pap

I was annoyed at not getting the title. It's not the lack of trophy that irks me, nor, I speculate, Nicola Cortese. It's the manner in which we threw it away; from pole position to last day nerves. In both seasons, "miracle games" kept us on track for automatic promotion; MK Dons in our League One promotion season and Millwall last year. The beginning of last season was fantastic; straight out of the blocks and ripping through the league. Later, there were teams we just didn't have an answer for, including Blackpool and Reading. Same thing this year. There have been games that we've never looked like winning. If I can see that as a fan, I'm sure that NC can see it from his perspective of boss. Results-driven business, guv. Can't afford to write off x winnable games a year because we don't seem to have a clue on how to win them. If we're desperately unlucky every week, then maybe you could argue mitigating circumstances. He really did get a fair crack of the whip, considering his comments after the Coventry game. He knew he could be gone back then. I've said in other posts that I didn't like hearing about NA finding out by TV. If true, and intended, that shows a lack of class from NC. Then I also consider the fact that every management recruitment call he's made so far has worked, in the sense that we've seen progression. Pardew got the spine of the team together, Adkins took us up the leagues. I believe that this appointment is intended to get us nearer the European spots. As everyone has pointed out, NA was a top bloke, but did he really have a plan to get us into the European places and keep us there? If he did, it's fairly clear NC didn't buy into it.

Few games time, could all have been different - people could be calling for his head. We'll never know. Pretty clear now that there was a rift between Cortese and Adkins. Would it have been better for them to continue to work together despite communication breakdown? Sorry fella, but you well-meaning Saints fans who know how to run a football club had your chance in 2009. The administrators were actively seeking buyers, and I didn't see any Saints fans weighing in with the millions to save us from oblivion. We were taken over outright, turned back into a private enterprise, losing the transparency that we used to have as a PLC, but had all our debt wiped out, investment year on year and delivery to plan ahead of schedule. Premiership in five years? We got here in three. But no, let's have it all ways, shall we? Thanks for the money and the investment and all that, but don't you dare make recruitment decisions we don't like. I knew from day one we'd have to take the rough with the smooth. Rough on NA? Definitely. Rough on the team? Remains to be seen.

I know you're behind the team, mate. Would never suggest otherwise. I have however, sat next to you at games

Kev, we've known each other for years but you're a pessimistic bugger when it comes to Saints.

Yeah, not a bad return considering both clubs recent form.

There is still time for that to change.

19/4

I have £15 on Reading to win this one.

Reading now leading. Le fondre again.

I am, although I'm not the sort of person to exclude myself from such a charge. I had serious doubts about Nige in the depths of November; everyone did. I was happy enough with NA before all this turmoil. I agree with other posters that he seemed to be finding his feet. At the same time though, I think everyone needs to appreciate that we're only a game away from being in the mire again. I watched the Villa and the Chelsea game. The record will show 3pts gained, but damn, we rode our luck. It was not a convincing victory. Benteke missed chances he should have put away. Chelsea was superb, but again, questions were being asked by commentators ( not by me ) about our lack of cutting edge. I was shocked at NA's exit, but it's not like the new bloke is Poortvielt standard, or that there weren't weaknesses in NA's game. I can see why some see it as harsh, but I can see where it fits in with the overall plan. People bang on about getting no information from the club, yet they've been upfront about the grand plan since day one. Forge a new style of football and use the youth team to produce a side that challenges for trophies. Everything about this decision seems consistent with their day one objectives. We wanna be in a position to challenge for trophies and/or European places? We need players; the market is full of buyers with deep pockets or clubs with more money than sense. Most fans would be happy merely to survive in the Premiership. Survival is vitally important, I agree - but if we just scrape it, we'll be billed exactly the same way as we were this year - potential relegation candidates. No idea whether this is the correct decision. No one does, really. However, if the gamble pays off, we get that winning mentality back again and show some sort of upward trajectory in the latter half of the season, we'll be seen as something else.

Kelvin did put in an accurate throw. Perhaps that was Andy Serkis' motion captured performance. The real players are locked in a series of changing room lockers across municipal aqua centres in the south.

Just like if Nige had been canned without a replacement, they'd be moaning about that too.

F**k me. I can't scroll up on this page anymore!

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered we still had the same team. Judging from some of the comments so far, I'm rather surprised that Cortese's equivalent of the NKVD didn't swoop in and "neutralise" players that might not be politically reliable. So it's lovely to seem them alive and kicking today, despite NA's departure.

I dunno. Stalin would probably be most unimpressed by the lack of wholesale murder, and would probably have "purged" the management before promptly airbrushing them out of history. At best, Adkins and Crosby would be performing hard labour in permanent Siberian exile. Is this what's happened here? Is this puff piece just a smokescreen to hide a modern day Katyn massacre, or do you think you might be overreacting?

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Such as? How many genuine league one players do we have in our side today? You can discount Schneiderlin and Lallana straight away. Fonte dropped down a division to join us. The one player that we signed from a League One team still pulling on a Saints shirt today is Rickie Lambert. After his exploits in the Championship last year, there's absolutely no way he can be regarded as League One standard, or indeed, any of the other players that excelled last year. We started with a proven Championship squad, same as everybody else.

I lol'ed.

Take a look at this Beeb article. There's a table at the bottom with statistics. Nige doesn't do very well compared with most former Southampton Premiership managers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21084754 Not the complete story I know. I'm sure that there are tons of little anomalies and/or bits of luck that have gone into those numbers.

Stay positive? Jolly good, trousers!

Nigel was very successful at League One and Championship level. His record in the Prem was not great.

I have chosen to seek out Espanyol games with MP in charge. First up, a 3-0 home victory against Atletico Madrid. Can't assess too much from highlights, and of course we have different players. Starting to think that he could be a good fit for the team. All Espanyol games scored from open play.

Quite correct. It does go on all the time in business.

No, you just need to throw Dalglish's plotting against Hodgson in there.

Statistically has the best win record of any Saints manager in the Prem