Lallana's Left Peg

We don't know what evidence Boro submitted. We don't know what evidence Saints submitted. We have no precedence for a punishment with the current rules. We do know that the EFL have to be fair and proportionate in their punishment. We do know that Saints can appeal. We do know there is a game in 4 days that the EFL have the right to postpone or cancel. Everything else is just irrelevant noise. Fun to speculate though.

Yep - fair. The sub the EFL for panel in that 🙂 A combination of logistics and the rules / law will make this hard for it to be bigger than the initial charge unless Boro found a ridiculous amount of evidence and / or something that was highly incriminating that couldn't be dismissed with doubt or reason. One chink in their approach was already exposed in the last 24hrs when the clubs their media puppets felt comfortable naming as witnesses to spying came out and firmly dismissed it. Now we're down to a club thinking Saints knew their set pieces and it sounds like an ex-employee (who also worked for Boro) being mentioned. Neither would stand up as serious evidence in front of a panel aware of all legal ramifications. So the unknown is...do Boro have more evidence? And is there more evidence? There wasn't too long to gather it all but you never know what is shared in public and what is kept behind.

Boro have submitted evidence to suggest this was not a one off incident in order to cast doubt in the mind of the EFL. They want to make it bigger than this incident. They know they need to. The EFL is in a tricky spot with this all and that is in all likelihood going to play into Saints hands - if Boro are successful in convincing the EFL to make this bigger than it is with whatever evidence they have submitted, what do the EFL do next that doesn't cause even more issues than already has and impacts other clubs?

Plenty of twists and turns in public content yet but there are just a few things worth bearing in mind in all this - which aren't rocket science: 1. Boro feel aggrieved - as they should - and are using every tool at their disposal to ensure anything they could get out of this, they do. Saints messed up, Boro are just seeking to capitalise. They are acting in their best interests, as we would ours. I don't blame them. 2. They almost certainly know that the incident alone wouldn't result in anything favourable for them as a proportionate punishment, so have worked hard to try and prove it is bigger than incident so they can achieve point 1 above. To be absolutely clear, I have zero belief they care about the integrity of the game. They have a charge sheet themselves in the past that makes that clear. They are out to look after themselves - as every club is. 3. A part of their tactic will be to own the public narrative. Saints by way of strategy are remaining quiet because they think that helps their cause. Boro are pumping all sorts out there in order to sway public opinion on the matter. That is their right. It's clear the journalists they are using to do this - I don't have an issue with those journalists, because that is the game they play. They'll be puppets for clubs to garner favour down the line. That's how the industry works. They are also using careful language in every article - the usual favourites of 'understands' etc. because that's how nothing gets back to them and they don't actually make claims as facts, they merely speculate. 4. Also remember that the media doesn't care for impartial, balanced reporting. It survives on negative and sensational news. This is right up their street. Saints haven't challenge the charge and need to answer for their breaking of the rules. They were charged with an incident at Boros training ground. They are not charged with breaking any other rules, any other time, despite Boro trying very hard to come up with something. Saints risk, as it has been from the start, is the degree to which this was a planned operation and supported within the club. They are not denying it happened. They are not denying it is wrong. They have to prove who was involved so the panel can determine the type of punishment. Expect more Boro narrative for a while yet. They'll continue to go for it, and the media will be delighted to receive their orders because of the interest this is getting. Saints will receive their punishment and then more fun and games will ensue - either way. Personally I am gutted the club did this, it's pathetic and quite frankly unnecessary and stupid. To be put in this situation is disgusting, and if it's bigger than a few people making a silly decision then we deserve all we get. But don't let the public narrative inform you of a single thing about this case - the truth is the last thing they care about.

No, they pay them alot more when they sack them after a few months...

The season is not written off but this is not an appointment that would drive confidence of a play off push. Too many unknowns - it is a clear risk. Remind me how SR risks have turned out for this football club during their ownership? Go back to this summer...you'd surely have been concerned if Eckert was appointed as our manager? Just because SR continue to fail doesn't mean we should accept more risks and a lower caliber of manager. Their constant failure should not diminish our expectations of competency in the slightest. The only other thing I'll say is that it may be an enforced risky decision, as SR have now backed themselves into a corner where they can't attract managers due to both their record with them and their patience with them. It also defies belief that Spors attracted Eckert to the club by saying he'd be Stills successor. Spors himself has created this situation and it is complete lunacy.

