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Southampton fans Danny Rohl to return to the club after he made comments about how much he loved his time on the south coast.

Rohl made the move to the Saints as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s assistant manager. He was a popular figure at the club, with many fans believing he had a very big influence on the club as the Austrian’s deputy (via Hampshire Live).

In July of 2019, he departed for Bayern Munich, and has since followed Hansi Flick to the German national team.

Now, in a conversation with The Athletic, Rohl has discussed his time at St. Mary’s Stadium. He shared just how much he enjoyed his time at Southampton, praising the atmosphere the fans were able to create. Given how much he was liked at the club, the supporters appear to want him to come back.

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and the fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Rohl below

“bring him back then”

Credit: @matthicksonsfc

“You can’t not replace someone like Danny Rohl… still baffles me to this day.”

Credit: @JackMainstone

“Come back then”

Credit: @josefsfc

“Come back!”

Credit: @DTagg64

“If only he came back”

Credit: @tugs081976

“Do everything to get him back”

Credit: @AidanCMcMahon

In other news, Southampton fans love this club initiative.

After a month on the sidelines during the World Twenty20, Alastair Cook slipped back into the England set-up at Edgbaston

The Bulletin by Andrew Miller at Edgbaston01-Jul-2009
Scorecard
Alastair Cook made an impressive century, but he lacked support•Getty ImagesAfter a month on the sidelines during the World Twenty20, Alastair Cook slipped back into the England set-up at Edgbaston, and announced his readiness for next week’s first Test with a dour and diligent 124. But the rest of England’s anticipated Ashes line-up produced a performance as lop-sided as the chosen field of play, as they failed to capitalise on a 48-yard leg-side boundary, and skidded unceremoniously from 162 for 1 to 290 for 8 declared.By the close of the first day, James Anderson had extracted Ian Westwood for 2 to leave a second-string Warwickshire on 31 for 1 after 10 overs, but the declared intention of England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, to “hit the ground running” had developed something of a stumble after a confident first few strides.Aside from Cook, the only batsman who really got going was Ravi Bopara, who top-edged a pull to midwicket for 43 to end a second-wicket stand of 101. Thereafter England lost their next six wickets for 93, including the miscreant of the moment, Andrew Flintoff, who managed a frantic 19 from 17 balls before poking limply to second slip.Nevertheless, as far as Cook was concerned, the mere exercise of gathering the team together in the week building up to Cardiff was the most important aspect of a match he regarded as a friendly. “For the lads who’ve been playing a lot of Twenty20 cricket, it’s just nice to get the rhythm back for the four-day stuff,” he said. “You don’t feel guilty for leaving a ball, or for blocking an over or two. It’s nice just to relax and get into that change of mindset.”Even Cook himself had to do that. For a long time, his lack of muscle had been a source of much ribbing in the England dressing-room, with his only international six prior to this season coming from a top-edged pull in Wellington two winters ago. Last week for Essex, however, he cracked a 57-ball hundred against Surrey in the Twenty20 Cup, and the confidence that instilled in his cricket was fully on display today.”Runs are runs, but [that innings] proved to a few people, and to myself, that I can hit a few sixes,” he said. “I really enjoyed it, because although we were desperate to win, you have to be free to play like that.” Today, he wasn’t exactly cracking along at two runs a ball, but there was a surety to his stroke play that had been missing even during his last innings for England, his career-best 160 against West Indies at Chester-le-Street in May.”That day we beat the West Indies, everyone else was staying together and I was leaving that night to play for Essex,” Cook recalled. “It was a bit strange, and I didn’t like it to be honest. When you score 160 you want to carry on playing for England, but it seems a long time ago that I was [involved].”Warwickshire’s attack comprised an off-colour new-ball pairing of Chris Woakes and Boyd Rankin, and was backed up by the varying talents of Naqaash Tahir, who has yet to play a Championship fixture this season, and the former Rochdale striker Keith Barker, who switched to cricket last season having never scored a league goal, and finally gave his illustrious godfather, Clive Lloyd, something to be proud of when he bowled Paul Collingwood for his maiden first-class wicket.Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson this was not. Nor indeed was it the pumped-up combo of Steve Harmison and Graham Onions that the Aussies had to face 40 miles down the road at Worcester. And yet, when England’s wickets started to tumble, it might as well have been. After Andrew Strauss’s pre-lunch dismissal, caught on the drive for 31 having been dropped on 20 at third slip, Bopara sparked a mini-collapse when he under-estimated the leaping bounce that Rankin can get from the wicket, and spooned a simple catch to the 17-year-old Ateeq Javid, standing roughly where the Test pitch will be in a month’s time.Four overs later, and Kevin Pietersen had been and gone as well. His was a brief and fitful innings, eight balls long and one run deep, and it ended with a flat-footed poke to first slip. Cook was the next to go, well caught by Tim Ambrose, standing up to the medium pace of Jonathan Trott after picking off 21 fours from 190 balls, and when Collingwood was deceived on the back foot by one that kept a fraction low, England were 229 for 5, and starting to flounder.Flintoff emerged to the loudest cheer of the day from a 2000-strong crowd, and got off the mark with an unintentional steer for four through third man. He belted three more fours in an innings brimful with intent, and was also dropped at midwicket as he climbed into a ferocious heave through the leg-side. Before he had added to his 19 runs, however, he fell to an angled steer to give Tahir a deserved third wicket in the innings.Flintoff was not called upon to bowl in the ten overs before the close, as Strauss decided to leave Anderson and Stuart Broad to work off their red-ball rust in tandem. Long after the close, however, he was still out in the middle with Ottis Gibson, the bowling coach, working on his run-up and generally being seen to be putting in the hard yards.”He made a mistake, he said he’s sorry, we have to move on,” said Cook, after Flintoff was called upon to make a public apology to the team for his bus-missing gaffe in Ypres. “It was nice that he was honest, we could see the regret in his face for what he’s caused.” England as a collective, however, didn’t quite get their timekeeping up to scratch today.

