Shane Long [Archive] - Page 35

tetsujin1979

02/03/2016, 2:43 PM

Hobbled off the pitch last night a short time after kicking the studs of Bournemouth's defender Steve Cook. He was swinging for a shot at goal so met Cook full force, looked a sore one.

was on the receiving end of one of those before, was walking around on it for two weeks before I got it checked out - doc told me I'd cracked a bone!

geysir

02/03/2016, 4:01 PM

was on the receiving end of one of those before, was walking around on it for two weeks before I got it checked out - doc told me I'd cracked a bone!
I'd change the description from cracked to broken, thereby upgrading the perception of this manly response to such a traumatic experience.

DeLorean

03/03/2016, 1:53 PM

was on the receiving end of one of those before, was walking around on it for two weeks before I got it checked out - doc told me I'd cracked a bone!

According to this (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3472294/Shane-Long-Harry-Arter-suffer-injury-scares-Martin-O-Neill-gets-ready-pick-Republic-Ireland-squad-Euro-2016.html) it was actually his knee that he damaged, I presumed it was his foot. I didn't know Arter went off injured either.

tetsujin1979

03/03/2016, 2:04 PM

According to this (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3472294/Shane-Long-Harry-Arter-suffer-injury-scares-Martin-O-Neill-gets-ready-pick-Republic-Ireland-squad-Euro-2016.html) it was actually his knee that he damaged, I presumed it was his foot. I didn't know Arter went off injured either.

I'll be honest with you. It'll be a cold day in hell before I click a link to the Daily Mail.

DeLorean

03/03/2016, 2:12 PM

There's no need to - it was his knee.

DeLorean

03/03/2016, 7:17 PM

Koeman said that Long will miss Southampton's game at the weekend but expects him back after that, according to Today FM.

TheOneWhoKnocks

10/03/2016, 5:20 PM

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160310-ronald-koeman-shane-long-pre-stoke-city-southampton-2999962.aspx

Koeman resounding in his praise of Long, who is set to return against Stoke.

Ol� Ol�

24/03/2016, 2:45 PM

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/24/shane-long-euro-2016-republic-of-ireland-southampton-switzerland-slovakia

Love Long. Hope that baby face of his is around the top level for a good deal longer.

DeLorean

01/04/2016, 3:07 PM

A doubt for Southampton's game at Leicester on Sunday but doesn't seem too bad.

Shane Long had a game for Ireland and had a patellar tendon injury and he's doubtful for this Sunday. Still we have one day tomorrow, but we have to wait until Sunday, but the rest of the players came back in good physical shape.

saintsfc.co.uk (http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160401-ronald-koeman-team-news-pre-leicester-southampton-3036913.aspx)

OwlsFan

01/04/2016, 3:46 PM

It was a surprise that he was kept on when the safer option would have been to substitute him but I think that says a lot about MON not wanting to lose friendlies no matter how much the results are said not to matter.

jbyrne

09/04/2016, 2:06 PM

just put southampton 1 up against newcastle after 4 mins. dreadful defending by all accounts

tetsujin1979

09/04/2016, 2:26 PM

no so much "dreadful" as "non-existant": https://twitter.com/chipmonk1973/statuses/718802350442307584

tricky_colour

09/04/2016, 2:56 PM

Lol, reminds me of my defending when I was at school :redface-new:

Still they all count. That is his 8th of the season, a career record I believe in the top flight.(and still about 6 games to go)

TheOneWhoKnocks

09/04/2016, 4:15 PM

What, no complaints about his first touch this time?

Should be lone striker at the Euros but I'm sure he will be shafted again so Walters and Murphy can do their pugilist routines for 90 minutes.

Stuttgart88

09/04/2016, 4:20 PM

Or you could have just said he scored a good goal today.

DeLorean

09/04/2016, 4:23 PM

Yeah but he wouldn't get a reaction if he said that. That Walters routine is hardly going to be scrapped now.

no so much "dreadful" as "non-existant": https://twitter.com/chipmonk1973/statuses/718802350442307584

Steven Taylor actually made an effort to get out of Long's way, one of the few guys you'd think actually cares.

tricky_colour

09/04/2016, 5:53 PM

Will probably face better defending at the the Euros, I was going say Long made him look bad, but he just looked bad.

TheOneWhoKnocks

09/04/2016, 6:20 PM

Some interesting comments from Koeman. Could be interpreted as taking a large share of the credit for Long's blinding form this season. Maybe it's warranted, maybe not.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/14411443.Long_fee_looking_great_business_for_South ampton/?ref=mac

Himself and Pelle are showing great understanding, his link-up play with Tadic, Mane, Davis is immense atmo, he is a nightmare to play up front on his own for any defender, he is immense out wide.

