Meghoma has some pace, install some more basic football skills in to him and he could be the real deal. Smallbone was my stand out player, he is a shoe in for JWP if he opts for an exit. the tricky thing for Martin is getting the right permutation and that will vary with different opposition.
Yeah I changed my mind as it went. And I don’t think the ref should have been so soft on their persistent fouling!
Yeah there second goal came from incredible hard tackle... you can just tell B'mouth wanted to get one over us.
After writing this and having a think, I sadly realised that’s it’s the first game I’ve seen Saints play live in a very, very long time that Ward-Prowse hasn’t played in. Whilst I don’t begrudge him a move, I fear a move to Wet Spam isn’t what he needs, I’ve seen arguments about the club and believe me, there are a loooot of reasons I can’t stand them-but for me, they are too volatile a club for his footballing rehabilitation. Whilst they are recent trophy winners; there are numerous times that Moyes was realistically facing the sack last season and a new manager might not fancy him, etc, all the while he needs to find his feet and be happy again playing football. They’ve always had a high player turnover and he needs regularity in terms of personnel around him, can see him yo-yo’ing in and out of the team to start… not something he’s used to. Whist a romantic notion, I’d like to think that if the club accepts an offer, he might well look at that and say “balls to that” and stays and completes his football comeback with us. (That all said, he’ll probably go to Wet Spam and be a club legend that saves Moyes managerial career) I feel dirty having just typed that….
I know we have had badge kissers in the past (I’m talking about you Adam Lallana), but I genuinely feel JWP cares about the club. If we had finished 4th from bottom, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The fact that there is a 1 or 2% chance of him staying for a year proves this. However, I know they are overpaid etc, but a football career is short and to be honest he has to take emotion out of it and do what is best for him and his family. I can actually see him going to Fulham.
If there were fans booing last night as reported WTF, they really need to give their head a wobble. It was a PRE SEASON game. New manager, new system / playing style, and new players, yes you have to include Tella, Smallbone and Stephens into that, plus the youngsters, new player Charles and Manning, Players who will leave as well. Yes there were mistakes, it better in pre season than when playing for 3 points. I suggest these morons watch the game again, even with all the above we created more chances last night than we probably did in the last 15 games of last season, (exaggeration I know, but hopefully you get my point). I for one am looking forward to the new season, and after watching all the pre season games, am pretty optimistic for the first time in a long time. Yes we will make mistakes, but I think the football we will play under Martin and the chances we create will outweigh the mistakes. My suggestion to those so called fans, Get behind the team this season and maybe just maybe something special will happen. Rant over. Thank you.
FWIW I was there last night and didn’t hear any booing. Just some frustration with McCarthy for taking an age before delivering the ball into touch on multiple occasions.
There was one instance of booing, as I picked it up from the stream. It was when we managed to take a corner and work it all the way back to our own gk. You have to accept a little frustration as that seemed all too familiar. We used to do that every week without a gameplan! On the whole the fans seemed onboard…
Bollocks to the boo boys! I was concerned about the slow playing out of the back on the highlights I've seen but enjoyed our goals. We have have some exciting young talent in the team I hope the right blend of youth and experience can be found when the season gets underway.
Plenty to be positive about from highlights Great goals from Charles & Stu, great assist from Manning Positive signs from Tella, Amo, Smallbone Macca is a problem Lets hope we can master this playing from the back lark, but we know that there are some that never will and need replacing
Yeah I kinda feel that letting in some soft goals by trying to play out from the back is inevitable over the season. However hopefully shouldn't look anywhere near as ropey as we currently do once we have sorted out the back line and play them consistently. Real shame that the Salisu and Lyanco deals fell through.
We have been starved of any kind of entertainment for far too long and the thing is we wouldn’t have been able to experiment like this in the PL. If we were preparing for the PL season and we saw last night’s performance our opinions would be pretty negative on the whole. Martin has already tried and tested this possession style that he wants us to play previously in the Championship and it almost worked for Swansea. Anything is better than watching a repeat of last season and on a good day if we get it right, it will be like the Koeman days when we scored for fun.
We are definitely a work in progress and I urge Saints fans to be patient but the seeds have been planted and watered and I can already see a few green shoots from the evidence of the last two matches. RM has a clear plan and he will stick with it until it becomes a well oiled machine, it's nothing new, pass and move with an attacking purpose and the possession game was played by the great Liverpool teams in the '80s. We will continue to play out from the back no matter how many times Adam Blackmore and Jo Tessem say it should be booted long and the fans boo in the stadium. We will go back to maintain the ball to move forward again but I believe that we will see an attractive brand of football in time even if we do let in a few soft goals initially. I believe that Will Smallbone will become a key playmaker this season with his vision and excellent passing, i'm also hoping that Nathan Tella can have another season like his last with Burnley. Shea Charles looks like another baller in the Citeh mould. There has never been an issue with Jack Stephens' ability on the ball and with his confidence up after his successful loan he could be another important player for us. I'd love either one of Tino or KWP to stay, but if they both go then Bree is a solid enough replacement for the Championship with Manning on the left and that will give the team a good balance. A new goalscoring forward would be nice but I think that Che and Adarma could well enjoy themselves this season and the former's link up play has always been good but i've also been impressed by the latter's in pre-season. I'm very happy that we are going to have a clear identity with a focus on playing attractive football even if it might take time before we see consistant wins but it might just click early on, who knows? COYRs!
I'd liken it to Nigel Adkin's championship team where we played some really pretty, effective football and I hope that we hit the ground running like they did although they were already winning a lot of games before and the current team may take a while to get the same mentality.
Only 9 days to go until we kick off the season. Would like to get another face in and a few out by then Bring it on. Can't wait!!!
Feels like something is going to happen today doesn't it. I expect us to finnish the week without Lavia and JWP(sad face emoji) . All about who we are able to bring in and how settled Martin is on his first 11 for Shef Wed. I think we'll be good to watch come what may.
If people genuinely booed at a preseason friendly then they can genuinely **** off and support a different club. That is ****ing embarrassing
