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Comment | Southampton V Ipswich Town The Verdict
at 16:26:13
Talk about a nail-biter! Which inevitably ended the way all 6-pointers do… Trouble was we were struggling through the entire game to contain…Ipswich, for God’s sake!, who are barely out of short trousers (aka L1j.
But overall was this a better performance? Well in parts, yes, especially Ramsdale, Lallana, Dibling, Fernandes and Sugawara. But then against that you have the massive negatives of Archer (such a lightweight), Harwood-Bellis (far too big-headed), Ugochukwu (slow and careless) and Ross Stewart (embarrassingly slow and unfit). So I would say on a scale of 0 to 10, we may have moved up a shade, from say around 4 to maybe 5, but still well short of what is required.
I know the optimists will say we played better, but that isn’t really the point, because WE STILL LOST! And I continue to think that under RM we really won’t, indeed cannot get much better because he is out of his depth. No one is going to wave a magic wand and suddenly make him a better manager because we have seen the total length and breadth of his talents, he’s not going to improve, and the longer SR wait to sack him - and note he will definitely be sacked, it is just a question of when - the further down the track we will be before a new manager can start to get us playing better as a team.
In a nutshell we are a half decent car being driven by a man who will forever be stuck with his L plates on. And if you need further proof, as someone else has commented, how come Fulham, a similar sized club and level of abilities to us, can do it and we can’t? Answer: the manager pure and simple. |
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Comment | Southampton Already Have Their Target To Replace Russell Martin
at 09:06:02
Goodness me I hope this is a nonsense, because frying pans and fires come to mind…
I do think RM is not capable of keeping us up but, all the same, another Championship manager? Oh pur-lease…!
That said, I get it that the number one criterion for all business owners is not to lose money.
At the moment the £120m+ the club will earn this season will go a long way to offsetting the total net outlay on players this season. To which the payoff for RM - which would presumably come out at around £5m - needs to added.
So we get relegated, we lose a number of players for whom we recoup let’s say £30m-odd.
Plus the parachute payment(s) et voila, SR are not much out of pocket, if at all.
But, if they were now to go for a high profile manager, he might cost £5m-10m a year and the cost of firing him if unsuccessful would be a lot higher.
In other words, it seems that SR believes that RM is getting the most out of this squad and a big name would not be guaranteed to do any better. And it therefore makes more economic sense to line up a cheaper “good prospect”, hence the idea of choosing Eustace over a much higher profile name, ie the whole thing is financially-based.
Sad, but that is today’s world. |
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Comment | Southampton At Everton The Carabao Cup Verdict
at 10:29:42
If you’d just landed from Mars and you watched this football match, I would imagine your friendly Martian would be pretty hard pressed not to be able to decide where these two teams currently are in the Premier League: because “mainly dross” would be the description he would undoubtedly come up with.
That said, I think it maybe showed WE ARE NO WORSE THAN EVERTON, which I suppose is something. And of course it may instil a bit of confidence in the squad for Saturday.
But I did count at least half a dozen times when we were pressed by Everton and lost the ball trying to do tippy tappy. And yet there was definitely more cases of hoofing the ball out instead. So maybe that is sign of improvement, even if better teams would take more decisive advantage, as has been shown so far this season.
Yes I know damning with faint praise but I still maintain getting out of the bottom three under this manager is going to take one helluva lot more than we showed last night, especially as we were hardly playing our reserves. |
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Comment | Will Fate Once Again Force Russell Martin's Hand
at 13:59:48
JoeEgg- agree with all that.
And in answer to your last point UNEQUIVOCALLY NO WE DO NOT.
The fact is he WILL be sacked, be it in a week, a month or a year. Because he simply does not have the wherewithal, the nouse and the tactical know how to be even a bog standard PL manager, let alone a successful one.
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Comment | Southampton V Manchester United The Verdict
at 09:30:34
There are two common-heard expressions in the media which I loathe:
The first, is after some poor individual has got stuffed in his or her particular sport, is virtually in tears and a moronic reporter immediately shoves a mike in their face and asks “How do you feel?”!!!
