Saints are 'increasingly hopeful' on Victor Wanyama signing a new deal at St. Mary's

Mane has worked extremely hard, but is making a lot of unforced errors.
Some of his passing has been very poor, as have some of his passing decisions, releasing the ball too soon or too late.
A perfect example of this, at Arsenal, was when he received the ball, wide right and in space. Instead of attacking the byeline and drawing players to him, he hit an almost first time pass, square to Long, who had 3 players near him.
Mane desperately needs a goal, and the confidence boost it would bring, and despite my criticism, I would still pick him to play up front with Long, at Swansea.

 

I agree. For me the issue isn't that Mane is lazy or rubbish, just that he is capable of more and that will probably come with confidence, we must be patient because he's still good.

This is the same as my slight 'criticism' of Clasie. He started well v West Ham but faded and he is capable of more.

Shane is playing to his potential and these guys have the potential to be better than him.

 

I think that Classsie is still running out of energy at the end of games. He came over to take a corner in about the 80th or 85th minute and looked utterly knackered. If we can train that out of him, he looks like he'll be able to handle himself quite well.

Vin

 

Watch Mane's work rate. He might not be producing the magic, but he is still working his socks off.

 

Jordy Claie is clas.

 

Classsy, but you'll annoy Le Tisssier's Lacces

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490


Daily Mail report that Wanyama banned for 5 matches (as we guessed). This is where not being a cup hurts even more...all 5 will be league matches. Not as worried as I would have been earlier in the season, but reduces the choices for Ronald.

 

I feel like Clasie is another example of a player being singled out a bit.

Long is almost always spent 75 minutes in, but instead of people being "Long needs to work on his stamina," it's "Wow. I love Shane Long. He ran his socks off and left it all on the pitch. Did you see how tired he was at the end of the game?"

If Clasie gets tired, that's why we have subs. I don't really mind that strategy in midfield. He puts in a higher workrate than the opponent for a good 70-75 minutes. And then we put in a fresh Romeu or JWP or whoever who can then put in a higher workrate for the next 15-20 minutes. The midfield battle is so often won by workrate.

Long and Mane, OTOH could maybe do themselves a bit of good by not pursuing quite so many lost causes. Mane, if he sometimes waits a bit or plays a simple pass instead of running full-speed at defenders every time will get better chances (and slow down the pace of the game so everyone gets a breather). And I have seen Long bust ass 30, 40 yards to catch someone who really wasn't a major threat, and all he does is win a throw in or end up committing a foul. Not that I'd want to take away their hard working attitude, but just be a tiny bit smarter. Just once a game don't make one of those long sprints.

But, I dunno. I don't think it matters. We've been playing a lot of close games due to our inability to score, so I like go-nuts attitude they have. I feel like we tend to play well in the first half just because we come out so fired up that other teams are not prepared for our tenacity.

Most of our players work extremely hard, it's one reason we do so well. But I think only Steven Davis has been gifted with the stamina to do it for a full 90. He's the only guy who doesn't seem impacted. Otherwise, you look around at 80 minutes-- Wanyama, Clasie, Pelle, Tadic, Mane, Long are all sucking major wind if they haven't already been substituted.

The only thing that needs to happen is for us to actually score early so we are in control of the game. Or at least feel confident in our ability to score so we settle down and show some more patience at times. Go up 2-0 in the 50th minute and everyone can breathe a little easier.

Really, I thought we were going to do that against West Ham. We were up 1-0, and came out strong the second half and I felt like we were either going to score again or wear them out. But then Wanyama had to go and get red-carded and scupper the whole thing.

 

"7 years of an amazing journey @saintsfc destroyed in 1 transfer"

 

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I think you're right about the midfield. The Long/Mane hell for leather pressing thing is more difficult. Lost causes are best seen in hindsight. We used to have a goalie (Dave McLaren, I think) who didn't bother to dive if he didn't think he could get it. He would watch the ball sail into the net as an observer. Sections of the crowd would go wild and scream abuse. Others would nod sagely and say there was no point chasing a lost cause. But the question I always asked myself was whether his judgement was so fine that he really could recognise a difficult shot to save and a lost cause. With Long in particular, I think he chases down in the belief that something might come of it. The defender may panic at the sight of an onrushing Long, for example. And he does win causes that others might not have even chased. It's his game, and was the single biggest reason I was delighted when we signed him.

 

I wonder how much the five match ban will cost Vic in income, will it save SFC some money? Players need to be put on a Zero Hours Contract, no play, no pay! They might think twice about being numpties on the pitch.

 

I bet you lose bonuses etc, but Saints won't save because someone else will get them instead. However, I would be surprised if he isn't fined at least a couple of weeks wages....though details will depend on his contract.

 

At the end of the WHU game he wasn't knackered, just a touch of cramp, putting JWP on was a no brainer, wasted a bit of time and basically like for like with fresh legs.

 

And then they check their bank accounts.

 

...and short career.

I think there's a bit of a misconception here. We tend to judge footballers priorities by our own. Most of us are not in our dream jobs, and some of us are in jobs we absolutely loathe [ah, if only I'd made it as an astronaut]. Under those circumstances, the amount of money we are paid is a prime mover. But most footballers are in their dream jobs. Once you get to a certain level of money it becomes less of a driver. Some will still automatically go with the biggest payer because the modern world says you must [and what the hell are you dragging your feet for, you idiot], and some independent thinkers won't, preferring job satisfaction, location, etc.

 

Who are these independent thinkers who turn down a big money move because they prefer to play regularly at less glamorous clubs? Off the top of my head I can only think of Jamie Vardy ( who plays for the current title favourites)
.

 

I was very pleased that Vardy re-signed...even if he moves down the line, he guarantees that Leicester get more for him.
For us, SKD turned down the PL to play regularly for us. Top lad.

 

And of course there was LeTiss. Those sort of players are rare though.

 

Didn't Charlie Austin turn down various offers, particularly Newcastle, at the beginning of the season, and then he moved to Southampton primarily because of location? Not everyone is swayed by money, especially when they're paid a shed-load already.

 

good