Rebel

The club should keep well clear of Jess Thorup and/or anyone else connected to the 'statisticsball' football style and metrics of Midtylland - it may have worked in the Premier League back in the 90s and in the old 1st Division before that - and maybe still in the lower leagues now - but its not fit for the modern premier league. I think we will end up with Marsch - but mostly because he is free and available - and I would guess relatively cheap in comparison to other options. But if that ends up being the case I hope its only a 6 month contract and we appoint a long term manager in the summer. We don't really have the players for the RedBull 4-2-2-2 and the high press which is a large part of why it went wrong with Ralph so I am not sure appointing a manager whi plays the same way as Ralph - but not as well - would solve any real problems. The squad we have is better suited to a 4-3-3 and a low block. To be honest I think it is probably too late - Sports Republic's series of bad decisions and delayed decision have made relegation more or less inevitable now. If that does happen we need to appoint a young forward thinking and progressive (high press, possession based football, tactical awareness) manager like Jaissle or Knutsen in the summer with the remit to rebuild the team and get us promoted back to the Premier League There is an outside chance Marsch could keep us up - but I don't think he is the right manager for the long term. If by some miracle he does keep us up I still think we should look for a more progressive and tactically astute manager in the summer. We should keep away from managers like Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney until they have proven they are actually any good as managers (Rooney looks like he will but he's need more time to develop as coach). The same with yesterday's men like Bruce and Allardyce - they would just delay the problem. Sports Republic should have gone for Tedesco in November (Gallardo was always out of our reach) - or replaced Ralph in the summer.

I think we need to be realistic here - barring a miracle we are going down this season so whoever is the next manager at Saints will have to be willing to take on a rebuilding job over the summer and push for a promotion back to the premier league next season - and one that is not guaranteed right now Kompany is far more likely to be a Premier League manager next season if he stays at Burnley than if he moves to Saints I think we are probably looking at someone from a league outside the top 5 leagues who needs to prove himself at a higher level before managing in a top 5 league - and the Championship would be perfect for that. Just like Kompany did last summer. Knutsen from Bodo/Glimt for example. Similarly Carrick probably has a better chance of being a premier league manager in the long run sticking with Boro - he will either get them promoted this season or next or get a premier league job at a stable club after another good season in the Championship Jones is certainly part of the problem right now but I am not sure any manager would succeed with our current batch of players. I certainly have no idea what his front foot aggressive football looks like - although the evidence so far suggest its direct long ball football and fighting for the second ball. A statistics based approach that I thought was long gone at the top level along with Don Howe and his coaching manuals. But too many players (Diallo, Djneppo, Aribo, Bednarek, Adams, Elyounoussi, Armstrong, Maitland-Niles, Lycano, Bree) just aren't good enough for the premier league and many others just don't have enough experience whether they are good enough or not (Larios, Lavia, ABK, Edozie, Mara, Alcaraz, Bazunu). (and those lists aren't exhaustive) And we still have big holes in the squad - we are still missing a real alternative at left back and defensive midfielder. Sports Republic have to take the responsibility for bringing in Jones and his metrics - but also for the make up of the squad - for the focus on youthful players with potential and greater resale value rather then players that would actually improve the first team right here and now in the summer. And above all else for not signing at least one if not two goal scorers in the summer, replacing Romeu in the middle and not signing an experienced first choice goalkeeper. I think the January signings were probably too little too late to make the difference needed.

