Why are we being relegated?

[Dusic]

Simple - list the top 3 reasons, in that order, that you believe has caused our (almost certain) relegation.

IMO:

1. Appointing Nathan Jones

Disaster, wasted a mini pre season and used up our best fixture run.

2. Failure to sign goalscorer(s) in the summer

Look at our squad, the only players who are capable of semi regular PL goals are Adams and JWP. Nowhere near enough.

3. Failure to sack Ralph in the summer

It was clear he was done, and we missed a chance to shift the momentum. As soon as we had a bad spell it was inevitable he would go.

[Turkish]

Because we got less points than 17 others teams in our league 

[CB Fry]

My understanding is that we are only going down because flipping Brighton lost to Forest last night. Oh that Brighton make me like so furious.

[sfc4prem]

1) Failure to invest properly in the summer. The transfer gurus at the club have made fucking toilet decisions that have cost us dearly.

2) Failure to replace Ralph properly.

[Dr. Kucho]

4. Giving Rasmus the conman to much power. Bloke has made mistake after mistake and must be taking piss now with his day to day running (ruining probably the better word) of our club.

[Miltonaggro]

1. Ankersen messiah complex;

2. Semmens obsession with ladies;

3. The fittest non-sports teacher in the world.

Everything else is just window dressing.

 

[bpsaint]

I’m not sure it’s entirely down to the decisions of this season to be fair, it’s been a few years in the making. Gradual lack of investment in the squad, the need to find the next young talent we can make a profit on rather than sign older experienced players as it’s not “The Southampton Way” bullshit, purple patches of form papering over the cracks, poor management decisions and so on and so forth. We’re lucky that the fates aligned and we were able to bring in a striker like Ings who was beyond the ability level of a club our size, but needed us as much as we needed him to recover his form following injuries otherwise this relegation would have happened a long time ago.

It’s why I’ve made my peace with going down, because this has been on the cards for a long time and the whole club needs a reset as with so many teams before us, particularly the playing and coaching squads.

Time for the powers that be to drop this We March On, Bold is Brave PR bullshit and just focus on rebuilding the club.

[Saint86]

15 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

I’m not sure it’s entirely down to the decisions of this season to be fair, it’s been a few years in the making. Gradual lack of investment in the squad, the need to find the next young talent we can make a profit on rather than sign older experienced players as it’s not “The Southampton Way” bullshit, purple patches of form papering over the cracks, poor management decisions and so on and so forth. We’re lucky that the fates aligned and we were able to bring in a striker like Ings who was beyond the ability level of a club our size, but needed us as much as we needed him to recover his form following injuries otherwise this relegation would have happened a long time ago.

It’s why I’ve made my peace with going down, because this has been on the cards for a long time and the whole club needs a reset as with so many teams before us, particularly the playing and coaching squads.

Time for the powers that be to drop this We March On, Bold is Brave PR bullshit and just focus on rebuilding the club.

I'd say this is pretty fair. Decision making this year has been poor though. We've spent £160M, which was our opportunity to rebuild at this level, and have instead destabilised the entire club. The blame for that sits with the main decision maker which is Rasmus / SR - but then equally Sports Republic have clearly invested into the club.

All we can do is hope they get it right this summer - i don't actually care whether that means Rasmus takes a step back or whether he starts making the right decisions...

We can't afford another summer like this year - and in reality that isn't even the half of it, we have to be so much better on the recruitment front.

Edited 27 April, 2023 by Saint86

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1. Authorities not relegating Man City for financial irregularities.

2. Authorities not relegating Newcastle for takeover irregularities.

3. Authorities not relegating Everton for financial irregularities. 🙂

[beatlesaint]

i thought it was because we are crap but i could be wrong of course.

[Wade Garrett]

We are shite and would rather pass backwards and sideways than forwards.

We have had 3 appalling managers this season.

SR, while applauded for spending, have been pretty shit in the transfer market.

The exec team are terrible.

I agree wholeheartedly with binning all this ‘We March on’ bollocks.  It makes my blood boil.

 

[ally_uk]

Rasmus Ankerson being a big headed twonk..... end of discussion 

[Jeremy Corbyn]

In terms of the 3 biggest footballing mistakes made by the club (leadership aside):

1. Having the worst run of managers in the league

2. Sadly, Bazanu

3. Failure to sign a striker in the summer

[Weston Super Saint]

Because we didn't hire PoTtEr (when he still had a job!).

[S-Clarke]

It's the goal scoring situation, which has been highlighted even more by adding an inexperienced GK in between the sticks who lets in any shot on target. We don't stand a chance.

Obviously you can look at Jones and go WTF, but I do still believe our problems go back to the summer when we screwed up the striker hunt and decided to go with Adams and Armstrong - no wonder we are gone.

