| News Comment | Southampton V Manchester United The Verdict at 14:29:58
RM needs to set the side up with a double pivot like the majority of top sides do. Play 4-2-3-1 and we will be more solid at the back and more flexible going forward. His version of 4-3-3 leaves us predictable and wide open at the back. |
| News Comment | Will Fate Once Again Force Russell Martin's Hand at 14:09:35
Clearly if a manger is regularly relying on fate to show him the way he is not much of a manager which mirrors my views on RM. Championship is his ceiling along with his coaching staff. |
| News Comment | The Knives Are Out For Russell Martin In The Media But Do They Have Substance at 10:49:57
Whether there is any truth in this story or not the fact remains that we have lost 3 games in a row and they weren't the most difficult fixtures. Newcastle down to ten men should have been a win, Forest at home they clearly created the better chances due to our line up and tactics, Brentford was a fairly even game handed to them by two monumental mistakes. RM has never been able to set up a team to stem the flow of goals against and this will never change unless his philosophy changes which he continues to tell us it won't. I don't rate him as a manager although he achieved promotion. His level for me is the Championship because he isn't smart enough in terms of tactics when starting games and making tweaks during games to change things. From what I'm seeing unless he is willing to make a substantial gear change in his style of play which is so possession based we will continue losing games so it's inevitable he will be sacked sooner rather than later. Hi is too welded to his beliefs for me and I think that's his biggest weakness rather than a strength. Maybe he's like that because he has no other ideas much like a one-trick pony. I'd be delighted and amazed in equal measures if he showed us some different strings to his bow but his history so far tells us it's not happening. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Chelsea The Preview at 11:12:50
Even if we beat Chelsea and Potter is sacked to think he is going to rush straight into the vacancy at St Marys is a stretch. He'll have a huge pay-off from Chelsea so will be in no hurry to decide what he wants to do next. Even when he's taken that time I doubt very much we'll be on his radar. Cloud cuckoo land. |
| News Comment | Southampton V Newcastle United The Verdict at 10:19:28
You continue to give Ralph a get out of jail free card and now you are blaming the toxic crowd. Wake up and smell the coffee. This club is rotten from the top and Ralph has been a large part of the blame for some time. Yes, we competed yesterday but without any real shape or sign that the players knew what they were doing - it was all off-the-cuff from us. Newcastle weren't that great but they were a unit where every player knew his job at all times. We need someone to come in and drill the side into a well organised team. That will take time because much damage has already been done and morale will need to be raised. I wish Ralph well but his departure was needed and long overdue. |
| News Comment | Southamton V Newcastle United The Preview at 11:38:35
If anyone seriously thinks we'll zoom up the table simply by signing a good striker in January they are deluding themselves. Haaland would struggle for goals the way this team is coached and set up to play sterile football. We can blame Adams all we want and he does miss some chances but so does Haaland. The difference is the chances Adams get have to be converted because we create so little. Strikers in other clubs can get away with missing because their teams typically create far more chances than we do. A new striker is needed but don't expect him to convert every chance because it wont happen. Our biggest problem right now is not creating enough as we don't play swift, attacking football and get men forward in support. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Crystal Palace The Verdict at 15:16:48
Here's a tip for you Ralph. Football matches last 90 minutes. There are two halves. Go for a win from the first whistle of each half. Might not work but at least you aren't left wondering why you only bothered for 50% of games. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Manchester City The Verdict at 13:20:39
Son you thought we tried to play football against Villa. I must have watched a different game as all I saw us do was pass sideways and backwards then hump the ball forward to nobody in particular, rinse and repeat. If that constitutes football then I'm a Dutchman. It was an insult to all who love this great game but it certainly wasn't a team trying to play football or anything remotely resembling it. |
| News Comment | Southampton V Everton The Verdict at 18:58:28
Zonal marking doesn't work unless the opposition has a player named Zonal. Mark players not zones. If we mark zones next week Haaland will have an absolute field day. |
| News Comment | Southampton V Everton The Verdict at 17:57:05
I'm still baffled by the claim that you can't call for the manager to be sacked unless you can come up with somebody better. It is patent nonsense. |
| News Comment | Watt View- Future bright but deadly finisher will accelerate pace of progress at 10:18:24
I think the partnership of Salisu and ABK is very strong and will only get better. To introduce a centre back to replace Salisu (which is what you appear to want) would, in my opinion, completely upset the dynamics and lead to player unrest. By all means get someone in for cover if Bednarek leaves but I don't think we should be looking to replace Salisu with an incoming signing. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Leicester City The Verdict at 10:33:27
A fair summary and not much to disagree with. It is early days but we appear to have the makings of a side that, played in the formation that suits them, can make a mark on this tough league. With a few additions and departures we'll have a strong squad. I'd like to see a big centre forward who puts himself about plus a nippy, creative number 10 who buzzes all over the pitch and bosses games like Berkovitch the little Israeli genius we were lucky enough to have. Looking at the photo of Che celebrating a goal he looks to me to as though he has spent time in the gym and bulked up. I've said previously that I believe there is more goals to come from Adams - if he finds the net more regularly he'll be some special player because the rest of his game is right up there. |
| News Comment | Southampton At Leicester City The Preview at 11:10:52
You say Leicester are in decline, the keeper is dodgy, Evans is too old and Fofana distracted yet you opt for 5 at the back. If they are in decline why not have a go at them and play the formation that finished against Leeds. After all, that kept a clean sheet and scored two goals. You claim had we started with this formation we might have found ourselves two goals down at half time - to turn that around we might have found ourselves two goals up at half time, full of confidence and flying. Play to your strengths instead of being passive and worrying too much about the opposition. That said I think Ralph being Ralph he will again start with five at the back and change it when it's too late - we won't often come back from two goals down. |
| News Comment | Southampton Linked With Manchester United Player ! But Not The One We Need ! at 17:55:41
This James Garner kid oozes class. Just had another look at his skills video and he has got the lot. With Lavia doing well but very young and an ageing Oriel it would be a no brainer to get this guy if we can. He'd be a superb asset and one of the first names on the teasmsheet. How Man Utd can play the likes of McTominay and Fred in front of him I just do not know. |
| News Comment | Dressing Room Unrest Never Ends Well at 09:36:09
Clearly the camp is not a happy one. If Ralph is contributing to that then I'm afraid he will have to go and that is before we look at his horrendous record over the past 14 games. You say no fans have heard that Ralph has decided to adopt a more defensive approach to games - that is just nonsense and he has clearly been saying these things publicly. SR must be extremely concerned that their project is going to go up in smoke before it's hardly started so they must make some hard decisions and quickly because unless this dressing room unrest is resolved soon we will continue to under perform and lose matches. Ralph tends o do his dirty washing in public - to deflect criticism away from himself he will name players and throw them under the bus. That is poor man management especially as he rarely accepts blame himself. Even at the fans forum on the one hand he said he accepts blame then on the other hand he said we lost a game because the players did not do what they were asked to do. Good managers do not criticise their players in public but rather they deal with things in a strong manner behind closed doors. If it is true that the new coaches are already expressing concerns about Ralph then that is very telling - obviously we don't know the truth behind these allegations. For me Ralph has had a fair crack of the whip and many other managers have been sacked for presiding over far better performances and there is also the question of two 9 nil defeats , many other hammerings and the inability to hang on to a lead. Time to bring in a new manager with fresh ideas and a clean slate because Ralph is carrying too much baggage. |
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