Transcript
Speaker: This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.
Speaker: Hello and welcome back to the Daily Saints pod, episode number 489.
Speaker: Life in football comes at you thick and fast, Zach, and I mean, when we spoke last about this Millwall game, we were worried about that centre-back pairing of of Jack Stevens and Nathan Wood, and How are we feeling now, mate? How are you doing? oh just me Mate, what a whirlwind sort of couple of days to be a Saints fan, right? like we we were We were discussing the other day, or is it worth bringing back James Ward-Prowse? And then like I sent you the video of him you know teared up, and and you were like, I said, I'm sold. I'm sold. I said, this is possibly the... It 100% reminded I saw the golf teaser and did think for a brief moment that maybe we were signing Gareth Bale. Yeah.
Speaker: i I saw that and thought, God, this is the cringiest thing ever. The first thing it reminded me of was when Wayne Rooney did that like ridiculous advert for Wine or something, where he was like, they say he is a legend. That's all I had in my head the whole time watching it. But man, it it was ah it was a good moment. And I think that like collectively, as much as everybody was like, open and r and about it even even us, where we're quite critical of the nostalgia bait that this club rolls out. But then the problem is, is then they actually roll it out and we cave.
Speaker: instantly instantly we're like I hope we get to see James Brown Proud I hope he starts maybe he'll start maybe he'll play it'll be really nice to see him it's gonna be so good and like that was it that was just like our discussion Friday like bless my poor wife it was her birthday today we've had a lovely day today but like the build-up the last few days so much has happened You're right. Our centre-back pairing of Nathan Wood and Jack Stephens, you were talking about it basically kind of being confirmed in your transfer episode on Thursday. And by the time that some people were listening to that, he would have been signed. I definitely didn't expect him to start, you know, just jump straight into the side like that. He did pretty well, considering. That's nuts. Yeah, not just start, but also put in a pretty decent performance. Yeah.
Speaker: And I mean, I think I saw Tonda in his post-match press conference say, like, think it's a really good effort to come in and do a day of ah media and interviews and, you know, all of the like paperwork and then slot into a team and play a game like that where you don't even really know the other players' names yet. Especially i like especially where, like you know not no offence to the guy, I don't think he's going to be overshadowed in his time here. But then obviously, the James Will Prowse transfer was massive. right It was huge. and then And then on top of that, it was the fact that it was supposedly a fee of like under a million, which is just, quite frankly, robbery. like It's like we've really done them over there, is how I feel. I think the only thing I've ever seen um devalue that quickly is an NFT.
Speaker: What a deep thought? Good lord! million three years ago to like now is it's it's insane and i mean i'll see a sort a couple of um Obviously, I've been absorbing as much of it as I could. And I saw a couple of Millwall podcasts be like, I mean, they brought on James Ward Prowls off the bench. So that really speaks to you about the depth of their squad. Imagine being on a player like that. So getting getting directly into the game, like for with that first sort of 15, 20 minutes, mate,
Speaker: it They were just relentless. they it was like It felt like the world was going to fall out of us. There wasn't really a huge amount of optimism. it was like, oh, no. From Tuesday night, right? It's just yeah hundred percent what I feared with our match preview, right? look I wasn't didn't spend our entire match preview going, i don't know, this Millwall game could be tougher than we think because I was trying to you know get us excited for a 5-1 win. I was very, like, like before the game, I'd have taken a point, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, and i think I think that's the case, right? And i i no disrespect to Millwall, because I think they came out and they played they played a really good game, and they to start with anyway. And I think that they were... You need to remember where they finished last year was on merit, right? and And again, last year when we did our predictions, I didn't predict them that high. You had a funny feeling and your funny feeling was right. And, you know, there were about...
Speaker: you know some of that you know without their talisman yesterday. But they still played well. And um I just think that we it was like all our players...
