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Episode 358: Matchday Review: INTO THE HAT!
12 Plays1 month ago
Southampton – Well, it wasn't a convincing second half, but we made it through! And that's something to be positive about... right? Lots to talk about!
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Transcript
Introduction and Banter
00:00:04
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.
00:00:14
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Daily Saints pod.
00:00:18
Speaker
My name is Greg and as always said you're by my good friend and wonderful co-host Zach.
00:00:23
Speaker
How you doing mate?
00:00:24
Speaker
You alright?
00:00:25
Speaker
Yeah, I'm good, mate.
00:00:29
Speaker
It's not the level of crash out I had after Midrush, bro.
00:00:32
Speaker
And I was also not absolutely exhausted because it was also yesterday.
00:00:34
Speaker
So it makes me feel a little bit better.
The Magic of Cup Matches
00:00:37
Speaker
That's good, mate.
00:00:37
Speaker
Look, into the hat of the fourth round, and not everyone's happy about the second half, but win's a win, isn't it?
00:00:46
Speaker
Like, we got through, Pompey didn't, just because their opponents were top of the Premier League and ours were at the bottom of League One.
00:00:55
Speaker
That doesn't matter.
00:00:56
Speaker
It's the joy of the cup.
00:00:58
Speaker
Anyone can beat anyone.
00:01:00
Speaker
You know, uh... Nottingham Forest?
00:01:04
Speaker
LAUGHTER
00:01:07
Speaker
You say that.
00:01:09
Speaker
Completely, yeah, I was going to say, completely ignoring the fact that the lowest tier team still in the competition knocked out the holders.
00:01:19
Speaker
And like, we talk about cut magic.
00:01:21
Speaker
That's just it.
00:01:22
Speaker
That's the...
Performance and Transfers
00:01:24
Speaker
Sorry, I mean, nothing sums up British culture quite like the odour of a non-league club coming on to celebrate the winning of a game against a Premier League team to earn enough money to presumably run the club solidly for another couple of years, basically, just by being in the hat for the fourth round.
00:01:45
Speaker
Like, yeah, I can't believe it.
00:01:47
Speaker
I bought the club on Brightmoves.
00:01:49
Speaker
Like...
00:01:55
Speaker
Oh, mate.
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, you're right.
00:01:59
Speaker
That is British culture summed up pretty well.
00:02:03
Speaker
You need to go, what is modern UK culture?
00:02:06
Speaker
Here you go.
00:02:07
Speaker
Well, for anyone that watches football or participates in football, right?
00:02:10
Speaker
That's the important thing, right?
00:02:14
Speaker
We're in the hat, but there was more depth to the game.
00:02:19
Speaker
There's so many questions.
00:02:20
Speaker
So much has happened as well.
00:02:22
Speaker
I didn't know...
00:02:24
Speaker
whole transfer episode, Greg, on things that were happening.
00:02:28
Speaker
And since then, Ronnie Edwards has randomly gone to QPR, which I have lots of thoughts about that.
00:02:34
Speaker
And I won't save him for our transferred episode that will either be Thursday or Tuesday, because at this point we can't give up the alliteration.
00:02:40
Speaker
It works too well.
00:02:43
Speaker
But yeah, like, you know, a debut... The way things are going with the news and how it seems to break in, like, immediately, maybe both, right?
00:02:53
Speaker
Like, it's just non-stop.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:56
Speaker
You know, I've already seen stuff about Baz, which, you know, shows you that, I guess, other people don't see him as bad as he's viewed by our fan base.
00:03:06
Speaker
And I have thoughts on that too, but I guess that's not important in a game...
00:03:11
Speaker
Like today, so... Anyway, let's start at the start.
Strategic Analysis of Lineup Changes
00:03:14
Speaker
Let's start with the lineup, right?
00:03:16
Speaker
And it was a, let's say, a heavily rotated team, right?
00:03:21
Speaker
Was it seven changes?
00:03:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:24
Speaker
It's somehow heavily rotated, but still like the spine of the starting XI, right?
00:03:30
Speaker
It's obviously a debut for Peretz in goal, not really surprising us at all.
00:03:36
Speaker
Nope.
00:03:37
Speaker
Switched to a back four, which might have been a bit of a surprise.
00:03:40
Speaker
Obviously, Wellington in, Yiller in...