Glenn McGrath has said that Mitchell Johnson’s failure in the first two Ashes Tests was due to “mental issues rather than technical ones”

Cricinfo staff24-Jul-2009Glenn McGrath, the former Australian fast bowler, has said that Mitchell Johnson’s failure in the first two Ashes Tests was due to “mental issues rather than technical ones” and wants the bowler to keep things simple for the remainder of the series.”A lot of people will be giving Mitch all kinds of technical advice, saying his bowling arm is too low when delivering the ball or his wrist position is wrong, but in my experience, these losses of form are nearly always mental issues, rather than technical ones,” McGrath told .”He had a bit of a lay-off before the Australians came over here, and you cannot always just pick up from where you left off.”Johnson came into the Ashes as Australia’s spearhead but was inaccurate and expensive during the first two Tests and, although he picked up eight wickets, he was unable to build any sort of pressure on England’s batsmen.McGrath, however, felt that Johnson had not lost the skills that made him so successful in South Africa. “What I would say to Mitch is that he hasn’t lost any of the ability that makes him one of the most talented all-round cricketers in the world,” McGrath said. “Look at the ball he bowled to dismiss Matt Prior in England’s first innings. It was almost perfect: his fingers were in the right position on the seam, and the swing he found was excellent.”If Mitch can sort out the mental side of things, I’m convinced everything else would fall into place. Cricketers around the world would kill to have half of his potential.”Johnson is not bereft of advice in England. Brett Lee, the only Australian bowler with Test experience in England, has been talking to him about his form, as are the others. “Everyone’s been chatting to him and offering their advice. I’ve been offering my advice,” Lee, who missed the first two Tests because of injury, said. “Mitch is running ideas around. Everyone’s in it together. He’s obviously searching for a lot more wickets, but it’s not a matter of everyone being panicked and stressed out, saying what’s going on.”The key word over here is patience,” Lee said. “Playing in Australia and South Africa, it’s more conducive to fast bowling, particularly in South Africa. It’s just so important when you’re on wickets that are benign and aren’t conducive to fast bowling, you’ve got to find a way to get around that. In 2001 that’s the big thing I learnt. You can’t try and blast batsmen out.”Help, if wanted, was also forthcoming from Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler based in Manchester, who felt that Johnson could sacrifice swing for accuracy early in his spells.”If you don’t have a straight arm it’s very difficult to get wickets in England because everything is swinging away from the right-hander and going down the leg side to the left-hander,” Akram told the .”He should stick to his natural strength as a left-armer and when he gets his rhythm, then he should try different things … I have been through this patch, Glenn McGrath has been through this patch. It’s very simple, just get his arm straight in the nets and he will come back to it.”

The return of the Premier League this weekend after the latest international break sees Southampton take on Leeds United at St Mary’s on Saturday, with both teams having had rather disappointing starts to the campaign.

The Saints’ previous league outing before the break saw them fall to a 3-1 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Djenepo should start for Southampton on Saturday

One player who did not feature in Southampton’s starting XI against Chelsea but who should come in against Leeds is Moussa Djenepo, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £55k-per-week according to Spotrac.

Southampton signed the winger back in the 2019 summer transfer window on a four-year contract from Belgian club Standard Liege in a deal which could rise to £15m.

Since then, the 23-year-old – who is currently valued at £11.7m by Transfermarkt – has made 58 appearances for the Saints across all competitions, in which he has scored four goals and provided two assists along the way.

So far this season, Djenepo – who was described by teammate Nathan Redmond as being a “super-talented” player – has played in all but one of Southampton’s league games, starting four of them, but has yet to score a goal or provide an assist.

Nonetheless, he has managed to rack up 1.2 shots per game so far this season in the Premier League according to WhoScored, showing that he is still very much an attacking threat for the Saints whenever he’s on the pitch, and he could therefore be a potential game-changer against Leeds. Only four players can exceed that tally and there is a strong chance that two of them won’t feature on Saturday through either suspension (James Ward-Prowse) or injury (Che Adams).

After replacing Nathan Tella in the second half of the Chelsea game, Djenepo made two successful dribbles and won five ground duels and two tackles in just 17 minutes, ultimately seeing him earn a match rating of 6.5/10. That was higher than the likes of Tella and Redmond, both of whom started the match according to SofaScore.

Looking ahead to the Leeds clash, we feel that Hasenhuttl should go with Djenepo over Tella on the left wing to see if the Mali international can help the Saints secure their first league win of the season against Marcelo Bielsa’s side – who they would overtake in the table if they manage to do so – based on the decent showing the 23-year-old delivered off the bench against Chelsea.

In other news: Hasenhuttl must unleash “perfect” £9m-rated Southampton gem, he’s a real game-changer

When West Bromwich Albion signed Conor Townsend for £750k back in 2018, it would have been safe to assume that the left-back was brought to The Hawthorns as back up to the England international, Kieran Gibbs.

At the time of his arrival, the 28-year-old had just enjoyed a fantastic season with Scunthorpe United, scoring four goals and registering five assists over his 32 appearances in League One, while Gibbs – who had joined Albion from Arsenal in a £6.75m deal a year earlier – was the club’s undisputed number one in the position, having featured 33 times for the Baggies in the Premier League in 2017/18.

This remained the case throughout Townsend’s debut season in West Bromwich, with Gibbs highly impressing over his 38 Championship appearances, scoring four goals and registering four assists, while the newcomer had to make do with just 12 second-tier fixtures.

However, the tide began to turn in the following campaign, with the £14k-per-week Townsend featuring in 27 Championship fixtures, over which he provided one assist and averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.89. In comparison, the £30k-per-week Gibbs was awarded just 14 league appearances, over which he averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.76.

Townsend’s usurping of the 32-year-old was complete last season, when, despite the Baggies’ ultimate relegation from the top flight, the 28-year-old highly impressed over his 25 Premier League appearances – helping his side keep five clean sheets, registering two assists and earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.86. Meanwhile, Gibbs averaged an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.53 over his ten top-flight fixtures – before being released on a free transfer at the end of the season.

This term, the former Scunthorpe man has ensured that his reputation as a first-class left-back has continued to grow, having already helped his side keep five clean sheets, registered two assists and created three big chances over his 12 Championship appearances – with these returns seeing the defender average a SofaScore match rating of 7.01.

Furthermore, the player who Thierry Henry once dubbed “amazing” has also seen his Transfermarkt value rocket from £180k at the time of his signing to £1.8m today – a 10x increase – which, coupled with his ever-improving level of performance, proves that West Brom struck gold when signing the 28-year-old.

In other news: “Confident” West Brom dynamo who lost possession 32x stole the show vs Birmingham

AB de Villiers believes the ICC Champions Trophy presents South Africa with the “ideal opportunity” to prove they are the best in the world

