Scrappy Doo Gets Led Away by His Minder

With the fixtures out and tickets on sale for the earliest games of the Championship schedule, a jarring reminder was delivered of on of the issues with the level we’re at now.  There is plenty to like about the Championship of course, but the one thing that the Premier League has got right at the Championship has not, is ticket prices for away fans and Saints have seen a very early demonstration of the greed and fleecing of loyalty that goes on from Ipswich Town who are charging £43 for an adult ticket to go to Portman Road.  People will pay it of course and they will go but I would hope that the £15 or so that they have been overcharged means that they won’t spend a single fucking penny in any establishment that is connected to Ipswich Town football club. It’s only just over a couple of pints, so have those in town, don’t buy a coffee, leave the guys in the concession stands completely idle, don’t buy a program and make sure that Ipswich pay for exploiting loyalty and by the same token, not giving a shit about their own fans because we and anyone else who they charge £43 for, will match that when Ipswich visit them.

As the club departed off to Spain for a training camp, the announcement of who was an who wasn’t in the squad was a bit of a damp squib and all we learnt was that Jan Bednarek is obviously on his way. None of the shit players who we want to get rid of were left behind, probably because of the injuries that prevent Dibling, Downes, Matsuki and THB from travelling.  Though this trip features a couple of friendlies, they are of course ‘Behind Closed Doors’, which is a bit shit.  Would it really be too difficult to allow fans to travel, support the local economy and build a healthier relationship with the fans after last season’s shitshow. It seems to be a common complaint now for fans of a number of sides. Apparently, our upcoming friendly against Brighton is the only friendly Brighton have, that their fans can go to.

Anyway, a friendly against Spanish Second Division side Castellon, which ended as a 1-1 draw with the Spanish generally being the better side. We went one up when a cross from Ben Brereton Diaz was deflected by a Castellon defender into his own net.  It’s probably more likely to end in a goal if we rely on defenders than any of our strikers. The standout performance of the first half was from Gavin Bazunu, which may well stand him in good stead in his battle to be ahead of Alex McCarthy in the pecking order. Macca was powerless to prevent the equaliser which was deflected past him by James Bree, who had the perfect view of the goal because he’d completely turned his back on the striker having the shot. Bree did then hit the post with a long range free-kick as we searched for an undeserved winner which we didn’t end up getting, despite Jay Robinson and Ross Stewart going close.

The main friendly of the trip was against Español where for the first time in pre-season, Will Still didn’t change the entire team halfway through the game. It was however, still a training game in essence with Ronnie Edwards being given minutes right back just to get him on the pitch.  Bearing in mind the way we know how Still wants to play with lots of crosses coming in from wide areas it was a little bit concerning that we didn’t get any crosses over at all, caused in part by Edwards being right back and there was one occasion when Welington got in a crossing position on the left and got his head up and there was no one in the middle because Cameron Archer was hiding behind a defender. Joshua Quarshie is looking more and more like a first team player with every defensive display and he can pass the ball, pinging a lovely ball over the top to meet the run of BBD, who unfortunately delayed getting the shot away and the chance disappeared. He also seems to get his head to every cross into either box. We’re going to need him in attack as the rumoured first choice front three of BBD, Archer and Armstrong, was crap. Static and lacking in pace or drive. Neither winger can take on a player and neither are creative and Archer, against the best opposition of pre-season was predictably nowhere to be seen most of the time, touching the ball very infrequently. I’ve seen it said that those three are all Championship royalty and there’s a natural balance with the three of them… but just no. As I’ve said countless times before – Archer and Armstrong are too similar, with the same strengths and weaknesses, and BBD is just bafflingly bad most of the time. You can maybe carry one player who doesn’t contribute much to the team play apart from the odd goal but there’s no way you can carry two or three.

