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south_hants_rich's rumours posts with other poster's replies to south_hants_rich's rumours posts
27 Feb 2023 22:18:04
Some questions for you fellow Saints fans. Has something gone on behind the scenes to explain RS choices .
CC dropped
KWP benched ahead of MN
Bednerek picked ahead of CC
ELy picked ahead of Edozie etc
I have absolutely no problem losing IF I feel we have given it our best shot.
1.) 28 Feb 2023 16:29:53
Could be looking at player valuation ahead of possible relegation. I think a few of our squad will be looking to move if we go down.
04 Jan 2023 21:13:36
Awful football .
tactically poor . very poor .
No game plan .
1.) 04 Jan 2023 22:05:29
That was Truely awful. Not even a shot on goal in a must win game. Burning my season ticket not watching that rubbish anymore. All I want for Christmas ? is a 4 4 2 formation. Stuart Armstrong on the pitch ad Shaun dyche in the dugout NOW.
01 Jan 2023 23:11:02
I do wonder what role Selles has with Jones. I know his official title but is jones listening to him, asking advice . because he certainly should be
1.) 02 Jan 2023 10:19:23
Personally I don't understand why they brought in Jones when Selles has premier league experience and was in my view Ralph's natural successor. To even have a chance of getting out of the predicament that we find ourselves in we need major investment this month. Obviously I don't think for 1 minute that's going to happen but even if we do cough up the cash who gets to pick the transfer targets. God help us if its left to Jones because we'll probably end up with half of Lutons squad coming in. If our owners are serious about trying to keep us in the Premier league we need 4 players who are ready to walk into the team. These type of players don't come cheap. Not holding my breath.
2.) 02 Jan 2023 10:39:03
Unfortunately that's what happens when you sell your best players ad replace with kids.we need at least 4 new players ad a decent manager. We need to stick to how we play best 442.ad stop playing different formation ad playing players out of positions ie Kylie water Peters.hes a right bk that's it .stop playing him on the left. We need a decent keeper buzuma is a liability. Ad decent ball winner to play alongside jwp. We miss oriel so much in there ad at least 2 decent strikers. Adams works hard but he is not a natural finisher. Edozzie is inexperienced ad needs time. I'd bring back Adam Armstrong for now.
3.) 02 Jan 2023 12:10:19
Kwp can play left back. For me when he played at left back for us last season he was amazing and livremento at right back. I would happily play that again
4.) 02 Jan 2023 12:31:29
Think we,re have to play kwp on the left to accommodate livermento. Unless we push him into midfield on the right hand side? I like perrand as a left bk. Naturally left footed ad gets forward well. Just needs to work a bit more on his defensive game.
5.) 04 Jan 2023 11:53:34
What is going on in this transfer window? We need to get bodies over the line. Got 2 6 pointers in the prem happening with forest ad Everton ad City in the cup! We need some quality players
6.) 04 Jan 2023 18:13:18
Apparently villa want rid of ings? Let's go get him! He was quality for us would love to see him bk in a saints shirt. Memories of the good old days when we could hit the bk of the net ad score goalssss. Come on you reds. Let's get 3 pts tonight ad get out of this mess
23 May 2022 17:14:12
And another to leave without mentioning Ralph .
Broja has posted a great message on Instagram, thanking the fans and players .
Mmmmmm
1.) 25 May 2022 21:42:04
He was rubbish for the last 9 games tapped up? Or thought he’d done enough? Time will tell should’ve dropped him earlier if he couldn’t be arsed that’s the trouble with loans. He won’t score 15 next year wherever he is. Would rather we played Armstrong who will still come good once he wasn’t staying.
17 Apr 2022 09:57:47
We are finally seeing the Fraser Forster that Celtic saw. Just maybe his lack of confidence, lack of game time, being dropped despite playing superbly, affected him.
His commanding of his box was immense, in fact everything was immense.
Usually a bit heavy footed, this time he was flying around his box like a teenager!
Well played Saints.
Very brave (and strange) to bring on Redmond so late; particularly as his tackling and tracking back is purely a 'gesture' .
1.) 17 Apr 2022 20:38:47
What will be almost certain is Frase has a shocker at Burnley now! If he alsways played like that he’d be England #1, but it definitely seems to be a case of whether he’s ‘up’ for it or not.
