Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

[rocheyb]

Sunday 1st January, 2023

Preparation vs COVENTRY CITY (a)

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Coventry: 4/1; SAINTS: 4/7 (fav); Draw: 5/2.

This will be the first of three meetings with the Sky Blues this month - unless FA Cup fixtures cause a postponement. When we met at the Ricoh Arena in October, we very nearly let a 4-0 half-time lead slip, only just hanging on to win 4-3 in the end. They are currently 12th in the Premier League, having recently dropped from 8th in a densely packed mid-table. But in this Capital One Cup Semi-Final first leg, we will be looking to put ourselves in a commanding position for the return in two weeks’ time.

They usually play 4-4-2 and do not have much strength in depth. They tend to concede goals from 15-30mins in, but score most in the subsequent 15min period. We’re working on Attacking Movement in training.

 

[rocheyb]

Monday 2nd January, 2023

Chelsea extend their lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win at home to Swansea City. Manchester United drop points with a 1-1 draw at Cardiff City.

Arthur Semka, playing on the left of midfield, scores on his debut for the U21s at home to Middlesbrough. Roel Rutten comes through his first full 90 minutes since his recent return from injury. I have the FA Cup match at Derby County on Saturday ear-marked for his first team return.

 

[rocheyb]

Tuesday 3rd January, 2023

His two assists against Birmingham on New Year’s Eve win Mark Ardean-Webb a place in the Premier League Team of the Week, alongside Giammarco Stangoni. Ardean-Webb was last voted into such a selection in 2021.

Abdel Aziz Ibrahim (Egypt) and Buti Ndou (South Africa) both have their squad places confirmed for the upcoming African Nations’ Cup.

 

[rocheyb]

Tuesday 3rd January, 2023

Capital One Cup - Semi-Final, 1st Leg
COVENTRY CITY vs SOUTHAMPTON
Ricoh Arena, Coventry; Att: 31,410

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SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Ibrahim remains in goal; John Stones comes into the defence in place of Diego Reyes; Sergey Radimov and Tin Jedvaj line-up alongside him; Luke Shaw comes back into the side on the left of midfield; Sercan Calik starts on the right; Jim Wright replaces Pugliese in midfield alongside Shane Westley and Jorginho, who replaces the rested Giammarco Stangoni; Christoffer Jorgensen captains the team from up-front; Kingsley Idris partners him; Marc Smulders is on the bench.

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Coventry - 4-4-2: Fraser Forster is one of my former Southampton goalkeepers; Kevin de Bruyne, the Belgian attacking midfielder, is on the right of the City midfield; Nathaniel Chalobah played well against us last time; Max Gauthier, the forward, was 3rd in the Player of the Month vote for December.

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The players are brimming with confidence and respond well to my team-talk. I know that over-confidence is creeping into the squad, so I will rotate a bit more this month.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Coventry are attacking from right-to-left, as they get this semi-final tie underway.
- 2mins: Christoffer Jorgensen advances diagonally across the Coventry half and brings Luke Shaw into the game on the left-wing. His cross is met at the near post by Kingsley Idris, but his header is into the side-netting.
- 5mins: A period of midfield possession for Southampton works the ball up to Jorgensen, just outside the D. He exchanges passes with Jim Wright and then turns Pattison to strike a left-footed shot towards the top-left corner, but Fraser Forster dives to his right and catches the ball.
- 13mins: Idris plays the ball back from the edge of the Coventry area to the feet of Shane Westley. He rolls it forward to Jorginho, who turns infield and takes on both Forster-Caskey and Chalobah on his way to the centre, 25-yards out. His right-footed shot flies wide of the left-hand post.
- 14mins: Jorginho’s angled pass plays Jorgensen in-between three Coventry defenders. He takes a couple of strides and then shoots from just outside the area, forcing Fraser Forster into another flying save to the top-right corner. Then, a high ball from Wright is headed back to Westley by Jorgensen; the return pass allows the Danish striker to advance and try another long-range effort from a central position, which Forster saves again. The match is becoming a personal duel between Jorgensen and the Coventry keeper.
- 20mins: Advantage Jorgensen! Sercan Calik throws the ball in near the corner flag, on the right. Westley and Radimov have their progress halted by Christie’s sliding tackle, but Calik then swings a cross to the near post where Christoffer JORGENSEN runs from deep to head past Forster, into the far side of the goal. 1-0.
- 21mins: Sercan Calik wins a header in the centre-circle and Jorgensen jinks past Pattison before shooting narrowly over-the-bar from outside the area, with Egan sliding in at his feet.
- 24mins: Gauthier picks the ball up in the centre-circle and spreads the play to the left wing, where Christie does well to beat Jedvaj to it, before surging down the wing and crossing into the area. Max GAUTHIER arrives in the 6-yard box to volley past Ibrahim. 1-1.
- 26mins: Luke Shaw gets the ball back from Jorginho from his own throw, on the left wing. He crosses into the 6-yard box where Pattison can only knock the ball down for Christoffer JORGENSEN to fire his 2nd goal of the match past Forster from close range. 2-1.
- 32mins: Kingsley Idris latches onto Jorgensen’s short through ball through the centre, to fire into the bottom-right hand corner - but the offside flag rules the goal out.
- 33mins: But Iris is not to be denied for long! John Stones lifts a high free-kick forward, from level with the forward edge of the centre-circle. It drops to Jorgensen, who has run off the back of two defenders, to volley the ball to the left for Kingsley IDRIS to whip the ball past Forster to extend Southampton’s lead. 3-1.
- 44mins: Jorgensen collects the ball with his back-to-goal, once more, and spots Calik in acres of space on the right. He slips the ball to the Belgian who draws defenders to him before playing a low cross to the near post. Jorginho arrives late to strike at goal, but Forster gets down quickly to block the shot. Chalobah’s clearance is won in the air by Wright, and The Saints work the ball forward again to Jorginho, by the D. The Brazilian wrong-foots both Chalobah and Egan with a deliciously impudent back-heel to Idris, who spurns the chance to shoot to play Jorgensen in to his right, but Forster gets his left shin in the way of the Danish striker’s low angled shot - then the offside flag prevents a follow-up.
- 45mins: A showcase of interceptions from both teams eventually leads to Jim Wright being dispossessed by Nathaniel Chalobah in midfield, and his forward pass exposes a gap in the heart of the Saints defence with Gauthier races in to exploit. But a single touch to his left as he advances on goal is enough to provide Jedvaj with the opportunity to slide in and make a potentially goal-saving tackle on the edge of his own penalty area. The corner his headed out by Radimov but returned with interest by Chalobah, forcing Ibrahim into a smart save at his right-hand post.