00:03:43
Speaker
Kwashi and Harwood Bellis, probably the two I would pick to go in a back four in the starting team, right?
00:03:49
Speaker
My favourite thing about that, Greg, was that BBC Sport has defaulted to us having a back three for so long that the default formation was a back three.
00:03:58
Speaker
They didn't really know where to put the players, which was really enjoyable until it shifted.
00:04:03
Speaker
But yeah, it was good.
00:04:05
Speaker
And I think that the post-match comments are...
00:04:09
Speaker
Interesting.
00:04:10
Speaker
Me and you had a quick discussion about the post-match interview where Alfie Haas has gone a little bit harder than usual on Eckert and he seems to crumble under pressure far more than I'd have expected him to.
Defensive Critique
00:04:22
Speaker
But yeah, four at the back.
00:04:23
Speaker
But, you know, we've got actual right backs now and actual off backs.
00:04:28
Speaker
But that's kind of what I'd expect.
00:04:31
Speaker
I'd have expected maybe Wood in for Harwood Bellis.
00:04:33
Speaker
Obviously, we saw Wood come in later when they hit panic stations for whatever bizarre reason.
00:04:40
Speaker
Default back to this horrible back three.
00:04:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker
I think I was surprised to see that.
00:04:43
Speaker
You seem to invite the pressure even more.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:47
Speaker
I was surprised to see Downs in.
00:04:49
Speaker
It was good to see sort of yellows.
00:04:52
Speaker
It was good to see him.
00:04:53
Speaker
Obviously, he could get in the game, get a goal.
00:04:55
Speaker
That was enjoyable.
00:04:57
Speaker
James Robinson got a couple of valuable minutes.
00:05:01
Speaker
And then, obviously, Archer getting on that and actually scoring, which must have been good for him.
00:05:04
Speaker
But, yeah, I think, obviously, we discussed it in the preview, right?
00:05:09
Speaker
I'd expect them to put out a strong 11 for the simple fact that
00:05:14
Speaker
we wanted to have an answer to middle spread.
00:05:17
Speaker
I can't say that we didn't, but I just think the second half collapse overrules a lot of what happened in the first half for me.
00:05:25
Speaker
Again, we'll get into it.
00:05:26
Speaker
Let's dive into it, mate.
Goalkeeper Performance and Alternatives
00:05:28
Speaker
It was...
00:05:31
Speaker
I mean, I don't want to say a textbook Tondarek at Saints performance, but I mean, we had a great first half and capitulated in the second half.
00:05:39
Speaker
So it was a pretty textbook Tondarek at Saints performance.
00:05:43
Speaker
It was the West Brom game, except the fact that it didn't really feel like they were going to score at the end.
00:05:48
Speaker
It felt more like we would.
00:05:49
Speaker
But yeah, it was just an enjoyable first half.
00:05:55
Speaker
I thought I could leave it for 15 minutes when I drove back.
00:05:59
Speaker
to my house from wherever I was at.
00:06:01
Speaker
And then obviously I opened my phone and like talking to you about Middlesbrough, you being like, all of a sudden I was like, sorry, 3-2.
00:06:09
Speaker
That is absolutely ridiculous.
00:06:12
Speaker
I thought I could be quite safe in thinking I'd seen all of the action and clearly I was wrong.
00:06:17
Speaker
And I just, it's just frustrating to see.
00:06:22
Speaker
And here's the thing for me, right?
00:06:24
Speaker
Because we talked a lot last week about formations and structures and that being part of our problem, right?
00:06:37
Speaker
And we swapped to a back four today.
00:06:40
Speaker
And for neither of the goals that we conceded,
00:06:45
Speaker
was being in a back four the problem.
00:06:48
Speaker
The problem was that we can't defend corners, it seems, or crosses at all.
00:06:54
Speaker
Any set piece, any... And I think that the idea that, like, Tonda was talking about, well, you know, sometimes it's okay to concede them.
00:07:04
Speaker
And I'm like, maybe don't.
00:07:06
Speaker
Like, if we can't defend against something like that, maybe stop conceding them.
00:07:09
Speaker
But this has been going on for so long.
00:07:11
Speaker
And I think, I don't know, I don't know how much merit is in your concept of the fact that our team is too short.
00:07:17
Speaker
Like, I think you've said that for a long time.
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:21
Speaker
It's also like looking at the ball and making sure you know where it is is also half of that.