[Whitey Grandad]

Playing negative football with no ambition to score. Far too slow and predictable.

[Zorba]

1. Club ethos. Buy young prospects to sell them when they’re eventually good enough.. if that ever happens. What’s the point?

2. Youth development. Done nothing in the last decade to enhance the first team. Waste of money.

3. Half our players are shit and bulk buying below par benchwarmers so we have nothing else offer to change a game when our first 11 have been crap.

There have been lots of individual decisions that have cost this club its Premier League status but it’s been coming for a very long time. I’m not surprised and I’m not that bothered now either. I still want us to win all our remaining games and stay in the PL but resigned to the fact we won’t. 

[100%Red&White]

34 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Time for the powers that be to drop this We March On, Bold is Brave PR bullshit and just focus on rebuilding the club.

If little changes I think our new motto will be more (as someone famously once said)  "where are you?" and "let's be 'aving you...hic!"

We're guinea pigs for Rasmus' little experiment that's failed spectacularly - selling the club as a stepping stone to players brings little commitment and when it's also too many kids not ready for the PL then it's, as proved, a recipe for relegation.

[Saint Garrett]

Not signing a proper keeper

Letting Romeu go and gambling on Lavia being in form and fit all season.

Lack of creativity

Lack of goalscorer / goal threat. (Got lucky with Broja last season)

Losing a spine of experience last summer whether you rate them or not… (Forster, Stephens, Bednarek, Romeu, Redmond, Long)

Nathan Fucking Jones.

[Crab Lungs]

This goes back to the perpetual backslapping and self fellating from 2016 onwards and has continued thus far.

A culmination of utter wasters for years running the club. We got lucky with Ralph it didn’t happen sooner but it was clear he was done by end of last year.

[Viking Saint]

14 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Not signing a proper keeper

Letting Romeu go and gambling on Lavia being in form and fit all season.

Lack of creativity

Lack of goalscorer / goal threat. (Got lucky with Broja last season)

Losing a spine of experience last summer whether you rate them or not… (Forster, Stephens, Bednarek, Romeu, Redmond, Long)

Nathan Fucking Jones.

This, in a nutshell, plus the CB situation, where we are currently playing the bloke who wasn't good enough at the start of the season and it's one area we've majorly recruited in. SR have invested but have been grossly misdirected. £160 million for a club like us is massive and it's effectively been misappropriated. More quality, less quantity.

Plus you can always throw in the fact that if Che Adams could convert even 30% of his chances, we'd be comfortably mid-table.

Edited 27 April, 2023 by Viking Saint

[AlexLaw76]

Signing Lis, Larios, Edozie, Orsic, Bazunu, Onuachu, Nathan Jones

Simple as that really

[Whitey Grandad]

Too many ‘if onlys’ for it to be just a coincidence that we end up here. The whole strategy is wrong. It’s ok trying to breed success but you can’t afford to have more than one or two promising youngsters in your regular starting lineups. 
 

The league table never lies and we don’t deserve to stay up. Does anybody think we’re unlucky to be in this situation?

[Whitey Grandad]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Signing Lis, Larios, Edozie, Orsic, Bazunu, Onuachu, Nathan Jones

Simple as that really

Indeed. But not necessarily in that order.

[Raging Bull]

We never had any fans in the dressing room giving pre-match motivational speeches 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Wow that was a depressing read

[SaintsLoyal]

Not getting rid of Hasenhuttl a couple of seasons back and numerous players brought in that are not PL standard inc this January  !

[RobM]

IMO it started in previous seasons, not this one. This year is a cumulation of mistakes made over a few years, all coming together at the wrong time.

If we had been better run and invested better in previous seasons we wouldn't have had to lose and replace so many players last summer, so we may have had a better foundation this year.

This was then exacerbated by poor transfer dealings and focusing too much on youth and potential, rather than actual ability and experience to replace the EPL experience we lost.

This was made worse by backing a manager who clearly needed to go.

We made that worse by replacing him with Nathan Jones.

That was made worse by allowing him to remove any form of an identity, ignoring 'the playbook', and having sixteen different formations to learn per-game. Players who weren't good or experienced enough were now utterly confused.

We made it even worse by yet again spending our money badly in January.

It's just one bad thing after another... but if we had been better run in previous years and made a better managerial appointment last summer, maybe we'd have had a chance this year.

[sad saints fan]

Because most of the teams ,apart from the mega rich few are exactly the same as football always was before this premier league bullshit . Teams go through periods of being good and then not so good and often would climb 2 or 3 divisions in a few seasons and then drop back . At the moment Brighton are doing really well but within a season or 2 they will be where we are now because anyone who is good at there job (manager,players,recruitment etc) will be tempted away to a club willing to pay them more money .

