Saint Fan CaM

I can’t disagree with the sentiment, but there was next to nothing from the preceding Prem games to indicate the team had any semblance of improving beyond what Martin had achieved (or not as the case was). We may have hoped Juric was the answer, but the short contract with get out clause given to him tells me he was a temporary fix, with the club hedging their bets and expecting him to fail. The positive is that he’ll not be involved in re-build process thankfully, although I’m not confident another balls-up is on the cards while SR are pulling Spors strings.

What do you mean? Do you actually think there was any resemblance of a team able to make a last ditch charge for safety when he took over? This team was relegated (if not mathematically) by the time he took over such was the abject failure - of course he was going to be the fall guy unless by some incredible miracle nearly everything we had seen to date was some bad dream and all of a sudden the players looked competent in even the basics of being a Prem outfit. It was better against Liverpool sure, but the damage was irreversible by then. Juric knew this 2 games in I would wager.

I suspect Juric will be utilised between now and seasons end to suck up all the fallout - taking the blame for 9 points, sacking off unwanted players etc. He was always going to be the fall guy given what he’s had to work with.

Very few ST holders that are also true Saints supporters (as opposed to ‘tourists’) will give up their seat. Living in cloud cuckoo land to think otherwise. There will be a drop off in sold seats - there always is typically, but not to a huge extent, particularly if results improve.

Continual use of certain players - probably to ensure they’re in the shop window? Stubborn use of a back five even when it’s clear it’s not working. I could go on but I can’t be arsed to be honest.

When I think about Manning and a significant number of other players featuring in the first team, I don’t think about ‘commitment’ - that should be a fucking given with the amount of money they’re being paid for the privilege of playing in the best league in the World for one of the founding clubs in the English game! What I do think about is ability to deliver a performance fitting of a top level pro footballer and the resilience and fitness to compete at the top level of pro football. The dichotomy with all this is that individual players are not to blame for being effectively promoted into jobs they are not competent or fit enough to compete in. There are just too many in this squad that fall into that category unfortunately. Then you have players of KWP’s standing and given the excellent service he’s given to the club, it’s not surprising he’s probably feeling somewhat despondent being an integral part of the worst team in Premier league history, when he’s largely been nothing short of a dedicated consummate professional to date.

Agree that the first team is gash, but then so are so many other aspects of the club - the management/coaching team, recruitment, supporter interaction, etc. Personally I don’t see any benefit in changing anything now, basically letting the culprits of such a poor season get away with their high salaries and not receiving the criticism from the stands on match day. Not only that, but what the squad needs is more experienced, stronger, better built men - not kids who will get bullied and run over in arguably the best and most physical league in the World. I would argue that the best approach now is that a consistent 1st team is played with a back four defence in place…no more moving the deck-chairs around. We need to take a deep breath, suck up the last nine games (defeats) and hope that Spors is furiously planning behind the scenes on a rescue strategy that will arrest the terminal decline that appears to be continuing after 4 years + of sub-standard stewardship.

Yeah periodically get errors requiring several refreshes before it comes back again. No idea why - not the end of the World but mildly irritating.

I think he knows his days are numbered and that he’s lost the dressing room. His rant over Fernandes was tantamount to a “please sack me” call. When you think about the similarities between the tactics and formations with Jones, Martin and now Juric, I would hazard a guess there’s a higher strategic pressure from Group telling these Managers to operate in a particular way. Isn’t that the way Groups tend to work in general?

An Ings replacement to play Prem football will cost £30-£40m at least and so the players value is not likely to yield a large profit. That player is unlikely to play across multiple positions such as CB or full-back and a player of that value is likely to be experienced enough to question the system when asked to play perpetually out on the wing. All these factors mean buying a striker to replace Ings would not feature in the SR strategic manual of running football clubs. Yep, that all sounds batshit crazy, until you actually reflect on what’s happened to the club since SR walked through the door! 😉🤣

Don’t want to be a harbinger of doom, but I am concerned that Spors is another SR apologist and whatever he does to the squad / management in the summer will result in more of the same shitshow because it’s the SR way. Someone, somewhere (W-Ankerson?) in the SR fold is pulling the strings and basically instructing the club to work in a particular way. Unless Dragan is countering that in some way and Spors is his own man, our hopes for the summer are going to be dashed on day one of the new season. Fingers crossed I’m wrong.

In summary, Juric setup the team to fail in another bizarre team sheet. First goal was the fault of Manning - stood off his man and didn’t press. What’s the point of three CB’s if none of the fuckers can man-mark or jump? Not playing a striker - AGAIN - was stupid beyond belief. Juric has lost the plot entirely and throwing Fernandes under the bus is really saying to the club “please sack me”.

Look at the games we’ve played, how many points we have and ask which of the remaining games we score in, let alone win. Yep, not happening is it.

There’s so much to hate at the moment. I’m not one for slating the small stuff but even the poxy goal celebration music really pisses me off now. We’ve turned into a real Noddy club.

Thank fuck that’s over. Now get rid of Juric - he’s not the answer. The players don’t give a fuck but might do a bit more if Rusk and Lallana take over. What the fuck does it matter?

Nice cross in - falls to edge of box - no Saints player within 30 yards.

We’re ok - Cpt Jack to the rescue. Crowd shouting “you don’t know what you’re doing “. Can’t say I disagree.

True up to a point - Dibling is no where near MLT levels of ball skill or scoring ability.

Amongst many many other things - like the basics.

We’re going to smash L1.

Dibling. An enigma. Looks great for 15 seconds then rubbish for 30 minutes.

OMG - looks like a fucking training game at 72 minutes and 2-0 down. Utter utter shite. And then TP scores. Well well.

We get a FK on goal - Wolves get a shot on goal. Useless.

We must have given the ball away so many times…even Aribo who is usually sound.

Whatever we get for Dibling in the summer will be enough. Doesn’t deserve a start.