00:07:27
Speaker
Like, that's what frustrates me the most.
00:07:29
Speaker
But it says to me that like, Horace had a really good, like, debut.
00:07:33
Speaker
He like, you know, really, really late, you know, two saves in a row sort of thing.
00:07:37
Speaker
But it shows you that... He's really solid to me.
00:07:39
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:41
Speaker
like a goalkeeper at goal without worrying that they're going to do something silly.
00:07:45
Speaker
Do you feel like if Baz was still in goal for this game that we end up in extra time?
00:07:51
Speaker
Is that where we're landing?
00:07:52
Speaker
Is
Set Piece Defense Solutions
00:07:53
Speaker
that why it's an upsetting outcome?
00:07:55
Speaker
I kind of feel like...
00:07:58
Speaker
that it shows the fact that he conceded too, and we all think it was solid, shows you that I don't think the huge problem was our goalkeeper.
00:08:07
Speaker
I think that there was a lot more pressure on Baz than needed to be, right?
00:08:11
Speaker
Like, I think if he'd had the ability to develop with defenders that kept the ball away from him,
00:08:17
Speaker
he probably, it wouldn't have been such a talking point.
00:08:20
Speaker
But apparently we're that bad that we, you know, let balls fly, our goalkeeper constantly.
00:08:26
Speaker
Like, they have more shots than us, mate.
00:08:28
Speaker
Like, I'm not being funny.
00:08:29
Speaker
They are languishing at the bottom of League One.
00:08:32
Speaker
Like, they barely scored a goal in the last five games, and then they put two against us.
00:08:37
Speaker
So, I don't know.
00:08:39
Speaker
I feel like it's, you know, it's the whole, like, if...
00:08:43
Speaker
if my nan had wheels, she would be a bike.
00:08:45
Speaker
Like, we don't know, right?
00:08:50
Speaker
It's a moot point.
00:08:51
Speaker
But I will point out that, you know, we will talk about it on transfer day, but like, you know, Baz has already had an offer from another championship outfit.
00:08:59
Speaker
Ironically, whose keeper's gone out injured, which is why it's an emergency.
00:09:03
Speaker
However, that keeper was also a keeper a lot of us told, said that we should bring in in the previous transfer window.
00:09:08
Speaker
So, yeah, it's interesting, but...
00:09:12
Speaker
I don't know, just the long and short of it, maybe.
00:09:15
Speaker
Is that what you're talking about?
00:09:18
Speaker
I don't know, like I say, I think the problem to me is obvious, right?
00:09:25
Speaker
we've, you know, obviously we're too short, right?
00:09:27
Speaker
But that is what it is.
00:09:28
Speaker
You can't, like, inject players with super serum or something and make them grow two foot.
00:09:33
Speaker
That's not, I don't think, allowed.
00:09:36
Speaker
But, like, we've had this, like, I know we have an assistant manager and sort of some backroom staff for Tonda now, right?
00:09:45
Speaker
But,
00:09:46
Speaker
We used to have a set-piece coach as well and all of these other roles that have not really been backfilled or done anything about.
00:09:56
Speaker
And it's no secret that we concede a lot of set-pieces like...
00:10:01
Speaker
I mean, is it just me?
00:10:03
Speaker
Surely you're seeing two and two here and putting them together.
00:10:07
Speaker
Maybe if we worked on defending set pieces with someone who could specialise in set pieces, maybe we'd be better at it.
00:10:14
Speaker
Maybe when they have the set piece coach,
Post-Match Strategy Reflection
00:10:17
Speaker
they'd stop it either way.
00:10:18
Speaker
And the conversation seems to be having...
00:10:21
Speaker
That, you know, a lot of the post-match, that post-match press conference could have just been any generic manager we had in the last couple of months, right?
00:10:28
Speaker
I feel like it answers a lot more of my questions of how much the control is in the hands of the manager and how much of the control is in the hands of sports, right?
00:10:35
Speaker
And by manager, I mean, are we just saying head coach now?
00:10:39
Speaker
Because that seems to be what that conversation confirmed to be.
00:10:43
Speaker
But it just seems to be constantly like, yeah, so we spent an entire week working on this and training, and then they did that.
00:10:49
Speaker
And then I gave him a halftime team talk that said, you need to go out there, start really strong, don't concede in the first five minutes.
