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Episode 355: Championship Round-Up!
12 Plays1 month ago
Southampton – From controversial postponements, to last minute winners, another week of Championship action that had just about everything for us to discuss!
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Change
00:00:04
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.
00:00:13
Speaker
Can you tell that I used to do voice lines for a phone system for an undisclosed company?
00:00:19
Speaker
Welcome back to the Daily Saints pod.
00:00:22
Speaker
I am your host today, Zach Ingo Finch, mixing things up because Greg, you're dying, mate.
00:00:27
Speaker
How are you doing?
00:00:29
Speaker
I am here in body and just about in spirit.
Podcast Independence Announcement
00:00:35
Speaker
Yeah, so Greg is one of those people who have children, like a lot of you probably out there, which means that his kids have gone back for one day.
00:00:43
Speaker
And like a lot of the people we work with, it's probably going to be off sick towards the end of this week due to the fact that all of them have caught whatever illnesses are floating around.
00:00:52
Speaker
So yeah, it's going to be me hosting today, which means expect a lot more waffle and failure to transition.
00:00:58
Speaker
Luckily, we don't have any of that nonsense in the middle anymore.
00:01:01
Speaker
So...
00:01:02
Speaker
Who knows?
00:01:03
Speaker
Can I call it nonsense?
00:01:04
Speaker
Nah, it's not true.
00:01:06
Speaker
GSPN were good for us, but if you haven't heard, and this is the first time you've tuned in and why we are, we are now an independent podcast going forward.
00:01:15
Speaker
So yeah, please like, subscribe, all that jazz.
00:01:19
Speaker
But we'll kick off with what we're doing today.
Championship Roundup Begins
00:01:21
Speaker
So Championship Roundup, because poor Greg probably doesn't have the philosophy skills currently to go through the trials and tribulations of being a Saints fan.
00:01:33
Speaker
And on top of that, we want to talk about transfers, but we just want to wait maybe a day.
00:01:37
Speaker
Just let some more things happen because there's lots of stuff on the cards right now, right?
00:01:41
Speaker
But it's all on the cards.
00:01:42
Speaker
Let's settle a bit.
00:01:43
Speaker
It'll all come to fruition, I'm sure.
00:01:45
Speaker
We've got plenty of time to talk about transfers.
00:01:47
Speaker
Exactly that.
00:01:49
Speaker
So let's start at the start, which at least this time round, I don't need to go Friday early, but then going into Sunday or whichever way you explain it.
00:01:59
Speaker
I'm just going to read out, Greg, the games that have happened and the scores and hope that they're in order.
00:02:04
Speaker
And if they're not,
00:02:07
Speaker
all about professionalism here.
00:02:09
Speaker
Who's paying attention?
00:02:10
Speaker
That's the real question.
00:02:12
Speaker
Exactly.
Birmingham vs Coventry Analysis
00:02:14
Speaker
Birmingham City 3, Coventry City 2.
00:02:17
Speaker
How do you feel about this one, Greg?
00:02:18
Speaker
Considering, you know...
00:02:20
Speaker
I mean, look, that was a big game, right?
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:02:24
Speaker
A big result for Birmingham.
00:02:28
Speaker
I mean, it makes our draw at home to them look slightly better.
00:02:32
Speaker
Away to them, sorry.
00:02:34
Speaker
Home for them, away for us.
00:02:35
Speaker
That's how games work.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, they beat Coventry, who are banging form and flying at the top of the league, and we held them to a draw.
00:02:46
Speaker
You know, they are a force to be reckoned with at home.
00:02:50
Speaker
This is also true.
00:02:51
Speaker
It's been, what, like 39 home games since they've lost there now?
00:02:56
Speaker
Like, it's... Man.
00:02:59
Speaker
It's crazy.
00:03:01
Speaker
And I guess maybe it puts into perspective some of the stuff from us.
00:03:06
Speaker
But, yes, a huge result for them.
00:03:09
Speaker
And... I mean...
00:03:14
Speaker
It's kind of... 3-2, lots of goals.
00:03:16
Speaker
It's one of those... Yeah, it's one of those things as well where, like, obviously, when we played against them, they had an out-of-form striker and they didn't play their out-of-form striker and he scored twice today.
00:03:26
Speaker
And, you know, to... Like, sort of, an early goal and then immediately hit with another early goal.
00:03:32
Speaker
Coventry then go 2-1 up, then it's 2-2.
00:03:36
Speaker
Sorry, Coventry then equalise, and then we end up with 3-2.
00:03:39
Speaker
And then they manage to hold out right to the end where Coventry get a player sent off.
00:03:42
Speaker
So it's kind of just a bit of a weird one, really.
00:03:45
Speaker
But fair play to Birmingham.
