Premier League Match 3 - Newcastle 2 Southampton 2

 

Hey Crying Kid - Can't Hear You?

Time for another trip to Newcastle at St James’s Park where we don’t seem to have won since Matt Le Tissier was still playing for us. I think we have won more recently than that actually… but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s another one of those grounds, like Goodison Park, where we always go and the opposition aren’t particularly good and we always find a way to lose. There is no logic for it and this Newcastle side in particular should be there for the taking. Mind you, I said that last year when we managed to find ourselves 3-2 down with half an hour to play against nine men and we still lost.

Steve Bruce is still the manager because basically, Mike Ashley can’t be arsed to sack him and find another manager to work under the conditions that Ashley imposes on the club. This year they are undoubtedly going to be in the bottom six for the entire season and regardless of our record in the North-East, we have to be targeting a win today. There’s not a lot that can be said about Mike Ashley that hasn’t been said before. He is still fucking there and there is a section of their fan base that blames the Premier League for blocking a recent takeover, which let’s face it, must’ve been extremely dodgy for them to prefer leaving Ashley in place.

The Newcastle team is the same as last year.  They have secured the permanent signing of Joe Willock from Arsenal and that’s about it.  We have to watch out for Alan St.Maximin, who is their best player by a mile and we have to get about Jonjo Shelvey in midfield if he’s playing. The clash between him and Oriel Romeu will be key to how this game turns out. What Newcastle don’t have any more is Andy Carroll, who was released the end of last season and is still currently a free agent. He was of course always a nightmare to play against and hopefully when he does find another club, it’s not one in the Premier League so we don't have to deal with him anymore.

Steve Bruce has used to build up to this game to eat more and also to fire a shot at Rafa Benitez, his predecessor, who sanctioned the selling of Adam Armstrong to Blackburn, from where of course, he scored a bucket load of goals and signed for Saints.  Brucie may indeed have a point but criticising others transfer activity is a dangerous game when you paid £40m for Joelinton.

There is a positivity about Saints at the moment with the draw against Manchester United and the hammering of Newport in midweek. Another bit of news was that Tino Livramento got called up for the England Under 21s when he is still only 18. I’m hoping that today is the day that Ralph pushes him forward and plays KWP at right back and we can see whether we’ve got the next Gareth Bale on our hands or not.

After the two league games unchanged, I wasn't expecting any changes today but we got two, with KWP coming in at left back and Elyounoussi replacing Walcott on the right.  I’m guessing that the KWP inclusion is because Ralph feels he will handle St.Maximin better than Perraud. 

Away we go and St.Maximin gives an early demonstration of his dribbling ability but he is crowded out and that’s about it for Newcastle for the first half as we take over. Elyounoussi is showing up well and the first big chance comes as Saints work across from the left hand side and Elyounoussi tries to pick out Livramento but it goes to 2 defenders who get in each other’s way and the cross reaches the right back anyway.  Tino gets his head up and plays a superb all across the box to where Djenepo has a tap-in but somehow he manages to scoop it over the bar with an open goal from about 5 yards. Fucking pathetic. He’s looking around for the offside flag but there isn’t one because it wasn’t offside, it was just a horrendous open goal miss for fucks sake.

He had the chance to make amends a few minutes later as Adam Armstrong produces a lovely diagonal through ball which goes straight to Djenepo as he arrived in the box and he has to hit it first time but instead of that, he does a drag back, a pirouette, a somersault, turns his shirt in the wrong way, turns it back in the right way again, does a handstand and surprise surprise, the eventual shot gets blocked.

Unperturbed, Saints continue to make all the attacking running and Che Adams battles his way through four challenges on the left hand side before finding Elyounoussi, whose under pressure effort is saved by Woodman in goal for Newcastle.

Woodman has to be alert again when we were in a freekick on the left hand side when KWP is brought down. JWP fizzes it across and he’s just adopted the approach of hit it into the bodies and keep it on target… and everyone misses it and Woodman flicks out an arm to divert it away.

Newcastle are basically playing three at the back with five midfielders about 5 yards in front of them and then 50 yards of space and then the front two - but they do win a corner off Livramento just before half-time which is fired across and Wilson has a free Heather but McCarthy saves well at the near post.

Half-time and 0-0 and we’ve dominated, and we should be at least two goals in front but we are not. On the plus side, Newcastle are dreadful so we should still be winning this game but on the minus side, we are always better in the first half and we've had that and we are not winning.

The second-half starts in much the same vein as the first half with Elyounoussi driving forward and finding Armstrong who shot his blocked and it bounces out to Moussa who takes a good touch inside before aiming a curler at the far post which goes just wide.

And fuck me. Newcastle get more than two players in a half virtually the first time and a big crossfield ball from our right to our left is headed back across by Jacob Murphy and Callum Wilson has run off the back of Stephens and stoops to head into the net. In many ways it is very similar to the goal the Calvert-Lewin scored against us for Everton in that we’ve just left the centre forward unmarked in the middle. Garbage.

Ralph has obviously got the taste for the early substitutions and after about 10 minutes where we don’t look remotely threatening, Redmond is on for Djenepo and Che Adams is withdrawn and Armando Broja comes on for his Premier League debut.

One More Goal Than You Ever Thought I'd Get

All the way through last season, Redmond drove me nuts by choosing to turn backwards and play the easy ball rather than take anyone on but today he fancies it and picks up the ball on the left hand side, drives at Jacob Murphy gets a yard past him and  whips it over first time with his left foot, just over Broja’s head but there is Elyounoussi, arriving at the back post to get something on it to send it goalwards, Woodman parries it out and it hits Elyounoussi nicely and bounces into the net. Get the fuck in and that’s the least that we deserved.

It’s become very open now and St.Maximin is still the main threat from Newcastle. He barrels into the box and there’s a shout for a penalty as Salisu goes to challenge him but it looks pretty fair on first viewing…. Off to VAR.  For this season once more, League 1 Minus 10 has exclusive access to VAR conversations.

“Mikey, Mikey!  You there Mikey”
“…..”
“Mikey, was that a penalty”
“zzzz”
“Fuck sake Mikey…. You there!”
“Huh… fuck off”
“Mikey, was that a penalty?”
“Dunno mate, was on a massive bender last night and I’m knackered, catching a few zeds”
“Have you seen the challenge?”
“Nah, can’t be arsed… go with the on field decision, makes you look good”
“You’re a legend Mikey”
“How right you are Paul, how right you are”

10 minutes to go and Ralph hits the substitute button again with Ibrahima Diallo coming on for Romeu which on the face of it is a strange one.

90th minute and Diallo is carrying the ball forward. He plays a 1-2 with Livramento and then his cross gets cut out. One big boot forward and suddenly it’s two against two. Why do we fucking do this? St. Maximin carrys the ball goalward before finding Joelinton who eventually finds Fraser and his shot is blocked by JWP who has got back but it only bounces out as far as St.Maximin and he smashes it into the net. Fuck off. We have basically loaded the gun and shot ourselves in the bollocks.