Still, epic win, let’s try and get into the top 10 if we can. The run in isn’t that scary if we can find form.
south_hants_rich's banter posts with other poster's replies to south_hants_rich's banter posts
30 Nov 2023 18:35:51
Just been looking at the goal difference of the last 5 years, auto promotion places .
firstly, our goal difference is +2 compared to
Leicester 21
Ipswich 15
Leeds 13
West Brom 12
Previous years final places
2018/2019
Norwich +36
Sheffield Utd +37
2019/20
Leeds +42
West Brom +32
2020/21
Norwich +39
Watford +33
2021/22
Fulham +63
Bournemouth +35
2022/23
Burnley +52
Sheffield Utd +34
Meanwhile, saints are still playing tipsy tapsy football against far weaker sides. If we don't up our +ve goal difference against weaker teams, we aren't going anywhere!
And this is where Martin is out of his depth, he's never won promotion or got anywhere near it!
We are so far off .
1.) 30 Nov 2023 21:38:32
Need to start somewhere. Yes we aren’t convincing but we are at least winning. And I’d rather that than playing well and losing. We need to hope confidence builds, and our unbeaten run stretches past 20 games.
An indication of where we are attacking wise. If we had conceded one goal more in each game played, we’d be 20 points worse off and only outside the drop zone on goal difference.
BUT we’re fourth, and are finding ways to win or avoid defeat. We’d all have taken this position after we were trounced by Leicester. Stewart’s injury record is worrying and with Che out of favour, we need a goal scorer in January, else with our run of fixtures to come, I’d half hope to be pushing the automatic spots by 2024.
25 Oct 2023 19:00:16
I know we need to rotate players, but he's picked a team suitable for a FA Cup Rd 1 game .
He's just trying to be too clever.
Changed defence, midfield and attack.
even with manning out, bringing holgate in .
1.) 25 Oct 2023 20:13:06
Well I’ve paid £10 to watch this via the Saints website .
Well and truly back to possession football!
Messing around with it at the back .
messing around with it at the front .
even with players in the box, we’re still passing it around about 25 yards out
2.) 25 Oct 2023 20:20:34
So the stats
73% possession 2 shots
27% possession 4 shots .
guess who is saints!
3.) 25 Oct 2023 21:50:19
So we score in the 96th minute from our goalkeeper and a deflection resulting in an own goal.
We didn’t deserve that point.
We resorted back to the high possession football.
I have no idea what was going on with Stuart Armstrong, who spent a huge amount of the game outside the box…
4.) 25 Oct 2023 22:02:49
We have now scored 4 goals in 94+ minutes this season. Without those we would be in 21st place!
Still, somehow we are still in 5th and would have been 3rd with a win!
5.) 25 Oct 2023 23:48:47
I honestly thought that after the Hill game we would start to see a more front foot approach to our performances, how wrong was I! Back to square one, a very lucky point against an average team at best. Adams performance was a disgrace, he showed no movement or interest, even his injury was caused by a half hearted challenge by him. Seasons gone he would have thrown himself into that challenge and squashed Whitman, he needs to leave asap and rebuild his enthusiasm elsewhere.
6.) 26 Oct 2023 12:22:16
I thought it was a bizarre starting line up. Bree was awful and the midfield light weight. Smallbone looked better but he gets himself booked early and then treads a tightrope until he gets subbed.
Did Adams touch the ball more than once?
Edozie starting in front of Salumana?
Baz making one great stop before under diving again and then getting nutmegged for the second.
Baz posing more aerial threat from corners than the rest of the forward line?
I make you right - lucky to nick a point against a bang average championship team.
That said, a win at home Saturday would make for a very healthy points haul over the last 7 games.
The bad news is that would keep Mr Clever Dickery in work until Christmas at least.
7.) 27 Oct 2023 16:25:01
I did not see the entire game but have a couple of questions for those that did:
1. Who is the lesser of two evils Manning or Bree?
2. We seem to struggle with Charles in the side. Is that coincidence or because of him?
Adams lack of drive is odd. If he wants to be in the first 11, he is not helping himself, if he wants to get signed by a PL side, he is not making his case.
I wonder if there was a deal agreed with Everton in the summer to sell him in Jan after Ross Stewart was back from injury.
8.) 27 Oct 2023 19:08:09
Manning v Bree is like lethal injection v electrocution .
Neither please…. They simply aren’t good enough - liability the pair of them. Rubbish defending and rubbish going forward.
Charles is raw but I’m not impressed. Lacks any kind of composure with the ball and chases shadows without it. Light years away from the ability of youngsters like Tino.
I regret not off loading Adams now - his attitude and performances have stunk of late. Maybe you’re right - Everton may have done a deal which given that they may have 12 points deducted will see Adams back where he started.
On another note, I have yet to see anyone come out in support of Mr Clever Dick - even the sky sports pundits are laughing at our possession football. How frustrating is it as a fan when you’re more worried when you have the ball than when the opposition have it.
