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Injury crisis at Saints

7:12pm Friday 19th September 2008 in


Jan Poortvliet is facing an untimely defensive injury crisis ahead of today’s visit of Barnsley.

The Saints head coach is without Michael Svensson, Wayne Thomas, Aarran Raccine and possibly Lloyd James through injury while Ollie Lancashire is suspended.

Add to that a hamstring injury that will rule out Morgan Schneiderlin and Rudi Skacel still not being considered fit enough to play and Poortvliet is facing a dilemma.

Assuming ever-present James doesn’t make it, Paul Wotton will drop to centre half to partner Chris Perry with Jack Cork switching to right back.

But that still leaves Poortvliet with a dilemma as to who to partner Simon Gillett with in the holding roles in front of the back four.

He said: “There is an option with Paul at centre half and Corky at the side – everyone else is out.

“Ollie is out, Svensson is out, Wayne Thomas is out, Raccine is out, Lloyd may be out.

“So we have to look at what we can do at the back.

“Paul played a good game at QPR and maybe he will have to play with Chris and Cork at the right-sided position.

“Michael is still missing. Hopefully he will be ready for the Tuesday game (at Rotherham in the Carling Cup) – he trained Thursday but couldn’t train yesterday because his knee wasn’t good.

“He will maybe play Tuesday or otherwise next Saturday.

“Morgan is not fit – hamstring. It wasn’t in the game (against Ipswich) but in training.

“Lloyd is also a doubt because his arm is blocked, so we have problems.

“We have a lot of boys out and defensively we have some problems.”

Poortvliet had planned to make four changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Ipswich on Wednesday but with two of those – Svensson and Schneiderlin – now sidelined he needs to make some quick decisions.

One man who is set for his first start at St Mary’s is Tomas Pekhart who came off the bench to score against the Tractor Boys.

“He looks good and he works hard. You have to look at players who can score goals and put them in the team,” said Poortvliet.

“At this moment we need them because not all the players are fit.

“Tomas. if he can do the same as he did this week and hopefully from the start, is a good centre forward – a scoring man, a hard worker, always in movement and we need that to score goals.

“We need players with confidence.”

Comments(14)

Shazza (the genuine article, not an imposter) says...
7:25pm Fri 19 Sep 08

I'll bring my boots, but being 25, I'm probably too old to play...

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KCAJRETSOF says...
9:03pm Fri 19 Sep 08

Play Pekhart from the start and lets have some goals. An average of just over 1 goal per game is'nt going to win many matches!

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Gladbachsaint says...
10:23pm Fri 19 Sep 08

I must say having an injury crisis is a massive shock to me. We have such a big squad you would think we would have no problem at all.

On another note its nice to see i'm not the only Saints fan in Germany.

Come on you Saints - lets get 3 points from this one.

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Condor Man says...
11:07pm Fri 19 Sep 08

give Joseph Mills a go, he looked good when he came on v Birmingham in the cup. Imudia has had good reviews too.

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Sunny Saint says...
12:20am Sat 20 Sep 08

Did we really expect anything else. The is the Championship not the friggin Dutch Tyro league. We all knew that the youngsters were gonna get lumps knocked out of them. Welcome to the real world Portaloo.
What a Mess we are in :-(


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Rudd Gillett says...
3:12am Sat 20 Sep 08

As Cilla would say "Surprise Surprise" Well done Rupes leave the Dutch one out to dry!

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UTS says...
8:14am Sat 20 Sep 08

Would Wayne Thomas of played even if fit ? Somehow i doubt as Rupert wouldnt of picked him !

I feel sorry for Jan he shouldnt of signed up to this farce that Lowe has created.

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NewforestSaint says...
8:27am Sat 20 Sep 08

We always new that as soon as we picked up injuries and suspensions we would be down to the bare-bones. However, Mills, Hatch and Davies are defenders and Paterson a goal scorer - get them in the squad, get them playing as quickly as possible and then we might have a few more options. The squad is what we have - we cannot afford anything else,so lets get these kids playing.

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Condor Man says...
9:12am Sat 20 Sep 08

At the moment we simply can't afford to bring in expensive experienced players so we'll have to make do with what we have.

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St.Yorkie says...
9:43am Sat 20 Sep 08

The fact is with defence you need someone to talk and marshall at the back. The problem with our back four is that we don't talk. Drew doesn't shout, James isn't vocal and Cork is new. Davis shouts but does anyone listen?

We defend like amateurs - the offside trap when it works isn't acknowledged - but equally 15-mins later they got it completely wrong against QPR.

Perhaps with Wooton in the middle next to Perry they will bark out some instructions. Drew is wasted at LB - the sooner we draft someone else in the better.

How do players get injured in training? Youthful enthusiam no doubt!

Jan has a plan?

Personally I don't think he has a clue about defending! Let's bring back our defensive coach - Dodd! Does anyone remember how bad the defence was then? (Until Davies became a regular).

Someone said something on the radio the other day...form is cyclic, but class is for ever.

Perhaps we should all draw a deep breath and hope time and forced changes at the back produces the right formula.

There is another question about our strikers. I like the effort McG puts in, but he holds on to it too long sometimes. Forget playing Dyer on the left - I'd prefer BWP. John may have experience, but I'd like to see Peckhart given a start. We play with such pace - John would be done in after 40-mins.

We all know Skacel is only go for 50-mins top - so he isn't the answer at left back.

For all the quality across the squad, we lack a player whose natural position is LB apparently - we haven't really had one since Bridger left.

Let's face it we are a cobbled together shower, assembled by a hockey man who beleives he can save the company and share price all by himself.

Jan what did you sign up to?
How is your bonus calculated?
What happens in January?

The rollercoaster ride that is Southampton FC continues on for another season (at least).

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AndyAndrews says...
10:07am Sat 20 Sep 08

The excuses are already there. But the fact is we are home to the bottom team: anything less than a win is unacceptable.

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sjames29 says...
12:02pm Sat 20 Sep 08

Everyone who puts any blame on Jan Poortvliet has absolutely no idea. Don't you get it, Pearson didn't get thrown out, he just knew what he would have had to have worked with if he stayed. Rupert Lowe he single handedly made the decision that he would make the academy the first team and allow no money to be spent (for obvious reasons) and brought Poortvliet in for the job. No-one can put any blame on Poortvliet, he has done a much better job than any other average manager would do.

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sjames29 says...
12:03pm Sat 20 Sep 08

skacel for left back... it's obviuos

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Solent Saint says...
12:30pm Sat 20 Sep 08

Maybe Pulis will get a game today, or at least be on the bench. If we want fireworks lets continue with McG, BWP and Pekhart.

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