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Episode 441: Saints Loans part 2!
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Southampton – We are still waiting for the EFL to come out either way, so we take the opportunity to finish talking about our players out on loan!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:14
Zak
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening Saints fans. This is the Daily Saints pod. I am your host, Zach. As always, joined by the usual host of the podcast, Greg.
Spygate Discussion - A Pervasive Topic
00:00:24
Zak
How are you doing, mate?
00:00:26
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, umm I'm not too bad, mate. yeah Enjoying a and nice couple of episodes where I get to sit and listen to some of the wonderful information you gather together for me to improve my ball knowledge. So, what time to be alive?
00:00:41
DailySaintsPod
Hmm.
00:00:48
Zak
we We have discussed Spygate pretty, not not just in depth, but like, it's just everywhere. I have had more conversations this weekend with family members, friends, my hairdresser for some reason,
00:01:04
Zak
you got stopped in the street to talk about it. Like it's one of those, it's one of those things where there's nothing more that can be added until we know the outcome, right?
00:01:08
DailySaintsPod
I
00:01:14
Zak
Uh, if the outcomes.
00:01:15
DailySaintsPod
i think I can summarise our opinion really nicely on it, mate, in like a really concise way.
Will Smallbone's Challenging Season
00:01:21
DailySaintsPod
I've got my Wembley tickets. I haven't booked my parking.
00:01:24
Zak
Yeah.
00:01:29
Zak
yeah Like, I sorry, what else to say is that,
00:01:32
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, that's it, right?
00:01:33
Zak
So yeah, we're't wait we' we're not going to be continuing to talk about that today.
00:01:34
DailySaintsPod
I
00:01:38
Zak
However, we will continue to talk about what we were talking about last week, which is some of the information I've pulled on our current loanees. there's only three to go through today. So it might be a shorter episode.
00:01:49
Zak
However, just don't think that's the case with us. Not anymore.
00:01:54
DailySaintsPod
don't think that we do those, do we? That's just not really in our repertoire.
00:01:59
Zak
But, yeah, so you know, if you want a bit of fair weather break from all of the drama, because, again, it's just going to be the same information from us regurgitated over and over. Yeah, we're going to talk about something a bit different. And today we'll start off pretty much where we left off. We we went through goalkeepers and defenders.
00:02:20
Zak
And now we're moving into the midfield, Greg. So we will start with our homegrown hero, cult hero, Will Smallbone, who didn't have the greatest time in the Premier League last year.
00:02:34
Zak
I think he he was a casualty of lots of system change. Maybe it was just a lot, just one step above what he could potentially handle.
00:02:47
Zak
I don't really know if that's fair to put on him, but there was a lot of criticism for him.
00:02:49
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:02:52
Zak
And I think we described him as a jack-of-all-trades player, which is really useful. But the problem is, is it's master of none. And that means that you get a lot of scrutiny that comes with it.
00:03:00
DailySaintsPod
yeah
00:03:04
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, he was never going to be a good enough replacement for any of the positions that he was swapped into or or swapped out of because he was kind of good at all of them, but not excellent at any of them.
00:03:04
Zak
So,
00:03:18
DailySaintsPod
It's kind of where I was at.
00:03:19
Zak
Yeah, he was a fantastic Championship utility player. Obviously, with this season, I think that, you know, with all of the replacements and reinforcements we brought in, specifically in that area, i imagine he was just considered to not be in the plans and he had to make a decision. So, with Shea Charles return and Kasper Yander coming in he was loaned out to Millwall.
00:03:45
Zak
He did appear in the Irish squad i think for their initial international break where he recorded an assist for Ireland in their World Cup qualifier against Armenia just before his what we know we're getting to, which is his eventual injury.
00:04:02
Zak
Always keep an eye on Armenia because of Spurzian, you know, that guy we never signed and Leeds never signed and will one day potentially join a football club that isn't in Russia, but no one believes that. So just anyone that was chronically online during that transfer period, just a little throwback for you there. And if you don't know, then it's probably bad you didn't.
00:04:21
Zak
So he made six appearances for Millwall before he picked up this injury. There were four wins, one loss one draw. But unfortunately, after that, he had a significant hamstring injury, which put him out for pretty much a vast majority of the season.
00:04:37
Zak
After four and a half months on the sidelines, he did return to the line-up in March. However, they were incredibly brief cameo period cameos, right? So over a period of three games, he was on the pitch for about 14 minutes.
