 | Forum
Reply | Do Southampton Need To Recall Bella-Kotchap For Liverpool Clash
at 10:37 21 Nov 2024
I don't expect to see ABK. I think the most likely is that "back 5" shape involving Suga, THB, Stephens, KWP and Manning (if they are all fit). It's the same shape we had at Arsenal and overall I expect RM to try and play the same way as in that game. Nathan Wood will probably be on the bench. |
| Forum
Reply | Following Man City 's Style is Fundamentally Flawed and Must stop Now
at 10:23 21 Nov 2024
Blackmore: "I also remind myself sometimes that what Rasmus did alongside Matthew Benham to develop Brentford between 2015-2020 shows he understands plenty about football."
I've spoken about Ankersen's propaganda before. This kind of comment shows how it works. Ankersen's PR puts out the lie that he was involved with the success at Brentford and useful idiots like Blackmore repeat it across the media until it becomes "true". This garbage is in a piece titled "Expert View". What a fckn joke.
Try thinking for a change Adam. If Ankersen was involved in the key football decisions at Brentford then why did he leave and then make the completely opposite decisions at Saints? |
| Forum
Reply | Russell Martin is David Brent times 10
at 09:17 21 Nov 2024
In today's woke world you can't criticise because it's "bullying", unless it's online where people who say the "wrong" thing are mass cancelled by their peers - because apparently that's not bullying, for some reason I don't understand. I think it's all part of the feminisation of the world - different rules to when I was growing up. Maybe there's good and bad in that.
I used to think that football was immune to this and a manager could still bollock a player but I'm beginning to wonder. I don't think the likes of Brian Clough would have fitted in today.
Not sure this namby pamby approach really develops the kind of fighting spirit we need though. |
| Forum
Reply | Following Man City 's Style is Fundamentally Flawed and Must stop Now
at 14:34 20 Nov 2024
As said at the top, we copy Man City (well, we try to). We don't just play possession football, we try to play the Man City version of it. That's clearly shown by the diagram titled "Team Style Comparison" which is towards the end of this article (it's a stat heavy article, but this thread is about stats and you don't have to read the article to see the diagram):
https://theanalyst.com/eu/2024/10/southampton-struggles-should-promoted-teams-pl
The diagram contrasts the "fast and direct" teams with the "slow and intricate" teams. SFC and Man City are the 2 total outliers at the slow and intricate end. SFC are the slowest of all and my bet is that we would have more "passes per sequence" than Man City too, if our passes were as successful as theirs are.
So, when people say "Russ is just playing the modern way, everyone plays possession football", you can point to this diagram and show that's false. We play an extreme version of possession football that requires extremely talented players to make it work - players that we will never have.
If we have to be at one extreme of this diagram, we should be at the other extreme along with B'mouth, Forest and Everton. You don't need so many expensive technical players to play that way. |
| Forum
Reply | Does Shea Charles Prove That Russell Martin's Player Judgement is Flawed
at 13:02 20 Nov 2024
I wouldn't say there are lots of instances where the manager wasn't consulted. There are some but all the evidence says that SR give the manager a big say in recruitment (e.g. Tall Paul is only here because Nathan Jones said he wanted that style of player).
When RM spoke in the summer about signings, it was obvious he was heavily involved, if not directing the operation. If you look at the individual signings too it is obvious - which other club would have prioritised signing Ryan Manning, or this summer Nathan Wood and Ryan Fraser? The evidence suggests that our signings reflected RM's priorities e.g. no centre forward. |
| Forum
Reply | Bollocks…..
at 10:51 20 Nov 2024
RM may do OK with City's players but he would be a severe downgrade on Pep. He is Pep lite at best. The biggest difference between them is that Pep is an innovative thinker who finds solutions. RM is just a blind follower who can't fit ideas that he's copied from Pep to the practical realities staring him in the face on the pitch.
If Pep were manager of Saints (ha ha), I doubt he would be playing these tactics, even though they are "his". Pep is not afraid to get the ball forward quickly or put crosses in to a big centre forward. If he was here he'd be adapting his tactics to the players he has available.