And the other is after your team has got well beaten, everybody is really down, and the manager waxes lyrical about being able to take “loads of positives from the game”. Aside from the fact that you will never hear a winning manager say “ Well, we will be able to take loads of negatives from our performance”, this is always a pathetic attempt at arse-covering. Because, a defeat is a defeat, no matter how much you try to tart it up, and, Russell Martin, nil-three at home is not far short of a thrashing. And for you to think otherwise just shows how deluded you are.
My read on Saturday’s successful plucking of defeat from the jaws of victory:
1. The reason we lost pure and simple was RM’s idiotic decision to get Cameron Archer to take the penalty, when Diaz, who has scored seven out of seven, clearly was the better choice. That one decision deflated the team and the crowd and it was all over.
2. It is small decisions (like that one) that win or lose you games, not whether for example you play three, four or five at the back. And that decision alone shows that RM just hasn’t got the X factor.
3. RM now seems to have got into the appalling habit of apologising, as if that will make it any better! And what does this tell us? That HE IS LACKING IN THAT INNER CONFIDENCE THAT IS REQUIRED TO BE A PREMIER LEAGUE MANAGER. And If you doubt this, when did you last hear Pep or Jurgen or even the likes of Nuno or Ten Hag or Dyche apologising. They don’t, because they have 100% self-belief coupled with PL experience.
4. And if you want further proof, a really good manager would have been able to lift the players’ heads up at half time, said that Man U are quite beatable, and got them to play the second half with spirit and pride. Instead our drab H2 performance speaks volumes about RM’s non-Churchillian half-time talk.
5. JS’s thoroughly deserved red card spoke volumes about the frustration which RM’s style has created in the team.
6. Finally he says “The lads are trying so hard, they are giving everything they’ve got”. But isn’t that the point? It’s under him they are doing the best they can, ie he has reached the end of his limited footballing knowledge and if that wasn’t proof positive that he has to go, I don’t know what is.
I’ve said it time and time again, top managers make average players into A1 teams; can anyone honestly put their hand on their heart and say with confidence that RM can do this? We need at least nine wins to stay up; right now I struggle to see where we are going to get our first point from, let alone our first win under him. I believe he must be shown the door and PDQ. He has taken us as far as he can, he’s not going to get any better, and anybody who seriously thinks we should give him more time is as deluded as he is, because the longer we keep him the more he will squander the talents of this half decent team. |
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Comment | The Knives Are Out For Russell Martin In The Media But Do They Have Substance
at 11:27:54
To win points from here we need to play better, I think we all agree on that. But we are also depending on other teams playing worse but, if we think we can play better then why on earth shouldn’t others be able to?
I actually think I am a half full person because I see some if not most of our players up to PL standards. But under this manager I just cannot see them being able/allowed to play to their best.
Brian Clough was brilliant at making B and C class players into an A class team. Can we really say that about Russell Martin? |
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Comment | The Knives Are Out For Russell Martin In The Media But Do They Have Substance
at 09:50:39
Before all the “give RM a chance” merchants spout any more from their ivory towers, one statistic that many forget about is that last season we conceded 64 goals, which was equal fourteenth, yes FOURTEENTH!
Which I believe underlines the basic underlying problem with RM’s possession-based style which is exactly that, TOO MUCH POSSESSION.
And it’s simply a case of mathematics.
Suppose you have 35% possession and you lose the ball ten times in a game. That may or may not lead to a goal or two against you, maybe more, may less.
But….
If you have 70% possession, then by simple maths, that would lead to maybe 20 losses of the ball, so twice as many chances of conceding.
But even if you manage to play better with more possession and keep the loss of the ball to say 15 times or less - and we clearly have been unable to - then that still means you are much more vulnerable than if you only have 35% possession.
And this is without the increased tiredness that comes with it.
So proof positive that lots of possession is a good thing is an utter fallacy. We may have got away with in the Championship, but in the PL? Not an earthly
AND THAT IS WHY RUSSELL MARTIN HAS TO GO…
PS. I seem to recall all those nutters who were saying sacking Adkins was completely wrong and look what then happened; and it’s the same now, fine in the lower leagues, out of his depth in the PL.
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Comment | Southampton At Brentford The Damning Verdict
at 09:49:05
I’m afraid I think you are being much too generous in your comments Nick.
