Midfield_General

I haven’t been keeping up but I was surprised to see the Middle East being brought up in a thread about Russell Martin. I know he’s made a few questionable decisions but it seems a bit harsh to blame him for the situation in Gaza.

Matt Bianco would also like a word

Yep, guarantee that Taylor had the balls to tell him it was bullshit and has now been ostracised to the bomb squad, even though we need him available.

Exactly how I feel now. Who gives a fuck, it's clearly completely pointless. We'll do the same things, make the same mistakes, lose again, and then I'll have to hear that smug, gaslighting twat wave it away after the game as though he's somehow not responsible for making us a complete laughing stock. We're basically relegated already - which before the end of November is quite an achievement - so it's not about going down anymore, it's just about pride and at least having a go at looking like a credible Premier League football team capable of winning the odd match. But if no-one at the club cares enough to change anything about that situation and actually give us a chance of at least saving a bit of face, why should I care either.

Precisely. Not only is he a completely useless tactician, but he’s a fucking shit judge of a player too.

Shall we talk about how outstanding Paul Onuachu was up until his injury? Some fantastic close control, holding the ball up and playing out of tight spaces, and generally bringing a freshness and unpredictability to our play, making things happen in a way that was the complete antithesis to the usual hyper-predictable snail football.

'Done well' = lost against Newcastle, lost against City, lost against Arsenal, lost against Liverpool, for a grand total of zero points. Not having a go at you, just says a lot about how far our expectations have been allowed to sink under this bunch of losers.

Absolutely spot on.

It’s an interesting question. Putting aside the idea of him being in a position to drop us because he got a better offer (which seems extremely unlikely), if we sacked him tomorrow, what would his next job be? I can’t see any other Prem club who had just sacked a manager thinking he’s the answer. It would be back to a Championship club with promotion aspirations, surely? Maybe one with a currently decent manager at that level who might get poached and need replacing. A Middlesbrough, West Brom or Blackburn. Basically where he was when he left Swansea, with an additional positive on his CV of having achieved a promotion to the PL, but that being counteracted by an additional negative of having been shown to be completely out of his depth when he got there.

And peak Messi

New piece from Jonathan Wilson in the Guardian: Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change ’Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay up.’ ‘The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Their manager, Russell Martin, looking ruggedly masculine but in touch with his feelings, then speaks sadly and patiently about his belief in playing football the right way. Then everybody else weighs in.’ https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/nov/23/southampton-are-doomed-but-its-clear-why-russell-martin-will-not-change

"According to a report from Football Insider" Clickbait

Melchett Martin's top secret pre-match briefing at Staplewood: "Here's the list of personnel cleared to know how we're going to play against Liverpool: You and me Gilly, obviously. Arne Slot, Arne Slot's wife, all Arne Slot's wife’s friends, their families, their families' servants, their families' servants' tennis partners, and some chap I bumped into outside Anfield the other day called Bernard."

From today’s Guardian: “Trying to find hope for Russell Martin’s side going into this fixture is tricky. At Wolves they failed to have a shot on target despite having 72% possession and they will not dominate the ball in the same manner on Sunday. Southampton’s style is about passing and patient buildup and it is unlikely Martin will ever change, even if the club’s Premier League status and his employment are at risk. All teams need an element of surprise, whether they are first or last, in order to keep opponents guessing, but Southampton’s predictability is their downfall and explains why they are bottom. Reacting when something is not working is a sign of a good coach.”

Is it fair to say that Steve Wigley is generally regarded as the worst top flight manager we've had? Because Russ needs to get five points from his next three games (Liverpool (H), Brighton (A), Chelsea (H)) just to equal Wigley's managerial record of 9 points from 14 Premier League matches.

----------- Pahars --------------- Mane ----- Le Tiss ---- Rod Wallace ------- Case ---- Ekelund ----- Bale --- VVD --- Alderweireld -- Clyne ----------- Niemi ----------- That side would have a shot at top 4, I reckon. Can't bring myself to pick the bad XI, there are just too many options. But Chris Woods would be in goal.