00:03:47
Speaker
And I don't know if it really makes us look better because of the team set up.
00:03:51
Speaker
But also, Coventry probably, as we've discussed over the Christmas period, are also tired, right?
00:03:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:59
Speaker
And I think Frank Lampard even said in the post-match interview, like, look, we just kind of let our eyes slip off the ball a little bit and that's less than ideal.
00:04:09
Speaker
But, you know.
00:04:10
Speaker
Again, if you look at the stats of the game, though, Birmingham showing that
00:04:15
Speaker
they're happy to not have the ball and come at you and cause chaos.
00:04:19
Speaker
And that's not the sort of team we particularly like playing against anyway.
00:04:23
Speaker
We will be able to talk about a team later.
00:04:28
Speaker
And yeah, that's the only lopsided stat.
00:04:33
Speaker
To have 24.3% of the ball and still manage nine shots and four shots on target and score three goals is just insane.
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, no, you're right.
00:04:43
Speaker
Like, it's, again, like, they're the ones that I think you,
QPR vs Sheffield Wednesday Recap
00:04:46
Speaker
I predicted Wrexham to do better out of the promoted sides.
00:04:48
Speaker
I think you were the one that said Birmingham would probably do a bit better.
00:04:51
Speaker
And they are.
00:04:52
Speaker
And arguably, they're above us, mate.
00:04:57
Speaker
just only only just but still considering we're you know us and us and less the ex-premier ex-premier league teams have gone down right uh and and birmingham is above them also sheffield united you know had had odds on to win the league this year they are also now below birmingham city so good old ai the supercomputer mate not just ai
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:24
Speaker
But so, yeah, fair play to them.
00:05:26
Speaker
Like, I think that, you know, considering they came up with lofty ambitions, they're probably, I don't know if they're happy with where they are or not, but I think, I think personally they should be, I guess Wrexham being above them is probably not great for the Hollywood look.
00:05:39
Speaker
Right.
00:05:39
Speaker
But,
00:05:40
Speaker
You know, as you said, a point, like managing to get three points from the league leaders.
00:05:46
Speaker
Very, very good show.
00:05:48
Speaker
And especially considering their form before that was a lot of draws and losses.
00:05:51
Speaker
So, you know, whereas Coventry have seemingly sort of dropped off a little bit, right?
00:05:58
Speaker
Lost, draw, loss.
00:05:59
Speaker
Not quite the sort of level of head loss we've had.
00:06:03
Speaker
But like you say, mate, they're a team who are going to struggle as these fixtures get this busy, right?
00:06:11
Speaker
Because how can you maintain that level of momentum and that sort of level of settledness when you're playing four games in 10 days?
00:06:18
Speaker
It's just not reasonable.
00:06:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, you're right.
00:06:22
Speaker
Well, that's Birmingham City in commentary for you.
00:06:26
Speaker
Moving swiftly on, QPR 3, Sheffield Wednesday 0.
Derby vs Wrexham Outcome
00:06:31
Speaker
I just feel bad, man.
00:06:32
Speaker
At this point, it's just like bullying, isn't it?
00:06:38
Speaker
Do you not feel bad a little bit about it?
00:06:41
Speaker
I do.
00:06:41
Speaker
I feel every time we do these championship roundups, I just feel really bad for Sheffield Wednesday.
00:06:46
Speaker
It just kind of is what it is, but you still want to go out there and beat them.
00:06:56
Speaker
QPR did that decisively.
00:06:58
Speaker
Fair play to them.
00:06:58
Speaker
True.
00:06:59
Speaker
Ex-Saint Nathan Redman still playing football, mate.
00:07:02
Speaker
He came on as a sub for Sheffield Wednesday in the 57th minute.
00:07:07
Speaker
And I don't know if you saw some news about, I think it's Harry Amass, who's a Manchester United youngster.
00:07:12
Speaker
I think there's going to go back.
00:07:14
Speaker
And like, there's a lot of people, especially on our side of social media, basically knocking around being like, oh, maybe we should get him out on loan and say goodbye to Ryan Manning.
00:07:23
Speaker
So who knows?
00:07:24
Speaker
I doubt just because we want something to happen, it will happen.
00:07:26
Speaker
But apparently there are like two or three clubs interested.
00:07:30
Speaker
But yeah, you just got to feel bad for them.
00:07:31
Speaker
Like, I think that they know their season's over right at this point.
00:07:34
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, minus seven points, 20, what, 23 games left to play.
00:07:42
Speaker
I mean, it is what it is with the position and the hands that they've been put in by their former owner.
00:07:48
Speaker
This is true.
00:07:50
Speaker
Did you see that guy's terrible attempt at banter to use using a Jan Valerie sticker to scrape the ice off of his window?