Speaker: hit form at the exact same time. That's the only way I could like describe it. It was like, all of a sudden, all of the things that everybody was worried about kicked into place, right? You've got Karl Lahren, who's been in form, who just massively continued it, like very close to, you know, could have probably picked up a hat-trick.
Speaker: You've got... No player in the championship has scored more goals than Karl Lahren since Karl Lahren stepped foot in the championship. But this is the thing, right? And and this is where...
Speaker: I kind of have to put my faith in like spores because as much as, you know, we've had a Damien Downs who, you know, you got feel for the lad because it's like two days now before what wild is going on happens.
Speaker: We've, you know, that that was a piece of business that everybody was kind of a bit unexcited by We got more slightly excited when I did a profile on him because I thought there was the potential there to to see what we're seeing now because, you know, this is what, this has happened once in his career before.
Speaker: I know what it is. don't know if it's... but you know Maybe it's quality of service. Maybe it's you know the confidence that comes from it. Maybe it's also the togetherness of the team. Because that's the biggest thing. It's like the post-match and the togetherness and that everyone running up. And it's like, man, they were just such... It was just such good vibes. And after after Tuesday, that was needed. 100%. I mean, look. I mean, you think back to...
Speaker: the the particular like It stands out to me. Will's still at the end of his reign with us last season. and We still like actively pointed out on the show like the whole team just walk off separately down the tunnel. like There's nothing. And then we saw it really come together towards the end of last season. and Then obviously what happened happened. Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, that's going to be one of the hardest things to rebuild. But then here we have, I mean, some of my favorite things I've seen all weekend. Leo and Azaz pointing at each other, replaced with the Spider-Man meme. Ha!
Speaker: but i wish That was so good. It was a ridiculous ball, you know, and it required a tap-in, but it still was the tap-in. And then, oh, it was just such a good game to watch. It was like we went 1-0 down and it was like that fire was just lit at that point. And then it just became it just became watching completely different beast. And then you've got, again, like Leo going back to what people, you know, considered to be prime Leo.
Speaker: and And then, you know, we're 2-1 up at that point. And then we we do get away with one when when Flynn picked up the head injury. Right? That was very... like They managed to hit... That generational miss. That was... Yeah, that was...
Speaker: You think how that could have changed the game and what that could have done. It was very Shea Adams, wasn't it? That's exactly how I described it to you. I was like, that is the most Shea Adams miss I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker: But we're we're getting ahead of ourselves again, mate. like we're you know what We're we're're eight minutes in and we haven't gone back to the start. so Shall we start the start? Let's wind it all the way back. ah The team sheets hit and...
Speaker: Jack Stevens has been dropped for our new film. Yeah. That's big news. It is big news. Now, look, ah I think that particularly with the criticism he gets and he takes, right, a lot of people are going to see this as as like a big thing.
Speaker: But... You have to remember, like Jack Stephens playing well for us at the end of last season couldn't play three games in a week, did not have the fitness levels to handle that.
Speaker: So why would that have changed coming into this season? I still think that the Jack Stephens will have a role to play this season in the squad. It's not going to be place of...
Speaker: It's not going to be on the place of Schlotterbeck, though, is it, right? i think From what we've seen? is probably Probably not. um So, yeah, starting from the start, obviously Peretz being in goal. And he pulled off ah some some really important saves. And I think that's kind of... like There's one I particularly remember, but, like, you've...
Speaker: you've got to remember that as good as the attacks were and as amazing as that threat was, having a goalkeeper that we don't have to worry about is a good thing. And obviously, you know, i think someone put it like it's for the first time in something like 3000 days, there is neither Alex McCarthy nor Gavin Pizzuno at Southampton Football Club. And, you know, i feel bad. I feel, you know, good luck to Baz Bolton.
Speaker: um But I did really laugh at that tweet. yeah It's very accurate. It's the first time in a long time, right? There's no debate or discussion to be had about who's going to go. We know it's Peretz. We know that he's his' quality. And at the other end of the pitch, there's no debate because we've got the most natural of natural number nines in Kyle Larrick, right? Yeah.
