Verwood Saint

Tators - Muppetry of the highest order

Hinchcliffe

He’s the same every game with us - must have really upset him in the past!

Apologies for the error the title - guess it sums up me spluttering my pint when reading this stuff...

Seriously... Today is a hugely disappointing day for everyone associated with Southampton Football Club. We have fought tirelessly as a club throughout the season, but the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and our results were simply not good enough to stay there. We are particularly saddened and frustrated that our first season as controlling shareholders in Southampton Football Club has ended in relegation. While this outcome is distressing for all of us, now is the time to demonstrate unity. We are grateful to our managers, our players, our staff and above all our fans for battling to the end to keep the Saints in the top tier. Our work begins today to return Southampton Football Club – an inaugural member of the Premier League with a rich history – to where it belongs. We want to reassure our supporters, our partners and our staff that we remain fully committed to achieving long-term success for the club at the top level. We must now reflect on the lessons to be learned from this season and start preparing for the challenges ahead of us in the Championship. Our goal is to return to the Premier League as soon as possible and ensure that we stay there. At the same time, we will continue to focus on the long-term development of the club, both on and off the pitch, to ensure its sustainability at the highest level. We understand that significant improvement is required, and at the end of the season we will announce our immediate next steps and provide details of how the club will operate moving forward. We cannot thank our fans enough for the fantastic support they have given the team throughout the season. Your commitment to the club is an inspiration and one of the foundations that will support Southampton’s return to the top flight.Dragan, Henrik & Rasmus Sport Republic

Imagine this has already been said but I really hope our squad has been watching this game and if not, they should be made to watch it tomorrow instead of whatever it is that they do for training!

This!

22 shots - 3 on target - WTF

Also just watched his press conferences and also very impressed. There was a reference to Rafa Benitez in there as one of his inspirations - could he be our director of football perhaps...

Hopefully they've spent the week sorting out a replacement.

And reading further down the Guardian has this comment on us... Jones out of his depth at Southampton Ralph Hassenhüttl divided opinion among Southampton supporters. Was the Austrian a high-level tactician and strong motivator operating on limited resources? Or had he run out of ideas, preventing an assault on the top half of the Premier League? A definitive answer is emerging. Switching managers always carries risk but Southampton’s decision to fire Hassenhüttl and hire Nathan Jones has backfired. When your recently recruited manager reacts to another limp defeat by referencing how good the xG was when he was in charge of Luton, all is not well. There was a measure of desperation in Jones’s insistence that he has “compromised certain principles” on “a few little things” since taking the job. He says that will change but the fans have made their minds up, and Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Wolves and Everton all picked up three points over the weekend. Southampton may need a miracle, and Jones looks a long way from being capable of producing one.

Guardian assessment today - Julen Lopetegui has wasted little time in giving Wolves a distinct identity. In under three months they have come to look crisp on the ball, with clear patterns of play, and tigerish off it. As far as Saturday is concerned - Their raft of new signings have taken to life at Molineux quickly and none more so than Mario Lemina, arguably their best player in the demolition of Liverpool. Perhaps Southampton fans will perform a double-take but Lemina dominated the midfield, snapping into challenges and driving Wolves forward from deep. He completely outshone his opponents and it was the kind of engine-room performance that Jürgen Klopp used to inspire from his own midfielders. I think we all know how this is going to go don't we... And as for a song - remember the old Chelsea one who they had Rafa in charge - We don't care about Nathan, He doesn't care about us - (mad twat) All we care about is Southampton FC, Southampton FC, Southampton FC

Morning all - regularly reader but infrequent contributor here. More that 50 years a Saint and season ticket holder for many of them so have seen a bit! I have a couple of thoughts to share. Firstly, however well SR have done their homework, there is no denying this potential appointment represents a major risk given our current situation / form. Yes, he will have the benefit of a 'pre-season' type opportunity during the WC break but still a huge challenge in my view. That said I will do my best to support him if is given the chance to lead our team. It was time for Ralph to go (a bit overdue TBH) but he did bring us some exciting times didn't he. Whilst he was also not well known to most of us, his appointment did demonstrate some ambition on the part of the club's owners / management which I think we all welcomed. Thank you and best of luck for the future Ralph. The second aspect of this proposed appointment that concerns me is where is our ambition? There are many names that have been mentioned, some of whom are almost certainly out of our reach but surely not all of them. We are an established Premier League outfit after all and offer much potential ourselves. Maybe not a sleeping giant but we definitely have a higher ceiling than our current position. Whether we like it or not SFC is a business and must be run well. Our 'model' is clearly based on giving young players with potential early opportunities to thrive and build a value which we cash in on down the track. Although it is frustrating to have let the best of them go, we can enjoy periods of success along the way can't we. The current crop looks really promising once they are all fit again. Frankly I think they have the quality as a group to genuinely have a chance to win a cup which realistically is the best we can honestly hope isn't it. Young players need to be nurtured and ideally work alongside experienced people to develop most effectively. In my opinion that can be with the right manager and / or with the right teammates. It seems that acquiring 'experienced' players is not something we embrace, therefore it is more important that we seek those attributes in our manager. I don't think I am alone in questioning the wisdom of not having a few experienced heads in our squad. Yes, they can be challenging to manage but that's usually because they expect high standards. They also offer leadership and know how don't they - things which we often seem to be missing from our team when the going gets tough. If Nathan is to join us then making the right purchases in the January window will also be vital. Landing an experienced striker would obviously be ideal but we all know how hard that will be. Adding some 'steel' and 'nous' around the team as a whole may well be much more achievable though and, hopefully enough to keep us in the league where we belong.

Sadly have to say that was a truly awful performance - the team selection, subs, game plan just got increasingly desperate - are we seriously reduced to relying on that after at least a weeks preparation. Oh dear!

Seems to me that turning up on Saturday wearing our best beachwear would be an ideal way of supporting the team as they have been 'on the beach' for a weeks now!

How about the old Neil Shipperley song... Score a goal Morgan Schneiderlin and we will love you more than you can know Wow, wow, wow, Repeat He certainly deserves a song of his own and he has been getting better and better this season and hopefully it will also encourage him to shoot more - like his effort on Saturday!

How about the old Neil Shipperley song; Score a goal Mor-gan Schnei-der-lin and we will love you more than you will know whoa whoa whoa Repeat

Never mind the 'other' manager and I know I'm a new poster etc... but I heard from a decent source today that Nick Holmes is to become assistant manager in the new regime. Top player in his day and certainly done a good job at Salisbury. Along with MLT and KK another appointment that would help unite us all. Well all of us of a certain age anyway...