The second half brought a defensive shambles as Jack Stephens got his feet all mixed up and half blocked and attempted through ball. Ryan Manning should’ve stepped towards the ball and cleared it, but he did nothing and so Stephens touch ended up being a 1-2 back to the striker who easily scored. Just after that, James Bree showed the calamitous nature of his defending at times by grabbing someone round the neck and pulling them down. It couldn’t have been a more stonewall penalty if it tried but the referee didn’t give it and instead, he gave one against Jack Stephens for the slightest touch on the centre forward to make up for it. It still wasn’t brilliant by Jack as he wasn’t paying any attention to where the ball was when he brushed against the attacker. Two nil down and a first appearance for Damion Downs off the bench and he didn’t do much but he did pick up an incisive through ball from the excellent Jay Robinson and smash it first time across the keeper into the net, putting me in mind of some of the goals Graziano Pelle used to score, back when we were playing European games in front of crowds, as this was another Behind Closed Doors friendly… only it wasn’t because home supporters were allowed in if they were Español members. Slow handclap all round.

One Shot, One Goal

Interestingly, Will Still showed a bit of frustration after the game at the general state of the squad saying that some players basically need to get on with it and leave and we need to bring a few more in. It’s obvious that we’re desperately short in wide areas. Robinson is a definite plus but we shouldn’t be relying on him this season as his role should clearly be as an impact substitute.  The only other players in that area are Brereton Diaz, Armstrong and Edozie.  That simply isn’t enough.  Elsewhere, the centre of midfield is throwing up some questions in that Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone didn’t play at all against Español, but 18-year old Moses Sesay did.

“Hopefully this will go better than my move to Villa”

One day after the trip finished and preparations started for the home friendly against Brighton, some players granted Will Still’s wishes and sorted themselves out moves away from the club, with Jan Bednarek agreeing to join Porto in Portugal for £6.5 million pounds, which is a pretty decent deal for everyone.  I have the opinion that Bednarek has been a decent player for the club. Never brilliant but pretty solid overall after his initial first few months.  However, I’ve never really felt that he was good enough to be considered decent at Premier League level and in that division, he probably should’ve been a squad player and following his redemption after his disaster loan move to Villa, he shouldn’t have ended up being the leader of the defence.  If he’d ever have had a van Dijk or a Fonte next to him, he’d have done much better. It is maybe indicative of our gradual decline since his arrival that he made over 250 first team starts, especially in the Premier League.  He was very good in the Championship last time around, but the faster Premier League notably caught him out on a few occasions last year.  He did however, adapt better than most last year it has to be said, being relied on to be the most physical of the central defenders, and playing with more aggression suited him. Whilst he would’ve been a very decent central defender this season but with his relatively high wages as well, I feel that we can move on without him and good luck to him in Portugal and Janny B is in the Champions League.  Eight years is a long time to stay with one club, especially these days.  

Inevitable, But It Still Stings

It was inevitable but nonetheless disappointing when Aaron Ramsdale opened talks with Newcastle and that move has gone through. Their fans are demonstrating that they are football knowledge free cretins, kicking off about it because he’s been relegated three times blah blah blah. Apparently it’s a loan with an option to buy and my prediction is that by November, the same Newcastle fans will be begging their board to take out the option early.  Maybe it does leave open the slight possibility of him coming back next season as long as we go up, but the only way it’s going to happen is if he either sits on the bench all season and Nick Pope stays fit, or if he isn’t great when he does play.  It leaves Saints in an awkward spot for keepers.  Do we buy a new first choice who might be joining in the knowledge that Rambo might come back, or do we trust Baz or Macca to be the main man in goal this season? It stings because he’s our best player and one with genuine Premier League quality. If this is the end, which it 99% certainly will be, then all we can do is say thank you to a player who did his best and was badly let down by Southampton FC in the recruitment of the players in front if him. Though he let in over 60 goals for us last season, can you honestly remember any that were definitely his fault? I can think of a couple where the harshest critic might point a finger but otherwise, he kept his standards high throughout and played when injured when it would have been easier to sit it out. His worst mistake last season was of course joining us in the first place. His performance at home to Everton won us our only home win virtually single handedly and a couple of games spring to mind when thinking about how we let him down. Villa at home when he saved two penalties and McGinn ran past four of our static defenders to score a rebound. Then there was the Brentford game where he concede five, all of them blasted at him from less than ten yards out with defenders nowhere.