Speaker: Exactly that. So, you know, and obviously, as you pointed out, but I don't think there's really any reason to rehash the Stephens argument. I think that, you know, he's had a cover rough a couple of games, probably needed this game off. And the fact that Schlotterbeck came in and was able to handle that pressure and handle just just play as well as he did was great. And and then there was a lot of absorbing pressure that first 15 minutes. And that goal was always coming. Like, it's just... bit of ah one One other like interesting key point, I suppose, is you think back all the way, cast your mind back to that very dark time of the Premier League season that wasn't. Ivan Juric was moaning about us not having a left-footed centre-back.
Speaker: ah which, you know, up until this game, our answer to was Jack Stevens was playing in the left-hand side of midfield very wide, who is not left-footed. So maybe having, you know, the profile of player that we want on the right side of the pitch is is as helpful as anything, right? Yeah. Which also probably means that Jack Stevens coming back in on his more natural right-sided of that centre-back is also going to be a good thing for him,
Speaker: you know as and when that happens. True. That's probably... you know you You're right, but it it did... you know it was it was a surprise to see to see somebody go straight in that quickly. at Nathan Wood once again performed Without jumping too far ahead, right it being as a surprise, I've just seen this breakdown of his performance.
Speaker: 45 touches, 23 out of 30 attempted passes were completed, one block, four recoveries, two interceptions, seven clearances, 100% of aerial duels won, four out four, 10 defensive contributions, the most on the pitch. So as as debuts one day after signing go, it's pretty good going. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: 100%. And again, like um i just I just think it was a fantastic debut. It was fantastic to watch. Obviously, Wood started alongside him. Again, I'm still baffled by everyone's complete worry.
Speaker: I think Wood is a very good... He played a lot of games towards the end of last season. Proved it again today. Bree had a really good game as well. Manning obviously you know assisted the the first goal, but obviously got a bit of criticism of that first...
Speaker: sort of 15 minutes because he just struggles to struggles to run back. And he struggles to to kind of... They always can get a cross-off on that side, right? It very, very rarely comes in on Bree's side. And I get that.
Speaker: And I understand. And I think that's just a a thing sometimes we need to accept with Manning. And I know people get really frustrated by it. But i think that what he brings to the team, especially in terms of like you know his liveries and set pieces and stuff, is more important. At one point, he had absolutely cracking shot that was very well saved. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, like very, very well saved. And like you know and a key another keeper misses that as goal. and it's And it's an incredible goal. So I understand the criticism. But obviously, kind of once you put five past them, it kind of disappears and melts away a little bit, doesn't it? um So yeah, that's kind of how I feel like the back did. And then obviously you've got Downs Bragg in the middle.
Speaker: Bragg struggled at the beginning. Again, I think it's just Millwall's physicality. They just bullied him. yeah They just bullied a lot. just They're specifically going to be looking to target him as well, right? Because, you know, Flynn Downs, especially in this league, is a known quantity. You know that as Millwall, if you're going to go and kick Flynn Downs, you're suddenly going to turn him into Superman for the rest of the game because that's what he enjoys about the game. Yeah.
Speaker: the But Cam Bragg, lesser, right? He's going to be the one you're going try and leave a boot in a bit and just let him know you're there and and try and throw him off his game that way. but Yeah, and I think... right But you're still not right, though. Yeah, he's he grew into it, and I think he's still got a lot of growing to do. And obviously, James Moore Prowse a backup. it doesn't It's not very Romeo-esque, is it, right? Like, Romeo, it was almost it was just there.
Speaker: He was just there. And I know that you said that presence might have been important in the back room, and it might have been. um But ultimately, you know, he wasn't... was more here for like moral reasons than than like actual playing ability. yes And I think that you know Bragg still has a lot of growing and learning to do And I know that there's probably a lot of desire for us to get another central midfielder, and I get that.
