There was a joke in Greece during his time at Olympiakos that Silva was so fixated on counter attacking teams that he purposefully relinquished the ball to the opposition so he could counter attack. He may play attractive football, but it's pretty much sitting deep and hitting teams on the break...
Okay so I have not read through all of the posts, could someone please summarise very quickly: If the rumours are true, is Puel being forced out at the end of the season (sacked, but announced as 'mutual consent'), or is it that HE is wanting to leave? I'm not so fussed either way by Puel. I have found more games this season than in the previous few dull to watch, particularly before Christmas. But I also appreciate the difficulty of the job he has had this year and don't think he's done badly considering. It is noticable that he is the first manager since I have been going to games (2003) that I cannot once remember hearing the crowd chanting his name.
Is this how rumours spread in the modern world? Unless there's some gross misconduct we don't know about, then this wouldn't make any sense at all. Why would you sack a guy who, given our wage bill in comparison with our competitors, given our injury list, & given the departure of our two leading goalscorers last summer, has quite clearly over achieved in his first season? I get that a considerable section of our supporters are clueless knee jerk berks with deluded expectations. But that's just the fans, & probably a minority. The club doesn't do business on the basis of the ignorance of the lowest common denominator, surely? I sincerely hope this is all bollocks. But I have grown used to being completely out of step with my fellow man lately, so who knows? I hate the Premier League. My son was right the other day when he said to me that football is rotten.
Alternate theory: thinking that there is a problem with our style of play this season might not be limited to clueless knee jerk berks and the ignorance of the lowest common denominator, and this is instead simply a self-gratifying post on your part? I'm not a huge fan of Puel, but didn't want him sacked unless we had a definite upgrade off stage left. I can see keeping him; I can see moving on. But if your dudgeon gets any higher, it'll escape orbit.
Probably was a self gratifying post. I did feel a bit better for the rant. However, I remain convinced that the rest of the world is wrong, not me. Most fans are idiots, most electors are idiots. And the world is going to ****. A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Or, as my old boss used to say - "C***s. I'm surrounded by c***s!"
I can't fathom the "lack of passion" hatred displayed by so many Saints' fans. You only need to look at his reaction to Nathan's goal on Saturday to realise that's utter bollocks. Watch it again on MOTD and you can hear Claude's shout of joy over the crowd. Quietly spoken ≠ no passion. Vin
Pretty hard to argue with that. The question is how has he managed to achieve all that playing dull boring football and scoring so few goals? (sarcasm) Just for debate's sake - Europe we didn't get out of the group. Koeman was never in the group so we cant judge like for like. We won 2 out of 6 games and didn't score an away goal. Not brilliant. Unbalanced squad lacking in firepower with Neither Gabbiadini nor Boufal available. Our cup run was very good. Premier league opposition and we performed well. We were excellent in the final. Both Gabbs and Boufal contributed. In the league our goals for puts us in the upper end of the lower half. Could be worse but Everton have scored 20+ more than us so could be a lot better. Overall position is flattering, everything considered. Feels like we never got going in the league. Too much rotation, too many injuries, too many points dropped. Created lots of half-chances without scoring early on and lately not even the half-chances are being created. Overall I cant find a case for keeping him or getting rid. The swaying factor for me is whether he's working well with the players and the club. If he's not then he should move on. If we keep him I think we'll be moving on a lot of playing personel and starting a new era.
Do you think he's as good as the previous two managers? If he's not, can we do better? Personally, If I'm honest I dont think he has as much as either of them. If I'm honest I think there are managers out there better suited to Saints. And I think he's done a fairly decent job this year, its just that my gut tells me he wont take us much further than this and he hasnt done enough to earn my undying love.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/sa...T__Could_Puel_s_bottle_save_his_job_/?ref=rss Article from Echo summing up the season. Ignore the title....'Could Puel's bottle save his job' as not really featured in article and obviously stupid...as one game cannot change how he is viewed by the board...good or bad. Confirms to me what I feel....even if he goes, he doesn't deserve the sack for what he has actually achieved.
Poch is one of the best young coaches in Europe imo so it;'s asking a lot for Claude to be compared to him. Koeman is charismatic and practical but I think there is every reason to believe Claude has as much if not more to offer than him. That's just my opinion though. I don't think any of us are in a position to judge their relative merits yet. Claude has done enough - more than enough imo - to be given a chance to prove himself. I am confident he knows what he is doing, genuinely. And he is his own man, which his selections on Saturday prove, and which I admire.
The above judgement sounds like the rest of the teams that are going to finish between 8th and 17th. Bar Bournemouth, all have been finding it hard to score at certain stages of the season. What do we expect from Southampton? CL football every season, a never-ending sequence of cup finals? It is not in club's DNA yet, and that aspect has to acquired over a long time period. So the fans who are unhappy with the club should go off and support Real Madrid where success is guaranteed. And they can all enjoy a wonderful weekend in the Spanish capital.
This to me is what makes this a difficult discussion. Nobody can deny Puel has had a tough 1st season. He has had to bed in a lot of new players and I blame that on the board. They should not have let those players go, at least until the new manager was able to have an input in their replacements. Also a serious mistake was not getting in a recognised striker at the start of the season. Another mistake by the board or by Puel? Add to that the injuries to key players he has had. He has made mistakes of course he has.........we knew he would he is new to the premier league. Allowances have to be made. The trouble is .....are we making excuses for him and Saints? Yes I guess we are....but do you know........most are genuine and factual. They are not flights of fancy they are not just opinions. So the question is do we think he would do better without all the hassle he has had? Without the obvious mistakes he has made as a newbie to the premier league? Having a real say in the improvement of the squad? Yes I think he should be given a chance....lets give him a try. Why shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt? Trust me he will soon be gone by September or October if he hasn't had the early hassle and he doesn't improve on the style of play in my opinion. Finally our discussions could be useless if a new board is formed as is likely....they may well have other ideas and their own manager who by the way may be already be in the wings. Remember they are not subject to the restraints Saints are at the moment in contacting a possible replacement. Just a thought........
The only team SFC have not beaten from West Bromwich down is Hull. And Stoke. The rest we have beaten. SFC are about to prove yet again, hopefully, that they are the best of the rest in the PL. The disappointment is only taking 6 points from the top 7 teams. Hopefully that will be 9 by Wednesday evening.
I don't really like what I've seen of Madrid, otherwise I'd maybe follow your suggestion Ides. I love Andalucia and the Basque country so perhaps I'll take up supporting Real Sociedad (Bilbao is a dump) or Sevilla .. Sevilla I suppose - better weather, better team. You've convinced me.