A feature of Saints performances over the past few years has been a total inability to react to any setback and a total inability to keep doing the right thing and maybe even upping the tempo. It is therefore promising that we do keep trying to play and Newcastle, as you would expect, begin to panic. Eventually we worked the ball to Redmond in the inside left channel and he hits a wonderfully weighted ball in between two defenders to meet up with Armstrong’s run at Lascelles slides across and takes out everything. It did look like he got a bit of the ball and was just going down injured afterwards to waste a bit of time but we’re off to VAR and your mate and mine, Mike Dean. 

“Hello Mikey”
“Hello Paul… need me again do ya?… you all need me”
“We do Mikey”
“Cos I’m a fucking legend aren’t I Paul”
“Sure thing Mikey – what the craic with the penalty shout?”
“Well, I’m hoping for a threesome with two Geordie lasses later… so it’s a no from me”
“Come on Mikey… it looks like he cleaned him out”
“Well he did but that’s not the point – I’m not giving it!”
“OK Mikey – what if you make me look at it – then I get blamed?”
“Sounds good – then I can say I tried and we also get the right decision.  Win-fucking-win”
“Win-Win indeed Mikey – I’m just on my way over
“Picture’s coming up Paul – now I’m putting aftershave down my boxers”
“Have a good night Mikey”
“Will do Paul”

Up steps JWP, bang, bottom right, 2-2, game over.

Guess Who's Back... Back Again...

Well that was a fucking ridiculous game.   We ended up rescuing a point in a game where we should have been out of sight at half-time.  How on earth we were not even winning at half-time is something that you’d have to ask Moussa Djenepo and whoever is holding the PlayStation controller that controls him. Spamming all the buttons and doing 20 step overs when you are 5 yards out with a first time shot required.  The first miss is an open goal from 5 yards which he takes first time and spoons it.  The second miss is crying out for a first time finish but instead we get step overs and drag backs and then nothing.  Maddening.

Having dominated the first half without scoring, we then do that typical Southampton thing and let in a really shit goal and it’s the old one of not tracking a runner which allows Callum Wilson to score.  You can’t be profligate in front of goal and then soft as shit at the back.  You can maybe get away with one but not both.

At that point I thought we were dead and we would lose 1-0 but I have to say it was an excellent bit of play by substitute Nathan Redmond on the left wing to beat a player and put over the cross which Elyounoussi bundled into the net. Lets not go overboard – beating a player and crossing it is in the job description for a winger but it was nice to see him actually do it.  It seemed to me that the mindset today was to go out and be positive and that the players totally believed that they should be winning this game. This is the only way I can make sense of the way we were playing at in the 90^th minute, just before Newcastle scored the second goal. Basically, we had an attack and when we lost it, one pass and we had eight players ahead of the ball with only the two centre backs and the goalkeeper in the picture as Newcastle attacked. JWP got back into the picture of the try and stop the goal but it ended up in the net and that was fucking suicidal when we had a point in the bag and it was the 90th minute. I mean, fair play for trying to win the game there’s got to be some pragmatism about it. That was absolutely criminal and definitely not in the ‘game management’ manual.  Of course, at that moment you think we’ve fucking lost to a dreadful side again but once more, thanks to a superb ball by Redmond, Adam Armstrong gets trashed and after VAR correctly gives a penalty, up steps JWP.  Overall, it’s a good point and probably what we would’ve taken before the start and having lost here last year, it’s an improvement. However, Newcastle were shite, devoid of any real attacking intent and having shown our ruthless side in midweek at Newport, we totally failed to show it today.

I could understand Ralph’s changes today and Elyounoussi deserved to start ahead of Walcott.  With KWP on the left however with Djenepo, the two right foot players on the left wing it did mean that we were a little bit slow at getting the ball across. When Redmond came on, he was prepared to use his left foot and we scored. He also set up what became the penalty for the second goal was superb through ball to Armstrong.  Like with Elyounoussi with his performance against Newport, he has “showed up” as Ralph says, when given the chance so therefore probably deserves to start the next game.

Elyounoussi looks completely different player to what we had two years ago.  Back then he didn’t show anything. No pace, no trick, no fitness, no eye for goal, nothing. Today and on Wednesday he showed exactly what we thought we were buying when he joined and if he keeps playing like that and with the confidence he has at the moment then he is going to be a regular starter. The guy clearly does have an eye for goal as well, which puts him ahead of nearly every other wide player we have on its own.

Steve Bruce‘s post match interview was absolutely bizarre. Basically, he said that there are no decisions that get viewed on the pitch side monitor and then get overturned and he was moaning because the penalty shout was overturned but then he was saying that it was a penalty so basically Steve Bruce is moaning because the VAR produced the correct decision. Ralph meanwhile was happy with the point which he said was the least we deserved but was also wondering how on earth Djenepo missed that chance in the first half.

Steve Bruce Unhappy at Correct Decision Being Reached.

Two points from the first three games of the season doesn’t sound marvellous but from Everton away, United at home and Newcastle away, we got precisely zero points for those three games last season. There are promising signs there but we are still too easy to score against. That’s not just down to the defenders because the kamikaze effort in the 90th minute is down to the whole team.

I like that both Elyounoussi and Redmond have put their hands up and that’s the benefit of the stronger squad.  They know they have to do that to get a place in the side.  Playing how they played for us before (Elyounoussi) or last season (Redmond) isn’t going to be good enough to keep them in the team.  I have no problem with in-form players being in the side.  What drives me nuts is players being crap and getting picked regardless.

Next up is an international break and following that Saints are at home to another team who we don’t get anything out of in West Ham. They’re top of the league as it stands so it’s going to be even more difficult than usual.  Up the fucking Saints.

League Cup 2nd Round - Newport County 0 Southampton 8

 

World's Biggest Smile Spotted in South Wales

Carabao Cup night and a second round trip to Rodney Parade to play Newport County. I remember Newport County going bust at some point in the late 80s and before that I remember them in the European Cup Winners Cup Quarter Final and a memorable game against East Germany’s Carl Zeiss Jena. A reformed club is now back in League 2 after a stint in non-league and last year lost the play-off final so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they rest a few players for tonight because a Carabao Cup run won’t be their main target for the season.

I don’t know any of their current players but in the squad I do note that Newport have a player called Priestley Farquharson which is an absolutely marvellous name to rival Forbes Phillipson-Masters who Saints fans of a certain vintage will remember.  I’m not expecting Saints to be at full strength either because as Ralph has said himself, we have a better squad depth now so more opportunities to rotate for games like this one. That’s not to be saying that we will be taking it lightly.

Newport have a decent cup pedigree and have either knocked out or gone very close against some very good sides over the last two or three years. Having lost in the second round last year to Brentford, who were at the time from the Championship, we don’t want to be doing that again.  There’s a bit at stake for yours truly in this game as well because one of my best mates supports Newport County from his current home in Auckland, New Zealand.  We are talking on Skype on Saturday morning, so I really don’t want us to lose.

In the event, Ralph makes nine changes from the starting line-up against Manchester United at the weekend with just JWP and Jack Stephens retained. They were joined in the team by Forster, Valery, KWP, Bednarek, Elyounoussi, Diallo, Redmond and Tella and there was a full debut for Armando Broja. It’ll be interesting to see how ‘up for it’ a number of our current second-string players are.  There’s also some great news in the opposition ranks in that Priestley Farquharson is playing.

