I can go with all of those, except Charles Aznavour and twirly things, BUT I've been to Stoke, Hull and Burnley this season and seen utter dross compounded by the tactical nous of a beginner. In my opinion we have survived in spite of, rather than because of Mr Puel. Whether he gets another season depends on who else is available and that's how it should be.
I had a bright yellow Citreon Diane in the early 70's. When petrol rationing was threatened, I had to go the post office for a book of vouchers. As the car had a 500 cc engine I was offered motor bike vouchers, which wouldn't give me much fuel. Some comedian said it was the perfect car for someone from Cowes as steering it was like sailing a dinghy up the road and leaning over at corners. Just in passing, I think Puel has done very well as everything that could go wrong this season has landed on him. Still time for the plague of frogs and a meteor destroying St. Mary's. Blue writing
On a random note as you mention Milan I've just checked my email and Inter sent me a happy birthday email over the weekend... forgot I had signed up to their website in the off chance of getting a home ticket at some point
I didn't boo myself, but if they can be cheered and loved when they play well or win, they can take a few boos when they are utterly terrible. Fans pay their money and are entitled to voice an opinion if you ask me.
Dunno if he's still classed as ITK or not but pretty sure he used to be... "I believe Claude will still be our manager next season. Club to back him in the summer by keeping and signing the players he wants. He has done ok in his first ever season in the toughest league in the world and a new culture." K Billy from SaintsWeb.
I'm 100% ambivalent about our Claude. I'm not convinced that he got the absolute best out of the squad and the fixtures, but he has certainly not been a disaster. I'm concerned to hear that he may be losing the dressing room because I feel like we have one of the most settled environments in the league and have always seemed to have a happy squad, even with the departing players. IF he were to move on at the end of the season I'd be unconcerned, if he had the team playing well and there was a bad egg or two in the club I'd be backing him all the way but if performances are dropping off, player relationships are deteriorating and there's going to be a summer re-jig of the squad I don't feel that there's huge risk in changing managers. For the record I would love some continuity over the summer with no sales and stable management but I don't see it happening.
Results in the league have been at the lower end of acceptable for me. We've definitely taken a step back. Yes, we might still finish 8th, but we could also finish 16th and for the last three seasons we've been clear of the mid-table pack. There's certainly some mitigation for that - last summer's transfer business was relatively poor, but Puel became manager early in the summer so he can't be considered entirely blameless there. Our European campaign was ultimately a failure. I don't really care too much about the cups so the League Cup run doesn't carry too much weight with me. The style of play has been slow and boring far more often than it was under Koeman or Poch (both had their dull occasions). Lots of games where I've been quite bored watching and when I can't watch now it doesn't really bother me. Dull games would be tolerable if the style was effective (i.e. we won games) but it hasn't been really. More concerning for me is that at times it's not really clear what the team is trying to do. Under Koeman and Poch you could see what the plan was even when it didn't work. With Puel there are times we seem so wrapped up in keeping the ball that I'm not sure how we plan to score, how we're actually trying to win the game. Rotation doesn't really bother me, certainly not in and of itself. I suspect I might have a problem with how he rotated. I could be wrong and don't have the inclination to check but from memory I think he played a mix of our "best team" and backups in most games with the result that we had a lot of games where we weren't terrible but weren't quite good enough. I'm not 100% sure about that though and it doesn't bother me that much in any case. In summary, and as others have said, I'm not calling for him to go at this point but I won't be shocked or shed any tears if he does leave.
I would keep him, personally. We sold our best players without replacing them properly this year, and performed well with a lot of extra games. People underestimate the effects of Europe. Whilst I think he has made a lot of errors and strange decisions, I am interested to see how he will do with no European football.
Spot on, echoed what I've been thinking. If he goes I won't be heartbroken, if he stays I won't be upset (unless VVD goes because of this)
Did you go to Wembley? Did you watch it on the telly? Were you left forlorn and disappointed that afternoon? If you did, then you do care a little Whether the cups carry much weight with you or not, you can't discount them as its part of his job and he was "successful" in one of the cups. That's selective assessment if you do discount it.
While what you say is true fats.......it's worth reminding people of the clubs stated aims........ which is of course to play in Europe each season. Unless we have some spectacular results or some spectacular luck .......that is unlikely next season. Just balancing the debate and my contribution is not to be considered as I want Puel out......
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/sa..._should_be_looking_over_his_shoulder/?ref=rss Above is article from the Echo. The reason I have posted it is that it lists (at the bottom) the games outstanding for the teams that could threaten our position in the top ten. Bournemouth have the 'easiest' run out, but bearing in mind who we have to play there are a few who could jump over us. Boro and Stoke are essential wins for us unless we can manage a win against a top side....in the past that would have been highly possible, but we've not managed it this season (other than in the Cup). Time to pull one of our rare, exciting performances out of the bag against Liverpool...sides fighting for the top often slip up when not expected to and we are still a team to beware of. Make it this weekend, Saints.
Oh ****! We were excited about free BT sport for away Europa games and watched Hapoel and Sparta games. It was over-priced!