00:04:52
Zak
which says lot, right?
00:04:52
DailySaintsPod
It's
00:04:56
DailySaintsPod
not great, is it? they They're not good numbers.
00:04:57
Zak
That's really trying to rebuild fitness. He then wasn't in the squad from the 14th of March, which I think was potentially due to a new injury or an exacerbation of the old one, but returned to the bench on the 24th of April as an unused sub in their game against Leicester.
00:05:15
Zak
He then briefly made an appearance in Millwall's win against Oxford. Obviously, because of his massive spell on the sidelines, he missed both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup action for Millwall.
00:05:26
Zak
And, you know, there was the potential that he might play a part in the playoffs, but I don't think he even was in the side in the end. and And, yeah, obviously kind of not really surprising considering his absolute lack of...
00:05:39
Zak
match fitness. So he is still expected to return to Southampton for the end of the campaign to decide his future, but his contract expires in June.
00:05:51
Zak
And this is where we come to the sort of crux of this, which is a very head versus heart issue where he is one of our own. He, you know, will always be remembered for the goal he scored in the semifinal playoff against West Brom.
00:06:11
Zak
You know, he's he's gone through quite a lot in his personal life as well. But if we got promotion, he is unlikely to be needed in the Premier League. Especially where he has struggled to even break into the Championship side after the injury and it's going to take a long time to build up the fitness.
00:06:29
Zak
So I don't know if from that perspective he's worth keeping or he'll be able to be around. However, I also could see the club potentially putting him on like a one-year deal and maybe loaning him out on a heart deal.
00:06:45
Zak
because of the fact that, you know, we've we've we've had things that are similar with this, right? Like Sam McQueen, but that was obviously different from that was a like, career-ending injury. But also, I just can't... There's just something gross about him going out on loan, basically seeing no football, him coming back, his contract expiring, and him just being released. I don't know how you feel about that. so I'm going to pass over to my co-host and Greg and what your opinion of this whole Will Small Bone situation is.
Business Decisions at Southampton
00:07:11
Zak
Because if if we don't get promotion...
00:07:14
Zak
maybe a utility player, especially if we get asset stripped. But like, it's a bit of a role of the place, isn't it? If he's been out for that long.
00:07:22
DailySaintsPod
yeah it is a roll of the dice. Look, it is sad because obviously he's you know an academy boy who's come up, but it's been... a rocky road for him with Saints really since day dot. And, you know, even before the last championship season, he was out on loan, I think Stoke, there were question marks about whether he would, you know, actually come in and be good enough or useful enough. And just think it's kind of an unfortunate point. The club's got to
00:07:56
DailySaintsPod
there probably just isn't a lot of room for these feel-good, heart, year-long contract extensions, right? Like, we see had to see some fairly ruthless trimming of the squad in January to to to cut down what we had, and even then it's it's reasonably bloated.
00:08:15
DailySaintsPod
So, yeah i it kind of feels like it was a decision that was made when they sent him out on a season-long loan with one year left on his contract, if I'm honest.
00:08:16
Zak
You've also done it with Romayu.
00:08:25
DailySaintsPod
It feels like
00:08:27
Zak
It's difficult.
00:08:27
DailySaintsPod
that's That's that. That was the expectation.
00:08:30
Zak
Because he he he i consider him to be a big scapegoat during our Premier League campaign. And I don't mean that in the sense of... I don't know if he was good enough for it, really. He'll probably say otherwise. But he would consistently get put on. Russell Martin had a big thing for wanting to put him on during times where we needed something to happen. And it resulted in, instead of, you know, where it was like hometown hero vibes, it very much became... You'd get to a point where like audible groans when he was part, which...
00:09:00
Zak
Sox anyway, because that was just a rough season for everyone involved, including the players. But yeah, I think that I would agree to that, Greg, if we hadn't signed Romayu for the rest of the season on money and played him like twice.
00:09:12
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, that's a strange one.
00:09:15
Zak
And again, like that feels more like
Ben Brereton-Diaz's Career Choices
00:09:16
Zak
it's almost like a behind the scenes thing more than anything else, right? As in a coaching him and trying trying to, I guess, rebuild whatever people consider to be a culture at Saints, right?
00:09:26
DailySaintsPod
I mean, look, the experience and calmness he'll bring into the dressing room in itself, I presume, is is of a huge benefit because because, I mean, you talk about the composure of a player who got...