00:10:57
Speaker
Conceded in the first five minutes.
00:10:58
Speaker
Conceded again, panicked, so then it was like, ugh, fine, I'll put on another defender.
00:11:03
Speaker
And you're like,
00:11:04
Speaker
What?
00:11:04
Speaker
You're putting on another... We should be putting them to the sword.
00:11:07
Speaker
Like, I don't quite understand the logic behind it.
00:11:12
Speaker
And it makes us feel a bit tin pot.
00:11:13
Speaker
I'm not going to lie.
00:11:15
Speaker
At least that's how I read that.
00:11:16
Speaker
I can't believe, like, a team two goals and then just going, well, rather than going, oh, we should just score another three.
00:11:22
Speaker
Like...
00:11:24
Speaker
It says a lot.
00:11:25
Speaker
You've got to think about the mentality of the players currently, and it's something that's been criticised anyway, but throwing away leads in the second half is frankly our MO at the moment.
00:11:37
Speaker
So I can see why the panic was there, and I understand why it set in.
00:11:42
Speaker
And, you know, I don't know.
00:11:45
Speaker
Like I say, it was a heavily rotated team, right?
00:11:47
Speaker
So we have to give some credence to that.
00:11:52
Speaker
I don't know.
00:11:53
Speaker
Because that just means that, like, where does it come from?
00:11:57
Speaker
Like, look at those players, right?
00:11:59
Speaker
So who are of, like, the Russell Martin era or last year's era, right?
00:12:04
Speaker
Harwood Palace, to an extent, Wellington played, like, one or two games.
00:12:08
Speaker
Downs.
00:12:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
Maybe... Ben Archer.
00:12:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
That's the whole spine of the team.
00:12:14
Speaker
So it's... You know, that's...
00:12:19
Speaker
It's just, do you remember how I was like, I really wanted the new signings to come in and rub off on the old signings?
00:12:26
Speaker
And then we kind of, what happened was, you know, I don't know.
00:12:29
Speaker
Again, I think we said we'd probably talk Wednesday, right, for player Palmer or whatever.
00:12:34
Speaker
But it's just so weird.
00:12:37
Speaker
It's such a bizarre thing to me.
00:12:40
Speaker
It just keeps happening.
00:12:42
Speaker
And every time a coach is asked about it, they're like, yeah.
00:12:45
Speaker
It's the same thing with him almost getting defensive against Alphi being like, I know you're going to ask me about the formation.
00:12:50
Speaker
It's nothing to do with that.
00:12:52
Speaker
I actually think we are better with a back five.
00:12:54
Speaker
I'm like, it doesn't matter though.
00:12:55
Speaker
Back six, back seven, we need to be more resilient.
Leadership and New Signings
00:12:57
Speaker
How do we get more resilient?
00:12:58
Speaker
Do you have enough leaders?
00:12:59
Speaker
Resilient.
00:13:00
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, just mate.
00:13:02
Speaker
Maybe I actually preferred it when he said nothing.
00:13:07
Speaker
That way you just think there's quiet genius behind the eyes.
00:13:10
Speaker
What do you make of Alfie's questions, which were pretty reasonable, I think, about Ori and him not getting game time in this game?
00:13:20
Speaker
It is clearly... He's so severely unfit that it surprised them.
00:13:29
Speaker
And the only reason they've brought him in is for like a cultural shift.
00:13:32
Speaker
And it's like all of the stuff around, oh, he's an unbelievable person, unbelievable personality, unbelievable leader.
00:13:38
Speaker
And this, that, the other.
00:13:39
Speaker
And it's like, okay, so is this just out of Lallada Mark II?
00:13:43
Speaker
Have we seen the entirety of his appearances?
00:13:45
Speaker
Because like the plan of like, yeah, we need a plan to figure out how to get him into games.
00:13:49
Speaker
It's been eight weeks.
00:13:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:52
Speaker
What is the point at this point?
00:13:54
Speaker
Also, with Charles coming back to fitness and Bragg really stepping up, there's competition for that place now.
00:14:05
Speaker
Because Yander, for me, is first name on most team sheets for us because he's really consistent.
00:14:11
Speaker
And Flynn is a strong player in this league from what we see.
00:14:17
Speaker
And Shea Charles was absolutely bossing it before he was injured.
00:14:21
Speaker
and Can Bragg, like you say, stepped up, had a good game, scored a goal.