Sam not impressing in pre-season, clearly.

And then another one with Sam Edozie expected to join Sam Amo at Strasbourg. If this one happens then it’s a clear sign that Will Still has not been that impressed with Sam since he arrived and clearly thinks that we can do better in the transfer market. Sam has always shown loads of potential and has that rare ability to burst past people from a standing start. End product has always been a bit of an issue but he had more of that than Kamaldeen Sulemana. We can only hope that we do indeed have better lined up, because as discussed earlier, our options on the wing on either flank are pretty threadbare to say the least. Sam had a decent season in the Championship last time around, which was interrupted by a horrific tackle from Norwich’s Jack Stacey, which of course went unpunished and it sounds like he had a few injury problems when he was on loan at Anderlecht last season. Personally, I feel it was a bit of a flip of the coin job, as to whether Sam would make it as a decent level player for us but his departure certainly puts the pressure on Johannes Spors and the recruitment team to find better. You cannot go into a season with Armstong, BBD and an 18 year old as your only wingers, not if you want to create anything anyway.

The last pre-season friendly was against Brighton, in a particularly unimaginative fixture and I’m questioning what use it is to be playing this game from a tactical point of view because we are not going to face anything in the Championship that is similar to how Brighton are going to play. Anyway, on with the show and there’s an expectation when you get to the last game before the season starts, that the lineup is going to be pretty close to what you put out in the first game which after all is only a week away with the visit of Deadpool Rovers.

If that’s the case then send for help. Our starting 11 looked shocking on paper, with the inclusion of so many failures from last season, who you don’t want to see in the starting lineup for a team hoping to get promoted. James Bree, Ryan Manning, Jack Stephens, Cameron Archer, Ryan Fraser to name but a few. In addition to those failures from last season, there was Adam Armstrong, who I have a major question mark over for this season. Moses Sesay was also starting and he’s seemingly leapfrogged both Will Smallbone and Joe Aribo as was Flynn Downes replacement in midfield with Flynn of course still being injured.

Also “injured” was Mateus Fernandes. He probably got injured trying to juggle twelve representatives from the twelve clubs trying to talk to him about a transfer. Tyler Dibling was also not around for this game but he did play an hour in a “reserves“ game this morning against Brighton. Will Smallbone and BBD were apparently injured and the only player on can’t be accounted for is Joe Aribo.

The first half was predictably shit from our point of view and confirmed my suspicions that this game was absolutely pointless in regard of Championship preparation, as Brighton kept the ball and all Saints did was try and concentrate and defend which they did with mixed success. Baz stood up well to whatever was thrown at him until Minteh put Brighton ahead when Joshua Quarshie didn’t get close enough to him and he rolled it into the corner. Minteh had come off of Ryan Manning‘s wing and Manning was nowhere to be seen. Not getting close to players was a theme with James Bree on the other side completely absent whenever Brighton went down that side. Manning was the main issue though, clearly having some sort of restraining order against him that stopped him getting within twenty yards of Minteh.

One nil at half time and nothing much going on in the second half until Still made a few changes with the formation and subs and we were still adapting when Minteh again found himself faced up by Quarshie and once more passed it through him and into the corner.

Arma celebrates padding his stats again

Then, out of nowhere we started to play, sparked of course by Jay Robinson who ran directly to the edge of the penalty area before seeing a shot deflect into the net off of Lewis Dunk. Five minutes later we were level as a penalty was awarded for possibly a foul on Quarshie, possibly for handball. Basically, for fuck knows what, and Adam Armstrong padded his stats with a penalty which should in no way deflect from the fact that he had been completely absent all game. We nearly won the game with Shea Charles hitting the post with a header but the last 20 minutes was a slightly uplifting to a pre-season which has largely been underwhelming.

