17 Jan 2018 20:46:27
Yo, for all you moaners. There is talk that the board is growing concerned about MP. So who knows.

1.) 17 Jan 2018
17 Jan 2018 22:18:35
"Growing" concerned, over half way through the season, over half way through the transfer window, already losing some of our easiest and "must win" games.? It's a bit late for growing. I have no idea what is happening at my club. I've tried to remain positive over the last couple of years when others seemed to be losing their heads. I still believe that the squad we have should have been capable to finish at least in the top ten. But this woeful excuse for a manager has failed miserably, and it seems like the board, the black box, whatever, have no answers what to do next. We are in a DESPERATE situation. I think we're one more loss away from protests and banners. If he doesn't go in the next week with a replacement ready to come in I honestly think we will go down and the hard work of almost 10 years will be completely undone and wasted.

{Ed0333's Note - It’s a tough one Milky. Do you give Peligrino money now to spend to get some players in and see how it goes or do you sack him now? It’s an interesting situation for neutrals but I’m sure it’s a desperate one for you Saints fans. I’d be inclined to get rid and give the new man some time to implement a Premiership survival mission. It maybe too late in 6-8 matches time. I’m not too sure who you would go for? Any ideas?

2.) 17 Jan 2018
17 Jan 2018 22:23:14
It feels like a worse situation than when we dropped through the league's. At least there was a reason for that. We had no money and we had to sell all our players, managers could do nothing to stop it. now we have a team full of internationals, youth, experience. Yes we are a little unbalanced but compare our squad to those in the bottom half of the table, it's a good squad. Yet we are in freefall.

1 win in 14, against a terrible Everton side with a caretaker manager. Take that freak result out of the equation, where would we be? MOPE the clown. More out of his depth than Paul sturrock was.

3.) 17 Jan 2018
17 Jan 2018 23:30:57
Be careful Milky you will be attacked for being a moaner . Everybody who thinks we are in a desperate situation are being hammered for being pessimistic and should be backing the team and this very out of his depth manager. I have supported Southampton Football Club for a very, very long time . We should have kept Puel and given him a chance and by the look of how Leicester are doing that is pretty obvious. Most of us just can’t believe what’s happening, like you I think we have some very talented players that just need direction and motivation. We will never ever get that from this manager.

4.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 00:43:54
I think he has proved BEYOND DOUBT that he is quite simply not up to the task of managing in the Premier League. I am sure the Eds could add an experienced head into this discussion, but I see it this way. football in the PL has developed quite rapidly over the last few years. Where once teams were so predictable in the way they played, including the likes of Man u, Arsenal, Chelsea . now it is an absolute must to be able to adjust formations, game plans, both pre kick-off and at any time during the game, not just half time. Players are more flexible, defenders are smarter, players are more intelligent.
And there lay our problem. It is almost like MP has never watched umpteen DVD's of the opponent; he sets his team out the same every week. He is then surprised, dumbfounded, at a loss when the opponent tweaks their game plan to counteract us. We are so predictable I find myself knowing what a player is going to do with the ball, so for a pro manager. coach it must be so easy.
Watford was the perfect example. We cam out with the usual formation, Watford struggled, changed everything and we were lost!
It is now not about whether MP is a nice guy or not, it is about the fact he does not know how to win a game and win games you must to survive.

Who who I have . mmmmm . all the old school managers are taken. its time to get Ronald k back . but would he come .

5.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 06:22:12
The worrying thing for me is the "black box" and "southampton way" seemed to of been forgotten, broken or just a cheap marketing ploy. our last few signings have been transfer records and are really still not setting the world on fire. yes they have shown glimpses but lemina, boufal and gabs are all quality players but we are still waiting for it to happen. same with managers poch, koeman. I know you can't get it right Every time but it seems everything of the last 18 months has been "different". I won't say wrong I'll say different. And to those who feel justification in personally attacking people or pulling them to pieces on emotion and independent thought, perhaps you could just button it and keep your thoughts on others to yourself because no matter what you think if our form carries on this way we are hoping that 3 teams are worse than us, otherwise we will be relegated and the championship is 1 hell of a league to get out of and I'm not sure we would.

