Southampton 2.0 leapfrog the originals

 

In a springtime ode to A Christmas Carol, Southampton Vs Brighton shone light on the Saints past, present and the future both on and off the pitch 

While Brighton fans might hate it, the Southampton 2.0 tag is appropriate. At the start of the 2010s the two topped League One, Southampton would complete back to back promotions the following season whereas Brighton would remain in the Championship until 2017. 

Brighton owner Tony bloom (in 2017) referred to Southampton as a ‘club we can look to model ourselves on.’ Southampton at the time coming off the back of an 8th place finish, Europa League group stage participation and a League Cup final. 

That was then. As for the now, Brighton have well and truly leapfrogged Southampton. Everything that was said about the Saints then is the same rhetoric around the Seagulls now. 

Both sides will be playing football in other European countries next season, sadly for Saints that country is Wales. 

At present Brighton are at the peak of their powers. With no due disrespect, a potential 6th place finish is the glass ceiling for a side like Brighton. Southampton achieving this back in the 2015/16 season adds to the parallels surrounding the 2.0 commentary.

To Brighton, Southampton serve as a stark reminder that view from the mountain top is pretty but the fall can be excruciating. Along the way Southampton lost a plethora of players; Van Dijk, Mane, Clyne, Lovren and these are just the ones that went to Liverpool. Alexis Mac-Allister and Moises Caicedo both look set for exits, question marks over whether Mitoma or Ferguson will be poached. De Zerbi, the Italian Ronald Koeman, will he see Brighton as the most elite posting he’ll get or could the bright lights of Serie A come calling at some point.

While I can’t imagine Brighton offering Mark Hughes £2million to save them from relegation next season, the reality for any team outside the supposed top six is that a few poor decisions could derail the project.

Ghosts of Southampton 'past'

A midfield comprised of players that will soon be referred to as former players. JWP and Lavia continue their midfield partnership, alas a duo highly unlikely to join us in the Championship next season.

Both Walcott and Elynoussi have contracts expiring at the end of this season, Moi scoring his first goal of the season that ultimately will be the last for the club. Assisted, of course, by JWP who 5 minutes later played through Walcott to deftly lift the ball over Steele in the Brighton goal. Recurring pantomime villian VAR (Scrooge) had other ideas. A fourth incident of VAR overturning a goal for Southampton this calendar year, Walcott denied would could’ve been his last goal for the club.

A future with no VAR is a slight plus, no more will the hectic euphoria of scoring be snatched away from us.

Those present next season

With the centre of the midfield reminiscent of a ‘here’s what you could have won’ game show segment, elsewhere you had with Bree deputising at right back. Foreshadowing for the first weekend of August. Aribo as the 9, easily the most bizarre selection in the XI. For better or for worse the Nigerian will likely be here next season. I doubt he will continue in this role although his versatility given the playing demands of the Championship could prove useful.

Alongside Aribo, Alcaraz was operating somewhat as a no. 10, he continued to be a goal threat, having Southamptons best chance of the first half. A fast breakaway, combining with Walcott, the Argentine skewed his shot wide. As mentioned previously, Alcaraz is exactly the sort of player who could thrive in a Russell Martin team (should he be in charge next season.) Lots of internal and external negativity surrounds Southampton recent recruitment, Charly an outlier in this looking a key player going forward.

Clammer-man and the Academy Boys

A squad selection that ticked all past, present and future boxes was Tino Livramento back on the bench. 392 days after sustaining an injury at this very ground, a fitting moment to return. Livramento while injured became a “clammer-man” of sorts, feeling among the fan base being his return will start a new dawn - even if that new dawn is in the Championship.

Indeed in the, roughly, 20 minutes he played he posted respectable numbers. 24 touches, Completing 10/13 passes & winning 2/2 ground duels - a solid return to the fray.

The hope is predatory clubs are put off by the recency of Livramento’ injury allowing us to have him next season. Southampton handed Premier League debuts to two players who themselves may be part of the future project. 

Dominic Ballard & Kamari Doyle.