00:09:41
DailySaintsPod
453 million yellow cards and never got sent off like it
00:09:47
Zak
Well, for us anyway.
00:09:48
DailySaintsPod
yeah well yeah
00:09:50
Zak
the If not, again, like I could see him 100% maybe going to a newly promoted side like like Lincoln or Cardiff or someone to like strengthen up championship experience. But I think ultimately you're going to be right. I think that he he will be let go.
00:10:06
Zak
with with a wishing you well, pat on the back kind of thing. Because, you know, if we've loaned him out now, regardless if we...
00:10:12
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:10:13
Zak
Again, like, the only thing I could really see it making a big difference is if, you know, we don't get promotion and then there's a big, all of a sudden, fire sale on the entirety of our squad.
00:10:23
Zak
do we want to get rid of somebody that potentially might you know be able to? But then also, it's entirely dependent on whenever he'd want to stay. I'm sure he probably would, you know if there was any sort of offer of a contract, I'm sure there'd be something about playing time in there.
00:10:36
Zak
That's where I'm at. But yeah, it was a strange way for his career to end at Saints, if that's the case. But I guess that's just how football is sometimes. It's a ruthless business, isn't it?
00:10:46
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, that's football, isn't it? it's It can be a cruel and brutal task, especially for players coming up that academy route. I mean, it happens to, unfortunately, more of a percentage of them than it doesn't, right? So...
00:11:03
Zak
Yeah, for sure. But yeah, so that's Will Smallbone. Moving on. We can now come to a friend of the pod, not even slightly, Ben Burris and Diaz, where we gave him probably more stick than he was due.
00:11:18
Zak
But then our problem is, is that like you always used to say when we'd have conversations about it last season, he gave us as Saints fans nothing to think otherwise. Like, he's done a lot for Derby, he's done a lot in his career, but when he played for us, just didn't really offer anything going forward at a time we really needed to
00:11:35
DailySaintsPod
I think I've been pretty vocal, of my opinion, that there was clearly a player in there.
00:11:41
Zak
A player in there.
00:11:42
DailySaintsPod
It was just, you know, by hook or by crook.
00:11:43
Zak
It's not a player for us.
00:11:46
DailySaintsPod
I mean, the chaos of last season anyway, let's be honest. Who knows what one of any of, like, 10 to 20 different factors could have gone into creating that sort of poor spell.
00:12:00
DailySaintsPod
But... It just it didn't work out. there's no hard feelings off the back of it. He wasn't, frankly, even our worst player last year.
00:12:08
Zak
No, not even not even by a country mile.
00:12:08
DailySaintsPod
That's the upsetting part, mate.
00:12:11
Zak
And that is, that you're right, that is... Accurate and obviously he went halfway through the season to spend the rest of it at Sheffield United. He got very close to promotion, but not quite. I don't remember don't remember how much he was involved in the run-up to their to their promotion campaign.
00:12:27
Zak
I remember it sort of being, it obviously didn't get him, it didn't get him enough to get a transfer back there is where I'm at or a loan spell there either. So he did return to the squad and he did participate in pre-season.
00:12:34
DailySaintsPod
Mm-hmm.
00:12:39
Zak
And he was actually on the bench for the first two games of the season against Rexham and Ipswich. Which, like, when what we talk about some of these players that have gone out and we've just completely forgotten if he's against it. For example, like Charlie Taylor. It's weird to think that they've actually been in our championship squad, like, playing squad at some point this season, right?
00:12:57
Zak
And like a lot of those other players, he actually played in the EFL Cup for us against Northampton. and Norwich. So for Northampton, he managed 81 minutes and then just a further 18 in the Norwich game.
00:13:11
Zak
But the inevitable took place, which was that you know after all of the reinforcements we brought in, he ended up going on loan to Derby County, a loan that has been relatively successful for him.
00:13:25
Zak
And if you'd asked me at the beginning of the season who would have a better season out on loan, him or Smallbone, I probably would have laughed at you for suggesting him. But here we are. And again, that's because I don't know...
00:13:39
Zak
everything, and sometimes people surprise you. And as we've discussed before, there's clearly a player in there somewhere. So, you know, he's he's gone on to appear 41 times in all competitions for them, registered a total of seven goals and three assists over the campaign.
00:13:57
Zak
He's played 3,069 minutes, Greg, during that time, which is a lot.
00:14:01
DailySaintsPod
That's a lot minutes. Yeah.