It took all of nine minutes for things to start going our way as Redmond cut across from left to centre and absolutely smashed in an effort with his right foot which pinged off the bar and straight back out it was controlled and casually stuck into the net by Armando Broja. What a start, both of the team and the new lad up front.  The Newport fans think it’s offside – it isn’t.  Trust me lads, you’ll be glad there’s no VAR.

Keeping Adams and Armstrong on their toes

It should’ve been 2-0 after that but Redmond showed his bad side, picking up a sloppy pass out of defence by the Newport left back and instead of rolling it across for Tella to have a tap-in, he drilled it wide of the far post.

Tella has his trademark big smile on his face after 20 minutes when a move that was started by Valery on the right hand side found its way to Elyounoussi and his first time ball put Tella through just the left of centre and he drew the keeper before calmly slotting in at the near post. The acrobatic celebration was a nice touch as well. The Newport fans seems to think it’s offside, which is embarrassing because it’s on side by a mile.  It was so far onside it probably wouldn’t have even gone to VAR.

Another lightning break and somehow the ball doesn’t end up in the net again but this time, you can’t blame Redmond for it because he did everything right cutting inside on his right foot and curling for the far corner and it was a really good save by the keeper to push it wide.

Having had a couple of sighters already and narrowly missed both times, it’s not a surprise to find KWP attacking once more from left back. Having chested down a crossfield pass by the touchline, he advance unopposed to the corner of the penalty area and then she smashed it at the near post and everybody including the goalkeeper missed it. 3-0, game over, piece of piss.

Half time and so much for the giantkillers.  Unless something drastically changes in the second half we should be looking to at least double the scoreline by the end. Probably won’t and it’ll probably end up being 3-0.

A couple of minutes of the second-half and we are on our way to more as JWP plays a lovely ball down the channel to Broja, who cuts in and hits it from a narrow angle. The keeper parries it out into the middle of the goal and it’s bundled into the net by Elyounoussi, who has reacted quicker than the defender. I think that’s his first ever Saints goal.

Blink and it’s five now as JWP again plays the ball on the ground in the channel and this time there is no middleman needed as Elyounoussi takes it on and drills at the near post once more.  The goalkeeper Townsend is beginning to look a bit shell-shocked and he really isn’t being helped by those in front of him.  No one closed down JWP and Elyounoussi was unmarked.

From the kick-off, Newport give the ball away straight away to Diallo, who advances with it before picking out Tella, who in turn, knocks it onto Broja who casually curls into the net from the penalty spot. 6-0, 55 minutes.  Class finish that.

Ralph is obviously feeling sorry for Newport at this point because he decides to remove Tella and Broja and if they are second choice strike pairing then Obafemi and Long are the fifth choice. The goals somewhat predictably dry up until five minutes to go, when Redmond produces a lovely right foted finish from the edge of the box with a smartly taken snap shot.

There is actually some action near our goal at 7-0 as this big monster striker that Newport have, ran into Fraser Forster as he was trying to catch the ball. Ever so slightly agricultural but no harm done and there’s still time for one more as Diallo finds Elyounoussi who once again, drills it past the keeper at the near post for his hat-trick. Somehow, I think the keeper needs to practice that.

Playing in Scotland Prepares You For Games Like This

Well that was slightly unexpected but very nice nonetheless. You have to say first and foremost that Newport were desperately average and as everyone knows, you can only make up for a chasm in ability by working harder and the team with the better players and they just didn’t. Despite only being able to beat what was in front of them, it’s nice to see Saints be ruthless and 8-0 did not flatter us in the slightest.   It was a case of “we lose or we learn” bearing fruit.  We obviously learned from getting tanked 9-0 a couple of times that it’s very difficult if the opposition keep their foot on the throat. 

The other thing today illustrated is that we do have a squad now and this is how these sort of games are supposed to go where the second string players come into the side and have a point to prove. Often in the past, all our second string have ever done is prove why they are the second string but today was different. Broja, Tella, Elyounoussi, Diallo, Valery, KWP and Redmond all caught the eye as attacking players, so they did all that they could possibly do, given the opposition. Now it falls to Ralph to know how and when to use them in Premier League matches.

I'd like to sound a note of caution in that last year, Ralph got taken in by Nathan Redmond playing well against Championship Bournemouth and as a result, left Che Adams out of the team for the FA Cup semi-final and that one really didn’t work out.  It was reassuring to hear Ralph say that you can’t read too much into this game compared to the Premier League challenges ahead.  I have to say fair play to Mohamed Elyounoussi, who I have not been the biggest fan of, to put it mildly - it'll be interesting to see if this goes towards getting him any Premier League minutes.

The only disappointment is that we didn’t score the magic nine but you can’t have everything. If Broja and Tella had stayed on then it almost certainly would have happened.  Anyway, through to the next round where we have been drawn away at Sheffield United which should give us another chance to progress.  Good luck to Newport for the rest of the season and especially Priestley Farquharson.

I’m off to get ready for my Skype call on Saturday morning.

Premier League Match 2 - Southampton 1 Manchester United 1

 

You're Not the Referee....so Fuck Off!

For every club, there is huge difference between the type of crowds they get at home games and the type of crowds they get at away games in terms of knowledge of the game and passion for their team. Manchester United fans epitomise this in that they are dreadful Old Trafford but brilliant when they visit your ground. The problem, if you like, with Manchester United fans is the ones that never go to the games who have now been given a voice by social media. There were times last year when the team mirrored the fans and that they were dreadful at home but brilliant away from home and I think I read somewhere that is 27 games since they lost away from Old Trafford in the Premier League. Last year they had this annoying habit of being behind a half time and then having so much quality to throw on from the bench that they got away with it, never more so illustrated than at St Mary‘s last year when we outplayed them in the first half and were 2-0 up, only for them to throw on Edinson Cavani to completely change the game and what a surprise, we ended up losing.

That’s the problem with last weeks defeat at Everton for us. It’s not that we lost 3-1 to Everton because that’s a pretty standard result for us at Goodison Park, it’s the fact that we lost in exactly the same way that we lost about 20 games last season and on top of that, there were some very strange selections with two of last years undisputed better players being left out.  Today depends how stubborn Ralph is being I suppose. He deservedly got some criticism for last week and I wonder if it’ll make him take his heels in and leave Walker-Peters on the bench again. There is a decision that needs making in goal as well.

In contrast to our limp defeat at Everton, United started by smashing Leeds 5-1. Okay, Leeds played Bielsa suicide ball which you think he would’ve learned that you can’t do at Old Trafford but nonetheless, a 5-1 win, a hat-trick by Bruno Fernandes, four assists for Pogba and Varane and Sancho not even in the starting line-up - gives an idea of the strength they have.

Really, it’s ridiculous that we are even on the same pitch as them. Both teams start with 11 and there the similarity ends. They've signed multi-Champions League and World Cup winner Raphaël Varane to play in defence this season.  Varane will ultimately take the place of Victor Lindelof, who would walk into our starting line-up.  Meanwhile, we lost our main centre half from last season and it looks like we are replacing him with an unheard-of Brazilian player whose CV is quite frankly, nothing to write home about and doesn’t include multiple Champions League wins but does include two 7-0 defeats. As I write it’s not been confirmed but we can only hope that the scouts have seen something in Lyanco that no one else has seen so far.

