S-Clarke

It was well documented at the time that RM was a big part of the recruitment process in the summer, leading it in some aspects in light of no DoF. Of course recruitment is a club-wide debate, but RM had a hell of a lot of influence over our picks in the summer (Wood and Fraser as two examples). I don't think he appreciated the step up and seemed comfortable continuing with the same spine from the previous season, with the likes of BBD/Wood thrown in for good measure. If Juric was here in the summer I'm fairly certain we'd have seen a lot more physicality come into the door. Our recruitment team entirely underestimated that requirement in the summer, the power and pace teams have at this level is now ridiculous.

He is the one who built a squad so ill-prepared for top flight football, he thought it was a good idea to spend resources on the likes of BBD, Wood, Fraser, Archer etc. So it's on him. I wouldn't say the style got us promoted last season, it was the level of quality relative to that level which dug us out of lots of holes - those holes were created by the style and farting around. As we've gone up a level, the quality in our squad has dropped (which is a really poor indicment of the recruitment) - but he still persisted on playing the same style but without the required quality level to dig us out of the holes it continuously stuck us in.

Good post ally, lots of good points there. There has always been a desire to over complicate things at Southampton though, or we try to proclaim we are reinventing the wheel. That's been the case with Clive Woodward becoming our DoF, or selling all of our first team and trying to compete in the Champ with teenagers, or believing we can be successful with just passing the football - ignoring any physical requirements. At the end of the day, football is simple. It's about scoring more goals that the opposition, and letting in less than them. Picking players to achieve those things isn't as simple, but following the principles of buying good players with the right attributes and putting them into positions they are comfortable in would be a start. There was an element of arrogance coming into this season, believing our own hype and that ''pass, pass, pass'' would surprise everyone in the top flight. It really isn't revolutionary, and when you're trying to do that in the Top Flight with Smallbone, Stephens, Aribo, Armstrong, Fraser etc then you are utterly foolish really. There will be a big reset in the summer, both of philosophy and player. I expect a bigger exodus than last time and we won't be left with 'PL' players as we were last time out (such as Adams, Bednarek, KWP etc). It's not going to be an easy ride back, and it may take some time, but this summer needs to be the opportunity we start turning this club around and getting back to the basics. All eyes are on SR now, they either start doing the right things or they screw up again - and if they screw up again, they've got to go.

We need more than just Spors, he now needs free reign to build a football structure around him (inc. scouting and analysts). I'd agree that Spors is a positive step in the right direction, but it's only the start of what I hope to see before we see any real gains.

Yes, that's what I wasn't sure about. I didn't see the positive moments or positive bits of play he was referring to, so that was a bit worrying. He's been quite honest and blunt so far in his assessments of things, but yesterday his comments were a bit waffly it has to be said. I do find it hard to judge him either way though, impossible in fact. I can't be for or against him at this stage, there's too much in the mix he hasn't been able to control to come to a clear judgement.

This season is on Russell Martin. He presided over the Summer Transfer window and ensured we filled our squad with his mates, and players who couldn't adapt to PL football. I can accept Downes and THB as they had to happen based on last season, but we didn't need to sign Wood, Fraser or BBD. It was well documented that Martin had a full involvement in recruitment due to the absence of a proper DoF. He didn't understand what was required for the PL, the club - guided by him in the lack of any football structure - completely ignored the gap between the leagues. Juric hasn't done anything of note, but he can only work with what he has. The best thing I've seen from him is his understanding of what is required for PL football, he's said it a few times - and that's why we don't see Martins mates like we used to. It will take us some time to recover from what we did in Summer 24.

I do find it hard to be either for or against the manager at this stage, it really is a sad state of affairs that we have people calling for his head already. The problems are way deeper than a manager appointed a couple of months ago. Things haven't improved because we have shit players, who are hamstrung by a losing habit. They are mentally fragile as it is, so losing every week is going to be enough to end some of them. How we prepared for this season will forever haunt me. Martin and his cronies have a lot to answer for, he was overseeing the clusterfuck.

We were last year, this season not so much. He's been a big part of the reason we're sat on 9 points, our midfield has surrendered pretty much every game.

I struggle with Aribo as well, he's a good lad, but quality wise he's horrendous in my opinion. I imagine he'll be off to Turkey in the summer, that'll be a big chunk off the wage bill. It'll be a big change up, but I think we need to say cheerio to the likes of Aribo, Bednarek, McCarthy, Stephens, Smallbone etc - guys that have been here quite some time now. It's time to build around Charles, Edwards and the like, players not tarnished by the mess that went on before them. The guys above are severely damaged goods.

I think that snapshot of an 11 isn't the true story though, Danny Ings was a key part to our success during that calendar year - goals make so much difference to any team. Shortly after that we fell through the floor for what it's worth! I've always been a big Ralph fan and I think he got the maximum out of what he had available to him, but he ran out of steam due to years of zero investment. I don't think anyone would be able to do much with the above 11 over a period of time though.