Ballard with one senior goal, Cambridge United (A) in the Carabao Cup second round, coming on to lead the line against Europa League chasing Brighton. There’s levels to this. Doyle on the other hand coming on for his senior debut in all competitions never mind the Premier League. Regardless of the lack of pressure with relegation confirmed, both players deserved the chance to step up having been critical to the B teams title win. 

Aside from Nathan Tella briefly in the Covid season, academy graduates have seldom had opportunity to play for the senior side. To see both, finally, get some minutes is undoubtedly a positive.

Unlike the climax of A Christmas Carol, Southampton do not turn into a kinder, gentler version of themselves post Brighton. Instead the reflective exercise enables some perspective in relation the state of play on and off the field. 

That perspective is that football is inherently cyclical, Brighton are at a peak whereas we are at the trough. This low will not last, future stars like Ballard, Doyle & Livramento providing belief that ‘good times’ are ahead.

What are Sport Republic RUSSling up?

Friday 19th May, AM, the messianic reporter Adam Blackmore has current Swansea City manager Russell Martin leading the race to become the next manager of Southampton. Friday afternoon The Athletic report an appointment is expected next week. 

The Brighton born former Scotland international defender is relatively new to management, taking charge of MK Dons in November 2019 before being headhunted for the Swansea City job in August 2021. 

His first season in the Championship he led the Swans to a 15th placed finish, this season finishing 10th. Perhaps on first inspection not the most eye catching CV. So why is the Englishmen, with Scotland caps, plying his trade in Wales high upon Sport Republic’s (SR) list?

At 37 years old Russell Martin certainly meets the profile of a young ‘up and coming’ manager to helm the flagship club of SR’s proposed multi club enterprise. Multi is this instance meaning two; Southampton & Goztepe (Turkey.) While perhaps not as Premier League savvy as others in contention, he has earned a reputation for playing an attractive style of football in his short managerial career. At the culmination of the 2020-21 season only Manchester City and Barcelona had a  higher average possession than Martin’s MK Dons side in Europe. Again last season Swansea had an average of 63.8% possession, second in the championship to champions Burnley. 

In contrast Southampton averaged 44.5% possession. 

Granted, there are relative economies of scale between the two divisions nevertheless an impressive statistic.

Ankersen’s master plan

Given the epic disaster of the mad Welshman, it’s natural to be skeptical about Rasmus Ankersen leading the search for the new manager. Particularly when two quotes from the Dane loiter in the minds of most Saints fans. Quotes synonymous with the trials and tribulations of this season

‘If it isn’t broke, think about breaking it” & ‘The league table lies’

As jarring as these maxims are the theory behind them does have some vague validity. The thinking behind the anti-establishment notion of the latter quote is that football, being a low scoring sport, is more impacted by random events in a match. A points tally therefore not totally indicative of a teams overall performance. 

Metrics such as xG differential and goal difference are seen as better indicators. 

So how does the potential appointment of Russell Martin shape up against this.

Unsurprisingly Martin’s Swansea side posted much better numbers in these metrics than Southampton this season. A goal difference of +4 whereas Southampton, at time of writing, -35. In terms of xG, Swansea 64.62 scoring 68 goals in total, in comparison Saints xG is 39.42 only scoring 31 goals. One side slightly over performing, one side significantly underperforming.

Promising signs for Russell-Ball. 

Coaching Masterclass - Playing preferences and philosophy

When the name Russell Martin (RM) first emerged it was a Talksport/Southern Daily Echo report that he and Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher were two names on the shortlist. Bizarrely, Plymouths high flying season, winning the League One title meant Martin out of the two was the greater unknown. A combination of a slow work day and fan curiosity, I checked out Russell Martin’s Masterclass episode on YouTube (The Coaches Voice.)

Here’s the key takeaways.

Frequently when discussing tactical approach to the game RM refers to his preferences. First key preference he states is for his sides to control or have the majority of the ball. Often managers use words like preferences or principals as buzzwords however with the second most average possession in the Championship it shows a coach following through with his ideals. Defensively, it’s his preference to never have big distances or have players waiting for a counter attack. Emphasising team shape and cohesion.

Connections and distances are important to RM.

