New Manager Debate

[Wade Garrett]

6 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Odds mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, just that lots of people have lumped money on 😂🤣

Or that the bookies are just creating a market for the gullible to follow.

[Patches O Houlihan]

2 hours ago, Saints4everChris said:

Ralph was a good manager for us during a period of qualitative decline from the days of Pochettino and Koeman. I felt he ran out of ideas a bit at the end but he didn't really have a Premier League level squad at that point. I wouldn't be sorry to see him return.

I agree with all of this. Yet I do wonder how a gegenpress style will get us into the upper reaches of the league:

If we get good at Ralfball the whole league will sit back and hit us on the break. Even though he was a striker I don’t see Ralf as a Pep type who could coach breaking down all those stubborn teams consistently.

Great in the prem for a lower side like us though

[Convict Colony]

9 hours ago, CB Fry said:

The guy has finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the Bundesliga, managed in the Champions League etc etc etc.

He's not coming to the Championship.

1 word Biesla 

Honestly though I could see it, to end of year option and a fat bonus if we get to the playoffs (bit too much for automatics)

[Patches O Houlihan]

14 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

1 word Biesla 

Honestly though I could see it, to end of year option and a fat bonus if we get to the playoffs (bit too much for automatics)

Sadly he’s managing Uruguay, and they are FIFA ranked 15 in a World Cup year. Nice idea though 

[Crab Lungs]

7 hours ago, trousers said:

Pure hunch, or reading between the lines of what you've heard...?

Pure hunch this time. A little bit of ‘hope’ mixed in.

No CoT or ITK 😂

[Sarnia Cherie]

On 21/10/2025 at 21:45, trousers said:

Maybe Koeman would fancy another crack of the whip after the World Cup next year...?

The Golden years under Ronald. If only.

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Convict Colony said:

1 word Biesla 

Honestly though I could see it, to end of year option and a fat bonus if we get to the playoffs (bit too much for automatics)

Do you mean Bielsa to come to us or this German guy could be our Bielsa?

 

[SW11_Saint]

9 hours ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

I think it's going to be Martin..🤫

No chance whatsoever…

[John B]

9 hours ago, SfcPhil said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Tonda Eckert gets the job if we win the next two games (we won't).

Very tricky decision to make for Spors, make the wrong one again and we're likely down, as per the hires of Jones and Juric. We need someone to stop the rot, but I fear it's settled in more than anyone could know. 4 wins in 51 league games.. how can you possibly turn that losing mentality around?

We need to try and stutter along until January and clear as many bad eggs out as possible.

We are not going down

[Convict Colony]

26 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Do you mean Bielsa to come to us or this German guy could be our Bielsa?

 

if biesla can manage in the championship everyone else can cos most of them arent fit to lace his boots

Edited 13 hours ago by Convict Colony

[SW11_Saint]

18 hours ago, SaintsRoyalty said:

Marco Rose would be the one. 4 at the back, fast/direct football, would be respected having managed big teams and has worked with Spoors. 

Now you’re talking…

[Dusic]

Ohhh Michael Skubiala,

He’s our gaffer!

He’s got the Saints behind him,

We’re never gonna run!

We’ll fight, we’ll score, we’ll shout some more,

The Saints are on the roll —

Skubiala’s army, hearts and soul!

[Willo of Whiteley]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Or that the bookies are just creating a market for the gullible to follow.

Sadly, there’s a lot of people like that in this fanbase 😂

[Pamplemousse]

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

[Willo of Whiteley]

9 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

Had anyone heard of Tonda Eckhert yesterday prior to Will Still’s sacking? 😅

[Appy]

9 hours ago, Captain Scarlet said:

Good article on Gary O’Neil’s tactics, philosophy, etc.

https://learning.coachesvoice.com/cv/gary-o-neil/
 

I think he would be an excellent choice!

No thanks, he’s a Skate. 