6.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 10:13:45
Its not just the first team who are constantly producing poor displays, go and watch the U23s etc and you will see carbon copy football of the first team. I think ALL coaching staff are adhering to instructions from Les Reed, he has obviously lost the plot and I am afraid relegation is certain unless a change in tactics happens soon. Shame, we have some really good players!

7.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 14:53:05
Stupidity was the only way to describe some of the bs that's coming out of this forum lately and I'm not sorry.

This thread is another shining example of it; to suggest we're in a worse situation now than when we were in administration and free falling through the leagues is exactly that: Stupid. We're 17th and that sucks. The bookies still have us at 5.5 to go down. 5.5 people! Just think about that for a second before you next decide to talk about us as if we're down already and done as a club.

If it helps, I mean that what you're saying is stupid and not that you personally are, I don't know any of you.

8.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 15:15:09
I think the last 3 signings are of genuine quality, although boufal is obviously very raw and leminas attitude is questionable. Gabbis confidence must be rock bottom with the way he's been treated and mis-used by this manager.

I would get rid NOW! like, today! And get someone in to try and keep us up. but a good question as to who. My personal choice would be Roy Keane, for reasons I won't go into right now. But would he come to us? I don't know. I just have a feeling he would be a success. but the more time that passes the deeper in the sh*t we are.

The trouble with signing players, who would want to come to us?! We look like we're going down, we've got the worst manager in the league. We don't look like the attractive proposition that we have done over the last few years. So the only players that would consider joint that might have the quality to help are likely to be mercenaries on astronomical wages. which would be a risk because if we do go down what happens to those players? We are in a very, very bad situation.

9.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 15:32:35
what I said in my post is far from stupid, it's very far from being stupid!
There are always going to be games where you win, sometimes by luck, sometimes by skill, sometimes because the other team are that bad.
But you need wins to survive and you need to know how to win, be that coming from behind or holding onto a winning position.

This manager does not have the necessary 'skills' to get us out of this free fall. For the first time in years we are struggling and struggling badly. I remember when we had a bad patch with Ronald K, we all knew from our style of play that we would come good . and we did. MP has been saying from virtually week 1 that 'if we keep playing this way we will start winning'.

Saints123 . we haven't . we haven't changed, adapted, tried different systems.

It is only comparable to the deep dark days in that, like then . we struggled and struggled . and were relegated.

10.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 16:20:23
Please stop with the Roy Keane thing. His managerial record was poor enough to see him get the boot from both Sunderland and Ipswich. All he ever does is criticise now and I doubt he has ever done anything else. He has a huge chip on his shoulder. Will he motivate or demoralise? This is a man who intentionally injured another professional football player and bragged about it and who walked out on his country at the World Cup (hardly a regular thing for the ROI) because he wasn’t happy with the coach or the training facilities. There is nothing that he has ever said or shown that demonstrates he has the capacity to be a trustworthy leader, nor the tactical nous or resilience to succeed in this league as a manager, especially at a team of young players low on confidence. Man management of a squad is a complicated thing when trying to unite so many different personalities and its not as simple as getting in someone who will shout at the players and threaten them with injury on the training pitch if they don’t start playing better.

11.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 16:23:31
Totally agree.

12.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 16:47:49
Figo . you are always articulate and level headed in your comments, so I know I will get a sensible reply :-)
do you think we should change managers and if yes, to who .

13.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 19:13:41
Mate I've said I think I'd fire MP if I was in charge, but I'm fed up with all the doomsday stuff. I agree, I want to see more fire from him and certainly more experimentation as far as our formation and mentality is concerned. What's annoying me is people ripping everyone associated with the club, and the entire structure of the club, because of what they view as one bad manager and a very bad half a season.

And I'm sorry but you said it's "far from stupid, very far from stupid", so can you please justify that just a little bit? Because later in the same post you said its only comparable in that we're struggling now and we were struggling then too. Can you genuinely not see how you've just doubled-down on what you said, and then completely undermined it, all in one post.?