City probably have the nouse to understand that the next "Pep" will probably not be someone who plays exactly the same way as Pep. He will be his own man and capable of thinking for himself. If they understand that then they won't recruit RM. |
| Forum
Reply | Central Defensive Injury Blow For Southampton
at 17:37 18 Nov 2024
ABK is available but he's behind Nathan Wood in the queue. Wood was on the bench against Wolves.
But knowing RM, we could easily see Cornet playing as an inverted centre back and ABK on the wing against Liverpool. |
| Forum
Reply | England
at 16:07 15 Nov 2024
He was and he's the best of those 3 (with Foden and Palmer). My point was that only 1 of them should be on the pitch at any time. They are all no 10s and if they play together England get very one dimensional. If all 3 are available, pick Bellingham, have Palmer on the bench and leave Foden at home because he rarely delivers for England. |
| Forum
Reply | Is The Journey Better Than The Prize
at 16:01 15 Nov 2024
That's the key point. To play the RM way, or Pep lite, you need players who are technically good enough to pass it round comfortably at the back and play a killer pass through a packed defence to create chances. You need seriously good players and we will never be able to afford a team full. Through our history we normally have 1 or 2 top level players at any one time, not 8.
So, it shouldn't take a feckin genius to work out that there is no future for us in playing Pep lite - and so no future in having RM as manager of SFC. Why can certain people not understand this??? |
| Forum
Reply | England
at 22:19 14 Nov 2024
They did that at the start, but then got a bit RMish later on in the 1st half. Roy Keane said at half time that he didn't like it when England "get a bit tippy tappy".His future son in law will have to explain to him that modern football is all about maximum possession and minimum chances created. Fortunately in the second half they went for it again, played well and created more chances.
As far as I'm concerned, England are a lot better when they aren't trying to shoehorn Bellingham, Foden and Palmer into the same side. Tonight's side had a lot better balance. Sometimes you have to leave out Jimmy Greaves to win the world cup. |
| Forum
Reply | Are we really waiting
at 17:19 13 Nov 2024
Thought I'd check when RH joined Wolfsburg - he started 1 year 5 months after being sacked by us - and that was considered a long time out of the game.
When doing that I noticed this quote from him about how he thought the game should be played: "When you have the ball, find a quick decision, quick transition to the front. It's about being emotional, being full of passion. Also, keep the tempo on a high level and don't slow down the game. That's what I think the people want to see."
He'd run out of energy at Saints, but boy it would be good to see some of that style again instead of the turgid dross we have to put up with. |
| Forum
Reply | Are we really waiting
at 16:46 13 Nov 2024
Yes but he had a track record of success. What does RM have if he's relieved of his duties now?
Also, from the manager's side, RH was mentally burned out and talking openly about retirement before he was sacked. There's no way he would have jumped into a new manager's job at that time. It's a different situation with RM. |
| Forum
Reply | Are we really waiting
at 16:05 13 Nov 2024
I should add that the main reason he'd go back to work is for his own career. If he's out of the game for 3 years he'll be a forgotten man. Managers (especially young managers with little track record) don't tend to go away for that long and come back. If they're not back in a year the chances are they won't be back at all.
Also, if SFC still employ him they can insist that he has no contact with football apart from job interviews and watching it on TV. They can also insist that he remains available during working hours. As a young man used to being busy, it wouldn't be long before he went stir crazy. |
| Forum
Reply | Are we really waiting
at 14:39 13 Nov 2024
Because she'd end up telling him to feck off out of the house and get a job |
| Forum
Reply | Are we really waiting
at 14:21 13 Nov 2024
If the new DOF is another idiot who worships at the alter of Pep, then it is worse than doing nothing. It will mean that RM's replacement will also have us playing possession football, and will be destined to fail in the PL, if he ever gets there, for exactly the same reasons that RM is failing.
A new DOF can be expected to be Ankersen's man, just like Wilcox and RM were, and that means that we're probably destined for several more years of this. We'll be better off if they don't appoint a DOF until they've worked out why things are going wrong and who is to blame.