On the one hand, Lyanco seems to fit the bill being a tall, quick central defender who is good on the ball but the question marks are the fact that Torino fans are not sorry to see him go and he seems to spend a large portion of every season injured. Put it this way, it’s a bit of a punt to expect this guy to solve all our defensive woes.

There was a niggling doubt, partly to do with the negativity from last weekend, that JWP with maybe move on before the transfer window closes but that was put to bed with him signing a new five-year contract which at least puts the Aston Villa fans back in the box for a little while. As we have found out all too often, having a long-term contract doesn’t really mean much as far as planning to keep that player for the duration of that contract but it is undoubtedly a step in the right direction even if it’s just protecting the value of the player.

I’m sure there are a lot of fag packet mathematicians out there Who will notice that we have brought in more than we have spent so far, without having an understanding of player wages and the effect of the pandemic on club finances. I’m hoping that the atmosphere inside the stadium today is good today but I’m not too hopeful because people seem to be looking for a reason to get angry these days.

Even if we can’t really be expected to compete with Manchester United on the pitch, we could at least pride ourselves in getting everything right off the pitch. The club didn’t help itself this week by firstly, botching the information on the Covid protocols for fans and secondly, not getting everyone’s season-ticket sent out on time when they had about three months to do so. It seems that all the concession tickets were the ones that had the biggest problems. The apology doesn’t seem to be very sincere either, blaming circumstances beyond the clubs control.  The implication is that the club couldn’t send a ticket out earlier because the presentation boxes weren’t ready. This is the marketing PR Bullshit World that we live in these days because take it from me, apart from kids under the age of about 14, no one gives a fuck about presentation boxes.

Today is a day when we just have to try and compete for 90 minutes. If we do that and get beat, then no one will mind too much but if we completely cave in and look like we haven’t got a clue what we’re doing, then it could be a messy afternoon. With the new refereeing protocols, which generally means being more lenient, then there is absolutely no excuse to not be getting stuck right in today.

Of course, we are back in the ground in force today.  The ticket shambles continues as the late arriving season ticket cards don’t fucking work in the new scanners on the turnstiles.  This means some poor sod steward has to type in a 12-digit number printed on every card, to let everyone in.  As for the Covid protocols – well, I did a lateral flow 'gag and dry heave test' and tried to scan the QR code on it into the soon to be mandatory NHS Pass Verifier app… and it didn’t work, saying the test was out of date, which it wasn’t, unless I’ve slept for a couple of years and it’s 2023.  More bollocks.

Team news and Saints are unchanged?  What?  You usually reserve that for a good performance and result in the last game.  United are on a funny one as well as Solskjaer has brought in Martial, who is average at best and Matic who is past it. 

Away we go with JWP kicking off to Stephens and he launches it towards Adams who is thrown over by Wan-Bissaka.  Free kick, 35 yards out, a long way left but worth a go and JWP does, with a bouncing effort that is on target but de Gea reacts to push it away.

United respond with a free-kick fired in from our left and it’s like someone has chucked a live grenade with the pin out, into the box. We are all over the place and no one gets anything on the ball as Lindelof misses it when he has an open goal in front of him Pogba has a go at it and it flies off of him and flips up and bounces off the crossbar comes down again gets headed goalwards by Martial and Salisu, who was in the goal at one point, manages to get something on it and get it away.  Keystone Cops defending with Benny Hill theme music.

We are a threat though with Djenepo getting away down the left and this time, there is a pass at the end of the spamming of the buttons on the controller and 25 step overs.  Armstrong aims for the far top corner and curls it over.  Down the other side we go with Livramento making Fred look like he’s running in treacle, before firing over his cross in front of Armstrong.

Tino and Fred

Another set piece comes in for United and Pogba this time gets up and heads it over the bar with what was basically a free header. Look lads, he’s 6 foot 4 and he’s got a fucking flag on his head. He isn’t easy to miss.  Keep defending set plays like this and it’s a matter of time.

Greenwood gets tackled by Salisu in the left back slot and goes down very easily. The referee decides it’s not a free-kick and on we go. We are building up down the right through Jack Stephens but we can’t go on because Bruno has done a one man surround the referee act and is pleading that it was a foul on Greenwood or that Greenwood is injured all that it’s a head injury or something. It’s not a fucking head injury but the referee buckles to Bruno and stops the game. With that, Stephens picks up the ball and goes into full shithouse mode, angrily gesturing at Bruno and generally losing his shit at the man who clearly wants to referee the game.  He has every right to be annoyed. Needless to say, Greenwood gets back to his feet and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with him. Bruno may well be a brilliant player but he’s an arsehole.

A few minutes later and Bruno has the ball on the left hand side of the United defence and fannies about with it and Stephens goes in determinedly, wins the ball and Bruno goes flying and crying and waving his arms around of course. The ball goes onto Adam Armstrong and knocks it to Che Adams who tries a pot shot with his swinger of a left foot and it flicks off of Fred and arrows into the corner giving de Gea no chance.  1-0, get the fuck in. Bruno is going bright red with rage pointing and gesturing at the referee. Get to fuck and grow up.

Half time comes with a deserved 1-0 lead. This is an achievement but of course we have done this several times before, so there is a slight feeling of inevitability about the fact that United will punish us at some point in the second half and we will then collapse in a heap. There is a major surprise at the start of the second half, in that Ralph actually makes a substitution with Bednarek being summoned from the bench in place of Walcott. It looks for a second as if Jack Stephens has gone to right back and Livramento has pushed up the wing but no, not only have we made a substitution, we have changed formation as well, going to 3 at the back with Livramento and Perraud as wing-backs. The weakness of this formation on paper is that Moussa Djenepo is now part of a midfield three. Whatever happens, it is clearly a move to try and do something different for the second half and that has to be applauded.

We start the second half pretty well with Perraud breaking down the left and finding Adams. Who should shoot realy but instead, he takes too long before teeing up Livramento who blazes well over from 25 yards.  Sure as bears shitting in the woods though, just before the hour mark and we crack as Pogba dances into the box and finds Bruno, back to Pogba who pokes it to Greenwood who mis-hits his shot and somehow it goes through Salisu and past McCarthy’s feet. McCarthy appears to have dived the wrong way there so one can only assume there is a deflection on it. Bollocks. Now we have the twin challenges of not producing our usual second-half dropped pace shambles and also, not caving in in the face of a setback.  For a few minutes it looks like we are desperately trying to cave in as we allow Pogba to twist and turn with four defenders watching him but luckily, he drags it wide of far post

Ole makes the amazing tactical decision to throw on an £80 million quid player with Sancho coming on for Martial.  Hilarious.  Down their right they come and Wan-Bisskaka gets in a cross which Bruno heads at goal but McCarthy gets down to save well at the post.

Diallo is on for Djenepo and this is a great substitution because we immediately establish control in the centre of the pitch with three proper central midfielders in Romeu, JWP and Diallo. It doesn’t look the most creative, but we look much tougher to beat.  This is no slight on Djenepo who has had a decent game.

The next chance is ours as United casually try and play out from the back and Maguire dozes off, gets robbed by JWP who find Adams and similar to last week, Adams pokes it to Adam Armstrong who has to take it first time.  He hits it well enough but it’s pretty close to the keeper and is well saved by the diving de Gea. Bollocks. Saints continue pressurising and win a couple of corners on the right hand side and from the second of these, JWP‘s corner is flicked on by Adams and Armstrong at the back post can’t force it in.

