Smirking_Saint

Exactly this There’s an argument that if he had a fit Lavia, Sulemana and Onuachu in the Summer we would be ok and he’d still be here, its definitely a theory that I believe Ultimately though, by the end he had to go, we’d lost any direction and cohesion under him and the players were tired mentally and physically

Probably not, mainly due to the rumours of dressing room unrest though tbh

Pretty much, though I don’t think Marsch is ‘as’ bad as many believe, it didn’t really work at Leeds but I do think there’s a decent manager there schooled at the feet of Ragnick like Ralph H.. my only concern is of all of RRs deciples Marsch is arguably the least polished and least tactically proficient

I nearly put Will Still actually, plays a sort of off shoot of a high energy/high press at Reims but in a less rigid 4231 as opposed to RBs gagenpress style 4222 A UEFA PRO licence is required in the prem though Im not sure if its fully mandatory or its a fine system like in Ligue 1

Bruno Lage or Nuno I think could/should be solid options that fit and have prem experience Poch obviously but we have no chance Bielsa BUT I don’t think he’ll have a quick enough impact to save us Gallardo Im not convinced about, another with tactics that just don’t fit the current set up at the club and there must be a reason why he hasn’t taken a role in Europe yet Marsch… bottom of the list but like I explained previously I think the fit is largely a good one Gerrard is a heavy no from me, is a relatively big name from his playing days but I don’t see a particularly impressive manager there Carrick is far too early in his managerial career but its an interesting name and I think is/will be a good manager

It wasn’t with Puel

I wouldn’t actually be completely against Marsch, plays football the right way and is versed with how the club is effectively set up tactically My main grip, well, one of many MANY gripes tbh, with Jones was he was in effect completely opposed to how the club had been structured for effectively the last god knows how many years, we needed somebody new that could tweak and compliment the systems, not completely attempt to re work them He’d almost certainly go back to a 4222 counter press imo, or perhaps a 4231 although I think he’d favour the former and from what little I saw of Paul and Sulemana yesterday Id like to see them more as a pair through the middle I suppose it depends on who is available and who actually wants to come here, Poch would be a no brainer.. Gallardo would be high on my list but Id genuinely worry about his transition into PL management… Im not at all convinced by Gerrard Bielsa would be interesting, but I think we’d go down with him, Im not convinced he’d be able to set his enigmatic style on the club within the time constraints we have

Our midfield is good enough to provide protection, Lavia and any two of JWP, Diallo or Alcaraz is enough especially if you play two CBs that can read the game and organise effectively.. defend from the front again in the form of atleast a semi organised press and we’ll be more than ok to atleast battle relegation Jones’ tactics were suicidal, I don’t care how many CBs you put infront of the GK if you sit back and concede possession meekly in our own half you’re asking to let goals in

Fuck me… ive not got the energy to talk saints tonight, just popped in to ask that Unbelievable 😂

I played in a Quarter Final today so fortunately missed the game…. Am I seeing this right… he dropped DCC completely and played AMN at CB ?!

I agree with the assessments around our strike force but he’s made us defensively worse than we were previously and we look like we have even less of an identity Like it or not he had the WC break, sent them off on holiday, said he couldn’t work with them because they weren’t all here (we had the joint least away) and went into Lincoln and Forest like a bunch of headless chickens His tactics were 5 at the back snd long diagonals, a system we’ve tried and failed with before, puts us under greater pressure with less creativity and expects 3/4 players under 6 foot to try to win aerial duels We’ve had the easiest run of fixtures I can remember over a few seasons now, and out of a possible 21 points we’ve walked away with 3 I do not see, under any context how he should be given more time

I think you’re being intentionally obtuse, Ive said before and Ill say it again, and to clarify, this isn’t a statement supporting Ralph far from it.. We looked a team under Ralph that genuinely was only a striker and possibly a creative midfielder away from being competetive Under Jones we look a complete and utter shambles The players have to shoulder the blame, but this is a better squad than the previous two seasons imo

I don’t think we’re anywhere near as bad as a fanbase as most make out, we are of course, on the forum pretty polarised but like any online forum or social media presence those in these ‘forums’ tend to be the most outspoken in either camp (in/out) Ive never really seen the fanbase mood as low as it was under Ralph vs Brentford last year, I was in the directors box for that one and Ive never seen the heirarchy as uncomfortable as they were that day As for Jones ive never seen us quite this outspoken either, and I do think its warranted to an extent, not necessarily the personal stuff but almost certainly the anti jones feel I don’t think he is up to the task, thats the primary issue and one felt by the majority including outside footballing experts/pundits but most importantly he has done nothing but damage his own position with his terrible PR in press conferences whether it’s attacking the fans, his own self awareness or just calling us ‘they’ Ive met Ankerson, he is arrogant but he is almost certainly not stupid and almost certainly does not suffer fools which is why I find Jones’ continued employment even more baffling

What a ton of complete drivel Ive played, coached and watched enough football to know a busted flush when I saw one, I wasn’t convinced from the off I admit and that probably had an influence in my estimation of the man but you could see against Lincoln this side had actually regressed, it was even more apparent vs Forest that this was a man woefully out of his depth and the rot has continued As for firefighting, he was literally brought in to firefight.. its not his fault that he was a poor appointment but it is almost certainly his fault that he has accelerated the disharmony and toxicity around this club We do, I agree, have an influence, but you surely cannot be blaming us for quite how disasterous we are on the pitch

TBH Ill go with what I said before, that is his position is untenable He could win 5-0 this weekend and a vocal majority will still be waiting for him to drop the ball again.. the rot has been to quick and his comments have damaged him irreversibly I of course just want a manager to succeed, I want to see this club maintain its PL status but without a unified fanbase I just don’t see it being possible

Not that im aware of but im not there just trawling twitter

The jist of it is a few questions about the womens team and away fans More importantly- He needs to give Jones time with new signings The academy pathway is delayed as a lack of quality from 18-22 yrs old so we plugged gaps there

Considering he signed Bree I’m ok with that

Toby Steele isn’t it ? Not sure of the other guy

Football ownership shares are always massively convoluted confusing messes

Holdings* is the Southampton ownership group isn’t it ? Sports Rebublic Ltd is owned in full betwen Kraft and Ankerson

With respect you’re wrong

I think thats more down to Crocker and Ralph before he was burnt out then it was Semmens tbh who just managed to get by with soundbites that when analysed are vacuous or contradictory Im no great fan of the man, was apparently instrumental in fucking up some of our transfer targets in the summer too

Yeah I think your correct on that one. Ankerson comes across as arrogant and useless but not stupid, hanging onto Jones in this situation is beyond any reasonable business justification, by any metric (I know Rasmus likes these things) Jones’ position is completely untenable As for those wishing Ankerson to leave by Dragans hand I don’t think you quite understand the relationship, its my understanding Dragan has bought into ‘sports republic’ that is effectively Kraft X Ankerson more than he has bought into Southampton… Im sure questions are being asked but make no mistake I think there will be a divorce between SR and the club before we see one between SR and Ankerson

Hopefully Semmens gets the chop then, man is beyond useless