Match Day Thread Saints vs Stoke City - Saturday, August 23 - 15:00 KO

The wingers taking people on is a huge need at the moment. Don't have many players like that at all currently (basically only a kid) and it's somewhere we miss KWP massively.

 

Those deliveries from Manning and Fraser will step up a bit too if there's an overlap on the cards or even just a winger ahead of them to pin the full back out from charging out to shut the cross down quickly

 

I also don't get this weird notion that all our transfer business should have been done and dusted as soon as the transfer window opened because we had so long to prepare for it, etc, etc.

No team is going to be entertaining discussions around selling their players outside of the window and not before they themselves have figured out what they need for the next season.

So am I surprised we've not done a lot, no. Would I like to have seen more incomings, of course (provided they improved the squad). Would I like to see the back of some dross, definitely (though who's going to spend big and early to bring in a player that is not wanted by a championship club)

WS has stated what he wants, the club has been linked to targets, the window is busiest at the end. Going to be interesting to see if we can make some moves before it closes.

 

Sensible post.

 

I thought his movement was pretty good too, he's also got far more acceleration than I realised, after watching him in person for the first time

 

I know he's not the most popular player but I actually think Edozie could have made a big difference today.

 

You're replying to the wrong person about Edozie sadly, he reminds me of a dog chasing after a taxi. Will be glad to see the back of him

 

Just to clarify, I've no problem with sticking crosses in, I've got a problem with the way we did it today; Fraser and Manning taking a touch, setting themselves and then floating it in. I honestly think if they varied it up a bit with the occasion low ball, or fast one in and around the near post we would have had more success.

 

I do agree that a left winger (whether Edozie or someone else) would have made a huge difference today.

We were crying out for someone ahead of Manning, to double up with him down that side. Whereas Archer just kept on running away from him, preferring to head into the box instead (which is fair enough, because he isn't a winger!).

 

Yep, very true. The one that Stewart stuck over the bar was absolutely rifled across from Manning, which is what we need more of. One touch from a defender and he would've ripped his own net off

 

I know you're not, that's why I enjoyed the prospect of using your post to say it.

He'd at least have been a bit more direct and ran at their defenders.

 

imagine if we didn’t waste the entire first half by having Armstrong centrally. We could’ve whipped in another 50 crosses I reckon

 

Same used to happen with Manolo Gabbiadini. Made the runs but got no service. As you say, we need someone with a bit of vision to pick up on those runs

 

Gaston Ramirez suffered the reverse of this, where he saw the gaps and played some beautiful balls in, and our strikers would be somewhere completely different

 

The Ramirez-Mayuka tandem was quite something to watch for that reason

 

Here here.

In recent memory all our successful spells were when we had good quality fullbacks linking up well with wingers. Bertrand and KWP were great at this. We don’t have that chemistry on either side anymore.

 

I swear he would have been great if he just had a run of 6 games or so.

 

I truly do get the fans being angry (absolutely so, I'm still annoyed at how last season unfolded) about last season and the mixed start under Still. We've looked disjointed, but peppered in moments of quality. You have to remember that Still is 32 (33 in Oct) and will learn far more from this than a manager in his 50's whose at the end of his coaching career.

We have to let Still adapt and learn with the team, otherwise we're going to be doing a Watford. I'm not saying you can't criticise him, far from it, we just need to give him some time to get to grips with things after he's got some more attackers in and finally has a settled squad.

We all want the same thing as fans: a good young manager, talented squad with a mix of youth and academy prospects, and doing the league double over Portsmouth whilst finishing 1st.

 

And herein lies the problem. Absolutely everything that SR has ****ed up is because we're being used as some sort of finishing school for absolutely anything football related, in the vague hope that their Del-Boy antics of buy cheap -sell high pay off.

Only worked at Dyson before? No worries become our CEO! I'm sure you'll learn on the job. Don't worry about the present, besides you're cheap

Only played in the Man City academy? Don't worry we'll put you in to the pressure cooker of the first team in a relegation threatened club. You can learn on the job, don't worry about the present, besides you're cheap.

Never managed in the Premier league/Championship? Don't worry. You can learn on the job......

SR never think about ready for the team now. Not in 2 or 3 years, right now, and it seems Spors' recruitment really isn't any different

I'm not up for giving people time to adapt and learn. I want people who can do the job from day 1. I'm sick of our club being used as some sort of ****ed up moneyball venture

 

And before anyone comes at me with the
"But PSR....."
"But it's the only way a club of our size can compete"
"That's modern football I'm afraid, either that or owned by some terrible foreign despot"

Just **** off. Plenty of other clubs manage and don't just cycle relegation and promotion as if it's a totally normal way to run a club.