 | News
Comment | Van Dijk Reception Was Counter Productive
at 10:29:18
Surely the best way of ensuring that van Dijk doesn't leave is to be ahead of Liverpool in the table in January. Since he wanted to move for European football it would then make no sense for him to go there rather than staying with us.
I've been going to games for over 30 years and there have been very few occasions when I haven't got behind every single player in the teams over the years I'm going on Saturday and will be fully supporting van Dijk because this is clearly in the best interests of the club. |
| News
Comment | Once The Safest Managerial Seat In Football Is Now The Shakiest !
at 10:48:17
This is a very interesting article.
But I think we need to look beyond just the manager in terms of stability in the modern game. In particular a large part of the role Ted Bates or Lawrie took on is now undertaken by Les Reed and Ralph Krueger. I'm not sure whether Claude Puel is the right person for us but I'm absolutely convinced that it is more important that Les Reed stays because this is where the club's stability has largely come from. |
| News
Comment | Saints Guaranteed Record Breaking Season
at 16:36:18
OK, I take the point that maybe it wasn't that bad.
But we still have many fewer points than on many previous seasons when we had poorer resources to work with. (And I'm sorry but the suggestion that this is arguably our 4th best season in history is ludicrous - under Lawrie McMenemy and Chris Nichol there were several that were clearly better and even under Gordon Strachan there was at least one).
Gareth |
| News
Comment | More Info Emerges On New Bidder For Saints
at 16:18:22
Saints published their accounts recently. They are making a small profit and starting to pay off their debt (much of which is owed to KL).
We only need new investment if KL wants to sell to get her money back or if we think buying more expensive players would help us to get to the next level (Champions' League etc) |
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Comment | Puel Rumours Esculate
at 16:04:23
Not good enough this season, needs to do better next season. (Mid table finish isn't the issue - finishing with less than 45 points and no wins against the top 7 is. Especially when combined with poor Europa League campaign.) |
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Comment | Saints At Chelsea The Verdict
at 21:37:06
I'm sad to say that though I do not like clubs who sack their managers too quickly, I think that Claude Puel has seriously underachieved this year and we need to start looking for a new way forward.
Yes, he has been unlucky with Fonte and VVD but the problems started before that - we have underachieved in the Europa League and the Premier League. When you take into account the quality of our training facilities and Academy, the strength of the first team squad he took over and the budgets available for transfers and wages, finishing in the bottom half of the PL as now seems likely is not acceptable. Yes, a day out at Wembley in EFL Final was nice, but there was a lot of luck involved in that and it doesn't make up for the general underachievement this year. |
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Comment | Could Chinese Takeover Bid Still Be On !
at 15:55:43
Actually the takeover rules do allow her to own a minority stake of between 11% and 49%. 10% or less and she can be bought out by the majority shareholders.
I think there is some confusion with a different rule - when the new shareholders own 30% of the shares they are compelled to bid for at least 51% of them.
But it's still true that if she has less than 50% of the voting rights, she will have little influence. |
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Comment | Central Defence Is The Key ! Does Claude Puel Have Something Up His Sleeve ?
at 11:20:23
Assuming VVD isn't fit, what about the other options? Gardos looked very good when I first saw him a few years ago against Swansea. I know he has had a lot of injury issues since but he could do a job couldn't he? What do those who have seen him recently think?
And what about the option of playing Bertrand in the centre? |
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Comment | Was Saints Wembley Ticket Allocation Method Fair ?
at 15:29:34
Despite being one of the longstanding fans who has been to several games a year for 35 years but could only go once this year for family reasons, I still think the allocation was fair. I'm very pleased that the club made an effort to ensure that those who went to away games got a chance to get a ticket with the final batch. This time, I'll just have to watch on Sky and hope that we get back to another final soon! |
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Comment | Dan's Report ! Will Claude Puel Be Saints Manager Next Season ?
at 16:40:26
Quite mixed so far, but then so were some very successful managers in their first season. If we win the EFL Cup and finish in the top 8 in the league I think that's pretty good, if we manage one of those two, it's probably OK (though disappointing we might not then be in Europe). |
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Comment | Saints At Norwich City The Verdict
at 12:31:28
I agree completely with abingdonsaint. Yes, I'm a bit disappointed with the season and very frustrated that we haven't played well in several games and as a result have dropped out of the Europa league and are unlikely to get back next year.
But to suggest we get rid of Les Reed (who has been the main reason why we are now regularly in the top half of the Premier League rather than stuck in the Championship) is ludicrous. Do the people suggesting this not have any memory of being a Saints supporter prior to the last few years?!
I am a little concerned about the recent form of the U18 and U23 teams though, I think we need to keep up the investment in the Academy - it's done very well in the past and the youngsters on Saturday all looked good despite the result but we can't be complacent. |
| News
Comment | Saints At Everton ! Dan's Verdict
at 15:03:07
I'm also very frustrated and have started to wonder whether Claude Puel is the right man for the job (especially given it seemed to be tactical failures that caused our early exit from the Europa League which was meant to be his strong point).
On the other hand I think we need to recognise that Saints have been hugely successful because of the role of Les Reed. This means that our 'manager' is actually a head coach and not the main person buying and selling players and looking after the longer term strategy. Which is probably why Pelligrini et al wouldn't have been interested once he understood this.
And I think the rotation policy is fine in itself and it's important to give the young players a chance when they show they are ready. But I think the issue is that in some positions there aren't enough good players to rotate (especially striker). |
| | garethhartwell
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 0 | | Comment Votes: | 16 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 16 |
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