The work needs to be done el pronto, Reed and Kruegar need to go, Reed for being inept and out of his depth and Kruegar for not doing his job and sacking Reed earlier, bollocks to this moneyball approach, buy players that we need not what bigger clubs need in 2 seasons.
If we carry on as we are we’ll go down next season, we’ve been very very very lucky that Swansea have only got 3 points in 9, we deserve to stay up but fortune has been on our side, if we flirt again we’ll probably lose.
Well we certainly didn’t use up our quota of luck this season. For those who love the footballing cliche, “it evens itself up over the season” we are owed big time. Anyone know if we can carry that “luck credit” over to next season.
Favourite moment from today’s game, Bertrand launching a clearance into Row Z Plus.
Not sure we can carry over the owed luck Slowy, but if we can I suspect we can finsish 15-12th next season. Our problem, IMHO, is that we are scared of progress. Sounds odd I know but the business model is designed to accept we can only plateau and that this will be a good shop window for our better players - to be replace some by youth and cunning buys. Even when it works and the buys/youth are good, it only means we get a. Ether price from Liverpool…
I don’t mind it as a model as we are never going to have budget to mount a sustainable challenge for top 8 or so… but I do mind the fact the board seem happy with boredom… which is what that model delivers when it works…because as fans we can’t even dream or get excited about better things when we have a good season, knowing the team will need to be rebuilt because of it… it’s that lack of ambition in the truest sense that is sad INHO. Much rather go down in a. Laze of glory than settle for a common sense business decision
Problem is, the last time we had real ambition, and the fans and owner turned on the CEO because he pissed off a few local trades folks for doing a shitty job apparently… duck knows what the truth was in all that… it we can’t fault the drive to being the best we could be and not ‘settling’ for mediocrity
So if we sack Reed and Kruger who appoints the manager?
Mr Gao?
Barry Gale?
Doris the tea lady?
In respect of poor decisions we have been done this season no doubt but our general play this season we’ve been gutless bells and deserved many of our results, we need to ditch sideways and statistical passing simply just to deny the opposition the ball, we need to do something with it, for a start buy players who have desire and intent, those two words can be fired at Boufal, Tadic and Redmond straight away.
Up front we need a goal scorer and could easily sell Long, Carrillo, Gabbiadini and Austin, Long can’t score, Carrillo the same, Gabbiadini has every right to want to go and Austin’s knees are shot and is injury prone.
Huge clearout and we need to buy early pre World Cup and get settled as soon as, the backroom side is even more important though and Reed needs to go, Cortese?
I’d have him.
I’d settle for that if the board said it, the debate show after the Swansea game was a cracker, Strachan said anyone is dreaming of they think they can get into the top 6 if they aren’t there already, the host was looking all uncomfortable at being told the product he is trying to sell is rigged tried to say Leicester and was shot down on many fronts concerning timing and players playing to their absilute maximum.
Cortese tried to do it to us and it was rubbish then, we can’t ever break into it, its a lie.
The saddest fact is fans believe it like kids want to believe in Father Christmas, its crap.
Honesty on our goals and how we’re going to achieve them, you’ll find through all of Bazza’s posts the running theme is exactly, be treated like adults, not delusional whoppers.
No Barry… what you are not getting is the fact that it should NOT matter what is realistic or ‘common sense’, but that cubs should just go for it regardless because that is what Sport should be about - striving to be better and not accepting your ‘status’ - the problem with the prem is that so many teams are happy just to take the money and avoid relegation. This is exactly what the top teams and broadcasters want as it means players are given an excuse for having fuck all loyalty to a contract and gravitate to the top teams thus increasing the gap and ensuring SKY and BT have a justification for showing more of and shoving more cash at the ‘teams that appeal most to the arm chair fan’ - They HATE the Leicester scernario where they just said fuck it, lets go for it with a bit off luck and total committment because it meant they had to dedicate precious air time to Leicester and patronise liek fuck…
If more sides were less worried about not losing and more focused on winning, then we would have a far more competitive league… but our ‘top’ teams dont want this as it woudl make it more difficult for them in Europe…and dont underestimate the amount of influence the top teams have with broadcasters…
It should never be about settling for your ‘status’.Sport shoud always be about pushing as hard as you can to be better and entertaining. Sadly fans have been brainwashed into thinknig prem status is everything, so that they accept the shit their boards dish out if it means survival over ambition and entertaiment.