HALF-TIME: COVENTRY CITY 1-3 SOUTHAMPTON

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Jorginho has done well at carrying the fight from midfield, but Christoffer Jorgensen’s ability to hold the ball up and create chances for himself and his team-mates is turning the Coventry back four inside out. Idris is also finding gaps to exploit and they can’t live with him, either. Our customary parting of the waves at the back almost cost us a second Coventry goal, but we got lucky with a moment of poor control by Gauthier. The Match Stats confirm that we are well on-top, if the 3-1 scoreline wasn’t convincing enough already. But, complacency has been an issue against this team before. I calmly tell the players that they are doing well and should keep it up in the second-half. They are all motivated as they leave the changing room.

2nd Half Highlights
- 51mins: Christie almost gets lucky with a left-wing cross, which forces Ibrahim to jump high and push the ball over the crossbar at his near post.
- 52mins: Westley passes forward to Jorginho, midway inside the Coventry half, and he feeds Idris on the edge of the area. The in-form striker takes a touch and shoots but the ball loops over-the-bar.
- 54mins: A well-timed sliding tackle by Pattison prevents Jorginho getting in on-goal after a neat one-two with Idris. Then Westley shifts the ball to the right where Jorginho is brought into the play again, this time freeing Sercan Calik on the right-side of the area to force a good near post save out of Forster.
- 56mins: Stones plays the ball out of defence, to Wright in the centre-circle. Westley then floats the ball over Jorginho to Jorgensen. His first-time pass is to Idris, who bamboozles Egan with a sudden change of pace, before firing a low left-footed shot towards the bottom-left corner - but Forster gets down to make his most impressive save of the match, so far.
- 58mins: Idris has another goal ruled out for offside, from Jorginho’s through ball.
- 60mins: Jorgensen receives Jorginho’s pass, 30-yards out in a central position. He by-passes Egan to find Kingsley Idris, and he dribbles between the retreating Egan and Pattison, onto his right foot, before stinging Forster’s palms with a shot to the top-right corner.
- 64mins: A wayward shot from distance by Chalobah wastes an opportunity presented to him by Jedvaj’s poor cross-field clearance.
- 65mins: Marc Smulders replaces Luke Shaw.
- 66mins: Yellow card for Scott Wootton.
- 73mins: Jorgensen dribbles from right to centre, before laying the ball off for Jorginho. Wootton appears to have dealt with the danger, until his weak pass enables Jorginho to go through and shoot for goal, forcing Forster into action again.
- 74mins: Phillip Kaminski comes on for Sergey Radimov.
- 85mins: Jorgensen, from centre, chips the ball into the inside-left channel for Kingsley Idris to run onto. He tries to lob Forster but gets his angles wrong, sending the ball wide of the far post.
- 86mins: Christie holds the ball up among several Southampton players, after receiving the ball from Wootton midway inside his opponents’ half, to pick a pass to Max Gauthier making a run through the middle. Jedvaj gives chase and Ibrahim comes out to narrow the angle, succeeding in blocking the shot by dropping to the ground near the penalty spot. After a brief scramble on the edge of the box, Kaminski smashes the ball towards the dugouts on the far side.
- 90mins+2: A pass intended for Chalobah is overhit and Jim Wright latches onto it, passing forward to Jorgensen in the centre of Coventry’s half. He plays Idris in again, and Fraser Forster has to make another fine save to keep the striker out.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
CHRISTOFFER JORGENSEN (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.2
False-9_Support: 2 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
A decent lead to take into the second-leg. Jorgensen and Idris could both have had hat-tricks, and Jorginho might also have got on the scoresheet, but I’m pleased with the number and variety of the chances we created and we won the match comfortably in the end. I tell the players that I am very happy with their performance.

 

[rocheyb]

Wednesday 4th January, 2023

Manchester City record a 2-1 away win against Birmingham City, in the 1st leg of the other Capital One Cup semi-final.

Rodrigao has asked to go out on loan, but with Buti Ndou about to got on international duty, possibly for up to a month, I’m not keen to let him go. So I have promised him some first-team football soon.

 

[rocheyb]

Wednesday 4th January, 2023

Preparation vs DERBY COUNTY (a)

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Gary McAllister’s Derby County are currently 9th in League One, thanks in no small part to the goals of our very own Billy Roberts, who, like Ryan Seager (whose loan I have just agreed to extent), is ineligible for selection in our FA Cup meeting. They play 4-4-2 and are at their most dangerous during the 15-to-30mins period and the last 15mins. Obviously, the squad comparison is poor and we are overwhelming favourites to win. They are without a win in their last 4 matches and this will be the first meeting between us for more than 10 years.

We are working on Attacking Movement, again. I will switch to the 4-5-1 Assymetric formation to aid squad rotation.

 

[rocheyb]

Saturday 7th January, 2023

Veljko Majstorovic, the left-winger who scored for Chelsea against us in our 0-3 defeat earlier this season, has joined Paris Saint-Germain in a deal 35-million deal. I can’t say I’m sorry to see him leave the Premier League, though no doubt he’ll pop-up in Europe to ruin my day again, at some point. Adnan Januzaj, who’s now 27 years-old, has agreed a move to Chelsea’s Cole Stadium on a free transfer at the end of the season, from Milan.

 

[rocheyb]

Saturday 7th January, 2023

FA Cup - 3rd Round
DERBY COUNTY vs SOUTHAMPTON
Pride Park, Derby; Att: 32,958

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SAINTS Team News - 4-5-1 Assymetric: Louis Cruse becomes the first choice keeper for a while, now that Ibrahim has departed to aid Egypt’s African Nations’ Cup bid; Rodrigao starts at right-back; Hrustic on the left; Roel Rutten makes a welcome return to first-team action; Kevin Egan partners him; Diego Reyes captains the team from the defensive midfield position; Mark Ardean-Webb is in the centre; Marc Smulders on the left; Jose Pinho lines-up in his familiar advanced right position; Arthur Semka gets a surprise early first-team debut, as a Shadow Striker behind Andrew Powell; John Griffiths and Jay Rodriguez are both available from the bench.

