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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Verdict
at 18:50:20
JoeEgg - I am sure all 19 EPL managers will be encouraging RM to carry on just like he is and will be delighted to see him do so!!! I could manage the opposition at the moment - boot it up to McCarthy and just wait for the opportunities...
Off form Liverpool, difficult conditions - a recipe for a shock? Should have been but eccentric team selection and players in the wrong positions + the usual suicidal play at the back meant no. Russell has to go because THIS ISN'T WORKING. The fact so many said it wouldn't work, of course makes it worse. The large 'I told you so' brigade join with the disillusioned optimists and those shaking their heads at the craziness of this continuing 'experiment' - has there ever been a time in modern football when such self-destructive nonsense has been allowed to go on for so long?. Our squad is one of the weaker ones in the league (thanks SR, although perhaps that was inevitable) but is it really a 'tailed off' squad? We lost yesterday because of Russell Martin. Imagine the surge in confidence after beating (or even drawing) with Liverpool, instead a slide further down the doom slope.
On the referee and VAR I didn't think we were hard done by. Our penalty was just outside (they were right not to overturn though, just like they were wrong to do so at Wolves - CLEAR AND OBVIOUS). Also My gut reaction when I saw the replay was that Lallana was off - he was lucky, he could have easily gone. And their penalty was one because that is the rule - if the officials enforce the rules then I don't complain. Football has an interpretation of 'deliberate' that you won't find in the dictionary but it was just bad luck. Perhaps if Sugarwara had have played from the start he would have judged the conditions better. Finally the two claims in the second half: Archer no way a pen. Armstrong definitely in the 'I have seen them given' category but was never going to be overturned. The two things that went FOR us came first so I am not surprised that the Armstrong one went the other way. I thought it happened at 2-2 but I saw someone say it would have made it 3-1. That would have probably guaranteed us a draw even under Russell...You can't blame luck when you hand the opposition goals like those though. |
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Comment | Southampton V Liverpool The Preview
at 11:15:45
Well done for finding another analogy Nick. The name The Fall alone is fairly suitable for this season. Was there ever a band called The Drop? Must have been a song called Relegation Blues...
In times past weather like this would have had the chatting football classes talking about it being a great leveller. Sadly RM is the least likely manager in history to adapt tactics for the conditions or even to give us the best chance of winning. If our chance of getting anything is 1 per cent then surely it is the manager's job to get that up to 2 or a heady 3 per cent. Not our Russ. Quarter of a per cent will do for him as long as we 'play the right way'.
Sorry Block 8 and saintpete - I am finding daring to dream difficult. It would be lovely if those dreams come true... |
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Comment | Saints Not Afraid Of Sacking Russell Martin Even If They Have To Pay
at 22:37:18
When I look at our next 6 games (including cup) I see that away at Brighton is the 'easiest'. It is distinctly possible that we will go to Fulham on 22 December with 4 points from 16 games - it will be too late to 'lose faith' then. Either sack him now or keep him for the season I would say. In other words if you are going to sack him you HAVE TO DO IT NOW.
That said I am terrified of who SR might think is an adequate replacement... |
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Comment | Southampton V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 11:45:28
Yes redwight 'mediocrity in depth'! It isn't all RM's fault - the transfer strategy has been abysmal.
These injustices with VAR should have been sorted by now. 'Clear and obvious error' is a relatively straightforward concept. Instead a novice ref is taken to the blackboard and teacher lectures him on the 'error' he has made, wasn't even an error at all in my view. Second should have been disallowed too.
That said, if the writing wasn't on the wall before it certainly is now. RM would 'normally' now go. Even an excellent, intelligent choice of replacement by SR would struggle to keep us up but SR don't do excellence or intelligence when it comes to these things. I expect Wayne Rooney to be spotted in the Southampton area any day.
We are unfortunate to only have 4 pts - with proper reffing and a bit more luck we could have had 7 or 8 but that's life. RM is trying a real-time experiment in getting a sophisticated system to work without the quality of players to do it. Even with all the luck in the world we would have struggled. Under him we will now be lucky to get more than 15 points. We now have a horrendous run of fixtures so this is SR's last chance to bring in a decent replacement - changing when we have 5 points from 17 games really will be deckchairs and Titanic territory. |
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Comment | Southampton V Everton The Verdict
at 11:01:37
Ah - that's the (second) best thing about wins, verdicts on Sunday morning!!
We were due a bit of luck. A neutral reviewing our first ten games would not begrudge us four points or even one or two more. I thought the Sugarwara pull back for the goal was brilliant. Of course it is just one result but I am going to be positive for a few days - who knows - we may not get many more chances to smile!!
Oh and well done to Ramsdale - after a dodgy start to his time here that was a match winning performance. |
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Comment | Southampton V Stoke City The Carabao Cup Verdict
at 09:57:56
At least we won I suppose but truly abysmal other than that. We were ultimately lucky not to lose against the poorest team we will play this season. It showcased the sterility of the football RM plays. No quality (until Bree at the end) and boring, ineffectual football. If Stoke aren't relegated this will be a second division game next season - and the signs are not good. This should have been 4 or 5 nil - the fact it wasn't says all you need to know about RM and SR. |
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 21:39:19
I think you can make a point that we have been a bit unlucky this season. Looking at how we have performed in the eight games you could argue that having 4--7 points would have not been unfair. But its results that count Russell and you're not providing them. |
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 11:00:38
There has been a lot of talk in recent months about the overall way we play (playing out from the back, possession football etc) but the (even) more important point was amply illustrated by this game. As Nick and those already commenting say: the bloke makes too many errors in team selection and game management. Yes, poor choices at the back have cost us points but managerial decisions before and during games have cost us more. This 'look at me I made an eccentric decision' rarely worked for Ralph (an experienced manager at this level) and will never work for RM. Sadly, it is time for him to go - probably was after the Bournemouth fiasco.
