MarkSFC

Southampton exists because there are fans. If no one ever turned up then there would not be a point to it, but we do because we love the club and the city and for me I am proud to support Southampton (even if we lose more than we win at the moment). Marketeers and marketing will always exist, and surveys will happen as it is a quick and easy way to garner some interest. From your pov Turkish they just didn't ask you the correct questions which does not surprise me in the slightest. Im with you though, its all about the football and the players attitude and the style we pursue. The questions they asked gave them answers which are easier to rectify and companies are obsessed with Customer Scores and feedback. The only feedback I have for them is this, spend some money on decent players and give us hope we can win a game or two at home this season!!!Stop taking the **** with ticket prices and encourage a full ground who are there primarily to watch their team fight for a win, and not there for "an experience". An experience is not something that is part of my life, it is something that happens once in a while and will guarantee happy memories. Watching Saints only guarantees heartbreak, excitement and joy, but who knows when and in what proportions from one week to the next.

The past is irrelevant, whether we were good or bad, whether a manager was good or bad. The reality is that right now we are absolutely ABYSMAL at defending and that is the problem. We have enough attacking players to survive, not necessarily top8 or 10 but enough to survive. The reason we will go down is that any combination of defence is sh**, compounded by the lack of a decent DCM. If this is not addressed in January we are doomed to return to the Championship which to be frank might actually be a god send IF it gets us (potentially better) new owners. This bloke we have needs to **** off or spend big, end of.

Unfortunately the club are in the equivalent of a negative equity position with a house. We bought a load of players and their market value has shrunk but we are still making payments on the original purchase price. To get out of this you need to take a hit in the pocket or wait for the sale value to go back up, which in the case of most of our players (the ones we want to sell) is not going to happen anytime soon if ever. The only way out is to sell at whatever price and start again. Gao has to accept this and provide a way of doing this quickly. Without a detailed look at it, the sooner he does it the less it will cost in the meantime in regard to the money you earn in the PL versus the Chanpionship. It will take 2 or 3 windows minimum to get anywhere near where we were, and the other thing to consider is that in this timeframe, clubs already better than us will have their own opportunity to improve, albeit most likely a little slower, but who knows. The reality is that we need to purchase (as is the market place now) 5 to 6 players in the 25 to 40m bracket to make a big impact in a short time. The other problem is that the wages for that bracket of player probably exceeds or at the very least is near the top of our structure. Amd that's before you even have the challenge of trying to attract those players to us rather than better clubs. So all in all, either Gao stumps up big or we are f***** big time Either way, I would stick with Ralph.

My gut feeling on Che is hat it's been a mental adjustment that has taken time and because he didnt score earlier it knocked his confidence. We (most football fans) are too quick in the main to write players off and I think we would be wrong in this case. I see a mobile, quick and instinctive player who I think given a goal or two and a run of a few games will prove to be a very decent player for us. If I'm right then we will have to descent strikers.

I think Ralph deserves a huge amount of credit. He does of course need to keep us up but he way he has turned the performances around after such a battering proves that at least the players believe. If he can get a little but of backing in January with a CB or two and some assistants and a DOF he believes in then I think we could finish the season ok. Perhaps, just perhaps the 0-9 was just what we needed in the longer term. Back him at least until May.

get Rafa...

Maybe Rafa as the DOF?? Mentor Ralph and guide the club from his experience.

Having been at the match I ha e two main thoughts. Phew. And Ok. Phew because it wasnt a pounding and Ok then because in he last 20/25 minutes there was some good play and it looked like the confidence was returning. Obviously we can do much better but confidence is a fickle b****** so to see some good possession and some chances, and of course a goal, will hopefully give the group a lift for training his week and even a better result Saturday. They were clearly nervous first half and thsta little bit understandable but hot away with it. 2nd half they came out with what seemed a different attitude.

A really decent article. Like mentioned above this is real journalism unlike the local rag which is only I terested in advertising and click-bait. The highlighting of RHs effectively isolation in terms of football knowledge in the club is something I hadnt considered or recognised. As an international coach in my own sport, having like minds and knowledge around you to de-brief is essential, especially in the short term. Over the linger term vision and strategy takes over and emotion is far less prevalent. I hope the business leaders (Semmens, really, who on the face of it seems a decent guy) can provide the support network and structure RH needs to help him prosper. Currently he is trying to provide that environment for the players and clearly does not have the resources to do so. I'm going tonight, and have no idea what to expect. I will enjoy visiting a new stadium and go from there!!! Gao needs to take a look at what Man City are doing and find a way of doing it in a similar way. Clearly the amount of money available is miles apart but he needs to decide whether he can deliver or not. If not, sell; if yes, hurry up!!!!

Good riddance!! "One of the most sought after talent spotters".....really???? Jeez....he is in the Harry Redknapp camp for me....if you get enough in one or two will be good enough and make you look good!!! Hopefully Ralph has an influence in the choice of successor.

Seriously....why does anyone care whether we played well or started well??? The ONLY thing hst mattered was the win and it was a decent one too. When you know as many Skate ***** as I do it is very pleasing and will make life a little more bearable around them for probsbly quite a while!!!!

.........................Gunn.................. .......Yoshi...Bednarek...Bertrand.. .............Romeu...Hojberg..... ...Valery........... ...................Djenpro ........................Boufal.......... ...... ................Adams...........Redmond .. ......

Of we do not sign a quality CB we can only hope that Ralph has wielded his magic on Hoedt. I never thought he was horrendous, more that his decision making was. We will see. And maybe Klarer is the breakthrough player this season! I expect Stephen's to go on loan and hope he does because that would make me feel alot easier when waiting for team lineup each game!!!

1) 11th 2) 5th round 3) 5th round 4) Che Adams 5) Che Adams 6) Vestergarrd 7) who gives a ****

Seen the accounts then?? Please share, then we can all understand. If we had zero cashflow and are skint as you put it we would be on the brink of bankruptcy so I think you are wildly inaccurate. It could be the case that the bills are now higher than the income, but on the basis we sell some assets or reduce some bills in good time we can take on another loan (which is effectively how you buy players. I think we are being prudent rather than are actually skint. We need several players shifted and one or two in.

What I dont get about all this "shift players first" malarkey is why one transfer of Upemecanos apparent talent is the key to it happening. Surely if he is that good we need to get him in and worry later...even if it means a dead January in terms of ins and even next summer. Another two windows and others will leave more easily than now. Shifting payments by a few months and the cashflow around shouldn't be a massive problem. I so get why we may not get others beyond a CB until 4 or 5 have gone though as other postions are not as important. A CB is paramount.

I think the truth lies somewhere in between as in we no undoubtedly prefer to shift some deadwood but will sign one or two more. I do not think they are linked as such, more a case of waiting for the trigger transfer or transfers to occur so the dominos can fall. Selling before this may help to ease cashflow and maybe get a "bonus" signing but Iwould be amazed not to see a CB regardless of outgoingings; preferably 2!!! Additionally a DCM might be useful!!! Hopefully going to be a productive 10 days or so at Staplewood!!

The reality is that we always want players in as soon as possible but every window goes the same way for most clubs, and that is that most deals are done towards the end as deadline approaches and compromises are made. I like the two weve signed so far (and Ings) but I am concerned about CB and DCM. Ideally I would like another winger/forward (Bowen sounds exciting) but we do have numbers up top. It's more important though that Ralph has had and will have had several weeks to install his methodology and expectations. This cannot be underestimated. But without signings I suggest a safe place between 10 and 14 is most probable. Any higher is reliant upon making 2 or 3 more quality signings.

Interesting wording in the t & c's..... The Prize Draw is for 1 winner to win a general admission season ticket from 2020/21 football season up to the 2030/31 football season which grants entrance to St Mary’s Stadium (or any replacement Stadium) for Southampton FC League games.

What he is now is important it is what he can or should be like in 2 to 3 years with RHs coaching. We can never buy the finished product that is better than our level.

The problem we have had in the last 2 to 3 season with signing players in that 12-20m bracket is that we did not have the manager/coach/coaching team to get them to improve. We had managers who could only organise and motivate what they had....as it turns out poorly...with exception to Puel. With Ralph all the signs are that he can improve quickly these players to see a return to the levels of 3 to 6 years ago. We shall see, but I do think we need to expand the upper number a bit.

I'm not so sure that the keepers have deteriorated that much (Forster aside perhaps, but get the impression theres something else going on there) more that the quality of defenders and DCM in front of them has worsened. This exposes them to more work and the more often a keeper is faced with shots and other work to do, the more likely it is to see their true ability level. It's pretty clear though that Ralph prefers Gunn to McCarthy and it would seem likely that he will move on, and hopefully Forster too. Moving Watson on too would fit in with the revolution Ralph seems like creating this summer.

love your rumours! crack on...

Which ones are they then...

Perfect for Ralph..