Please, please change gears tomorrow and up the tempo. Let’s not gift Rooney his first win as their manager.
9.) 28 Oct 2023 13:21:39
And Holgate is death by a thousand cuts! Hope Larios gets back soon!
I thought Martin was supposed to be at one with the universe but unfortunately that seems a parallel universe from his latest comments!
Football is also about winning and not just nlindly playing the way you personally like to play.
Still, 2-0 up and in 4th as I write, so somehow we are still in the mix
23 Sep 2023 14:03:47
You know things aren't going well, when the discussion on the journey to the away game, concentrates more on the quality of the meat pies available at the ground .
Although my favourite discussion was how can we get rid of Martin (legally of course)
1) one way ticket to the North Pole
2) lock him in his home
3) ban him from all home and away games .
1.) 23 Sep 2023 14:49:36
Invite him to a vegan Buddhist sustainability conference in Bali, then tell him he does not need to return because he can manage the club through the power of human connection, from afar!
Meanwhile we can all find our inner peace by not passing to the opposition from our penalty spot!
2.) 23 Sep 2023 16:09:22
That’s a great reply!
Forget us taking the lead, prior to that we were very disjointed, leaving huge gaps on the wings for Middlesbrough to exploit.
seems to be no game plan .
would have thought it was us bottom, Middlesbrough playing the better football, but giving it away too much
22 Sep 2023
New image uploaded to the
Southampton Player Sightings page entitled, The ramblings of Martin
Click picture for larger image
1.) 22 Sep 2023 16:00:28
And that human connection is bonding in misery as we let the 4th goal in from passing it out from the back!
2.) 23 Sep 2023 02:10:54
Human connection?
What the f is this man talking about?
I’d be interested to hear any opinion from an Ed?
Did this man really have such a bad reputation and if he did, why on earth did Saints give him a contract?
It appears he’s being mocked in the football world… Is this unjust? Or is he really as bad as 99% of Saints fans have already realised?
{Ed001's Note - he didn't have a bad rep but he was seen as an unknown quantity.}
3.) 23 Sep 2023 13:53:49
Thank you . he has gone from an unknown to a known quantity rather rapidly.
He reminds me of some mad professor, determined to prove to the world that his theories and methods work, at all costs and despite all the evidence being to the contrary .
1 This will work
2 return to 1
{Ed001's Note - that is how most of them work to be fair, but unlike Arteta he hasn't been given hundreds of millions to spend to make it happen.}
4.) 24 Sep 2023 10:11:08
With great respect Ed, Martin inherited a talented squad and we needed 3 war horses to get the squad motivated, we bought in no leaders. I can visualise what Hammond Fonte Butterfield Davis Jaidi etc would be saying to the younger players and manager by now in the season. Many thanks for your insight and continue overseeing an excellent website.
{Ed001's Note - I am not disagreeing with you at all, I am just trying to give a bit of the other side as there is no one here to do that otherwise. Which is probably very telling, as usually there is at least one person giving a contrary viewpoint.}
21 Sep 2023
New image uploaded to the
Southampton Player Sightings page entitled, This is Russel Martin
Click picture for larger image
south_hants_rich's rumour replies
12 Nov 2023 12:06:48
For someone so stubborn, just maybe he came on here, read our posts and thought, ‘well if my way is so good, why haven’t I had any success’ .
he hasn’t abandoned his way completely, but the possession stays yesterday, showed a huge change in tactics. Ie we didn’t have 80% possession and the same number of shots as the opponent.
But as I’ve said, all the successful teams win even when not playing their best, and grind out wins .
It’s been a very long time since I’ve enjoyed watching saints and believing we are going to win!
12 Nov 2023 00:36:15
Blimey. home after a night out to come here and post . and you two have beaten me to it.
We seem to be doing what the best teams do, win when not evening playing our best.
RM has actually adjusted his playing style and tactics, not a lot, but just enough to stop us getting caught out so much.
We are definitely moving the ball quicker, and that holy grail . get it in the box quicker!
I am loving the atmosphere, the vibe, the excitement . the winning!
COYR
28 Sep 2023 14:31:54
Thank you Ed for that insightful reply. It didn’t enter my head for one minute that any football club would use this interview process!
He certainly is an ‘I’ person. As you say, he must interview well, saying all the right things.
While I’m hugely grateful for the reply, it kind of makes things worse. Surely some research into his managerial history, statistics, media coverage, players opinions, would have meant he never even got an interview, let alone the job.
He can’t and won’t last, despite some ramblings today from the club saying they and the players fully support Martin …
Thank you again and thank you for putting up with our incessant moaning.
