09 Oct 2012 19:24:14
You base this on one game? Yes he played well but what about the countless individual errors he made before the Fulham game? Hooidveld has had a shakey start and an injury that saw him out of the team. I would still rather Hooidveld dealt with Carroll against west ham and when fonte makes another poor mistake that loses us the game then I'm sure you won't be so smug.
It seems that some "supporters" judge all our defenders to be rubbish. Don't agree with you. The step up to the Premiership is huge and with Saints attacking style of play it does expose the defence some times. The team needs to work on this, but I do see some positive developments and Adkins will keep working to get this right.
We all knew that there could be some exciting and frustrating games whilst this happened but I would much rather experience that than the tedium of watching a team like WHU.
Saints are not Man. City and the answer anyway is not to just throw more and more money at the issue until it comes right. Some players will adapt quickly, others will not. I trust the coaches to know what they are doing and would suggest we support their efforts.
Saint Martin
Wow, I totally agree with you Martin.
By the way, how's Buttner and Baines getting on these days? ;)
Tony
Forget the players Adkins has never been a defensive genius his tactics are always shaky when defending is concerned our coaching staff in that area are obviously inadequate and need replacing.Would Adkins go along with this i dont know as managers seem to take their coaching team with them when they move, would he accept having his team replaced is the question if he wont then i think its time for him to move on. No room for sentiment in the prem im afraid. Shame as he showed promise but is making too many mistakes with his substitutions and formations. We leak goals like a sieve and he doesent change his formations brave or foolhardy ?
Adkins is always changing the formation! I agree, the substitutions have been suicidal at times.
Hi Tony,
Well, we now see why Buttner didn't join Saints!
As far as Baines is concerned, I haven't changed my mind. He is still getting older (not a surprise, but an issue in my mind) and he still looks suspect when defending against top class formations and players. Certainly good going forward but I think that for £12m I would expect someone strong in both departments, and if at his age he needs to improve in defence I feel there are still younger and cheaper prospects that could develop to give us both. And how far away is Shaw from fitting this position, so very unlikely NC/NA will see the need to spend such money for what could be a relatively short term need.
Besides, with the way Everton are playing currently they will be looking towards the Champions League so unlikely that Baines will move this season.
My point exactly, why would Baines leave and I don't think £12m would have been enough to tempt Everton, despite their troubles. For me, on balance he's the best in the league. Not as good defensively as Ashley Cole, but going forward he is a million miles ahead of everyone else.
Buttner was ours until he tried to take the pee.
Anyway, these points are meaningless until January. But I would rather we signed my nan to play LB than play Fox.
After all the hype, I am surprised we haven't seen Shaw so far this season.
Tony
I think Shaw has missed some games through injury but he is now turning out for the under 21s, the Saints Cup squad, and England U18s so if he continues to develop in that environment I can see him coming into contention for the first team soon.
I don't see that he will be rushed as it is inevitable that players of his age will come up against challenges they have not experienced before and need to be taken off to the training ground for a while to get things right.
At least we have seen Clyne can do a good job on the left so there is one new option, but it does then transfer the issue to the right side, although Cork can play pretty well there if needed.
As I have said before, I don't think we are a long way short at the back now but there needs to be improvement in the team defending as a team and not allowing players to become isolated or to panic.
If that can be successfully achieved I can see the current squad as being good enough to take some decent Premiership sides apart. If not, then we could have grey hair by Christmas!
Saint Martin
I agree with your point about Shaw. Perhaps we should send him out on loan to gain higher level experience.
Another one of these people who feel they have the right to question who is or isn't a supporter. That's the worst kind of supporter. How do you get from what I said that I rate all of our defenders poorly? I defended Hooiveld and didn't mention yoshida although he has proved the people wrong who said he can play full back. I merely questioned those cramming onto the fonte bandwagon after one good game. I'd say reading at home and the needless free kick away at Boro cost us the title and even on Saturday he lost out to rodelega so slapped the ball away. If the ref sees that he's walking a tightrope most of the game and I don't fancy a 20 yard free kick with riise and Ruiz over it.
Quiet Saint Martin...
Having seen Buttner perform last night for Man. U. he doesn't now seem such a loss, does he?
Another LB who looks great going forward but can't manage the simple defensive stuff. I can quite understand full backs getting caught out of position and getting punished but there seem to be no end of full backs these days who when in normal defensive positions just can not defend! Perhaps our best answer to this one is to get Jason D to show our senior guys how to do it. Not saying he is the one to coach CBs but he certainly knew the way that a FB should defend.
Reference my comments about "supporters" slagging off our defenders, if you check back through the posts you will see that everyone has been subject to criticism, even when they are new to the Premiership and/or English football, and maybe playing out of position. Also, there have been posts saying the club have not signed defenders. Well, some people just can't count-I think you will find we have signed 4 since last season. I also suspect there were other targets that just did not happen, for one reason or another.
So, the team has not performed as we would like but I have been supporting the Saints for over 50 years and I see no sign that the club is not aware of the problems and is failing to work at getting it sorted. However, I do think that some supporters are not aware of the clubs philosophy (the Southampton Way) and that there is a profound requirement that Saints play in a certain way. To achieve this will not be easy and there will be problems but when it comes right there will be a real pride in the club having the guts to stick to its principles.
A not so quiet Saint Martin.