00:14:03
Zak
That is a very but a lot of minutes for a player that, you know, potentially is what might have ended up coming back to us.
00:14:13
Zak
And we'll get to that towards the end, but I feel like probably going to be there next season. So during that time, he's picked up about eight yellow cards and he also appeared and scored in the 3-1 loss to the FA Cup at Leeds.
00:14:19
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:14:28
Zak
So, you know, one of the things that his loan spell did get him back in though, Greg, was his incredible international career with Chile, who obviously, like, we covered, I think, remember if we did an episode on it, or we covered just international saints, and we told...
00:14:37
DailySaintsPod
Yeah. when we did I think when we did his profile, when he came in, yeah we talked about it then.
00:14:48
Zak
Yeah, like, we we covered, like, the the insane story of basically, like, football manager scouts linking him to it, finding out he's eligible, with that jazz, right?
00:14:53
DailySaintsPod
Football manager. Yeah.
00:14:58
DailySaintsPod
It's almost a shame that they're not at the World Cup because that could be a funny wildcard team to follow purely for that purpose, right?
00:14:59
Zak
But...
00:15:06
Zak
That'd be fascinating, you know?
00:15:08
DailySaintsPod
But, yeah they didn't qualify. I was just looking it up because, you we're getting to that part of the season.
00:15:11
Zak
he's He scored three of their five friendlies over the international breaks. All three games he scored, they won in those games and they were against Peru, Russia and Cape Verde.
00:15:23
Zak
So I'm not going to pretend I know much about Peruvian football or even Russian at this point. Hey-ho. So where does that lead Ben Brereton-Diaz, you might be asking, Greg?
00:15:38
Zak
Well, according to John Eustace, he has said, fingers crossed that they will sign him. And this is according to an article in the Derby Telegraph, where, you know, they were talking about multiple different players that are potentially injured or potentially coming in.
00:15:53
Zak
the point where, Greg, he has also purchased a house in Derbyshire.
00:15:58
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, I mean...
00:15:59
Zak
So I feel like at that point... you know, you're expected to stay there if you're buying a house outright, I guess.
00:16:06
DailySaintsPod
to we know if he went with, like, an option, or if it's just, like, that optimistic?
00:16:13
Zak
i I genuinely think it's that level of optimism. I think that, like, they he probably knows we don't want him to come back.
00:16:18
DailySaintsPod
I mean... but you know because don't see us, like, actively keeping him against his will, so...
00:16:25
Zak
Yeah, they there you go.
00:16:25
DailySaintsPod
is
00:16:27
Zak
And
00:16:28
DailySaintsPod
I don't think that the quality he brought to our team on the pitch would justify that kind of reaction is where I'm at.
00:16:39
Zak
Yeah, like, I just...
00:16:41
DailySaintsPod
good Fair play to him, but I hope that he has all the success with Derby in the world, and I'm glad that he has found a place that fits and brings the the footballer that we could see buried in there somewhere out in him, but It didn't work here and that's OK.
00:17:00
Zak
Shout out to our previous boss, Nick, who when he first went there was like, I don't think he's that bad. And I saw him for a few games went, oh, I can understand why you sent him out on loan to us. And now he's ended up being sort of, you know, again, again a solid staple of of their side, which I mean, arguably very, very much overperformed in most people's eyes this year.
00:17:19
Zak
but yeah, the negotiations are anywhere between Greg, rumoured to be eight to 15 million. And I just think either of those is is fine. Yeah.
00:17:29
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, I mean, what did we pay for him?
00:17:30
Zak
I genuinely can't remember, but to be honest, I would have expected us to get less.
00:17:30
DailySaintsPod
I'm just looking up now. Yeah, I mean, there was...
00:17:36
Zak
Maybe we will. Maybe it'll be I would be surprised if this is an undisclosed one, to be honest.
00:17:39
DailySaintsPod
e I mean, frankly, to speak speak of his on-pitch performance with us, I feel like the board will would have taken like 50 pitted off of Twix at certain points of last season.
00:17:54
DailySaintsPod
So, like...
00:17:55
Zak
Yeah, I just don't think I'll ever...
00:17:57
DailySaintsPod
Other chocolates are available.
00:17:58
Zak
don't
00:18:02
DailySaintsPod
a
00:18:02
Zak
have sponsors, we can say what want.
00:18:03
DailySaintsPod
the
00:18:05
Zak
are
00:18:05
DailySaintsPod
Well, look, we signed him for 8 million from Villarreal, which is nuts. So if we we turn a profit on him, that is some shrewd business.