14.) 18 Jan 2018
18 Jan 2018 21:10:41
Phew . jesus . having to explain the composition of a post is zzzzzzzz
ok this is the post I was referring to as being 'far from stupid, very far from stupid'
.
I think he has proved BEYOND DOUBT that he is quite simply not up to the task of managing in the Premier League. I am sure the Eds could add an experienced head into this discussion, but I see it this way. football in the PL has developed quite rapidly over the last few years. Where once teams were so predictable in the way they played, including the likes of Man u, Arsenal, Chelsea . now it is an absolute must to be able to adjust formations, game plans, both pre kick-off and at any time during the game, not just half time. Players are more flexible, defenders are smarter, players are more intelligent.
And there lay our problem. It is almost like MP has never watched umpteen DVD's of the opponent; he sets his team out the same every week. He is then surprised, dumbfounded, at a loss when the opponent tweaks their game plan to counteract us. We are so predictable I find myself knowing what a player is going to do with the ball, so for a pro manager. coach it must be so easy.
Watford was the perfect example. We cam out with the usual formation, Watford struggled, changed everything and we were lost!
It is now not about whether MP is a nice guy or not, it is about the fact he does not know how to win a game and win games you must to survive.

Who who I have . mmmmm . all the old school managers are taken. its time to get Ronald k back . but would he come .
.

there is nothing stupid in this post and there is no over the top doom and gloom, it is factual and a pretty damn good representation of our current manager and situation .

,
It is only comparable to the deep dark days in that, like then . we struggled and struggled . and were relegated.
.

this is not doubling down, neither is it undermining my post .

i am stating CONTRARY to all the doom merchants who are criticising the football club from top to bottom, and comparing now with the awful days of multi relegations . that the ONLY true
comparison with those days and now is ONE thing .
we are struggling and struggling . FACT


As for quoting bookies odds . they have gone down and down and down . :-)

15.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 14:02:30
yeah that's my bad I assumed since you were defending yourself so much you were the guy I was talking about in the first place (i. e. the bloke saying we're worse off now than we were then) .

Sorry mate.

16.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 22:07:55
Sorry – only just caught up on posts.

South_Hants_Rich: whilst I’ve tried to get behind MP, I’ve ultimately seen nothing of late in the team’s performances to suggest an improvement. The learning curve is very steep in this league and MP seems so shocked after every loss I fear he is not keeping his head above water. That coupled with steady improvements from the likes of Palace and even recent shoots of recovery from Swansea cause greater concern. So I’m open to a change.

As everyone else has highlighted, the difficulty comes down to who we bring in. The way I see it, you have two choices – Premier League experienced or not. Its tempting to bring in someone experienced in this league as it is quite unique in respect of the high level of competition amongst the teams between 7 and 20. However, that is only a recent change so anyone who hasn’t managed in this league for 2 or 3 seasons is perhaps as unfamiliar with the league as it currently stands, as a manager from outside. I would hate to see anyone like Tony Pulis at our club as he will not allow the team to play the football we all want and we’d be stuck with him. I’d rather go down and rebuild.

I have read rumours that Rafa could leave Newcastle in light of the failed takeover and I would be pleased with bringing someone like him in, purely because of his level of experience and tactical knowledge. I believe he could not only keep us up but take the club forward and make us competitive once more. Whether fighting for 7th or 8th spot in the premier league will prove anough for him to stay in the long term is another question. Otherwise, I’m not sure there’s anyone else I’m that interested in from within the league.

From the outside, as we’ve seen with our last four managers, you’re never sure what you’re going to get and now I think we can all acknowledge ‘the Southampton way’ is a thing of the past, I’m not sure the last two managers have really fitted the bill. The recruitment criteria will need to be adjusted. Perhaps it would make sense to find a young manager who is ambitious but loyal. Someone who doesn’t simply see us as a stepping stone, but a team he wishes to take as far as he can.

That’s why I’m drawn to managers like Gary Rowett; I buy into the idyll of us recruiting a younger manager to rebuild the club now that it has reached this transitional period and allowing him several seasons to mould the team and adjust ambition accordingly. Its fair to say Cortese’s five year plan is long gone and who knows what the existing plan or model is. Would I risk relegation for this? At this stage, I think I would. Simply because I do not see that the previous model of recycling players and managers so frequently is sustainable. Anyone we get in now would either be a firefighter or an ambitious manager who will look to move to a bigger club playing in Europe as soon as the opportunity arises. Now the league and transfer market have altered to our detriment, it will simply be much harder for us to keep hold of any good manager we find for even 2 or 3 seasons. So let's identify a manager who we will give 5 or 6 years at the helm to build the squad. We should compare ourselves with a club like Burnley rather than a Newcastle, Everton etc.