With 10 minutes of normal time to go, there are signs that Saints are beginning to feel the pace a little bit with both of the new full-backs struggling with cramp. As it turns out, Perraud’s need is greater and so off he goes, with KWP getting a huge ovation as he comes on at left back.  From this point it seems like we are happy with what we have and we see out the remaining time and 5 extra minutes with relative ease.  The crowd have largely stayed to the end and the players get the applause they deserve.  That’s what 90 minutes of effort gets you.

It is not a win but it somehow feels like one. With a ridiculous unbeaten run away from home and the fact they smashed us 9-0 and the fact that they are Manchester United and we are Southampton, a point is a brilliant result and to be honest it was well deserved. It is absolutely a fair result bearing in mind the chances they had in the first half and the chances we had in the second-half. Could’ve lost, could’ve won.

There was a positivity about the team from start today which was nice to see. We got in United’s faces from the first whistle and never looked overawed and most importantly, we responded to the setback of them equalising and got back on top and had a better chances in the second-half to win it. Ralph must take a lot of credit for being proactive enough to make a substitution at half-time and change the formation.  It takes guts to do that when you are winning, regardless of what's gone before.

I have to admit I couldn’t believe it when I saw no changes to last weekends’ starting line-up but the first half team dug in well and did what they had to do. We rode out luck a little bit, which is mainly down to our bomb-scare set piece defending but took the lead that we took that into the half time break. United were always gonna come back strong in the second half over the first 10 minutes we didn’t look like we practised the three-at-the-backl formation a lot and ironically, once United equalised we actually started playing the formation really well and finished the stronger side. The big “if only” moment from our point of view was the chance that JWP and Adams created for Adam Armstrong which he will be disappointed not to have finished. It’s a shame that De Gea couldn’t of had one of his moments where he dived the wrong fucking way (much like McCarthy did on their goal). It would also been amusing because it would’ve been Harry Maguire dawdling on the ball which gave the goal away.

Amongst my queries about the starting line-up was Jack Stephens but he was absolutely brilliant today. Sure, there was the odd error in possession, but he brought something else to the team today with his refusal to allow Bruno Fernandes to referee the game and telling him what he thought every opportunity. His clear annoyance at Bruno‘s theatrics and badgering of the referee possibly explains why he got away with the challenge on Bruno that won the ball to start our goal.  As Alan Shearer pointed out on Match of the Day in the evening, there is no way that that is a foul given any set of rules in any era. It would’ve been given at Old Trafford but that’s another story altogether. Stephens is in the team I guess, because Salisu and Bednarek are seen as ‘stopper’ centre backs and Ralph’s preferred combination is one who is a pure stopper and one who can pass the ball. Of course, we have lost Vestergaard, so having seen it in the flesh today, I can maybe see the logic a bit more.  The question is whether Jack’s passing makes up for the defensive frailties that he has.  For today though, it amuses me that Bruno will be having nightmare about an angry man with a Cornish accent.

Manchester United and Manchester United media are of course going to town over the goal that we scored, saying that Stephens fouled Bruno in the build-up. Absolute bollocks. Ole is using it as a deflection for the fact that he got his team selection completely wrong and they dropped two points that they probably had down as guaranteed before the game. Stephens wanted the ball, Fernandes didn’t fancy the challenge and that’s all there is to it really. Also, referees are only human and it annoys me that referees don’t hand out cards to persistent whingeing arseholes like Bruno Fernandes but I’m convinced that all his histrionics only make it less likely that he’s going to get given a free-kick anyway. It was never a fucking foul.

It’s no surprise that the managers of the big clubs are reeling at having one of their advantages taken away. Salah has been diving around for about four years for Liverpool and Bruno does exactly the same for Manchester United. Surprise surprise, their managers are now moaning about the more lenient refereeing. They would be better off think about why the change in interpretation was needed.  They might find it was because players like Salah and Bruno were hitting the deck at the faintest touch.  One of the weapons that the smaller clubs have when they are playing bigger sides is getting stuck in to see if they fancy it.  That has been taken away for the last few years and now it’s back and the big boys don’t like it.  That grinning set of teeth Brendan Rodgers is at it as well for Leicester as he gave the opinion that Stephens fouled Bruno. What the fuck it’s got to do with him is anyone’s guess? In his defence, he was asked about it but when it had nothing to do with him but he should’ve just declined to answer because, I repeat, an incident in Saints versus United has fuck all to do with him.

Back on the pitch, Moussa Djenepo ran his nuts off and stayed disciplined until he had to come off around the hour mark. He was still a little bit erratic and why do one step over when 15 will do. I was impressed with his application and his spot in the first team is probably his to lose at the moment.  If he does it consistently, has some end product and of course, stays fit, then he’ll probably stay in the starting XI for now. On the other wing, Theo Walcott worked hard but again, nothing much was happening for him going forward and he of course was sacrificed for Bednarek at half-time.  

Fans and Players Celebrating Fred's Own Goal

The strike pairing is going to cause a lot of problems for our opposition this season.  Che Adams has notably grown in stature and confidence, now that he’s the main man and Adam Armstrong looks the perfect foil.  The new man sprints everywhere and defenders can’t hang about with the ball like United wanted to do today.  That, combined with Adams intelligence and improved hold-up play, means they will be creating chances for each other.  A bit of a pisser that Adams goal has been awarded as a Fred own goal but I don’t think he’ll mind too much.  Then we have Tino Livramento.  I still feel that the way forward is KWP at right back and Tino on the right wing but what a game he had today.  18 years old – ridiculous.

Nothing changes over the years. If a club like Manchester United fails to beat Southampton, there will always be an excuse or reason. It can’t just be that Saints put in a really good performance that merited the result that they got.  Wasn’t quite the same when we had two players sent off and you beat us 9-0, was it? Didn’t hear any Manchester United supporters bemoaning the shit sending off that Bednarek got and the appalling decisions by Mike Dean to not penalise Martial’s dive, nor the unproven disallowed goal for Che Adams in that game.

Anyway, on we go with a Second Round League Cup game against Newport County. We crapped out of this competition at this stage last year with a defeat to Brentford so that even though we will undoubtedly name a much changed team, we will be wanting to be in the hat for the next round and the players that come into play will have a point to prove if they are not currently in the league starting 11.  A team featuring Forster, KWP, Valery, Bednarek, Diallo, Redmond, Elyounoussi etc, should be enough to get through what will undoubtedly be a tricky game.  The positivity is back.  Up the fucking Saints.

Premier League Match 1 - Everton 3 Southampton 1

 

New Season but Somehow Familiar

A new season usually has fans showing a level of optimism which is sometimes blind optimism because you’re just pleased that football is back.  Sometimes you have optimism because you’ve signed a bunch of new players that look good on the piece of paper that you’ve scribbled a formation down on. Today’s game is between Everton and Southampton. Everton‘s optimism level is virtually zero and I reckon Saints is hovering around a mixture of optimism and severe trepidation because we have lost three of our starters from last season, including our best defender and striker.