 The sooner the european super league starts and we can have football back as it was pre premier league the happier I will be.

 

[Osvaldorama]

Because literally everyone involved with Southampton FC, from board room to boot room are incompetent, dumb, don’t care and are generally unfit for a premier league club  

(except JWP, Lavia and Alcaraz.)

Edited 27 April, 2023 by Osvaldorama

[S-Clarke]

13 minutes ago, RobM said:

IMO it started in previous seasons, not this one. This year is a cumulation of mistakes made over a few years, all coming together at the wrong time.

If we had been better run and invested better in previous seasons we wouldn't have had to lose and replace so many players last summer, so we may have had a better foundation this year.

This was then exacerbated by poor transfer dealings and focusing too much on youth and potential, rather than actual ability and experience to replace the EPL experience we lost.

This was made worse by backing a manager who clearly needed to go.

We made that worse by replacing him with Nathan Jones.

That was made worse by allowing him to remove any form of an identity, ignoring 'the playbook', and having sixteen different formations to learn per-game. Players who weren't good or experienced enough were now utterly confused.

We made it even worse by yet again spending our money badly in January.

It's just one bad thing after another... but if we had been better run in previous years and made a better managerial appointment last summer, maybe we'd have had a chance this year.

Oh for sure it can be traced back to previous seasons, the lack of investment under the Gao years hindered us - but it was made 100x worse by the horrendous use of the little money we did have.

We've kind of fast-tracked the decline this year though with lots of poor decisions, but like you say we're not here just because of Rasmus and co - it's been brewing for a while, it's just whatever they've done has sped it up (not ideal).

Had we got a proper striker in the summer we may have ridden out the storm this year and grown from there, but sadly everything has been allowed to catch up with us.

[benjii]

2 hours ago, bpsaint said:

I’m not sure it’s entirely down to the decisions of this season to be fair, it’s been a few years in the making. Gradual lack of investment in the squad, the need to find the next young talent we can make a profit on rather than sign older experienced players as it’s not “The Southampton Way” bullshit, purple patches of form papering over the cracks, poor management decisions and so on and so forth. We’re lucky that the fates aligned and we were able to bring in a striker like Ings who was beyond the ability level of a club our size, but needed us as much as we needed him to recover his form following injuries otherwise this relegation would have happened a long time ago.

It’s why I’ve made my peace with going down, because this has been on the cards for a long time and the whole club needs a reset as with so many teams before us, particularly the playing and coaching squads.

Time for the powers that be to drop this We March On, Bold is Brave PR bullshit and just focus on rebuilding the club.

If this was another year under Gao, you'd be right. But it wasn't, and you're not.

We spent plenty of money this year and signed tonnes of players. The only reason we are still experiencing the slump of the last few years is because a lot of the signings have been poor and the replacement of Ralph was inept.

[Give it to Ron]

The hideous kits.

Shite beer in the concourse.

£5 for a sausage roll

That morose band before kick off

The rest is immaterial, season ticket holder 20+ years and following since 1963:-)

[Morse]

2 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

The hideous kits.

Shite beer in the concourse.

£5 for a sausage roll

That morose band before kick off

The rest is immaterial, season ticket holder 20+ years and following since 1963:-)

Ron's right.  How the fùck are players suppose to fight for the shirt when the shirt looks like Spurs from behind. 

On top of that, the policy if buying players only with a view to sell-on rather than build a team has more than a little to do with it. 

[Daft Kerplunk]

1. Thinking that they’d found a way to conquer football that hadn’t been considered by any other team in 170+ years of the game. It’s all about teams playing well together, nothing more. 
 

2. Being led by data when it’s all about human interaction and the data should just be a starting point. 
 

3. Forgetting that it’s a football club first and foremost, and then an asset management company further down the list. 

[aintforever]

1. Mental recruitment policy in the summer - pissing money up the wall on a bunch of kids and no proven scorer.

2. Replacing Ralph with Jones.

Think our horrendous 'Surrender White' home kit sums up the club - trying to be different for the sake of it and just ending up shit.

[SaintsLoyal]

This season was the end for Hasenhuttl, another 9-0 and six in a row

Just look at those results and we continued with him  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020–21_Southampton_F.C._season

Edited 27 April, 2023 by SaintsLoyal

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

1. Thinking that they’d found a way to conquer football that hadn’t been considered by any other team in 170+ years of the game. It’s all about teams playing well together, nothing more. 
 

2. Being led by data when it’s all about human interaction and the data should just be a starting point. 
 

3. Forgetting that it’s a football club first and foremost, and then an asset management company further down the list. 

this is it summed up in 3 points.

i'll add the obsession with resale value rather than what a player can do today. Buying players thinking they are going to be the next Mane or Van Dijk rather than buying players to do a job now. Plus a real lack of leadership on the pitch and off it summed up by Martin the moron and his idiotic statements at fans forums.

