Transcript
DailySaintsPod: Hello and welcome back to the Daily Saints pod with Zak and Greg. Greg is currently still enjoying some winter sun and unfortunately is not here today.
DailySaintsPod: But it's fine. I've got you covered. And today we're going to talk about some of the Southampton loanees. So some of the people that are out on loan for the 26 -27 season. And one in particular that potentially is slightly longer than our current season.
DailySaintsPod: So, yeah, before I start and get into the nitty gritty, I'm just going to. Explain that it isn't the entirety of the the full list of loanees. It's...
DailySaintsPod: essentially players that i think still might have a role to play at Southampton after their loans. So, for example, I've left out Suguwara, who despite doing a little bit of pre -season, immediately went back on low out on loan.
DailySaintsPod: I've... omitted ben Brereton diaz Another player. the you know is now on his third spell at Sheffield United and despite pre -season and playing a little bit it's It's widely expected that you know once his contract ends that he isn't really going to play for us again. There are obviously some other youth players that I haven't managed to do my full research on.
DailySaintsPod: so you know take it with a pinch of salt it's not going to be everybody it's going to be the ones that where i've been able to find out the most information So enough yapping around that stuff. I'll get straight into it.
DailySaintsPod: So the first name. that I wish to cover today. is Nick Oyekunle. So Nick is currently out on loan at Leighton Orion in League One.
DailySaintsPod: I have a very good friend from university. who was a big fan of Leighton Orient. And it just means that I have some sort of affinity to them.
DailySaintsPod: And obviously, in relation to Saints fans... recently. we will be aware that Dom Ballard had a fantastic time. at the Orient and that kind of helped him secure his now move to Bristol city.
DailySaintsPod: And he's been doing really, really well for Bristol City as well. I know he scored the first few appearances. Bye. Clearly, it kind of feels like they're hoping lightning would strike twice. And hopefully, unlike Dom Ballard, we won't. Blah.
DailySaintsPod: you know like won't let nick go But... It's been a bit of a mixed bag for him so far. He's made nine appearances in total, scoring twice. Five appearances and one go in the league.
DailySaintsPod: In the league, his only goal came, unfortunately... 3 -1 defeat to Barnsley, so it was pretty much nothing more than a consolation goal. Other than that, he's been... sort of limited in cameo appearances more than anything. So more than no more than 20 minutes and as little as 10. And to be clear, specifically in the league, he has had some more minutes in some of the other competitions. He made two appearances in the FA Trophy.
DailySaintsPod: Also scoring a goal. His goal being a header in a 2 -1 loss to the Arsenal under -21s. He also made two appearances in the EFL Cup, managing 67 minutes in the first game. And then the full 90... where they were unfortunately knocked out by Bradford.
DailySaintsPod: in a 3 -1 loss. And then we get on to why he's not really... appeared much since and why he hasn't had probably the game time we'd have liked. And that's that he's out with a hamstring injury.
DailySaintsPod: It wasn't widely reported and it was quite difficult for me to find this information out. I had to go through a latent Orient fan forum to talk about the manager. confirming it.
DailySaintsPod: after a game somewhere, as opposed to... just being able to find that information in like an easy to. It's a read place. And. you know, despite the fact that He's out injured. I think they're hoping he'll return fit soon because as as they said, it was around six weeks. And his last...
DailySaintsPod: appearance per se was actually as an unused sub on the 12th of September in their 3 -2 loss to Wicked Wanderers so when I say appearance I mean Appearance of the squad. So hopefully he can get. fit for them.
DailySaintsPod: and we will be able to you know see him. getting back to the goal -scoring prowess we saw from him in the Premier League 2 and the under -21s.
DailySaintsPod: But... you know, was just a kind of wait and see. I don't think that he would be recalled. To my knowledge. But I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get the game time. It just seems like it's just a bit of a rough start to to life there. but there's plenty in more season to play.
DailySaintsPod: So moving on, the next person on my list that I've got coverage for is Amos Asise. He is currently out on loan at Colchis United in League Two.
DailySaintsPod: and has made... 11 appearances in the league in total so far. for 861 minutes total. So since match day seven, he has played 90 minutes in basically every game.
DailySaintsPod: And that that game was the one in which he scored a... goal against Cheltenham, securing them the draw. And something that he then proceeded to do in the next game, where he scored twice against Shrewsbury, including a stoppage time goal to salvage a point there as well.
DailySaintsPod: Despite his influence, Colchester have struggled a little bit. And since that draw... They've drawn two games and lost two. But from our perspective, he's getting really important minutes and showing himself to the great future.
DailySaintsPod: He's been earning plaudits from the fans and is described by the current manager as a talented kid. He's been earning plaudits from fans and his manager alike.