I didn't say Downes nor Armstrong are pathetic. Yes, they were our best players last season, but that doesn't give them a free ride to contribute absolutley fuck all this year and nor does it give them a free ride to take the piss out of the club and 'go on strike', which is what he's done. Ugochukwu is pretty shit fwiw, don't like him at all as he can't play football - so I haven't switched that up.

The biggest takeaway from that team was the fact we had a midfield, Romeu was pivotal and provided genuine steel. Look at how pathetic we are in the middle nowadays, even last season was painful to watch. I'd love a Romeu type in our 11 again, but we have no one even fit to lace his boots. The bunch of players Juric has inherited is the most underprepared and ill-suited bunch for PL football, and even more ill-suited for the style of play he wants to play (as it was built for pass, pass, pass). It's a right old mess we've got ourselves into, it's going to take some time and probably a good few managers to get through this next few years.

And that is why I do not hold the confidence that some do on our ability to be competitive next year. We were inept, hamstrung by our losing habit and home form which doesn't exit. I'm not seeing the 'good things' that Juric claims to have seen either. A bunch of utter trash in that 11, some good players for sure, but they are brought down so badly by the utter trash we've managed to acquire over the last few years. We'll lose anyone who can play football in the summer, and we'll be left with the likes of Bree and Fraser to build around. I really don't expect anything next year other than a bumbling stoke-style season. We've got a long road ahead of us.

The players loved him because he covered up their limitations and allowed them to do whatever the fuck they wanted to do. The preparation and start to this season tells you how utterly underprepared we were. They loved him because he gave them an easy ride. Juric is a bit grizzly and will have a go, some of the softies won't like that. It is really poor show for him to drop and run like he has though, it's not like he's been the standout this year - he's been our worst midfielder by a mile.

It doesn't mean much. I always stand by the opinion that in the lower leagues momentum counts for more than money, but when you can combine momentum with a bit of money it's sometimes an unstoppable force.

Bloody Davenport, useless centre back. One of the worst we've had to endure.

I think he only ends up there if they get promoted, they wouldn't be able to afford him otherwise. He just signed a new contract with us, we're in a strong position to demand upwards of £15m for someone who guarantees you stacks of goals in the Championship. If people don't pay that, we keep him and he scores goals for us.

It's a start and I'm pleased Dragan immediately identified the need for someone in his position. From the limited info I have, it seems as if he is a Red Bull approach advocate - high press, high energy football - which ties in quite nicely with how Juric has traditionally approached football, so hopefully the right players are now being profiled. The flip flopping of philosophies is driven by the lack of football leadership though, so if we can get that right we might be able to build something again. It's not going to happen overnight but it's certainly a step in the right direction. It feels like there is a bit of a plan again. Why the club never replaced Wilcox ahead of our Summer transfer window will forever confuse me though.

He's a good player, I was pleased when we signed him as IMO he's a future England international. He should have had more game time, I mean if Bree can play at the back for us in the PL then I'm sure Edwards can deal with it. We'll enjoy watching him next season I think, it'll be interesting to see who partners him. He's certainly the sort of player who can grow with a club and become a PL player, so we need to make sure we keep those sorts.

Both of those windows were directionless as others have said, no real plan on what we were doing. What do they both have in common? We oversaw both of those windows without a proper DoF in place. It's obviously well documented that Rasmus stepped in during Jan 03, but Summer 2024 by all accounts was lead by Martin as we decided to not replace Wilcox, which was dangerous really. I keep harping back on about it, but without a footballing structure we're broken - you can tell our struggles because of our constant flip flopping between styles. I don't know at this stage if we'll have a proper DoF in place for Summer 25 which makes me nervous, as we'll have lots of big footballing decisions to make - and we need footballing people to lead that, not businessmen.

Good for him to get some game time, be interesting to see how he does. You can't get away from how much weaker we've ended the window though, losing SAA, Cornet, Armstrong and BBD as attacking options and not replaced (granted, the output from them all was pretty shit). We only have Onuachu and Archer as viable 9's. I hope we don't get any end of season attacking injury crisis!

Oh yes, good point. I was thinking of Kuryu Matsuki at Goztepe, who equally looks decent tbf.

In the snippets I've seen, this guy looks good. I think it's easy to forgot we've got him coming back into our 11 next year, and he certainly looks Championship quality - probably higher than that. Looking forward to seeing him.

Surprised there were no takers in England (actually, maybe not that surprised!). I think it's the Edozie and Bazunu derby in a few weeks.

Oops. Reminds me of a player Leeds went for a few years ago, at the same time they were pushing for Gakpo with us. He agreed to go to Leeds, then decided to go elsewhere, that didn't happen and then he was left in limbo at the club who wanted rid.