FFSâŚ
Doesnât this just show that our targeting criteria are right, we just canât land the fuckers.
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It says we were linked with him, not that we actually tried to sign him. It also says the playerâs preference was a move to Germany.
Anything tenuous and gossamer thin is good 
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Did they not have a condom advert with those conditions?
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So that was June 2021, how much is he worth now?
Anyone summarise this its behind a paywall
No but Iâm assuming heâs saying that we need to be inconsistent because so far weâve been consistently shit.
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Southamptonâs identity is inconsistency, chaos and unpredictability â they need to embrace it
6h ago
Southampton are a contradiction.
They have been a constant in the Premier League for more than a decade, and under Ralph Hasenhuttl they never stared over the cliff of relegation, no matter how dire the situation seemed to those watching regularly.
Yet despite being a relatively uncontroversial club off the pitch, there is always a feeling of tumultuousness.
Therein lies the paradox: a stable side that lives under a tempestuous cloud.
From the outside, Southampton are your typical run-of-the-mill, middling Premier League side. They are the team that does just enough to keep their heads above water but are never early in the Match of the Day running order, nor do they have segments dedicated to them on Monday Night Football.
But look online and the #SaintsFC hashtag reveals a fanbase bursting with strong and interesting opinions. It is contrary to what others might predict from fans of a passive, lower-to-mid-table team for whom survival is a good season. The comments carry an intensity you would not necessarily expect.
It is only when you follow Southampton closely, as a fan or a journalist, that you realise the clubâs capacity to veer from serenity to meltdown, and why the undercurrents of each season remain perpetually unpredictable.
Feast or famine runs of form have been happening for so long theyâve turned habitual. They are the side who suffered not one but two heavy drubbings of the same scoreline (you know the ones). They utterly confound. Supporters can never rest or feel safe â as they are well aware, false dawns are simply par for the course.
But what if⌠just hear The Athletic out. What if those things are Southamptonâs identity? And what if the absence of that chaos is whatâs been lacking this season? What if Southampton need inconsistency?
Before the World Cup hiatus, Southampton had won only one of their previous 10 Premier League games, failing to score more than one goal in any of them. Their goal difference in that time was -12, highlighting how weighted games were in the oppositionâs favour, despite the perception Southampton were staying in those games for longer. In reality, they did not self-destruct to the same extent as previous seasons, but they were unable to jab back.
Nathan Jonesâ side will be in the relegation zone at Christmas. An ominous sign, perhaps, given it will be the first time they have been submerged in the bottom three over the festive period since going down in 2006. Granted, theyâve had similar starts to the season in the recent past, but never quite as apathetic.
The risk in their play long vanished before Hasenhuttl left, clearly ground down by the years of rollercoaster emotions. By the end, everyone wanted to get off the ride.
But the search for stability ultimately turned out to be their undoing. Southampton became too passive.
The pursuit of pragmatism proved detrimental, lessening their bravery. They grew increasingly submissive. They did not suffer the same heavy defeats and could point to âfine marginsâ and their blunt attack as the issue, but Southampton and Hasenhuttl never recaptured their old spark.
From a tactical point of view, the energy that seeped out of their play was characterised by their press. This was illuminated by the gradual downward slope in pressing intensity throughout the previous 18 months.
More broadly, players didnât seem to possess the same verve or bravery. Neither did Hasenhuttl. The atmosphere at St Maryâs suffered too, dampened by the lack of serendipity within games.
At surface level, very little has changed with Southampton; they are currently second in the Premier League for attempted tackles (290) and are third for tackles won (164).
However, they have only attempted 27 tackles in the attacking third, which is the fourth lowest in the league. The desire to be on the front foot washed away in Hasenhuttlâs final days.
Still, there is something to be said for the first seven points Southampton won this season all coming from losing positions. Itâs almost as if they need some form of adversity for them to generate back to life.
In fairness, that remained until the end under Hasenhuttl, the 1-1 draw against league leaders Arsenal in October being a good example. Bloodying the noses of the big boys never seemed to bother Southampton.
Now, the team and their supporters need that old sense of chaos back. Southamptonâs concerted efforts to be more defensive-minded meant they lost their best attribute â inconsistency.
It was what galvanised supporters following Hasenhuttlâs arrival and was part of his early magnetism. Southampton quickly gathered a reputation for their erratic nature. It was the distinguishing trait that got people talking about them â certainly far more than they do now.
So embrace that inconsistency.
Maybe players and fans need those tinderbox moments, just to keep the metaphorical fire going. After all, football is an enterprising and entertaining business, with unpredictability an offshoot of it.
When Southampton function at their optimum, they revel in the chaos, and they create it. Their game over the past four years was forged on turnovers â Hasenhuttl described it as âping-pongâ. Of course, it worked or didnât work in the extremes.
The stronger the winds, the more coal they shovelled on the fire. When conditions were calmer, the more passive they became.
Southampton need to win games to stay up. That is obvious. How they do it is by embracing risk, being inconsistent, and finding a purple patch which could, ultimately, save them.
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Thx Agree with that tbh
Concur!
A bit of frivolous fun. I got 8/8 
Quiz: Can you order Saints kits from the past 30 years? - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63985217
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I think Iâve got replicas of most of them apart from the two newest - must dig them out
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Canât argue with any of this
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Tino seen on crutches today
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haha was that Dibling scoring another left footed belter like from that hat-trick what he done a while back when he was still with us before he left and came back again cor blimey guvnor?
Couple of cool finishes by Dwayne. 
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