Saturdays display was surely was the epitome of a team that is all over the shop defensively with a manager who doesn’t know what to do about it given he refuses to change his system.
Watching what in my view was a near train crash of an interview with RM - not looking at the camera, trying to big up the team’s performance, looking miserable, saying it was his fault - I got the distinct impression that he was trying to hide a sense of defeatism, along the lines of “it’s all going wrong, the players are losing confidence, I don’t know what to do, I’m out of my depth, take me out of my misery”; and hence his comment about living and dying by the sword, which is another way of saying “I think it’s only a matter of time before I get the boot.”
What is more this must leak back to the team, and the latest comments, from the likes of Adam Lallana and Jack Stephens surely show that team spirit is fragile at best. And what will happen to it in the Man U game if we ship a silly goal or two?
But more importantly, having spent around £60m+ net in the transfer window, the really interesting question now is how long SR will now give him, because they must see that currently we are cannon-fodder for every other team in the PL. I reckon end-November max and could be (much) less if we don’t get some points on the board PDQ and the boos ring out at SMS |
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Comment | Southampton At Cardiff City The Carabao Cup Preview
at 09:44:18
“The manager will have two objectives from this game, the first will be to obviously win it, but the second is perhaps more important for the season, that is to fine tune the players on the fringes to the possession game he has introduced to the club and hopefully create some competition in the squad going forward.”
Sounds familiar?
Yes unfair I know but this was from Nick’s preview of the Gillingham game last year.
Plus ca change…? |
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Comment | Southampton V Nottingham Forest The Verdict.
at 15:11:46
We did not seem to be able to cope with Forest’s style of pacy play and their non-stop press, and they are supposedly one of the lesser lights in the PL. They just seemed more skilled, fitter, and half a yard faster and generally made us look like an average Championship team (which arguably we are), who were lucky not to have lost by two or three goals.
That said we might still have got something out of the game if our two wingers had someone in the middle to aim for.
Over the last few seasons the yardstick is at least 9 wins to stay up, in other words half your home games give or take. Last season Luton Burnley and Sheffield united won 14 games between them, ie around five each (whereas Forest in 17th spot won 9). Because unless or until we get in a goal scorer or two plus a goalkeeper in the next couple of days, on this evidence, given our frailties at the back and at the front, it is going to be a very long season…
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Comment | Vacancy- Ball Playing Goalkeeper Wanted Apply St Mary's Stadium
at 09:58:02
Great post and I don’t think there are many fans who would disagree.
Except RM that is!
As I said in a previous post, I do find bizarre the comments he made about AM being a great goalie and the blame for goal mistake should be shared..
Call me a cynic but it could be argued that he is making a fruitless effort to defend/justify a new 2 year contract (which he was presumably aware and supportive of). Furthermore, if he really does believe what he is saying, I just wonder, reading between the lines, whether RM - who after all is just 4 years older that AM - sees him as an ally and/or therefore might find it rather difficult telling off his contemporary…. |
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Comment | Southampton At Newcastle United The Verdict
at 15:47:48
I have commented about previously on how utterly useless I thought AM was and should not have tried to play silly buggers. In fact I think almost a worse crime was looking utterly shambolic when Isak passed to Joelinton, AM didn’t even make a half hearted attempt to save it.
However, just to be boringly even-handed about it… I just wonder whether looking at AM’s pass straight to Isak, it doesn’t look worse on TV and/or in the crowd? because we look down on the play and can see everything clearly, whereas the goalie only sees things in his direct eyeline and to him the pass may have seemed, or indeed to him it definitely looked, on.
More worrying though is the comments RM made about AM being a great goalie and the blame for goal mistake should be shared. Because I just wonder, reading between the lines, whether RM - who after all is just 4 years older that AM - might find it rather difficult telling off his contemporary…. |
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Comment | Charly Alcaraz Says He Wants To Be At Southampton
at 17:25:33
Like Broja, Charlie A from time to time was drop-jawingly amazing, but for whatever reason didn’t or couldn’t turn it on enough. So yes Saidou I agree with you that he was a bright spark - but I must correct you on one thing, that is the reason why any team gets relegated is not the lack of goals scored but the huge number the defence lets in that causes it, period.