Yet up until Germany he has been third choice at best.

I think he's a better player than Walters in any position. He's certainly a better player than Murphy. In the past Simon Cox and Andy Keogh have been entrusted more in competitive games.

Crying shame really. So many wasted years, just like Hoolahan.

At least MON is capable of seeing the light, unlike Trap.

Stuttgart88

09/04/2016, 6:39 PM

Perhaps he's a better player now than several years ago?

Ol� Ol�

09/04/2016, 7:38 PM

Perhaps he's a better player now than several years ago?

Yeah, Koeman's comments probably ring true when he speaks about the technical development in Long's game. Maybe it was a stroke of luck but Shane, a couple of years ago, might have lost the control of Randolph's pass for the goal against Germany. It bobbled off his shin but I think he managed to put a good cushion on it. Southampton have a Dutch influence and that influence brings technical and attacking football, accompanied by appropriate coaching. Long definitely needed to work on his control and finishing and they've improved, thankfully.

His pace doesn't look like waning for now. I think he can stay at PL level as long as that holds up as he'll be 30 halfway through next season.

Charlie Darwin

11/04/2016, 2:10 PM

Perhaps he's a better player now than several years ago?
I think that's blindingly obvious. He's come into his own as an international player at last and it's great to see.

Ol� Ol�

11/04/2016, 3:27 PM

Interesting to note, if he can bag one more goal in the next 5 matches then he'll have achieved his best in a PL season i.e. 9. His current best is 8 (from his first 2 seasons at WBA).

So, he's equalled his season best of 8 goals in 23 appearances (only 18 of which were starts). In those two afore-mentioned seasons at WBA he had 32 and 34 appearances with 24 and 25 starts.

For his style of play, a 1/3 goal to game ratio would be very respectable. Their last 5 games are against Everton, Villa, Man City, Spurs and Palace. Don't know why I even mentioned the opposition because the opposition against which Long scores follow no pattern. This season he has bagged against:
Chelsea
Man City
Arsenal X2
Watford
Swansea
Newcastle X2 (home and away)

Stuttgart88

11/04/2016, 3:42 PM

Yeah, but Andy Carroll can score 3 against Arsenal, rendering any goal against them meaningless :)

TheOneWhoKnocks

11/04/2016, 9:11 PM

I don't think he's come into his own as an Intl player so much as he's finally been given a proper chance, and a little bit that he is playing at a club that utilizes his attributes better and likes to play football.

He scored some cracking technical goals at his previous clubs too: x Chelsea, x Sunderland, x Villa twice off the top of my head.

And has always had a good return and some of his best performances against the bigger teams.

I always said it would be far more productive playing him out wide than Cox, Keogh or Walters as well - though I can understand the reasons Walters plays there.

I'd say the way Koeman - and I've criticized him in the past - uses him is getting the most out of him at the moment. Yeah maybe he's made him a better player a little bit, but I'd say it's marginal. It's still the same Shane that has turned games for us in the past in the cameos he had to settle for - Russia in Dublin, Kazakhs away etc...

SwanVsDalton

11/04/2016, 9:27 PM

Ol� Ol�

11/04/2016, 10:04 PM

I think he's a little bit more clinical and a little more composed. Shane always had the attributes and talent, he showed enough previously but was inconsistent.

No wonder that side's developed, I'm stuck thinking he's forever young even though he's nearly 30.

I think that he's more clinical and composed because he's more confident in his technical ability and in goal-scoring opportunities he's willing to take that extra touch instead of trying to knock it by the defender and use his pace or take a snap shot.

Yeah, his 30th has really crept up on us. Let's hope he has a good Euros.

DeLorean

11/04/2016, 10:47 PM

I don't think he's come into his own as an Intl player so much as he's finally been given a proper chance.
He's been used pretty much the same way Trap used him.

It's still the same Shane that has turned games for us in the past in the cameos he had to settle for - Russia in Dublin, Kazakhs away etc...

It was Doyle who turned the Kazakhstan game. A fairly soft penalty turned the Russian game, obviously Long's goal helped after that but I can't really remember how good he was otherwise.

Charlie Darwin

12/04/2016, 1:28 AM

I don't think he's come into his own as an Intl player so much as he's finally been given a proper chance, and a little bit that he is playing at a club that utilizes his attributes better and likes to play football.
I don't think even you could deny he's playing better for club and country now. He had plenty of chances before and was outperformed by other players. Now he's deservedly the main striker and I hope it continues for a long time.

DeLorean

12/04/2016, 7:52 AM

I think it remains to be seen if he's now considered the main striker for us, I don't think there's much evidence yet to support that.