Desperate to catch Amazon's eye so he can be the star of the next All Or Nothing / Mission to Burnley

I know someone who would disagree... So much for “the table never lies“ – data unravels football’s biggest lie of all. Ankersen, a 33-year-old Dane with a trim beard and hair pulled into a small ponytail, seems relaxed. “There’s a concept in football that the table never lies,” says Ankersen, whose own playing career was ended by a knee injury in his teens. “Well, that’s the biggest lie in football. Your league position is not the best metric to evaluate success.” https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/sport/2017/02/so-much-table-never-lies-data-unravels-footballs-biggest-lie-all

Rasmus conducting Rusty's appraisal:

Add Farmer Saint to Glasgow/ Heisenberg/ Nairobi/ Gio's ever-growing list of alternate log-ins

Bloom = 100% data-driven. Result - has made himself into a billionaire and has taken a club from the brink of extinction and established them as a consistent top 8 and European contender. Rasmus = 100% bullshit-driven. Result - has made himself and the club he claims to lead into a laughing stock.

Except in their case it’s actually a real suite of software and tools that Bloom has successfully created and used for almost 20 years to make himself personally worth over £1.3bn, whereas what Les Reed used to smugly boast about always just felt like a slightly above average scouting network, dressed up in bullshit, and which coincidentally stopped working once we stopped being able to recruit elite managers like Poch and Koeman who had exceptional personal networks of talent they could plug the club into for the duration of their stay.

It's hardly luck at Brighton. Tony Bloom, Brighton's owner, created and owns his own data analytics company with proprietary software and algorithms which he has been using to create competitive advantage since 2006. He has gained access to a depth of data and analysis that no-one else has access to, to consistently make informed decisions around player and manager recruitment. "Bloom owns Starlizard, a company he started in 2006 to beat the bookies by using the latest data and analytics tools to understand the sport. Starlizard has grown in the subsequent years and currently has around 200 employees. According to a betting industry insider, Bloom was using the expected goal modeling system well before anyone knew what it was, and is probably a decade ahead in terms of technology used to understand and break down the sport. Tony Bloom brought his exceptional modeling skills and acumen to Brighton to unearth and identify undervalued players all around the world, and grow them at the club into superstars." https://medium.com/@vishbs/from-extinction-to-excellence-brightons-data-driven-triumph-977abe738c1c

Here's all 47 goals he scored in 145 games for Blackburn, in the only real spell of consistent goalscoring form he's had in his career. He's never been the most cultured, but here he does at least look like a decent, hardworking forward with an eye for goal. Most of his goals were scored playing down the middle and attacking the six yard area, with a fair few coming from runs down the left channel. From this evidence, albeit against weaker opposition, create a chance for him in a decent goalscoring position and he's capable of taking it. He doesn't exactly scream Premier League quality though, and what he absolutely doesn't look like is a player suited in any way to tiki taka, or playing as a winger hugging the touchline. He's been poor whenever I've seen him play, but you have to wonder what the hell we were thinking signing a player so blindlingly obviously unsuited to how this manager wants to play. Poor as he's been, I think he has the right to feel a bit stitched up by how he's been so mis-used and not played to his basic strengths.

Derby started that season with a squad that included Robert Earnshaw, Jon Macken, Tyrone Mears, Kenny Miller and Giles Barnes, plus one-time Saints Matty Oakley and Lee Holmes. In January they brought in players including Danny Mills, Robbie Savage, Roy Carroll, Alan Stubbs and Lauren Robert. How does that stack up to our squad? They were managed by that horrible little twat Billy Davies, until they sacked him on 26th November having won only one game, and replaced him with Paul Jewell. They recorded a top-flight record 32 games without a win, and were relegated on 29th March, 19 points from safety with six games left. At the end of the season they were P38, W1, D8, L29, F20, A89, GD -69, PTS11. Even Davies had six points after 11 games though.