Assuming the obvious players leave, below is brief attempt at how Southampton could look as a Russell Martin side.

The Southampton way of 4-2-2-2 would almost certainly be abandoned with 3-4-2-1 / 5-2-2-1 the formation of choice. RM though describes, in possession, he wants the pitch to look like a 2-3-2-3. One of the three centre backs, usually the middle CB, stepping into midfield to help control the ball. Ball playing isn’t necessarily a quality associated with the CBs you expect to stay on in the championship. Duje Caleta-Car, probably the best passer of the remaining defenders. He alongside the returning Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek are the best fit for this system.

The two central midfielders in this structure are a typical 4 & 6, a deep laying playmaker alongside a more typical CM. This, given expected departures, could be the hardest part to guesstimate. Will Smallbone returns from his season long loan at Stoke City you imagine he starts next season. 

In the next ‘2’ are two 8s / 10s who he asks to “roll,” essentially dropping deep to draw defenders forward allowing space in behind - space for former Saint Michael Obafemi as explained in the video. If defences don’t engage these players interlink to carve openings via ball carries and smart passing. Immediately Stu Armstrong and Alcaraz spring to mind for these roles

The attacking ‘3’ comprised of two advance wing backs and a central striker. Wing backs are crucial to maintaining width in Martin’s structure. Tino Livramento or James Bree would suit playing in the right channel, hopefully Perraud stays slotting into the left channel. The striker is encouraged to play in between centre backs and not get stuck up against them. Given RM’s use of Obafemi, before his transfer to Burnley in January, Adam Armstrong best fits that type of striker profile. Equally Adams and Mara are hardly target men, both you’d assume would be able to work in this capacity. 

The external noise now is that this appointment is, if not imminent, then certainly firmly in the pipeline. A new Manager, a new Head of Recruitment (Aberdeen’s Darren Mowbray) & Jason Wilcox starting as Director of Football, Sport Republic are showing intent to establish structure behind the scenes. 

Hopefully these all lead to success in the upcoming campaign, in fairness Sport Republic would be hard pressed to have a worse second season.

We knew it was probably over, it is now

Rishi Sunak’s calendar for May 13th:

- Southampton Vs Fulham 3pm

- House of Commons Eurovision party 8pm

Prime Minister in attendance for arguably the biggest home match this season. A match with a more of a Question Time feel than that of a defining moment in the history of Southampton. Anything other than a victory against Fulham would see Southampton relegated to the championship after 11 years in the Premier League, even then an Everton win Sunday would relegate the south coast side. 

Southampton 4-1 Fulham (Otherwise known as 0-2)

Biggest worry going into the crunch clash with the Cottagers was that we’d completely capitulate and accept relegation willingly.

We duly did. Bare minimum of fight and endeavour, clearly too much to ask for.

Fulham bettered us in every statistic. Fully deserved of the away victory however they won at a canter. The hangover from Monday night against Forest evident.

Southampton posted a xG of 0.35 from a total of 5 shots, only one shot was inside the box. A towering header from Onuachu from a KWP cross that sailed over the bar. This chance contributing 0.21 towards our total xG. The other efforts all speculative strikes from outside the box. Conversely Fulham had a xG of 1.40 from 9 shots, 4 inside the box including the pivotal goals.

One particular stat did see Southampton out-score their opponents, 4-1. Sadly though the stat of topic here is offsides. Much like the Bournemouth game, a hope inducing goal was chalked off for offside. JWP slipped through Charly Alcaraz early in the second half. One on one, Charly calmly slotted home however it would not stand. Unlike the Bournemouth game though the officials caught this in the moment, at least a painful purple VAR screen of doom didn’t loom over St Mary’s.

The impending sense of doom did come a mere 57 seconds later. Fulham came forward with Tom Cairney, who slipped it through to Harrison Reed. The pass slightly in front of the former Saint, the tenacious midfielder slid in against Lyanco, the ball ricocheted into the path of Vinicius Junior to score into an empty net from 6 yards out. Fitting the academy graduate, deemed surplus to requirements and not up to the standard when sold to Fulham in 2020, would play a role in our demise. 