I was hoping for Gallardo from River Plate but expecting Tedesco. Both play the high press as well as progressive possession/ attacking football. Jones wasn’t even in my nightmares. I wasn’t happy at his appointment but decided to give him a chance to win me over. Then came the complete waste of the World Cup break, the 3-5-2 / 5-3-2 long ball football the team are so unsuited to and those press conferences. we have seen some terrible football as Saints fans - Branfoot anyone - but that was up there with the worst of it. And now we seem to be going back to it again. I can already see the long ball to Onuachu and the lay off to Sulemana being the cunning plan. Rasmussen seems determined to turn us into Brentford - and I am not sure that’s a good thing. I am starting to think the 3-5-2 was forced upon Ralph by Rasmussen - which might explain why Ralph seemed to lose his mojo and it was time for him to go the real question is who will they find to replace Jones to rebuild the team if/when go down surely if we do go down Jones will be so toxic for the fanbase there will be no way back for him even if we do stay up I would want to see him replaced in the summer - his football is just too regressive it may be aggressive football - but I don’t see any coordinated high press like Ralph implemented - just long balls and fights for the second ball and we don’t really seem to have any patterns of play to bring the ball out from the back or attack the opposition the best we can hope for is some random chaotic wins and lots of JWP free kicks I hope I am wrong and Jones will prove me wrong - and we will see a dramatic improvement on the pitch over the next few weeks But not even playing our best 11 players as the starting team against Newcastle in a League Cup Semi Final didn’t exactly give me hope

Sport Republic (Rasmussen) and Saints (Semmens & Crocker) squad planning has been abysmal. I sometime wonder if this is one of the reasons Crocker is moving on. Do Sports Republic think he was responsible for the mess and he was pushed out or has he had enough of the mess Sports Republic have made and decided to move on? We are half way through a season and nearly at the end of the January transfer window and we still have massive gaps in the squad at left back, centre forward, defensive midfield and until today right back - which is why we are where we are at the bottom of the premier league. Bree looks like a short term and cheap panic buy - based on the managers recommendation rather than the recruitment teams scouting or analysis. I fully expect one if not both of KWP and Tino to leave in the summer (Chelski can activate the buy back clause in the Summer). Bree doesn't solve our height problem at the back either. We still need a left back to cover for Perraud - or replace him as Jones doesn't seem to rate him - and provide some height at the back. Moving KWP to the left and playing Bree on the right is not the answer. Not to mention a goal scoring forward and a CDM. I am starting to think it was the other DoF at Brentford and not Rasmussen that was responsible for there success.

If we are after a left back why not try and get Target back from Newcastle if they bring in another left back as rumoured - he has the experience, the premier league experience and and relegation battle experience we need (plus if the worst does happen he has experience of the Championship). He would add a bit of fight, passion and commitment to the cause and to the team if nothing else. Recalling Simeu from League 2 and sending him out on loan to League 1 makes a lot of sense. Hopefully with Simeu, Kegs Chauke, Caleb Watts, Thierry Small and N'Lundulu all getting playing time and experience in League 1 they will all be ready to step up to the Championship next season (along with Smallbone and Tella who are already in the Championship) if the worst does happen it will give us some much needed strength in depth next season. Maybe we should take the same approach with Mara and Larios as well as I don't see them making any real difference to our survival hopes right now. A club in our position needs to have a contingency plan for next season. But above all else we need a striker - if not 2 - who can actually score goals and a CDM to make the team more solid to give us any chance of staying up (or pushing for promotion next season as Adams will be off in the summer). I'd take Ings on loan to see if he and Adams can recapture there partnership. I don't think we need another CB anywhere near much as a CDM to sit in front of and protect the defence or drop back to make 3 at the back if needed. Matt Grimes from Swansea or Marko Grujic from Porto are two players we have looked at in this position before - and probably within reach. Although I have a feeling Salisu will be off in the summer whatever happens (or maybe even sooner in January) so bringing in another experienced CB now makes sense. Keane on loan would be OK but we probably need batter than that.

Gabby Agbonlahor says Saints deserve to go down - https://talksport.com/edge/1294042/ Its hard to disagree with any of this. H does have sympathy for the fans who he says must be 'bored' of it all by now. He has no idea how bored of it all we are!

Nathan Jones has to go after that total lack of a performance - and that Southampton and ‘I’ not ‘we’ press conference playing 3/5 at the back at hoofball in the premier league just won’t work - and least of all to a striker like Che Adams BUT surely Semmens has to go now too and whoever else has been responsible for player recruitment Everybody except those in power could see that we so desperately needed a striker that could actually score abd letting Romeu go without a replacement was criminal - anyone could Diallo simply isn’t good enough and relying on an 18 year old for a whole season was never going to work

https://offthepitch.com/a/southampton-managing-director-squad-we-have-now-enables-us-return-profitability-next-two-three this headline seems to outline our transfer strategy - buy young players and flip them

https://offthepitch.com/a/southampton-managing-director-squad-we-have-now-enables-us-return-profitability-next-two-three Can anyone read this interview with Toby Steele, the MD? If nothing else the headline gives a clear idea of the Sports Republic strategy - buy cheap young players to flip them and make money. The only problem is it seems to ignores the the need to be competitive on the pitch with a team built around a sold core of good experienced players - and at the same time allow you to develop get the best of the youngsters.

