Saint Albert

Austin to be gradually integrated back into the team during the international break... https://mobile.twitter.com/SouthamptonFC/status/974652712490033152

It still seems to be working on my iPad with Chrome.

Video of Hughes’ first day, featuring another Les Reed sighting... https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-03-15/video-behind-the-scenes-on-mark-hughes-first-day-as-southampton-manager

I’ll buck the trend and predict an away win. 0-1 and onwards to Wembley.

I think that Jokanović ticks many of Les Reed’s boxes. Brendan Rodgers would be good also. I’m not 100% convinced he wants to come here, and I have a hard time forgetting his comments about our club when he was busy swiping our players.

Hart, Henderson and Livermore are surprising not/surprising choices. It’s surprising because they don’t deserve to be selected. Did Southgate see Burnley’s third goal against W.Ham on the weekend? Perhaps the FA man at the Olympic Stadium was too busy dodging coins and urine to notice it. I’ve never understood Livermore as an international-quality player. Perhaps it’s his skill in purloining taxis (fast escapes may be required if the players encounter aggressive mobs on the streets of Russia) or his key role in W.Brom’s hugely successful fight for survival under Pardew that sealed it for him. Henderson probably gets picked because he plays for Liverpool. It’s not surprising because I’m not convinced that Southgate and the England selectors know what they’re doing, and there isn’t a lot to choose from anyway. I can see them starting Hart, who has done absolutely nothing this season to warrant being anywhere near the squad, and is relying on long-past performances for his selection. IMO McCarthy is better than Hart right now.

Jokanović, assuming we stay up and Fulham stay down.

I liked his first interview. Had a chuckle when he admitted that he tried to sign half the players in the present Saints team when he was at Stoke.

I noticed Reed posing for pictures in the interview video that came out a few minutes ago. The club must have just opted not to publish any right away.

Video of his interview here... https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-03-14/video-mark-hughes-new-southampton-manager-first-interview

Contract lasts until the end of the season. https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-03-14/announcement-mark-hughes-new-southampton-manager

Welcome Mark Hughes and good luck. Three wins out of eight ought to do it.

Good. I suspect Les had Hughes in mind for a while, and was able to move fairly fast if he is indeed signed up and running training sessions tomorrow. I feel pretty positive about this, but it could still be relief that Pellegrino’s no longer in charge.

I imagine they were looking to prevent a repeat of something like the Venky’s situation in Blackburn. I can’t see how that aspect of the deal (a promise to keep the executive team in place, presumably for a defined period of time) is enforceable unless it was worded into the agreement to purchase and became a time-limited contractual obligation rather than a mere promise or goodwill gesture. There again, as a public employee I would certainly not describe myself as an expert on corporations, contracts or big-money business transactions.

Not melodramatic at all, just a plain reading of the words on the page, which reads “As part of that deal, they promised to keep the existing executive team in place.” Of course, I expect that this aspect of the deal has a time limit on it, giving the owner time to get up to speed before making any changes he deems necessary.

I bet that Ross “I turned down Glasgow Rangers when they offered me their DoF position” Wilson takes over if Les retires or if Les opts to move on from Saints to the dildo brothers.

Imagine buying something for over £200M, becoming the majority shareholder and then contractually obligating yourself to keep the executive employees in place with no power to remove them if they start messing your investment up. It does not seem like a wise business decision by Gao, to me.

Les is bulletproof under the terms of the takeover. The club kindly reminded us of that via Jeremy Wilson, when they announced the sacking of Pellegrino... “The wider backdrop is also significant. After Southampton were bought and taken out of administration by Marcus Liebherr in 2009, a majority 80 per cent stake was sold last summer to the Chinese Gao family for £210 million. As part of that deal, they promised to keep the existing executive team in place. There has so far been little day-to-day interference but they have said little and fans are currently uncertain about their intentions and whether there will be further squad investment.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/03/12/mauricio-pellegrino-sacked-southampton-just-nine-months-charge/

I agree plus if Les does have someone else lined up to start the next season, he may not be willing to step down (or remain) in the Championship, and you would have thought that Hughes would do OK there. A lot will depend on how he gets the team to perform over the next 8 games.

Well said.

I’d prefer Silva but it’s a leap to say he’s willing to come. Can’t see us doing much better than Hughes, particularly if Les has arm-wrestled him into doing it on a 3 month contract.

Hmm. A very short-term contract according to this, with the possibility of staking a claim for the job on a long-term basis.

Les has not exactly covered himself with glory. Appointing Pellegrino and then leaving it so late to sack him, were huge, damaging mistakes. He should have a lot to answer for if the next manager does not work out well, but isn’t he bulletproof for a while under the terms of the Gao takeover?

He’s definitely dividing opinion. I seem to recall he started off well at Stoke, got some good performances and won praise for playing a more attractive style. I suppose, though that it would be hard to play a less attractive style than any Pulis team. I’m optimistic that Hughes gives a desperately underperforming team a much better fighting shot at survival than Pellegrino. It feels like a new day, to me, and I hope that the players who performed so disappointingly at Newcastle will see it the same way, pull their fingers out and fight like hell to stay up with him.

Sinisa Mihajlovic has been contacted if Saints can’t come to terms with Hughes, according to this... https://www.football-italia.net/118466/southampton-contact-mihajlovic