00:14:25
Speaker
So is there any need to get Romelu fit?
00:14:29
Speaker
Is it just not part of their priorities because he's going to be, what, fifth, sixth choice?
00:14:35
Speaker
I forgot he was back at the club, mate.
00:14:39
Speaker
I'm not going to lie.
00:14:39
Speaker
Like, after...
00:14:41
Speaker
I just kind of forgot.
00:14:43
Speaker
Okay, that sounds really bad and awful, but I kind of forgot he was here.
00:14:48
Speaker
And that's bad.
00:14:49
Speaker
It's just a bit of a weird one.
00:14:53
Speaker
It does feel like it was a feel-good signing, right?
00:14:57
Speaker
Around the time of Eckert and all this and the other and trying to kind of bolster morale and maybe get him in the back room.
00:15:04
Speaker
Maybe he can have a few conversations.
00:15:06
Speaker
He won't be on as much money, et cetera, et cetera.
00:15:09
Speaker
it's just a bit bizarre because on top of that, you know, uh, when I was talking transfers, like one of the people we're scouting is another central midfielder, apparently.
00:15:18
Speaker
Like it's so, yes, it is bizarre.
00:15:21
Speaker
Central midfield is a broad descriptor because I don't think that, I think that very clearly in the system that we want to play, um,
00:15:32
Speaker
there's no such thing as a central midfielder.
00:15:34
Speaker
There's a six and an eight, right?
00:15:36
Speaker
Like there's a defensive midfielder and there's an attacking midfielder.
00:15:39
Speaker
There's no like box to box player that does both.
00:15:43
Speaker
Really?
00:15:44
Speaker
They all kind of dip in and do it, but, but it's very clearly segregated.
00:15:49
Speaker
It misses a defensive player.
00:15:50
Speaker
This is an attacking player.
00:15:52
Speaker
I mean, maybe in itself, that's part of the problem.
00:15:55
Speaker
But that seems to be the way we want to do things and build the teams.
00:16:00
Speaker
And as a defensive-minded midfielder, like I say, Ori at this point is fourth, fifth choice for me.
00:16:09
Speaker
I mean, we even saw Barnaby Williams come in earlier on in the season and do
Ownership and Fan Concerns
00:16:15
Speaker
a job.
00:16:16
Speaker
Okay, so then I asked the question, what was the point?
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:22
Speaker
to deflect some of the opinions that were being shared towards the owners at the time is really the only answer, right?
00:16:32
Speaker
I just don't know how much they care.
00:16:34
Speaker
That hasn't stopped them selling a shirt for 120 quid.
00:16:37
Speaker
Like, just...
00:16:41
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, see, well, let's talk about that, right?
00:16:45
Speaker
Because I've seen lots of opinions on it.
00:16:49
Speaker
Some people are calling it like tone deaf based on, I mean, whatever panic stations some people have put us in at the moment.
00:16:58
Speaker
And like, sure, it's not like we're cruising at the top of the league where we want to be.
00:17:05
Speaker
But also it's...
00:17:07
Speaker
It's a known quantity, a known entity, right?
00:17:10
Speaker
Like, they did the same thing a couple of years ago.
00:17:13
Speaker
In fact, when we were getting relegated from the Premier League.
00:17:15
Speaker
Sorry.
00:17:18
Speaker
Sorry about that.
00:17:20
Speaker
So, yeah, some people have called it tone deaf, sure.
00:17:22
Speaker
But, like, they did the same thing a couple of years ago when we were getting relegated from the Premier League.
00:17:28
Speaker
They brought out these all-white shirts.
00:17:31
Speaker
And they sold them at a higher price because they're a limited edition.
00:17:34
Speaker
And it's not like they're saying, or you're not a Saints fan, let's buy this shirt.
00:17:39
Speaker
It's like, oh, we thought we'd do something nice for people who want to spend extra money and have these, like, collectible items.
00:17:47
Speaker
And, like...
00:17:48
Speaker
In the same regard, if they didn't acknowledge that it was 50 years this year since we won the FA Cup, people would also be moaning, right?
00:17:57
Speaker
It's like... Yeah, like they did it with blackout kits, I want to say, last year.
00:18:00
Speaker
It was really nice.
00:18:02
Speaker
Wish I bought that.
00:18:02
Speaker
But like... And that's it, right?