If Semmens, Crocker and Sports Direct have even thought about bringing back Bednarek or Stephens it truly proves they have no idea what they are doing. That they have no real plan or strategy. If we need a 5th centre back to allow us to play 3 at the back bring back Simeu or better yet buy a new quality centre back now to replace Salisu as he will be off in the Summer if not before. At the very least we need a goal scoring striker, an experienced defensive midfielder and a goal scoring and creative No. 10/attacking midfielder at the very least if we are to scrape survival this season. Probably 2 strikers if I’m honest. We also need to be harder on the players we have got and get rid of the deadwood hanging around the squad - show all of the players there are no free rides at Southampton. Diallo, Djnepo, Elyounoussi and Adam Armstrong should all be moved on at the very least - even if it’s on loan initially - and replaced.

It is hard to see us escaping relegation this season - but don't kid yourself it will lead to some form of renaissance or fresh start for the club - or that life will be better in the Championship. This current squad would struggle in the Championship - they just don't have the nous, mentality or experience to win games or grind out results. And that is before the best of the players are picked off by the premier league and the mercenaries jump ship. The only hope is that unlike the last time we went down under Lowe Sports Republic will have a plan to get back up. All Lowe was interested in was cutting the costs and banking the parachute payments before he sailed away. By the time he was ousted the damage was already done - and we then wasted money we didn't have on trying to strengthen a very weak team which saw us relegated again and in administration. If we go down the crown jewels will most likely be sold or stolen from us - Lavia, Tino, ABK, JWP, KWP and probably Salisu and Caleta-Car as well as Sports Republic cash in. Moi, Walcott, Caballero and AMN will be out of contract and will be released to cut costs. With a year left on their contracts and a cut in wages Salisu and Che Adams will probably jump ship. The same with Stuart Armstrong. The cut in wages for Bednarek and Stephens finally means they be willing and able to leave permanently - and I think Lyanco will leave as well for the same reason. That leaves us with a very small squad - even if we recall Simeu, Smallbone, Lis, Tella, N'Lundulu, Vokins, etc. GK - McCarthy, Bazunu, Lis FB - Larios, Perraud, Payne, Small, Vokins CB - Simeu, M - Smallbone, Aribo, Djneppo, Diallo F - Edozie, Mara, Tella, N'Lundulu, Adarma But hopefully it means we will be able to get rid of Adam Armstrong, Djnepo and Diallo as they are simply not good enough and rather than waste money on paying them use it to bring in new players. It should mean the end of Semmens - but a lot of other staff - good people for the most part will lose their jobs. If we are lucky Sports Republic will manage to persuade 1 or 2 of the better players to give us another year (Stu, ABK, Tino) and use the parachute payments and cash raised to sign the best proven Championship players and get some of the best young players on loan from the premier league. On top of that Sports Republic will have to sack and replace a manager who will have become toxic for the fanbase if he keeps going the way he has started - and find a good young manager who can build a team, an identity and a way of playing. But we will need a proper well funded plan to get us back up in 2 or 3 years - not a one hit hope or roll of the dice. To be honest I hope Sports Republic sell up to someone who actually wants to run a football club and not a player development business. And then we might actually be successful on the pitch.

