Saints Stuff

Don't think that you can ever question, Shane's commitment and motivation in all of his time at Saints. I think the problem started with his popularity with some Saints fans who only look at his stats (mainly goals) when he was played up front as a lone Striker under Pellegrino. That was and will never be suitable to his game unless you are defending deep and looking for an out ball to relieve pressure. He thrives in a pair where he can use his pace and generally being a pest to the oppo's defence forcing mistakes and feeding a more prolific partner and others and as you say he and Danny are currently a great pairing and getting better.
My only concern with Shane and too long a contract would be if he starts to lose a yard of pace as speed is his main asset. He deserves every bit of praise he gets for how he has served the Saints so far IMO.

 

I like shane. He's a player who will do anything to win and works really hard for it. He understands he's not a great goalscorer which leads to his tendency to dive rather than try to score which is something that stops him being one of my favourite players though.

 

That's a veiled dig and a cliched one at that, for a player who - though he has his faults - has never once come across as selfish or in it only for himself. It's almost like you want to see him fail.

 

Yeah I didn't get that bit either, Adebayor he ain't.

 

I liked having a Japanese player in the team, it's exotic.

 

I'm realistic. He's 33, I think Glen Murray is the only striker older than that in the league. There's a reason for that.

If he's still leading the line at 36 I'll be astounded so its a question of when he slows up not if.

Far from wanting him to fail I hope he continues to be a foil for Danny who keeps scoring. At the same time I'm not going to pretend that I believe Shane is anything other than what he has been for the last three years or that his current form is the status quo.

 

Even if it goes tits up, he gets a pay day for six years service. How many chumps have we paid out for who have given us nothing? Bloody loads.
And what's to say we don't get 18 more months good running from him? Might even get an Austin fee before the end!
This might not be the win everyone wants, but there's no lose.

 

Shane Long, the Litmus test for cynics and happy clappers?

I can’t believe some of the the stuff being posted here

Anyone who stays at Saints just isn’t good enough to leave, apparently

There were those that said that Matty couldn’t handle moving to a big club. Was he loyal or not good enough? I don’t care I just love him for what he did when he was here. As I do Shane. Different class and different circumstances but not everyone can be a God and we can still love them for what they do when they’re here

Met Shane as well, lovely guy. But then there are those that say that doesn’t count for anything either

 

Anyone who stays at Saints just isn’t good enough to leave, apparently
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Boils my piss that one. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

 

I know a big JWP hater, who says that if he was any good, he'd have gone a long time ago. Speaks volumes hes still here after all this time, apparently.

I've given up tying to persuade him otherwise

 

The fact no one better than Saint's makes bids for these players suggests that we are either the players upper level or we are above their level and they are over achieving. I think Saints should be a consistent top 10 team especially with Ralph as manager. Are you suggesting that Shane and Yoshi should be playing at a higher level than saints?

 

Shane Long has been a very good player for us and although he doesn’t have finely honed killer instinct in front of goal he has many attributes that make him an important part of the team. Along with JWP and Danny Ings and a few others, Shane Long gives everything he has during a match and we are definitely better when he plays. The one thing we can never criticise him for is a lack of effort.

He can be frustrating at times and it’s so easy to sit and watch while criticising him for missing a shot or for not burying what looks like a simple goal. It’s never as simple as we like to see it and while it would be nice if he scored more, we often forget just how effective he is in many other aspects of the game.

He often pulls opposition players all over the place and can truly terrifying to play against with his pace and excellent football brain. He has been brilliant this season and I for one will be delighted to see the club retain him for another couple of years. He definitely deserves it and is one of our most dependable players bringing a lot more to the team than just the ability to kick a football.

 

You expect it from a plastic Scouser ... but from Saints Fans

 

Could have said the same thing about Cedric before Hasenhuttl dropped him for Valery so he decided to go to Inter Milan and now Arsenal.

 

https://readsouthampton.com/2020/02/13/these-saints-fans-react-to-bizarre-sol-campbell-interview/
Don't know if posted before, but Sol Campbell thought he was the Southampton manager

 

Are Sols are cheap today, cheaper than yesterday.

 

Sorry not getting the comparison. Are you suggesting Cedric is good enough for Inter or Arsenal?

 

I've been a long time admirer of his play but he was well below his usual standard at the start of the season for some reason as were key players like Redders and Pierre but he and them have turned it around very impressively and I think that JWP is in the form of his life at this time which is strange because his goals have dried up recently. If he can add a few eye-catching goals he could make the Euros in the Summer but in my unbiased view he should be given a chance to stake his claim in the next England friendlies.

 

I'm saying he got bids from and signed for them but only after we had deemed him surplus.

 

Although he went to Inter last season, once there he hardly played, four appearance I think so he flatters to deceive I would suggest as Arsenal will find out