We all need to be realistic of where we are. Liebherr and Cortese are gone and we are now on a par with the Stokes, West Broms, Swanseas, and Palaces of this league. Europe is out of reach and will be for the foreseeable future with the transfer market as skewed as it is. My view is the same even if we cling on to MP until the summer. We need a long-term strategy in place because at the moment, we have dropped from a season to season plan to, currently, a transfer window to transfer window plan should MP go this month.

17.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 23:27:37
Figo .
Always interesting to read your posts . but I think at this late stage in the season (late-ish stage) I think we don't have the time to give an unknown a chance. IF we want to stay in the PL we need a manager that knows what it takes to stay in the PL. if we are to be relegated then let's give an up and coming manager WITH A PROVEN RECORD the chance.
I can see MP being sacked by the end of the week. His start was bad enough but now he has shown he doesn't know how to hold onto a draw or winning position, that's the end. Even if we play well in patches, score the odd goal . the fact is simple . MP does not know how to win a game . or even worse, read the opponents tactical changes .

18.) 20 Jan 2018
20 Jan 2018 09:45:46
I still have an inkling MP will be around for a while yet. Kruger’s interview with the Echo in support of MP and saying his job is safe was only a couple of weeks ago and there was nothing in there that suggested the board were worried or losing patience or may even review his position in the near future if the team doesn’t find a way to climb the table. It is true that a couple of good results could jump us right up the table so they may still be looking up rather than down.

A proven premier league manager appears the safest option but look at West Brom’s failure to pick up points under Pardew. Everton have stalled under Allardyce and have not had a shot on target in three games. Palace have improved under Hodgson but West Ham remain Jeckyll and Hyde under Moyes. I believe the league has changed dramatically in the last few seasons and every point is so hard fought for, some of the older managers are struggling to keep up. Making the team bed in defensively and tough to beat MAY be enough to keep us up, but it will be soul destroying to watch the club revert to the old position of fighting against relegation every season and playing turgid football. Is staying in the premier league worth it?

Some of my happiest times as a Saints fan came when we were in League 1 and the Championship because we won regularly, challenged for league titles, made the play offs, won silverware at Wembley, won promotion. It was a blissful contrast to the awful year in year out relegation fight of the previous Premier League years. The Premier League was always the target and when we finally got back, in those first 4 seasons it was great because the league was open, we could fight for Europe and upset the odds. But now the finances have gone nuts making Europe an almost impossible dream, what is the benefit to being in this league? All we will be doing is scrapping for survival each year as the top 6 or 7 steamroller everyone else, having bought the world’s best players and taken the gems from the smaller premier league teams. So is it worth compromising attractive football to stay, even in the short term? I personally don’t think so. Right now, I would be happy with Saints playing in a league they can be competitive in once more. Unless our new owner proves to have more money than any of us think, or FIFA clamp down on financial fair play, cap wages and transfer fees, I’m not sure the Premier league offers any team below 7th spot much anymore.

19.) 20 Jan 2018
20 Jan 2018 12:20:27
the money swirling around at the top clubs is huge, with transfer money being silly!

Southampton sat just under the clubs like Man C, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool . and we competed against them and competed well. What has happened is that we are now gaining virtually zero points off the tops teams and now can't even get points off the lower teams.
the quality in the league is now much deeper, each team has match winners, each team is full of internationals. So for us to stay in and around the 6th/ 7th/ 8th position, we needed to maintain our momentum . and then up our game! we have done neither.

a perfect example is like Brighton's signing Locadia from PSV for 14M . a couple of seasons ago, a player from PSV would never ever sign for anyone except the 'big' clubs .

What do we do .

play drab football and hold out for draws - think we've proved we can't do that.

to be honest Figo, the first thing we should do is change the current 'system' . give two up front a try . play long and gabbi . play Lemina . do something different!

:-)