The money arrived at Everton about five years ago and since then they have been attempting to go from being a mid-table club to one the challenge is the top six but for one reason or another, it just hasn’t happened. Everton fans became somewhat entitled, especially when they started last season very well and were Champions-elect after about four games until it all came crashing down at St Mary‘s of all places.  Following that, Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti seemed to struggle to get a tune out of his players on a consistent basis and they ended up finishing in their usual mid-table slot, which is not what was foreseen when I signed the likes of James Rodriguez last summer.  They also secured Ancelotti last summer and whilst Everton fans sneered at the narrative the manager was too good for them, they were still surprised when after one season, Carlo moved to Real Madrid. As if he wasn’t going to do that?  Short memories – Ronald Koeman etc.  Everton have replaced Ancelotti with legendary ex-Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez who has split the fan base between those who hate him and those who really fucking hate him. He’s a good manager though but I can’t wait for the first time he goes to the wrong dugout or calls his team ‘Liverpool’ in a press conference or says reds instead of blues. Duncan Ferguson will be a looming threat at his shoulder.

Last season Everton went into it having signed the aforementioned Rodriguez but this year they are shopping in a decidedly different supermarket with the arrival of Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray, both solid enough mid-table Premier League players but not the sort to get the pulses of the fans racing and you would think, unlikely to push you onto the next level.

Saints on the other hand will be interesting. I was anticipating a front line of Tella and Adams but the noises coming out of the camp suggest that Adam Armstrong will be thrown straight in which knocks Tella down to the bench unless he is preferred to Nathan Redmond on the left wing. Last year the problem was that Saints had a decent first 11 but didn’t have the options on the bench for a large majority of the season. As we stand right now we have a different question which is can the first 11 compete at a decent enough level in the Premier League. Can Adam Armstrong hit the ground running at this level? Is Salisu ready to take Vestergaard’s place?, Is Perraud going to adapt to the Premier League? Is JWP going to be fully fit? Will Ralph be able to make the right decisions now he has a bench with options on it like Walcott, Livramento, Broja, Diallo etc.

We have a difficult opening set of fixtures and we never get anything at Goodison Park but this is an opportunity to get at least a point with Everton being in a bit of a state of flux.

2 o’clock and team news and so much for my predicted team. There’s always a couple of random selections for the first game of the season especially when there’s been a tournament at international level but – what in the name of arse is that?  McCarthy in goal is surprising enough but then Livramento instead of KWP and Jack Stephens is playing instead of Bednarek.  It was pointed out to me that his wife had a baby this week so congratulations to Jan and his wife but as Roy Keane legendarily once said, it wasn’t him that had the baby…. So now we have Stephens is playing against Calvert-Lewin.  I’d have had Tella and Stuart Armstrong on the wings but instead of that we’ve got Walcott and Djenepo.  The good news is that JWP is fit and Adam Armstrong starts.  Everton for their part, have their two new wingers playing as well as all their usual shitbags - Doucoure, Richarlison and Digne.

Saints start confidently but it’s Everton who have the first effort on goal with Gray’s cross being deflected back to Allan and he middled his shot but straight at McCarthy. Gray down the right was looking lively and he again got a cross in which was nodded over the bar by Calvert-Lewin, under minimal challenge from Stephens.  The Everton striker is already very obviously staying on Stephens side of the centre back pairing.

Twenty minutes in and the Everton fans are beginning to groan a bit with not being ahead yet and then Michael Keane makes it even worse for them by fannying about with no idea what he was about to do and allowing Adams to steal in and toe-poeke it through to Armstrong and the new man confidently strode on and side-footed it over Pickford and into the top corner.  What a fucking finish that is?  Brilliant by Adams, brilliant by Armstrong and who the fuck is Danny Ings?

Armstrong has forged a reputation for having loads of shots and it’s really promising when an attempted Adams ball is sliced out left by Coleman and Armstrong just smashes it left footed from a narrow angle, forcing Pickford to beat it away at the near post.

Richarlison, as we all know, is a shitbag.  He’s playing wide left and getting no change out of Livramento and getting frustrated, so it’s no surprise when he gets into the box and SNIPER!!! Fucking cheat.  Andy Madley has seen it though and unlike his shit brother who would’ve given a penalty, books Richarlison for being a fucking cheat.

Most of the danger meanwhile is coming from the other side where Perraud and Djenepo allow Townsend to do what he always does, cut back onto his left foot and sling it into the box and again we get lucky as the cross sails over Nomansland Stephens and Calvert-Lewin gets up and heads over.

Half time and I bet the red side of Merseyside was congratulating Rafa on a job well done.  Saints have played well – not much joined up attacking but we deserve the lead just about.  Livramento has been excellent going both directions at right back, snuffing out the threat of Richarlison and looking very composed when going forward.
 
With a strong start to the second half needed, we take two minutes to throw away all the good work.  It’s entirely self-inflicted when from our throw-in, Livramento puts Stephens under pressure and he needlessly balloons it out for a corner.  Over it comes from Digne, headed out by Adams, back in by Townsend and Salisu either has a brain fart or gets a call from the keeper and leaves it, allowing Shitbag Richarlison to volley it over McCarthy from five yards.  Dreadful goal from our point of view.

The game has turned completely and the next 10 minutes are ‘watching through the fingers’ stuff.  The closest Everton get to soring is a Digne cross, which Richarlison steps over and Michael Keane’s shot is blocked well by JWP.  Around the hour mark Saints start playing again and win a couple of corners which JWP fires in with trademark accuracy to the back post but Everton deal with them.  Walcott makes his first contribution of the game, bursting down the right but he overhits the cross and when it’s returned from the far side, Adams tries to find Armstrong instead of shooting himself and the chance goes.  We need changes – Livraments is knackered and the wingers are doing nothing but it’s Everton sub Iwobi who changes the game, winning a soft free kick about 30 yards out by throwing himself into Romeu.  They take it quickly and we never get organized and eventually Iwobi nods it back to Doucoure, who turns well and lashes it into the near top corner.  Even though it’s near post, it’s kind of hard to point a finger at the keeper.
 
Once behind we get some reactionary management in the form of like for like subs – Walcott is replaced with Tella and Romeu is swapped for Diallo.  The second change is the very definition of pointless, making the team neither better in at attacking or defending sense.  All that happens is that we allow Everton to rubber stamp the win as Richarlison finds space on our non-existant left hand side and puts over a cross which is met by the diving Calvert-Lewin as Stephens jogs into view behind him.  Pathetic.  More reactionary management with Redmond coming on for Perraud so we’re treated to a few minutes of Djenepo at left back.

Well ultimately, that was a shit re-run of multiple games from last season. Fucking Groundhog Day.

A decent first half but when Everton stepped up a gear in the second half, we were soft as shit, gave away crap goals and lost with barely a whimper.  Weak mentality in the face of adversity from players and manager. Where have we heard that one before? The key point of the game was around the hour mark at 1-1 when we had asserted ourselves again after the equaliser when Ralph had a chance to bolster the team with some fresh legs but he decided to do nothing for another 12 minutes by which time we were losing.  He’s like the cricket captain who watches 3 successive boundaries and responds by swapping fielders about but not changing any positions.  There is a much bigger responsibility on Ralph to get the game management right this season. Last year when he had no options, you could use that as a mitigating factor for why he didn’t make any subs until the 75th minute. Not now however. He has been given a squad to work with, as he requested and the bench today was not lacking in quality. It was all a bit Gareth Southgate, a plethora of choices on the bench but decision constipation. Nathan Tella came on for the last 15 minutes and barely got a touch of the ball because he didn’t have enough time to make any impact and we were going backwards by then and why put Diallo on for Romeu? That’s a like for like sub. I could understand if he bought Stuart Armstrong onto playing that position. Nathan Redmond of course came on for the last 10 minutes to stop him releasing the Ralph nudes that he must have on his phone.

