Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article
Gallery: EFL Cup final preparations continue
Show/hide article…
Take a look at the best images from Staplewood Campus, as Southampton prepare for the EFL Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Go to the original article…
...chirpily given breath to by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Mirror.co.uk article
Southampton’s dressing room wall at Wembley will look different this weekend
Show/hide article…
Southampton supporters have been given the chance to pen a supportive message which will be printed on their team’s dressing room wall at Wembley this weekend.
Saints will attempt to win their first major trophy since the 1976 FA Cup when they face Manchester United in the EFL Cup final on Sunday.
And Under Armour have linked up with Southampton ahead of the game to allow fans the opportunity to write a message which will be read by their heroes on the big day.
All they need to do is post their message on Under Armour’s Twitter , Facebook or Instagram page.
Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse is dreaming of emulating club legend Bobby Stokes when Claude Puel’s men take on United.
Stokes famously scored the only goal when then-second division Saints stunned United at Wembley to land the FA Cup 41 years ago.
Like Stokes, midfielder Ward-Prowse was born along the M27 in Portsmouth and grew up supporting Saints’ bitter rivals.
England Under-21 captain Ward-Prowse said: “It’s obviously a nice affiliation to have with Bobby Stokes.
“Hopefully that trend can continue for this final. It would be an incredibly special moment if it was to happen."
Go to the original article…
...abeyantly assembled by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary
Summary of non-mainstream articles: 23/02/2017 20:58:03
|
| LAWRIE TALKS… ’79 LEAGUE CUP FINAL - Southampton FCDUGOUT || Jose Mourinho’s “winning spirit” is seeing Man Utd through gruelling fixture list – Claude PuelSQUAWKA |
| | REALSPORT101COM |
|
| | CÉDRIC PICKS HIS #MARCHTOWEMBLEY SONG - Southampton FCDUGOUT |
| | Betting: Jose Mourinho to add to trophy cabinet with EFL Cup winCITYAM |
|| Manchester United vs Southampton Prediction, Betting Tips, Preview & Live Stream Info | SportslensSPORTSLENS | ...subversively invented by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from London Evening Standard article
Manchester United vs Southampton: EFL Cup final preview
Show/hide article…
Jose Mourinho takes his Manchester United side to Wembley Stadium to face Southampton looking to win the EFL Cup for the fourth time.
The manager has made a habit of targeting the first competitive piece of silverware available during the season, having claimed the same trophy three times with Chelsea.
United beat Northampton, Manchester City, West Ham and Hull City to reach this stage, while Claude Puel - in his first season in English football - masterminded victories over Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool all without conceding a goal.
It is a first final appearance for Southampton in this competition since 1979, where they lost to Brian Clough’s all-conquering Nottingham Forest, while United are gearing up for their 10th outing and aiming for a fifth win.
Manchester United and Southampton meet at Wembley on February 26, with kick-off scheduled for 4.30pm.
The match will be televised live on Sky Sports 1. Alternatively, you can follow all the build-up and action from 3.30pm with Standard Sport’s London Football live blog.
Enter your email address below to be informed when coverage begins.
The biggest question marks for United ahead of the trip to Wembley is the fitness of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick, with both withdrawn during Wednesday’s win over Saint-Etienne.
Wayne Rooney could deputise for the Armenia international he is proves his fitness, while Jose Mourinho suggested Marouane Fellaini and Bastian Schweinsteiger could also feature.
Sunday’s showpiece is likely to come too soon for Southampton’s Sofiane Bofane, as he continues his rehabilitation alongside other key stars Virgil van Dijk and Charlie Austin.
Click here to place a bet.
Odds correct as of 5pm on February 22.
Go to the original article…
...disharmoniously forged by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Daily Echo article
Saints EFL Cup final ticket winners announced
Show/hide article…
The winners of the tickets to see Saints take on Manchester United in the EFL Cup final have been announced.
Michaela Clark from Southampton and Elaine Taylor are the lucky recipients of the pairs of tickets to the Wembley final.
Nearly 2,000 people entered the competition to witness the historic match.
You can pick up a 36-page pullout in Saturday’s Daily Echo building up to the game, and the Echo will have live coverage throughout the big day from both Southampton and Wembley.
Click through the gallery above to see where you can watch the match.
Go to the original article…
...groaningly begot by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from The Independent article
The sad story of Bobby Stokes: Southampton’s forgotten Cup final hero
Show/hide article…
There is a statue outside St Mary’s of Ted Bates, the former player, manager, director and president who gave a lifetime of service to Southampton Football Club and took them into the top tier of domestic football for the first time in 1966.
