Feel free to pop over, and wish us luck https://www.not606.com/threads/leeds-utd-v-leicester-city-match-thread.411383/#post-17361370
Downes back in training, spotted on a VT. Should be back in the 11 tomorrow afternoon. Question Is, do you drop smallbone for Aribo?
Yes. Aribo deserves to start over Smallbone. Plus Millwall are bound to be physical. Feels like Aribo will be better suited for this one.
Russell Martin ️: “Flynn Downes has trained the last couple of days and we’ll have to assess his situation and make a decision tomorrow”
I think it will be a full and frank discussion as to the merits of each team and their supporters views on diversity in the modern game.
EVERY word Southampton manager Russell Martin said during his press conference ahead of facing Millwall. Another match with Millwall with another manager? RM: We were just talking about it upstairs actually, it sums football up, and just how crazy it is that Neil (Harris) is now in his third club this season. We played against him once already in the Cup. Our team has been so different since then and I’m pretty sure lots of people watching that game probably thought we wouldn’t be in this job still by now. It does sum up how mad football is. I’m really pleased for Neil. He’s back at the club that he is idolised and adored at. He understands the club, he’s managed them before, he’s played there and I’m sure that’s a big reason why they’ve brought him back. It’s to get people to buy into him and to understand what Millwall are about. I feel for Joe (Edwards). It’s his first managerial job, it’s so difficult and I’m really sorry he hasn’t had the time to do what he wants to do. I just don’t like seeing anybody lose their job. Being in this position, I understand how difficult it is and how lonely it can be at times. I hope he’s okay and he’s got a good background. He’s been a coach for a long time so I’m sure he’ll arrive somewhere else at some point, and he would have learned a lot from his experience. We have a team with a new manager, someone who I’m sure a lot of the players will know, and they’ll have the fans right behind them. The players will be desperate to impress the new manager and fight with everything they have got. It probably doesn’t make our task any easier, but it never is in the Championship. Does it make it harder for your players to react not knowing how Millwall will play? RM: They face everything in training I can give them. As I always say to you, I don’t sit here and tell the players I know exactly what the opposition are going to come with because I don’t. We watched Hull in the previous game before us and they looked very different to the team that came and played against us in their approach. Bristol City were the same, we watched them against Leeds the week before they played us then they came against us with way more aggression than we’ve seen from them since Liam (Manning) took over. It was the same with Hull, they had way more aggression. Whether that is a decision they make to play against us, the guys have to accept that Southampton is a big scalp for people with the players that we have in the building. I don’t mean that in any disrespectful way, but teams are desperate to go against the guys here because of the run we’ve been on. That is a testament and credit to the guys. We must step up to that. We really do because how much time do we spend watching the opposition? The approach changes a lot against us so it’s a balance to try and prepare the players for everything and whatever Millwall brings tomorrow, hopefully we’ll be ready for it and be able to react accordingly. Has there been a recurrent theme in the games where you’ve conceded more than once recently? RM: We haven’t reacted well enough to going behind because for so long we were not used to it. Each game has been different so there’s not a recurring theme. We have two key things for this team, it’s to be aggressive with and without the ball, and to show real courage to play football and to keep showing for each other. When we bring both on the pitch, the guys are capable of spectacular things. They have shown that. When we are lacking in one, it has become a little bit of a problem for us. The other night was my fault. We changed the setup a little bit. Out of possession, which I felt, was to be a bit more aggressive against a team that wanted to try and play but I didn’t make that clear to the players. I think the players got a little bit frustrated that we were changing for someone else. I learned a big lesson so that’s my fault, not the players. Because of the structure out of possession, we had way less structure in possession. That’s my fault, not theirs. I don’t think there is a clear thing, we’ve lost two games in 27. They have been amazing. I didn’t prepare them well enough for Bristol City and what was going to come. The other night I changed something, so it’s not their fault, it’s mine. Do the players have to take responsibility on the pitch? RM: Their responsibility on the pitch is to be brave and to keep showing for the ball and to keep playing the way we want to play. That’s helped if the team has real clarity and structure in what they are doing. We tweaked it the other night, maybe it was my fault for overthinking it. As the season gets closer and closer to the end, we get closer to what we want to achieve, I think less is going to be more in terms of the thinking stakes. It’s going to be way more about feeling so we must trust that instinct a little bit more. Hopefully tomorrow we will. How is everybody and is Flynn Downes closer to a return? RM: He’s trained for a couple of days. We just need to assess how he reacts from today. We will meet the medical team as we do every single day. We will see how he has reacted and then make a decision on tomorrow. Whether he starts, whether he’s on the bench, whether we wait until Liverpool and give him even more time to recover. We will just have to wait and see but he is a big player for us. He’s really important with his aggression, his athleticism, his power, his composure, his courage to receive the ball. But we have a lot of really good players. If he’s ready to start brilliant, if he’s ready to be on the bench brilliant, if he’s not then we just have to wait maybe another game.
“Q: Has there been a recurrent theme in the games where you’ve conceded more than once recently? RM: We haven’t reacted well enough to going behind because for so long we were not used to it. Each game has been different so there’s not a recurring theme.” The recurring theme is a midfield 3 of Smallbone, Rothwell and Stu! I do like that RM said what he said and shouldered all the blame though and just hope he does just not want to publicly say that that midfield was a big part of the problem!
Hope we do not see the new manager bounce. I expect a home win and a response t the terrible first half on Tuesday. I am predicting 2-0 with a goal each half.
Oh great. So their new manager is the same guy who was manager of Gillingham when they beat us in the League Cup in August.