Speaker: But judging by the the what they've said, I think that James Will Prowse is that Shea Charles replacement. And I think that... you know I'd be very surprised, especially with unless they've got something secret working in the background.
Speaker: I know that that will probably upset a lot of people, but how else are you meant to grow players you know without playing them? And yeah, it means that you might need to do a bit of practice, but I don't know. I think that there's more depth there, especially if Yander comes back. Obviously, there's still rumours persisting that Yander might go.
Speaker: I don't really think that's the case. I genuinely, you know, think that he'll probably be here still on the 2nd of September. So we'll have to hope. But yeah, brown obviously see him and him and Downs. Downs goes off with a head injury, which looked to be originally, well, like i think it was just a collision. so Proper cracked his head open.
Speaker: ah His Instagram post summed it up though. Yeah, his Instagram post summed up. He laughed and joked that he was able to laugh and joke about it He was able to walk down the tunnel, which for me is a big deal, right? Like it's a head injury and they they're out cold and then they're getting stretched off different. Yeah. Be able to walk off. Again, though, Flynn is the sort of player that an injury like that from a game is something that's going to fire him up even more for the next game. some sort of like sadistic. I love it. I love that.
Speaker: That part of his game. That's what he enjoyed. And it allowed, it allowed a debut of James were proud. So they just lifted the crowd and, you know, everyone was buzzing for it. And again, like all of, it's almost a sudden, like three years just melted away.
Speaker: i think it was like something like his 400th on something. Yeah. when I say 411th appearance for us, which is just mad. And it was like, you kind of blink and it's like, that's been three years. And there was a lot of other Saints related stuff that I'll probably leave. If we do a, if we do a, um, championship roundup this week, I'll probably talk about a little bit more about, I don't know if we're going to have... Oh, yeah, no, we've got... Okay, so, so yeah, we just, like, Olicanlay scored, like, Romeo and Lavier scored today for Chelsea, like, lots of ex-8s doing bits, doing numbers, scoring goals, right? Sam Gallagher's absolutely disgusting goal in an unfortunate loss for Stoke.
Speaker: But yeah, it was just sort of, it was so weird. It was like blinking and you kind of forget that it's been that long and it just seemed very natural. And obviously he spoke about that and he talked about the fact is, is you know, and it might be, to be honest, Greg, as we've discussed, this might just be media BS. It might be media training. you know what? I'm fine with that.
Speaker: um I'll lock up. I enjoyed it. it brought me joy. What more do I want? look like what body you want It can be media-trained the correct answer to be everyone up and also be a good thing to be back in a club that yeah you know you grew up in. right like All of that can be true. It doesn't matter if he didn't follow Saints schools when he was at West Ham. right like it's yeah think I think it's it's very much a thing. and like You've got this sort of like, oh, he was a rat, jumped at the first opportunity. I'm like, no...
Speaker: Again, like as much not to not to echo Tonda too much, and obviously we'll we'll talk a bit more about a now departing Taylor Harbour-Bellis, I'm sure, in a bit. But it's it's one of those things with players, they are like people, right? It's like, oh, where's the loyalty? And it's like, okay, so you've got a guy who wants to continue his career. He wants to continue playing at Premier League level because he wants to get into England's squad. He has an opportunity to go to a club that at that point established, you know, Premier League, not so much today as we're now above them. But at that point, established Premier League, trying desperately to get back into the England squad, you know, has ah has a record for free kicks and stuff. I don't really, you know, it's like oh, he should have helped us get back up. We still got back up without him, quite frankly. And then, quite and then to be honest, he probably looks back at and maybe he does regret it because, you know, that first season with West Ham, probably really good. But then everything else, you know, turns out that he's just massively... wrong place Just can't call the guy bold without it being funny, apparently. um so Like, who knows if the rumours are true. but either way, i'm i'm quite happy to accept someone back with open arms that, you know, you can tell that he's he still wanted to come back and play. Clearly enjoyed every single bit. You know, he probably could have gone to like an Ipswich or something like that or a newly promoted side if he wanted to. um I reckon.
