What do people have that they think could be used? I still have my T -shirt from when we won the cup. It's a plain white T with a print of the team holding the cup and is now shrunk to being about 12x12". I also have the copy of he echo from when we won the cup and an old fashioned pendant.
http://georgeweahscousin.com/kangaroo-court-the-ward-prowse-debate/ Above is a blog about JWP. The majority of voters still see James as a future star. Doubters include one chap who calls Les Reed an idiot for giving him a contract till 2020. Can't see Reed as someone who knows nothing about football. It is a puzzle....is he worth a place for his ball delivery, will he improve or has he peaked and this is as good as you get. He may be one of those footballer's footballer....appreciated by those who play with him, more than by the fans. Is he a Ramirez....who is loved more than his game warrants. Like Gaston, I really really want him to succeed. He brings a lot to the team....let's face it, we need a team man who truly cares for Saints rather than looking for the main chance.
I thought JWP was one of the few that came away from the Bournemouth match with a crumb of credibility. He keeps improving and you see from his interviews that he has the right attitude to keep getting better. He may not be a first choice player, but although in open play he is not a big influence on games, he is not a liability either and the set piece option gives him an edge as a player. Patience required here
The main problem JWP has is that nowadays we rarely play a formation he fits into properly. He usually gets used as a CM, which is not his best position. In an ideal world he would be a no. 10, but we have players better than him in that position. However, the fact that Les Reed extended his contract, and that Ronald keeps picking him, speaks volumes. They both obviously believe he has a future at Southampton, and I'm not going to disagree with them. The main criticism aimed at him is his lack of goals and assists, but none of our midfielders are exactly prolific, so it's unfair to single James out. He does have the best set-piece delivery at the club, and that is an asset worth a place in the team.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/14322238.Ex_Saint_joins_Gerrard_at_LA_Galaxy/?ref=rss Van Damme joins LA Galaxy....there's a blast from the past.
Watched him play several development games and he could barely control his dislike of being here at times, he was so frustrated. Not a good contract for either party.
So how do you rate your season? A consolidating mid-table success, or a disappointing anti-climax after recent years of challenging the big boys. Given the context I think you've done well considering the amount of first XI players that have exited the last couple of seasons, if you hadn't leaked so many bedded in players you could've been up there challenging with Leicester
So far, the mean is about as expected. Some stuff better than expected and some stuff worse than expected. Position to date isn't far from where I thought. You may find a lot more Saints fans disagree and think it's a season worse than expected.
I was expecting mid table at the start of the season. The Leicester effect will put a negative spin on the majority of mid table teams season. Fans will ask that could of been us? Personally I think we have a base to build on for next season. It would have been nice to add European football, but we've had so many memorable seasons in the last 7 years that we were probably due a dud.
Seventh is respectable for us. Could easily be 8th or 9th by the odd point as it is very close mid-table; 5/6th would be excellent (if probably unlikely). After our poor run, I would be happy with 7th. At the beginning of the season, I hoped we might improve on last season, but thought the big clubs couldn't perform as badly as last season....wrong there, so this season was an opportunity missed. I wish we played a more attractive brand of football, but can understand why RK is mainly aiming to make us hard to beat. At the moment I think we don't know what we are...we have stopped the free flowing goals we used to score (mainly under the devil's disciple), but haven't quite become a defensive powerhouse. An identity crisis....personified by VVD who whilst a strong defender would rather be a player of beauty I think we will be nice and safe with Ronald, but are still in development. This is the reason I want RK to stay for a couple more years....we aren't yet the team he wants to see and it could be interesting to see what he can achieve given time. If it doesn't work out then, may be time for a change. At the moment we are still in the building phase.
I'll be pleased if we finish top half after such an inconsistent season. We're currently 9th and only 4 points between us and Watford in 13th or 7th. The next 3 games are all tough so we need to get scoring again quickly. This seems to have been our main problem this season. The front 3 of Mane, Tadic and Pelle were lauded early in the season and since then their goals have dried up. Bloody pundits!
Though noticeable that Pelle and Tadic were involved in our late goal....problem is that we need lots of chances per goal and we aren't getting that at the moment.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/14324642.Suspended_Fonte_issues_rallying_cry/?ref=rss Fonte doing his positive stuff. Mentions missing the Stoke game...anyone know how many games he will miss? Says he had a split second decision to make as the player was free on goal and he knew he had to be stopped.
One match according to this. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160306-jose-fonte-post-sunderland-home-2991207.aspx