I think they are good signings - they have the quality and the potential we need - but we need more experienced players to go with them. The problem we have is we may well get relegated for the lack or experience before those players fulfil their potential. Maybe I didn't say it explicitly enough but I meant we need to sign those players as well - not only or instead of (but I also know you are one of those posters who just likes to find something to disagree with and have an argument). Salisu is 22 and had one full season in the La Liga before we signed him - I don't class him as experienced. Lycano - I am not sure has played regularly enough at the top level to be seasoned. KWP and Caleta-Car probably have. Perraud is on this way there but only has 1 or 2 season at the top level in France. For truly great players maybe age isn't so relevant and hopefully ABK, Tino and Lavia will fall in to that bracket. A back 2 of Salisu and ABK lacks experience - and when you add Tino at right back, Peraud and left back and Lavia in CDM I just don't think there is enough experience or gamesmanship there to see out hard games, turn losses in to draws and draws in to wins. And you are right we probably can't afford a 25 year old premiership player with a hundred games and is as a quality player - but I was talking about a top tier or competitive league experience - not just the premier league - eg Matt Grimes or Josh Brownhill in midfield - both seasoned players from the Championship. But also keeping players like Romeu until we have other players experienced enough to take his palace in the squad would have been a good idea.

I think ABK, Mara, Bazunu and Edozie were all good signings - just like Tino. I don't think ABK is a seasoned player yet though with just one season at the top level in the Bundesliga. I meant experienced players at the top level - La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A for example - and I would also count the Championship as it is probably up there with those leagues in terms of competition. I am not so sure about Aribo as the Scottish Premiership and League 1 or 2 are not of a good standard (and playing for Rangers means its relatively easy) and he is still relatively young. The problem is when 2 or 3 out of your back 4 and your defensive midfielder are under 23 and relatively inexperienced - for example. Who are ABK and Salisu supposed to learn from on the pitch? Who teaches them how to manage games or see out a draw - or adapt to the other teams tactics. I think we have all complained that Saints just don't seem to have this ability lately. Ajax are probably the exception to the rule - and have been so more than once (the team of Kluivert, Litmanen, Kanu, Davids, Reizeger, De Boer, De Boer, etc stands out as the best young team ever). And Haaland is one of those freaks of nature - but Dortmund and Citeh have the structure around him that we just don't have. JWP, KWP and Caleta-Car would be the first names on my team sheet - with maybe Adams, Stu and AMN after them. Add ABK, Edozie and Lavia to that and its a much stronger team.

The first problem with buying players for the future - or to develop them and sell on alongside the players you develop from your academy - is you need to make sure you have a future. And that means staying in the premier league. Relegation means you will have to sell all those players cheaply before you are ready and the 'gems' from your academy will be taken by bigger clubs. And to stay in the premier league your team needs a core of solid premier league players - not world beaters - but good premier league players who are experienced enough to know their way around the premier league. I'm talking about players in the 24-32 age bracket who have enough games under their belt to make a difference. This core of players gives you the framework or spine of the team if you like to bring through players from the 18-24 age group and develop them without throwing them to the wolves game after game. You also need depth to your squad - and I don't just mean having 25 players - you need enough good and experienced players in the 24-32 age bracket to last the season and cope with rotation, injuries, suspensions and international breaks. At the very least a first 11 if not more than that. The problem is we don't have a core group of players that is good enough, experienced enough or big enough to provide that spine - or provided the strength in depth needed to survive in a tough league. I would probably only count Ward-Prowse, Walker-Peters, Caleta-Car and Stuart Armstrong solidly in that core group. Maybe Perraud and Maitland-Niles as well. You could argue Moi, Aribo and Adams are on the edge of it but I am not sure they are good enough. But its not enough - its not even a full first 11. Maybe add 2 or 3 great youngsters to it from the likes of Bazunu, Tino, Lavia, Salisu, Edozie and ABK and you might get away with winning some games but its not enough to go through a whole season. Letting Romeu go in the summer without replacing him in the core group was really bad idea. And not adding some quality and experience when we desperately needed it was another. I am not arguing they all have to be proven premier league players - but at least seasoned professionals from the Championship or another top tier league.

8 - we really needed that striker / goal scorer and I am a little worried about the depth at CB and CM. I'm not really sure we have the players to sustain 4-2-2-2 if Ralph wants to play that way. But we seem to have shifted to a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 now anyway. Saying that its far better than I was expecting. It shows how bad the squad/players were (and overpaid) that we had to give them away for free or loan them out to move players on - and some we couldn't even do that with

I think we were interested and I think we probably matched or made a better offer - but he's from Liverpool - and maybe an Everton fan - so I think he made the decision on where he wanted to go.