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Derby - 4-4-2: Frank Fielding is a former England U21 keeper; Honolulu-born striker Bobby Shou Wood is an international with USA; his strike partner Ryan Dow, formerly of Dundee United, only has 1 goal this season.

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I instruct normal tackling and the pre-match team-talk goes well, so…

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Southampton kick-off, in heavy sleet and rain, kicking from left-to-right.
- 30sec: Mark Ardean-Webb holds the ball up on the right, as Jose Pinho makes an overlapping run. Semka receives the ball infield and then plays a one-two with Pinho, entering the D of Derby’s penalty area in the process. He lays the ball back to Jose PINHO again in the inside-right channel and the Portuguese youngster shoots across goal into the far corner. 1-0.
- 2mins: Derby go straight on the attack, but Messori’s cross from the left drops over the head of Dow at the far post.
- 8mins: Louis Cruse has to push Messori’s cross-shot from the left over-the-bar.
- 12mins: Daniele Messori races down the left wing on a Derby counter-attack. Rodrigao and Ardean-Webb catch up with him level with the penalty area, so he squares infield to Redmond, who does likewise to McGeouch inside the D. He tries a side-foot placed shot, but it’s just too high.
- 19mins: Pinho feeds Powell, midway inside the Derby half. He spreads the play to the left, for Marc Smulders. The Ajax Academy Graduate takes on Oliver and crosses into the box for Andrew POWELL to jump high and head past Fielding. 2-0.
- 21mins: Cruse’s long kick from just outside his own area deceives Otto and allows Arthur Semka to run off the back of him. But Kosut gets across to make a last-ditch tackle to prevent the Russian claiming a debut goal. Hrustic takes the throw and gets it back from Ardean-Webb, before crossing. Kosut’s near-post intervention only confuses Fielding and sends the ball into the air - when it drops at the far post, Marc SMULDERS nods it into the empty net from 2-yards for his first ever Southampton goal. 3-0.
- 23mins: Fielding punches the ball clear under pressure from Powell, from Rodrigao’s right-wing cross.
- 37mins: Fielding has to be alert again to stop Smulders’ free-kick, from deep on the left, going in at his near post.
- 38mins: From Derby’s subsequent possession, McGeouch passes to Thomson, just behind the halfway-line, and he plays Bobby SHOU WOOD into the inside-right channel. He controls the ball on-the-run and moves infield towards goal, firing across Louis Cruse into the far corner, with two defenders trying to close him down. A very well-taken goal. 3-1.
- 42mins: Semka takes possession midway inside the Derby half, in the middle. He passes to Powell who holds it up and then plays Jose Pinho in on the right. Pinho takes a touch and then shoots narrowly over.
- 43mins: Andy Dow tries to play a controlled volley from the centre-circle back to Redmond, but miss-directs the pass, allowing Pinho to come off the wing to collect the ball in the middle, 25-yards out, and pass to Powell. The Welshman shoots right-footed from outside the area and Fielding shows great reactions to push the ball over-the-bar…
- 44mins: …Smulders’ corner comes back to him and from the second cross, Ardean-Webb heads over from 6-yards.
- 45mins: Yellow card for Bobby Oliver of Derby.

HALF-TIME: DERBY COUNTY 1-3 SOUTHAMPTON

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Our second-string team is playing well and creating plenty of chances. Fielding has made a few good saves and we are attacking from several angles and with a variety of approach. Roel Rutten may have been at fault for Derby’s goal, so I’ll put that down to his lack of match fitness. The whole team has a morale rating of “Good” by the end of the team-talk.

2nd Half Highlights
- 51mins: Ardean-Webb and Rodrigao combine on the right wing to feed Jose Pinho, 5-yards back from the corner of the Derby area. His high cross to the middle drops perfectly for Andrew POWELL to head his 2nd goal of the game. 4-1.
- 52mins: Derby switch to 4-4-1-1. I reset the OIs.
- 65mins: Jay Rodriguez steps off the bench to replace Mark Ardean-Webb, with Arthur Semka moving back into central midfield.
- 66mins: Smulders sends a free-kick from deep on the right into the area, and Kevin Egan shows great control for a centre-back to shoot at the near post, forcing Fielding to push the ball behind.
- 77mins: John Stones replaces Kevin Egan at centre-back.
- 81mins: Thomson gets down the right wing for Derby, crossing to the near post where Shou Wood manages to get a shot away from close to Cruse, in the Southampton goal. The ball squirms under the keeper and Rutten clears before it can cross the goal-line.
- 90mins+1: Andrew Powell is denied his hat-trick of headers when Fielding saves his near-post effort from Rodrigao’s right-wing cross. The final whistle goes straight away.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
ANDREW POWELL (SOUTHAMPTON) - 8.9
Deep-Lying Forward_Support: 2 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
A good performance from a team containing several fringe players. Andrew Powell took his two headed goals well; Jose Pinho was lively throughout; Arthur Semka passed the ball well in a decent debut; Roel Rutten came through the 90 minutes unharmed. The team-talk worked with everyone.

 

[rocheyb]

Sunday 8th January, 2023

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The FA Cup 4th Round draw gives us another away trip to lower league opposition; Burnley - who are currently 11th in the Championship. The tie of the 4th Round will be the one that involves Arsenal traveling to the winners of today’s Manchester City-Liverpool 3rd Round encounter.

 

[rocheyb]

Sunday 8th January, 2023

Preparation vs NEWCASTLE UNITED (h)

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SAINTS: 4/7 (fav); Newcastle: 4/1; Draw: 5/2.

Newcastle beat us 0-1 at St. James’s Park earlier in the season, when we played 4-4-1-1 and suffered a red card for Buti Ndou at right-back, just after we conceded the goal. They are 8th in the Premier League at the moment, 11 points behind us. Their 4-4-2 system, employing a large diamond in midfield, will pose some problems for our 3-5-2 - although looking at their squad, it’s certainly on the small side and what with injuries, fatigue and two players currently taking part in the African Nations Cup and the Asian Cup, and us having rested players for the Derby County match, we should have a significant physical advantage.