If Tonda Eckert was jobless, would he get a job as Manager in any other club in the Championship? Clubs with far less resources than us appoint managers with far more experience in order to try and get the most out of what they have at their disposal. It seems SR constantly go for the moon shot and when they fail cut the cord quickly. What they fail to realise is the material impact this has on the players and the supporters. It is just a mathematical game of chance to them.

It doesn't bother me in the slightest that GON played for Portsmouth. It does bother me that there is evidence in the public domain that he clearly is very happy to be part of Portsmouth teams that beat Saints and takes great delight in it. The fans would hate him and anyone comes in has a huge job on their hands and doesn't need the handicap of that stink over them. There also isn't any evidence that he is the right man for us either.

The club is overly familiar with losing and allergic to appointing any sort of experience to address it on or off the pitch.

Based on what Still and Charles said I believe he'll stick with the same formation and largely the same players and simply lay down the challenge of proving to themselves they can cut out the wastefulness at one end and gifts at the other. If they mentally can't do it against poor opposition he's then given himself free reign to drop whomever he wants without anyone feeling aggrieved. You could argue that ship has sailed but the players must sense it and it's time to find out who is going to dig in and who is not. We have one of the biggest budgets in the league and the players have to start showing up.

One of the fundamental principles of Sports Republic (based on Rasmus) is to buy a lottery ticket and if it doesn't work pivot quickly. Keep doing that until you hit gold and then build. But the consequence of that in football is that you have to be able to retain that individual to create the foundation for sustainable growth. Saints are stuck in a rut of a high turnover of staff and the ones we do hit on leave very quickly, leaving us completely lost.

There is some sense in this but you are asking us to place our faith in a Manager that SR have appointed which is already an unavoidable red flag, and whilst the need for stability and consistency is hugely important for the players they are currently letting the manager down and I am not sure why we think it will change when they have often let us down more than they have simply met their end of the bargain of effort and concentration. Still seems to be able to identify the issues but not correct them. That's a huge concern. It is not his fault when players miss sitters and it is not his fault when defenders make mistakes. But he is responsible for the mentality, and he is responsible for finding a way to win games with a squad that is comfortably Top 2 on paper. The clock is ticking for progress.

He knew what he was getting himself in for. He's been told he's got two seasons (he has publicly stated this) as the Board recognised how poor the squad and mentality was. What he's got to figure out pretty quickly is who is going to be on the ride with him and who isn't and make some tough decisions. The future is never this 3-4-3, which is clearly in place to try and put a plaster over the pathetic lack of resilience and mentality in the squad. The squad has been built with 4-2-3-1 in mind, and at some point he is going to have to bite the bullet with it.

3.5 years of Sports Republic and the squad and quality of manager has got worse every single season.

I like Fernandes but he's not creative. He's a driver of the ball in the middle third.

When you play two strikers on the wings you accept the risk of that is leaving lots of space out wide for the opposition to attack, which is what Espanyol are doing. You usually accept that risk because you will pose an attacking threat yourself, but we are showing absolutely nothing. I can only assume that Still is giving some senior pros their chance to impress so that when he dumps them they can have no excuses. Quarshie is looking to pass forwards all the time and he clearly has no options. Too many of this lot are showing a hangover from playing in a team that doesn't score goals.

For a city beset with the tragedy of Hillsborough the arrangements leaving the stadium were shocking and someone needs to give their head a wobble. The explanation of 'to stop Everton fans getting into the stadium' as an excuse for stewards in the stadium telling us where to leave with no idea what was happening and the Police holding people in causing crushes and frustration is pathetic. The Police had ample time and means at their disposal to allow a safe and timely exit for away fans. It doesn't take Einstein to figure out there were thousands of Everton fans outside who may try and get into the ground after the game and several thousand Saints fans who wanted to leave the ground. To have five Policeman try and manage a single person exit is the sort of incompetence that means people get hurt. Idiots.