Edited 12 hours ago by Appy

[AlexLaw76]

26 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

Sports Republic love fans like you...

[S-Clarke]

25 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

This is what I fear Rasmus will be saying, but you've got to look at the bigger picture of both of those situations.

At Brentford, Dean Smith had just oversaw a great rise for Brentford and they were growing. They had a strong core of players and forward momentum. It was a much easier environment for an upcoming coach to adapt to and grow with, as the club was already on an upwards curve.

If we did the same here, you'd have a young 'B' team coach coming into one of our most dysfunctional teams ever. A mish mash of a squad lacking Championship quality in core areas, no forward momentum as we've just finished on 12 points. Eckert may be a good coach in time, but now is not that time and it would be another foolish gamble by the fools who call themselves our owners if this happens.

[skintsaint]

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, skintsaint said:

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

He was linked with both Celtic and Wolves...which suggests his agent is hawking him about.

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

Imagine Keane and Romeu walking into the dressing room on Saturday.

That would throw a grenade under those wet wipe players we have, would be fun to watch.

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Imagine Keane and Romeu walking into the dressing room on Saturday.

That would throw a grenade under those wet wipe players we have, would be fun to watch.

Robbie Keane?

[ErwinK1961]

12 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

We could do worse upfront to be fair.

[SW11_Saint]

36 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He was linked with both Celtic and Wolves...which suggests his agent is hawking him about.

And THB in particular would💩himself!

(oh, wrong Keane…?)

Edited 11 hours ago by SW11_Saint

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, SW11_Saint said:

And THB in particular would💩himself!

Robbie Keane?

[Channons Windmill]

I know Roy Keane wants to get back into management - I’ll see what I can find out…

[southamptonfc]

All these names being banded around. It's the hope that kills you.

But I'm afraid the first thing 95% of people will say when they appoint the new manager is "who?", just like every other manager this lot have hired.

[southamptonfc]

5 hours ago, Saints4everChris said:

Ralph was a good manager for us during a period of qualitative decline from the days of Pochettino and Koeman. I felt he ran out of ideas a bit at the end but he didn't really have a Premier League level squad at that point. I wouldn't be sorry to see him return.

Had they backed him with a decent striker, Ralph would've been up there with the likes of Poch and Koeman.

 

[Wade Garrett]

52 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

Yes, because young coaches who haven’t played the game have always worked so well as our manager.  What could possibly go wrong.

[Appy]

3 minutes ago, southamptonfc said:

Had they backed him with a decent striker, Ralph would've been up there with the likes of Poch and Koeman.

 

He had Ings for the vast majority of his tenure in fairness. 

[DT]

3 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

1 word Biesla 

Honestly though I could see it, to end of year option and a fat bonus if we get to the playoffs (bit too much for automatics)

I would absolutely love to see Bielsa at St Mary's.

[Daft Kerplunk]

8 minutes ago, Appy said:

He had Ings for the vast majority of his tenure in fairness. 

Who, like pretty much everyone at the club, he fell out with.  Ralph even pissed off the most agreeable staff used to dealing with nonsense from what I heard and nobody missed him when he left.  Ralph or Lego returning would not be good.  Sport Republic will struggle to get it right unless they accept some significant changes to the way they operate and I am not sure their arrogance will allow that.  

Edited 11 hours ago by Daft Kerplunk

[skintsaint]

37 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He was linked with both Celtic and Wolves...which suggests his agent is hawking him about.

[Willo of Whiteley]

39 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

Absolute bollocks on that front 😂

Imagien him trying to shoehorn in his future son in law, Taylor Hardwood-Bellis.

[Saint_lambden]

He wouldn't be my first choice but the more I think about it, the more I think Carrick makes sense (do probably no chance of SR appointing him). 