Attacking Movement is again the focus in training. The squad comparison strongly favours us, but we’ll have to be wary of Newcastle’s tendency to score plenty of goals in the first 30mins of either half. Their weakness is in the last 15mins of the first-half. Leonid Slutskiy, the Newcastle manager, has recently been linked to the Juventus job and incurred the wrath of the Magpies’ board by declaring his interest in a move to Turin.

 

[rocheyb]

Tuesday 10th January, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 21
SOUTHAMPTON vs NEWCASTLE UNITED
St.Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 51,487

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Louis Cruse continues in goal; Roel Rutten remains in the team, but is shifted to the central Ball-Playing Defender role usually occupied by Diego Reyes; Sergey Radimov and Tin Jedvaj join him in the back-3; Mark Ardean-Webb’s recent fine form gives him the nod over Westley in midfield; Stangoni and Pugliese return; Sercan Calik and Luke Shaw are on the wings; Jorgensen and Idris are together again up-front; Nathan Smith is called up from the U18s to provide goalkeeping cover from the bench, where he is joined by Tom Ince and Andrew Powell.

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Newcastle - 4-4-2 Large Diamond: Tim Krul was the Man of the Match in our previous meeting; Ryan Bertrand, Craig Dawson, Sean Morrison and Jack Hunt comprise an all-English back four - only Morrison is not an international; Frenchman Arthur Girard is a quality defensive midfielder; Granit Xhaka has 81 caps for Switzerland; Manolo Gabbiadini has scored goals against us before; Wilfried Zaha is among the subs, along with Kevin McCormack - who scored on his Scotland debut against Nigeria 2 years ago, and hasn’t played for them again since.

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This should be an interesting match for the tacticians among us, given how differently the two sides are set-up. I instruct normal tackling and tell the players to pick up where they left off.

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Newcastle kick-off in their Brazilian-style yellow shirts, blue shorts and white socks, attacking the Chapel End to the right.
- 4mins: A Saints corner is headed away but Giammarco Stangoni brings the ball back into the penalty area. Andrea Petagna makes a solid sliding challenge - not bad for a forward - but Sercan Calik is onto the loose ball, crossing to the head of Christoffer Jorgensen 8-yards out; Tim Krul makes the save.
- 7mins: A mistake by Roel Rutten lets Petagna in, left-of-centre, but Louis Cruse parries the shot wide. Rutten heads the corner clear and Stangoni carries the ball forward on the counter-attack. Jorgensen fails to watch the line and strays offside.
- 8mins: As is so often the case, Mario Pugliese regains possession for Southampton midway inside his own half and plays a simple pass to get the team on the front foot. Sercan Calik receives the ball on the right and surges forward down the wing, with Ryan Bertrand struggling to keep up. With both strikers to aim for, he crosses to the centre where Kingsley IDRIS thrashes home his 18th goal of the season from 8-yards. 1-0.
- 17mins: A strong defensive header from Roel Rutten, winning the ball from Petagna, enables Stangoni to control the ball on his thigh and set off on another swashbuckling run over the halfway-line and up to the Newcastle area, where Shaw provides an outlet to get around the yellow-and-blue wall of defenders. Shaw advances to the byline and crosses. Having continued his run, Giammarco STANGONI controls the ball by the corner of the 6-yard box, and smashes it at Tim Krul so hard that the keeper can only push it into the roof of the net. 2-0.
- 18mins: Newcastle go on the attack straight from the restart. Andrea Petagna takes on Tin Jedvaj on the left of the penalty area and crosses to the centre, but Cruse does well to catch the ball under pressure from Manolo Gabbiadini. The keeper rolls the ball out to Sergey Radimov on the left corner of the Saints area. The Russian plays the ball forward to Shaw, who brings the ball to halfway and then plays a one-two with Idris to advance up the wing, burning his way past Jack Hunt in the process. His square cross, to just outside the 6-yard box, is met on the volley by Kingsley IDRIS; Tim Krul would have been blinded had he got in the way of it! 3-0.
- 20mins: Vargas sends over a high corner from the left for Newcastle, but Radimov does well to head it out at the back post. Girard takes it from the other side and Gabbiadini heads narrowly over at the near post.
- 24mins: Rutten makes an impressive sliding tackle in midfield and the ball is played back to Louis Cruse. But the keeper’s kick is poor and allows Xhaka to head it down to Petagna midway inside the Saints half, and we rolls the ball through the centre for Gabbiadini. The Italian striker gets in behind the defence, but decides to drag the ball back - allowing Rutten and Radimov to get goal side - and his shot is deflected into the path of Matt Phillips who can only hit the side-netting with half the goal to aim at, unopposed.
- 29mins: A period of possession for Southampton, orchestrated from the back by Rutten and Jedvaj, sees Pugliese play a short pass to Stangoni who then jinks away from Girard and advances to the D to fire a left-footed shot just wide of the left-hand post.
- 31mins: Sercan Calik finds himself in unfamiliar territory to the left of the centre-circle and feeds Stangoni in the middle. Idris pulls off the shoulder of Sean Morrison to latch onto his captain’s defence-splitting pass to get one-on-one with Krul for a chance to complete his hat-trick. He hesitates for a moment to shift the ball to his left foot and Girard slides in to knock the ball away - only to present Christoffer JORGENSEN with an open goal from 6-yards. 4-0.
- 38mins: Pugliese to Stangoni in The Saints half. Arthur Girard squares up to him in the centre-circle, only for the Italian to sidestep him and drag him all the way back to his own area in defensive pursuit, laying the all off to Shaw on the left. Hunts comes across but Shaw whips in the cross and Idris darts ahead of Morrison to head just wide of the near post.
- 40mins: After a throw on the left, Gabbiadini crosses to the centre from the corner of the box, and Matt Phillips gets above Radimov but nods his header beyond the left-hand post.
- 45mins: On the stroke of half-time, Xhaka and Petagna play Phillips in on the right and he manages to evade Jedvaj but hesitates to shoot early, allowing Cruse to smother his eventual effort at close range.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 4-0 NEWCASTLE UNITED

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Although it’s been a trend for us to be well ahead by the break, I think this has been our best 45 minutes of the season. I was slightly concerned by Newcastle’s formation having central midfielders both in-front and behind our central three, but as it turns out, Stangoni’s constant running with the ball has forced Arthur Girard to back-peddle while Xhaka flips between being isolated a long way ahead of the play or crowded out by Rutten, Pugliese and Ardean-Webb. Stangoni has put in a captain’s performance so far, and Luke Shaw is again adding quality to the attack by arriving slightly later down the wing to add new impetus once Newcastle succeed in holding us up in the middle. Idris is developing into an excellent striker, which is really pleasing for an academy graduate, while Sercan Calik and Jorgensen have both made positive contributions, too. The trick now is to prevent complacency in the second-half. I speak calmly to the team and ask them for more of the same.