DailySaintsPod: where he is described as a talented kid and good footballer. There is a quote from the Colchester Gazette here. which says from his manager, he's brave. He's technically a very high level. And even as a young player, he's got good football intelligence.
DailySaintsPod: Another thing that's maybe of note. is that he follows in the footsteps of Akachukwu, who spent last season on loan there. who also had a quite good time there. and Colchester are really appreciative of the sort of connection they've made with our academy specifically where you know So far, both of the players they've had out on loan there have made quite a big impact and they've been good for the players as well to to get consistent senior levels of football.
DailySaintsPod: So that seems to be one to to keep an eye on because so far so good.
DailySaintsPod: And moving on, we've got Jay Robinson, who in a bid to get regular game time, has gone out on loan to Serie A in Italy. for Monza.
DailySaintsPod: a club that is managed by former Saints manager Ivan Juric. And. Yeah, he seems to be having a bit of a really good time there. We'd have expected him...
DailySaintsPod: Probably to stay initially. I think a lot of people were quite surprised that he's gone out on loan. However, he was always going to play sort of a a second fiddle position
DailySaintsPod: You've got Azaz in the middle. You've got on the right, you've got Tom Fellows. You've got Matsuki. Jay was always going to be second or third. And I think that similar to Edozie, who's obviously a senior player.
DailySaintsPod: He probably would want more minutes. and the club have realised, you know, that the best way to do that is to to allow him to... seek a loan move and a former manager who I don't know how much interaction they had because it wasn't I think it was under Rusk he got his debut. It wasn't under Juric at all, but clearly he's seen something in him to to loan him out.
DailySaintsPod: so How are they doing? Well, currently the team themselves sit 15th out of 20 teams with a mixed form of loss, win, loss, win, loss, very sort of... a Start, stop, start, stop But more importantly, how is Jay doing for them?
DailySaintsPod: He made his debut in a seven -minute cameo in a 4 -1 loss to Inter Milan. and you know, it is what it is, but then. He's made six appearances in total, scoring twice.
DailySaintsPod: And also got 76 minutes in the Italian Cup against Torino. He scored the opening goal in a draw against Parma and he scored the third out of four goals in a 4 -0 win against Cagliari.
DailySaintsPod: So in total, so far, he's played about 476 minutes this campaign with only two league games as an unused sub. So realistically, in terms of game time... it was probably the correct decision. We've seen...
DailySaintsPod: You know... how much time, for example, a Edozie's gotten so far. he's probably would like more. And I imagine that Jay. would probably have less or would be put down to Premier League two level when he's clearly probably ready for, you know, senior level of football.
DailySaintsPod: So he's getting the valuable experience he needs in a different league. under a manager that's more than happy to give him a chance and, you know, seems to be breaking into the first team throughout the campaign so far. So obviously we'll keep an eye on him for the rest of the season as well.
DailySaintsPod: He's probably one we definitely want to keep an eye on. And if we get promotion, maybe we'll see where he's at next season. But yeah. say it's It's good news for Jay. load and move so far And now I'd like to talk about Joshua , Quarshie
DailySaintsPod: As our fourth choice centre -back, it's been a bit of a struggle for him to to get minutes. And I think that for throughout the summer, it was widely reported he he might end up...
DailySaintsPod: out on loan initially in the German Bundesliga, but he's actually ended up in the Austrian Bundesliga playing for SK Strum Graz. And it's been a really good move for him so far. uh obviously He played pretty well for us. He he had a bit of a struggle last season where...
DailySaintsPod: he was he was Boop. he came into the squad. He made three games, that played full 90, three games in a row in September. And then after Will Still went and the the system was changed.
DailySaintsPod: And, you know, we had Taylor Harwood Bellis as the sort of primary centre back. And then they would sort of switch between Wood and Stephens. And I think Quarshie got like one game towards the end or a little bit of time and towards the end of the season wasn't involved in the squad at all. So obviously...
DailySaintsPod: He wants to play. And so they put him out on loan and we've replaced him with Zach Abbott in the interim. But he's, yeah, as I said, having having a good time so far. He made his debut in match day five in the last... 10 minutes of a loss to Rapid Vienna. So he wasn't really able to get as involved as much as he'd like, and they were already losing at that point.
DailySaintsPod: But since then, he's been involved in nearly every game. playing 90 in... four out of five of the games, then 60 minutes on another, helping keep a clean sheet of one of those. And that's specifically...
DailySaintsPod: just in the league because he's also been involved in the Europa League. He's played... Three full games in. there as well, helping keep a clean sheet in two of them. Although the team did struggle in a 3 -0 loss to Bournemouth. And obviously while all the plaudits and all the pundits are going to be looking at an English squad that hasn't been in Europe.