1. Worked with Archer/Azaz before and got a tune out of them

2. Possession-based (but not to the extreme of Martin) which is more suited to this squad than Still who was a counter-attacking coach (no coincidence that our worst performances came against sides that sat deep and we had to try and break down)

3. Decent player himself back in the day so would hopefully command a bit of respect that our last few managers haven't had given their lack of profile during their playing career 

4. Actual experience of managing in the Championship which we've been desperately lacking

Cons of course are that it all went stale in his last couple of years at Boro where they looked one-dimensional and lacking pace/purpose.  

[skintsaint]

1 minute ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Absolute bollocks on that front 😂

Imagien him trying to shoehorn in his future son in law, Taylor Hardwood-Bellis.

I agree it won't be Roy Keane.

[warsash saint]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but everyone pushing Carrick might want to give this a watch !!

 

 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Bookmark this:

I’ve never been more confident that it won’t be Ralph Hassenhutl, Roy Keane, Russell Martin or Gary O’Neill.

Even Michael Carrick I don’t think we’ll go for. 🤣

I’ll be gobsmacked if Sport Republic appointed “a” manager!

[Southner]

Big Sam's not actively looking, but he's open to an opportunity... 

[Saint86]

24 minutes ago, Appy said:

He had Ings for the vast majority of his tenure in fairness. 

When he had a fit Ings, he managed at top 4 points tally over a 38 game run... 😅

Edited 11 hours ago by Saint86

[Saint86]

27 minutes ago, Daft Kerplunk said:

Who, like pretty much everyone at the club, he fell out with.  Ralph even pissed off the most agreeable staff used to dealing with nonsense from what I heard and nobody missed him when he left.  Ralph or Lego returning would not be good.  Sport Republic will struggle to get it right unless they accept some significant changes to the way they operate and I am not sure their arrogance will allow that.  

And Will Still was very well regarded for his man management 🤣. So was Martin - great mates with the players.

Edited 11 hours ago by Saint86

[Daft Kerplunk]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

And Will Still was very well regarded for his man management 🤣

Sorry, I missed where I said Still was in my post, can you show me? 😎

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Pamplemousse said:

Ralph coming in with Eckert as his understudy to take over in a couple of years...?

I'm not against Eckert tbh, nobody had heard of Thomas Frank before. 

Nobody heard of Rusk or Selles before either. Ridiculous idea.

[OldNick]

I dont rate Gerrard but I wonder if he has the clout that the players would respect and would we get some goodwill from Liverpool to get loans in. 

[saintant]

54 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Apparently, we are Keane to get someone in for the weekend.

A mystery figure was spotted entering the south gate at Staplewood. Meanwhile the club artist is busy drawing a caricature and there has been a rustle of contracts being shuffled.  Rasmus has issued the directive 'Oh kneel before the new king' and someone is busy crafting barrels. Make of that what you will.

[saintant]

41 minutes ago, Channons Windmill said:

I know Roy Keane wants to get back into management - I’ll see what I can find out…

Thanks THB.

[Appy]

8 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

When he had a fit Ings, he managed at top 4 points tally over a 38 game run... 😅

He also lost 9-0 and went on other horror runs, we were good at times under Ralph but incredibly streaky. 

[saintant]

39 minutes ago, southamptonfc said:

All these names being banded around. It's the hope that kills you.

But I'm afraid the first thing 95% of people will say when they appoint the new manager is "who?", just like every other manager this lot have hired.

Nah, the first thing I say when this lot appoint a manager is, 'Why?'

[Give it to Ron]

2 minutes ago, saintant said:

A mystery figure was spotted entering the south gate at Staplewood. Meanwhile the club artist is busy drawing a caricature and there has been a rustle of contracts being shuffled.  Rasmus has issued the directive 'Oh kneel before the new king' and someone is busy crafting barrels. Make of that what you will.

Crafting barrels=Cooper but he is at Brondby

[saintant]

Just now, Give it to Ron said:

Crafting barrels=Cooper but he is at Brondby

None of the names in the clues are meant to be taken seriously 🙂 although who knows.