As for the expense of sacking RM, this is reported as being "as much as £10m" i.e. in reality a lot less than £10m. There is no reason for a pay off. Just keep him on the payroll sitting at home until the summer and he will resign of his own accord. At least that's what a switched on club would do, but a switched on club wouldn't have given him a fecking 3 year contract extension for no reason in the first place. |
| Forum
Reply | Ankersen's propaganda
at 12:15 13 Nov 2024
Interesting and confirms what I was thinking about how he had little to do with their success. I looked it up and he was co-director of football with Phil Giles. Ankersen left (whose decision was that?) and Giles is now the sole DOF. Sounds like Giles was the man who was really making the decisions, along with Matthew Benham.
Didn't know enough about him personally to know he was a total narcissist but it certainly fits with the other bits of evidence.
Unfortunately for Saints, it seems that Dragan and Kraft didn't know enough about football to see through his bullsh*t and challenge his decisions (e.g. why on earth would copying Man City rather than Brentford be a good idea for Saints?). I hope they can get together and kick him out of SR and Saints, but I suspect it will take a few more years of failure before they feel they have no other option. |
| Forum
Reply | Get Ruud now!
at 12:07 13 Nov 2024
We need someone who knows about small clubs, not Man U. Someone who can take small club players, who aren't world class, and create a team that is more than the sum of its parts. Potter and Moyes have both shown they can do that, but are unlikely to be interested. Ruud only ever played and coached at big clubs for their country. OGS is much the same.
A more likely route is a foreign manager with a brain and a gameplan that works for lesser players (i.e. not possession ffs). Someone like Iraola but who could be persuaded. I'm not holding my breath, I think we'll be stuck with RM until it's too late. If we bring someone in to change the gameplan it will take a while. That's what happened with Iraola at B'mouth. So delaying the decision as they seem to be doing probably puts the seal on relegation. |
| Forum
Thread | Ankersen's propaganda
at 14:49 12 Nov 2024
This BBC article seems a bit ridiculous to me:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/clyr6g4d0weo
For example we're told that "There is a firm belief Saints are not far away - and have not been - from a breakthrough" which is utter bollux. We're no further forward than we were at the start of the season.
But the bit that really takes the biscuit is the bit (obviously propaganda provided by the club media rep) that says:
"The experience of Rasmus Ankersen, co-founder and chief executive of Saints owners Sport Republic, means he remains patient and strategic.
His time at Brentford as co-director of football - helping to oversee the Bees' rise and Premier League promotion - has given him knowledge of how to build a sustainable model and a successful team."
This bit of propaganda was then copied across to the Echo website by Alfie House. But all the evidence says that this is utter tosh. Brentford do things completely differently to Saints. If these were Ankersen's choices at Brentford, then why has he made the completely opposite decisions at Saints?
Three key aspects of Brentford's success have been:
1) Thomas Frank's style of play, which is a world away from possession football.
2) Shutting down the academy to concentrate on recruiting players from minor leagues into their B team.
3) Heavy use of data e.g. to find optimal set piece tactics, which are a special focus, as opposed to the chaos that we see regularly.
It's just a world away from what we do. I reckon if they fed our match data into their machine it would have hysterics. 70% possession and no shots on target? Ha ha ha.
Ankersen obviously knows how to market himself if nothing else, so we keep on hearing what a genius he is. But the reality is that Brentford is the only success he's been associated with and it was probably nothing to do with him. If it was, then why is he implementing the complete opposite here?
"A sustainable model and a successful team", my arse. |
| Forum
Reply | Goalkeeper To Have Surgery As Saints Season Gets Even Worse
at 13:14 12 Nov 2024
I predict that AM will make some great saves over the next few games. It's inevitable because he'll have so many shots to deal with. Unfortunately he'll let a few in as well.
One of the key questions here is what RM will ask for in terms of playing out from the back. Will he ask AM to play with his feet as he did at the start of the season, or will he tell him to play like he did when Baz was injured at the end of last season? There's probably half a goal a game difference in goals conceded between those 2 options. You never know, maybe this will force RM to adapt his style and we'll start bombing forward and catching teams by surprise!
Ultimately though it probably doesn't matter much. Would we have got any points in the next few games with Ramsdale between the sticks? Seems unlikely. We needed a miracle either way. [Post edited 12 Nov 13:20]
|
| | Ifonly
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 147 | | Comment Votes: | 367 | | Prediction League: | 20 | | TOTAL: | 534 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.