Stuart Armstrong is the player who helps us control the pace of the game and he is our most creative player from the wide positions but he remained unused for 90 minutes and we had to watch Walcott do absolutely nothing on the right wing and Djenepo doing his typical, all fart no shit performance on the left. Beat three players twice and then run out of pitch. Beat three players and then scuffing the cross aimlessly along the floor to an Everton defender. Apparently, Walcott and Djenepo had been making recovery runs well in pre-season… it’s clearly more important to chase back after losing the ball then actually have some creativity to make the team function.  Two incidents in particular sum Djenepo up. The first was when he played a couple of nice 1-2s with Perraud and got to the by-line and just had to knock it back to Perraud who would’ve had a shot but instead Moussa runs and runs and runs until he runs off the pitch. In the last minute he was still at it dribbling along the line until he eventually fell over the ball. Our strikers worked their arses off but they got absolutely fuck all from the wide areas. The wide players are supposed to be our most creative players. We had Walcott who barely beat a player all game and Djenepo who has got no idea what to do with the ball when it comes to delivering it into the box. The goal we got was created by the strikers themselves and other than that, they didn’t get any service from either side. Walcott and Djenepo should be no more than substitutes.  The strike pairing was a definite positive from today and the pair of them look like they will be a right handful for every defence they play against, as long as we get them the ball. It was very important that Armstrong got off the mark straight away which will give him the confidence to know he can play at this level and score goals at this level.

Who the fuck is Danny Ings?

Other problems reared their head in the second half. The left-hand side of our team was a nightmare defensively and did nothing to stop the flow of crosses coming in from that side. When the crosses did get into the middle, as illustrated by the third goal, Jack Stephens was doing his reactive ball watching usual thing of being a yard behind the player he was supposed to be marking. Basically, he wants to play as a sweeper which you can’t do in a four-man defence. Next to him, Mohammed Salisu was in the main okay but there was a major miscommunication with the goalkeeper on the first goal and they were a couple of mishit clearances which just skidded along the ground and left it in the lap of the gods were the ball ended up.

Tino Livramento looked brilliant in the first half when we’re on top but he faded badly in the second half which is expected for an 18-year-old but it does raise the question as to why he was picked to start the game when Ralph can’t possibly know at this point, whether he’s got the stamina to last 90 minutes or not? Tino has never played a full 90 minutes of men’s football in his life so it was a hell of a punt to expect him to play a decent level for the whole game. KWP must be slightly bemused as to why he was on the bench. The future down that side is surely Tino playing right wing with KWP at right back.

Everton are a fucking horrible team. You’ve got Allan and Doucoure fouling everything that comes near them and then you’ve got Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Iwobi and Digne diving around all over the place. Its fucking embarrassing but they undoubtedly deserved their win over the 90 minutes. Benitez realise that it wasn’t working in the first half and changed his formation by pushing Richarlison up front with Calvert-Lewin to give them twin diving strikers and we couldn’t cope with it and made no changes to combat it. We didn’t deserve anything from the game because we are soft as shit when the pressure is on. McCarthy, Stephens, Walcott, Djenepo.. none of those are good enough to be starting Premier League games. Livramento is clearly good enough but is he a 90 minute player yet? The jury is out on Perraud who may well take 10 games to get up to speed.

Whilst I forgive Perraud because it’s his first game in English football, I can’t get my head around Ralph making exactly the same mistakes as he made all the way through last year. He has no excuses now because we have options but he chooses not to use them until it’s too late. Rafa Benitez upped his game in the second half and Ralph didn’t. Ralph has to improve.

All in all, not a great start it has to be said but it’s okay, next up we have the team that smashed us 9-0 at the tail end of last season with Manchester United coming to town. They opened their season with a 5-1 home win against Leeds, so all is looking good for that one. Welcome back everyone.

Pre-Season 2021/22 Part 2 - Roller-Coaster's Are Fun, Sometimes

 

Do the 'Downs' on Roller Coasters Make You Puke?

Having ended the last blog entry with the line “a lot can change in two weeks“, something did change the very next day.

Tino - This Boy Can Play

SFC Roller-Coaster Up - In the morning it was widely reported that Saints were close to signing Tino Livramento from Chelsea but unlike the Dynel Simeu transfer which dragged on for about a week, this was all wrapped up and done and dusted later that same evening with the highly rated Chelsea Academy Player of the Year joining Saints for £5 million quid. The downside of this deal is that there is a buyback clause but if it’s for the reported £25 million then if the player is ever worth that, then we will have done very well out of him indeed.  Livramento can play at full-back or in midfield on both sides of the pitch so that solves that particular problem in the squad in one fell swoop and it means we can give Manchester United the big middle finger over the ridiculous loan fee and wages they wanted us to pay for Brandon Williams. It also lessens the chances of Moussa Djenepo being deployed at left back.

SFC Roller-Coaster Down - So, one step forward and then on the face of it, a huge vault backwards. About five minutes before the Levante friendly kicked off, Aston Villa released a social media post which basically said they had signed Danny Ings.  What the fuck! It all looked very rushed and with the amount of bullshit that there is flying around on the social channels these days, I didn’t quite believe it at first but then The Athletic posted it and then every fucker posted it. Danny Ings has moved to Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. A little bit of digging revealed that the undisclosed fee was probably £25 million with £5 million worth of add-ons.  It’s quite important to know if we are ever likely to receive the money for the add-ons because if they are something stupid like Aston Villa winning the Premier League and it’s not as good a fee as it first appeared. However, the going rate for a player in the last year of his contract is between £15 and £20 million so to get £30 million (let’s be optimistic) is good business for a financial point of view.

It’s funny - I was researching back through blogs the other day to compose a reply to Jamie Carragher who was saying that Harry Kane should leave Tottenham honourably because any trophies he might win in the future were not worth the damage to his reputation. If that’s the case then Virgil Van Dijk is completely fucked isn’t he? My research of old blogs revealed how angry I was about the whole episode. Four years on and I’m numb to footballers following the money.

Villa it appears, were desperate to sign a player before they dropped the news that Manchester City had put £100 million on the table for Jack Grealish and Villa had no way of keeping him because of a release clause in his contract.  Even without a release clause, if a club puts the huge amount of money down on the table, then teams will sell. The same goes for players like Declan Rice, Harry Kane or anyone else not playing at an elite club. The difference is, usually the buying club is much bigger than the selling club and this is where it sticks in the throat a bit. Danny Ings was widely quoted as saying that he’d only leave for a Champions League club. We are after all the club that resurrected his career and we are is hometown club, seeing as he grew up in Netley.  For him to move basically sideways, to a club who are not even in the Europa Conference next season, is a bit of a kick in the bollocks and I can see why the club have taken have taken that a bit personally.

