goodymatt

I think McCarthy has an even worse save percentage since returning this season, which is some going! There were rumours he was off so maybe scope for a new keeper. Bazunu was Portsmouth’s player of the season in League One, maybe the championship is his level? He certainly has the ball playing ability to suit Martin’s possession style. Bazunu was out of his depth at PL level this season, hope it’s not destroyed his confidence. Made little sense to not keep playing him if he will be our number one next season.

If true, I’d expect it’s Piroe and Grimes? Surely Russell Martin would sign as our manager with our perceived budget whether they followed or not? I know he did this with MK Dons players when joining Swansea but to do it all at once is a bit unusual isn’t it? Koeman went back for Pelle, that one worked out well. More Pelle than Pied/Bree please.

We don’t think either party has had a change of mind then?

Interesting comment from SR is last night’s press releases that we will have a new manager in place ‘by the end of June’. Are we really a month away from appointing Russell Martin? Normally when Fabrizio Romano posts something is done. It doesn’t take a week for an announcement.

I’ll take back my earlier comment on Leicester’s statement being more encouraging for their fans. It’s very early days to judge the actions of the relegated teams owners. The same applies for the latest words coming out from Sports Republic. I did however appreciate them taking responsibility and trying to explain why (in their mind) they felt the decisions made last season were right at the time. The target of winning the league next season is the obvious one. We need to see how everything shapes up during the close season to have any belief. I think Nathan Jones is a better manager than Selles, he has achievements in his career that are respectable. Selles just copied Ralph and hoped for the best, getting the odd unexpected point against bigger teams who had no respect for us. Jones wasn’t able to get buy in from our ‘PL’ players, resulting in ‘what would you like to do’ tactics, press meltdowns and indecision. All of which happened at Stoke and that was all we needed to know to stay well clear! Im sure he’ll join a championship underdog again and do well. Both are horrendous mistakes and the next one has to be right.

Compare this to Sport Republic’s messaging post relegation and this just fills you with much more confidence that they will put this right. Meanwhile we are going to change pretty much every element of our club and playing team. Will that change help or hinder our chances of an immediate return? I’d bet on Leicester to return over Saints at the moment, sadly. I’m sure I’m also not the only one who is just a tad jealous of what they have achieved, being a similar size club to us, during their latest stint in the top division: PL, FA Cup, Euro semi final, even got those big screens in 😉

Fabrizio tweeted all was agreed and contract signed etc, he’s usually bang on the money. Perhaps we are waiting for the media stuff to be filmed or even just holding off the announcement until the season is over?

Assuming Leeds and Leicester are the teams to join us in the championship next season, it will be very interesting to see who they appoint and if they have promotion and PL experience. For Saints, I do feel it’s extremely important to get this appointment made ASAP to ensure alignment with recruitment, playing philosophy etc. So much work to do this summer, so little time to get it right. I’m not sure if it was just agent talk but Leicester’s rumoured interest in Martin might mean they are looking for the same sort of ‘project’ manager? Surely Potter isn’t managing them in the championship?!

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Rivers. They are the reason most of us support the team we do and sharing it with them is what it’s all about. There are more important things in life than football.

Martin also had a bottom five budget last season. Swansea faced the second least shots. I agree he is inexperienced and perhaps some tactical naivety has resulted in some of those additional goals conceded than expected. They should have had the 5th best defence (according to xGA) so the quality of players is also a big factor. I think I heard earlier 2 of their 3 keepers did their cruciates last season too, which is pretty unlucky! Signing nobody in January and losing Obafemi wouldn’t have helped. I found the snippet that this appointment was influenced by Wilcox encouraging. Like other posters I’m cautiously excited by the prospect of a clear identity, Saints dominating the ball and scoring lots of goals. Time will tell if defence will continue to be an achilles heel for both Martin and Saints. For now, I’m happy to back Martin, even though the appointment comes with an element of risk and the absence of a galvanising ‘big name’ or an overqualified CV.

Interesting that Fabrizio has highlighted Wilcox as being instrumental in this appointment. We also have an option for a 4th year, should he do well…

It’s been Fabrizio’d. Looks like a three year deal, to be announced this afternoon. You’d think we made the Selles statement today so that we can go ahead and announce it now. Might not be everyone’s choice but I like how early we have got this done, so much to do in a short space of time before the season starts.

If you’d said a couple of years ago we might be signing AMN on a free for a championship promotion push, it would have been seen as quite the coup. He has been very disappointing and I can’t see him being the solution for us going forward. If his attitude/motivation appears below the required levels playing for us in the PL, I dread to think how he’d look playing in the championship. Such an odd player, clearly has talent.