0-1, hapless and helpless the stubborn turd is finally flushing.

The aforementioned Onuachu chance was in the 54th minute, after going a goal down. Despite having a 6ft 8in striker Southampton only managed 3 successful crosses, Onuachu himself won 7/9 of his aerial duels in the match. If only there could have been some synergy between these two stats we might have seen more goalscoring intent. 

When you offer so little going forward you know what’s going to happen, particularly with the narrative surrounding a certain Fulham striker. Mitrovic, returning after an eight game suspension, came on as a 65th minute substitute, in the 72nd he’d add a second. A cross into the box saw a mismatch with KWP marking the Serbian international, only one winner. 0-2, I wonder how far Hull, Preston and Rotherham are from Southampton?

Relegation - capital R

Gutless, pathetic, absent, all perfectly valid descriptions of the performance this afternoon and, indeed, this season. The full time whistles blows, finally the torment of potential salvation has been removed. Another former Saint, Luis Boa Morte - current Fulham coach, appears to offer his condolences to Ruben Selles as relegation is confirmed, capital R adjacent to Southampton in the league table. Alongside Boa Morte, Harrison Reed took to social media to offer his commiserations and well wishes for the next season. In contrast the Southampton squad half-heartedly partook in a lap of ‘honour.’ JWP & KWP adrift from the collective, walking closer to the fans. A goodbye of sorts perhaps.

The confirmation of relegation need not be a source of disappointment. It was hardly a shocking outcome, the proverbial writing on the wall emerging as early as November 2022. Instead the clarification allows us to look forward to pastures new, a new manager must be first of the agenda. Bringing us nicely onto the reports of the two named candidates prior to the Fulham match.

Fourth time the charm for Sport Republic

According to the Southern Daily Echo; Russel Martin & Steven Schumacher are the two in line to become Sport Republic’s fourth manager in their relatively short tenure at Southampton. Honestly, neither inspire great optimism. Current Swansea manager Russel Martin, led the Swans to a 15th placed finish in his first season & a 10th placed finish in the championship this season. Not exactly pulling up many trees. An appointment you’d expect from a club in Championship purgatory, struggling to navigate the English second tier, not a club recently descended from the top flight with ambitions to bounce straight back. 

Steven Schumacher is a curious name to pop up, having won the League One title with Plymouth Argyle this season. It connotes memories of the Nathan Jones appointment back in November. As a Premier League side we appointed a manager with Championship experience and now as a Championship side we look to a manager with League One experience. Call me unoriginal but surely there’s something to be said for making an appointment with previous experience in promotion from our new division.

These two, you presume, form part of a wider shortlist but is this calibre of manager we are shopping for? Back in November Aston Villa appointed Unai Emery, Wolves appointed Julen Lopetegui and Southampton opted for a mad Welshman who couldn’t do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke. Are we once again going to sell ourselves short in the managerial department?

In a club statement Saturday evening “We understand that significant improvement is required, and at the end of the season we will announce our immediate next steps and provide details of how the club will operate moving forward.” The suggestion here that it won’t be until after the Liverpool (H) game that we hear anything concrete about next seasons plan. Not unexpected, naturally time will be taken to assess the damage done. 

In 2005 relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season, this year we’re left in this weird state of limbo. Two games remain, how will these be approached? Given the lack of application shown when Premier League status was on the line, you’d be wise to anticipate more of the same performance wise. Certain players may aim to put themselves in the shop window in the coming fixtures, an infuriating notion. Alternatively, Selles could give young players a chance as the season concludes. As Selles said in his pre match press conference this weekend, he already does - an indicative response of the troubles Southampton have had this season.

We haven’t beaten a top 10 side this season, with Brighton (A) and Liverpool (H) remaining I doubt this statistic will change. Final away game of the season normally sees fancy dress aplenty, Rasmus Ankersen in a grim reaper costume anyone?

Samba flair in the shadow of the river Trent

 

I sit in my 2011/12 Away shirt, Do Prado 10 on the back. “Yellows, Yellows, Yellows!” Hoping someway, somehow, it spurs Southampton onto a performance reminiscent of our last battle at the City ground. A 0-3 victory with Do Prado, Connolly & Schneiderlin scoring. 