DailySaintsPod: Uh, you know playing a an austrian team that has for us For Saints fans, we we had one of our players playing in that game. So, yeah. 10 appearances in all competitions, racking up an impressive 771 minutes.
DailySaintsPod: There is a slight bit of an issue though. During a 2 -2 draw against SV Reid over the weekend, He received... A twisted ankle caused some... Discomfort.
DailySaintsPod: And now he's having an injury assessment to make sure it's nothing too serious. I haven't seen any update at time of recording. So there might be an update on that. Last I remember, Dan from the Daily Echo was reporting on it. So I don't know if that thread would have been updated at that point.
DailySaintsPod: but that's how josh is getting on and it seems to be so far a really good blown mood for him and again getting all of these valuable minutes keeping match fitness up uh and you know showing What could be...
DailySaintsPod: a competitive place in the future right That's kind of where I'm at. Moving on. I have got Cameron Archer. So Cameron Archer is one that I could potentially see us finding use for in the future.
DailySaintsPod: And whilst he played some really key moments towards the end of the season. There was obviously an expectation that he was going to move to Rangers in January. That move broke down and he did step back up, but then he was being played in roles that... weren't really his natural role sort of having to fill in.
DailySaintsPod: where possible. And obviously we're not really going to use him in his primary position. And we brought in Azaz coverage with Lewis Dobbin. and also guest striker coverage at this point. he knew that he would be out of favor to to Cyle Larin after that purchase was made. And obviously with Dobbin as well, it just seemed that for him, he needed a bit of a lifeline. And despite being involved in 15 minutes against Colchester in our early 2 -0 win in the EFL Cup, (if you can remember back to August.)
DailySaintsPod: He has joined former Southampton manager Will Still who has looked to bolster his strike force at league one side AJ Auxerre?
DailySaintsPod: That's how I'm going to pronounce it. So far, he's been having an absolute great time. He's probably the one that's had the most successful loan spell so far. So in the six games he's played for the club so far, he's scored five goals.
DailySaintsPod: with the deciding goal. in two games. to help win. and also so helping salvage a draw. This weekend, just gone. against Le Mans FC.
DailySaintsPod: so Still said after, He managed to get him on loan, about how well he's doing. and how he sort of well he's adapted "I am not surprised at all That's why we brought him in.
DailySaintsPod: We can also see the confidence the team has when he's on the pitch. and the structure of the team. you know you can give him the ball and he won't lose it. that he has the ability to make runs in behind and that he doesn't need 56 chances to score.
DailySaintsPod: We know how good he does for us." The player said "The coach speaks both French and English which helps me a lot. Like my teammates, Danny and Axel, who helped me better understand this new culture that I really like. I'm going to also going to learn French. Honestly, I feel really good. I'm happy to be here at such a prestigious club. League One offers also a different style of play than English football.
DailySaintsPod: it's very direct which suits me perfectly i love playing spectacular football of course when you arrive at a new club you want to play and score goals right away That's what I've managed to do. And it's also helped me settle in quickly."
DailySaintsPod: so So far, so good, as I said. Six six appearances, five goals, 539 minutes played. and I think Greg spoke about it a lot, and we've spoke about it even after...
DailySaintsPod: the premier league season when he first started getting involved he's very much a confidence striker however some of the issues would be that we he would encounter is that sort of he would come on as a substitute, maybe nick a goal towards the end and get given the full 90 and not quite be able to to get scoring and then would just get dropped again. So he never managed to... get sort of a consistent run of games. and never managed to... sort of get consistent goal scoring. So I think it's like the most he'd ever scored was like two two goals in two games.
DailySaintsPod: And because of that, you know, it's really nice to see that now his confidence is going to be boosted massively. And if he's scoring nonstop, that that continues. We've seen it with Cyle Larin as well.
DailySaintsPod: They might try and sign him.
DailySaintsPod: To my knowledge, there was no... buy clause in his loan options. However, you know these things can change. based off of what obviously the player would want and the club would want. and But yeah, it's really nice to see him do well.
DailySaintsPod: It's just a shame it was never quite with us.
DailySaintsPod: He's now back to, I guess, what the player that we initially signed. it's right that's that's That's what's happening for him. So good for him. We'll have to see what happens at the end of the season.
DailySaintsPod: Now I move on to the last person I wanted to cover. and slightly a controversial one. Damien Downs, who is currently in the... MLS.
DailySaintsPod: playing for St Louis City. Let's face it, he's had an awful time at Saints so far. And because of that, he got a loan in January to Hamburg, in Germany.
DailySaintsPod: And that was equally a torrid time. uh during all of that time obviously he he got a bit you know. Got a bit of stick from our fans. sounded like in Germany, it kind of... bordered on the level of abuse especially where manager literally said.