Stuttgart88

12/04/2016, 9:28 AM

The Times (subscription only) had an interesting piece on Koeman this morning. He was saying how social media, headphones etc. have led to a decline in communication skills since his day, when players used to chat and play cards on long away trips. As a consequence he has drills and techniques such as passing a ball with feet while juggling a ball with hands and talking at the same time. It might be Clive Woodward-style hocus pocus but I like what I know of Koeman as a manager. I'd love him to replace Wenger.

As for Long being considered main striker? I agree that the evidence doesn't support it. Not being fit for Bosnia away and not being fully match-fit for the home leg don’t help, nor does Walters being suspended for the first game.

But I think he has done enough to put down a strong marker and is quite a bit higher up in MON's thoughts than last September or October.

DeLorean

12/04/2016, 10:32 AM

He'd be my main man for sure, and it's a no brainer to start him against Sweden at least. They'd only love for us to go for the brute force approach with Walters and Murphy. Long's pace gives the extra dimension obviously, even though they coped okay with it in the WC qualifiers. He should have scored in Stockholm though, and should have put Keane in for a second in Dublin if I remember correctly, in which case we'd probably be saying they couldn't live with him.

Stuttgart88

12/04/2016, 11:19 AM

Yes, I meant that for me it's a no-brainer but the evidence isn't there that MON sees it that way - but his unavailability and Walters' unavailability in recent games only confuse things. For me Hoolahan is a no-brainer too, yet what MON thinks is a long way from being clear. My guess is that both players have won him over.

Charlie Darwin

12/04/2016, 1:04 PM

He's a main man waiting to happen, trust me.

geysir

12/04/2016, 2:18 PM

Eventually, after his coin ends heads up, 5 tosses in a row, MO'N shall realise certainty on the matter.

tetsujin1979

12/04/2016, 2:50 PM

but the odds of the next one being heads will still be 50%

geysir

12/04/2016, 4:56 PM

When MO'N wants to start Murphy, he uses the 2 headed coin, because if chance was left to it's own devices, tails would always turn up.

tricky_colour

13/04/2016, 1:12 AM

The Times (subscription only) had an interesting piece on Koeman this morning. He was saying how social media, headphones etc. have led to a decline in communication skills since his day, when players used to chat and play cards on long away trips. As a consequence he has drills and techniques such as passing a ball with feet while juggling a ball with hands and talking at the same time. It might be Clive Woodward-style hocus pocus but I like what I know of Koeman as a manager. I'd love him to replace Wenger.

As for Long being considered main striker? I agree that the evidence doesn't support it. Not being fit for Bosnia away and not being fully match-fit for the home leg don�t help, nor does Walters being suspended for the first game.

But I think he has done enough to put down a strong marker and is quite a bit higher up in MON's thoughts than last September or October.

Maybe the player could text each other during the match!

Walters got 5 goal in his last 8 appearance that is 0.65 goals per game.

If that does not make him our main striker I don't know who is, that is a pretty good ratio by anyone's standards.

Charlie Darwin

13/04/2016, 1:25 AM

Walters is definitely one of the first names on the team sheet but Martin O Neil doesn't use him as a striker, rather as the player who moves between midfield and attack whether it's Robbie or Murphy or whoever alongside him. Long seems to have been designated the central striker role now.

SkStu

16/04/2016, 2:48 PM

From a corner, Long hits the post with a near post flicked header to the far post. Lovely technique and very close to scoring.

TheOneWhoKnocks

23/04/2016, 2:18 PM

Has broken his own record for most Premier League goals scored in a season; has a fantastic record against Villa.

thischarmingman

23/04/2016, 2:55 PM

https://streamable.com/zpsu

SkStu

23/04/2016, 3:06 PM

Assisted the second. Woejus back pass that he latched on to, keeper kind of pushed him a little wide and got a touch but Long turned and squared to Tadic who was left with pretty much an open goal.

tricky_colour

23/04/2016, 10:30 PM

https://streamable.com/zpsu

Wow he makes up so much ground there, the difference in pace is unbelievable, reminds me of that Real Madrid goal the
welsh guy got name escapes me!!

Wow he is even slower than ...................... (insert name of Irish footballer you love to slag off :p)

tricky_colour

23/04/2016, 10:31 PM

Long had a few more chances too, hit the bar, might have had another goal but you can't put them all away.

SkStu

24/04/2016, 1:01 AM

He was the BBC man of the match.

The Republic of Ireland forward scored one goal and set up two others, and also took on opposition players 20 times - more than anyone else on the pitch

He should have had three today though - that chance in the first couple minutes was glorious.