baggytrousers

58 appearances for his club and 48 for his country(U-21s, U-20s, etc) and yet no one can identify a single stand out skill. Can only assume he's well connected. Thanks for identifying the obvious corruption endemic in Polish football.

It was massively negative and, as Angelman says, what was the point of it ? There was no information at all about Pellegrino's history and experience, no insight into his character, no analysis of his tactics or training methods. Nothing at all on our new manager apart from an ill-informed opinion that Pellegrino is a mug to take the job. What was Samuels' motivation in writing such an article and where was the research ? Do yourself a favour and seek out the recent opinions expressed by Sid Lowe, Guillaume Balague and Tim Vickery who all do a deep dive into Pellegrino's coaching and playing background as well as his character and how he is a perfect fit for Saints, which they all consider to be one of the most well run clubs in World Football. Proper research and proper journalism.

Pellegrino - won't be the last time I make that mistake !!!

For Skyports Spanish expert Guillaume Balague's view on the Pellegrino appointment : http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12087/10925394/guillem-balague-says-mauricio-pellegrino-perfect-fit-for-southampton I'd also highly recommend Friday's 5 Live Football Daily Podcast as they've got Tim Vickery on running the rule over Pelligrino's time in management with Estudientes and Independiente in Argentina. Tells a good story about the time Pelligrino got so animated giving out touchline instructions that he actually dislocated his shoulder. Both Balague and Vickery give interesting insights into Pellegrini's character, style and how he did in both Spain and Argentina. Well worth a listen.

Skysports view on him : http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12087/10925394/guillem-balague-says-mauricio-pellegrino-perfect-fit-for-southampton

... and then having Saints finish in the top 10 of the top flight for 3 consecutive seasons, something that we have never previously achieved in our entire history, also underwhelming. Don't waste your breath on Glasgow. He lives on a different planet, one where we would have had David Moyes as manager and probably be in Sunderland's position by now.

Never heard Nigel Adkins described as a hot chick before but if that's what lights your candle then go for it.