There were some positives today, mixed in with all the worrying shit. Gavin Bazunu sealed his place as first team goalkeeper for the start of this season by having a very good game and being completely powerless on the two goals conceded. Out of the starting defenders, the pick was Jack Stephens who stood up well, but Joshua Quarshie looked a little bit out of his depth and it seemed to frazzle his brain a little bit as there was no real aggression in his defending and Brighton seemed to win every single header from set pieces at both ends of the pitch. He played better when we went to back three and Ronnie Edwards looked like a class act when he came on. Ronnie simply has to play.

When we were playing a flat back four, the fullbacks were Bree and Manning and they were both really shite, offering nothing defensively or in attack. Playing wing-backs suits Welington and Sugawara much more, but regardless of whether we’re playing a back four or a variation of three at the back, I’d have the latter two as the full-backs both of them got stuck in when they needed to which is a direct contrast to Bree and Manning who didn’t get close to a winger all afternoon.

In midfield, Moses Sesay was excellent before tiring in the second half. He’ll certainly provide cover for that position this season. Shea Charles still has his sloppy moments with his passing on occasions, but got better and more involved as the game went on and is going to be a huge player for us this season.  Ryan Fraser is a bit of a wildcard this season.  Remodelling him as a number 10 doesn’t really look like being the way to go but he did look better once he switched to his more natural left-wing position when we appeared to go 4-4-2 at the end of the first half. He was confidently taking on the full-back and getting crosses over but there was not much quality on them. He’s not my favourite player by any stretch of the imagination, but he did work very hard today and I can see him being a decent asset this season.

Further forward was pretty bad, as it has been all pre-season. Adam Armstrong was invisible apart from scoring his penalty and Cameron Archer, playing off the left or up the middle when we went two up top, didn’t really achieve anything but did work hard with closing down and pressing. Damien Downs was a major disappointment and didn’t really contribute anything before being substituted. He can be forgiven for not being up to speed though and defenders like Van Hecke and Dunk don’t tend to inhabit the Championship. None of the three added anything to the build up and as said, you can’t afford to have that many passengers regarding team play. You can get away with not contributing much in build up if you score every game but you can only really have one player like that. It’s a bit of a mystery to me what has happened with Ross Stewart, confined to the 60-minute reserve game today, who seems to be third on the list of potential central strikers, which is surprising to me as Downs is not up to speed yet and Archer has predictably stopped scoring pre-season goals when we’re not playing non-league sides like Eastleigh, League two sides like Gillingham, or French Division Three sides like Valenciennes.  The shining light up front is of course Jay Robinson, who should not be starting games in the Championship because he’s only a kid but with the paucity of attacking threat that we have, it’s getting to the stage where I don’t feel that Still has much choice but to start him.

So, one week to go and the vultures are circling around Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling, who of course will provide creativity if they are still here. It’s beginning to worry me a little bit that the club are basically spending as little as possible and all we are going to see in terms of incoming transfers are the three that Dragan Solak mentioned in his interview, namely a defender (Quarshie) a striker (Downs) and a creative player, who we of course haven’t signed yet. If we sell both Fernandes and Dibling, then we are going to be in all sorts of bother with not much time to sort it. I do hoever feel that we are not selling either for less than £40 million and that probably puts them out of the reach of mid-table sides and I don’t think they’re quite the level for one of the really big boys to come in for them.

It’s difficult not to be a little bit concerned about where things are going but we can only really judge once the window has closed. What we don’t want however, is to be shit all the way through August and have to play catch up. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of style evolving as yet and the much talked about front foot football doesn’t appear to be a thing as yet but then it was never going to be today against Brighton. Pre-season as a whole in terms of team performances, has been a bit “meh” to be honest and it’s going to be a tough few weeks in the transfer market. No one will care about pre-season when the real stuff starts. Roll on next week and our starring role in a documentary, featuring a Hollywood actor and his mate.

Up the fucking Saints.