00:18:13
Zak
I... I mean, but to be fair, he's been... It's how valuable he is to that team, right? And I would be surprised if he ends up being really valuable.
00:18:18
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:18:20
Zak
It's just whether or not Derby can afford it. And again, like I just won't get over pictures of him when he first had his haircut and to try and... like I don't know if it was to like reinvigorate his image or what, and him visiting like Pepper Pig World.
00:18:32
Zak
just don't know why that's just a thing that that stays in my mind. Maybe it's just how many funny stories occur between people that end up going to Pepper Pig World. But...
00:18:48
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:18:51
Zak
Off the derby he goes. And that was the end of his Saints career.
00:18:56
DailySaintsPod
And like I say, like whilst we we joke about you know the little contributions he did manage to make and and all that, he was far from the worst player we had last season.
00:19:07
Zak
Yeah.
00:19:07
DailySaintsPod
So it is what is.
00:19:08
Zak
He's... he was he
00:19:09
DailySaintsPod
I mean, remember, we signed Maxwell Cornet on loan, so...
00:19:14
Zak
That's like when I tell you about... know we've brought this up before like Stephen Calker played for us at some point.
00:19:20
DailySaintsPod
it
00:19:20
Zak
Oh, no.
00:19:21
DailySaintsPod
yeah
00:19:22
Zak
No, there was worse. Who was the who is the guy we had for six months?
00:19:25
DailySaintsPod
Carrillo. the one you're thinking of.
00:19:27
Zak
but The defender? Mason, somebody.
00:19:32
DailySaintsPod
Oh my god, yeah. Mason Oldgate.
00:19:34
Zak
Yes.
00:19:35
Zak
You're right. There you go. That's a player that was potentially worse. Oh, good grief.
00:19:42
DailySaintsPod
Well, what miserable season we had. Good lord.
00:19:44
Zak
Oh, man.
00:19:45
DailySaintsPod
Why do we want to go back?
00:19:45
Zak
so So, yeah.
00:19:47
DailySaintsPod
It's...
00:19:47
Zak
So, I genuinely don't know.
00:19:49
DailySaintsPod
Thank you.
00:19:49
Zak
But and let's not make those jokes while we are still potentially not even able to play the final that we want to play. Anyway, we promised no Spygate talk, so we'll move swiftly on from Ben Berenson-Diaz onto our final man.
Damien Downs' Struggles and Future
00:20:02
Zak
Now, this is one which is it's really difficult, Greg, because, like, the...
00:20:09
Zak
Being like the human being in me feels really, really awful about this whole situation. And the person that watches Saints and likes Saints understands why this is a problem. And that's, of course, Damien Downs, right?
00:20:28
DailySaintsPod
Mmm. Yeah.
00:20:29
Zak
So there was a lot of fanfare when he arrived allow and it's resulted in a lot of struggle.
00:20:29
DailySaintsPod
yeah
00:20:37
Zak
There were immediate people saying, oh, he's going to become the new Sekumara for whatever reason. And then obviously we were kind of hoping he would maybe give us the physical presence that we wanted in the box. And in actuality, i think that like you've pointed out on several occasions, he probably plays more of a Cam Archer style role.
00:20:57
Zak
And yeah, he just he's just really struggled. and And for me personally, I always go back to when he first joined. Briefly after he first joined, he had an interview with some of the United States men's national teams like alumni. I think they were doing a podcast and had him on.
00:21:12
Zak
And he was talking about how his desire to get goals to cement his place in the World Cup squad. And now you wonder if he'll carry on playing or where he'll go to kind of restart it.
00:21:23
Zak
And it's just been a big struggle. he had He came on as a sub in the first game against Wrexham. Actually registered an assist in that game.
00:21:35
Zak
And he had a solid pre-season, right? Like, I think he scored one goal in pre-season. Everyone thought it was really And everyone kind of expected him to maybe go on from there. His next appearance after a knock was 45 minutes into a loss, in a loss to Stoke.
00:21:49
Zak
And then he made a cameo at the end of the draw against Watford. He wasn't in the squad for the South Coast Derby, but he did play his second-rungest game against Hull in our 3-1 loss before being dropped for the next two games.
00:22:02
Zak
And then after that, he just kept making sporadic appearances, which were, like, again, like, the Hull one was another one that I remember, like, it's just sort throwing him under the bus. They never really helped him get into the team. And then it was kind of almost like it became a, they're just going chuff Downs on.