Speaker: But instead, you know, it's come to us. so I'll take it. And people were like, oh, well, he had lots of opportunities to come back over time. I'm like, I don't really know if he did, really. you We're all speculating. It's all like so backing up what people feel. And I think that there's there is a sense of betrayal when like talismans leave, right?
Speaker: And sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. ah You know, we've got a lot of people that have left their big clubs this season. Or I guess we'll figure out how it works out, right? Mo Salah being one. But also, most importantly, just seems to have started straight back in point to the team dynamic with this togetherness that they're showing. And great. and that' stuff yeah Let's... some Let's talk about the goals. Do you want to talk about Matski being on the right instead of Fellows and then Fellows coming on and then scoring? Sorry, sorry. No, no, no. You're right. Let's talk about the goals. But Greg, so where were you? Matski starting on the right. Physicality. The obvious answer to the physicality of Millwall, right? No doubt in my mind. I'm pretty sure that that was exactly what we predicted.
Speaker: and the The rest pick themselves, right? Because they're what you'd expect to be in that position unless there's an injury, quite frankly. And now especially with what we've seen with the goals, which we can move into. So, um right.
Speaker: First goal. Yep. Set piece. Is this our first set-piece goal of the season? I think it is. I'm pretty sure. We, in fact, I think have sat here and criticised how poor some our set-pieces have looked up to this point. But, I mean, that was an absolute dream of delivery.
Speaker: ah but like Obviously, Lahren had to do a bit of work to get himself free in that position, for but not a lot of work to do to put the ball in the net other than that, right? It was just an absolute... Correct.
Speaker: ah Brilliant. Beautiful. ah The second goal, I mean, Leo just doing Leo things, right? Yeah, 100%. Putting it a, somehow getting an angle to put it on an absolute plate for a Zavs.
Speaker: The Zavs tapping it in. Yeah. You still need the player to tap it in. Let's remember that. Like we've seen, as we've seen from many examples this weekend, if you don't have somebody to, you know, to correctly get on the end of it. But again, when they're working in sync, they're working in sync. think back to that goal last season from a corner where it hit Matski's foot. It was very akin to that. But you're right, you've got to be in the right position.
Speaker: are just the both Both those players just coming in into such like a hot piece of form this game. like They really just seemed to click and get it together. And some of the other link-up they had was...
Speaker: um You just hope that we can keep it up. The good thing is it puts us then on the front foot going into half-time, which was important because obviously then you've got downs coming off and there was that kind of worry as to, you know, is we going to be able to keep it up? Is James Ward-Prowse going to come on and be able to continue? And like, yeah, they just kind of carried on as is. And then obviously...
Speaker: You've got the penalty. Well, the big discussion point, right? Is it a penalty? It was given as a penalty. Was it inside box? I think it looked like it was. I think you could replay it from a different angle and it's not. It was given as a penalty.
Speaker: um You know, it was Zaz's gift back north final back to on it. Like... If it's not a penalty and it's given as a free kick, have we really been robbed of of the the best possible Ward-Prowse? Do you think that Ward-Prowse would get that over Manning, though, immediately?
Speaker: Or even Leo, that of the world. I'm sorry. like I understand that that's what people want. And I understand that. But the problem is, as well, is you've got to think of that game. I think if we were 5-1 up and it happened and there was a free kick, goes to Jamesville Prowse. I think that when we are making sure that we have to contain a lead, yeah I think at 2-1, it still goes to the things that they've been training non-stop.
Speaker: So either way, regardless of whether people think it is or not, it was pen and it was given. I think it was in the box. um And I think Flynn down, not Flynn, sorry, Finnaz has done himself misjustice by trying his best to actually stay on his feet because by trying to ride the tackle, he's kind of gone outside of the box, which makes it look like it might have been outside the box. Whereas if he had just done what any other you know player in that position generally does and just gone over, i wouldn't have even... I have almost the opposite opinion where I think he's drifted inside the box to make sure that when there was contact, he would go over inside. That's how I viewed it.