But re CA, I think him coming back is potentially very exciting: he’s a year older, more experienced and joining a team on the up, so fingers crossed he can outfox a few defences in the PL.
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Comment | Would Southampton Fans Welcome Back Adam Lallana To St Mary's
at 17:00:52
Ricky Pope, that is the point; Championship, well maybe worth a punt, but PL? I think just because he may WANT to come back does not mean he is good enough to come back. Also does it not speak volumes that Brighton clearly could have made him stay if they’d really wanted him to, but didn’t? |
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Comment | Would Southampton Fans Welcome Back Adam Lallana To St Mary's
at 16:33:37
This has all the characteristics of buying another Theo Walcott, but in that instance we were struggling.
Now we are on the way back, this would almost certainly be as retrogressive a move as getting a Theo proved to be, if not more so.
I am pretty sure there will several much more promising (and younger) individuals available before we need to look at Alan. It seems the fact that he -and a number of other players - turned up to watch us at Wembley is being interpreted as meaning he wants to come back and/or we want him.
PLEASE NO. IT WOULD BE A VERY BACKWARD STEP AND WE CAN DO BETTER.
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Comment | Southampton V Leeds United The Wembley Play Off Final Verdict
at 10:13:04
Observations on an INCREDIBLE day
1. I have no doubt that Alex McCarthy has got so much better because he has a much more confident and settled back line in front of him. Yes he was lousy last season but he has shown that, by sticking to his last, he was quite capable of improving a massive amount.
2. Whoever had the idea of putting red and white flags on Saints’ seats was brilliant. This was a Masterstroke. Looking out at the Leeds end before and during the game, they were holding scarves and were unmoving, whereas our end everyone was waving like mad and I am convinced that made just a little bit of difference from the off to our mood and the enthusiasm.
3. I could hardly believe my eyes when Leeds started doing what we were so guilty of not so long ago, ie passing the ball sideways and backwards. A real sign of lack of confidence if ever there was one.
4. Speaking to Leeds fans on the way home, they all thought their team didn’t really turn up. And furthermore that Farke did an awful job with his subs. (Again echoes of RM in the past).
5. I just loved the way, from about 20 minutes into H2, we did absolutely everything to disrupt Leeds’ rhythm, pushing them, fouling them, kicking the ball out, marking them really closely… in other words we did a real job on them.
6. Munch munch munch. That is the sound of me eating humble pie about RM plus Rasmus Ankersen and his moneyball theories. What can you say, he/they have done us proud this season and if RM can keep this amazing spirit, camaraderie, never-say-die attitude and great self-belief going, who knows what we might achieve next season. At the very least I can see us worrying a few of the lesser mortals in the PL.
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Comment | Keep It Simple, Play Your Best Players, Change Little ! Is The Message To Southampton
at 19:03:56
I didn’t see the game v Leeds so I am risking talking bollo*cks but I recall RM saying afterwards that he decided midweek that they would try something different, ie us pressing the oppo rather than the other way round.
Whether that would have been achieved with another lineup goodness knows, but my impression is that the individuals on the pitch were happier playing that way. And that is the lesson to be learned, it’s not about WHO plays where it’s about HOW they play. So let’s hope that for the next three games they can replicate it, regardless of who is selected. |
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Comment | Southampton V Stoke City The Verdict
at 20:27:20
Colburn, I think the majority of those reading your piece will think, why does he take god knows how long to make such a minority-view point?! ie we should stick with RM because he’s got us to the playoffs.
I’m not denying your right to make it but my reading of the present situation - and i reckon that of most on TUI - is that we are playing rubbish football instigated by a rubbish manager. And if by some miracle we do go up, we will be the Sheffield Utd of 2024/25 and will get even less points than last time.
And I swear to God that if you cannot see that RM is a one trick pony then you have been watching our season through specs which are rose-tinted in the extreme.
I appreciate RM’s ability to have got the players to play in the style which he likes as a result of which we did well mid-season. But can you not see that this style is a real dead end street? Because if the likes of Stoke can work us out what hope do we have in the play offs let alone the PL?
If we don’t go up I reckon we could be stuck in The Championship for quite a few years unless or until we get a manager with vision and an attacking philosophy.
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