00:22:19
Zak
Like, it became that sort of atmosphere, right?
00:22:22
DailySaintsPod
it was never going to do him any good.
00:22:23
Zak
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:24
DailySaintsPod
And we talked about that a lot, right? Like how he was clearly a player that needed that extra help and extra bit of confidence and just never got put in a position to, to like bring that on.
00:22:37
DailySaintsPod
You know, in fact, like exactly what...
00:22:37
Zak
yeah
00:22:39
DailySaintsPod
what Cameron Archer needed when, you know, they set him up for that goal earlier in the season. do You remember and after he'd had like an incredible performance through the game and we were like, oh, maybe this is like the comeback of of Cameron Archer. But yeah, it's, it it just didn't work out. Like I just think he was slightly misprofiled. So yeah.
00:23:01
Zak
Yeah, it was even a more struggle because he he had sporadic appearances, including Will Still's last game against Preston, and he actually made cameos in Tonda's initial good run. but i think the problem you had is that the job that Tonda was initially trying to do, he didn't have the time, I think, to be able to sit and man manage somebody that is struggling that much.
00:23:24
Zak
And I think that, obviously, then he picked up a knock in November, in late November and then just never came back. And, you know, that that was it. He played in all three of the EFL games for us, starting against Northampton and some sub appearances against Norwich and Liverpool.
00:23:41
Zak
And obviously, after his absence from November onwards, we expected him to go out on loan. And indeed, he did. He went to Hamburg where you know there was an option to buy. We might even be able to flip a like a flip a profit on him. We kind of thought, well, maybe this will reignite his career a little bit, get him back.
00:23:59
Zak
it it It did not, Greg. I am i am unfortunately sad to say he made a total of 12 appearances, six as a starter, six on the bench.
00:24:02
DailySaintsPod
but
00:24:09
Zak
But during those 12 appearances, he failed to score or assist in any of the appearances. So, yeah, he's in...
00:24:16
DailySaintsPod
i I'm not going to quote it as an absolute fact because I haven't got the numbers in front of me, but I'm also pretty confident that I did see Zach that he also managed zero shots in that time.
00:24:30
Zak
it so It was a rough campaign, right? like Those are what I've written down because i don't want to drag the plaid any more than we need to.
00:24:33
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:24:36
DailySaintsPod
No.
00:24:37
Zak
His international career did continue. He was in the USA called Squad for September, obviously, because he just signed for us. And he made a 10-minute cameo against Japan, but then he was dropped down into the under-23s in November, where he played 74 minutes against Serbia, where he didn't score. And then he was dropped to the under-21s in March, where he did score. He scored in a 2-0 victory against the Japan under-21s.
00:25:03
Zak
But that was it. Now, bear in mind, we just talked about how Ben Barata-Diaz played like 3,000 minutes over the course of this season, right? Over the course of this season, he's managed 932 minutes overall.
00:25:14
Zak
So that's for way fast on Hamburg, right?
00:25:15
DailySaintsPod
o Yeah.
00:25:17
Zak
He was and is largely considered a disaster signing for us and there's a big chance he'll be moved on at a cut price if they can. Hamburg has an £8.5 million pound option to buy and it's widely reported that they will not be taking it up, as you can imagine, right?
00:25:36
DailySaintsPod
Yeah.
00:25:37
Zak
The BILD, which is a German tabloid, which we also you know spoke about with in regards to Sugawara in our last episode, reported that the manager has said that fan abuse meant that he could no longer justify selecting him for the match squad.
00:25:53
Zak
However, in a trying to make him feel better kind of thing, praised his high pressing and work rate. So, yeah, because this is where it kind of gets, where it stresses, well, it stresses me out, but like this is where it's it's bad because the MOPO, which is a Hamburg paper, so like a very like a local paper to the city, talked about the scale of social media abuse has left clear marks. which is something that even Will still mentioned has visibly impacted his confidence. And when two managers over the space of the season are having to come out kind of defending you and defending that level of stuff, like he tried his best. He deleted all his socials. I think he has like a team of people and support around him.
00:26:38
Zak
But it it really shows you that like those kind of things can have a serious effect on a young player. There is also, i think we i don't know if we briefly touched on it, there was supposedly an incident that took place in the UK. I'm not going to speculate around it because the facts are somebody posting something about on Facebook. But I don't think that probably helped the situation if you don't settle properly, because obviously he never lived here beforehand and you know spent most of his time in Germany beforehand anyway.