Ah ok fair enough. Let me revise that statement: I don't believe a Director of Football Operations who has spent four years in football and sixteen years in Rugby combined with Sport Republic will make sensible and impactful appointment for the betterment of Southampton Football Club. There.

There is no Director of Football in place and I have little faith in Sport Republic making a sensible appointment.

He did himself no favours with that lineup tonight. I don't think he has much to work with but whatever there is, he's not getting the most out of it. It's all too familiar with beaten teams - they start slow and lose the game and then 'rally' when the game is effectively over. I think he's got some of the right ideas but the players can't execute it. Trouble is, I've no idea who can be a possession based manager and get more out of the players. I wanted him to do well and he's been unlucky at times, but at others, shown he is really struggling.

Terrible performances are few and far between, however at the same time the same issues are costing us at both ends of the pitch. With the players we have at our disposal, I don't know that changing manager gives us a better shot at this stage of the season. I do think there is a lot of growth in the team and Manager, and I think they'll figure some things out, but it just may be too late. The big worry is the monkey on their back around getting over the line in games. It'll become a 'thing', if it hasn't already. It appears I'm in an increasing minority supporting Martin. I think he's done well, but it depends on your standards and expectations. The damage he has tried to reverse at the club goes well beyond the standard of players. Even if we go down, I want to stick with him - I'd be excited to see what we look like with him and his approach after a long tenure at the club. But, money talks, and relegation is not something anyone wants, and the club will make a move regardless I suspect.

Leeds have come steadily in all week - anyone know why that is? I think both teams are evenly matched and I'm surprised the bookies favour them by that much.

There are managers who stick to a system no matter what and wish to perfect it. There are also managers that adapt and tinker. Plenty of successful managers doing either. Jason Wilcox brought Russell Martin in to play a very specific way and Martin has done that to a tee. It is no guarantee of success. I'm not upset when we have 65%+ possession and create better and more chances than the opposition and only a lack of quality finishing prevents us from winning. When a game is too open and our defense is exposed to too many attacks in transition that is when the system fails but the onus is on the players to fix because the manager asks them to play a certain way and when they don't that is the consequence. We all know and understand how we're supposed to play, and when we do it we look good and play well. Aside from a a good spell under Ralph, it's been about 6 years since we could say that? He is still a very young manager and still very much in the ascendancy. I predict next season if we're a Championship club he will be linked with many jobs in the lower half of the Prem. He has made every team he has been manager of better, and has done it playing very good football. He will move onto better things long before we sack him, I've no idea what the bar is Saints fans think there is to be our manager but I think he's been a very good appointment. Of course, ultimately if by summer 2025 we haven't gone up the effectiveness of his football with the quality of team we'll have will be in question, plus he now has to negotiate a new DoF coming in. However, I would be very surprised to see a new DoF come in that has different ideas to the vision that is now being implemented.

What use is a point to us in this situation? It's win or bust in our scenario. It's disappointing how the arse fell out the team the moment we conceded but shutting up shop for a point isn't any good to us in my opinion. Plan A is a very good plan and more often than not executed very well. When we don't finish things go very very wrong and teams get confidence and belief. I also think our shapeless midfield exists out of possession from minute one, except we retain possession well enough for it never to be a problem. Martin sets up that midfield three to hold and progress the ball - he doesn't want a pure destroyer in there, let alone two. If they do their job properly our weaknesses aren't exposed. When they lose grip of the game in possession the weaknesses are evident.

Not much more can be said that hasn't, but I find criticism of the manager ridiculous. We should have been out of sight at HT due to the way he set up the team and has us playing. He can't make these players better finishers. The weakness in the tactic is always resilience defensively because we're set-up to have possession. We had possession, wasted chances, and the inevitable happened. It'll happen next time too if our players fail to score great chances. The Ross Stewart transfer continues to be the biggest regret of the summer. With a consistent number 9 we'd be top by 10pts.