Next Week Is A New Start For Southampton FC And A Chance To Unite The Fans Friday, 16th Dec 2022 11:07 A year ago Saints supporters were split, in December 2021 there were many an argument on social media about whether all the woes at the club were down to our ex owner Jao Gisheng or Ralph Hasenhuttl or indeed both, 12 months later it has been all change. Those Saints supporters who this time last year were bemoaning the owner and manager at Southampton FC have now got their wish, both Chairman Gao and Ralph Hasenhuttl have left the club, but looking at social media it doesn't appear that it has lifted the spirits of some sections of the supporter base. But now we have finally pressed the rest button with firstly the arrival of Sport Republic and just before the World Cup break a new manager in Nathan Jones. Technically Jones was the boss for the trip to Liverpool, although aside from a few words of encouragement he would probably have not had the major say in the team selection. So next week sees a new start for the club firstly with the Carabao cup tie against Lincoln on Tuesday and then the restart in the Premier League against Brighton on Boxing Day, that game starts a run of 7 league games that will end on the 11th February against Wolves, by then we will either have pulled clear after playing many of the teams in the bottom third, or we will be in big trouble.
There is no reason why it should not be the first option, Sport Direct spent a lot of money in the summer and in the main they have spent it well and all things coming out of the club point to the purchase of a striker in January perhaps two new players into the squad. Although we had a bad run in the last two months of Ralph Hasenhuttl's reign, it was not entirely his fault, we were without key players for long periods and we paid the price for that. But that is in the past, it cannot now be changed, all that matter now is the future and that means the next two months, we have to ask our selves as supporters whether we want to see our club survive in the Premier League, or whether we prefer to see it relegated so that we can really have something to moan about. Personally and i have said this many times, over the past 8 1/2 years we have spent every summer moaning about players who have left or players that have not arrived, as a football club we cannot survive and indeed prosper with a complete aura of negativity surrounding every aspect of the club and every little thing that happens.
So yes last year i could understand why people were having a moan about the manager and the owner, perhaps i didn't agree but I could understand why they had a moan and I respected their right to do so. But now things are different, the new owners have come in and so far have only done positive things, they have signed some good players and we now have a better squad than a year ago, yet still people have complained and moaned about what they might do, rather than given them the benefit of the doubt as to what they have done so far. Likewise the manager, there has already been a lot of negative vibes with people saying they are underwhelmed etc, that may be the case, but at least give Nathan Jones a clean slate and the opportunity to show that he either is or isn't the man for the job. Over the years for a large percentage of managerial appointments it has been the lesser option that has been the best, I'm not old enough to remember but I'm sure back in the 1950's the appointment of Ted Bates then a member of the coaching staff wasn't heralded by the fans, certainly in 1973, it was Lawrie who ? for Bates successor.
When Lawrie left a club in 1985, that had spent the last 9 years challenging for honours, Chris Nicholl who had spent two years as assistant manager at Grimsby might have been an ex player but he wasn't the big name the fans wanted. Alan Ball another ex player was struggling at Exeter City, Gordon Strachan had just been relegated with Coventry, Mauricio Pochettino was an out of work manager in Spain when he was appointed, all of these were not well received appointments at the time and although Ralph has his detractors the reality of his 4 years was that he kept us firmly in mid table despite little money. When we do appoint the so called big names things invariably go pear shaped fairly quickly, Graeme Souness lasted a year as did Glenn Hoddle, lets not mention Harry Redknapp and Ronald Koeman might have presided over our two best seasons in recent history, but he was gone at the first sniff of big money and Mark Hughes was experienced but disinterested.
So although there are exceptions to the rule, the evidence points to the fact that Saints do best when they appoint a manager that fits the club ethos, rather than asking a big name to work on a low budget. So Tuesday truly sees the start of the Nathan Jones era and we need to recognise that now the club is completely different to the one a year ago, perhaps it might be for the worse, but equally it might be for the better, but the one thing we do know is that at this stage we don't know !
A new era is now beginning let's not bring it down before it starts. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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