trousers

p.s. will still be interesting to read the reaction on here if we get tonked by Birmingham. I'll go for 4.59pm for the first "why didn't Wotte do his tactics homework on Birmingham?" post....not that I'm suggesting we're a fickle bunch of course....

Ok. Fair point. As I say, I'm in broad agreement to keep things as they are. Just being open minded about it, that's all. Guilty as charged m'lud!

An interesting angle. Wouldn't the job he ended up with have paid less though?

IMHO? I truly believed him continuing with the 'experiment' he helped implement was the most likely scenario. Ok, it turned out to be the wrong assumption but I disagree that it was less valid than the opposite assumption. So, neither 'side' on this debate is right or wrong. Again, just my opinion.

Mssrs Redknapp and O'Neil are probably the best people to answer that question....

Why change? How about if Birmingham typically play in such a way that would negate our current 'formula'? As I say, I'm more in the "don't change" than "change" camp but I still believe Wotte shouldn't rule it out if, after doing his homework, believes a slightly different line-up would work better against a different style of opponent (not that I have a clue one way or t'other whether Brum present a different challenge to Preston, Cardiff and Ipswich - just speaking from a matter of principle).

my heart says stick with same tactics but my head is nudging me to say "replace McGoldrick (attacking midfielder) with Wotton (gritty defensive midfielder)...."

Ah....ye olde reverse psychology tactic....been tried before....IMHO of course

Interesting that they are praising our 'young team' when we now think we've got a better balance with the older players getting more of a look in. Different perspective I guess

I respectfully disagree with that analysis (i.e. I don't find the opposite view to mine "funny") He signed up to the 'experiment' with Lowe and Poortvliet so why would it be more valid to assume that he would revert to a previous incarnation of himself when swapping jobs with Poortvliet rather than continuing with what he helped instigate here? Either would be a perfectly valid assumption IMHO.

There you go. Weird (ish)

QED followed by other words

Qed

Two test posts to follow....

Seems to work if followed by another word....curious. This is going to keep me awake at night.

q.e.d. edit: damn website won't let me type capitals on their own. FFS.

Worrying. It would seem we can't have our cake AND eat it....

Don't get me wrong, my gut feel puts me in the "don't touch anything" camp, but, given we're now hailing Wotte as the better tactician, wouldn't it make sense for him to CONSIDER changing to a slightly more defensive/grittier line up against Brum on Saturday. My thinking: I'm guessing we'd all be happy with a point away to Brum (especially on the back of three wins....on the back of three not so good results would be a different matter!). So, perhaps, just perhaps....it would be an idea to exchange one attacking midfielder (McGoldrick probably) for a more defensive and aggressive midfielder, i.e. Wotton. If, say, we then get to half time at nil nil Wotte can take a view based on Brums perfomance whether to revert to the more attacking line up for the second half or stick with the more defencive line up if Brum are on form, and hang out for the draw. We bemoaned Poortvliet for dogmatically sticking with the same tactics whilst we were losing. Shouldn't we still look at any merits in tweaking tactics whilst we're winning too? As I say, my heart says "stick with the same line up" but my head is wondering otherwise.

Indeed. Many of us let out a collective groan when Poortvliet was replaced with Wotte because there was a valid belief that we were replacing like-for-like. How were we to know that Wotte was going to do a u-turn on the 'total football' strategy that he was part of bringing to the club? How were we to know he had a remit to play a better blend of seniors and youngsters than Poortvliet was seemingly 'allowed' to? There was no statement from the club at the time saying "We've given the job to Wotte and, oh, by the way he's going to ditch the dogmatic 4-3-3 tactics and start playing some of the more senior players on a regular basis". If there had been an announcment to that effect when he took over then many of us would have been more receptive to the idea. So, just to clear this up once and for all, those that were sceptical about Wotte taking over from Poortvliet were NOT sceptical about the man himself per se, rather they were concerned that he would continue with the flawed strategy that he had been an integral devotee to for the previous 9 months. I know it's not in some posters' interests to acknowledge this difference but hey ho.

Tonight's.... http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=223441#post223441

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/7908394.stm Ipswich 0-3 Southampton Two goals from Jason Euell and one from substitute Matthew Paterson secured an impressive victory for Southampton that severely dents Ipswich's promotion bid. Euell headed home an Andrew Surman free-kick for his first before capitalising on a Pim Balkestein mistake to slot home his second. Paterson drove in from the edge of the box to complete the rout. Saints also had headers from Jan-Paul Saeijs and Chris Perry disallowed by referee Andy D'Urso for fouls. Ipswich boss Jim Magilton: "It's certainly the worst since I became manager, without a shadow of a doubt. It was three (nil) going on six. "It was not acceptable. The crowd had every right to voice their opinion. "You have to have a few words after that performance. You want to know where it came from. It stunned the life out of me. I didn't see it coming." Southampton boss Mark Wotte: "Jason Euell has done fantastically for us tonight. I am pleased with him. "When I started this job I gave him a substitute role three times, and every time he had a good impact - so I put him in the first XI. "His contract is expiring, so he has personal reasons to play well. He feels confident, like most of the players, and he has done brilliantly."

Yes, in the friendly vs Ujpest (Jan's last game in charge....)

I believe it's something to do with B&Q selling off airbrushes at half price today I do find it strange that some believe one can't be chuffed and frustrated at the same time. But hey ho.....in a roundabout way I think we're all in agreement that the last 3 results are a pleasant surprise given where we were a few weeks ago. cheers and good night

Who's not happy? I'm chuffed to bits personally.

Indeed it is. Am happy to wait until we're safe before we get the answers to why Wotte wasn't made No.1 from the off.