00:27:06
Zak
And yeah, the problem that we have, Greg, is that as much as they might want to try and move him on, he is contracted until June 2029. And this season this season does not make for good viewing for where we will move him to, right?
00:27:15
DailySaintsPod
Wow, that's a long old contract.
00:27:25
Zak
there's not really a lot of places that he could move.
00:27:26
DailySaintsPod
but look. He's a is's quite a young player, right? He's only 21.
00:27:31
Zak
Yes.
00:27:32
DailySaintsPod
So, i mean, maybe bring him back, give him a year in the under-23s, build up back some of that footballing confidence. Like, like we we know, we've talked and seen actively this season the difference that like confidence and mentality brings to a team and to a player. And if you've sort of managed to get yourself in that negative headspace and surrounded yourself. And it's very easy to do with social media these days. I mean,
00:28:00
DailySaintsPod
Here's us actively avoiding it for a few days until yeah until stuff blows over. it's not It can't be easy. But you know maybe just, like I say, just that reset and back to basics, back to the youth set up good could do in the world of good.
00:28:08
Zak
No, not too.
00:28:19
DailySaintsPod
And maybe he comes out of that. you know, the player that we sort hoped we'd signed in the first place because you want to see it. But it's I guess it's just one of those things, isn't it? Like...
00:28:32
DailySaintsPod
you either settle really well or or you don't, right? And I mean, the it's like the antithesis of Leo, right?
00:28:43
DailySaintsPod
Who immediately like settled in and became a huge fan favourite in a very short period of time. And it's just not that easy for everyone, right?
00:28:54
DailySaintsPod
Like even players who were have been like cornerstones of our success, right?
00:28:54
Zak
Great.
00:28:59
DailySaintsPod
like Vinazad has come under huge amounts of criticism at times. so you know, if if it's something that you're you're used to paying attention to and then all of a sudden you're getting all of that, it's it's hard to switch off from.
00:29:12
DailySaintsPod
And like we say when you're at that athletic level, it's it's really the mentality that makes the difference. So...
00:29:19
Zak
great Yeah, I don't i't think it's been it's been an easy time for him. And I don't really know what the future will bring. But again, it' will be it will be our problem to figure out for sure, whoever and wherever we are.
00:29:33
DailySaintsPod
but it's another one where it's another one right where we have seen you know we saw in pre-season there's a player in there who could get on the end of balls and score goals think even when he was sort of struggling at the start I think I could actively see him making the right movement and not getting the service which was very indicative yeah
00:29:52
Zak
You always pointed out that he was making the runs more than, and I think that's the problem as well, is that if you are, i say if you're a confidence player, if you're a person that's 21, like i I, you know, we we all suffer from confidence issues at some point in our life.
00:30:04
DailySaintsPod
yeah
00:30:08
Zak
And if if you don't... I guess good for you, but I would be slightly worried about, you know, that your entire mental state.
00:30:12
DailySaintsPod
We'll power to you, yeah. Hmm.
00:30:17
Zak
I think that's just part and parcel of life. but if you deal with that level of high pressure so young, and like we've done a whole episode on this previously, to be able to deal with all of that and then, you know,
00:30:29
Zak
deal with a level of abuse that you probably aren't used to facing and didn't think would be possible, you know, it's going to take a lot to, I guess, recover from that. And, you know, got to remember that he's got like the opportunity there and I'm just hoping he gets the support system and then goes from there and then we get a good player out of him.
00:30:44
Zak
And if we don't, then we sell him for a cut price at some point and he goes and rebuilds his career somewhere else. But like, I feel like there's got to be something else going on there for, you know, for that to happen.
00:30:52
DailySaintsPod
Yeah. Well, that'll be the interesting thing, right? Because it's very easy for me to sit here and say he should just take his time and settle in and have a you know at least half season with the under-23s and go from there.
00:31:06
DailySaintsPod
But also, like he's a player who was looking to further his international career and has played for the USA at that level. And so if he thinks that that's too much of a step back for him or or feels like that's not what he needs to to pursue that, then it's...
00:31:24
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, it's tricky.
00:31:25
Zak
have to see how it it pans out.
00:31:25
DailySaintsPod
But but but whether he'll have lots of suitors or not, I don't know. but no ill will meant towards him like i say there's clearly a player in there because because we saw enough of it to sign him and saw some of it at the start just hmm
00:31:34
Zak
Nine.
