I notice that there have been a number of "Saints" fans on twitter who have spent all of the evening slagging off Lemina, what is that about? Where did this kind of attitude come from, it ain't Saintly behaviour and surely there are better things to do, like watching Palace turning Manure over?
Gareth Bale: Southampton unlikely to produce similar young star, says Ralph Hasenhuttl https://www.skysports.com/football/...duce-similar-young-star-says-ralph-hasenhuttl Sure things have changed a bit, but I would have thought the academy's reputation still speaks volumes. Portuguese and Belgian clubs are currently churning out great talent from their academies and they're not financial powerhouses to compared to PL clubs.
I think the academy has completely lost its way. Changed after Dodds/Connor left. Our young teams no longer compete at the top level and the conveyor belt of talent has pretty much stopped
You can understand why Ralph is saying what he has said. The big clubs are getting the best and can offer the parents more in inducements to get the lads they want. Our best hope lies in finding a local lad, with an affiliation to the club, wanting to play for us, or picking up a decent player who is a late bloomer. If I remember correctly, we almost sent Bale away because he was very small, but we gambled on him having a growth spurt, which he did. Looking back over recent years, most of our attacking players, coming through the academy, have been fairly short and/or slight - Sims, Hesketh, Dyer, Oxlade Chamberlain, Seagar, with only one of them making it to the top, which seems to show that we pick up more than our share of littl’uns.
Interesting video halfway in this article, finally we are Championes, Championes, ole ole ole... PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE IF TEAMS COULD ONLY PICK LOCAL PLAYERS https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/09/...st-ham-and-fulham-target-all-parties-hopeful/
I noticed Liam Delap, son of Rory scored for Man City on his debut vs Bournemouth last night. Winchester born, signed by City from Derby must have slipped through the Saints youth network? Rory is assistant manager at Stoke. More here. https://www.transfermarkt.com/liam-delap/profil/spieler/610849
well done on making me feel old this morning. Made me think that next year will the 20th anniversary at St Mary’s, a whole generation who would have never watched us at The Dell. I think Rory was the “marquee” signing for that first season. As for his lad, I don’t follow the Delaps around, but he was at Stoke for a long time after us and I doubt they’ve lived in the area since Liam would have been a toddler
It was strange that we never really had the success from his long throw that Stoke later managed, they made it into a lethal weapon for them.
For those who maybe interested,Danny Ings has done an interview with BBC sport .....I presume it will be on football focus at lunch time.