Will Smallbone Joins

[purpleronnie]

My dad keeps telling me he read that he read his nickname is 'semi'...eventually I had to inform him....he had no idea what it meant.  

[ARM1968]

Very expensive kitchens. 

[Supergray22]

Let’s give him a chance. I always thought he was decent. 

[murphy]

It's just not the way I'd like to see us rebuild.  Where is the strategy?

 

Just another journeyman with a dreadful injury record.  Might do a job, but no more.  Just filling in gaps.

 

I want to see us bringing players that have potential and higher ceilings.  Players that might grow with us and be able to play at a higher level if and when we get there, players with potential resale value. 

 

Above all I want to see a plan.

Edited yesterday at 17:52 by murphy

[KFS]

1 minute ago, murphy said:

It's just not the way I'd like to see us rebuild.  Just another journeyman with a dreadful injury record.  Might do a job, but no more.

 

I want to see us bringing players that have potential and higher ceilings.  Players that might grow with us and be able to play at a higher level if and when we get there, players with potential resale value.

We’ve got these to be fair.

 

biggest thing I’m concerned about is squad size and harmony. I don’t think Russ has the ability to handle either 

[funkyrobot]

On 02/10/2026 at 18:27, murphy said:

If your surname is Smallbone, would you really name your son Willie?

Have you met his brother Ivor? 

[Clever Fox]

2 hours ago, KFS said:

We’ve got these to be fair.

 

biggest thing I’m concerned about is squad size and harmony. I don’t think Russ has the ability to handle either 

I agree, We won the Premier league with a squad of 16 players I think and only used 14 from memory.  Now we have 23 in league 1 and still haven't found the winning combination.

 

It seems like we're hoping to get lucky rather than sign the right players we need to fit the system and deliver. 

[worthosoriginals]

9 minutes ago, funkyrobot said:

Have you met his brother Ivor? 

Or his mother, Mrs massive fanny

[KFS]

2 hours ago, Clever Fox said:

I agree, We won the Premier league with a squad of 16 players I think and only used 14 from memory.  Now we have 23 in league 1 and still haven't found the winning combination.

 

It seems like we're hoping to get lucky rather than sign the right players we need to fit the system and deliver. 

Feels like Sven with a million players 

[murphy]

5 hours ago, KFS said:

We’ve got these to be fair.

 

biggest thing I’m concerned about is squad size and harmony. I don’t think Russ has the ability to handle either 

You mean the academy lads I presume?

 

They are breaking through more through necessity than through strategy.  They are the only bright sparks at the club.

 

I'm talking about transfer policy.  We are targeting duds and journeymen again.  I just want to see some imagination in the transfer market and an attempt to unearth some gems.

 

Agree with you about squad size.

 

 

[Supergray22]

On 01/10/2026 at 16:35, Gamble92 said:

Wasn’t he bald 

Alopecia. Not the normal age related version. They reckon it was linked to ACL surgery somehow. I’ve had ACLs done on both knees and had strange hair loss on my lower legs. Good sign it’s grown back if only for his self confidence. My gym instructor asked if I shaved my legs when she was mic’d up during a class. Not appreciated. Glad I got that off my chest (outer shins and calves I should say). 

[CruzNoir]

9 hours ago, murphy said:

You mean the academy lads I presume?

 

They are breaking through more through necessity than through strategy.  They are the only bright sparks at the club.

 

I'm talking about transfer policy.  We are targeting duds and journeymen again.  I just want to see some imagination in the transfer market and an attempt to unearth some gems.

 

Agree with you about squad size.

 

 

This transfer window was all about quality and promotion as well as clearing the deadwood

 

That I feel has certainly been achieved, we can nit pick individuals but on the hole, the job has been massively successfully achieved on paper imo 

 

It’s Russels ability to put the jigsaw together that’s questionable at this point. I have no issues with the squad available as it is. Time for Russel to turn the tables on his career otherwise it will be bye byes come November I reckon.

 

Automatic promotion could well be gone if he doesn’t get the team going by then, but the Club will still see playoffs as the back up option giving Martin atleast some time to gear up to then before the possibility of a sacking 

 

If playoffs becomes unlikely, we are F’d, it’s not an option for anyone, a second season in this league then we enter the abyss 

Edited yesterday at 09:46 by CruzNoir

[ARM1968]

Can’t get excited about this. Not even a semi. Guy is seriously injury prone. Had a good season under Brussel when Southampton got promoted, and that’s about it. There’s a reason he was hanging about in the Free Transfer locker, and it’s not because he’s Messi - although this probably will be. 

[SafewayFox]

On 03/10/2026 at 09:53, Saints Fan In Peace said:

That’s pretty much him in a nutshell.

In a midfield two he’s totally ineffective - too lightweight, can’t tackle, no aerial ability, doesn’t track back enough, no pace.

 

Get it into his feet as the most advanced of a midfield three and he can absolutely contribute. Very tidy on the ball, got a good eye for a pass and got goals in him arriving late into the box. 

He split the room a bit with us but a lot of people have a soft spot for him as he threaded the pass at Wembley for the goal that won the play-off final.

 

Martin loves him as he looks after the ball, is comfortable playing one touch and keeps it moving. Just don’t expect him to add anything physically. 

 

What I’m not sure about is his current fitness record. I know he had a long time out with ACL problems but no idea if he’s fully over that. 

 

Yes he does suffer from a form of alopecia. It started about 5-6 years ago and it hit him quite hard at the time. As a young lad taking shit for it from football supporters it knocked his confidence. But fair play to him, he embraced it and is now an ambassador for alopecia UK. 
 