Barry, its got fuck all to do with being dillusional or nive, and just wanting teh club to stop giving a fuck about ‘securing our position’ and actualy just trying to go for it now and again - when we have a good crop, add to it for a season rtaher than cash in… this is not naive hop, but waht sport SHOULD be about… sadly its just about survival and the cash…
They love the Leicester scenario as they can sell it to the gullible that anything is possible.
“Next year is our year son, just look at what Leicester did”
The point you dont get Barry, is that its not about being ‘gullible’ but that if there is no possibilty of ever improving and ‘doing a leicester’ then there is fuck all point to sport. It’s those that have been brainwashed into believing they should never ‘hope’ or believe’ because they should accept their postion that I feel sorry for… because their clubs just expolit them
It is exactly about survival and cash, if you don’t think it is not about that you’re in the wrong game, I just want to hear it from the club, its the elephant in the room, the highest we can ever achieve consistently is 7th-10th and thats it, why don’t they say that?
Money, but we all know it, and go for what?
I’d love us to play 1st teams in all cup games but they ain’t never going to happen as we bow down to the League, just look at who we put out in the San Siro game, our biggest game or one of them in our history and we played a 2nd string team as we were playing City away on Sunday.
That is all you need to know about intention.
jeez Barry… read tehe fucking post properly… That is tehe fucking point. It should not be because those are not sporting principles and why teh league is less competitive as a result… if the Prem really was the ‘greatest league’ then the fucking media would not have to 'remind’us of it every 2 seconds… city won by 19 points and yet our media like to slag off the Bundesliga for Bayerns smaller margin…
I’ve only been saying this for years, great to have you onboard. Just drop the homophobic crap and we’ll be sound.
There’s a lot about your post I disagree with, but this is undeniable IMO. I’m not sure it’s down to the playing staff, probably more the leadership. Quick, forward passing is the style we’ve built success on. We lost that a bit under Koeman, but we abandoned it completely under Puel and Pellegrino. If anything, I want to see more control from the top and less freedome given to whoever is in the manager’s chair.
1/10
Just show them the 6-1 Villa game, thats how you play football and compare the shite thats been served up in the main for the last 2 years,
If you sell then at least attempt to replace with the same quality.
The style of football is very very important if you’re trying to sell a “product”
deleted as posted twice
Damn good show in the pub pre and post game.
This can begin the debate.
The “style” was stale. Seeing as the style is set by the DoF at EVERY level i the club, it meant Les was stale. Citeh & Liverpool play with players with amazing mpace and speed of thoought. Our style was built on the noughties tika pukka pukka style of Barcelona. It therefore defined our recruitment plan - technical sideways players. This season showed it to be dinosaur football. There is ONLY Les reed to blame.
Recruitment - Boufal, Promes, ball players. Hoedt & Carillo - panic buys - Hoedt IS a ball player but half a yard too slow (see dinosaur football). Mane was PACE. It is not that we did not TRY and buy other pacey players - that kid from Austria who never played but the template was Mane sized rocket men. Every other club bought 6 foot tall battering rams running the 100m in 10 seconds. We had a ready supply of midgets - JWP, Reed, Hesketh, Sims, Gape. Again noughties football, copies of Barca players.
Modern Footbal is plpayed at pace, we are a dinosaur and the entire make up of the club from every level MUST be redefined to build Pace and Strength AS WELL AS Technical ability.
That is NOTHING to do with the 1st Team Coach so without THAT changing it matters not who we appoint.
Change Reed, get modern DoF thinking THEN appoint Hughes to build the spirit into the players to actually perform.
We stayed up. Luck evens out - because we TOTALLY deserved to go down this season, we were VERY bloody lucky
Own up.
Which of you lot called the Swansea Marriott this Morning?
And asked them if they were a Premier Inn?"
So, I’ve been to 8 home matches this season.
SOUTHAMPTON VS MANCHESTER CITY 0-1
SOUTHAMPTON VS AFC BOURNEMOUTH 2-1
SOUTHAMPTON VS STOKE CITY 0-0
SOUTHAMPTON VS LIVERPOOL 0-2
SOUTHAMPTON VS TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1-1 (OG wasn’t it)
SOUTHAMPTON VS NEWCASTLE UNITED 2-2
SOUTHAMPTON VS MANCHESTER UNITED 0-1
SOUTHAMPTON VS WATFORD 0-2
I have seen us score 4 goals at home, the Tottenham one doesn’t count!!