16 Nov 2012 23:21:47
Rumor is Southampton are going to Buy all new FANS! their currents fans have not met Saints expectations and will replace them with more realistic supporters!. I take the mickey but come on people get real, this is the best league in the world with some of the most expensive players and richest owners in the world! We have rocketed up two divisions and you expect it to to be a walk over, with a bunch of unproven players and unproven manager. It was always going to be a tough task, which is only made tougher by the fixtures list we have been given, I tape and re-watch every game this year (except Arsenal - too painful) and I do not believe we need to sack NA, he did make a mistake with the Manu subs but the rest have been individual mistakes from a young team that is still learning to cope with the BPL. What do you great fans want to do replace every player on the team? Yes the defense has let in alot and needs to be fixed, but you all point to the back four, I see the the holding mid as not being good enough, not tough enough, is Morgan a dud? No!, I don't think Davis was the man to protect that back four (which does have problems but is not a disaster). We have who we have!! I am sure in Jan we will try to once again strengthen that defense. But you have to realistic about what NA/NC and the board are trying to do. They knew we were going into the toughest league in the world with no proven prem players and play attacking passing football. How is this just NA fault!!, he will make mistakes and so will the players, it would be a miracle if they didn't and like you I was hoping for a miracle, but reality hit us hard, THE BPL IS A TOUGH NUT TO CRACK!. We are unlike any team in the BPL, with our youth and inexperience. But this was a calculated decision/gamble by NA/NC and the board. NC cannot fire his own vision! NA and the team almost beat the two best teams in the prem(MC, MU). We played very poor against Spurs (top 6 team) in first half and NA did what a good manager is supposed to do, he lit a fire under team and they responded with a great second half. We played a Swansea team who many say are a top 10 side and play attractive attacking football and made them look very ordinary. We have to realize we are not going to take this league by storm and see that we are buying the future. The players and manager will improve with each game. This is NC vision, he allowed money to be spent on young talented players that will hopefully become BPL winners. Maybe it was short sighted not to add experience BPL players into the mix, but the best ones are not cheap to buy and have high wage demands and are very hard to attract to a newly promoted team. QPR have shown that approach is not bullet proof either. NA has IT! the X factor, give him time to mold this team into a true BPL team. Give these young players time to get BPL hardened, I see the improvement....don't you.
I can quite understand the frustration within this post, but do keep things in perspective.
Yes, the club has a number of whinging supporters, and I suspect these are mainly those inexperienced in the facts about Saints, focusing upon negative media comments (NC has taken a tough line with the media and they are trying their best to undermine him and the club.) Of course, other clubs supporters are adding their voices because they are jealous of developments at Saints.
But, if you listen to the vast majority of the supporters they are pretty knowledgeable about football matters and recognise Saints are well managed and have a vision, that if successful, will give most supporters a lot of enjoyment.
NA is STILL one of the best young managers around, NC is STILL one of the most astute chairmen in the EPL and the players are good enough to achieve a mid table position through playing attractive football. A few small tweeks to tactics and personnel plus a liitle more experience and belief will see the position in the league improve quite quickly.
Did you hear the support today? Nothing wrong there.
Two good back to back performances, now for two back to back wins and keep a clean sheet! I believe there is still a lot more to come from this team. Ramirez has had a quite severe injuryand has been off mid week on these crazy international breaks so I can see him really adding more dimension to the team over the period through to the new year. Yoshida has had no injuries but he is still new to EPL and has been away playing a full game for Japan several times. Shaw will only improve the more time he gets on the pitch and the same with Gazz.
It is easy to see the benefit of playing Cork with Morgan. Much of this is the fact they know each others game so well, and when others in the team start to develope this we will really see the potential this squad has.
A bit of tinkering in the New Year and onto an exciting 2013.