Today we bring you a contribution from a member of the Ugly Inside community with the aptly named title The Only Optimist In The Village, read on and enjoy
The good news first.
Stripes are back! People seem to be really pleased with the strip.
However, those socks! They're pants! So I am now really confused.
Now, the Bad news
This is bad , not so bad and not nearly so bad.
But first, a little bit of History.
When Saints got promoted to the Championship, it's rumoured that the Don
thought that we would be 2 or 3 years in there.This would explain the
longer extensions and longer new contracts to various players who would
end up not being quite up to the task after the unexpected quick promotion
to the Premiership. How different the squad might have been, if their contracts
were just one year left.
That promotion year, towards the end Saints were awful sometimes and just kept
on riding their luck with results keeping on going their way.
When they came second, the Don was apparently very angry about not winning.
He didn't bother with the toys, he threw the whole pram out of the window on
to Ted's statue and it ended up as a bald Ewok.
Now a recap of last season before we start on the bad news.
We have heard all adjectives, adverbs etc on Saints playing, such as "Pressing",
"Free flowing" You get the idea. We had one of the highest possession % rates in
the Premiership. And yet we couldn't score.
We started off extremely well, with a good set of fixtures, no injuries, clean
sheets and flew. Later, the other teams started to catch up after slow starts.
We then started the injuries period and results went against us, exacerbated by
a poor strength in depth squad.
If you had watched every game, the inability to score was clearly seen.
Saints having passed the ball all over the place in their half and then into their
opponents half Saints would have eg. Lallana pass to Davis and race up to the 18 yard line.He joined 2 or 3 others on the line, surrounded by 6 to 8 defenders,all waiting for some miracle pass. This 18 yard nonsense happened all season, with Mopo not changing a thing. There were countless times that passes were attempted to the surrounded 3 or 4 Saints players to no avail. I didn't find this part very attractive to watch but actually very frustrating. The inevitable fast break happened with the inevitable goal.
Other teams flow the ball to the 18 yard line. Ramirez started deeper when he played and tried to get that flow to the defence.There seemed to be a problem with Lallana, Osvaldo, Lambert, Ramirez and Rodriguez.When fit, what combination would work .I also noticed that when defending, I would see Lallana racing slowly back to help out but always a bit late. He would finally arrive always behind the attacking player. His arms and legs would be flailing about, reminding me of Forrest Gump shedding his leg irons. His tackling from behind inevitably ended up with quite a few free kicks too near the area. My view is that he is not actually quite as good as he appears.
Shaw is fast. He has played 60 odd games for Saints. In those 60 games he received
the ball from defence, ran up to the half way line, stopped and passed back, at least five times per game. Total 300 times. What if 150 to 250 times he had run up the line and attempted a cross? 60 games and one assist. Great prospect but a way to go.
Later in the season Mopo asked what was the point of 73% possession if you don't win the game and that it was a weak squad.
Now the Bad.
Mopo must have known late last year about the Don, so must have been working out what options he had. He also said in December that the squad didn't need strengthening. I think we all disagreed with him to a man.
Just when the window opened in Jan, the Don is off skiing, so no-one in. The fan hits the sh*t and the new lot come in, only to be horrified by how crap the Don actually was at the commercial side of the business and Kreuger said that that was the first priority on the non football side. Mopo plays coy about his plans and the new lot also make plans because of his coyness.
Mopo's head is now at Spurs. The season ends and Mopo negotiates his new temp job.
Lovren now hands in his transfer request? Unsure of the chronology.
We get Double Dutch and Lallana cocks it up while Shaw flits off to Man U
Sir Ricky, meanwhile, has sold his house, bought his Liverpad and moved before I got
to ten.
Sir Ricky and Lallana had been tapped up at the England do's by Gerrard and the saga
started.
Eventually lallana is off to Liverpool with Bornmuff getting £2m plus less than
anticipated.
Manager gone, Shaw gone, Captain gone, Sir Ricky gone, Schneiderlin to go.
We are at World's End.
Now the not so bad news.
£30m for Shaw, replacement £8m to £10m ( sound of rubbing hands together)
£25m for Lallana, replacement Tadic £12 (that sound again)
£4m for Sir Ricky, replacement Pelle £8m? WTF?
£20+ for Lovren, replacement £10m ish.
My view on Schneiderlin is, he could have asked Koeman who he wants to come and asked
for a pay rise. If the targets are not met he would have a re-think. Significantly, he has taken advice from MLT on what to say, nudge, nudge.
Mopo hasn't seemed to want any of the Saints squad. They said what a great coach he is/was. That might have been because they got picked every week.
Lecter is leaving Liverpool and they can't replace him. 30 goals and 10 assists gone,
Lallana might play and Sturridge has signed a new Contract forbidding him to pass the ball.
Roll on Aug 16!
Now the Ugly
Lallana, what a prize Rodney! I hope he has to pull down his £40,000 folly before he
can sell his house. Also, is it rumoured that his misses likes it here and doesn't
want to go to a new Country and learn a new language?
And that Poster in the Echo!!! For my own pleasure, could somebody photoshop Betty's
husband's beret and coat on him, caption it "Che Spencer" and post it.
Lovren. When did a Premier player last hand in a transfer request and then tell the
club how much he wanted them to sell him for. I think never is the answer.
He also accused the club of a lack of ambition. Citeh, Manu and Chelski have each spent
£3/4 billion to get where they are.
A sensible ambition would be to "Everton" it and dabble with the Europa league. A 32,000 stadium plus £7m in commercial income might get you relegation (under the Don)
Anybody who thinks that Saints can get into the Champion's League without a 60,000
stadium is just not facing up to reality, as were any Saints players who bought into
Walter Mitty's daydream. Arsenal have 82 Executive seats at £100,000 down and £100,000 per year. That's the sort of income you need.
Finally, my optimistic want for next season. Feel free to politely tear it apart.
I must remind you that our only competitive position last season was at right back.
That is completely out of order and needs to be addressed seriously. Mopo had his favourites, so Koeman will obviously have his own view.
Hooiveld, pay off his contract and make him a free agent so he can play regularly and
not lose any dosh.
Promote Clyne to attacking midfield.
Ramirez free from Lallana conflict.
2 new centre backs and Fonte on the bench( he is slow to turn and gives away fouls)
New left and right back.
At least one more Tadic.
New goalie, I need an adult sized nappie every time Boruc has the ball at his feet. His kicking is appalling.
Pelle to follow Tadic in.
Mayuka to possibly get to the bench.He is fast and can actually shoot.
Davis and Ward-Prowse on the bench just because we now have someone better.
Osvaldo to Inter Milan.
Is it me or do transfers-in always take too long.? My jury is still out on Les Reed.
For all those with glasses half empty at the moment, why not fill it right up and then
empty it, you should feel better.