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Comment | Southampton V West Ham United The Preview
at 10:00:34
Yes I for one do have a lot more optimism ahead of today’s game. It is not so much a must win as a mustn't lose. Because if we can play like we did against Fulham - ie it wasn't a one-off, but the start of something better - then we should be able to.
But as i have said before, it is worrying that we are close to the top of the league on cards and fouls, so that it would be surprising if this changes much, given that Death Metal Football is very much an “in-your-face-and-take-no-prisoners” style.
I have always felt that fouling is a sign of lack of skill, lack of pace and a lack of tactical awareness. But if Ivan the Terrible can improve at least one of those, well maybe, just maybe the Great Escape might be on….
COYS |
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Comment | Southampton At Fulham The Verdict
at 16:42:35
My first visit to Craven Cottage, i was right at the top of the new stand, which was a good view, when i could see! Christ it was a pain because so many people just would not sit down and were moving all the time! Certainly not my experience at SMS!
In so far as the game was concerned, we were lucky in H1 but we did defend well. And in H2 we played much better and a draw was a fair result even if Fulham fans around me were suggesting it was 2 points dropped for them.
Individually, Downes I think deserves a serious kick up the arse, because he struts about thinking he owns the place but made several cock ups at least one of which nearly led to a goal.
Tyler D is a great player but LBH is very lightweight and gets bundled off the ball far to easily; he needs to grow some balls! Ramsdale is class! Enough said. As is our new skipper Jan. The rest did at least played like a team, and not a load of own-feet-shooters!
Moreover, despite our shortcomings, you did get the feeling that we have definitely turned the corner. Could we get out of it? Well our odds have shortened to 1/16! Which just might be worth laying… |
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Comment | Southampton FC Sack Russell Martin
at 09:10:40
PPS. My spies(!) tell me that the reason why RM was not given the Spanish Archer much sooner was because, at a Board Meeting a few weeks ago, Dragan Solak - who wanted him out - was outnumbered by Ankersen, Kraft et al. Such are the inherent difficulties of owning, as opposed to running, a business.. |
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Comment | Southampton FC Sack Russell Martin
at 08:29:55
PS “We are witnessing first-hand the significant gap between the Championship and the Premier League”
This is interesting… perhaps this is a hint that they really do have ti try and get a top (PL or equivalent) manager… |
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Comment | Southampton FC Sack Russell Martin
at 07:52:04
As many of us have been saying for a long time, but unfortunately at least a month if not three months too late.
But Thank God it has now happened.
But frying pans and fires come to mind now as to who they may approach.
If Rasmus (W)Ankersen is behind the selection process we will no doubt get yet another “up and coming manager from the sixth biggest league in the world”. In other words yet another cheap no-hoper from the Championship.
Because, at the moment and on past evidence, the Board just do not seem to get that, if you want to play in the big boys’ playground, you have to at least try play like the big boys do…
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Comment | Southampton At Aston Villa The Verdict
at 15:41:40
As i have said elsewhere, football, especially Premier League football should be, above all else, FUN.
So Yes, whilst I agree with every word that has been written about what a dreadful manager Russell Martin is, isn’t his biggest crime, regardless of the results, making our style of play so EFFING DULL?
I should think there is not a single fan who can honestly say that they enjoy watching us, because not only are we bad, we are BORINGLY BAD!!! |
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Comment | Russell Martin Turns On The Fans And Players
at 14:24:24
God i hope you are right. Russell Martin is an apology of a manager. And if he goes this week, that won’t be a day too soon.
And so far as a payoff is concerned if I was SR I would pay him until the end if the season and tell him to sue.
But ultimately, whatever we think about his abilities or lack of, isn't the worst thing is that HIS STYLE IS SO UTTERLY BORING? |
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Comment | Southampton At Brighton The Verdict
at 20:56:16
Fair result on the balance of play, as luck was with us in H1 (had there been better finishing by Brighton, we’d have been three down) but against us in H2 (VAR decision)
But what really concerns me is our discipline, or lack of. Because back in the day we used to have a reputation of being a nice family club with a disciplinary record to match.
But now…
At 44, yes 44, YELLOW CARDS we have the second-highest number in the PL with only Chelsea having (three) more! Plus two red cards (the highest).
Ok, so last season, we had the equal highest number of cards in the Championship, and got promoted. But this season i think the lack of discipline is much more because:
1. The players are struggling to cope with the speed of their opposite numbers;
2. They are making up for their lack of skill by fouling;
3. Poor coaching has lead to poor positioning;
4. There is a real lack of leadership on the pitch.
Some will say this shows passion! I think it shows that the manager is really not in control.