Speaker: so When I viewed it, I looked at his end to think that the reason he he kind of rode that line so well was exactly that if they decided to take him out when it was a foul, it would be given as a penalty. And either way it was. And then um and then obviously Sienza scores the penalty. The most sort of Brazilian. Horrible.
Speaker: Horrible. It was the fact that yeah every, just start and and I was i was talking to to my father-in-law about it. And he was just like, but I don't understand. Like it was a really, like he did the like run up and then i had to explain to him Leo Sienza's Brazilian. He was like, well, that makes more sense. it's like has to have that flair where luckily it had the power behind it because he went the right way. Brick tried that, he'd be booed off the pitch and kicked into Rose's. He went the right way and he's lucky that the speed and the power behind it is what got it in because if not, that could have been very Richarlison-esque. It would have been...
Speaker: it' it's a free shot from 12 yards. You're a professional footballer. You don't need any of the theatrics. Just kick the ball in the net. True. You know? Right. So, um, but so, so third goal, let's get to this fourth. Sorry. I just transformed into Sean. I don't know what happened.
Speaker: Let's get, let's get to the fourth, which is what we really want to discuss. Was that of the best goals you've ever seen? Because for me, just everything about how nobody intercepted him, I don't know.
Speaker: but that was just such a good goal. this was it So this takes me back to my thoughts on on the penalty, right? Because Azaz continues to play a ball after being fouled that he could have just ignored.
Speaker: It falls to Laren's feet. And Laren tries something that I think I've tried on a football pitch. like 350 times in my life and every single time the defender... Well, that's what you expect. You look around and you're like, how has no one got there? And it's almost like it was just magic.
Speaker: And then he hits it and it goes, ah. Chipped over, the defender commits, and then just the calmest finish. like, well, that's just ridiculous. That's the sort of goal that you can only score when you're in the sort form that he's in. You need the confidence. You try that if you're searching and hungry for a goal and haven't scored Like...
Speaker: It just doesn't happen, does it? It just, it pings off your boot and goes out Every every time I watched Fahashi try and score last season for Birmingham, it was like every single every single individual touch he took and every single shot he made just never went anywhere, right? And now he's not at Birmingham anymore, which says everything you need to know. yeah but like for Lahren, yeah, it was just ah it was just a beautiful, beautiful thing to witness. And I don't think I've ever jumped up so much off the back of a goal.
Speaker: got Goal of the season contender ah very early. and Well, for us, yeah. I i just think so i think that Gallagher's goal was probably... Saints goal. Saints goal of the season, for sure. But then it was just like... ah And then obviously, like, this this game that suddenly started and was such a struggle to begin with, was suddenly 4-1 up. and And it's crazy.
Speaker: And... And then it happened. The scene was set. The ball was bobbling around. It came out to Fellows. And... He took one too many touches and nearly missed me. Where did get?
Speaker: I have a a confession to make. So obviously, I i wasn't able to, as as of aforementioned, wife's birthday state weekend. So I managed to carve out the time to watch it, but I wasn't able to go, which kind of sucks. You weren't able to go if you're a victorious festival. um So you caught it up later on. But what was incredible was that We have an American fan. He's a really nice guy. I'm not going to dox him on stream, but we often you know chat to him.
Speaker: I stream. God, I'm not a Twitch person. I'm not going dox him on the podcast, but we often have chat and back and forth. ah Just before I watched the goal actually happen, I saw his tweet directly to us that went Tom Fellows. And I was like, that's weird. Two seconds later, was like,
Speaker: The curse! The curse is broken! and i wish that And all I could think of this was, of course, of course Greg wasn't there. And I remember texting you, yeah and you just swore.