{Ed001's Note - no worries mate and it is common practice to use an interview practice to hire the head coach/manager/director of football but it makes little sense to me. Any club as high up as the EFL or EPL has a wealth of lower league and non-league staff to cherry pick. Why not head hunt the best person for the job, rather than limit your options to who is available to interview for the role?}
28 Sep 2023 14:33:07
We played him on the wing in one of the few games he played ….
he is a goalscorer and is proving the club wrong.
Balls into the box . simple .
28 Sep 2023 11:40:20
Ed’s
I love to hear your take on all this. I think it’s accepted that Martin has a rather higher opinion of himself than previous and current results suggest.
I am all for giving an up and coming manager a chance, but all of us can see that he isn’t anything like that. He plays his way and absolutely will not divert from that path, even not picking some of our best players, for what seems that they don’t fit in with his way.
Teams playing us have found us out, so much so that they all seem to be loving every bit about playing us.
I can’t imagine the team talk lasts long .
‘Get at them, they will lose the ball in their half and we’ll be in’ …
The whole of Swansea was warning us that he took them from a play off team to a middle table team .
So what are we doing? Why have we taken him on?
He is awful, and he has an excuse for everything .
It’s never his tactics
{Ed001's Note - it was clearly a mistake to appoint him, he is one of those that talks about himself so well in interviews it will impress business people. But that is a totally different environment from football and what works there is almost certainly not going to work in football. For starters football is about teamwork, so someone who is so full of their own self-importance and talks themselves up is absolutely the wrong choice to manage. The manager needs to be all about the team and not I but we. In business that is not the same. That is where they are going wrong, as are so many clubs.
The problem is that they are recruiting via an interview method and so will likely repeat the mistake again and again until they bin it. The way to move forward is to identify the guy who has the attributes you want and headhunt him at the top end. Interviewing is only going to get you a limited choice and almost entirely is going to leave you with the dregs to pick from rather than the cream.}
south_hants_rich's banter replies
29 Nov 2023 23:50:12
It’s so nice to come on here and see an honest opinion.
I’ve been getting absolutely battered on Facebook.
Any mention of him being an awful manager with though previous success whatsoever, has resulted in criticism towards me…
We have scraped so many wins, Bristol tonight could’ve snatched a draw or even been ahead.
We gave them so many chances .
While I am excited at our league position, it is not a true reflection of the quality of the football we have played.
26 Nov 2023 14:28:44
St John
You are absolutely spot on, good managers learn from mistakes, learn from others, listen to and learn from players, they grow as a person and develop their technical and tactical know how.
I’ve watched so many games over the last few years, where minor tweaks by opposing mangers, have completely changed the game.
Martin has always been an average manager, if anything taking clubs backwards.
So many points gained in the 90+ period. Many have lauded this as fantastic, but we should have put those games to bed much earlier. Finally it’s caught up with us.
Ralph was a similar person, it didn’t matter if we were playing bottom of the league or top, he played the same tactics. a must win game was 5 at the back with one up front.
Martin should be saying, this team has injuries, non a bad run, let’s do this. let’s go for a big win and reduce increase our +ve goal difference!
But nope, he’s possession obsessed …
25 Nov 2023 17:08:24
It’s almost like he reverts to type …
We should be coming out the second half and absolutely going for it, attacking at Speed, and with width…
But nope, he wants to play his tippy Tappy football!
05 Nov 2023 18:59:20
I’m not sure what to write really . we’re winning . just .
but it’s great to see us fighting harder, and definitely starting to get the ball in the box quicker.
but crikey are we doing it the hard way!
I can fully understand the idea of possession football higher up, to work an opening, to spread the defence, to get in behind. but can’t we start doing it from the first minute, not from the 70th minute!
Our get out of jail cards are going to be all used up soon!
We are still giving the opponents way too many shots in such little possession.
But it’s great to see the team spirit, a settled team . and no Manning
30 Oct 2023 11:22:22
Millertime .
Downes definitely better when allowed some freedom to move the ball around, even pass forward!
Our goals were well worked goals, with getting into the box much quicker, even getting down to the byline and passing back!
I wonder how many of the previous games we could have killed off, had we been quicker with the balls into the box, instead of the incessant messing around .
I do worry that our current run and league position is simply feeding Martin’s ego and his belief that his way is right…
Possession football at all costs is not going to keep working.
the suicidal playing around with it at the back, is going to shoot us in the foot!
It’s good to see a happy crowd, it’s good be winning again.
but let’s see how good we really are,
Let’s move it quicker, into the box quicker and get it the average and below average teams to bed .