2nd Half Highlights
- 53mins: Craig Dawson makes a decent sliding tackle on Jorgensen to deny him a shooting chance in the inside-right channel; Sercan Calik’s more acute angled shot from the loose ball hits the side-netting.
- 56mins: A well-hit free-kick by Sercan Calik flashes wide of the top-right corner.
- 57mins: Arthur Girard over-hits a pass to Xhaka in the centre and Mark Ardean-Webb lifts it high upfield to Kingsley Idris. The striker brings the ball down on his right thigh, on the advanced edge of the centre-circle, and then races between Morrison and Dawson as the two centre-backs try to close in on him - leaving them for dead as he sprints into the area, shoots left-footed and sees Tim Krul make a magnificent low save. pushing the ball wide of the left-hand post for a corner. [“The left-hand post” means on the left as we look; “his left-hand post”, in relation to the keeper, means the keeper’s left; probably should have made that distinction earlier in the thread!]
- 58mins: Krul punches the cross out of the area; Hunt gets his head in the way of Radimov’s follow-up shot.
- 61mins: Xhaka, Petagna and Gabbiadini work the ball forward through the middle for Newcastle, and the Italian plays a diagonal lob out to the left for Phillips. He controls the ball and advances to the byline, with Jedvaj in close attendance, to cross into the middle where Gabbiadini leaps high and heads goal ward, but Louis Cruse catches the ball.
- 62mins: Luke Shaw blocks a shot from Phillips at the near post after Girard’s corner from the left-wing.
- 63mins: Phillip Kaminski and Shane Westley are going to come on for The Saints, just to add some fresh legs; Tin Jedvaj and Mark Ardean-Webb are coming off.
- 65mins: Craig Dawson’s miss-timed sliding tackle in the centre-circle enables Stangoni to jump around him and feed Calik on the right wing. Idris and Jorgensen line up in the middle as the winger comes forward, his cross dropping over Dawson’s head to Idris, unmarked on the 6-yard line. But his touch is heavy and Dawson lunges in to nudge the ball away, leaving Jorgensen with an easy chance at point-blank range on his favoured left-foot. How he missed the target will baffle philosophers and scholars until the end of time!
- 66mins: A criss-crossing passing move through the middle for The Saints puts them on the counter-attack. Morrison slides in to knock the ball off Stangoni’s toe, but Pugliese takes up possession and finds Calik free on the right. He goes past Bertrand and then crosses high to the 6-yard line, centre of the goal, where Kingsley IDRIS jumps between Morrison and Hunt to finally complete his hat-trick with a downward header. His 20th goal of the season! 5-0.
- 67mins: Newcastle have switched to a 4-1-4-1 formation. It’s a bit late for damage limitation, Geordie!
- 75mins: Three corners in succession for The Saints. From the third, Kaminski rises at the back post to place a firm header just wide of the near, from Calik’s cross; Craig Dawson diverts it behind to make sure for the visitors.
- 78mins: Yellow card for Craig Dawson for a trip on Jorgensen.
- 79mins: Giammarco Stangoni is given a standing ovation by the St. Mary’s faithful as he is withdrawn by his manager, with Jorginho coming on in his place. Then, Luke Shaw’s 30-yard free-kick fizzes narrowly over the crossbar.
- We remain on the attack throughout the last 10mins or so, with Newcastle having to make several blocks to prevent shooting opportunities. So we comfortably see out an impressive home performance.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
KINGSLEY IDRIS (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.6
Advanced Forward_Attack: 3 goals; 0 assists.

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VERDICT:
An excellent performance all-round - and a right proper clouting for a team that didn’t deserve to beat us last time! Even though we only scored once in the second-half, we were still dominant and created a couple more chances. Idris was both brilliant and wasteful in-front of goal; he could have had 6 today! Jorgensen could also have had a hat-trick. But it’s another match where we have won comfortably and created plenty more chances, so I am happy. Rutten did well in the centre of the three-man defence and I continue to be impressed with the efficiency of Mario Pugliese’s defensive midfield duties (win it - distribute it - repeat), which allows Stangoni, Shaw and Calik to go and attack. I keep it calm for the post-match team-talk and tell the players that I’m very happy with what I saw from them today.

 

[rocheyb]

Tuesday 10th January, 2023

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Inevitably, Brian Cousins, Kingsley Idris’s agent, is waiting for me outside the players’ lounge after the match. Like most Football Managers, I usually hate football agents with a passion, but there is no doubt the player deserves a new deal - currently listed as back-up to the first team and on 23,000 per week. I call Kingsley and the chairman Simon Blitz to come and join us at a table in the corner of the bar-room; a new deal is struck within minutes.

Idris’s hat-trick - his second of the season - was before another record St. Mary’s crowd. The figure now stands at: 51,487.

Ross Barkley’s 28th minute equaliser for Leicester City at home to Manchester United, coupled with West Brom holding Arsenal to a 2-2 draw, means that we climb above the Gunners into 3rd place and close the gap on United in 2nd to 1 point with a game in-hand.

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Earlier this week, I assigned Nicola Peragine - a member of our scouting team - to watch Paris Saint-Germain’s right-winger Noe Engel. His report strongly recommends that we should try to sign the Frenchman whatever the price. Of course, with Sercan Calik, Kostas Kabastanakis and Jose Pinho all able to play on the right, that’s not really a position I need to fill. In fact, having made the decision not to offer Tom Ince a new deal I should be looking for a left-winger. But, Kabastanakis can use either foot, so if I retrain him to play on the left, that will create some room for Engel. With the recent financial tightening at the club, I can’t afford to do anything now, but I will keep close tabs on him with a view to doing something in the summer.

 

[rocheyb]

Wednesday 11th January, 2023

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Manchester City’s 3-2 home win over Swansea City pushes us back to 4th place, with the Citizens now 2 points ahead of us, in 2nd.