OK, so yellow cards are not in themselves a disaster, but last season, the team with the highest number was Chelsea(!), followed closely by Sheffield United, and we all know what happened to them…
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Comment | Southampton V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict
at 12:23:58
Saturday’s game was a dreadful indictment of where our USELESS MANAGER has taken us. Forget about the zero shots on target, or the absurd passing around at the back instead of going forward, or the bizarre substitutions. When will RM ever learn that having c70% possession - as was the case at the weekend - means you have twice the chance of losing the ball and getting punished, vs having half that?!
But what really summed up the dross we are now weekly being forced to watch was when, on at least two occasions, a Wolves player took on three, yes THREE, of our players and got away from them! As Terry-Thomas used to say “What an absolute shower…”
But whatever one’s verdict on Saturday’s performance was, judging by the look on RM’s face and his demeanour after the match he knows the game is up: SO SR, IF OUR APOLOGY OF A MANAGER IS DYING TO BE TAKEN OUT OF HIS MISERY, FOR GODS SAKE DO THE RIGHT THING AND GET RID OF HIM… NOW!!!
PS. As a saddo and a masochist, I thought I would just see how, over the last ten years, teams who have been at the bottom of the table after 11 games, did by the end of the season.
The facts make stark reading, as if anybody could have imagined otherwise.
In ten cases where teams had 5 or more points (either alone or jointly) only three survived.
But only one team, out of five who had 4 or less, stayed up and that was Crystal Palace in 2017/18. They had changed their manager in September 2017 but it still took them a dozen matches to get out of the bottom three. And the name of their then new manager? That wily old fox Woy Hodgson.
Conclusion:
If we do manage to get in a VERY smart manager PDQ, and pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, we’d still be heavy odds on to go down.
But if we don’t, as the old saying goes, there’ll be two hopes, Bob Hope and No Hope…
PS. I recall once reading about tactics in the SAS. When you are in an utterly hopeless situation, you ADVANCE, not retreat. Because you’ll certainly be done for if you go backwards, but by attacking not only will you take the enemy by surprise and put them on the defensive, but you just might win! Something which our so-called manager might care to think about…
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Comment | Southampton At Wolverhampton Wanderers The Preview
at 17:55:54
Personally i thought both teams last weekend were rubbish, it was just that the luck for once was with us. We have played better and lost but on Saturday we played dreadfully and won.
And it is Lady Luck again tomorrow that will make the difference.
Russell Martin is a poor manager but the TEAM deserves things to go their way for more than just the one game. |
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Comment | Southampton V Everton The Verdict
at 07:53:56
Well…
I had a good laugh with the people I sit next to. If you had just landed from Mars and you had to guess what the positions of the two teams in the PL were from the play, you’d be hard pressed to say anything other than bottom and second bottom. Dross was the politest word to describe it!!! Absolutely dreadful dross was probably more accurate!! The only positive for Saints was that we’ve played better and lost whereas we played appallingly yesterday, had a huge slice of luck with VAR and won. Still can’t see us surviving with our dreadful manager.
One thing I really noticed was what Everton players did when they got the ball versus what we did. When they got it, they typically turned inside and looked for an immediate forward move. Whereas what we invariably did was turn inside and pass backwards. God i wish we’d gone for Dyche when we had the chance. .., |
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Comment | Southampton V Stoke City The Carabao Cup Verdict
at 10:44:56
My only comment on last nights general dross would be, who on earth agreed to buy Cornet? Whether or not he has been any good in the past, under RM’s “brilliant” management, he makes statues look skilful and busy. Useless us being too kind.
As for the management situation, I do sense that a lot more fans have now turned against him thank God, so, scratched record I may be but, I say again RUSSELL MARTIN OUT ASAP. |
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Comment | Southampton At Manchester City The Verdict
at 10:04:30
If anyone needed an example of despair and hope, Saturday’s game epitomised it. Yes it was a more spirited performance. But so what? Because as expected we lost, not thrashed but ZERO POINTS…AGAIN!!! And basing even a grain of hope on it is like looking for flying pigs, only less probable. The way we played underlines why THERE IS ZERO CHANCE OF ANY LONG TERM IMPROVEMENT UNDER RUSSELL MARTIN AND WE MUST GET RID OF HIM NOW!