Cricinfo staff04-Sep-2009AB de Villiers believes the ICC Champions Trophy presents South Africa with an “ideal opportunity” to prove they are the best in the world. South Africa are currently No.1 in the ICC ODI rankings but their record in ICC tournaments has been below expectations, having only emerged triumphant in the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1998. They’ve reached the semi-finals of the competition each time except in 2004, appeared three times in the final four of the World Cup, qualified for the semis of the ICC World Twenty20 this year and were knocked out in the Super Six round of the same tournament at home in 2007. But de Villiers was confident his team would go the extra mile this time around.”We came short a few times, but there are many players in the team who are eager to improve,” he told . “We believe we are the best team in the world and now is a good chance to prove that. It’s the ideal opportunity.”South Africa have hosted two ICC tournaments at home and have disappointed each time, but are training rigorously for the Champions Trophy which commences on September 22. They are currently in Potchefstroom, attending a training camp, and de Villiers admitted it’s the hardest they’ve been made to work.”It’s the hardest I have trained with this team,” he said. “We run three or four times every day, attend net sessions, sweat in the gym and work on our fitness in the pool.”South Africa have played ten ODIs this year, all against Australia, winning seven and losing three. They’ve won both the ODI series against them, home and away, but will be playing their first ODI after a gap of more than four months. de Villiers said the intense preparation, which includes practice matches, was adequate for gearing up for the Champions Trophy. “We have not played much cricket in recent times, but have a few training games behind us,” he said. “I believe we are all professional enough to gear ourselves mentally for the tournament.”One of the practice games de Villiers was referring to took place in Potchefstroom on September 3, with Johan Botha’s XI beating Jacques Kallis’ XI. JP Duminy was the star, making 68 in 78 balls with four boundaries. The match was a high-scoring encounter with both teams managing over 270, and coach Mickey Arthur said he was encouraged by the batting performances on a pitch that wasn’t too favourable. “The pitch was very slow which did not make conditions easy for the batsmen,” he said. “I was very impressed with all our senior batsmen. Duminy looked as though he had never stopped playing from last season, AB de Villiers showed excellent intensity and Boucher confirmed what an outstanding power hitter he can be.”Arthur expected the tracks for the tournament to be similar. “Generally speaking I was very happy with what we got out of this game,” he said. “The fact that we played on a slow pitch is no bad thing. I expect the pitches to be on the slow side for the start of the Champions’ Trophy as it is being played very early in the season and we will get more of the same for other upcoming tournaments such as next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean and the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent.”

Though Flintoff has played the Ashes with a dodgy knee, Geoff Miller, the chairman of selectors, said the board was keen to have him play as many one-dayers as possible

Cricinfo staff18-Aug-2009Andrew Flintoff, who will be retiring from Test cricket after the deciding Ashes game at The Oval, will have only two days rest at the end of the series before heading to Belfast for a one-day game against Ireland. Flintoff may have played the Ashes with a dodgy knee but Geoff Miller, the chairman of selectors, said the board was keen to have him play as many one-dayers as possible.The rest of the summer is hectic for England with two Twenty20 internationals and seven ODIs against Australia, one ODI against Ireland and the Champions Trophy later in September. Flintoff is part of all the one-day and Twenty20 squads.”I hope there is no wishful thinking,” Miller said. “He is retiring from Test cricket so his focus is going to be on one-day cricket and we’re hoping he will play as many as possible because that’s what he has designated himself for.”We’re trying to build a squad and a side so that people are comfortable about where they play. We know what Andrew is capable of and he knows what he’s capable of. If we have to monitor Andrew day by day we will do that. But at the moment he’s in our squad and an integral part of our side.”Flintoff has struggled with injuries through his career, having undergone four ankle operations and a knee surgery. Earlier this summer, he decided to retire from Tests to prolong his career.

An update has emerged on Ajax chief Marc Overmars, regarding Newcastle’s interest in bringing him back to England.

What’s the talk?

According to The Mirror, the Saudi Arabian consortium PIF are in talks with the Dutchman over a deal to become the director of football at St. James’ Park as they look to make a major decision behind the scenes.

The report claims that the former Arsenal player is interested in the role as he would be given funds to work with in the transfer window. He is also said to be keen on bringing Erik ten Hag along with him from Amsterdam to be Steve Bruce’s replacement.

Ecstatic

Newcastle fans will surely be left feeling ecstatic with this news for various reasons.

For starters, it shows that PIF are keen to immediately bring in a footballing figure to run the club behind the scenes. Overmars enjoyed a terrific career as a player, playing well over 400 competitive games for Arsenal, Ajax and Barcelona combined, showing that he has a strong footballing background.

He has taken his expertise and applied it to his job at Ajax. The Dutch giants have sold £600m worth of talent during his time at the club, with the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt all coming through before being sold on for profit under Overmars’ watch. He has shown that he can oversee a successful recruitment system whilst still achieving results on the pitch, with Ajax reaching the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the Champions League in that time.

The Magpies fans would also be delighted to see ten Hag arrive alongside Overmars. He has won five trophies in four years at the club, winning 2.34 points per game on average across 184 matches in charge of Ajax. This is along with his aforementioned achievements in the Champions League and the long list of talents, including de Jong and de Ligt, taken out of his squad throughout his time there.