 

[rocheyb]

Wednesday 11th January, 2023

Preparation vs LEEDS UNITED (a)

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Leeds: 4/1; SAINTS: 4/7 (fav); Draw: 5/2.

We beat Leeds 5-1 at St. Mary’s in September, and given our current vein of form I will be looking for something similar at Elland Road on Sunday. They are 12th in the table, level with Liverpool on 25 points. Their last home win was on 21st November, 3-1 against Newcastle. Theya are struggling for regular goalscorers and the squad comparison does not look promising for them. The last 15mins of either half are when the goals fly in during Leeds matches, at both ends. Were are working on Attacking Movement, again.

 

[rocheyb]

Thursday 12th January, 2023

I got impatient waiting for the scouting report on Vivian Rolland - the Saint Etienne reserve keeper - so I have now brought him into the club on a 2 month loan, long enough to cover for Abdel Aziz Ibrahim should Egypt get to the African Nations’ Cup Final, exactly one month from now. It’s not unlikely; they won it three times in a row from 2006 to 2010 and then again in 2019, beating Cameroon in the Final in Tunisia.

 

[rocheyb]

Friday 13th January, 2023

Kingsley Idris has signed his new contract. Hopefully he won’t immediately turn into a spoilt young footballer with more money than sense!

Prior to Sunday’s match at Leeds United, I travel to that dark land we call Up North (basically, anywhere higher on the map than Salisbury!) ahead of the first-team players so I can watch the U21s - bolstered with several of the younger first-team fringe players - take on Blackburn Rovers in the Quarter-Final of the U21s Cup.

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Just looking at the line-ups before the game, I am not happy with some of Giovanni Pulvirenti’s selections: Semka and Smulders should be switched so that the Dutchman is on the wing, the Russian infield; I’ve limited Jorginho to 45mins, but I would have started with him rather than Joseph Michael, who is on the verge of a loan move to Dundee; John Griffiths should be starting on the left of the front two, with Carter to his right and Jose Pinho on the right of midfield. But, I have employed Pulvirenti to do things his way, so I’ll see how it goes.

The U21s don’t have anyone to carry the fight forward from the centre of midfield like Giammarco Stangoni does for the first team, but they are good at knocking the ball around quickly and using the full width of the pitch to create crossing opportunities. George Carter heads home from Keehan’s right-wing cross midway through the first-half; a two-footed tackle by Chris Mantle in midfield, on Jose Pinho who has started brightly, puts Blackburn down to 10-men in the 29th minute; Pinho makes it 2-0 after an excellent short-passing move on the left of the penalty area involving Carter, Smulders and Semka (reminiscent of Jack Wilshere’s goal for Arsenal vs Norwich); Semka runs in from the left-wing to loop the ball onto the crossbar; Blackburn resort to fouling in the second-half but offer little attacking threat; an almighty goalmouth scramble from a right-wing corner ends with Larkin thrashing the ball into his own net for 3-0; Rogers misses Blackburn’s best chance by heading over from close range. A comfortable passage into the Semi-Finals:

BLACKBURN ROVERS U21s 0-3 SOUTHAMPTON U21s

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Kostas Kabastanakis and Yvo Lucas both return to full training, but neither will be fit enough to be involved at Leeds on Sunday; they’ll play some part in the U21s’ match at Aston Villa on Monday night.

 

[rocheyb]

Saturday 14th January, 2023
- Article from Echo Online

KING OF ENGLAND

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SOUTHAMPTON’S WORLD CUP & EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP winning Belgian defender Roel Rutten (above, left) has called upon the England manager to include his St. Mary’s team-mate Kingsley Idris in the next senior international squad - and to award The Saints’ hotshot striker his first full cap sooner rather than later.

Idris (above, right), who is still 5 months short of his 21st birthday, has lit-up domestic and European football this season with 20 goals from 16 starts and 4 substitute appearances in all competitions. Saints fans have not witnessed such an impressive goals return from an academy graduate since the early days of Alan Shearer’s career in the late 80s, and Rutten believes that England should move quickly to claim the Nigerian-born striker who has only represented England at U19 and U21 level to date, before the African side known as ‘The Super Eagles’ claim him as one of their own.

“Believe me,” said Rutten, who has recently made a successful return to the Southampton line-up after a long spell out with injury, “if Kingsley were half-Belgian, I would have found a way to smuggle him into our national team by now. He has everything you want from a striker: pace, directness, composure in-front of goal and bags and bags of belief in his own ability.”

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A hat-trick against Newcastle United at St. Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday night was just the latest in a run of outstanding displays from the young goalscorer, who shot to fame earlier in the season when he thrashed four past Atletico Madrid in an emphatic 6-1 European Champions League victory to begin a run of 18 goals in 15 appearances. He has even surpassed Christoffer Jorgensen as the most in-form goalscorer at the club on current form, with just two goals fewer for the season than the decorated Dane, whose own early season form threatened to break the 63 year-old club goalscoring record held by the late Derek Reeves. And Rutten thinks that Enrique would be crazy to leave Idris out of his next international squad:

“I don’t think there is a massive chance of Kingsley opting to play for Nigeria, but you never know. If they make an offer before England do, he might decide to play for the country of his birth. But he grew up in England and has scored goals for the U21s, and I think Luis Enrique would be wise to give him a chance against Estonia at Wembley in March.”

While England hardly have an embarrassment of riches up-front, they do have some good players who are ahead of Idris in the pecking order at the moment. From the squad that was assembled for the two November friendlies against the Czech Republic and Iran:

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- Martyn King, 24, has overcome an indifferent start to his Atletico Madrid career, after his 11.5-million transfer in the summer, to notch 11 goals for last season’s La Liga runners-up. After scoring on his international debut in a 2-0 win against the USA in March last year, he had to wait 8 months to be involved again, coming off the bench against the Czechs and scoring England’s fifth, again as a sub, in the 5-1 win over Iran.

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- Martin Giddings, 24, of Manchester City has emerged as his country’s leading marksman over the last few seasons, with 16 goals to his name from 25 caps, though his Premier League form has been rather less stellar, with only 3 goals from 16 appearances.