And the reason is very simple: the way we defended after going one down was good and of course we might even have got a point had the bar not got in the way. But the fact remains that RM is incapable of instilling that do or die mentality into his squad FOR THE WHOLE GAME so necessary against any team but particularly against lesser clubs than Manchester City. Furthermore, a quality manager gets his players to BELIEVE: here we are a quarter of the season gone, we have ONE LOUSY POINT, and there is zippo evidence that RM has the ability to do this.
I just hope, in the time during the (totally unjustified) apparent stay of execution he has been granted until the next international break, SR are making inroads into finding out who is available. I also sincerely hope that Rasmus Ankersen is on a final warning if not worse, as IMHO a lot of our failings lie at his door. He has legged over Dragan Solak something rotten over all his Moneyball theorising; it may have worked a few years back at Brentford, and maybe still does in the Championship, but now all teams, and particularly those in the PL, look at stats as a matter of course and any edge we just might have had has gone.
PS. Re Pep’s praise for our manager. Another sign of a good manager is always - outwardly at least - respecting your opponent. Never kick people when you are on the way up/ at the top etc…
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict
at 09:14:20
I was going to begin with the words “where to begin?” but the entire set up of Russell Martin’s has been andremains an utter shambles.
And a lot of people seem to think that the players have to carry their share of the blame for our pitiful display on Saturday. And I thought it was only the Italians who give up without a fight!
But that simply isn’t it, because it is the responsibility of the manager pure and simple. He tells them where to go, how to position themselves etc. and they do what they are told. And therein lies the problem. Russell Martin has no tactical nouse and just tells his players to keep doing what they have been doing at it’ll all come right. Which has proven to be cr*p.
I’ve said before, as have many others, that his team selections are all over the place, his tactics are naive and his subs baffling. But regardless of the evident truth in all those criticisms, the key point is that Russell Martin does not have the ability to MANAGE the team.
Why were the likes of Alex Ferguson and Jock Stein and Cloughie and Klopp and Pep so good? Because every player is/was prepared to DIE for their manager, and would run through doors for them, some would even take a shoe in the face for them.
But Russell Martin? If anybody seriously thinks that that is the sort of atmosphere he has created, let alone whether he can still create, with this demoralised squad, is completely off their trolley.
And yet…
I think we really do have some half decent players who would have a damned good chance of surviving in the PL (as evidenced by the H1 performance on Saturday). But the squad’s inability to see out the game is not their fault; they clearly do not know how to do it. And that is entirely the manager’s fault, because either they haven’t been told how to, or they have but he’s made it impossible (too complicated) for them to implement it, or they are not fit enough or a combination of the three.
WHICHEVER WAY YOU ARGUE IT, THE MAN IS UTTERLY INCAPABLE AND MUST BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY. END OF.
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Comment | Southampton V Leicester City The Preview
at 20:20:08
Sorry?! Russell Martin is not a bad manager?
Well if you mean championship manager maybe. But a premier league one? Oh FFS he is utter sh*te, I know it, most if not all the fans know it and come on, so do you in your heart of hearts.
Under him we are well and truly Eff You See Kayed, no more no less.
HE ABSOLUTELY 100% NO ARGUMENT MUST GO…! |
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Comment | Where Will Russell Martin's Thinking Be For Leicester Game
at 15:28:17
Bowlercow, I hate to tell you that my source too is impeccable! You can believe it or not as you like but I happen to know that RM has been told indirectly he either changes tactics or he is on his way.
The owner has invested a huge amount of money in the club and will not sanction being relegated.
When I first heard this it was before the Arsenal game I thought RM would be gone after it. Well so be he’s still around, and I have no further information but if we lose against the Foxes or even get away with a draw, I cannot see Dragan Solak being giving him any more time. The end is nigh and I reckon an increasing number of supporters are of the same opinion. |
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Comment | Southampton At Arsenal The Verdict
at 16:22:01
For goodness sake GET REAL Nick.
WE LOST!!!!! OK, so we played well but that has got eff all to do with it. We still only have ONE POINT for all our spirited huffing and puffing FFS!
I believe the end is nigh for our manager and not a moment too soon
Could I suggest everyone listens to a recording of Jim White’s programme on Talksport last Friday at around 10.45 am you can hear it by going onto the talk sport website.
Jim basically read out a comment that has reached him from a well informed source within the club. In a nutshell Russell Martin changes or he is toast. I reckon after the next game latest.
At least someone realises that we can’t go on like this unlike far too many bozos who want to give him more time.
Two expressions come to mind:
The first is the old one about despair and hope.
The other one? So much better to play badly and win rather than well and lose.
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| | davidargyll
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