Among Southampton diehards, no one argues that such recognition is not deserved. Many, though, think he ought to have company, perhaps of the player who scored the club’s most famous goal, the one that won the club’s only major trophy in 131 years.
Given that this was the goal, seven minutes from time and the only one of the game, that beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final of 1976, it is being recalled this week in particular as the current Southampton side prepares to take on United at Wembley again on Sunday.
So too is the rather sad story of its executioner, the straggly haired attacking midfielder, Bobby Stokes.
I interviewed Bobby 22 years ago - 22 years this week, as it happens - as part of a Where Are They Now? series for The Independent. Back then, pre-Google, there was no trail of digital footprints to help track down a subject and it took several phone calls before I found him at the Harbour View Cafe by the docks in Portsmouth, part of a transport hub known as The Hard.
The cafe was owned by his cousin, Maria, and he had worked there, he told me, for about eight years, brewing tea, cooking breakfasts, wiping down tables and chatting with the bus and taxi drivers and with the stream of travellers heading from the ferries to the railway station who kept the place busy from dawn to dusk.
When I suggested, as tactfully as I could, that it might seem an unlikely situation in which to find a man who had scored the winner in an FA Cup final, I was struck immediately by his humility. “I don’t wear my medal around my neck,” he said. “But I’ll happily recall every detail of the match with anyone who has 90 minutes to spare. It was the best day of my life.”
Clearly, the goal had not made his fortune, although there was no hint of bitterness. He did confess that after 11 years at Southampton he had been disappointed not to be given a testimonial. Yet that had been remedied, he was pleased to say, after he decided “to just brassneck it and ask” a few weeks before we spoke. A series of fundraising events were in the planning.
Yet the story was to take a sadder turn. Only three months later, Stokes was dead. Living alone after his marriage broke up, his health suffered. An infection turned to bronchial pneumonia and, in spite of moving back to the family home on the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth, he was not able to fight it off.
Today, Maria says she will never forget losing him. “It was heartbreaking,” she told me. "He was my cousin but we were more like brother and sister. My mum and his mum were sisters and their houses backed on to one another. To get to Rob’s house - he was always Rob to us - you just climbed over the fence. We were all the same family, really.
"He lived in Southsea when he married and after they broke up he was choked, lonely I think. I used to pick him up in the morning sometimes and I knew he wasn’t right.
"He would always shrug and say he was okay but eventually I brought him home. To begin with he seemed to improve but when the pneumonia took hold that was it. I was pregnant and had an antenatal clinic the day it happened and I didn’t get back before the ambulance took him away.
“He’d told me he wanted me to have a girl and that when she was born he wanted me to put her on his shoulder. It was a girl. She was born four days after he died. I took her to see him and I did lay her on his shoulder.”
Stokes’ life had begun to change within months of his Wembley triumph. The Charity Shield at the start of the following season was the last time they would play together. They had won the Cup as a Second Division side, the underdogs against a resurgent United, but the manager, Lawrie McMenemy, needed to build a team to win promotion.
Stokes lost his regular place and by May 1977 had been sold to the Washington Diplomats of the North American Soccer League. He stayed for two seasons, in between times achieving his dream of signing for Portsmouth, who had rejected him as a schoolboy, although the move was not successful.
On returning to England permanently, he played for a number of non-League teams, followed the well-trodden footballer’s path into the pub trade and also worked as a labourer in a plumbing and heating business before settling to his job at the Harbour View.
The plumber who took him on was John Robson, who had played professionally in Scotland and sometimes lined up alongside Bobby in charity games.
“He was such a warm guy and everybody loved him,” Robson said. "He never wanted to brag about what he’d done. He liked a drink - that’s how it was in football in those days - and he loved to meet up with his old teammates, but he never thought he was anyone special.
"There was an occasion when I took him to the village near Bishop Auckland where I was born and he disappeared. After looking in all the pubs in the village my brother-in-law and I eventually found him at my old football club. Someone had recognised him and invited him in to meet the lads.
“Afterwards, he couldn’t get over it. ‘Wasn’t that fantastic,’ he said. ‘They wanted to listen to me and I’m nobody’. I said to him ‘Bob - you scored the goal that beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final!’”
Robson later tried to persuade Stokes to set up his own cafe in Southampton. "We found a place on Shirley High Street that would have been perfect.
"I told him we’d put his pictures on the wall and I came up with a name for the place, The 83rd Minute. He said ‘why would you call it that?’ and I said 'because that’s the time you scored the goal!
“He would have been great but days before we were meant to get started on the place he told me he couldn’t do it. He never really explained why. Maybe it was the responsibility, maybe he just didn’t want to be the centre of attention, I don’t know. He just said he couldn’t do it.”
Jim Steele, the Scottish centre half in the 1976 team and a teammate for the Diplomats too, believes Stokes simply was not equipped to deal with life after football.