I have already heard mutterings about 'what if they choose someone worse' (ala Nathan Jones). Well - if they do they do (and the track record is very poor here) but there isn't a lot worse than 1 out of 27 (my crystal ball says an RM masterstroke to get something at Abu Dhabi is unlikely) and indeed, if we had had Wolves' start to the season we would now have 0.
As for the ref - Leicester took advantage of the poor refereeing - are we capable of doing the same? |
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Preview
at 12:33:54
I'm sure some hapless poor soul who supported the sacking of Adkins would run you close Bowlercow.
The hard truth is that decisions on managers are made in the present and RM is, for good or ill, nearly out of hypothetical future where Saints out-play teams with attacking possession football. We can lose today and still stay up but, right or wrong, it wouldn't be with RM in charge. That's football life. My biggest fear is Sport Republic's choice of a successor - some guy with no experience at this level will not in my view get us any closer to 'safety'.
Come on you Saints this afternoon. Dare I say we are due a bit of luck... |
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Comment | Southampton Learn Draw For Last 16 Of Carabao Cup
at 08:21:07
Hi conspiracists. My experience of football authorities is that if they owned a brewery they wouldn't be able to organize a p1ss up in it - so the idea of them masterminding a successful draw-rigging operation is rather far fetched. If the big boys had THAT much power they would get rid of the league cup altogether. |
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Comment | Southampton V Manchester United The Verdict
at 11:30:41
I agree with saintmark's first sentence. I feel a wee bit sorry for RM. He did virtually all we were demanding of him but his addiction to Jack is doing for him and for us. If we lose the next two he will be sacked and the question as to whether this is a good thing is not as clear cut as it might seem. I get davidargyll's point that he needs to go but would just make two points:
1. History - our last two relegations from this league were in seasons involving an early manager change, and indeed two happened in both. Alright Poch worked okay but there is a strong case to say Adkins would have kept us up anyway.
2. The replacement. Sports Republic don't have a great record here. It would need to be someone who could be up and running on day one. Is Potter still available? Nathan Jones mark two would have us all nostalgic for RM very quickly.
Personally I would give him until the end of October and say we MUST have at least 4 points by then. If we beat Ipswich and Leicester then all bets are back on. Big 'IF' I know but I am not going to give up yet.
As for the game - the penalty taker decision was mad and Jack was Jack. Dibling looked good and Ramsdale a long overdue signing. Several other players looked decent but where are the goals coming from?? |
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Comment | The Solution Is Clear For Russell Martin If He Is To Stay In His Job
at 11:38:24
What other PL team plays extreme tippy-tappy at the back? The idea of possession-based football is that you move smoothly UP the field. Over 90 gruelling minutes at this level our defenders are always going to make vital mistakes at the back playing this way - also they are a lot more likely to be punished for it. It is unfair on (some) of our defenders to say they are 'not good enough' because it is the way that they are being asked to play that makes them look that way.
Nick's point about the last 4 games of last season is a key one. Even with McCarthy in goal I remember only one heart in the mouth moment in the whole of those games (in front of the away end at the Hawthorns). RM can therefore adapt. Will he? I hope so because an early change of manager doesn't seem the way forward to me. He needs to drop the players who need dropping and accept that a clearance into row Z and a throw in at the halfway line is infinitely better than picking the ball out of the net after another fiasco... |
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Comment | Southampton At Brentford The Damning Verdict
at 11:23:34
Extreme playing out from the back is last year's news. No other teams do it. Possession-based football is fine but good teams play most of it further up the pitch. RM is trying to do something that will not work at this level. I would argue that we got promoted despite of it last year rather than because of it. RM must see it is not working so why in the hell not change.? Pick the best players and tell the defenders to hoof it when there are no better options. |
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Comment | Southampton At Newcastle United The Verdict
at 14:15:00
harrapuk - actually that goal was the exception that proves your rule. It was a roll out to the left-back, two long passes and just a few seconds later it was in the Ipswich net. Not a risky pass in sight! |
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Comment | Southampton At Newcastle United The Verdict
at 08:41:31
Three things strike me about this game. Two I already knew (McCarthy useless at playing out, attack unlikely to score many) but the one I didn't know was a pleasant surprise: we looked alright, even good at times. The key now is that RM accepts the truth - at least one point was thrown away in that game by a simple fact (McCarthy) that we all know about and he seems to be in denial about. If he is not willing to LEARN then we go down. Full stop. If he does adapt there are hopeful signs. Even with us not scoring that should have been an excellent 0-0. Every point is vital. Come on RM - stubborn is sometimes good but NOT over this.
I always hate this sort of behaviour that gets players sent off - whoever does it. It is cheating. That said, I thought the Saudi fans moaning about cheating brought to mind a phrase about kettles and pots and black paint... |
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Comment | Kyle Walker-Peters Situation Is Win Win Says Russell Martin
at 15:39:03
I am not sure that selling our best player would be a 'win'. So far I don't see us as any stronger than the side which got promotion through the play-offs. With the likes of Brentford beating us to our main targets. If we are serious about staying up I would have thought buying good players was a better option than selling them. |
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