Certain players in the current squad somewhat emulate the scorers on that day.  Like Morgan Schneiderlin, Romeo Lavia joined Southampton as a promising teenager. Ever so slight difference between Strasbourg and Manchester City. Schneiderlin stayed until he was 25, it will be a miracle if Lavia is still here by then. David Connolly and Theo Walcott, both consummate professionals playing key roles despite being the ‘wrong’ side of thirty. 

Perhaps the most comparible; Guly Do Prado and Charly Alcaraz. Ignoring the lazy Latin American parallels, they share the ‘can’t defend well but can score’ trait. On occasion both have/had the tendency to look disinterested, once the touch paper is lit though a different beast emerges. Alcaraz certainly has the capacity to become a cult hero like Guly - ideally no drink driving drama please Charly.

I imagine the first draft of the team sheet had Elynoussi starting however repeated sofascore notifications from the Amex stadium no doubt forced Rubén’s hand to play the more attacking Walcott. The key takeaway being a recognised striker starting as Che Adams starts for the first time since March 18th.

What’s absolutely bonkers about the league this season, even a defeat tonight doesn’t mathematically finish us. More lives than a proverbial cat. 

A striker striking?

Adams back for his first start in 6 matches, two shots in opening 7 minutes - shock that a natural striker has two strikes on goal. It appears Selles has taken notes from fellow countryman Guardiola as Maitland-Niles operates as an inverted fullback and its working! In possession AMN & Lavia play as two 6s allowing Charly and JWP to be more advanced centrally causing trouble to Forest’s defensive shape. Selles has been guilty of sticking with the 4-2-2-2 ‘Southampton way’ I admire the tactical change to a 4-3-3.

Saints dominating a match, no prizes for guessing who scored first. Forest, 1-0. Awoniyi, his last goal was at st Mary’s. Three minutes later, a second for Awoniyi. 50% of his Premier league goals have come against Southampton. Charly Alcaraz gives the ball away and after a bit of penalty area ping pong it’s volleyed home by the Nigerian. 2-0

Despite trailing 2-0 we’ve had the majority of possession however it’s a transitional moment that leads to a Southampton goal. Adams picks up a loose pass from Gibbs-White, it’s three on two, he plays through Stu Armstrong who deftly slides it across to Charly, showing great composure to take a touch a slot it past Keylor Navas. 1-2, fight in the old dog yet?

Southampton dominance resumes as Walcott pokes a shot agonisingly wide. You get the feeling there’s another goal in this half.

Southampton always seem to have a hiccup in their locker capable of derailing any sort of momentum. Sure enough Maitland-Niles fouls Brennan Johnson to give Morgan Gibbs White the chance to score from the spot. Initially it’s a well executed interception by AMN, he then fails to check his surroundings while attempting to clear, slicing the back of the Forest forwards leg rather than the ball. This, plus the third Newcastle goal at St James Park last time out, makes it errors leading to goals in consecutive matches for the Arsenal loanee.

Half time, 3-1.

A tale of a few Brazilians

Half time away at Newcastle, myself and those around me discussed how nervy the second period might be, this week I simply opened another beer embracing the inevitability of it all. More fool me.

Due to four goals in the first half I didn’t mention Bella-Kotchap being replaced by Lyanco due to injury - Hamstring on this occasion, to mix it up from continual shoulder issues. The loco Brazilian would go onto ignite the optimist within us all. Heading home from a JWP corner, a header so powerful that not even the face of legendary Keylor Navas could prevent it crossing the goal line. 

51 minutes, 3-2.

I always imagined Lyanco’s first goal for the club would lead to a bookable offence, be it taking his shirt off or jumping into the crowd. Celebrations, given gamestate, were relatively understated. Turning to the bench as he ran back to our half donning a menacing yet ecstatic grin. True warrior style of course Lyanco started bleeding after scoring. We get it lad, you’re a bit of a gladiator.

