The Official Southampton FC Thread
Discussion
gadgetmac said:
2 points.
1. Who are you realistically going to tempt to join even if you offered the whole £75m?
2. By accepting £75m every potential club you approach will be wanting a large chunk of that for even the modest of talent.
3. We've never been too short of cash to buy the players we want, why will an additional £75m matter. 1. Who are you realistically going to tempt to join even if you offered the whole £75m?
2. By accepting £75m every potential club you approach will be wanting a large chunk of that for even the modest of talent.
Much better than the Boxing Day debacle - good to see the players showing the heart and commitment so sadly lacking at Wembley.
Still poor in the final third but, if you can take positive signs from one game, then I'll grab them with both hands.
Talking of grabbing things, thought McCarthy on his debut looked comfortable and composed between the sticks - would be insanity if the Palace game sees him replaced bythe static wardrobe Forster.
Another player who seems to have been dropped after having a blinder is Hojbjerg (my MoTM yesterday). Really hoping he retains his place for Tuesday's game.
Onwards...
Still poor in the final third but, if you can take positive signs from one game, then I'll grab them with both hands.
Talking of grabbing things, thought McCarthy on his debut looked comfortable and composed between the sticks - would be insanity if the Palace game sees him replaced by
Another player who seems to have been dropped after having a blinder is Hojbjerg (my MoTM yesterday). Really hoping he retains his place for Tuesday's game.
Onwards...
A new striker then. Let's hope he starts with all guns blazing and nets a bundle.
https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-01-25/announce...
https://southamptonfc.com/news/2018-01-25/announce...
I literally just posted this to another forum:
Think about it for a minute! Two scenarios:
Scenario 1: The club continues to fall down the PL table (well, one more place). MP2 takes us down, we're back to 2011 again and lots of the good players leave. All the fans can rejoice in pointing the finger at the board, calling them a bunch of stupid s**t-c**ts, feel more validated that their opinions over the course of this season were proven to be correct and look forward to playing Brentford twice next season. The fans were right, the board was wrong - a victory for the fans.
Scenario 2: MP2 suddenly gets his biscuits in order. We hit a purple patch, climb away to safety, and are clear enough by the end of the season that we can be allowed to blood in some youngsters in non-crucial games (the 'pathway'), who prove to be vital next season in our European push. The board are proven correct in their decision to not succumb to fan pressure by sticking with the seemingly hopeless manager who gets his s**t together and actually comes good, along with their decision to not reinforce the team over the January transfer window. The board have worked wonders in the past few years, but this would be their greatest victory (putting aside the fact we got this bad in the first place), and would prove that in future the fans need to have faith and pipe down when they get upset. The board was right, fans were wrong, but the board being spot-on would still be a victory for the fans, as it means the club is in very good hands.
See? There's no bad outcome here, not if you look for the positives! Sure, relegation is normally considered a bad thing, but brush aside that little detail (and all the players who force their way out, having played at 1/3 capacity all season), and it's really a good thing that a team who were aiming for European football end up getting relegated the same season that they've twice broken their transfer record.
Reasons to be cheery
Think about it for a minute! Two scenarios:
Scenario 1: The club continues to fall down the PL table (well, one more place). MP2 takes us down, we're back to 2011 again and lots of the good players leave. All the fans can rejoice in pointing the finger at the board, calling them a bunch of stupid s**t-c**ts, feel more validated that their opinions over the course of this season were proven to be correct and look forward to playing Brentford twice next season. The fans were right, the board was wrong - a victory for the fans.
Scenario 2: MP2 suddenly gets his biscuits in order. We hit a purple patch, climb away to safety, and are clear enough by the end of the season that we can be allowed to blood in some youngsters in non-crucial games (the 'pathway'), who prove to be vital next season in our European push. The board are proven correct in their decision to not succumb to fan pressure by sticking with the seemingly hopeless manager who gets his s**t together and actually comes good, along with their decision to not reinforce the team over the January transfer window. The board have worked wonders in the past few years, but this would be their greatest victory (putting aside the fact we got this bad in the first place), and would prove that in future the fans need to have faith and pipe down when they get upset. The board was right, fans were wrong, but the board being spot-on would still be a victory for the fans, as it means the club is in very good hands.
See? There's no bad outcome here, not if you look for the positives! Sure, relegation is normally considered a bad thing, but brush aside that little detail (and all the players who force their way out, having played at 1/3 capacity all season), and it's really a good thing that a team who were aiming for European football end up getting relegated the same season that they've twice broken their transfer record.
Reasons to be cheery
joema said:
Is everyone who wanted Puel out happy with themselves?
Keep reading this comment, and it's a daft one. Puel didn't do enough to be kept on. He'd lost various members of the dressing room, his style of football (which he may have simply decided was the best option with the squad he was presented with) was very difficult to watch, and the board acted. I liked the guy, but even I agree it was still the right thing to do.The appointment of Pellegrino is the issue now. Wrong man, completely out of his depth. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly concerned at the Swansea game. He set up like a team fighting relegation from the first day, and guess work; Now we're a team fighting relegation. We are serious trouble.
joema said:
The issue was that goals weren't being scored because the players at their disposal weren't good enough. Instead of dealing with it properly and getting the right players they sacked the manager.
The players were good enough, they were being coached to play defensive, which is something they weren't used to. Now, that could of course be because Puel was an astute man who believed that that particular squad wouldn't be competitive any other way, but the fact of the matter is the football was turgid, and the 8th place finish that everybody bangs on about was an 8th place finish in a league full of poor teams. The difference between 17th and 8th was what, 6 points? I seem to remember Everton being in 7th, but 12 points ahead!I liked the guy, and I'll concede he provided many decent away performances, but the poor season rests at his door. The players he had were good enough for a comfortable top half finish, not one by goal difference.
Mind you, the players at MP2's disposal are good enough for a comfortable top-half finish. He makes Puel look like Alex Ferguson.
Gassing Station | Football | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff