WALK DMC

Viera appears to be Postecoglou in reverse, he starts well and then has a poor second season (see Nice/Palace/Genoa). I've always had a suspicion that some of these tough guy types (like Roy Keane) are often good in the short term, but that their aggressive style isn't as effective in the medium to long term. Even if that theory holds true, I wouldn't be totally against Viera as manager, I really feel that the team needs a short, sharp shock to the system and perhaps he could bring that to the club.

I think the thing that will put top clubs buying him is his age. He will be 28 years old next year, so very little resale value, plus you'd have to ask why hasn't he been a target for any other clubs in the past. If he continues to impress, that won't stop somebody coming in with an offer that we can't refuse, but it may deter immediate interest in the short term.

A very good call, but I can't see him dropping from managing a team towards the top of the Bundesliga in recent years to a relegation threated English team in the Championship. But he is available ....

I agree, but I think that the players that we have acquired are actually more suitable for 4-2-3-1, or 4-4-1-1 than 3 at the back.

Michael Carrick seems to be getting a load of support here. His managerial career has been pretty mediocre with 8th and 10th position finishes in his last two seasons in the Championship and a reputation for possession based football. I feel that we need a bigger character to transform the club and address the malaise of the last few years. Steven Gerrard did brilliantly at Rangers, but was unsuccessful at Villa and Saudi, so I'd be nervous about appointing him. If Brendon Rogers could be persuaded to join, I think that he'd be the right sort of character to sort things out and has a proven pedigree. He is unlikeable, but I'd actually see that as a positive (at least at the moment), as I think we need a strong, focused individual who will upset the applecart and get us out of this permanent rut that we seem to have been living in. In my view, Carrick would steady the ship, but wouldn't transform. Rogers could get us to the Premier league and stay there but would probably leave if things weren't too his liking or another opportunity was wafted in front of him. Gerrard is somewhere in the middle - it could work out and he could turn things around, but I certainly wouldn't be filled with confidence. None of the above are ideal, mid-season appointments are always fraught with danger as the pool of available and competent managers is always limited. Let's just hope that Sports Republic get it right......

I don't want to be picky (and clearly about to fail) or to ruin our good luck, but ......... McCarthy was in goal against WBA in the play-off semi which we won 3-1.

I think that the issue can be traced back to Still's obsession with 3 at the back. Rather than start 4 at the back, and push Edwards into DM, he used Finn Azaz as a DM. I think that Azaz will make a big contribution to Saints in the future, but only if they release his creative talent and play him as a 10 just behind the striker. Azaz as a DM was poor (with the odd exception including a fabulous through ball for one of Armstrong's misses), and Blackburn took control in the 2nd half. Still wanted to strengthen the DM area, which is why Stephens came on for Scienza and Azaz played further forward replacing him on the left wing. So, in practice it was a like for like replacement. The fact that it didn't work wasn't a huge surprise (has any one seen Stephens play well as DM ? ), but I actually think that Still had the right idea (strengthen midfield and try and regain control), he just picked the wrong player to put on (& take off). Lastly, is it me, or are Scienza's performances weaker in the 2nd half of games ? He always seems stronger in the first half of matches - I can't say that I have seen enough to be sure, but he could be a player that runs out of steam. However, I suspect that Still will think twice about taking him off in the future 🙂

A fairly reasoned response, although it's the last two paragraphs which are the ones that worry me. I'm absolutely fine with losing Will, but only if we have confidence that his successor will significantly improve what we have. Taking a knee jerk decision to appoint a Manager with a mediocre track record just because they are available (and there is usually a good reason why they are available!) may only perpetuate the downwards cycle that we find ourselves in. I'm not sure what the answer is, I've yet to see a name of an experienced Manager who could transform both the culture and performances of our club. Maybe someone like the unlikable Brendon Rogers, but I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't consider us anyway. I don't think that we will be relegated this season (famous last words), so we should take our time assessing the market - good Managers do come available during the season. Of course, I'm assuming that Sports Republic will make a good decision even when they take their time ..................

Additionally, we've not scored a goal in the first half of a home game since April (Fulham). And it is now around 372 days since we were leading a league game by more than a single goal (and even then we lost 😞 )

When Ralph came in, we'd gone 12 games without a win. He then proceeded to win 4 of the next 7, a very immediate impact.

Maybe a better question would be how many minutes has Azaz played for Saints. He still has more Championship goals/assists this season than Archer, Scienza, Fellows, Charles, Janker & Downs. Plus the same total as Stewart & Fraser. We're not scoring goals, perhaps we should start playing people who have demonstrated over multiple years the capacity to do so at this level.