Jacob Tanswell in the Athletic is basically saying we are desperate for a full back and one that can play on the left and right - and one that is young and malleable sounds like Pedersen is the only one still available of those we have looked at (Neco Williams, Brandon Williams, Marcus Pedersen and Issa Kabore) I still think we should have gone for Aaron Hickey (two footed and can play on the left or right) and maybe explains the rumours we are interested in Max Aaron’s - but I think both were/are out of our price range (same as Kabore and Williams) which probably explains the move for Ainsley Maitland-Nile’s on loan as he can cover both left and right back and play in CM as well - and on loan would be a cheaper option and lower risk I’m not sure about AMN though given he’s 24 and not done particularly well at Roma last season and wants to play CM rather than full back and supposedly has an attitude problem - but maybe he will be a short term fix to a problem I am pretty sure next summer we will sell one of KWP or Tino and then have the money (and need) to spend on a new full back

I can see us signing Joshua Zirkzee from Bayern Munich as the additional striker we need. Scored 15 goals on loan at Anderlecht last season. 6ft4, Dutch and a year left on his contract so Bayern want to sell with a buy back clause. Available for £12-15M supposedly

Maybe it’s Romeu that wants to leave Saints and head home to Spain - I am pretty sure if he had wanted to have renewed and extended his contract last season the club would have done so. Hasn’t he just had a kid - and he’s from a small town in Catalonia - Girona are more or less his home town club - maybe he wants to be closer to his family and/or end his career in Spain. I had a feeling he’d end up ay Espanyol on a free transfer next summer to be honest - but Girona makes sense given his Barcelona connections. saying that we do need his experience in the dressing room but his best days on a pitch are probably behind him now i would see Garner as more of a replacement for Diallo so perhaps it will be 2 in and 2 out in midfield I would like to see us bring in Ampadu as well - his best position is as play making holding midfielder where he plays for Wales - but he can also play at centre back and right back - and Chelsea are open to letting him leave

We should accept the offers for Diallo and get Garner or Ampadu on loan from Chelski

I think Ralph will stick with the back 3 as he doesn't seem to have the confidence in any of centre backs to play in a 2 But if that the case he has to set the team up properly in front of them to protect them - and allow our wing backs to get forward so for me I think it should be Bazunu ABK Lyanco Salisu KWP Romeu Lavia Perraud Aribo JWP Adams but that is really too defensive to play against Leeds at home so it really should be Bazunu KWP ABK Salisu Perraud Romeu JWP Lavia Aribo Stu Adams

And he would love that - but he might just be right. it’s hard to see 3 teams with worse squads than us - maybe Bournemouth and Fulham. Forest probably don’t have better players but they have much better squad depth and seem to still be strengthening Leeds have added the squad depth they were missing and if they can keep key players like Bamford fit they probably have the edge on us - and look like they will add more players Brentford lost Eriksen but have strengthened everywhere they needed to this season - and have just added Damsgaard on top of that - the have had a great transfer window Everton and Wolves will struggle this season but both are spending £30M plus on players - and will probably keep spending we are going to have to hope Forest’s gamble fails spectacularly - or that one of Everton and Wolves have an injury crisis or a collapse of some sort and it looks like we have run out of cash and are now dependent on selling players to bring others in or looking at loans but if we are going to survive this season we are going to need to add players to the relatively limited (in both ways) squad we have right now I’d quite happily see us move move on players like Diallo, Valery, Bednarek, Adam Armstrong and McCarthy if it meant we could bring new players in - maybe even Adams too as he is one of the few saleable assets we have Lirola would be a start at right back but let’s hope they bring Caleta-Car back from Marseille with him and if KWP is injured we should take another look at getting Issa Kabore on loan from Citeh it looks like Kaladzjic will be going to a bigger club than us so we should go after Joshua Zirkzee whilst he is still available and then try for someone like Nmecha as well if we have the cash or someone like Broja on loan again the same with Hudson-Odoi - he’ll probably stay in London - so we should go after Edozie from Citeh again who we were linked with before to add some depth and the fee was supposed relatively low at £5M (and hope Moi, Walcott and Redmond can give us a little bit more this season) We still need a left back from somewhere and another player in defensive midfield to provide cover as Diallo just isn’t good enough I’d be tempted to go for Ampadu on loan from Chelsea as he can also cover centre back and right back