00:18:04
Speaker
Like, it's not like they're saying...
00:18:07
Speaker
oh, you have to do this.
00:18:09
Speaker
If you're a Saints fan, you should be owning this shirt.
00:18:12
Speaker
It's just like, we're going to make this nice kit.
00:18:14
Speaker
And we know it's pricey, but also it's nice and it's limited edition.
00:18:19
Speaker
And if you want it and it's pricey because that's what it is, it's for collectors and people that are willing to pay it.
00:18:25
Speaker
Right?
00:18:26
Speaker
No one's like putting you in a hammerlock and say, spend £120 on a kit.
00:18:29
Speaker
Like, if you don't want to buy it, don't buy it.
00:18:31
Speaker
Like, that's fine.
00:18:33
Speaker
I'm not in a position to spend that money on a kit.
00:18:35
Speaker
Right?
00:18:37
Speaker
I think it's one of those things that is really nice.
00:18:40
Speaker
And the problem is that price is probably what's annoying people.
00:18:43
Speaker
And you're right.
00:18:45
Speaker
It's ludicrous because it's not going to be a thing that they're going to give away to 1,975 people or six people.
00:18:50
Speaker
And they're like, that's not going to be a thing.
00:18:55
Speaker
And it would be lovely if they did.
00:18:56
Speaker
They'd probably have the money for it.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yep, whatever, sure.
00:18:58
Speaker
But, like, this has probably been in the works for ages.
00:19:00
Speaker
Why aren't you spending any money on a striker?
00:19:02
Speaker
How can't you generate more money in the club?
00:19:04
Speaker
Oh, why are you trying to advertise to us to spend money?
00:19:07
Speaker
It's like, well, like, you can't have it all of those ways.
00:19:12
Speaker
Like, the club's going to do things to try and generate revenue and to, you know, commemorate occasions and do nice things.
00:19:21
Speaker
And, you know, it's...
00:19:25
Speaker
And, you know, some of the... It'd be a different kind of face if we'd won games, right?
00:19:28
Speaker
Like, I feel like if we come into that and the Tonda record winning streak had carried on, everyone would probably be like, yeah, it's really nice.
00:19:34
Speaker
It's just that we are at, at the moment, we are peaking at the level of...
00:19:39
Speaker
anger towards the ownership.
00:19:43
Speaker
But they're trying, right?
00:19:44
Speaker
Like, they're trying to do nice things and do the stuff, right?
00:19:50
Speaker
They're working on it.
00:19:51
Speaker
They're trying to make the football good.
00:19:53
Speaker
They don't want the football to suck.
00:19:55
Speaker
Because if the football's better, they make more money at the end of the day.
00:19:57
Speaker
You can't
00:19:59
Speaker
But it's not like you can't be like, oh, well, we're going to delay our FA Cup kit launch because I know it's been 50 years since we won the FA Cup, but also we lost two games on the bounce.
00:20:09
Speaker
Like, yeah, right.
00:20:12
Speaker
Like, these things happen.
00:20:14
Speaker
People are just angry.
00:20:15
Speaker
That's all it is.
Club Culture and Challenges
00:20:16
Speaker
And they have a right to be angry.
00:20:17
Speaker
Like, you know, you've gone...
00:20:20
Speaker
what, like year in, year out recently paying for season tickets, like benefits being stripped and stuff.
00:20:25
Speaker
And I get that, like, you know, you're taking a very grounded approach to it.
00:20:29
Speaker
But also, like, I can understand as somebody that like lost my head a little bit last weekend, people just, people are just mad.
00:20:35
Speaker
And it's a thing that people, you know, it's one of those things that you see and it's like, oh, they want more money off of us.
00:20:41
Speaker
That's all it is.
00:20:42
Speaker
People put immediate thoughts out there and everybody's like hive mind conglomerates and everyone just gets mad.
00:20:48
Speaker
And I think that if you're, I don't think that it's as deep as you're worried about, but I can understand why people are cross, but also, flip side, yeah, if you want it, buy it.
00:20:57
Speaker
It's going to be good.
00:20:58
Speaker
It's just a really nice shirt and I'm a bit sad that I can't justify the £120 on it because, you know, if I spend that money on a shirt,
00:21:09
Speaker
My wife would hang me with it.
00:21:11
Speaker
It also bends into the thing where people think that they're going to force ownership change.
