InvictaSaint

Bit like the first team.

Not saying we should. Just interested in people’s thoughts.

Me….or them?! 😳🤔

Afternoon All. Not trying to be defeatist or negative....but given our current position it would be naïve not to think about what happens to the club if Saints go down at the end of the season. I thought therefore that this section - which I have transcribed - of the recent BBC Solent interview between Adam Blackmore, Rasmus Ankersen and Martin Semmens is of particular relevance and importance. I've highlighted the bits I think are worthy of note....Thoughts welcome. MS: You’ve got to have a plan you’ve got to give Nathan the resources he needs. AB: How much is the reality of relegation a catalyst for everybody? What happens....how much do Sports Republic worry about relegation and the impact it has on the future of the club or do you think long-term the club will be okay anyway the club will recover if things don’t go well with the backing it’s got? MS: let me answer that and then Rasmus can answer from a Sports Republic point of view, but yes absolutely... so a football club in our position every year focuses 100% on staying in the league and winning games but there is a plan in the background if things you know do not go our way so there’s nothing different or complicated to that. The one thing I can say is that we are having a wonderful ownership group now who have an investment, that are committed to the long-term. It is not a short-term plan so we are in a very very good financial position for the league we are in and any league we’re in and any plan that we have in future so I can only really say that we’re in a stronger position than we’ve ever been. I know that sounds counterintuitive when we’re bottom of the league but from a club structural point of view and an ownership-investment point of view we are in the best position we’ve been in since I’ve been here. AB: Rasmus would you like to add anything to that? RA: Yeah I mean (laughs).... if you are in one of the bottom 12 clubs of the Premier League, you have a certain risk every year of relegation you know and it would be you know irresponsible not to take that into account, but this is the risk of being in the Premier League The risk in the investment. And we fully bought into that but what I can assure you is we are fully committed to the long term of Southampton Football Club. You know we really want to make this successful. We are working as hard....we are fighting as hard as we can and we hope we can get everybody behind us for the last 19 games of the Premier League and then I’m sure we’ll get there.

Listened to it again this morning and you’re spot on both of you. It’s Boss and Wilcox he’s referring to (before both were announced) as he referenced “the commercial side and the footballing side”. Neither of them is going to score the goals to keep us up.

They should certainly clean up.

“Exciting and entertaining fan engagement solutions” 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️ How about just buying a striker?

There's a related French word - amortisseurs - for car shock absorbers. Makes sense. Cushions the blow, takes the force out of it. Which, if you've spent £90M odd on an unproven kid, is probably quite useful.... 😉

Yeeeeesssssss!!!!!

Very good post. 👍

To play devil's advocate....could one not also argue - particularly after last night's horror show - that keeping NJ is also a clear and obvious act of self-harm.....?

Worth reading the Echo article in full: 2 January 23More Sport > Southampton boss addresses January transfer plans and Bednarek/Tella By Alfie House @AlfieHouseEcho Digital Sport Reporter Southampton boss addresses January transfer plans and Bednarek/Tella NATHAN Jones admitted the January transfer window will not be “super busy” but insists Saints must improve their squad, whether that is “one, two, three or 10” signings. The Welshman has overseen three defeats from his first three Premier League games since being appointed as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s successor at the beginning of January. Saints are rock-bottom of the division and, although there are only five points between them and Leicester in 13th, only two teams have survived from this position at this time in the last 10 years. Jones was asked about his intentions for the January window, with Sport Republic buying 10 players in the summer alone, as well as select rumours that have emerged in recent weeks. One such was the potential return of Jan Bednarek from his loan spell at Aston Villa, where he is hardly getting a look in, to strengthen in defence. He responded: “There are certain positions we want to strengthen in because we need help and competition in those positions. “That is one position where we would like to strengthen in,” Jones admitted. “But I’m not going to say anything on names now because there is a lot going on. “It’s not going to be a super busy January but we would like to make sure the squad we come out of January with is better.” Another player who could return from a loan spell, but one who has a considerably larger degree of success, is academy graduate Nathan Tella. The 23-year-old has scored eight goals in 22 Championship matches for league-leaders Burnley, who look set for an instant return to the Premier League under Vincent Kompany. Asked about the forward, Jones said: “Every possibility is open but what we have to make sure we do is make sure the squad we go into the January window with is weaker than the one we come out of it with. “Whether that’s one, two, three or 10, we have to ensure we are in a better position by the end of the window to win games and have competition within the squad. We have to make sure we have a positive end to the season.” Jones has previously been honest in suggesting that he has not been able to play the way he and his coaches would desire due to the personnel and availability within his squad. But when asked again if he wants to play a three-at-the-back formation, after returning to it for the first half of the 2-1 defeat at Fulham, his frank response could suggest a more all-encompassing approach to transfer strategy. “I want to win games, I don’t care what shape we play, I really don’t, I just want to win footballmatches,” he insisted. “At the minute, we have played a back three because we’re not the biggest team in the world and when you come up against teams that are big, they’re good from set plays and we need to give ourselves a chance of being dominant in our own box and being a threat in the other. “That’s what we need to do so I don’t mind, throughout my manager career I have played a 4-2-3-1, I’ve played a diamond, throughout the promotions I played a back three and I got to the playoffs with a low-budget side, it’s the principles that are more important. "If we’re the side that can handle absolutely everything then I’d play a certain way.”

So to play devil’s advocate….when NJ went back to Luton, saved them from relegation and got them to 8th in the Championship, for a club of Luton’s size and resources….was your mate unhappy? Presumably he is representative of other Luton fans who, upon getting promoted and rising up the Championship, all shouted their discontent? To be clear I am not saying NJ is right for us or that he will succeed and we’ll enjoy watching his team. However what I find odd is that your friend was unhappy with what NJ achieved at Luton given the club’s size and resources.

In case of interest....taken from one of my fave sites: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premier-league/. Column with amber shading represents likelihood of relegation at current point.

I was down in row K and when ABK came over to throw his shirt to a fan he got some real abuse from certain people. Edozie got a good reception, Prowsey too. Others didn’t come over, Jones included who clapped us for all of 5 seconds as he walked off.

Good article S-S. The rewards of a man-oriented defensive 3 are clear - if - and it’s a big if! - you have the defenders to do it. Likewise the pitfalls are clear as daylight: lose a defensive duel or get sucked in by an attacker dropping deep and allowing another play to push into vacated space and you can get totally punished. The stat for Atlanta (who use the system) having suffered one of the lowest numbers of shots on their goal but one of the highest number of goals against is because of all the above. Like you, I’m not sure we have the players to carry out such a system anywhere near effectively enough.

If there is any truth in the rumour, it won’t be Football Insider getting the scoop. Awful site. And to be honest, not one Saints player currently has earned the right not to buy into what the manager wants of them.

👏👏👏👏👏

No criticism of you MB and equally no defence of NJ but bloody hell - I could have written that. No substance to it at all. Awful piece. And if Football Insider is the first port of call for disgruntled Saints players then the bar has sunk lower than I had imagined!

Agree 100%.

True - but if Diallo had gone with him and challenged it might have made a difference. The fact he stood there and watched - literally - Lallana score was not a ringing endorsement of his ability. Hence his being hooked at HT.

I think if you rewatch Diallo’s failure to track Lallana for the first goal you might think differently…..😉

Joined 11 hours ago….is that you Ralph? 🤔