“He made some money in America but not a lot,” Steele said. “When he came back he ran the pub but he wasn’t cut out for that, really. I just think he didn’t know what to do with himself after the football had finished.”
There are pictures of Stokes on the walls at St Mary’s and his Cup final shirt is on display in a frame in the boardroom but a suite named after him disappeared during changes to the stadium’s infrastructure. His name on an apartment block where The Dell used to be hardly equates to a statue.
“It is disappointing,” Robson said. “I did ask Lawrie (McMeneny) once about a statue but he told me they would have to go through the council, which I know is true. As for the testimonial, he should never have had to approach the club. It should have been the other way round.”
The closest to a lasting memorial to Stokes so far is a book written last year by Mark Sanderson, a local journalist, which tells the player’s story from the viewpoint of those who knew him best.
“I loved the book and it’s something I’ll never part with,” his cousin, Maria, said. "I want people to know what Rob was like. He was a real gentleman, just a lovely person.
“He didn’t complain. He was happy with what he had and proud as punch with what he’d done. No one could take that away from him.”
Go to the original article…
...hypothetically produced by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Southampton FC - Official Site article
United Flashback: Kit change can’t stop Saints
Show/hide article…
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are consenting to their use. View cookie policy.
Go to the original article…
...laughingly thrown together by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary
Summary of non-mainstream articles: 23/02/2017 21:58:17
|
| EFL Cup Final Head-to-Head: Ibrahimovic v GabbiadiniSHOOTCOUK || Ex-Saint Pelle told Gabbiadini to join SouthamptonHEREISTHECITY |
|
| | Everton boss Ronald Koeman on Sunderland’s new signings & why he was impressed by Southampton defeatSUNDERECHO |
| | Southampton star in disbelief ahead of 2017 EFL Cup final versus Manchester UnitedSHOOTCOUK | ...bothersomely bred by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet
@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC
What have you made of @OficialCedric’s progression at #SaintsFC? http://sfcne.ws/CSPreFinal
Retweets: 1
Favourites: 15
...celibately devised by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary
Summary of non-mainstream articles: 23/02/2017 22:58:32
|
| COMPETITION - win an Art of Football print featuring Shane Long’s goal to send Southampton to the League Cup final!STMARYSMUSINGS || Pundits predict: Manchester United v Southampton - First silverware of the seasonHEREISTHECITY |
|
| | Southampton’s journey goes full circleNBCSPORTS |
|| Three weeks after the transfer deadline, what have Southampton learned?HEREISTHECITY | ...jeeringly synergised by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Optimus trousers’ RSS Feed rss feed
New content from (- Read Southampton)
| What makes a Saint? | We are the Saints, and we are marching on to Wembley. I don’t think I ever really expected to be talking about a … 23-02-2017 |
Older content…
| Exclusive - EFL Cup final interview with Billy Sharpa day ago |
...operosely synergised by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
| Chinese bank CITIC Securities ready £225m Saints bid2 days ago |
| Gabbiadini settling well in England, agent reveals2 days ago |
| Adil Rami reveals ‘crazy’ nature of Claude Puel2 days ago |
| Celtic to rival Rangers in Wilson pursuit2 days ago |
| Forster confident with Stephens and Yoshida2 days ago |
| Saints tracking Harry Maguire2 days ago |
| Which Way Forwards? A future selection dilemma3 days ago |
| Barcelona maintaining Cedric interest3 days ago |
Sourced from Daily Star article
This is the one Southampton star who can end Man United’s EFL Cup hopes - Paul Merson
Show/hide article…
Saints splashed out around £17m for the Italian last month. He hasn’t played for the club in the EFL Cup yet - with the south coast side booking their place in the final before Gabbiadini joined. The ex-Napoli man could be handed a start in Sunday’s final, which Merson is backing Man United to win.
“The chance I do give them is because Manolo Gabbiadini is there” But he thinks the presence of Gabbiadini could help Southampton spring a surprise. “Southampton have got no Virgil van Dijk, although the chance I do give them is because Manolo Gabbiadini is there,” Merson told Sky Sports. “I like him, he’s a good footballer, a great goalscorer and I don’t think they will have a lorry load of chances to score, so you want someone there who will put the ball into the back of the net and he will do that.”
Merson added: "I’ve got to side with Manchester United overall. “I don’t know if it will go to extra time or not but to eventually lift the cup, I think it will be United.”
Go to the original article…
...familiarly erected by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from A tweet by OriolRomeu tweet
Next challenge: Wembley!