His form with us has been atrocious. It’s a big gamble to expect he will replicate his Blackburn form and be our main goal source. I wonder what style Blackburn played when he did so well, does anyone know? The trouble is we are going to lose a lot of players and when rebuilding a team, it might be useful to keep him around for the season given his championship experience. However in an ideal world I think moving on would suit both parties. You just know if we sold him to Ipswich he’d score against us!

Agreed it’s a Southampton-esque stat isn’t it. Certainly an area for improvement! Should we lose Adams, Piroe would be a very decent signing at this level. 40 goals in last 2 seasons. I did read that like Adams, he does score less than he is expected to. So perhaps not as clinical as Gyokores for example.

2nd least shots on their goal from open play and only 4 teams expected to concede less. However, they conceded the 4th most overall. I’d agree that they are conceding way more than they should be which could be down to a poor shot stopping keeper. We will have to hope Bazunu doesn’t carry his form (worst save percentage in Europe’s top 5 leagues) into the Championship! The podcast I linked a few pages ago talking about Martin being underfunded evaluated their squad and it sounded like number one was dropped, number 2 no better. Crying out for a better keeper.

I have said earlier in this thread my preference would have been a bigger name manager with experience in the top flight and success in the championship like Rodgers and Potter. Sadly they seem out of reach, we reportedly could have had a chance of employing Potter if we had survived. I’m not sure if looking through stats for some encouragement on our potential new manager makes me an ‘apologist’ but you’re entitled to that opinion. What I will say is that it’s pretty hard to argue that Martin didn’t limit opponents to few chances when only one team in the entire league had less shots on their goal from open play and only 4 teams were expected to concede less from open play, taking into account the quality of chances. Perhaps I’m thinking glass half full here but that sounds encouraging to me that his style isn’t giving opponents loads of big chances. I know it’s in a bigger league, but I recall we all berated Howe for his 60+ goals conceded during his time at Bournemouth. Interesting that with better tools at his disposal he’s got the second best defensive record now in the PL.

Swansea aren’t bad at ‘goals football’, 4th most goals in the league last season. Interestingly Luton (11) and Coventry (10) scored less goals than Swansea but are one game away from promotion. Martin’s tactics make a lot of chances and limit the opponents to few chances. This makes me cautiously optimistic he will end up with a much better goal difference with a better squad than Swansea, which we really should have once the revolving doors stop spinning this summer. His should have better tools at his disposal to be successful. The Athletic report this morning that Enzo Maresca was first offered the job. I think that’s a very strong indication that Jason Wilcox is well involved in the new manager selection. Martin’s possession based approach seems to be his preference, I don’t think this is an Ankerson individual choice like Mad Nate.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/swanseacity/news/60253/russell-martin-the-multi-million-pound-swansea-city-game-the-majority-ownership-have-won

Impressive, maybe we don’t need to spend big! I think with the teams coming down with us it’s going to be a tough challenge to win the league. Won’t see Everton/Leeds/Leicester finishing mid table like Norwich and Watford. We will also sell more players than Burnley did.

Lavia is wanted by some big teams, I think his fee will be what we expect. Perhaps Prowsey will go for less than we want as he’s worth more to us than he’s really worth on the market. I do think we will easily sell £150m worth of players this window. The next question is how much will SR invest.

We will be circa £100m worse off for not being in the PL next season due to parachute payments and commercial drop off. I reckon Lavia and JWP make up that hole, even then we would have a fair budget given the other expected sales and the owners reportedly willing to finance a quick return. I cannot see a situation where we only spend £25m rebuilding almost an entire first 11. We need to be a PL club for the multi club strategy to work for SR, surely? I do see where you’re coming from with the investment value angle but SR’s plan clearly wasn’t to spend £100m net on Saints and just own a championship football club.

This means only 4 teams were expected to concede fewer goals in the league, 1st place would be worst.

Much has been made over the goals conceded stats for Swansea playing Martin’s possession based style. I’ve just had a look on Opta Analyst and the stats show the following for open play goals for and against, which I think is most relevant to style: Shots for - 4th Expected goals for - 5th Goals actual - 4th Shots against - 23rd Expected goals against - 20th Goals against actual - 11th The fact Swansea finished on a GD of just +4 looks down to the quality of players, their goalkeeper let in 14 goals more that expected over the full season for example. Limiting your opponents to the fewest shots after the runaway champions doesn’t look like a passive style that gives loads of chances away. I know footy isn’t played on a spreadsheet, even if Rasmus thinks it is. However, the underlying stats do suggest that Swansea create a lot of chances and give away few chances. My hope is with a bigger budget and better quality players, Saints would see a much higher league finish and an improved defensive record compared to Martin’s 2 seasons at Swansea.