DailySaintsPod: that he had to not... speak him to kind of protect him And unfortunately. It's kind of probably shattered the poor young man's confidence. And so hopefully a move to, you know, a place of more familiarity. He has dual nationality between Germany and America.
DailySaintsPod: But hopefully that would give him the little bit of a boost. It's been a bit of a a bit of a slow start.
DailySaintsPod: And... He's made seven appearances in the league. in the MLS which whilst on paper This sounds quite... quite good especially in comparison to you know when he was playing for Hamburg and playing for us.
DailySaintsPod: They've been... you know, not a lot. It's 64 minutes of football in total. again specifically in the league he has had a few more opportunities in some cup matches.
DailySaintsPod: He made his match day. Debut in Matchday 24 in a 3 -1 win over Vancouver, where he came on in the 91st minute. And that would be one of three games where he was on the pitch for just about a minute in total.
DailySaintsPod: I can't help but wonder if it's designed to kind of expose him back to the environment again I wouldn't be surprised if if it's taken a toll.
DailySaintsPod: playing in front of all of those people. and it literally obviously training every day and then just sticking them out. you know sticking him out in front of you know the fans and in the team and just kind of Almost like light exposure therapy. I don't know. Or alternatively, it's just a tactical thing at the end of the game.
DailySaintsPod: He is, however, getting a little bit more game time Now he... Managed 21 minutes in a 3 -2 loss to Minnesota, followed by a 19 -minute appearance. just this Sunday gone.
DailySaintsPod: in a 3 -0 loss to Salt Lake. The... aforementioned cup games that he has played in.
DailySaintsPod: are for the US Open Cup. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about the MLS really. or any of their sort of cup competitions. But what I do know is that he played in both the semi -final and the final.
DailySaintsPod: And in the final, he played 42 minutes, which was against Columbus. where he did score a goal it was a penalty it was during a penalty shootout he scored the fourth out of five penalties which helped them beat Columbus 5 -3 And. Whilst that's not a goal from open play, which is probably what he really wants, it's encouraging right to be able to be part of a squad that that wins something.
DailySaintsPod: It's just the fact that he is able to... be a part of something positive. is going to be helpful and as i said it was off the back of these games he started to make slightly more like slightly longer appearances in the league.
DailySaintsPod: whilst I'm sure everyone would wish that he he could like you know get a goal. quite frankly I wish him all the best and hopefully a change of environment will do him well. We must have seen something.
DailySaintsPod: from a scouting perspective to have targeted him. I don't quite understand why the move didn't work out i don't quite understand Whoa. has gone on greg seemed to think again it was a a lack of understanding the profile of the player So, you know... we assumed that he would be a hold -up player.
DailySaintsPod: like Cyle Larin , and on Onuachu and Ross Stewart. That wasn't the case. it didn't work out for him He then went to Hamburg, continued to struggle.
DailySaintsPod: So now it just honestly feels like he's kind of refinding his feet. He will have a... a bit more of an opportunity to continue to develop there because he is...
DailySaintsPod: with them for the 2027 season. of the mls which i think ends in october depending on playoffs so he should be out on loan for a bit longer
DailySaintsPod: uh than a vast majority of the others but i'll keep an eye on him and hopefully he'll do well i don't know whether he'll ever come back to southampton he's under contract i want to say until 2029 that's one of the only reasons i really wanted to cover it is that either way, it's worth keeping an eye on the fact that we might get quite a big sale price for him if he continues to do well. There are lots of players that have gone on to other leagues, especially the MLS and do much better than in.
DailySaintsPod: leagues they were in previously. us ourselves had Bradley Wright- Phillips obviously go over and become at one point the top goal scorer in the MLS. It would just be one to keep an eye on, one where I wish him all the best.
DailySaintsPod: that's pretty much a wrap today on all of the loanies that I've covered. I know there's quite a few others. I know you've got Dylan Moody, who's at Totton and there's a few other players out and about.
DailySaintsPod: But these are the ones that, I could find the most information on. the ones that look to be progressing. nicely and the ones that look like they could potentially make an impact in the future Thank you, everybody, for listening.
DailySaintsPod: I think that I'll probably be taking tomorrow off
DailySaintsPod: However, I will be back. On. Friday. Four. the matchday preview against QPR. and We can discuss where that's going to go. and How? we think we're going to do against qpr As always, we're on all of social media. We're on Facebook, Twitter.
DailySaintsPod: YouTube. Blue sky. TikTok, Instagram. we're We're all over the place. but We really, really appreciate what of your support.
DailySaintsPod: Thank you very much, and I will see you in the next one.
