Ooooooft. This is going to make superb ammo next time I have an argument with someone about JWP being a brilliant creative midfielder. Any idea how many of his 8 were from set pieces
Nope, sorry. I think it’s a far more effective bit of ammo to use against those who continually think that Redders is the biggest waste of space out there. Which is a lot of people, it seems.
It's pretty good going seeing as he's been in and out the team a lot. Still not sure exactly why he fell out of favour this season. He played well during our first run of wins iirc.
I'm far from convinced Lyanco is the perfect solution we need in defence BUT he put effort in and most importantly for me he added some kind of presence in the air. We are woeful in the air at both ends of the pitch and this really needs to be addressed. I'd be in favour of him making more starts next season.
He’s very skilful- not only in his physical abilities but in his guile and not above a nasty niggling foul. But we really need someone with those qualities. Too many ‘nice guys’ in our squad and we need someone to kick arse.
At the start of the season I opined that we would be on around 25 points, so in that respect we have done well and I am amazed that we did not get relegated. Now I am wondering if my prediction was a season to early!
Very defensive from the outset Most of our creativity and threat on the bench Not wanting to go for it at 2-1 down Not even wanting to go for it in the last 15 minutes Swapping a defensive midfielder for a defensive midfielder Swapping a striker for a striker All smacks to me of Ralph trying to secure his job by not getting a hammering. Not saying it's right, but you can't blame him. If he'd gone for it and lost 4-0, 5-0 then he'd have all the fans on his back and unhappy owners. By grinding out a boring, narrow defeat he's got the unhappy fans but i would imagine the owners see a 1-2 loss to Liverpool as something to build on. Anyway, only one game to go - thank god! Then we can look forward to the impending excitement and disappointment of the transfer window and enter next season with the firm belief that we can't be any worse than this year! Bring it on! COYR
When I posted earlier it may have come across as a criticism of Redmond but it was more a criticism of the rest of the team. Redmond is one of those players I have really wanted to get to do well since he joined Saints but he is very up and down and his self confidence is frail. When he is on his game he's one of our best assets To some people he will never be good enough but others are just frustrated with him because they know he can be better. Anyway, although next season could be a lot better, at this moment I am done at St Mary's. This may be more about Mrs Game and myself but we have lost the enthusiasm to renew. So after 20 yrs as a STH we won't be there next time. At the Chelsea home game we left at half time when it was 0-4. As we were leaving I felt a sense of relief to be going home. When it comes to that stage I think it's time to have a break.
Milner is on £140K a week never mind paying that plus whatever transfer fee a player of that calibre would cost how would you attract yer man to Southampton?
I actually don’t want Milner- I just admire his qualities and hope that Saints could find someone who approaches his level of experience and enthusiasm- both of which are very sadly missing at the moment.
As I said "a player of that calibre" good to have have on the shopping list, difficult to find and afford.
If you look that is just before it and people are still leaving down the stairs. Edit: lol deffo before as I can see me on the stairs as I sit next to the press box. By the time they did their lap there was about 20% of that left.
I find Redmond incredibly frustrating. He's capable of a 10 goal, 10 assist season but he lacks the consistency to do it. Last night he was great but on other days he just flatters to deceive. Too often he drifts out of games when he should be looking to make things happen.
Oh no doubt. But he’s nowhere near the big issue that some people seem to think he is. I mean, JWP flatters to deceive too. It’s where we are.
I think what we need more than anything this summer is a new playbook. We all got very excited about the high energy high press that Ralph introduced and for a while it worked. Saints and Leeds were two of the most exciting teams to watch early doors this season and in parts last season. But once people work it out, it's too easy to counter (unless you have the quality of players in depth that Citeh and Liverpool have). It's no coincidence that the two team to eventually implode were Saints and Leeds. It also sort of explains why the U18s did so well this year - no ones quite worked it out at that level yet. The question is, what do you replace it with in a way that can't be countered so easily? The key has to be something that keeps the ball away from our penalty area and maximises possession- as Redders said last night, if you defend that deep it's impossible to keep it up for 90 minutes. It's also very tiring chasing the ball over the pitch without getting possession. Personally, I'd got for 2 high scoring forwards and, more importantly two new players who can deliver a pin point cross rather than these aimless efforts we've seen over the season (maybe JWP could be one of those. Maybe). With that sort of service, Adarma could well be one of those high scoring forwards. And, of course, have a guy at the far post just in case the cross is overhit. Whatever system we have, it will require players to put in a lot more effort than they've done this last 3 months.