Our Brazilian came off the bench to rejuvenate our appetite, one of Forest’s starting Brazilians would crush our spirit. Not content with just an assist for Awoniyi’s second goal, Danilo would finish a flowing Forest team move. Gibbs-White delicately set him up to smash home inside the area. 4-2, if Lyanco’s goal was a new hope this was the empire striking back. It appeared another Brazilian would further compile our misery as Felipe scored. Wheeling away, leaping into a flip. Ruining cocky celebrations like this are one of the good points of VAR.

In credit to Selles and Saints we continued to give it a go, a mentality that has been absent more than once this season. A siege on the Forest goal in added time saw Lavia fouled in the area. Penalty Southampton. There’s been more stonewall penalties given but there’s been more stonewall penalties not given so we’ll take it. JWP copies the earlier technique of Gibbs-White and buries it down the middle of the goal. 4-3, The depressing question regarding will this be his last goal for the Saints looms.

Other than an Onuachu blocked shot we struggle to carve a genuine chance to level the match.

Full time 4-3.

End of the road? 

When thinking about the match you have to dissociate it from the bigger picture. 9 points from 12 available were needed prior to kick off Monday night. The enormity of the task cannot be understated. As I wrote previously, in the waning days of the season what matters is showing fight and not whimpering on like a sad dog reluctant owners haven’t put down. 

Going into the match 80% of Forest’s points this season have come at home, notably beating Brighton & Liverpool, a respective fortress. A defeat in all likelihood the most realistic outcome. Although to score three goals away from home. To, in spite of trailing, at no point portray a sense of the game passing us by. For Selles to abandon principle playing style to adopt a new formation and strategy shows a level of managerial nouse that has been lacking previously. All these are positives to cling to, granted they have an air of straw clutching but some positives are better than none. If we have learned anything this season it’s that. 

A chance to put a cat amongst the pigeons with a victory instead the proverbial cat somehow has a life however it’s purely academic at this point. We have the luxury of our fixture versus Fulham taking place before those immediately above us therefore we can’t be relegated before we even step onto that hallow St Mary’s turf. All we can do is win this game and let what happens happen. When the inevitable happens though you’d like the final act to be out of our hands rather than self inflicted. Huge caveat that the impending relegation is largely self inflicted but let’s not sign the dotted line ourselves. 

A matter of Tyne

 

‘We all follow Southampton! Over land and sea AND PORTSMOUTH!” Perhaps those lyrics have never been more appropriate. Flying over the English Channel into London to catch a connecting train from King’s Cross to Newcastle Central. Indeed even the Portsmouth element of the chant was present with a London barman announcing he was a skate. He didn’t share my enthusiasm for Plymouth Argyle’s promotion out of League One. The Green Army doing a good job in pissing off the blue few in our absence - look forward to meeting them next season in the Championship in the Mayflower Derby.

Newcastle are one of those teams we never seem to win away at. In the Premier League era we have won three times at At James’s Park, two of which in the 1990s. 

This week at right back 

The absolute abject display against Bournemouth has stymied any optimism for the remainder of the season. A week that had seen Southampton relinquish, twice, a two goal lead at Arsenal and register an eleventh home defeat of the season, Newcastle conversely hit ‘six of the best’ past Tottenham and in preparation for the move out the Goodison Park, they duly demolished Everton. 

Politely, the Geordie faithful exuded a cautious confidence. Referencing the fact the we had won at Chelsea and that despite the final result not many sides score three at the Emirates. Upon seeing Lyanco in the starting XI at right back thought they’d have been salivating at the thought of Isak in that battle. 

Lyanco did provide a shock assist from right back in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final however other performances in that role include Palace (A) and Forest (H) in both of which Southampton lost by a single goal with the Brazilian losing possession leading to the goal. 

Lasting longer than Tottenham

We had Eddie Howe to thank ultimately for the stay of execution as Anthony Gordon got the nod to start wide left. A player visibly lacking confidence with a price tag you feel is weighing on him - more bust ups than goals since his arrival. Their two best chances of the first half fell to Gordon; one he smashed into the side netting & the other clipping the outside of the post as McCarthy came out to narrow the angle. Realistically if those chances had fallen to any other Newcastle player we’d have conceded in the first half.