#SaintsFC
Retweets: 10
Favourites: 168
...duplicitously shaped by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from A tweet by SouthamptonFC tweet
@SouthamptonFC - Southampton FC
The #MarchToWembley has been a great one, but there is one more step for #SaintsFC to take, says @FraserForster!
Retweets: 4
Favourites: 14
...measuredly instituted by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Sky Sports article
Juan Mata v Maya Yoshida will be the key battle in the EFL Cup final
Show/hide article…
Will Maya Yoshida be able to shackle Juan Mata when Southampton and Manchester United go head to head at Wembley? We analyse the key battle in Sunday’s EFL Cup final live on Sky Sports…
Manchester United and Southampton met int the 1976 FA Cup final, when Saints beat United 1-0 in what remains the only major honour in the club’s 132-year history. By contrast, United have 43 major trophies to their name.
One of the most intriguing match-ups in their upcoming encounter pits United’s goal-scoring midfielder Juan Mata against Saints’ clean-sheet king Maya Yoshida.
Mata has scored in each of his two appearances in the EFL Cup this season, while Yoshida has played every minute of Saints’ EFL Cup campaign, helping them keep five consecutive clean sheets. In doing so, Southampton have become the first side to reach the final of the competition without conceding since Tottenham in 1982.
Southampton’s clean sheet record will be tested by Mata. Since he came to England to join Chelsea in August 2011, the Spain international has been involved in 87 goals in 188 Premier League appearances. No other midfielder has been involved in more Premier League goals during this time.
Since he made the move from Chelsea to Manchester United in January 2014, only Wayne Rooney has scored more goals for the club. His record at United stands at 35 goals and 21 assists in 138 games.
The 28-year-old has nine goals and four assists this season. Only Zlatan Ibrahimovic has more goals for United in 2016-17. What’s more impressive is that in his 25 starts this season, United have lost only once, a 1-0 Europa League defeat at Feyenoord last September. He is unbeaten in his last 21 starts for United, winning 16.
It’s an impressive record, but the stand-out statistic for Mata is his record in major cup finals in Europe. He’s won all six that he’s played in for club and country, scoring in three of them.
He’s also won three other titles with Spain. He was a member of the 2010 World Cup winning squad and also won the 2011 UEFA U21 Championship and the 2006 UEFA U19 Championship. Mata will be eager to add an EFL Cup winners’ medal to his haul.
Mata is no stranger to Wembley, having previously played there seven times. His last appearance at the arena came when he played the first 45 minutes of Spain’s 2-2 friendly draw with England last November. He scored in Manchester United’s FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace last season and in Chelsea’s 5-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham in 2012.
In contrast to Mata’s impeccable cup final record, this will be Yoshida’s first major cup final experience. He has played at Wembley before, captaining Japan in their 3-1 semi-final defeat to Mexico at the 2012 Olympics.
Yoshida has won 11 of his 12 EFL Cup appearances with Southampton, conceding only four goals in the process. He is Saints’ only EFL Cup ever-present this season. They have yet to concede despite facing 58 shots in five games.
Yoshida has played without first-choice partner Virgil van Dijk alongside him in three of Saints’ EFL Cup games this season, and that will also be the case in the final due to the Dutchman’s injury.
The 28-year-old Japanese centre-back is in his fifth season at Southampton, having joined from Dutch side VVV Venlo for £2m in August 2012. The stats below suggest that this season is set to be his best yet at St Mary’s.
Yoshida will be a key part of a Saints rearguard looking to keep Mata at bay. The Spaniard, meanwhile, will be seeking to add yet another winner’s medal to his already bulging collection.
Go to the original article…
...contemplatively instigated by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Daily Star article
How could Liverpool’s XI look with Virgil van Dijk next season?
Show/hide article…
How could Liverpool’s XI look with Virgil van Dijk next season?
LIVERPOOL are keeping tabs on Virgil van Dijk, but how could their line-up look with him next season?
CHECK OUT OUR GALLERY ABOVE FOR MORE
Southampton hero David Prutton believes the Reds could be the favourites to prevail in the bidding war and sign the centre-back.
The Dutchman attracted a host of interest from a number of top clubs before suffering an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined in Sunday’s EFL Cup final against Manchester United.
Which other star target makes our predicted Liverpool line-up for next season?
Go to the original article…
...freshly synergised by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
Sourced from Optimus trousers summary article summary
Summary of non-mainstream articles: 23/02/2017 23:58:44
|
| What’s Hot and What’s Not from Southampton’s season so farSHOOTCOUK || Southampton set for £225m Chinese takeover offer – reportSQUAWKA |
|
|| 3 reasons Manchester United’s name is already etched on the EFL CupFOOTBALLFANCAST | ...bluffly instituted by Optimus trousers...beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!
| 
| 
| 
| 
|