00:07:59
Speaker
Because, you know, and then he started to try and be like, oh, yeah, it's minus seven.
00:08:03
Speaker
Because obviously they have minus seven points.
00:08:06
Speaker
And if it sounds awful in the delivery that I've just given, right?
00:08:09
Speaker
That's because that's how awful the attempt at Manchester was.
00:08:13
Speaker
I don't know why that popped into my head.
00:08:17
Speaker
If you're a fan of football in any way, then you're not enjoying seeing what's happening to Sheffield Wednesday.
00:08:24
Speaker
It's simple.
00:08:25
Speaker
Even Blades fans have come out and said that it's not a position anyone wants to see or anyone wants to be in.
00:08:32
Speaker
And, you know, it almost ruins the competitive of the league because it's effectively dropped the relegation places to two places.
00:08:38
Speaker
It is sad.
00:08:39
Speaker
It's a shame.
00:08:40
Speaker
Well, I
Blackburn vs Charlton Athletic Draw
00:08:42
Speaker
concur, mate.
00:08:43
Speaker
It's sad.
00:08:44
Speaker
I hope that, you know, next season they can bounce back a little bit.
00:08:48
Speaker
But, yeah.
00:08:49
Speaker
So, QPR 3, Sheffield Wednesday 0.
00:08:53
Speaker
So, moving swiftly on to Sheffield United, Oxford United.
00:08:58
Speaker
Incredible game, Greg.
00:09:00
Speaker
It didn't happen.
00:09:03
Speaker
Postponement, frozen pitch.
00:09:06
Speaker
Not the only one so far.
00:09:07
Speaker
We'll talk about another one later.
00:09:08
Speaker
No, probably the least dramatic of the postponements, right?
00:09:12
Speaker
Like, just it happened.
00:09:14
Speaker
Fair enough.
00:09:15
Speaker
Yeah, no one got that mad or upset about it, but here we are now.
00:09:21
Speaker
There'll be some others that aren't like that.
00:09:23
Speaker
But yeah, no game there.
00:09:25
Speaker
So then, moving swiftly on, Blackburn Rovers 2, Charlton Athletic 2.
00:09:33
Speaker
considering like what blackbird early on were considered for relegation right i think they're relegation candidates to a lot of people they are currently sat in 20th space place chelton athletic sat in 19th a draw probably doesn't really help either of them they're both kind of sat languishing near the bottom time will tell if norwich can turn things around or oxford likewise
00:10:00
Speaker
But yeah, I don't really know what to say about this game.
00:10:02
Speaker
Because it's like one of those things where it's like a thrilling draw, but also is it?
00:10:06
Speaker
Because are any of the draws that we've really watched recently that thrilling?
00:10:09
Speaker
I think I've just become so numb to them from all of the draws we've had so far this season.
00:10:15
Speaker
Just made me miserable.
00:10:16
Speaker
I mean, Charlton bottling a 2-0 lead is like talk-worthy, right?
00:10:21
Speaker
And it's something to be said for Nathan Jones and his seeing out the game ability, but...
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, entertaining draw.
00:10:32
Speaker
And yeah, Nathan Jones is not happy with throwing away a 2-0 lead.
00:10:37
Speaker
Just is what it is, isn't it?
00:10:38
Speaker
Just championship things.
00:10:40
Speaker
Well, yes.
00:10:42
Speaker
After his physically feeling sick or whatever comments it was after the Portsmouth loss, right?
00:10:51
Speaker
Where they lost 2-1 or whatever it was.
00:10:53
Speaker
And they lost in the last minute.
00:10:55
Speaker
Is it really the worst thing for them to at least manage a draw this time around?
00:11:00
Speaker
I guess throwing a 2-0 lead away is awful.
00:11:03
Speaker
But I feel bad for Cholmen because they did have a really strong start to the season, right?
00:11:11
Speaker
Luckily, that strong start to the season is probably the thing that's currently kept them out of the relegation zone.
00:11:16
Speaker
And with Norwich having a new manager in...
00:11:20
Speaker
I expect them kind of to turn around and then it will be a bottom fight, scrappy fight at the bottom.
00:11:25
Speaker
Which, to be honest, mate, we're not that far away from, right?
00:11:28
Speaker
Like Charlton... No, not a million miles away from.
00:11:30
Speaker
Charlton have like four less points than us.
00:11:33
Speaker
And that is... It's really worrying that we're now back in that stage after feeling like we had an inevitable rise to the top.
00:11:40
Speaker
Looking down instead of looking up.
00:11:42
Speaker
Look, Charlton, I think, especially at the start of the season, they'd have felt like they were overperforming.
00:11:48
Speaker
based on, you know, they came up as the playoff winning team, don't forget.