Targett went on loan to Fulham and did very well - but we probably shouldn't have sold him to Villa. Still think we would have been better keeping him and selling Bertrand (rather than letting Ryan leave for free) in the long run With Tino having a long term injury and Perraud carrying an injury we really needed to sign a left back and a right back before the season started. Having not done so means we only have 2 fit first team full backs which is just not enough (I'm not counting Valery, Ramsey or Vokins) Plus in all likelihood we will sell KWP next summer when he only has 2 years left on his contract so we need a successor anyway. And if KWP is injured we really are in trouble. That means we will start a second game in a row with only one fit fullback. On another note I can see us selling Adams to Leeds after we play them at the weekend coz we need the cash to spend on new players as we can't sell the players we really want to and his value is only going to go down from here.

I am still convinced that if Ralph didn't have 2 years left of £6/7 million a year contract we would have sacked him. I am also pretty convinced Ralph is a one trick pony manager - he can only play and coach 4-2-2-2 high pressing football -which can succeed brilliantly at times but can also fail spectacularly at times. If it doesn't work he has no idea. Look at how we dealt with the direct teams like Burnley in the past - he had no idea what to do. Also look at how we played 3 at the back on Saturday compared to Spurs or Brighton over the weekend. It was kind of a 3 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 1 with one defensive midfielder, 3 box-to-box midfielders, 2 wingbacks , 1 AM and 1 CF (not too mention playing Djneppo on the left as a wing back when he is right footed, Adarma as lone striker despite his stature, Valery as a centreback and Romeu as a box-to-box midfielder when he doesn't have the engine for it) if you are going to play 3 at the back for defensive solidity you need to play 2 holding midfielders in front of them to cover the gaps and then you can allow your wingbacks to get forward and provide width and play 1-2 or 2-1 up front playing 3 AM up front at the end of the game and no striker just added insult to injury Brighton played 3-3-3-1 or 3-2-2-2-1 - whichever way it was they provided more cover and protection for the back 3 than we did was Ralph being too clever for his own good or was he just being clueless? I am not sure which to be honest he is not helped by the fact we don't have enough players who are really good enough for the premier league and the squad is short in key areas (CB/FB/AM/CF) - but the real question is does he get the best out of the players / team we have? I am not sure he does

I would guess that we are looking to sell Che Adams as he is one of the few players we have that is actually saleable - and that we are willing to sell. And with 2 years left on his contract now is the time to sell him if we are going to - which means we might get £20-25M for him. But we should only be selling him if we have a very good replacement lined up (and maybe we won't sell him until we've actually brought a replacement in) The fact that he is on his way out is the only acceptable reason not to have played him on Saturday - or play him this coming Saturday. What worries me though is it was clear to every one of us that what we needed most in the transfer window was an experienced commanding centre back, cover at full back (left and right) and a proven striker with pace and power that can score goals - and as yet we haven't signed any of those. Still the transfer window is still open so I guess we have to have faith they will bring them in before it closes. What scared me most on Saturday is we started the game with 3 players we know just aren't good enough for the Premier League - Adam Armstrong, Djneppo and Valery and then brought on another in Diallo. All of them should have been moved on this summer - whether sold or on loan to see out their contracts (Djneppo/Valery) or try and regain some of their value (Diallo/Adam Armstrong). And I guess we are also having problems in shifting those players we want to get rid of - Redmond and Walcott - or who want to leave (Bednarek). Lets hope as the transfer windows gets nearer to closing we see some interest in these players. I'd possibly add Elyounoussi and Lyanco to the list of players we need to move on and replace. So far the transfer window has been better than I expected with us bringing in Aribo, Lavia, Bazunu, ABK and Mara and it has given me hope that there is more to come. But unfortunately although better than I was expecting other than Aribo they are not the proven or experienced players we really need. They are the add-ons/the nice to have's - not the essential signings we really need.