It's not just starting with the same formation that is the issue, it's the fact that he can't/won't change it during the game. Both Swansea and Bristol City could have utilised 4-2-3-1 or a variation of 4-4-2, when it was clear that we'd stopped creating in the 2nd half, but he was too slow or stubborn to react. Personally I'd like to see Azaz given more of a chance, he is the type of player who will be anonymous for much of the game but still come up with a goal and an assist.

Nice line-up. I believe that Mads (& Jellert) is injured, so I would go with Ronnie at RB.

I believe that the last we were 2 goals up was just over a year ago against Leicester at St Marys. As I recall, we lost that 3-2. It would a strange feeling now to be leading a game by more than a single goal, would be even nicer to win one by 2 or 3 !

I agree with much of what you say, my main criticism being that he should have gone 4-2-3-1 in the 2nd half when it was obvious that we'd stopped creating. For me, Azaz is best in that formation and he does have the ability to unlock a defence, so worth a try for 25 minutes. I also thought that THB was ok and his passing decent at times - although it was noticeable that playing as LCB meant his passing deteriorated when he was forced to play with his left foot. I'm not sure that Swansea are quite as bad as some people are saying, we actually played really well (at least in first half) and are progressively improving. Swansea's away form is reasonable; they've lost twice 1-0 (away at Boro and Birmingham) and won twice (Blackburn & Sheff W). Plus, they haven't been dominated all season as they were yesterday, so we should take some positives from the game. Of course, we need to start winning. Fingers crossed for Bristol City.

Smallbone was a regular in the Saints team that came 4th in 23-24. He is now a regular in a team that is currently 5th in the Championship. He isn't as awful as you imply. I'll give you Bazunu though....

My optimism hasn't been totally extinguished. Clearly the season so far has been poor, yet we're still only 4 points behind a play off place and 7 points off automatic promotion. If we can put a decent run together (e.g. win 3 games on the bounce), we will start to close that gap significantly. However I agree with many here that Still has been a disappointment and yet to introduce a real style to our play. However I thought that there were phases in our last few games when we started to look better, although the loss of Stewart clearly stunted that improvement. I look at England where Thomas Tuchel didn't seem to improve anything when he first arrived, but suddenly in the last 3 games they look a different team and playing to their true potential. I'm hoping but not necessarily hopeful that things could still change, if Will Still suddenly finds the ingredient that he is searching for and getting this team playing to their true abilities. Fingers crossed.

According to Transfermarkt he is 1.75m tall. In old money that is 5ft 9in, so we can add him to our list of short forwards along with Archer and Armstrong.

I see that Tyler had his first start in the Premier league for Everton today. It didn't seem to go brilliantly and he was replaced at HT. Already some grumbling on the Everton forum about him. I was never totally convinced that he was a £40m player, but at his age it's very difficult to judge. Will be interesting to see how he gets on this season & beyond.

Play two up top ?

It could also mean that we are playing 4 at the back and we already have a centre half on the bench, so Quarsshie is isn't needed .....

I think that all of the players that you have listed with the exception of Ramsdale have 40 games to stake a claim for a place in the Premier league (if we return). Only Mads & THB have any real experience of playing there and Mads was more of a backup for Brentford. There may be a good reason why Azaz and Fellows weren't picked up by a Premier league team in this window and why Scienza was only picked for around half of the games in the Bundesliga last season in a relegation threatened team. I'm really excited about the signings and they clearly give us a shot at promotion, but until we've seen them in action over the course of the season, we may have a different view on whether they are Premier league ready, or otherwise.

Really exciting that we now have Azaz, Fellows & Scienza in the building or close to joining. Each of them brings the creativity and goal scoring that we have missed. The other thing to note is that if each of them has a fault it is their defensive work, all of them have been highlighted as weak in that area. It is going to put a lot of pressure on Charles, Downes or Jander and our defence when we don't have the ball. I wouldn't be surprised to see Frazer keep his place for a little while yet as he is probably more disciplined and defensive minded than the other three. Exciting time ahead.

You make a fair point, but it should be remembered that Jelert has been playing for Galatasaray so is pretty familiar with high pressure atmospheres. I think that key will be if Still wants to go 4 at the back - he might consider Jelert better suited than Manning in that formation.

It's difficult to disagree that Moore would not be somebody we'd want to sign. However, I do think our approach will change once we have the new signings integrated and what you describe above about using width and crossing into the box is exactly what Tom Fellows brings to the party. My concern is that we don't the have the "right" centre forward to take advantage of those sort of crosses, as I can't see Archer scoring too many with his head. Stewart would be the obvious choice of our 4, but I get the impression that Still only plays him towards the end of the league games. So, while I agree Moore wouldn't be the answer, it's going to be interesting to see how we leverage the approach that Tom Fellows will give us.