00:11:51
Speaker
So it was always going to be a bit of a struggle for them.
00:11:55
Speaker
But, you know, they've done well and they're still there and thereabouts kicking about.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, they got two draws out of the busy festive period and, you know,
00:12:06
Speaker
as a squad coming up from below, they're going to be more prone to it.
00:12:10
Speaker
Their squad is inevitably smaller, so to come out with that almost unscathed is probably good for them.
00:12:18
Speaker
And then see if they can kick on from that to, like you say, put a bit more of a battle in.
00:12:24
Speaker
But let's start pushing them as clear of the relegation zone as they are, it's doing them favours for sure.
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:12:35
Speaker
Do you think they're going to sign James Bree?
00:12:39
Speaker
Probably.
00:12:40
Speaker
I don't see... I mean, he's been such a key player for them.
00:12:44
Speaker
And, I mean, are we going to want him back?
00:12:48
Speaker
Do we want him back?
00:12:49
Speaker
I don't know.
00:12:50
Speaker
I feel like there's a mixed opinion about that across the fan base.
00:12:54
Speaker
I always liked Bree.
00:12:56
Speaker
I thought he was pretty decent.
00:12:57
Speaker
Depends are we ever going to play with right backs again.
00:13:02
Speaker
Do we need a show-stopping active defensive player?
00:13:06
Speaker
Or are we going to persist with this three-at-the-back situation?
00:13:09
Speaker
Either way.
00:13:11
Speaker
Well, only time will tell.
00:13:14
Speaker
Blackburn 2, Charlton 2.
00:13:17
Speaker
We move on to Preston, still doing uncharacteristic Preston things, or at least uncharacteristic for Preston before this season.
00:13:26
Speaker
They have now beaten Bristol City 2-0.
00:13:29
Speaker
Bristol City being a team that really dropped out of form, right?
00:13:34
Speaker
They were sort of in the playoff places and were really hoping to sort of push on like they did last year.
00:13:41
Speaker
And obviously they lost their manager who disappeared off to Norwich who had an extremely unsuccessful spell.
00:13:48
Speaker
But they're very like, at least there's no draws in between for Bristol City, right?
00:13:52
Speaker
It's either loss or win.
00:13:53
Speaker
They're throwing their all into it.
00:13:55
Speaker
I suppose you could at least give them that.
00:13:57
Speaker
But fair play to Preston.
00:13:58
Speaker
I just didn't think that we would see them be this good and this consistent for the whole of this season.
00:14:06
Speaker
And yet they have managed to do it, right?
00:14:09
Speaker
Yeah, pushing on.
00:14:10
Speaker
They're on a nice little run now.
00:14:13
Speaker
That's a couple of wins on the bounce.
00:14:15
Speaker
Still right up there in amongst it in the playoff positions.
00:14:20
Speaker
Fair play to them.
00:14:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:21
Speaker
And again, not leading to like dominate the ball.
00:14:23
Speaker
It's a lot of these, some of these sort of what we would used to consider smaller sides, right?
00:14:28
Speaker
Who are being able to show you like how good counterattacking football is and why the like possession based meta that you absolutely despise, Greg, is I think is going to go out of fashion, right?
00:14:39
Speaker
We're seeing it.
00:14:41
Speaker
seeing it across the board now that like teams just can't hold that up unless you have like the budget of a man city and they can't seem to do that themselves at the moment.
00:14:50
Speaker
So exactly.
00:14:51
Speaker
Bring back four for two.
00:14:52
Speaker
Just saying like, don't fix it.
00:14:55
Speaker
Classic for a reason, right?
00:14:58
Speaker
So exactly that.
00:14:59
Speaker
But either way, fair play to Preston who continue their sort of sticking into the playoff places.
00:15:07
Speaker
The next game is a classic where a former Saints player scored, Greg.
00:15:14
Speaker
I say it's a classic.
00:15:15
Speaker
I don't know why.
00:15:16
Speaker
Derby-Wrexham is not a classic.
00:15:20
Speaker
They're not two Welsh sides coming against them.
00:15:21
Speaker
But I think the most exciting thing, Greg, is Ben Barrett and Diaz scored the only goal for Derby.
00:15:25
Speaker
So that's like another goal to his tally playing for them.
00:15:29
Speaker
But unfortunately, they were beat by Wrexham 2-1.
00:15:32
Speaker
Wrexham, who now sit ninth in the Championship,
00:15:36
Speaker
who are slowly beginning their ascendancy.
00:15:39
Speaker
I said at the beginning of the season... Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
Flying.
00:15:42
Speaker
I said at the beginning of the season, if they were able to click and get everything working together, they could be a force to be reckoned with, especially where they had such good moving parts already, right?
