Saints Stuff

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Is story with Saints is amazing. We think of him as a bit of a legend now but he was widely mocked and thought of as useless for a large part of his Saints career.

Goes to show what hard work and persistence can do for you.
Speak for yourself. True, he had the occasional brain fart, but he was a total professional and never gave less than 100% effort.
 
Yeah groin. Seems to have had a few niggling injuries this year. Think most fans have decided he's downed tools, but might be a bit more to it than that.

I don’t think he’s down tooled as such as he never looks like he doesn’t try. More just not mentally fully committed to being here, he knows he’s off in January or the summer at the latest. I’m sure injuries are playing a part, but also don’t think it’s a coincidence how much he seems to have dropped off since the window shut.
 
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I don’t think he’s down tooled as such as he never looks like he doesn’t try. More just not mentally fully committed to being here, he knows he’s off in January or the summer at the latest. I’m sure injuries are playing a part, but also don’t think it’s a coincidence how much he seems to have dropped off since the window shut.
I don't know what it is - but he is a player who should be smashing in goals for fun in this league. The way he took his goal against Norwich, I thought he was going to be huge if he stayed. However, he doesn't look a threat at all when he is on the pitch. If he is carrying an injury then he should rest and recover. If it is mental then he needs to think about the quality of his next move.

Or maybe he is low in confidence? Or just not as good as we thought he was.
 
There was a big interview with Che in the Telegraph yesterday, where he said that the end of the transfer window was a "relief" as it ended a period of uncertainty. He said "from the minute the window closed until we get promoted I am fully concentrated on Southampton". So it sounds like he is not expecting any change in January, but of course it could happen. He makes the point that having a successful year at Saints would send him into the Euros on a high.
He is very complimentary about Martin, says he is very approachable and compassionate. There's an interesting quote about how different the style is: "As a striker you are not touching the ball as much. He wants you to create space for the 'eights', the midfieldes, the wide men, so it's difficult and different in that context. As a striker I like to get involved, get on the end of things. But it is making us better players and making us learn". So implicitly saying the style is not ideal for his skill set, but he's trying to adapt to it.