00:21:15
Speaker
And I just don't think that unless everyone stops going to games tomorrow, you know, we already had like that when we dipped massively and like attendances dropped and stuff.
00:21:26
Speaker
And yeah, OK, that resulted in being fired.
00:21:29
Speaker
And now we're in the position we're in now.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:32
Speaker
It's just, I don't really know what we're hoping to do.
00:21:35
Speaker
Bankrupt the club to the point where nobody wants to buy us.
00:21:39
Speaker
We're relegated multiple seasons in a row.
00:21:42
Speaker
They don't know what to do, but hey, at least we've got our club back.
00:21:45
Speaker
And looking at what's happened to Wednesday and stuff, it's difficult because I agree with a lot of people and a lot of the criticisms of the ownership and how
00:21:53
Speaker
It has not been acceptable.
00:21:56
Speaker
But I just don't know what the right response is.
00:21:58
Speaker
And if people want to use their voice in a specific way, then that's fine.
00:22:02
Speaker
But also it's created division because people are like, well, if you don't immediately hate, if you don't immediately want to come to this protest or do this, that must mean you hate the club.
00:22:11
Speaker
And it's like,
00:22:12
Speaker
No, people just don't, like, it's just not that deep for people.
00:22:15
Speaker
Like, we think about this stuff a lot because we do daily podcasts on the team.
00:22:19
Speaker
There are some people who would just attend the game on the weekend and they'll still love the club.
00:22:24
Speaker
It would still be an important part of their personality, not their entire personality.
00:22:27
Speaker
And I think some people kind of, like, forget that.
00:22:28
Speaker
If you get stuck chronically in something and you get pigeonholed into, like, nonstop paying attention to something like this, of course you're just going to get more and more angry.
00:22:38
Speaker
And like, you can see it, like in the comments of pretty much anything that's posted, it's just sports public out now, right?
00:22:44
Speaker
It's growing.
00:22:45
Speaker
Like, I feel like the sentiment is growing, but I just don't, their, you know, their problem is going to be when they run out of figureheads to shout out, right?
00:22:55
Speaker
Like the next one is Spurs.
00:22:57
Speaker
And that's probably one of the reasons he's so worried about what to do about transfers.
00:23:02
Speaker
Because if he doesn't get it right, you know, you end up with another problem.
00:23:07
Speaker
And we have a centre-back that can defend corners and a striker that can score goals, please.
00:23:13
Speaker
And then we're looking at... Yeah, but also we've got no attacking players other than Siense.
00:23:18
Speaker
You said to me that you'd happily have Jay Robinson for the rest of the season if Siense got injured.
00:23:23
Speaker
probably want someone with a little bit more experience.
00:23:26
Speaker
And, you know, the whole conversation about leaders and being like, we don't have one, which is insane to me because they've made every single manager has kept Jack Stevens as leader, as like captain.
00:23:36
Speaker
And then you literally have the head coach be like, yeah, we've got like some leaders, people do leadership things, but we don't actually have roles and leaders.
00:23:43
Speaker
And you're like, so you don't have like a leadership team.
00:23:46
Speaker
Like what's, what's going on there.
00:23:48
Speaker
And then you've got like supposedly this divide between players and,
00:23:51
Speaker
And then also, I feel like the whole conversation, I'll talk about a little bit now, but because of the Bronny Edwards thing, right?
00:23:57
Speaker
Is I can't help but remember that Bronny Edwards was a transfer that was like before sports time, right?
00:24:02
Speaker
Which is why he was brought in.
00:24:03
Speaker
He was a hot prospect that would hopefully do really well.
00:24:08
Speaker
He had a really good season at QPR.
00:24:10
Speaker
Hasn't managed to break it into the team and they've gone out and cut our losses because it's not a profile that I've selected.
00:24:16
Speaker
It's not a player that is more of an unknown and it will just be more money in the key.
00:24:19
Speaker
Whereas everyone else is like, this is insane.
00:24:22
Speaker
And it's because it's not...
00:24:24
Speaker
their bag so they don't really care it just it just all feels a bit weird at the moment mate and I think that it's summed up by how this game ended like to get back to the review that's it but at the
Conclusion and Engagement
00:24:37
Speaker
end of the day we won we're in the hat and that's the important thing we can all look forward to drawing Liverpool away and getting knocked out in the next round yeah exactly or worse Macclesfield that'll be that'll be Bantz but like um
00:24:55
Speaker
It's weird because that press conference, mate, felt like it was a win.