00:15:53
Speaker
If you compare them to us, which I know feels a bit weird, but obviously we've given them the stick for the Hollywood bits and pieces.
00:16:00
Speaker
We did that a lot the early season.
00:16:02
Speaker
But if you compare them to us in the sense of our core base, I think a lot of people seem to think there is a problem with, as in like the base spine of our team because of the success of managers and the success of problems.
00:16:15
Speaker
Wrexham's core base has been success.
00:16:19
Speaker
Mullins is obviously coming back from Wigan.
00:16:21
Speaker
It seems to have, they've decided to, they don't want him for the rest of the season, whether or not we'll see him, who actually knows.
00:16:28
Speaker
But obviously they've, they've kept some of their, you know, they've managed to keep some good players.
00:16:34
Speaker
Even Jane Rodriguez got on the pitch at the end of the game, mate, if you, if you want a little bit.
00:16:37
Speaker
Yeah, I did see that came on in the 90th minute.
00:16:39
Speaker
So, you know,
00:16:42
Speaker
them doing really, really well is a result of the work they've put in, but also the Hollywood money, right?
00:16:50
Speaker
This is like key good ownership.
00:16:52
Speaker
Like people thought, can they do it in the championship?
00:16:54
Speaker
And so far, like if survival was the aim, they're surviving better than the others, including us at the moment, which is slightly depressing.
00:17:01
Speaker
But I guess we'll see what happens.
00:17:03
Speaker
There's a lot of the season to go still.
00:17:05
Speaker
But yeah, on the Derby side, the inevitable sort of
00:17:09
Speaker
supposed to be absolutely incredible Derby who to be fair still doing okay they're not languishing in relegation spots which is what so our previous boss Nick Britton thought that's what you know
00:17:25
Speaker
He was trying to tell us that they're absolutely awful and then they had a pretty good season so far.
00:17:30
Speaker
And yeah, one of our loanies doing well.
00:17:33
Speaker
You know, something like that.
00:17:34
Speaker
A goal during the January transfer window when potentially there are eyes elsewhere for his... There's nothing but a good thing for us, right?
00:17:43
Speaker
We might sell him.
00:17:44
Speaker
That's it.
00:17:45
Speaker
Anyway.
00:17:46
Speaker
I mean, someone's got to want him, right?
00:17:49
Speaker
So mean.
00:17:52
Speaker
Wrexham 2, Derby 1.
00:17:53
Speaker
Okay, so this is the one that's a bit more controversial.
00:17:57
Speaker
So, Paul City postponed.
00:17:59
Speaker
Watford postponed.
00:18:01
Speaker
This is the one where it was supposed to be at Hull, right?
00:18:05
Speaker
It was 10 minutes before kickoff, right?
00:18:07
Speaker
Yeah, it was the one where fans had already arrived, everybody was waiting to play the game, and then they called it off because of safety concerns.
00:18:14
Speaker
And Hull City came out and were like, yeah, everyone, it's just because of safety concerns, it's been a problem.
00:18:20
Speaker
And it turns out that wasn't the case at all.
00:18:22
Speaker
Watford were like, nah, we didn't agree to this postponement and we didn't agree to not play and play the game.
00:18:27
Speaker
So a little bit of confusion there.
00:18:30
Speaker
And obviously, it's not exactly a small away trip, is it?
00:18:34
Speaker
Either.
00:18:35
Speaker
It's not a good look for whether it was the referee's decision.
00:18:39
Speaker
So what's come out right is that it wasn't the playing surface.
00:18:43
Speaker
it was the bits around the pitch that were frozen.
00:18:47
Speaker
Now, you've probably seen the social media clips of them literally blowtorching the ice to try and melt it in those areas around the pitch, which were just incredible.
00:18:57
Speaker
But, like, whether it's the referee's decision and he, like, overlooked it when he did his pitch inspection and then saw it, or whether it's Hull that have taken the decision, it's...
00:19:07
Speaker
It's not a good look that late before the game.
00:19:10
Speaker
It's not a good look, but also considering we have had a number of tragedies over the last couple of years of dangerous, you know, usually non-league grounds, right?
00:19:20
Speaker
Where there's like concrete blocks around and players have got severely injured.
00:19:25
Speaker
Some people have unfortunately died.
00:19:27
Speaker
Like I could understand from a safety perspective, if they're worried that someone is going to slip on ice and crack their head open, right?
00:19:32
Speaker
Yeah, 100%.
00:19:34
Speaker
But also, that block of ice would have been there when they did the pitch inspection.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yeah, the flip side is the clamber.
00:19:43
Speaker
It didn't appear out of nowhere.
00:19:45
Speaker
It must have been there the entire time.
