Full backs will be interesting but when Southgate decides to overload on right backs and include one who can play on the left I will expect Trippier
With yet another manager sacking attributed to a defeat by Saints does this give an unfair advantage to visiting mangers giving them extra motivation to defeat us knowing that if we beat them they are likely to lose their job?
Was it really attributed to saints ? They lost to us, Leeds and Zagreb in quick succession. And played badly against West Ham. Also the Athletic are reporting it wasn’t purely down to results either
A few interesting faces from the past spotted on that video clip - David Webb, Tony Knapp, the great Ron Tudor Davies and schemer in chief Jimmy Melia. I'm suddenly feeling very old.
Webby, tough as nails. I've told this story before so apologies if you've already heard it. I don't remember any details other than it was at The Dell long, long ago. An opposition player was running at Webb and as he went in to tackle the guy he slipped to his knees. As the guy went by him Webb threw himself headfirst into the guys legs and sent him flying. When his name is mentioned I always think of that incident. We had some hard men from that era, today they would be called thugs but then it was expected to take a few knocks. Wouldn't hurt a fly.
On the subject of thighs, it was Brian O’Neil who had the most impressive pair of thighs I had seen. I was also impressed by his ability, on wet pitches, to launch a sliding tackle from about 10ft away, taking both ball (first) and player (second), at a time when it wasn’t considered a foul.
I met with Brian a few years after he retired, he told me that,during team photos, he used to expose the end of his todger under the hem of his shorts. Never seen photographic evidence of it. Whenever I hear of Helmut Schoen I always think of Brian.
Come to think of it, he was one of those players that used to roll his shorts over at the waist band, to expose his thighs to the maximum, so it’s quite possible that Little Brian might have made itself known at any time of a game.
Bournemouth ticket details released. I'm in the 2nd category of 13+ away games since start of last season so I should get a ticket.
Remember those tackles well. I think he may have been our dirtiest player from that time, which is no mean feat considering. When I was looking for info on O'Neil I came across this from a Burnley forum thread called Hardest and Softest Burnley players. Quicknick wrote:When Brian O'Neil's Southampton career finished he dropped into non-league football. A friend of mine [a former Torquay United player] played against him. He said O'Neil was the hardest player he'd ever played against. One tackle almost cut him in half.
