Lallana's Left Peg

His best work is clearly shown as when he worked in the background at a club a technical level with things like the Academy etc. Which is exactly what his foremost role was with us during Cortese's reign. And he has done excellent work at Saints - anyone can see that. His time at Charlton does not concern me - he won't be Manager at Saints. His time at Fulham as Director of Football is concerning. He joined the summer that Lawrie Sanchez did. I think we all know how that turned out... Then he couldn't get another job in football and helped out a mate at Bishops Stortford. And then he joined Saints. His body of work at Saints is very good, but he was not DoF here. But I'll return back to my question. Is he now qualified to be DoF (and predominately *the* decision maker at Board level for all things football related) for a club like Saints who have European aspirations? Time will tell but I am concerned enough to ask the question.

No he hasn't. He did not set the vision for the first team direction. He did not appoint Managers. He did not handle first team contract negotiations. He had an input in transfers but not the final say. He did not make final decisions. Obviously Cortese valued his input and clearly the work Reed did with the Football Development Centre (Academy, Sports Science etc.) was outstanding. But he was not effectively DoF in the critical aspects of transfers, first team direction, and Managerial appointments - the areas some may say are what a DoF is really measured by. He was just a part of the process. The question I am asking is if he is the most suitable man to be responsible for all things football at Saints.

Have you seen Les Reed's record with first team club football? Familiarise yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Reed_(football_coach) Why would it automatically be deemed he is the best candidate to be DoF at Saints?

Reed didn't make the ultimate decision on anything. He now does. He now gets a chance to do what he wants. I am sure he has valued input but being a part of a committee and being the decision maker are two very different things.

Just walk into top half Premier League jobs do they? Do you think Saints short-list will include someone who has never managed before?

Given he's never done the job before (check Wikipedia if you want), would you be happy for us to appoint a Manager who has never Managed before? He's got new responsibilities and no track record of delivering before. A bit of a risk, no?

Who said a change in structure was required? I'm just not sure Les Reed is a qualified Director of Football.

I just listened to the Ralph Krueger interview where he clearly listed a number of responsibilities that Les Reed had, and I also listened to the Les Reed interview back in April where he clearly listed his responsibilities as well.

Understood but it appears the new Manager will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player signings will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player sales will be the choice of Les Reed. It appears player contracts will be done by Les Reed. It appears contract re-negotiations with existing players will be done by Les Reed. We're about to be club who on a sporting level is the image of Les Reed. He's done fantastic work with the structure of the club and the Football Development Centre. I can't be the only one worried his remit now clearly extends to first team matters?

The apparent reliance and burden being placed on Les Reed is absolutely terrifying. It appears we have one man at the football club responsible for all things football. One man.

A lot of people on here prefer to see substance over intent. It was our intent to keep Pochettino and we couldn't do that so people aren't feeling in the most positive frame of mind.

They have my backing but this is a tough situation where they need to come out the other side of it with a good result otherwise things could unravel very quickly. I haven't been too impressed with the last two weeks.

Great news.

Probably, but he did state the phrase a few times. Maybe I am reading too much into it.

Summary: Club did everything they could to keep Pochettino at Saints. Refused to use negative language or acknowledge it was disappointing that he left. Said that the scouting network is now focussed on new Managerial candidates. Said that Les Reed has received lots of enquiries from high profile Managers across Europe. Said a short-list would be drawn up shortly. Main thing for me is that he has set the expectation that a high profile candidate may be appointed.

As per Adam Blackmore:

How do you think the Board come looking out of this then?

Given the Board haven't been telling the players what their plans are then I'd highly doubt Wanyama would be privy to what Pochettino and the Board have been talking about. But he clearly didn't feel worried about talking negatively to the media so that will give you some insight into what he thinks of the Board - or at least the level of respect he has for them.

The Echo labelled it as an opinion piece to be fair to them. I don't have much confidence that the right decisions will be made at the club at the moment.

Bang on.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/11239113.Daily_Echo_comment__Poch_s_exit_a_wake_up_call_to_Saints_board/?ref=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter I feel this is pretty bang on. Managers and players come and go but the Board are not coming off particularly well here and that is my biggest concern (as I have said for several weeks).

Would like to know the reasons he left. If it was the lure of Spurs then fair enough. If it was anything we did to suggest we didn't have shared ambition I'd be disappointed.

"Things Mo has to improve for next season" Could not give a **** if he isn't at Saints.

Managers and players coming and going is a part of life. I'm not too bothered about all that. What I do find a bit weird is the structure of the new Board. The CEO was the CFO who had previously handed in his notice (apparently). He is familiar with Saints but has no experience of the CEO role or of football outside Saints. The Chairman is a hockey guy who doesn't know anything about football, but in fairness he said he will leave all sporting matters to the Sporting Director and his focus appears to be on the club as a whole. So good on one hand he won't get involved in something he knows nothing about, but then again is it not concerning that we have someone leading our club who hasn't got a clue about football? There is an Austrian lawyer / ex-agent on the Board, no-one knows what he does, but he did pipe up that we had a difficult financial situation which appeared to be ill-thought and wrong. And then there is Les Reed who appears to have gained in power and has certainly found his public voice. A man who once said he wouldn't mind Managing again (while at Saints) now appears to be responsible for ALL matters football at Southampton. In the last month we've seen two Youth Coaches sacked which has been an unpopular decision, public statements of no players being sold, and a Manager on the verge of leaving us for Spurs. Now as I said, players and Managers come and go. But what is it about the structure of our club that I should have any confidence in that we'll keep moving forward?

Which is also terrifying