Speaker: but The fact that, like, all of the pieces, like, they lost the toss and swapped ends, which means that only did he score his first goal, it was in front of the northern end. Like...
Speaker: ah It's just phenomenal, right? And...
Speaker: I hope that many more to come. It's what it meant. Like he had to double check. It was his, everyone then said it was his. And then it was like him talking about the celebration that he did was literally because his dad told him to do it. And he said, he just really thanked his parents. And it was like,
Speaker: You know, that sometimes... Leo running in the length of the pitch from the bench to celebrate with him. But then that's the... and and that's stuck But that's the thing, right? Like, this is where, you know, when when you talk about them being young men and you talk about you specifically banging on about this togetherness thing, that's where you see it. And, like, they genuinely seem to, like, you care about each other. And you you remember what this, like... means is that some of these some of these people are just like kids living out their childhood dreams and at moments like that. like We can criticise, but let's face it, like we aren't even a touch of ah of ah of a of a foot away from anywhere being even a slightly good enough footballer to to be anywhere near those pitches. For us, we know we can sit and we can analyse this than and the other, but ultimately like they're the ones that have to you know make the sacrifices and put in the hours and
Speaker: And, you know, we can, you know, be like, oh, I don't know. it And, you know, that was one of the things I said, like, oh I don't know if he's got a physicality. And there's there's me, like, I think I just need to occasionally be slightly critical of our players, Greg. And then what happens is they seem to turn around and completely crap on my idea of what I think they are as a player. And it was just so good to see. I mean, it was a performance that...
Speaker: that exceeded, I mean, anybody, I think, expectations. I don't think anyone was crazy enough to come into this game predicting a 5-1 win. Although I do think I said 5-2. No, you said, to be clear, you said 4-2 and that's because I said 2-1. And it was because you were like, well, we're definitely going to concede. But like, and I said we're definitely going to concede, but you wanted the extra goals, right? So that's where we ended up, because I thought 2-1, and 2-1 would be, would be a really solid result. So yeah, is just amazing. Absolutely amazing. Against, you know, a Millwall team who hadn't conceded a goal in the championship. That's the other thing, right? Admittedly, a Millwall team struggling with injuries, not their first choice goalkeeper in net. Another one of their players carried off the pitch on a stretcher after the game I saw. Yeah.
Speaker: But their goalkeeper did well. He pulled off some pretty decent saves as well. like but But again, it just seemed like everything clicked after that first goal to be what we wanted to be like the perfect performance. If you'd asked us like, what would be like an incredible Saints performance? Okay, well, Leo and Azaz being back up to their like what you'd call top, a striker that can score in any way. So off the back of a set piece or with an incredible cross to them. And then, oh, yeah. you know, maybe a winger that's yet to score, that we really wish would score, managing to score, you know, a man that we've literally, I was convinced you put some sort of voodoo curse on him. And, you know, one of the few moments you're are not unable to attend St Mary's, which is you not being there, mate. You're never allowed to go again.
Speaker: Cancel your season tickets, tell it. all we All we need now is um is to work out how to light that fire in us and bring that performance out without conceding a goal.
Speaker: but Because it always seems to be the way that that conceding is what snaps us into this place where we become unstoppable. It would be really nice if we could just do that from the start. I don't really know. If we have to concede one and score five every game, I think I'm all right with that.
Speaker: Like... like it would look perfect a path In a perfect world, we wouldn't concede like anything, right? and And they're working towards that. but also, again, like we had defence today that we're getting to know each other, quite frankly.
Speaker: um I don't even know how good Schlotterbeck's English is. right? like They might still be struggling to fully speak and communicate with another one another. um but either way, it was just the fact that that all of the players were able to put up off of those performances, right? And, you know, there were some players that struggled more than others. And again, that first 15 minutes, it was like,
Speaker: you You genuinely thought, oh, God, this could be this could be an absolute hiding here. And after they put one away, you know we saw what happened against West Ham on Tuesday. And unfortunately, I think you were right, where maybe it was just the fact that everyone went, it's the cup.