Martin Samuels article was completely wrong on so many counts. It was the sort of cliched rubbish that you would expect from the Daily Fail. This recent article in The Guardian was much more considered and gives a far more accurate portrayal of where we are as a club right now than Samuels' complete and utter cobblers. https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/jun/15/claude-puel-southampton-premier-league-expectations Southampton’s sacking of Claude Puel is not entirely fair on the Frenchman but the club reckon they could do better, which, in the Premier League, is fair enough. There is no guarantee that Southampton’s next manager will do as well as Puel did but the club’s rulers have decided, ruthlessly and with a boldness born of their strong record, to try to find a manager who will rise to the formidable challenge of guiding the team higher and generating a happier buzz around the place. It will be some trick if Southampton pull it off again. Especially if they sell key players. Again. Nigel Adkins would disagree but there is entertainment to be had in the way Southampton strive to find better managers even at the risk of making fools of themselves, demanding that gaffers be close to supernatural rather than merely good. And to think, people say they lack ambition. Claude Puel sacked as Southampton manager after one season in charge Read more Southampton may accept (without wishing to have it rubbed in their faces by, let’s say, Liverpool) that some players and managers see them as a stepping stone to even grander things, but that does not mean the club have abandoned hope of reaching higher ground. Whether they let top people go willingly or grudgingly, they always back their ability to source someone better. They don’t aways get it right but they’ve proven to be cannier than most. Puel did not fall short of the reasonable expectations that Southampton could have had when they appointed him less than a year ago, he just failed to meet their admirably unreasonable ones. In his credit column after his solitary season in charge there is a not-to-be-sniffed-at eighth place in the Premier League and a marvellous run in the EFL Cup, in which Southampton overcame four top-flight teams, including Liverpool and Arsenal, without conceding a goal before losing unluckily in the final to Manchester United. That was Southampton’s first appearance in a major final for 14 years. Advertisement Several players enjoyed the best season of their careers under Puel, such as Oriol Romeu, James-Ward Prowse, Nathan Redmond, Cédric Soares and, at a stretch, Maya Yoshida. The Frenchman was headhunted partially because of his aptitude for rearing young players and he did that pretty well on the south coast, with Jack Stephens, Sam McQueen and Josh Sims making memorable impacts on the first team. Those achievements came despite a series of unfortunate events that might have horrified even Lemony Snicket. Puel lost his first signing, Jérémy Pied, to a long-term injury on the first day of the season, then in December lost his only reliable goalscorer, Charlie Austin, to injury for several months and then his first-choice centre-backs (his captain, José Fonte, defecting to West Ham in January and his best player, Virgil van Dijk, suffering a season-ending injury soon afterwards). Throw in shorter-term injuries to players such as Ryan Bertrand and Manolo Gabbiadini and it is clear that Southampton’s results could have been far worse. But one can imagine them being better, too. Southampton finished just one place away from qualifying for Europe again but actually they were miles off. As the top six teams soared away only Everton grasped at their coat-tails; below that everyone bunched together in a low-brow sprawl, Southampton being just six points above 17th-placed Watford. Southampton finished only two places lower than the previous year but gathered 17 points fewer. That was no surprise after the top clubs strengthened – partially by buying Sadio Mané and Victor Wanyama from Southampton, and the Saints drafted in replacements who have mostly looked inferior so far. But that does not make it an acceptable state of affairs to Southampton’s peculiar and demanding regime. The ugliest entry in Puel’s debit column was Southampton’s Europa League campaign. After embarrassing themselves on the continent two years ago under Ronald Koeman, the club had high hopes of making a better impression under Puel – who took Lyon to the semi-final of the Champions League – and Southampton did enjoy a couple of satisfying wins over Sparta Prague and Internazionale. But ultimately they flopped out of the competition like rumbled impostors, eliminated at the group stage by a 1-1 home draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva. Southampton’s approach to that game was damnable, as they initially played against their humdrum visitors as if aiming for the 0-0 draw that would have put them through. Southampton often played snappily and cleverly under Puel but accusations that excessive caution was cramping their style became more frequent as the season wore on. Puel was unable to rebut those allegations during the run-in, as his team failed to score in their last five home matches. They ended the campaign with a paltry 41 goals from 38 league games, with only the bottom five teams scoring fewer. Again it seems harsh to scold the manager alone for that because part of the reason he tightened up the team was to offset the loss of his best defenders and, more significantly, some of the club’s forwards are incorrigibly erratic, especially when Austin and Gabbiadini are absent. Even when Puel’s team tore through Burnley in October and fired off 34 shots – more than any other Premier League team in any match since 2003 – they managed to win only 3-1. In Puel’s previous job he inspired Nice to surpass expectations with much pizzazz. At Southampton he generally failed to do that despite the EFL Cup exploits and, accordingly, he achieved only a par performance. Which, paradoxically, is not good enough for Southampton. What is more, and contrary to the cliche, football management is not only a results business. The troublesome thing for managers of mid-ranking teams is that the farther they get from challenging for the title or European qualification, the higher fans’ demands get for entertainment, at least. Critically, Puel failed to give the impression that he was building towards something more exciting. He did not connect with enough people. Puel would flunk the entrance exam to the Jürgen Klopp or David Wagner School of Charismatic Speaking. Southampton must have known that when they enlisted him but evidently they still hoped he would create a positive dynamic. It turned out that he could not get through to some players, as too many of them became irritated by his rotation policy, seemingly unconvinced that rationing their workload was in their best interests. Similarly, too many fans suspected Puel’s instincts were negative even though the core message he tried to impart to his players from his very first match – a home draw against Watford during which he railed furiously from the sidelines – was, according to Romeu, “to be braver and to take responsibility and be happy out there”. Ultimately, it did not look as if enough of his players were able to do that as often as demanded. But by jilting Puel, the club’s rulers have followed that instruction.

Yeah, because after the last 3 appointments he's on a miserable two and a half out of three. What a loser !!!!!!

