doddisalegend

So you believe he still has job because the owner thinks he is terrible at his job and keeps going against the owners wishes....ok

Not so sure. The manager is involved in recruitment has been since Adkins. The way the club claims it works is the committee identifies what the squad need, the black box ( wee Ross) find several player options for each position the club want to recruit, the committee decide which one is best but most importantly the manager has final say. Now I could certainly imagine MoPe towing the line on recruitment he appeared completely clueless. No way can I see the likes of Koeman or Hughes just sitting back and letting Les tell them who they are signing. Hughes made it clear at the end of the summer he was involved in the recruitment process and certainly didn't upset about the signings made so he is as much to blame for the new signings as anyone. https://www.clubcall.com/premier-league/southampton/2018/07/18/saints-recruitment-has-hughes-buzzing/ The biggest thing I've taken from our recent recruitment is we aren't replacing like for like. If you lose a big CF like Pelle get another big CF, if you lose a midfield DM like Victor get another one in the same mould, if you lose your CB captain get another experienced captain type CB. If you lose your pace merchant like Mane get another player with pace. You replacements might not be quite as good as the ones that leave but at least you keep continuity with in the squad.

Even the most positive saints fan would struggle to see us getting anything from this game. I imagine Hughes will go for damage limitation in attempt to keep our goal difference higher than our relegation rivals. Our team would struggle to score against Sarisbury Sparks U8s let alone one of the best teams in the world right now. No doubt City's pass and move football will completely baffle Hoedt and Stephens while our midfield two will be lucky if they touch the ball. All in all I imagine we will go put everyone behind the ball and hoof it to an isolated Ings upfront while trying to keep I to a respectable 3-0. Really looking forward to it...

TBF last time Channon pulled on a saints shirt was what? 1982? Probably a bit before the time (me included) of a lot of posters on here.

This 100%.

After much thought.... I've come to the conclusion everything went tits up when the Saints band started playing outside the stadium on matchdays. Oh that and the ****ing flamethrowers on matchdays like the team are running out to the CL final rather than pub standard level of game against Newcastle

MLT behind the strikers. Killer to shore up the back. Peak Morgan in midfield. 2002-2003 season Beattie to partner Ings up front. 4-4-2 diamond BT Ings MLT Hoj Lemina Morgan Betrand Killer Yoshida Cedric McCarthy Manager WGS for ****s and giggles

The whole point of Southampton fc these days is to be run as a self sufficient bussiness that maintains PL status nothing more. There is no indication at all that the owner and board share the same aspirations as the fanbase these days. People have been complaining about us never spending more than we earn on players for years. Is that significant funding or just horse trading? Les's job is sell players high and buy in cheaper. At the end of the day if Les etc still have a job its the owners fault no one else's. The fact they still have a job, after last season, points to the owner being happy with the job they are doing. As far as we can tell Goa is basically happy to maintain the status quo. So yes owners fault.

I'm not sure it's that easy to move on aging players with contracts unless they can find a better deal elsewhere. At that point in their career, with retirement looming, most of them are happy to see out there contracts for a bit more cash rather than play.

Which again tells you the last owner and the current one are happy with his work. If they weren't he'd be gone by now. For me Les, or even Ralph, isn't the problem a clubs vision, direction and goals are set, ultimately, by the owner and that's,where the problem really lies.

Well as he is still here they clearly aren't to upset about it are they? Which would suggest they are happy with the job he is doing..

Has it ever occurred to you that in all his years here Les has just been taking orders from the people in charge...the reason he has been here as long as he has is because he is doing what the owners want.

What would you like the club to do with Forster? I don't want to see him anywhere near the first team both our current keepers are much better. Forster had the choice. Sit there and take his large pay packet or take a wage cut to find a club that would let him play football.

I think more of an issue is Yoshida and Davis are the leaders in the squad. I have a lot time for both of them as players both have contributed to the club over their years here. Neither of them seem to have offered much leadership when on the pitch certainly no better than Bertrand. That was the main loss with Fonte, his legs where going and he was passed his best, but he was an experienced leader and on pitch organiser that we really haven't had since he left.

McCarthy....err...Gunn...mmm..no that's it.

It would probably help if he didn't look like he was just phoning it in every matchday.

Not at all. Short term fix for me would be extra training sessions (for fitness), a back to basics approach from the coaches ( to get the players completing the basics of football that they struggle,with at the moment) and the manager drilling the players hard (oh err misses) on the training ground so the know there roles inside out. Finally pick a team and stick with it. If we are playing two upfront for example we need the two to form a partnership which means same two week in week out (Thus avoiding the strikers getting in each others way like the Newcastle game) Poor quality players, like ours, best chance of success is to be very fit, work hard, and be well drilled in things like pressing. We won't be world beaters or pretty but we will stay up.

How about the rest of the saints team though how many are above him in "expected assists" (which has got to be one of the most stupid stats ever) I bet not many if any? I'm not suggesting he is a world beater I'm just amused by this idea that Redmond is somehow the root of the problem in our lack of goals when we have 4 strikers who have managed three goals between them all season.

They did. Last season people where desperate for 4-4-2 and getting the ball forward quicker. Now we do that people don't want 4-4-2 hoofball and want to go back to 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1. Personally I couldn't care less what formation we play if it gets us winning some ****ing games.

I'm amazed that people don't recognize how much influence Koeman had on signings during that era. Tadic, Pelle, Mane, VVD signings influenced by Koeman. A few less successful signings to like Cuco and Clasie.

Just because saints are doing it doesn't mean I agree with it.

Owner out first..

Except Redmond has created the most goal scoring opportunities in the team this season. According to the stats he is 14th in the PL for opportunities created so far this season and has zero assist which says that the problem is less Redmond and more with the planks trying to put the ball in the net......

What has McCarthy done to be dropped?

No one seems to have mentioned the pilot yet who you'd assume didn't walk away from that one. All the attention will be on the owner and his family but there is also a guy there who just went to work and won't be coming home.