Hull City vs Watford Postponement
00:19:47
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:19:51
Speaker
10 minutes before kick-off is absolutely ridiculous.
00:19:54
Speaker
And all of those travelling Watford fans should be reimbursed in full for their travel because it's a joke, honestly.
00:20:02
Speaker
Agreed.
00:20:04
Speaker
And unfortunately, our next game is Middlesbrough 4, Southampton 0.
00:20:09
Speaker
If you want to watch my mini-meltdown,
00:20:13
Speaker
I certainly don't like watching it back, but hey-ho.
00:20:16
Speaker
You know, go watch our episode covering that.
00:20:19
Speaker
We had some choice words.
00:20:21
Speaker
Covered it in depth, let's say.
00:20:23
Speaker
Covered it in depth and it led to us whinging about the state of managers in football in general.
00:20:28
Speaker
So yeah, that's that.
00:20:29
Speaker
And then Millwall 2, Swansea 1.
00:20:33
Speaker
So a very sort of late winner.
00:20:34
Speaker
We've got a couple of late winners.
00:20:36
Speaker
We'll be talking about another late winner soon as well.
00:20:38
Speaker
But, you know, really good for Millwall, I guess, like getting back to, especially after their draw against us, you know, they've now not lost in four games.
00:20:46
Speaker
They're still comfortably sat in the playoff positions, which is again, like somewhere where you predicted.
00:20:52
Speaker
I remember not thinking they would do great, but they're really pushing on this season.
00:20:57
Speaker
Again, it's like,
00:20:59
Speaker
that kind of difference making of getting that like goal right at the end and not, not stopping until, you know, you, you get a result, right.
00:21:09
Speaker
Which I think we severely lack some of that sometimes.
00:21:12
Speaker
So yeah, fair play to them.
00:21:13
Speaker
Greg has had stopped having a coughing fit.
00:21:16
Speaker
Mate, any thoughts on the Swansea Millwall game?
00:21:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:21
Speaker
Fair play to Millwall.
00:21:22
Speaker
Like you say, I predicted them to do quite well this season and they're,
00:21:26
Speaker
They're proving me right, showing me that I know maybe something about football occasionally.
00:21:31
Speaker
Another sort of last-minute winner at the den as well, right?
00:21:36
Speaker
That's proper home form.
00:21:39
Speaker
That's it.
00:21:40
Speaker
And it shows their willingness to push on.
00:21:42
Speaker
They've had a pretty good festive period, two wins, two draws.
00:21:47
Speaker
So they'll be happy with that.
00:21:49
Speaker
And right up there in the playoff style.
00:21:50
Speaker
So yeah, fair play.
00:21:52
Speaker
Good for them.
00:21:53
Speaker
RITO.
00:21:54
Speaker
Moving swiftly on.
00:21:56
Speaker
Stoke City 2.
00:21:58
Speaker
Norwich 0.
00:22:00
Speaker
Former Saint Sam Gallagher getting a goal for Stoke.
00:22:03
Speaker
Continued to try and regain their form, right?
00:22:08
Speaker
Because they were really, really doing well for a long time.
00:22:11
Speaker
You thought they were battling for third.
00:22:13
Speaker
They were definitely in the playoffs.
00:22:14
Speaker
And now they dropped out a little bit.
00:22:16
Speaker
They had a little loss, draw a loss.
00:22:18
Speaker
And then they've won their last two on the bounce.
00:22:20
Speaker
So...
00:22:21
Speaker
Good for them.
00:22:22
Speaker
More woes for Norwich, who just seemingly were doing a little bit better, but then, you know, have dropped points in the last two, like sort of three games.
00:22:33
Speaker
They managed to win in between.
00:22:34
Speaker
But yeah, the problem is it's not enough.
00:22:36
Speaker
I wonder what team would possibly break their streak and let them get a win in.
00:22:41
Speaker
Who knows?
00:22:42
Speaker
Let's not talk about it, mate.
00:22:44
Speaker
I'm still unhappy at just the amount of points we've given to people underneath us.
00:22:50
Speaker
It's just upsetting.
00:22:51
Speaker
But yeah, fair enough.
00:22:53
Speaker
Stoke trying to do things, get things.
00:22:56
Speaker
But I think it was Sam Gallagher's first goal in 10 months, apparently.
00:22:59
Speaker
which is nuts.
00:23:01
Speaker
That's crazy.
00:23:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:02
Speaker
Fair play.
00:23:03
Speaker
Fair play.
00:23:03
Speaker
You know, it's always good to see a former Saint go on and do good, in my opinion.
00:23:08
Speaker
It would be better if they always did good under us.
00:23:10
Speaker
But Sam Gallagher was always one of those ones where, you know, it was kind of sad when he left.
