola Cortese for everything he has done for me and the club! All the best to him!"

zztop

NA would be justified in breaking out the champers tonite.
Loyalty doesnt pay.
Can only imagine the venom against Poch if he goes.

mike65

Talk of three or four players bids have come in - Ricky Lambert to West Ham the strongest.

thebaz

thought ther before Christmas, Southampton were on a march into new territory , to the level just under the top 5 or 6 - but then, what happens, they just shoot themselves in the foot - stability my ass

zztop

All will be revealed at 3pm live on Sky.Press conference.

GavRedKing

We've had a bid turned down for Shaw, depending who ya believe its meant to be 15-17million and Bertrand.

Although this was prior to the departure of the CE.

Agueroooo

good news lads...

Pochettino: "I am staying as #SaintsFC manager. I have a professional responsibility to everyone at the club

3greenrizla's

Well that was "interesting" My Highlights -

MP staying - Situation different from 8 months ago. It's mid season and different
Players that MP wants to stay - staying
MP correcting his interpreter (in English) when the Interpreter called Katharina Leibherr the New Owner.

zztop

Wonder whether with lovren out MP might sign a centre back.
Jos & Yoshida not up to it .Astori from Cagliari would be a great
signing by all accounts.(except david moyes)

BigMoose

How long is Lovren out for?