Dusic

League positions without context are such a bad way of judging a manager. As proven also by the Will Still thread.

Not really because not everything they post has come from a social media post. They always state the source so not sure why there is an issue with it and usually the initial source is easy to find. Their whole point - which is clear - is to aggregate Saints news so fans who follow them don't have to follow Swedish newspapers or every French football journalist. If you don't want it then don't follow but IMO they do a good job of it.

Yeah but lets hope we give him Will Smallbone - who scored in both league wins vs Leeds and the crucial goal in the playoff semi final and assisted our Wembley winnner in the final. Would be great if he took him with him too because he wasn't very good in the PL and missed half of it injured which means even though he was good in the Championship before and we are now there again we should get shot of him because lego head.

Pretty sure RM didnt have a great time at Rangers, so not sure its the obvious move some suggest. Leicester far more likely IMO.

Obviously fine to have your own view but I would totally disagree for two main reasons: 1. Ability to coach a noticeable playing style. Jones had 6 weeks mid season to setup the team and against firstly Lincoln City and then Brighton there was zero evidence of anything cohesive whatsoever. Same happened at Stoke. On the flip side, whether you like the style or not, Russell Martin has proven he can get teams playing 'his way' quite quickly. To me that shows he must be better at clearly communicating his requirements to players. 2. Man management. Martin, for all his faults, did galvanise the club at the start of the Championship season after inheriting a mess. Players seemes to like him, quite a few signed because of him. He certainly handled a player like Dibling very well. Jones comes across as an aloof weirdo. Remember that awful You Tube the club put out of one of his early sessions - it looked like most of the players had no respect for him whatsoever. "Romeo Done" I actually think RM might manage in the PL agaon at some point. Jones? No chance.

He will leave because there is clearly a PL market for him and he has shown that he can play 90mins every week in the PL. Combined with a wage cut there isn't really any benefit to him of a season in the Championship. He seems like a level headed, peofessional lad and is probably grateful to Saints for giving him a PL platform, so not suprised he acts like a pro in an interview, but it is fairly meaningless - especially when talking to club media.

THB will definitely go unless his injury puts him out for months. Saw in The Athletic he ranked 2nd for CBs in line breaking passes. A solid PL club will look past the shambolic setup we had this season and see a decent PL player with good on the ball attributes who qualifies as homegrown and has a good attitude. At £25m or so he is a decent buy in todays market. We will likely have Wood, Quarshie, Stephens and Edwards who would all expect to be starting in the Championship - will be interesting to see if perhaps one of the others goes too?

Is Kamaladen related our own Kamaldeen Sulemana?

Intwresting to sign another young CB seeing as we already have Wood, Edwards and Kayi-Sanda. The latter likely to be out on loan I guess. Stephens, Wood, Edwards and Quarshie as CB options? Bit of a gamble. Might we cash in on Edwards if he perhaps doesnt fit the style?

The idea that he would be "effectively on strike" seems quite ludicrous. On strike from/to force what?

There are much bigger issues for Spors this summer than trying to get rid of Jack Stephens. That is just a fact.

Perhaps some question marks over THB sale if his injury is a bit more serious than is being made out? Awful timing from his perspective with missing the U21 Euros too. Re the likes of Stephens, Manning, I don't really get the hate. Perfectly fine players for a Championship squad, who have experience of being promoted from it. We will need to keep some players...

Obvious point being that you cannot always see the influence because it occurs within the dressing room but certainly Dibling, Robinson, THB, Fernandes have all separately stated how much he has helped them.

Just think its clear he has an influence and is respected by players. Klopp and De Zerbi absolutely raved about those traits, as did RM and he has also worked with Eng U21s. He is hugely experienced and has played in successful high intensity teams so think he can bring something that could be of use. Personally don't see why anything this year really impacts on the above.

Make up of his coaching team will be interesting, especially as Lens have confirmed his borthers have left too. Wonder if Saints would like someone with a bit of experience in there too, and would personally be looking to keep Lallana at the club. Thornton presumably expected to join up with RM at Leicester, so will need a GK coach too. Spors seems pretty decisive so far so imagine it won't be too long til its all confirmed.

Might be the translation but hints his brothers aren't joining him, to start with at least?

Who would not be an experiment in your opinion? Genuinely interested.

Its the longest run without losing in the long history of the club. Like in 139 years we hadn't done it before, so yeah "nothing special".

Some of the stuff on this thread is ridiculous. Simply put - he inherited a shambles, a pissed off, fractured squad and a demoralised fanbase. He coached the specific styoenof play he was recruited for and following mostly wins (and a few draws and losses) and a club record unbeaten run, ended up in the playoffs. He then made changes which saw us unbeaten and winning a Wembley final. Understand some elements not to everyone's taste but he did the job he was recruited for, a good job which ended in a successful season with a massive high - surely nobody can decry that?! PL season has been a disaster for various reasons, some of which he is directly accountable for and some for which he isn't. From a Leicester perspective if they were a PL side it would be an awful appointment. But they aren't. They are in the league that he has very recent experience of being promoted from (which many said should be a criteria for our appointment), will be experiencing similar conditions which he has experience of when he took over Saints (something that has been questioned of Still), and plays a style that they thrived on under Maresca last time in this league. I am pretty sure he will get them promoted which ia presumably the goal and then its up to them and him what they do.

Pretty sure none of Pilchards' ITK posts have ever been accurate. Quite a big sample size over a number of years too.

*Whispering Dave*: "What we don't want to do now Adam...is go on a club record unbeaten run."

Seeing the Spurs celebrations reminded me of Wembley and how great that day was. Those one off games/moments of success are what it is all about as a football fan. For that reason - I personally find the level of dislike for Russell Martin to be quite bizarre. He had one full season here, inherited a shitshow and gave pretty much every Saints fan one of their best days supporting the club winning a playoff final at Wembley. Those moments will be remembered by those who were there forever.

Think its a decent move by Leicester in that they were very successful under Maresca in a not dissimilar style and may well have the strongest squad once again and he will get them playing his way very quickly. Fully expect him to get them promoted and then its a question of whether he has learned from last year. Certainly don't see this as being a benefit to us.

Good point on the Manager thread that strategically the less reliance on loan players this season means more ability to spend if we did go up. Last summer we obviously spent a lot on Downes and THB just to stand still - will be interesting if we use domestic loans any less this time, especially given the European nature of the recruitment team Spors is building.

Posting correct link after MLG messed his up. Laurens definitely positive on him and addresses most of the concerns raised on here. Certainly worth a listen from someone who knows a bit more about Still.