Match Day Thread Southampton v Swansea City Sunday 12th January 16:30 pm

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OddRiverOakWizards

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2011
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Time to draw multiple blue lines under our last performance and hope for some escapeisn in the FA Cup. People will be hoping for a "shock result" but this should give us a better idea of our Championship credentials. Time to settle on a first eleven and stick with it. The only player I would consider resting is Dibbling:

Ramsdale
Stephens/Hardwood-Bellis
Bednarek
Wood
Walker-Peters
Manning
Downes
Ugochukwu
Fernandes
Archer
Armstrong

I would consider giving Stephens a game as despite his stupid red card he seems committed.

Game live on BBC Wales and presumably iPlayer if you can face it

Any positive comments or thoughts?
 
Well today wouldn't have convinced any undecideds to get a ticket for this!

Attendance guesses? I'm going for 14,876. Will surely be our lowest weekend attendance for many years.

Swansea are more than 3/1 which is excellent value imo.
 
I'm actually torn on what team we should put out. Part of me thinks we should play the U21's but the other part of me thinks the first team don't deserve a rest and should be kept in the spotlight.
 
This game is for all the people who think we will be fine if we go down. I think some people are in for a nasty shock as to just how rotten this club is right now.
 
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This game is for all the people who think we will be fine if we go down. I think some people are in for a nasty shock as to just how rotten this club is right now.

Tbf we lost to Grimsby last time we went down and still got promoted

The key thing for next year (which is the one thing Martin did well) is to get the belief back in whoever is still here and build a good team spirit.

The players want the season over as much as we do, we are down they know it and we know it. With the lack of quality in the squad even if they are 1% off full effort then we will lose, and in every game the other team is going to want it more than we do as we have absolutely nothing to play for.

The rest of the season is pointless. Some will leave, some will stay and there will be some new players coming in. Just have to get through the next 5 months or so
 
Tbf we lost to Grimsby last time we went down and still got promoted

The key thing for next year (which is the one thing Martin did well) is to get the belief back in whoever is still here and build a good team spirit.
I like the sentiment but I feel like Martin’s good vibes have worked out terribly in the long run. I still maintain that he got through the championship by the skin of his teeth and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And Accountability seems gone from the team, he seemed to have instilled a philosophy where results dont matter as long as you were tired when you came off and “brave”.

Martin showed belief only gets you so far if your tactics are ****e. He was just lucky he was playing against crap teams the first year.
 
Tbf we lost to Grimsby last time we went down and still got promoted

The key thing for next year (which is the one thing Martin did well) is to get the belief back in whoever is still here and build a good team spirit.

The players want the season over as much as we do, we are down they know it and we know it. With the lack of quality in the squad even if they are 1% off full effort then we will lose, and in every game the other team is going to want it more than we do as we have absolutely nothing to play for.

The rest of the season is pointless. Some will leave, some will stay and there will be some new players coming in. Just have to get through the next 5 months or so

The key next season (in terms of a promotion push) is recruitment for me. Recruit well and we'll be in and around the top 6.

Really could do with a new DOF in by May tbh.
 
I like the sentiment but I feel like Martin’s good vibes have worked out terribly in the long run. I still maintain that he got through the championship by the skin of his teeth and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And Accountability seems gone from the team, he seemed to have instilled a philosophy where results dont matter as long as you were tired when you came off and “brave”.

Martin showed belief only gets you so far if your tactics are ****e. He was just lucky he was playing against crap teams the first year.

Oh yeah I agree about Martin, hence why I said the only thing I credit him with.

Whoever is in charge next year will be playing against the same crap teams. The Championship is a grind with the amount of games and if you have money/bigger squad/more quality on the bench then that is usually good enough for a high finish. We should have all those things.

Sheff Utd and Burnley were both really **** last year in the PL (not as bad as us but not miles better) and currently sit 2nd and 3rd because of squad depth/quality. There is no reason why we wouldn’t be in a similar position. Leeds who we beat 3 times before we spent a further £120m on the team, are top. The championship is entertaining sure, but it is really **** quality wise

The main lesson we should’ve learnt from our last promotion is don’t back the guys who got you up to be any good in the PL. Loaning players in to get you promoted is absolutely the right strategy. Spending roughly half your budget on making those loanees permanent signings is absolutely the wrong strategy.

Forest had about 6 players left when they got promoted when you got rid of out of contract players and loanees, they spent a billion quid on players or something and signed none of the players who got them up I think. That is how you give yourself a chance as a promoted team
 
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The key next season (in terms of a promotion push) is recruitment for me. Recruit well and we'll be in and around the top 6.

Really could do with a new DOF in by May tbh.

Don’t even know if we have to recruit well. The squad is littered with players who have been part of good/very good Championship sides. Get them confident and playing to their ability and we should be top 6. Add a quality striker and we could be top two depending on what the teams who come down with us do. We should be able to get more Brooks type loans, fringe PL players as we can pay their wages for a year.

Atm I’m expecting a similar season to last time we were there with Ipswich and Leicester being the Leeds and Leicester of last season. Just have to see if there is an Ipswich in next years Championship who unexpectedly are up there
 
Oh yeah I agree about Martin, hence why I said the only thing I credit him with.

Whoever is in charge next year will be playing against the same crap teams. The Championship is a grind with the amount of games and if you have money/bigger squad/more quality on the bench then that is usually good enough for a high finish. We should have all those things.

Sheff Utd and Burnley were both really **** last year in the PL (not as bad as us but not miles better) and currently sit 2nd and 3rd because of squad depth/quality. There is no reason why we wouldn’t be in a similar position. Leeds who we beat 3 times before we spent a further £120m on the team, are top. The championship is entertaining sure, but it is really **** quality wise

The main lesson we should’ve learnt from our last promotion is don’t back the guys who got you up to be any good in the PL. Loaning players in to get you promoted is absolutely the right strategy. Spending roughly half your budget on making those loanees permanent signings is absolutely the wrong strategy.

Forest had about 6 players left when they got promoted when you got rid of out of contract players and loanees, they spent a billion quid on players or something and signed none of the players who got them up I think. That is how you give yourself a chance as a promoted team

And also completely ignored the stupid PSR rules. Which is the other way to give yourself a chance, as we're seeing this season.