 

 

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

Our relegation is entirely down to the home shirt. We thought we'd look like Ajax and play like Ajax but it became apparent we also needed Ajax's players to do that and, when we looked around the dressing room, we hadn't got any of them. Worse, from behind, we found out the team looks like Derby County in the worst ever Premier League season with white shirts, black shorts and white socks. Morale was destroyed among players and staff as we lost our red and white stripey identity. The Southampton Way was gone. Che Adams went from clinical marksman to the sort who would head the ball onto his own hand in front of an open goal. Uncertainty blighted new goalikeeper Gavin Bazunu as he expected to see our previously unbeatable defence in front of him only to not know which guys were supporting him with no-one there in stripes. Our penetrative attacking midfielders, so adept at cutting through massed defences, became a confused mess as they dithered over through balls trying to recall which team were wearing the right coloured shirt. 

So I blame Hummel. I blame them for coming up with the abomination in the first place. And then I blame whoever signed it off as a good idea at the club. Maybe it's why the Commercial Director left. And finally I blame whoever came up with the "Bold is Brave" slogan to whom I say: bravery and stupidity go hand in hand. Look where it has got us...

[once_bitterne]

Our squad last year was very poor (won 1 of last 15 PL matches)

Our manager had been broken by having to keep the club up for the past 3 seasons with pretty much zero net spend.

From this poor squad we lost 3 important players in FF, Romeu and Broja.  A keeper who ended up at a CL club, our best defensive MF player and our leading goal scorer.

This meant that, as the Summer window opened, the squad we had was so weak it would result in near certain relegation.

This meant that SR had to spend the £130m+ they had available for transfer fees alone largely on players who would improve the team on the pitch THIS SEASON (and not in 2 or 3 seasons' time).

This is where they failed.  Of all the players signed only really Lavia and to a lesser extent ABK and Alcaraz have had any positive impact on the pitch.

Edited 27 April, 2023 by once_bitterne

[Hodgey]

It’s really simple - we had 3 priority problems to address - gk, st, manager - all we’re not good enough for various reasons.

£160m later and unbelievably we are now weaker in all 3 areas.

 

[Toussaint]

3 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

Because literally everyone involved with Southampton FC, from board room to boot room are incompetent, dumb, don’t care and are generally unfit for a premier league club  

(except JWP, Lavia and Alcaraz.)

I thought about starting a thread to this effect, what do Southampton football club do well? I struggled to think of anything. Can think of lots of things we do exceptionally poorly, on and off the field, but nothing we do well.

[die Mannyschaft]

Possession football = not in opposition box = no goals = loss or draw.

And we did't have any strikers for most of the season. Is it really that difficult to find a player who can hit the net rather than the goali, row Z or fall over.

Edited 27 April, 2023 by die Mannyschaft

[Toadhall Saint]

1, we can’t defend

2, we can’t score 

3, don’t need 3. 1&2 will do it.

[VectisSaint]

Allowing Romeu to leave.

Not signing a (decent) striker.

Keeping Ralph too long.

[Wade Garrett]

6 hours ago, 100%Red&White said:

If little changes I think our new motto will be more (as someone famously once said)  "where are you?" and "let's be 'aving you...hic!"

We're guinea pigs for Rasmus' little experiment that's failed spectacularly - selling the club as a stepping stone to players brings little commitment and when it's also too many kids not ready for the PL then it's, as proved, a recipe for relegation.

100% true.  It’s time to adopt a better strategy.

[St Louis]

5 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Signing Lis, Larios, Edozie, Orsic, Bazunu, Onuachu, Nathan Jones

Simple as that really

There are a multitude of reasons and people to blame, but I'm not sure Mateusz Lis and Juan Larios would be high on the blame list for me of 'why are we being relegated' 😆

[Saintscummer]

7 hours ago, sfc4prem said:

1) Failure to invest properly in the summer. The transfer gurus at the club have made fucking toilet decisions that have cost us dearly.

2) Failure to replace Ralph properly.

I agree about Ralph but what’s wrong with our toilets ?

[bpsaint]

4 hours ago, benjii said:

If this was another year under Gao, you'd be right. But it wasn't, and you're not.

We spent plenty of money this year and signed tonnes of players. The only reason we are still experiencing the slump of the last few years is because a lot of the signings have been poor and the replacement of Ralph was inept.

Hence the gradual lack of investment part. Just because we spent a bit this season doesn’t disguise the fact that the lack of investment under Gao is still costing us. Half the match day squad is made up of cheap players signed under his watch, and most of the signings of SR can’t even get in the side.

[Ed Rooney]

Disgusting Home performances

Shocking in front of goal