Jan Bednarek
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Southampton’s Jan Bednarek reveals lack of aggressiveness was cause of loss against Aston Villa #SAINTSFC #AVFC

March 8, 2022
JAN Bednarek has called on himself and his Saints teammates to improve their performance when they face Newcastle United this week, vowing: “We will cause them a lot of problems.” Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were dismantled 4-0 in a match that could have seen an even higher score, when they travelled to Aston Villa on Saturday. Former Saints star Danny Ings was among the Villans who got on the scoresheet, with Ollie Watkins opening inside just nine minutes at Villa Park. Turns Stephens inside the box and sweeps it into the far corner. Hard to gauge how this game was going to go from the opening. #SaintsFC had put a few passes astray, both teams looked narrow - only the full-backs providing width, and the goal has come right through the middle. https://t.co/pYrVpoqZ4n — Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) March 5, 2022 The result ended a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, but Saints retained their ninth-placed status while other teams ahead of them in the division also lost. Saints still have a strong chance of tabling their best finish under Ralph Hasenhuttl (Pic: PA) They will have a chance to put the torrid afternoon right when in-form Magpies visit St Mary’s in a rearranged grudge match, on Thursday evening, but will need much improved showings. “One bad game doesn’t make us a bad team, so we know what was missing (at Villa), Bednarek insisted. “I’m pretty sure we will bring everything on track, we will perform on the highest level and get another three points. “The result after a good run, only one bad game, hopefully we can perform at the highest level and show them how good a team we are.” Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have also put on a stellar run and are undefeated in eight Premier League contests, dating back to the end of December. It has seen them rise from a relegation scrap to 14th. Newcastle are going well under new boss Eddie Howe (Pic: PA) The Toon were able to invest during the January window, following their Saudi-backed takeover. Bednarek added: “We know we can perform very well so they will have a tough battle and we will cause them a lot of problems.” Credit to the #SaintsFC support who have stayed to clap off their team. 👏Well reciprocated, I believe. pic.twitter.com/VHjkgEcqlY — Alfie House (@AlfieHouseEcho) March 5, 2022 Saints will hope the joint-heaviest defeat of their campaign was a one-off, after an impressive February saw Hasenhuttl nominated for the Premier League manager of the month award – as well as Howe. “It wasn’t our best game,” the Polish international added. “We were not aggressive enough, we just didn’t perform well enough. Saints' Saturday defeat was their joint-heaviest of the campaign (Pic: PA) “Against a team like Villa, that will cause you problems. They have massive quality up front. We were just not good enough, not good enough in the defence and not good enough up front so that was the result. “If I knew (what the problem was), I probably would have done it. I don’t think the system, I think the aggressiveness, the willingness to defend, the energy.” He continued: “There are good days and bad days, I wouldn’t think any more about it, it’s in the past. “Hopefully in the next game we can perform at the highest level, we have a few days to recover to be on our top form and hopefully we can win the next.” The Villa clash also saw a chance for Bednarek to go up against international teammate and friend Matty Cash, who switched allegiances from England and was capped twice last year. Matty Cash will be Jan Bednarek's Poland teammate going forward (Pic: PA) The 24-year-old right-back was impressive throughout, and laid off well for Ings to complete the scoring in the second-half. “Matty is a great player, great guy, it was great to meet him today,” Bednarek said. “He played for the better team so it is what it is, hopefully with the national team we can get some great results together.”
Matt Targett Aston Villa
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Former Southampton and Aston Villa defender Matt Targett delighted to join Newcastle United #NUFC #SAINTSFC #AVFC

February 1, 2022
NEWCASTLE United have completed the deadline day loan signing of Saints academy graduate Matt Targett from Aston Villa. The 26-year-old left-back will play under manager Eddie Howe for the remainder of the season, as they fight relegation from the Premier League. Targett could be available to face Saints at St Mary’s when the postponed league clash is eventually rearranged in the coming weeks. Speaking after completing his loan move, Targett told the club website: "I'm delighted to be here. I can't wait to get going and meet all the fans and hopefully we can have a successful end to the season. "My family have friends here and they've always said it's a football-mad city, so to experience it and be part of it - I'm really looking forward to it." Howe added: "We have gone into this transfer window with a plan to add strong competition in specific areas of the team and Matt will be a fantastic option for us on the left. "He has important Premier League experience and know-how at this level, so I'm really pleased we've been able to add him to the squad." The ex-England youth international made 63 first-team appearances for Saints after graduating from the academy and making his debut in the 2014-15 season.
Sean Dyche Burnley
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Sean Dyche focused on Aston Villa but still awaits Hornets postponement answer #BURNLEYFC

December 18, 2021
Burnley are awaiting an explanation from the Premier League for why their clash with Watford was postponed at late notice on Wednesday. The match at Turf Moor was called off less than three hours before it was due to start because of coronavirus cases in the Watford camp, with Burnley not receiving any indication that it might happen until an hour prior to the decision being announced. It was the second late postponement the club has had in less than three weeks after the meeting with Tottenham last month was called off due to heavy snowfall. Boss Sean Dyche said: “We didn’t find out until 4.40pm. We hadn’t heard anything from Watford Football Club about the possible situation. And then it came to light that they had Covid cases and the game had to be cancelled. It was very late that’s for sure.” Burnley will now turn their attention to a scheduled clash with Aston Villa tomorrow – although the midlanders have also had cases in their camp. Dyche said: “It’s not a big drama, it’s happened, it’s dealt with, the next one comes around very quickly. I’m sure the Premier League will report to us about why it was called off because we haven’t got any of the detail yet but we move forward, it’s as simple as that. What’s done is done. “It’s about getting an awareness of what is going to make a game called off and what’s not going to make a game be called off.” Burnley have several current Covid cases themselves, although Dyche revealed only one is a player and they are confident he was isolated quickly enough not to have an impact on the rest of the squad. This will be Dyche’s first experience of taking on a team managed by Steven Gerrard, and Villa are in good form, with four wins from their last six games. The Burnley boss said of Gerrard’s impact: “Seemingly they’ve had a change of shape with what they called many years ago the Christmas tree. “He’s brought energy. You know what it’s like, a new manager goes in, whoever that manager is, and it has an effect of some description. He’s certainly had that. “I don’t know him so I wouldn’t know what his beliefs in the game are, the way he’s thinking about the game. He obviously had a thirst for it, went through some of the situations with the younger teams at Liverpool and then he’s gone up to Rangers and done a good job there. “He knows the Premier League, that’s another obvious thing, and it’s how he adapts to the challenge of managing in the Premier League. “He’s not naive, he knows it’s more than a good start in management, you need a longer period to prove yourself, but he’s started very well. I don’t think anyone’s that surprised by that. The challenge of football is how long you can keep doing it for at what level.” Burnley remain in the bottom three but have lost only one of their last six games, although four of those have been draws. They are likely to again be without forwards Maxwel Cornet and Ashley Barnes, midfielder Dale Stephens and defender Connor Roberts.