Speaker: um And, yeah, alternative. I'm grateful to be right yeah and turn it around in the way that we have. And it needed be... to be I mean, that, yeah right? was saying it was important for the atmosphere to to put in a performance and you just can't really, couldn't have asked for a better performance than that and it gives us a huge boost heading into you know another game on Tuesday as they keep coming and They don't stop coming. By then, we could have another centre-back, potentially. We could have more transfers. We could have more people out the door. Because on top of that, you've got to think of the back room. There's a lot of changes going on, is right? Ben Brereton-Diaz is now out on loan again to another club, Sheffield United. back He's back two now, as I said. Yeah, well, look, we're going to... I think we'll do a ah full
Speaker: post transfer window breakdown Thursday. The only reason I bring up though, mate, is because like there's, again, there's a lot of disruption behind the scenes. You know, they talked about Taylor Harbour-Bellis not being able to start because again, young young guy having to debate his future, very, very complicated. Can't give a hundred percent if all he can think about is what's going on in the, you know, behind the scenes. yeah Right? So then they've had to make sort of ruthless decisions and people had to kind of step up and to be able to kind of come in you know after joining on Friday and managing to put in 45 minutes and joining on Thursday doing basically the full 90 and you know a 5-1 scoreline with everyone basically contributing right you know it's just absolutely what we want perfect performance it was just absolutely perfect the perfect I think Tom put it right like the best 70 minutes right yeah First 20, nah. I've thought everyone up in arms, myself included. But after that, yeah, absolutely perfect.
Speaker: What more could you want? Yeah, absolutely. ah Just an outstanding game, an outstanding performance. ah What more can you say? Five stars, five goals.
Speaker: Perfect. ah Look mate, that's all we've got time for today. and There's still so much to talk about. We've got another match preview to do tomorrow because we've got another game coming that we've got to think about.
Speaker: So look, that's it. But look, thank you everyone for listening. Let us know your thoughts and all of your positive vibes, feelings, comments on this game. And do you think we can just keep that momentum going? Is that it? We're just clicking into all gears now?
Speaker: Just going to win them all? Oh, I hope so. Back on positive points. we didn't back on Sorry, back on positive points above West Ham. ah we yeah We, from a personal perspective, have hit some big milestones. We recently got over 200 subscribers on YouTube. Really appreciate that. We've had some really, really nice comments that really do you like just kind of make our day. little little There's little exchanges between me and Greg behind the scenes. It's like, oh, do you see XYZ?
Speaker: And it really is just like a nice little boost of serotonin. Because sometimes, like, what you don't know is because the episode came out quite late Friday, was we almost lost our entire recording. And this is where, like, you have to be credit where credit's due, Greg, is that, you know, he's not going like the fact that i'm I'm praising him on the podcast because that's not really how our friendship often works. However... you know, put, made sure to do his best to get that episode out, clipped it all together. As anyone on YouTube will see, it looks a bit different. You know, did did so much to make sure that episode was out on top of us having busy working lives as well. like I might've been on annual leave, but, but Greg certainly wasn't. So he's, you know, he managed to put a lot of effort in out of hours to, to get it done.
Speaker: And it's just, it's just really nice. so then we get, it means that like, it's doing this podcast is like when, when it, when the going's good, it's really just such an, it's like an extra buzz in it.
Speaker: And then when it's, when it goes bad, it's great. Cause it's also group therapy and I can just whinge about it. perfect but thank you says Thank you very much Appreciate
Speaker: Absolutely. So yes, hit us up in the comments on the socials with all your positive thoughts, opinions, vibes, comments on the match. We're Daily Saints Pod absolutely everywhere. X, TikTok, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. ah And we look forward to hearing from you. Like say, we're back tomorrow for a match preview. But until then, everyone, I hope you enjoy that win and have a wonderful day. And we will see you then.
