[RUMOUR] Jack Stephens

He's come on late as a substitute.

 

Well if he is coming At least one of Kabs or WTE must be off. I can just about handle Cathcart but not as a regular starter.

 

That's true. Since he's been at Southampton they've been relegated *checks notes* zero times.

 

@reids please can we have the wagon wheel! Comparison to our current CB’s from the most recent Prem season? thanks

 

I don't recall anything about his composure (and can't watch clips atm as i've got a crammed week this week due to taking a day off tomorrow to go to Birmingham away!) but looking at his passing maps (last season) below in 6 key areas he looks fine when keeping it simple (passes in red are successful, passes in yellow were unsuccessful) but doesn't look great when trying to move the ball forward.

 

Lets worry about that when it happens. Right now is all about winning promotion, we are not in a position to buy proven prem league standard players. We may never be.
More to the point, how can a 28 year old prem league CD be so hopeless in the air ?? Surely that is the #1 box you have to tick as a CD ?

 

So he's worse at passing than our current CBs? Yet another win for the recruitment team.

 

Bottom line is, he’s a donkey. Saints only haven’t been relegated because they have us and Norwich to thank over the past few years. They have been dreadful.

18/19 we conceded 59 Saints 65 finished 16th, 5 points above relegation
19/20 season we conceded 64 goals, Saints 60. Were relegated, Saints finish 11th but only because they scored 51 that season
20/21 season Saints concede 68 goals, only west Brom conceded more, they finish 15th. Again because of their forward line.
21/22 season we concede 77 goals, Saints 67. Were relegated, they finish 5 points above relegation in 15th

The point I was making is that Southampton for multiple seasons now have conceded right around what most relegated teams have conceded. The only reason they haven't gone down yet is because they have clubs like us to thank and forwards that knew where the net was. Defensively they are atrocious and Stephens has contributed to that.

 

One might even suggest Jack Stephens is a proven PL standard player? 100+ PL appearances do a side that survives each season.

We are going to struggle to attract anything of a higher level this season due to our current status. The majority of players are going to come with some caveats as to why we are getting them.

Gaspar - ageing
Davis - fitness
Choudhury - supposed lack of ability with the ball

Is Stephens better than Kabasele, Cathcart, WTE? I’d say he is.

Is he good enough for us next season if we go up? Probably not - but let’s not forget Edwards was a CB so may be able to coach him in the areas he’s lacking.

My one concern would be if this signings comes in lieu of a left-sided option. But I don’t think it is - far more likely WTE has expressed a desire to leave due to lack of game time. If Stephens is the replacement, the squad is marginally better so no problem from me.

 

Exactly what I had in mind.

 

I’m not particularly keen on him (even though I think he is an upgrade on WTE and Kabasele, one of whom he’ll replace seemingly) and would rather we make do at RCB with the current options and devote any resources from a Kabasele/WTE sale to getting Greaves as genuine high ceiling upgrade at LCB BUT:

I don’t think this is an accurate characterisation of Saints fans’ sentiments, at least not those on Twitter. His quality is questionable and divides opinion but most of the views I’ve seen are sad to see him go and have uniformly positive things to say about him. Many would prefer that Bednarek be shipped than Stephens.

Hard to know for sure how his bit part role at PL level will translate to the Championship, but like with Choudhury and Davis this is a signing that the vast majority of sides in the league would be excited by.

 

Good to know. Please thank his mum on behalf of the forum

 

They love his mentality, but his mentality doesn’t match his ability. They like him as he wears his heart on his sleeve and is committed. The problem is, he’s rubbish and most Saints fans want him gone and again, have done for a while. It’s like our Deeney situation, a player they all love, but it’s time to move on because he’s just not good enough anymore.

The only reason other sides would be excited about this is because they a) don’t know anything about him b) didn't do their research c) haven’t looked at what Saints fans are saying about his playing ability
d) have never played Saints with him in the side.

When Sarr scored against Saints when we lost 2-1 in 2019 it was Stephens’ error that cost them that goal.

Go back and watch Deeney constantly bully him and deliberately target him. Stephens is weak and rubbish in the air. Up against championship strikers, with long balls, set pieces and constant crosses into the box, Stephens will be a massive liability.

 

Stephens played a part in both of Soton’s 9-0 defeats. He played the whole game against Man Utd, though the Saints were down to nine players by the end. When they lost 0-9 to Leicester, he came on at half time when it was 0-5, shoring the side up to only concede another four.

I look forward to him lining up for us against Man City after promotion.

 

Thanks.

That's a bit confusing - as his pass maps don't look too bad, yet his pass completion percentage is as bad as WTE and Kabs!

I'm aware though that the charts don't show all his passes (a quick, potentially mistaken attempt to count the passes in those charts shows about 83% completion for those 6 areas).

He very rarely seems to give the ball away in his short-medium range passing, but his long range passing hardly ever seems to hit the mark.

 

Deeney? "All"?!

 

I'm a little confused. Is this a done deal, media speculation (implying inside sources, however unreliable), or a social media rumour?

 

For what he did of course but he should of left earlier.

 

He’ll be in a 3 and alongside Sierralta. It’ll be easy to hide his weakness in the air but that is the primary concern, yes.

But I disagree. I think most other sides in the league would be excited to have a 28 year old 120 PL appearance player even if they are not up to PL standard.

 

Done deal, £7.5m. 5 year deal, 45k a week for Stephens.

 

Social media rumour I think that has taken legs!

 

Meh, I would rather give Pollock a go.

 

Not when he’s targeted all game it won’t be. Teams will have their strikers just sit on him all game. Teams will know it’s a massive weakness in our backline and will go after it.

We will cordially agree to disagree.

 

I thought this would be an odd signing.

But even Stephens might improve us.

 

But predictable.

Whenever he shoots he always chips.

 

It's almost as if that's why people say 'it's gone viral'!

 

Sad thing is, I wouldn’t be surprised. We don’t have the money for Greaves who massively improves us, young, and is in a position we need. However we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a right footed CB who has been crap most of his career, only has about 3 years left before retirement but he’s played in the Prem for a few seasons, albeit appallingly.

 

I hope not. Crazy , he is out in the field grazing towards an early retirement. He has a dodgy knee, just what we need.
Not rated by many Saints fans.
We can't go for JG as we simply don't have the money.

 

Well Duxbury said we want a younger squad so you'd like to think he'd get a go. But then again Duxbury lies out of every orifice.

 

For what it’s worth I’ve heard that it’s more in the region of £2m. Flip side is that Leventhal has just said on his spaces that he thinks things are far less advanced than LouOrns etc have suggested though there is interest.

 

RS2 is clearly taking the mick.

Trust you to think it's plausible though.

 

He's just sitting on the fence. 'Yes we're interested, but it might not be close' #OneToWatch

 

I don't think he's up to it yet.

 

Not true. Again.