Overall, keep him fit and play him in the right areas, give him runners in behind to pick out and he’ll add something. He’s got the quality on the ball to do well up to decent Championship level if used correctly, he’s a good lad and the vast majority of Saints fans are wishing him well and want him to succeed with you.
 

Thanks for this, scarily your comments once again highlight the awful punditry on Radio Leicester.

 

Michael Appleton referred to his height and physicality on the recent pod.

[MonarchFox]

On 03/10/2026 at 19:53, murphy said:

It's just not the way I'd like to see us rebuild.  Where is the strategy?

 

Just another journeyman with a dreadful injury record.  Might do a job, but no more.  Just filling in gaps.

 

I want to see us bringing players that have potential and higher ceilings.  Players that might grow with us and be able to play at a higher level if and when we get there, players with potential resale value. 

 

Above all I want to see a plan.

Injury record is a worry, but I don't think you can call him a journeyman.  He's been contracted to 1 club before us and had 2 loans - same amount as Will Alves and 1 less than Sammy.

 

Could be a really decent signing if played in the right position, but we all know people with ACL issues at Leicester seem to regress

[Ricey]

The more I think about this, the more it worries me. Not necessarily because of Smallbone's quality, but what it means for our strategy.

 

We have a manager that was an unpopular appointment and who's last couple of years make you question whether he should even carry on trying to be a football manager. Fast forward to now and after a poor start to the season he was hounded by the away fans in our last match. He's on the brink, from the fans point of view at least.

Meanwhile, in the Leicester City board room, they have made him the highest paid manager in the Football League (allegedly) and given him SIXTEEN players, many of whom have played with him before, and despite the fact we are in the bottom half and despite the toxicity in the stands, the club are are still giving him what he wants.

 

I fear we'll look back on this period like we do the period of time when Rodgers was given the keys to the club. What if this form continues? What if it gets too toxic? He'll be gone and will have left behind a squad that has been moulded around his needs and his particular style of the play, many of them on contracts are clearly too long and too expensive for League One.

 

Any new manager and ownership is going to have a long battle to wash the Russell Martin out of this squad. It's a huge risk, placed in the lap of a man with no proof of being able to pull it off.

Edited 9 hours ago by Ricey

[Patrick]

18 minutes ago, Ricey said:

The more I think about this, the more it worries me. Not necessarily because of Smallbone's quality, but what it means for our strategy.

 

We have a manager that was an unpopular appointment and who's last couple of years make you question whether he should even carry on trying to be a football manager. Fast forward to now and after a poor start to the season he was hounded by the away fans in our last match. He's on the brink, from the fans point of view at least.

Meanwhile, in the Leicester City board room, they have made him the highest paid manager in the Football League (allegedly) and given him SIXTEEN players, many of whom have played with him before, and despite the fact we are in the bottom half and despite the toxicity in the stands, the club are are still giving him what he wants.

 

I fear we'll look back on this period like we do the period of time when the Rodgers was given the keys to the club. What if this form continues? What if it gets too toxic? He'll be gone and will have left behind a squad that has been moulded around his needs and his particular style of the play, many of them on contracts are clearly too long and too expensive for League One.

 

Any new manager and ownership is going to have a long battle to wash the Russell Martin out of this squad. It's a huge risk, placed in the lap of a man with no proof of being able to pull it off.

Martin's appointment is another thing that is pointing towards administration being a likely scenario. Prospective buyers are probably going to be taking into consideration that getting the club back up the leagues is going to be made even more difficult by the fact that they'll be stuck with the crap injury prone players that Martin has signed on long contracts.

 

I think Martin knows exactly what he's doing here. Signing his own players that only really suit his system is clearly just him buying himself time in the job so he doesn't have another Rangers style situation.

[Stadt]

46 minutes ago, Ricey said:

The more I think about this, the more it worries me. Not necessarily because of Smallbone's quality, but what it means for our strategy.

 

We have a manager that was an unpopular appointment and who's last couple of years make you question whether he should even carry on trying to be a football manager. Fast forward to now and after a poor start to the season he was hounded by the away fans in our last match. He's on the brink, from the fans point of view at least.

Meanwhile, in the Leicester City board room, they have made him the highest paid manager in the Football League (allegedly) and given him SIXTEEN players, many of whom have played with him before, and despite the fact we are in the bottom half and despite the toxicity in the stands, the club are are still giving him what he wants.

 

I fear we'll look back on this period like we do the period of time when the Rodgers was given the keys to the club. What if this form continues? What if it gets too toxic? He'll be gone and will have left behind a squad that has been moulded around his needs and his particular style of the play, many of them on contracts are clearly too long and too expensive for League One.

 

Any new manager and ownership is going to have a long battle to wash the Russell Martin out of this squad. It's a huge risk, placed in the lap of a man with no proof of being able to pull it off.

If a new manager likes lots of 10s that can’t play deeper, paceless, physically ineffective but good for a goal every 6 games he’s in luck.

[OntarioFox]

F*** me I've been away two days, figured that would be long enough for this thread to turn negative and sure enough 

 

Calling it now, he's going to be a good addition.

[filthyfox]

4 hours ago, Ricey said:

.... in the lap of a man with no proof of being able to pull it off.

Not even with a Smallbone?

[Gamble92]

On 03/10/2026 at 19:53, murphy said:

It's just not the way I'd like to see us rebuild.  Where is the strategy?

 

Just another journeyman with a dreadful injury record.  Might do a job, but no more.  Just filling in gaps.

 

I want to see us bringing players that have potential and higher ceilings.  Players that might grow with us and be able to play at a higher level if and when we get there, players with potential resale value. 

 

Above all I want to see a plan.

We just have to be resigned to waiting for this when a new owner comes along. Until then we just have to pray these morons happen to get something right eventually