The Dutch manager has shown that he can achieve success without spending huge amounts of money or retaining his best talent, which proves that he is an excellent coach who can get the best out of what he has at his disposal. That is why Newcastle fans would love to see him on Tyneside along with Overmars, as he could help them to avoid relegation before pushing on next season.

AND in other news,  Imagine him & Lascelles: PIF could land dream NUFC defence with “colossal” powerhouse…

Tottenham Hotspur are now reportedly coveting Mauricio Pochettino as a potential replacement for Nuno Espirito Santo, should the 47-year-old end up leaving Spurs.

The Lowdown: Discontent

As per The Evening Standard, Nuno is facing ‘mounting discontent’ over some ‘underwhelming’ results, as before the 1-0 win away at Burnley in the Carabao Cup in midweek, they had suffered back-t0-back 1-0 losses to Vitesse in the Europa Conference League and then in the Premier League against London rivals West Ham United (Sky Sports).

It is also claimed that Spurs ‘settled’ for Nuno when they eventually decided to hire the former Wolves manager in the summer.

Nonetheless, it is up to the board and Daniel Levy whether they want to part ways with the Portuguese so early, if it means that they can get a better coach on board.

The Latest: Pochettino coveted

According to The Evening Standard, Tottenham and Manchester United, who faced off against each other this evening, are both coveting Pochettino.

However, Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly unwilling to entertain any interest in their manager for now.

The Verdict: Dream

It would be nothing short of a dream to get Pochettino back at the Lilywhites.

Of course, Nuno is fresh in the job and really should be given more time to implement his ideas, but if there is any chance of bringing the Argentine back, then Spurs must do it at all costs.

He is a coach who knows how to get the best out of Dele Alli, who scored 55 goals and provided a further 50 assists in 194 games in all competitions across five consecutive seasons under the 49-year-old (Transfermarkt), and Alli himself has lauded him as an ‘unbelievable’ manager.

Former Tottenham player Andros Townsend even went as far as to claim that the Argentine was ‘the best manager in the world’ back in April, which is the highest compliment possible, and after getting Spurs to the Champions League final in 2019, he will feel as if he has unfinished business.

Pochettino was so close to giving them ultimate glory, so Levy should be confident that he can finally bring some long-awaited silverware to Tottenham.

In other news, Spurs are eyeing this player who was once likened to Cristiano Ronaldo

Sussex retained their Pro40 title despite a heavy defeat to Worcestershire thanks to Durham’s narrow victory against Somerset

Andrew McGlashan27-Sep-2009
ScorecardMichael Yardy can’t believe he has been run out, but was able to celebrate a trophy despite defeat•Getty ImagesSussex retained their Pro40 title despite a heavy defeat against Worcestershire thanks to Durham’s narrow victory over Somerset. Sussex, who had their destiny in their own hands at the start of the day, fell to a 49-run loss and were forced to endure a nervous 45 minutes as Durham edged to their target at Taunton.Most of the players watched the big screen from the balcony, which was broadcasting footage from Taunton, and cheered each run as if it was their own. A strong contingent of Sussex supporters had also made the journey from the south coast and when Scott Borthwick hit Durham to victory celebrated loudly. “Ten trophies in nine years,” they sang, in reference to Sussex’s sustained success this decade, and their latest piece silverware confirmed them as the one-day team of the season. They were already Twenty20 champions and reached the final of the Friends Provident Trophy.The Pro40 title, which was won in thrilling style last season by Murray Goodwin’s last-ball six against Nottinghamshire, will also help to ease some of the pain of Championship relegation which was confirmed a few days ago.On the field, though, they produced one of their worst one-day performances of the summer and Mark Robinson, the coach, said his players were feeling the effects of a long season. They were sloppy in the field and wayward with the ball early on as Worcestershire made a flyer through Steven Davies. Although the second 20 overs with the ball were better a target of 215 was tough on a wearing, slow pitch.Rory Hamilton-Brown took 16 off the first over, but wickets fell steadily after he was held at mid-off. Goodwin, who was setting himself to guide another run chase, got a leading edge for 32 and Dwayne Smith tried to clear long on from just his second ball. When captain Michael Yardy was run out backing up, it was clear this wasn’t going to Sussex’s day in the middle and they would need help from elsewhere.After James Kirtley top-edged a sweep to end the match – giving Ian Fisher a wicket with his final ball for Worcestershire, a feat also managed by Gareth Batty – the Sussex players stood, sat and paced nervously in the dressing room. However, shortly before 6.30 their tension was relieved and the party started. They owe a few Durham lads a drink, too.