00:31:39
Zak
just a disastrous season for him. Bless him. We'll have to go from there.
Joe Rebo's Time at Leicester
00:31:45
Zak
but Well, Greg, that's that's pretty much everyone else. I was to have a look at Joe Rebo, but like nothing's really happened, if I'm totally honest.
00:31:54
Zak
so He made some sporadic appearances for Leicester.
00:31:57
DailySaintsPod
that more or less sums up his season with us doesn't it
00:32:00
Zak
He was considered to be the answer to everyone's prayers here. or That didn't quite work out. And now, that's that.
00:32:07
DailySaintsPod
I think Leicester's opinion on Joe Eribo was less a judgment on Joe Eribo, but were also that that was their only signing in January, right?
00:32:08
Zak
So,
00:32:13
Zak
will be ours the same as ours as
00:32:19
DailySaintsPod
Like...
00:32:19
Zak
It'll be that, and the fact that, similar to Stephen Corker Mason Holgate, mate, he will be one of those ones that people completely forgot that you played for us at some point that he played for them at some point.
00:32:30
Zak
And for us, was kind of a devastating end to his Saints career, because he did make some really key impacts during his time with us, and then you know had his whole song, and then kind of...
00:32:43
Zak
got his opportunity this year, eventually, our under, sort of still didn't really take it. And that's that in it. That's all she wrote. So yeah, I didn't really, didn't manage to finish her profile on that. But considering I thought this would be a short episode today, because we only, we had three d players to go over.
00:32:58
Zak
We're now about 35 minutes in. So short episode, mate.
00:33:01
DailySaintsPod
That's how it goes, mate. I told you, we don't have let have a short episode arrow in our quiver. a It's just not what we do here.
00:33:10
Zak
At one point with the GSPN, we that we were debating the idea as a collective group that would would do like short match match reviews immediately after the game had finished.
Episode Wrap-Up and Listener Engagement
00:33:20
Zak
And I feel like the one or two we ever managed to do still ended up being like 25, 30 minutes. Yes, Steve.
00:33:26
DailySaintsPod
Oh, yeah. it was It was a full episode, yeah. It was just less structured. That was the only difference. But look, mate, that's why we love it. That's why we are able to do it every day.
00:33:33
Zak
yes the
00:33:36
DailySaintsPod
cause Because we can't stop.
00:33:40
Zak
Yeah. Thanks, to everybody that tunes in. and We hope we we're part of your daily routine and everyone that says hello when we see them as well. I think it's still shocking to both me and Greg when occasionally it happens because we kind of put this out into our own bubble and completely forget this is a thing we do sometimes. I say that. like Obviously, we pay attention, but it it kind of feels like it's to the void sometimes.
00:34:01
Zak
But it's not because we have some you know wonderful comments and some really loyal listeners and we appreciate all of you. One thing we wanted to end on as well, shout to AFC Stoneham and their
00:34:11
DailySaintsPod
Yeah, up the perps. Great
00:34:15
Zak
win at Wembley. Great game. But as Greg liked to point out, shows the difference between the levels sometimes.
00:34:22
DailySaintsPod
Oh, for sure. I mean, look, there's a whole there's a whole podcast episode about the journey I went through to try and find TNT Sports 5, but I'm glad I got there at the end. It was a good watch, well played, and yeah, some good penalties.
00:34:38
DailySaintsPod
Good stuff.
00:34:39
Zak
Perfect. Right. So yeah, I think that's it. We will be back tomorrow to maybe build up to Wembley. Maybe we'll have some sort of announcement. Maybe by the time you're listening to this, you're baffled that we haven't already spoken about it because something has come out.
00:34:55
Zak
However, if we we will be back with something so it's related.
00:34:57
DailySaintsPod
But if it does come out, we'll talk about it, right? it's Until then, we won't.
00:35:01
Zak
Yeah. Yeah. yeah I guess that the long and short of it. So Facebook, X, the Everything app, Instagram, TikTok.
00:35:12
Zak
YouTube, cheap <unk> we're all over the social medias. Give us a like, give us a follow, give us a comment. We read them all. We've been a bit lax this week because we've both been trying to take a break from being completely overloaded with information from Spygate.
00:35:27
Zak
But hey, it will all be over come love nor money this week. So thanks you very much. Have a wonderful morning, afternoon, evening or day.
00:35:37
Zak
And we will see you in the next one.