00:25:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's strange.
00:25:03
Speaker
How can you build on a win, even a win against a lower league team, right, with a rotated squad?
00:25:08
Speaker
A win is a win.
00:25:09
Speaker
And we should be taking that confidence into the next game.
00:25:12
Speaker
And, you know, two games in quick succession at home.
00:25:16
Speaker
And we should be looking to, you know, do...
00:25:21
Speaker
do stuff with that and make it, you know, our home form's pretty good at the moment.
00:25:24
Speaker
So our home form's pretty good at the moment.
00:25:27
Speaker
So, you know, these are the sort of things we should be looking now to just cruise on upwards and, you know, recover from frankly disappointing festive period.
00:25:39
Speaker
So, I mean, look, let's see how that goes, right?
00:25:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:44
Speaker
I just, I worry that it's been, I'm starting to worry at what, at what point,
00:25:50
Speaker
does any manager or head coach come in and struggle with the players we've got?
00:25:55
Speaker
Because there seems to be something to me behind the scenes.
00:25:57
Speaker
Like, if you are genuinely telling me that we cannot play a back four and that we're having to shore up with a back three because everyone's... There just seems to be something weird to me.
00:26:07
Speaker
It's nonsense because neither of those goals were conceded due to the formation.
00:26:12
Speaker
Maybe the set pieces that were given away were because of it, but...
00:26:16
Speaker
Like if just any of the 11 players on the field could just jump up and clear the corner.
00:26:23
Speaker
problem solved, you know?
00:26:24
Speaker
It seems easy to me.
00:26:28
Speaker
I don't know.
00:26:29
Speaker
But there it is.
00:26:31
Speaker
I'm trying to... I see where your optimism comes from.
00:26:35
Speaker
I'm very much in two minds at the moment.
00:26:38
Speaker
That's all.
00:26:40
Speaker
I'm cautious because also Hull are a good side.
00:26:43
Speaker
When we come up against them, that's going to be harder work than I think that we were aware.
00:26:48
Speaker
And then obviously, sooner rather than later, we've got the South Coast Army.
00:26:51
Speaker
And I just can't
00:26:53
Speaker
I just can't imagine another post-match press conference where it's like, yeah, tried our best, just didn't pan out.
00:27:00
Speaker
But a 5-0 win at Fratton Park is probably enough to ease the pressure on Sports Republic for at least another season.
00:27:07
Speaker
This is also true.
00:27:10
Speaker
We'll see how it plays out.
00:27:11
Speaker
Yeah, for sure.
00:27:13
Speaker
It's nice that we're both feeling different paths because that's the great thing about the game and why we love it because all of these opinions are valid and it's great.
00:27:23
Speaker
I love it.
00:27:24
Speaker
And that's why we love chatting about it.
00:27:26
Speaker
Oh, yeah, for sure. 100%.
00:27:28
Speaker
That's all we've got time for today.
00:27:29
Speaker
So as always, mate, thank you so much for joining me and thank you everyone for listening.
00:27:35
Speaker
Let us know how you're feeling.
00:27:36
Speaker
If you're feeling on the optimistic side or on the pessimistic side, we would love to hear from you.
00:27:40
Speaker
Let us know in the comments or on the socials.
00:27:43
Speaker
We are the Daily Saints pod everywhere.
00:27:46
Speaker
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00:27:50
Speaker
Hit us up.
00:27:51
Speaker
Let us know.
00:27:52
Speaker
Am I down in that section?
00:27:53
Speaker
Why not give us a like and subscribe?
00:27:55
Speaker
We are an independent podcast now.
00:27:58
Speaker
So all of those things go such a long way to help us out and come talk to you every single day.
00:28:05
Speaker
Let us know.
00:28:06
Speaker
We love hearing from you.
00:28:08
Speaker
We will be back tomorrow to talk about something, be it transfers or players.
00:28:13
Speaker
Who knows?
00:28:13
Speaker
We've got so much to talk about.
00:28:15
Speaker
It's going to be such an easy week.
00:28:17
Speaker
But until then, I hope you all have a wonderful day, and we'll see you tomorrow.
00:28:26
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.
00:28:31
Speaker
Oh, that's me.