JustinR

Right place, right time springs to mind. As Brentford have shown, promoting from within is the right call when the model is established. You don't want an outsider to come in and upset the model/ culture that is working so well. That is absolutely not where Saints are right now. As the debacle with Still showed, you need a big personality, gravitas and credibilty to make big changes. Or the players will simply ignore you- as we now hear happened with Still. This feels very similar to what we needed when Koeman came in. Les Reed (for all his faults) said that they decided they needed a big name first and foremost and then used the data to pick the best manager available. There were other, more successful (in terms of data) managers available but he was what we needed AT THAT POINT. So the black box identified who was best within the parameters set. Not just.. whos won the most games/ got the best xG in Europe. Now is the time for the same approach IMO. We have the resources and talent. We don't need a high risk choice to get some marginal extra gains. Basic competance with instant respect right now is the way to go. Viera or Rogers are the only ones in that category.

average score of 7.55 so far. Think that's not far off

Heady times- "Southampton will never sign Gaston Ramirez" (Mark Lawrenson)

That is the complaint from EFL teams. I think the football regulator will attempt to level the playing field when they get appointed. Until then, we could persue a BOING Saints strategy.

From the Guardian 2 years ago, talking about his Torino side. Loving the potential for sh*thousery The broad strokes of Juric’s gameplan were nothing new. Like his mentor, Gasperini, he frequently pairs players up one-on-one with opponents all over the pitch and trusts them to engage in individual duels. Where the approach sometimes differs is in the sheer levels of aggression. Juric encourages his forwards to attack the ball-carrier at almost every opportunity. That approach can make for messy matches. Torino commit more fouls than any other team in Serie A, and it’s not close: averaging 17.6 per game compared with just 14.5 for the second-most prolific offenders, Verona – the team who Juric coached for the preceding two seasons. Yet Torino sit middle of the pack when it comes to yellow cards, with 11 other teams collecting more. Their fouling is not reckless but often tactical, premised on the idea that it is better to give away an innocuous free-kick deep in opposition territory than to let a move get started. Such infringements are also far less likely to draw bookings. And the longer that a team stay trapped in their own half, the more likely that they become impatient and flustered. As the above piece from ultimouomo.com also observed, Torino give up fewer passes per loss of possession to opponents than any other team in the league.

Odds shortening on Rohl on Bet Victor. Just signed up to place a bet at 2:1 and now its gone to 6:4 with a max stake of £20!

Agents do this these days I guess

assist- assist? Whats his xAA stats?

IMO I think the prices are reasonable. To watch a high level prem match in the best seat is £70. The cheapest £35!

I take it he didn't sleep much last night 😂

Happened to sit next to Flynn's agent on the way to Wembley yesterday. A lovely bloke, very humble. Was interesting to hear what he had to say about Flynn and the summer. Nothing earth shattering but that if we go up (yay!) it makes it easier to keep him. That Flynn loves it here. That the problem will be West Ham now they have only a few central midfielders. But this will likely only delay it rather than stop it. He also gave an insight into Flynn's mentality for big games like this. He also represents Steven Schumacher and confirmed he was gutted he didn't get the job and was interviewed.

Having visions of Leeds scoring, camera panning to Rishi whilst the Leeds fans sing... things can only get better

Works both ways though... Sean Dyche (essentially) had a relegation on his CV with Burnley- yet bagged the biggest gig of his career at Everton. Presumably based on the style of football they knew they'd get. So if he'd gone Fat Sam, then he'd be in a very strong position for Forest type jobs next year. But he didn't, so he won't. Not sure Man City is a realistic destination for him right now

Something has to give. And the other team will feel like they are forever cursed

Imperious last night... Box to box, his performance had it all. Heart in mouth when he was hopping around after his foot got trodden