Arguably the best chant of the day occurring in the first half as a small collective sang “20 minutes and we’re still here, 20 minutes and we’re still here!”

To Selles credit in the first half there was something resembling a strategy in our approach. Lavia, Stu Armstrong & Alcaraz are all adept ball carriers, upon winning the ball back from our mid/low block you could see the plan to drag ourselves up the pitch through the quality of these three. Alternatively feeding passes into the channel allowed Kamaldeen Sulemana to put the burners on past Dan Burn. 40 minutes in and not only was it surprisingly goalless but the plan was about to work. Lavia won back the ball (we really need to enjoy these final few games with him before a Premier League team picks him up in the offseason) pass to Alcaraz who strides towards the Gallowgate stand. In what is a relative novelty this season other players committed to the counter attack. Alcaraz plays the ball to his right to Sulemana who squares it across the face of goal for Armstrong to tuck home from 6 yards out. 0-1, what the fuck! 

Clearly the proximity to the Scottish border sparked a fire inside Armstrong as he scored his first goal since October 2022. We can utilise this away to Middlesbrough, Sunderland or perhaps both next season should they collectively shit the bed regarding playoffs.

Somewhat resembling office water cooler conversations, the common chatter at the urinals was that a rough second half awaited us. 

Howe stops flirting

Having flirted with us in the first half Eddie Howe saw sense and replaced Gordon for Calum Wilson. Isak Vs Lyanco. Grace and elegance Vs…… let’s say passion that’s a polite word. Sure enough the equaliser was Isak one on one with lyanco before sliding the ball across the goal for Wilson to slot home. 1-1. We’ve seen this film before!

To the credit of particularly McCarthy and Bednarek we defended, bizarrely, resolutely. I don’t think any of us in level 7 thought we’d see the game out but to see some resilience was admirable. 

I credited Selles for a somewhat cohesive plan in the first half. It would appear he abandoned the notion of such a thing entirely for the second half. We managed a total of zero shots and zero touches in the opposition box in the second half. Furthermore his substitutions, not for the first time, didn’t work. Stu and Sulemana had run their race, visibly tired in recovery runs. Lyanco too was struggling against the far quicker Isak. On 70 minutes we had a triple change. I’m conscious of the limited substitution windows that now exist  however the wholesale nature of changes is questionable. We would concede three times in the next 5 minutes. 

Reminiscent of Thursday night against Bournemouth a goal was disallowed for offside with the assistance of VAR. Much like the Bournemouth parody Lady Luck would again run out as a corner was flicked on at the near post by Bruno Guimaraes, substitute Theo Walcott could do nothing as the ball cannoned into the net off him. 2-1, upset for Walcott regarding this incident. He has been a true professional in the last few months, the man recently turned 34 and should be relaxing on a bench rather than spearheading a great escape. Even he can’t escape the voodoo around Southampton currently. 

Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be looking for a new permanent club in 23/24 season as it was revealed he was to part ways with Arsenal. His role in conceding the third goal however will not go down in his highlight reel for prospective clubs. Letting a long ball bounce before being pickpocketed by Wilson who rounded McCarthy to make it 3-1. Personally I would take on AMN on a permanent deal but this incident in isolation was rather awful.

1500 strong

As the full time whistle went, notably the first player to clap the travelling fans, 1500  in number for a side bottom of the league for their longest trip of the season, was Jan Bednarek. Imagine reading that at the start of the season. His attitude again continues to impress, a case could be made for next captain should JWP leave. 

Lavia looked inconsolable at full time. Remarkable that he is just 19 years old, carrying the weight of it all on his shoulders. I wish some of the deadwood showed his spirit. 

Bournemouth beating Leeds on Sunday means somehow we aren’t mathematically dead and buried. At some point we’ll be able to rip the plaster off and call the time of death. It could be at Forest on Monday depending on other results. On a positive note we can’t play any worse at the City Ground than we did at St Mary’s in January. If Forest at home was a sliding doors moment regarding the prospect of relegation, Monday night would be the locking of those doors. In a game that really could be the end of the line for our season you can’t really look past a 1-0 defeat.