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- Leeds United striker Nigel McCartney, who is also 24 years-old, is uncapped as yet and did not score in any of his 4 appearances at U21 level. With only 4 goals from 15 starts for the mid-table Yorkshire outfit, McCartney is possibly the striker whose place in the squad could be most at risk to the emergence of Idris at the moment, although the Crewe Alexandra Academy graduate may still have a promising international career ahead of him.

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- Jerome Sinclair’s fading fortunes in club football, following his disastrous 28-million move from Liverpool to Arsenal in 2020, since which he has notched a mere 4 goals and not even kicked a ball for the Gunners’ first-team this season, also makes him vulnerable to being dropped by Enrique. A paltry return of 3 goals in 23 appearances have had many questioning the 26 year-old’s international credentials for some time.

Despite a disappointing performance in Qatar last summer, where Group C draws against Mexico (0-0), Ecuador and Greece (both 1-1) resulted in an earlier than expected elimination, England are unbeaten at senior level for almost two-and-a-half years, when a 1-0 reverse in the National Arena, Bucharest against Romania was the only black mark against an otherwise perfect World Cup Qualifying campaign. And Rutten believes that an Idris-Giddings partnership could become the potent force that propels England to greater things:

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“If you look at the way we play at Southampton, with Christoffer Jorgensen in a False-9 role alongside Kingsley - both of them are left-footed. Well, Giddings of Man City is also left-footed and has many similar attributes to Jorgie, like strength and pace and the ability to hold the ball up and play in his strike partner. If Enrique was to decide to play this way, he could do much worse than have Kingsley flying through on-goal.”

And with four Southampton Youth Academy graduates already established as regular members of the full international squad - Louis Cruse, who is uncapped, Luke Shaw, Shane Westley and James Ward-Prowse - Idris would be in good company should the Spanish manager decide to heed Rutten’s advice. Not that the Belgian wants to help England usurp his own country’s current dominance of the international scene.

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“The last few years have been wild, man,” laughs the former Genk player, who heralds from Sint-Truiden to the North East of central Belgium. “When we lost the Final of the Euros to France, in Paris, in 2016, there was a sense that we had come so close but the fear that this generation of players like Hazard, Lukaku, Witsel and Fellaini had missed their opportunity. But it turned out that was only the beginning. We won it in Turkey four years later, picked up the Confederations Cup in 2021 and then did even better in Qatar last summer to lift the World Cup. These have been the greatest years for Belgian football and the players all know that we have been - and still are - part of something very special.”

And the man who has added two Premier League, several domestic cup and a Europa League winners’ medal to his name since joining Southampton permanently in 2018, believes that England are on the verge of re-asserting themselves on the international scene, too.

“There are many great players in the Premier League and a lot of good young English players are starting to come through. You came close to winning the World Cup in 2018 and I think Jay Rodriguez has been a loss to your country since he decided to retire from international football, but you only need to watch Southampton play to see that there are players like Kingsley, Shane Westley, Mark Ardean-Webb and others from the club’s junior levels to see that there is a lot of potential here, if the right manager can harness it. Getting Kingsley Idris into the team, alongside Martin Giddings, is just one step along that road.”

Southampton manager rocheyb is known to covet the England manager’s job, having twice turned down multiple offers from the Spanish and French football federations to leave himself available to the Football Association - but on the proviso that he be allowed to do the job part-time alongside his role with The Saints. The FA have so far shown no desire to enter into such an arrangement, but Rutten suggests they should think again.

“Enrique is doing a good job at the moment, with 6 wins out of 6 since he took over after Qatar - even if the opposition haven’t been the best. But if and when the time comes, rocheyb would be an excellent choice. He has raised Southampton from a lower mid-table team to regular challengers for the Premier League title and an emerging force in the Champions League. And half the players in England either play for him or have done so at some point in their careers, so I think the FA would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn’t at least entertain the idea of having him do the job his way.”

“I’m an experienced professional footballer,” smiled Rutten. “And a World Cup winner. So you can take it from me - shooting yourself in the foot is not a good tactic at any level of the game!”

 

[rocheyb]

Sunday 15th January, 2023

Premier League - Matchday 22
LEEDS UNITED vs SOUTHAMPTON
Elland Road, Leeds; Att: 38,159

SAINTS Team News - 3-5-2: Roel Rutten moves to the left of the defensive three to accommodate the return of Diego Reyes into the Ball-Playing Defender role, with Sergey Radimov dropping to the substitutes’ bench in the only change to the team that started against Newcastle; Vivian Rolland, the on-loan keeper from Saint Etienne, joins Radimov, Westley and Jorginho among the subs.

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Leeds - 4-4-2: Centre-back Adrian Smith is a Saints Academy graduate who didn’t quite make the grade at St. Mary’s; Jack Payne made his way to Leeds via Gillingham, Peterborough United and Charlton Athletic; Andrej Bacik is a Slovenia international; Nigel McCartney was called up for England in November but awaits his first cap.

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Our next two matches are the FA Cup tie at Burnley and the 2nd leg of the Capital One Cup Semi-Final at home to Coventry, into which we bring a 3-1 lead from the 1st leg. So I’ve put out my first XI - or as close as I can get - in pursuit of Premier League points, trusting that my rotation players will be able to win those two games. I instruct normal tackles and tell my already supremely confident team to pick up where they left off last time (with my fingers crossed that they are not already over-confident).