00:23:16
Speaker
It was a likable guy, right?
00:23:17
Speaker
So it's nice to see him do well elsewhere.
00:23:20
Speaker
I don't really have much else to say about that.
00:23:22
Speaker
Obviously, Norwich probably lamenting the chance to escape the drop zone again.
00:23:26
Speaker
They're going to have to deal with that probably for the foreseeable.
00:23:30
Speaker
Moving swiftly on to Portsmouth versus Ipswich.
00:23:33
Speaker
Oh, wait, no.
00:23:34
Speaker
They also had a frozen pitch.
00:23:38
Speaker
This was... I, on social media, have seen lots of...
00:23:45
Speaker
lots of calls about how Tim Potty is when the sun is shining to have a frozen pitch at Fratton Park in 2026.
00:23:51
Speaker
But I've also seen the counter argument from lots of Pompey fans that maybe they only put like a thin sheet of frost protection out, seeing as how many players they've got out injured at the moment.
00:24:03
Speaker
It's probably, if anything...
00:24:05
Speaker
done them a favour to have the game postponed.
Leicester vs West Brom Late Goal Discussion
00:24:08
Speaker
Even so, at least you didn't do what... I don't like to give our rivals credit, but at the same time, at least it wasn't five minutes before the game kicked off.
00:24:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:18
Speaker
There's at least a little bit of time.
00:24:19
Speaker
I did see some post on social media that their over-soil heating system had failed them with a picture of just one electric heater and a skip.
00:24:29
Speaker
So...
00:24:33
Speaker
You're right.
00:24:34
Speaker
The only way that you'd have consumed any content about that would be through Facebook groups.
00:24:40
Speaker
So moving swiftly on to our last game because of how many postponements were.
00:24:45
Speaker
And despite the fact it's our last game, I've still managed to drag this whole podcast out for 26 minutes.
00:24:50
Speaker
My bad, Greg.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:53
Speaker
It'll be shorter for you, Greg.
00:24:54
Speaker
Poor Greg did have a coughing fit in the middle of it.
00:24:57
Speaker
But the last game, the nail in the coffin for the Ryan Mason reign at West Brom, despite the fact they dominated most of that game.
00:25:05
Speaker
Leicester 2, West Brom 1.
00:25:08
Speaker
As a person with Baggies fans in the family, mate, what do you make of that game?
00:25:15
Speaker
Man, West Brom just did their best Saints impression, didn't they?
00:25:18
Speaker
They absolutely dominated Leicester.
00:25:21
Speaker
At the point that Fatahou scored his absolute wonder goal, that volley from the edge of the box in the 94th minute, that was Leicester's second shot on target.
00:25:33
Speaker
So, like, it's just... It's mad, considering as well they made six goalkeeper saves, which means that West Brom came out.
00:25:44
Speaker
West Brom had double-emount touches in the opposition box as well.
00:25:47
Speaker
Yeah, they absolutely dominated, and I think that they were incredibly unlucky, and I think that, to be fair, it can be said that that has been the case in several of their games recently, where they have, you know, not got the result they deserved, but...
00:26:04
Speaker
to results-driven business and Ryan Mason's found that out.
00:26:08
Speaker
I mean, there were talks of him going sort of as early as when we played them in December.
00:26:14
Speaker
So, not really a huge surprise to anyone, but...
00:26:19
Speaker
Carlos Corbaran might be available now.
00:26:21
Speaker
So I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of sensational return because they didn't really want him to leave in the first place, did they?
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah, no, he left off his own back to go to Spain, right?
00:26:30
Speaker
So yeah, I could potentially see that on the cards.
00:26:33
Speaker
Alternatively, you know, do you feel like it's a bit of a wheel still situation where like he tried his best and it just didn't work out?
00:26:40
Speaker
How do your family feel about it?
00:26:42
Speaker
Because I know that I've seen a couple of tweets and bits and pieces with people celebrating that finally his reign is over.
00:26:50
Speaker
But then again, that was kind of how a lot of our Saints fans felt about Will Steele and every other manager we've ever had.
00:26:56
Speaker
Yeah, it's a bit of a tricky one.
00:26:57
Speaker
Obviously, he was struggling, and maybe there's some thoughts that he was a bit out of his depth with it and not quite experienced enough to take on the role, really.
00:27:08
Speaker
But they're in a tricky position at the moment where they've only recently been taken over by new owners, so they're struggling with...
00:27:18
Speaker
financial fair play rules.
00:27:20
Speaker
And that's, you know, why we were able to get Tom Fellows for such a good deal, because we paid enough of an amount up front to them for that deal that effectively kept them, like, not getting a punishment for breaching the rules.
00:27:35
Speaker
So...