Agree that we have to trust the people in charge to get it right. Don't agree with your comment about MoPo. He worked miracles at Espanyol as anyone who looked a bit deeper would realise. The club were in dire financial straits and sold anyone who was any good so MoPo was continually having to rebuild from the youth team. By the time his last season came around he was having to play the tea lady. Moral of the story is that you have to look deeper than last year's table to tell the worth of a manager.,

But Puel did have experience. He'd taken Lyons to the Champions League semi-final and as a coach had started the careers of a young Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Eden Hazard, amongst others. Certainly had a lot more experience than Poch when he came to us. And since when did experience guarantee anything ? David Moyes has experience but Sunderland were garbage last season.

Good call. Hadn't heard of this guy before but have just read up on him. He worked with both Klopp and Tuchel and is rated by both, in fact Klopp originally sought him out to work with him at Dortmund. Has won titles at all sorts of youth levels as a coach with Dortmund and has now won the Bundesliga 2 with Stuttgart in his first season as a first team manager. Not the so-called big name many on here would want but could represent a seriously smart choice if it's an up and coming manager we're looking for.

Ralph Rangnick is a possibility given that Jeremy Wilson alluded to there Germans being considered : http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/ralf-rangnick-who-is-tactics-next-england-manager-sky-sports-a7338091.html

He's rubbish as a coach. That would be the first one that comes to mind.

Agree with this. Echo including Schmidt in the frame is pure amateur hour. Must be a junior reporter. Keep calm and carry on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cedric, Stephens, JWP, Yoshida, Simms, McQueen, Romeu all improved under Puel and Redmond seems to be getting there as well. As individuals I think he did improve players but I do think some of the team play was lacking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Spot on !!! Good to read someone talking sense. I would add to the list of desirable attributes in a manager is the ability to improve players technically. This is something both Poch and Puel had, particularly with the young players. With regards to Puel my concern is that his ability to get the players motivated and engaged tactically seems to have come up short and, if anything, got worse as the season progressed. Other than that I think he's been Ok but wouldn't object to us replacing him if there's a better option out there (Tuchel ?).

That was ultimately his downfall at Leverkusen this season but maybe he's learned from that and will adjust his tactics a bit to protect the defence more. On the whole his record is pretty good but goals conceded is his achilles heal. That having been said his team were reasonably tight in the Champions League this year apart from the Athletico game. They didn't concede against Spurs in 180 minutes of football. One thing's for sure if we get Schmidt the games will be a lot more interesting than recently.

The board decision was made by Ralph Krueger, Les Reed and Martin Semmens as a team so let me take the opportunity to extend your admiration to all three of them.

...or alternatively we may actually want to keep our best player who signed a 6 year deal with us last summer.

Our history with Liverpool along with our current stance all laid out in the Ugly : http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/45806/

Really, did you wet the bed ?

Think we'll be talking to Tuchel (why would we not) but like many think it's likely he's going to Leverkusen. A more realistic target is the old Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt who would be almost as good.

yeah, should have gone for a sensible, Saintsweb-numpty-endorsed choice like David Moyes or Frank de Boer because they did so, so, so much better didn't they ? Menahwile, previous Saints board hipster choice Mauricio Pochettino has gone on to fail spectacularly as you say.

Wouldn't go for Pelligrini as he's not a tracksuit manager. Saints have a young squad and want a manager who will improve the players, something that Puel has done by and large. Where Puel seems to have fallen short is in his tactics and motivation as well as the general style of football we've been playing. I laughed whenI saw the same people who criticised our football as being boring jump on the Silva bandwagon. He is Known for parking the bus, very effectively but much more boring than Puel. I can see both sides of the argument regarding Puel but am edging towards the Puel Outcamp, not because Ibelieve some of the cobblers written on here but because I'm not sure he has it within him to turn the current situation around and get us where we want to be. Also there is a currently available manager who would suit us perfectly. He's very attacking, high energy and his team's press high up the field. Think MoPo or Klopp, probably more the latter than the former as his Achilles heal is the goals conceded column. He got sacked this season even though his team beat Spurs away and only got knocked out of the Champions League by Athletico. His teams play a high pressing 4 2 2 2 style and he encourages them to get a shot in on goal within 7 seconds of winning the ball. His name is Roger Schmidt and he made Leverkusen one of the most exciting teams in Europe. If we could get him I'd be happy to see Puel go, otherwise I'm not so sure.