Then we could argue we should replace as we need players that are "above" our level e.g VD, Lemina, Gabbi, Oriol, Cedric, Bertrand .....
Well yes, obviously the ideal scenario is to have the best possible players playing for Saints. All I was saying is that people criticise Redmond when the reality is is that his level is about where we are as a club, so I think it is slightly unfair the amount of criticism he receives. It all depends what you think Saints level is, I doubt all those players you have listed would get into the top 6 teams for example.
Well the question is; is he helping or hindering our current attacking dilemma? No doubt there's the question of what about the others but we're talking about Nathan. IMO, I think a rest would do him & us good.
Who would we play there instead? If we continue with one up front then we have: Austin/Gabbi/Long/Tadic/Redmond/Boufal Who could fit into a 4 (1 up top and 3 in behind), maybe JWP aswell but I'm not a fan of that. For me I would play: ------------Austin----------- Gabbi-----Boufal-----Redmond As I think Tadic is far better on the left, but there is no point in Gabbi being up front as he never gets the ball and I think he could be effective in the old J-Rod role of coming in from the left. Boufal to see what he can do given a proper run and I prefer Redmond over Long on the right.
Redmond has his faults, of that there is no doubt, but his primary failings are two that are currently shared by our entire midfield - can't shoot for **** and are soooooooooooo bad at looking up to see that a killer pass is on to a centre forward that we've actually had to bench one of our finest players as we simply cannot utilise him.
Agree with a lot of this but Boufal at No10 is a big risk I wait with baited breath for us to be able to play effectively without Steve Davis
Well Davis is 33 by the end of the season so I think we need to start to think about how we can play well without him. I am not anti Davis, I think he is a good player. Looking at the rest of the squad though I don't really see where he fits in. He isn't good enough as a DM to replace Romeu or Lemina and I would rather try someone more creative like Boufal in the no 10 role as (hopefully) with Lemina and Romeu behind him he can just concentrate on trying to create.
He fits in by being our best No 10 at the moment The fact we need a more attacking No 10 has been on most of our shopping lists for a good while now I think I think all the other options lack speed, aggression and work rate If we get one then Davis becomes an excellent squad player who would play ok virtually anywhere and then maybe a coach (Mrs S s Davo and would be if he left ... EVER) Alternatively as I've said elsewhere if our 'wingers' improve and Gabby finds some space to run into then Davo will have more chance to pass forwards
I still don't get why people pretend that we only play well with Davis in the team. As if we don't play like **** with him in the team a lot of the time. We don't play without him often enough to say whether we can't play without him. In anticipation of people pointing out that 5 consecutive managers have picked him: If we didn't have a constant turnover of key players, realistically he would have been replaced. Why have Koeman & Poch (or any other PL team) not made any attempt to sign him if he's so good? Lack of alternatives in his position - he's more consistent than JWP and Hojbjerg doesn't seem to fit into our system anywhere. He's just an average PL midfielder - no shame in that. But pretending he's anything more is just Saints bias.
Ok I will pretend he is more than average. 200 saints appearances in 5 years. Right, he is no pogba, right he is no erickson, his consistent performances, determination and effort, let alone his captaincy for club and country makes him at least good, I can't pretend he is average
Despite having a constant influx of new players, he still hasn't been replaced. Why have Koeman & Poch (or any other of our managers) not made any attempt to replace him if he's so poor? abundance of alternatives in his positions - Boufal, Tadic, Redmond, JWP can all play AM but he was picked there Clasie, Hojbjerg, Romeu, Reed can all play DM but he was picked.
It's known as the Davis conundrum. Why fans on forums haven't made a living in football management is a constant mystery.
Because you know what you get with Davis, and managers favour players who will execute their instructions. Davis is manifestly better (he's at least an average PL player), so this is a comment more about the managerial aspect than him as a player, but let me introduce you to the ballad of Michael Curry by way of example. Michael Curry was a basketball player...never the biggest, nor the fastest, nor the best scorer, but Curry was a hard-nosed player beloved by coaches because of his versatility and because he was 'like a coach out there' providing leadership. Those qualities allowed Curry to carve out a long career playing significant minutes for a number of highly respected coaches. But, as fans at the time felt (and advanced metrics have later demonstrated rather convincingly), Curry was also really quite bad at basketball. Minute-for-minute, he was one of the worst players in the NBA. His intelligence wasn't enough to lift his lack of talent and athletic gifts. He was versatile in that he could be equally bad in a number of different roles, and the unselfishness that coaches praised was mostly a product of him being aware enough of his shortcomings that he left his team playing 4 vs 5 offensively. But for coaches, there's a natural blindspot who a player who does what is asked of them and doesn't make glaring errors, even if they would be better off going with a more mercurial option.
Perhaps you're just an average fan.... With an average life Do you ever feel like you're living in a twighlight zone. Perhaps somebody is watching you.
Exactly this. His attitude on the pitch is not something I'd personally like to deal with him, eventually I'd be telling him to get ****ed. Tadic and Bertrand were a much more effective combo in seasons past. Scintillating at times.
I'd hazard a guess that if he were the only Saints position to be replaced up front our scoring form would take a marked shift up the curve. Just my gut feeling.
Really don't agree with this. Redmond has been here for the past two seasons. Our worst attacking squad in 7 years. If anything he's not good enough for Saints, look at the quality in the back and middle of the park. We could sign a bunch of division 3 players, nobody else would want them off us but they wouldn't be good enough for us either.
Important to see the distinction here as Davo is clearly not a bad player, but he does have some qualities that are above-average for the EPL as well as some that are maybe less so. It is the exceptional qualities that he is picked for and that he is loved by some for. His stats are actually good except of course in goals scored, but he isn't alone there is he? I can see why MP would pick him before Boufal but I can also see why he would pick Boufal when he starts to believe he will make and score goals, given our defence gives us a decent chance of hanging on to one goal leads. I have seen us play without him and we have struggled to win and keep the ball. The question now is can someone more offensive thrive in the hole now we have Mario. As long as MP won't risk it the Davo-deniers will retain their argument that we will score goals when he doesn't play. Bit of a catch-22 that. If we had an Eriksen, Coutinho, Mane, Herrera etc then he would be on the bench, but we have JWP, Boufal, Redmond, Tadic so he isn't. None of these can match his great qualities but they have other qualities that are potentially better, but the EPL is an unforgiving stage and they have to prove they can use them.
There is also the fact, at least for me, that I have not been anti-Davis for his whole Saints career. For some reason, because I don't want Davis in the team now, his supporters take that to mean that I have never wanted him in the team. Otherwise why else mention all our managers. I was fine with Davis under Adkins and under Poch. But overtime we progressed, and ultimately (in my view) have outgrown Davis. Particularly in Ron's second season - and the year and a bit since - I've felt we've had our hands somewhat tied with Davis in the team. If we were still a side in the bottom part of the PL like we were in our first season, then I wouldn't have a problem with Davis in the team. Just like I think Davis would improve at least one-third of the teams in this league.