00:27:37
Speaker
They'll be hoping that once that, I think that it's something that happened a couple of seasons ago that sort of caused this closeness to the cap for them.
00:27:48
Speaker
I believe it expires just in time for the summer transfer window.
00:27:53
Speaker
So, you know, they'll just be hoping to stay afloat and push on and see if they can build something for them.
00:28:01
Speaker
So, you know, whoever they bring in next, presumably, will be brought in with that in mind and looking to the future.
00:28:07
Speaker
So at least they've got that, this sort of end of season time to bed in and work out what they need, ready to sort of build again and go next season.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yeah, sort of a similar trajectory to us in the sense of they've just had a much worse season than it was expected of them, right?
00:28:25
Speaker
Like sitting 18th, they're just above Charlton, below Swansea.
00:28:28
Speaker
That isn't where I think anyone's expectations are when you're a team that usually are pushing for promotion playoff places most years.
00:28:37
Speaker
So, yeah, I guess we'll have to see what happens with them.
00:28:40
Speaker
But let's not take away from the fact that that goal was an absolute wonderstrike.
00:28:44
Speaker
I'm assuming you've seen it, correct?
00:28:45
Speaker
Believe it or not.
00:28:46
Speaker
Yeah, I watched the game, or at least the second half of the game last night.
00:28:50
Speaker
Just unbelievable.
00:28:51
Speaker
But like I say, West Brom are just so unlucky, as they have been, which should give them confidence that where they are in the table probably under-represents.
00:29:04
Speaker
I'd love to agree with you there, mate, but I remember a time where we were really, really unlucky at the beginning of the Premier League under multiple games under Russell Martin.
00:29:13
Speaker
There were games we should have won, maybe like the Wolves game where goals should have stood and things like that.
00:29:18
Speaker
But you're honestly telling me that it didn't represent where we were supposed to be.
00:29:25
Speaker
I think that there's enough quality in their squad that they won't be down and amongst the relegation come the end of the season.
00:29:32
Speaker
They'll be at least comfortably mid-table, I would assume.
00:29:37
Speaker
Well, that's all we've got time for today.
00:29:38
Speaker
Right there alongside us as comfortable mid-table fodder.
00:29:40
Speaker
That's all it is, mate.
00:29:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
I wish I managed to finish it off before you called us table fodder.
00:29:51
Speaker
But you're right.
00:29:52
Speaker
The reality of the situation is at the moment that that is where Southampton sit.
00:29:57
Speaker
So yeah, thank you.
00:29:58
Speaker
Thank you for joining us today.
00:30:00
Speaker
Sorry we've been a bit all over the place.
00:30:02
Speaker
My hosting skills just aren't up to par with Greg's anymore because when we used to sort of do it one after another, it wasn't as bad.
00:30:08
Speaker
I just have no sense of time semblance or organisation.
00:30:11
Speaker
So I guess this is a chance for me to thank you, Greg, for not only being here, despite the fact that you died a little bit, but also being a consistently good host who is able to remain non-hospital.
00:30:28
Speaker
jumbled is the only word I can use for the entirety of the podcast.
00:30:33
Speaker
Much different to your real life.
00:30:35
Speaker
That's fair.
00:30:38
Speaker
Right.
00:30:39
Speaker
Thank you to everybody for listening.
00:30:42
Speaker
We are on all the social medias.
00:30:43
Speaker
We're on Facebook.
00:30:45
Speaker
We are on X, the Everything app.
00:30:46
Speaker
We are on Blue Sky.
00:30:48
Speaker
We are on YouTube.
00:30:49
Speaker
We are on TikTok.
00:30:50
Speaker
We are on Instagram.
00:30:52
Speaker
Hit us up.
00:30:53
Speaker
Let us know what your thoughts were on the Weeks to Championship Weeks action.
00:30:57
Speaker
Continue to flood us with all of your thoughts on...
00:31:02
Speaker
You know, the situation at Southampton, what is going on?
00:31:07
Speaker
What could we do?
00:31:08
Speaker
Will we be a back three forever?
00:31:10
Speaker
And all of the different managerial changes that have taken place over the last week.
00:31:14
Speaker
I find it fascinating to see everyone's different view on it.
00:31:17
Speaker
And I believe that is everything for today.
00:31:20
Speaker
We will be back tomorrow, probably to talk about transfers, Greg.
00:31:25
Speaker
I think we've decided on if there's enough to talk about.
00:31:27
Speaker
I'm sure there will be.
00:31:29
Speaker
There always is.
00:31:31
Speaker
So that's that.
00:31:32
Speaker
And until next time, thanks for listening and goodbye.
00:31:40
Speaker
This is the Daily Saints pod with Zach and Greg.