I did see him moving on however and when he got left out of the England squad in the summer – that was the final nail. Since then of course, he indicated that he wasn’t going to sign a new contract with us so I do have sympathy with the board because all they can do is get as much money for him as possible. The fee they have got has probably persuaded them that it’s not worth keeping him here for another year. It was widely reported that there was a contract sitting on the table which would’ve made in the highest paid player in Southampton history. I do wonder now if there were a few reservations at board level about offering that to a 29-year-old injury prone player who didn’t have a particularly great end to the season and it’s maybe telling that he’s the only player who was not looked remotely sharp in the preseason friendlies that we’ve had so far.  I did see one comment on twitter, from a Villa fan who wasn’t impressed with the deal, saying that Ings has only really had one good season at Premier League level – I guess that’s true to an extent in terms of goal output.  Three seasons with us have seen two injury disrupted ones that produced moderate goal returns (7 and 12 respectively) and only one that was excellent, where he managed 21.  Interestingly, the 12 he got last season was his second highest Premier League goal return for a season.

That said, when on form and fully fit, he is a brilliant striker and he will be a hard act to follow but as I shrug my shoulders about another player saying one thing and doing another, the club carries on and is bigger than any individual player. The good news, with this being done so quickly is that we don’t have to spend the next month waiting for Daniel Levy and Spurs to put in a £8 million offer and having the media crush our spirits from now until the window closes.

Danny's Last Game at Villa Park Kind of Sums Him Up - Brilliant Goal / Injured

With the Ings news landing just before the kick-off, the Levante friendly was a bit of a non-event as far as I was concerned with Saints playing well enough to win 1-0 with a decent goal by KWP. Nathan Tella stood out and so surprisingly, did Mohammed Elyounoussi.  Romain Perraud looks a very good addition at left back. He clearly loves to get forward but I was most impressed with his defending as he is very much on the front foot and doesn’t give attackers are second on the ball before the snapping at their heels. In his interview at the end of the game, Ralph talked about how certain players need to step up with regards to scoring goals. My abiding memory from this match was Redmond not wanting to shoot with his left foot when he just had the goalkeeper to beat.

The friendly against Athletic Bilbao rolled around with no one in a very good mood because of Ings having left and Martin Semmens not having managed to magic a centre forward out of his arse in the three days since. However, it was a sobering line-up to look at with the strike partnership being Shane Long and Michael Obafemi. The first half wasn’t too bad but we found ourselves 2-0 down with a McCarthy flap and a free header from a corner and then Stuart Armstrong giving away the ball far too cheaply in midfield which sold us down the river, with Yan Valery in particular getting caught ahead of the ball, which allowed Bilbao to walk in on the left hand side and finish well. Livramento came on a half-time and what a difference - straight away into the action, intercepting a ball and lobbing at superb pass over the defence to fellow substitute Theo Walcott, who finished really well. Bilbao were the better side though and deservedly re-established their two-goal lead with Bednarek becoming the latest Saints defender to smash it into his own net.

Broja - 19 going on 25

SFC Roller-Coaster Up - The day after though, things got more positive again with the news that Blackburn had accepted our final offer for Adam Armstrong and so it looked like that one was going to happen pending a medical and we then again raided Chelsea‘s Academy side with the signing of Armando Broja on loan for season.  Let's ignore the fact that we are turning into Chelsea-On-Sea and get enthused about Broja, who is a very exciting sounding 19-year-old centre forward who, let’s face it, is not going to play for Chelsea this season given they’ve just spent the best part of £100 million on signing a striker who they’ve already had once. I don’t know much about Broja of course, other than he is 6 foot plus, quick and powerful. I assume that he will start the season on the bench as the first option to come on as a substitute.  He was born in Slough to Albanian parents and is already a full international and doesn't look the sort to be short of confidence.  With a five year Chelsea contract in his pocket, I think we can assume that he's going to be decent.

Hopefully, this is Goal Celebration We'll See a Lot Of.

The Adam Armstrong confirmation came soon after and he joined for £14 million. I feel that these two strikers make our overall picture look a lot better. Both Broja and Armstrong are very highly rated and have done well at levels below Premier League level but both are extremely hungry to step up for different reasons. Broja is going to need a miracle to break through the young player at Chelsea so he will certainly be looking to show something in what is a massive opportunity for him and Armstrong started off in the Premier League with Newcastle, dropped down to Blackburn and will see this as exactly the right time to make an impression in this league. The messages you read from Blackburn fans show just how highly they rate him and from our point of view, it’s important he hits the ground running so a couple of goals in the first few games would certainly do him and us a power of good.

SFC Roller-Coaster down again…. So, with that positive news of course, there had to be a negative and the club accepted a £15 million offer for Jannik Vestergaard. Again, like with Ings, I don’t really see that the club had a choice and we have had three years out of a player and sold him for not much less than what we paid for him.  Jannik can be extremely eye-catching with his passing out of defence and if teams decide to attack via the aerial route, Jannik is of course well-equipped to deal with that.  Like with Ings though, he has not had a brilliant second-half of the season where he has always looked like he has a mistake in him. He was also like that in the Euros as well but he did well enough in enough games for Denmark. We will certainly miss the passing out of defence because Bednarek and Salisu just don’t have that but I feel that the two of them will make for a better partnership with a natural right foot-left foot combination and because of Salisu’s involvement, the defence will have more pace. We will need a replacement though and hopefully there is one lined up because it’s not exactly going to come as a shock to anybody that Vestergaard is leaving.  Jannik’s contract situation has been there in plain sight for as long as the Ings situation had been there but it hadn’t been talked about nearly as much.  Jannik to be fair, had never said anything about it and had just got on with his job, had a decent tournament in the Euro’s and here we are.

Jannik's Last Game Against His New Employers Went Well

For those who say that we should keep these players and let them go for nothing – I’m not saying that you’re wrong… but I would point out that the three players that we had who had contracts running out or one year to go – Bertrand, Ings and Vestergaard, all performed relatively poorly compared to their previous standards in the second half of last season.

So where are we?

We have two decent goalkeepers – I’d play Forster out of the two but you can make a case for either of them.
We have two options at right back in KWP and Livramento.  Valery is half an option.
We only have one real option at left back in Perraud – I don’t count Djenepo
We have 3 central defenders – Salisu and Bednarek will start and Stephens will be the back up – we need one more to replace Vestergaard.
In central midfield we have JWP, Romeu and Diallo with Stuart Armstrong as an option
On the right wing we have Stuart Armstrong, Walcott and Livramento
On the left there’s Tella, Walcott or Stuart Armstrong
Up front it’s two from Adams, Adam Armstrong, Broja and Tella

We also of course have the cabal of wingers who just don’t cut it for me – Redmond, Djenepo and Elyounoussi – and two strikers in Obafemi and Long who should be nowhere near the first XI.  Redmond will undoubtedly start due to eye-catching performances against Championship sides in friendlies.

A left back who can play centre back would be the dream signing now but before that can happen, the SFC Roller-Coaster heads off to Goodison Park for the first game of the season.  Our record there is nothing short of appalling and our last win was secured with goals by Matt Le Tissier (now 52) and Kevin Davies (now 44).  It’s time…