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: The home side kick-off, attacking from left-to-right.
- 4mins: Luke Shaw’s cross from the left wing bounces off the crossbar, with George Long frantically back-peddling, trying to get underneath it.
- 5mins: Sercan Calik’s right-wing corner forces Long into action again, to push the ball away at the back post to stop the ball going directly in. the corner is cleared and Giammarco Stangoni shoots just wide to the left of goal.
- 6mins: Adrian Smith injures himself with a hard landing after winning a header from Jorgensen.
- 11mins: Shaw exchanges passes with Stangoni to get to the byline on the left, crossing high to the far post where Calik gets up well but heads the ball wide, across goal.
- 12mins: The heavens open. Cold sleet and rain descend upon the players and turn the pitch into a soggy ice-rink.
- 14mins: Nigel McCartney’s free-kick from 25-yards goes narrowly wide of the right-hand post.
- 16mins: Tin Jedvaj slides in to make a goal-saving tackle by denying Zac Frew at the near post, after an inswinging free-kick from the right touchline by Bauwens.
- 17mins: Ardean-Webb, Stangoni and Shaw combine down the left wing to play Kingsley Idris into the inside-left channel. He evades Conroy by keeping the ball on his left side and taking an angled shot which Long pushes behind for a corner.
- 18mins: Ardean-Webb steals in to head narrowly wide from Calik’s corner.
- 19mins: Yellow card for Adrian Smith for clattering into Christoffer Jorgensen.
- 21mins: A forward pass by Payne reaches Tom Adeyemi midway inside Southampton’s half, and he feeds Bacik in the gap between Rutten and Shaw. The Slovenian shoots from the angle but Louis Cruse saves.
- 26mins: Mark Ardean-Webb lifts the ball forward from halfway and Idris comes deep to head it on to Jorgensen. The Danish striker moves in front of Smith and then past Conroy and shoots from the edge of the area; Long makes a flying catch to his right. Then, yellow card for Roel Rutten for diving in to bring down McCartney who was about to latch onto Frew’s through ball inside the D. Rutten is lucky that it’s not a red card…
- 27mins: …Bacik’s free-kick is well-saved by Cruse in the top-right corner.
- 29mins: Jorgensen goes down after just passing the ball and needs treatment.
- 40mins: After a long period in which both teams struggle to get to grips with the atrocious weather conditions, Sercan Calik sends a low right-wing corner to the angle of the 6-yard box where Mark ARDEAN-WEBB volleys the ball into the far side of the goal for his 1st goal of the season. 1-0.

HALF-TIME: LEEDS UNITED 0-1 SOUTHAMPTON

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It was a poor first-half, due to a combination of bad weather and possibly over-confidence among our players, but we hold a slender lead at the break. Leeds had a few chances, too, so it’s a close game at the moment. I assertively tell the players to not get complacent.

2nd Half Highlights
- 47mins: Mario Pugliese passes square to Ardean-Webb midway inside the Leeds half, and he arrows a precision 20-yard pass to Sercan Calik on the corner of the area. The Belgian shows great skill to step inside Bauwens but his drive is just too high to trouble George Long.
- 53mins: Adrian Smith prods the ball away from Jorgensen in midfield but the Dane gets the ball back from Pugliese and races away from the Leeds centre-back before side-stepping Bauwens on his way into the area. As he bears down on the right corner of the 6-yard box, he strikes right-footed and is denied by a smart save by Long.
- 57mins: Sergey Radimov comes on to replace the already booked Roel Rutten and we switch to hard tackling.
- 63mins: Neat play around the D - possible now that the rain has stopped - between Stangoni, Ardean-Webb, Jorgensen and Idris provides a shooting chance for Jorgensen but his floated effort does little to tax Long.
- 68mins: Calik intervenes to rescue a miss-plsced header by Pugliese and Jorgensen advances into the final third, on the right, before bringing the ball infield and passing to Stangoni near the D. With three defenders around him, Stangoni goes down and everybody stops except Kingsley Idris who is onto the loose ball in a flash. He delays his shot to let retreating defenders run beyond him but his right-foot shot is parried by Long and cleared by Grimmer.

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- 69mins: Both of our forwards are struggling to impose themselves on the game, so I decide to switch formation to 4-4-1-1, bringing Luke Shaw to left-back, Radimov out to right-back and the left-winger Tom Ince on to replace Kingsley Idris, leaving Christoffer Jorgensen up-front as a Complate Forward with Stangoni as a No.10 Trequartista. Reset the OIs and maintain hard tackling.
- 72mins: Mark Ardean-Webb needs treatment after a kick in the shin from McCartney.
- 74mins: Stangoni gets in to the left of the Leeds central defenders but his tame shot from the edge of the area floats aimlessly wide.
- 75mins: Shane Westley replaces Mark Ardean-Webb, who is struggling following that whack from McCartney.
- 76mins: Adeyemi heads away Sercan Calik’s left-wing corner, but Tom Ince controls the ball on his chest in the D, moves to the left to avoid an incoming challenge and volleys just over-the-bar.
- 83mins: A powerful header from Tin Jedvaj is caught by Long, after a Calik free-kick on the right.
- 90mins+1: Jorgensen has a tame header easily saved.
- 90mins+3: Pugliese carelessly gets caught in possession midway inside his own half by Smith. The ex-Saint engages in a one-two with Zac Frew and only a strong save by Cruse prevents the ex-Gunner from grabbing a dramatic late equaliser. But the danger is only half cleared and Leeds work the ball out to the right where Grimmer gets a cross in and Sergey Radimov has to be very careful to make a clearance close to the goal-line with Frew lurking behind him.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
SERCAN CALIK (SOUTHAMPTON) - 8.3
Wide Midfielder - Right_Support: 0 goals; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
Not a very good performance, particularly from the forwards’ point-of-view, but we get the 3 points away from home and the majority of these players can be rested and rotated through the next couple of matches to keep us fresh for the next Premier League encounter. I calmly tell the players that we got away with it today and that they will need to play better in future. There was a universally good response to that chat [...but you'll have to take my word for it, because I forgot to take the screenshot!]

 

[rocheyb]

Sunday 15th January, 2023

A few results have gone our way recently. Arsenal drew 2-2 with West Brom in midweek and lost 0-1 at home to Leicester today to lose 5 points on us. Man City were held to a 2-2 draw yesterday at Coventry, and even though Manchester United beat Fulham 4-1 at home, they are still within our reach if we maintain our winning form. Chelsea remain comfortably out in-front, though, having won 19 of their 22 Premier League matches, so far.

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Sky Sports News are questioning Jerome Sinclair’s place in the England squad - having been beaten to it yesterday by the Echo Online article above!

 

[rocheyb]

Monday 16th January, 2023

Chelsea win 2-0 at home to Liverpool in the Monday Night Football match. They are now 11 points clear and 12 points ahead of us, though we have a game in-hand and still have to play them again.

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Kostas Kabastanakis scores 4mins into his comeback game, in the U21s at Aston Villa. But Elias Migliorini, who was also trying to regain match fitness and was limited to a 60mins run-out tonight, is going to be out for another month with a broken wrist. This is the third wrist/arm injury he has suffered since mid-November so I think he needs some corrective surgery - though there doesn’t seem to be the option to send him to a specialist, which sometimes crops up.