I think that the failure of Koeman this season has been the biggest surprise for me in the Premiership so far. When I saw the quantity of telent he was adding to the squad I felt that he was going to take them further than last season even without the services of Lukaku. Rooney's signature has not been the dread return many imagined and I think Mourinho knew what he was doing letting such a talisman leave Man Utd. The seasons under Koeman were a high point for Saints despite the poor start to his tenure. I was gutted when he left and surprised that he chose Everton even though I could understand the allure as I genuinely expected him to take that club further and eclipse Liverpool. Odd to see that Everton is the second club where he has brought in a Dutch midfielder who has under-whelmed at this level of football yet I think the team he has assembled will eventually come good. There is no loyalty in football these days and both coaches and players are increasingly transient. I don't begrudge Koeman being given the opportunity to be part of a bigger project yet his volte face at the end of his second season with us was handled extremely poorly and ,ultimately, his decision to try his luck with Everton has seriously dented his chances of ever being considered for Barcelona. It is open to speculation how well he would have done in a third season. I am somewhat sceptical that he would have been as poor as Puel, at least from a spectacle of watching the style of football but maybe the problems encountered this season at Everton are indicative of Southampton having a lucky escape ? This weekend threw up some intriguing results and whilst I still feel Palace are doomed, the problems at both Stoke and Everton offer the opportunity of a fancied team suffering the drop in May. I have never disliked Everton and would have to hold my hand up to saying that their team in the mid 80's was one of the best I have ever seen. I quite enjoyed the company of their fans which are far more genuine in my experience than Liverpool's. Given a choice, I would much sooner Stoke or WBA go down as it would mean one less game a season being guaranteed tedium at St Mary's.
I see parallels between Koeman and no Lukaku and Puel and no Pelle. Puel didn't have the luxury of a big powerful striker with a team set up to play off and around him. Koeman, in his first season, did. In fairness to Puel, I think he coped better, and that may be due to him being a better manager and/or having a better settled squad overall. Basically, without Lukaku, Koeman had no alternative strategy. Rooney always was and is a side show to get the supporters onside. It's a mistake if you're going to depend on a fading talent for your main goal scoring. And Saints are not out of the woods yet either. We still have a team largely set up for a big central striker and we don't have one of sufficient quality. Either we change or we get the required player in during January. Incidentally, the people I feel sorry for are Erwin and Jan. They were good guys.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa. ‘‘Tis funny.
Well apart from when half the fan base wanted him sacked for three months. I was just pissed off the lying twat never acknowledged that my Super Positive Match Threads saved his butt.
I think I remember the Koeman era slightly different. I wouldn’t say it was ‘a pleasure’ in general...
He had the typical mid season slump. But he did have mane, arguably the most exciting player since MLT. I would like to see if anyone preferred the football under puel? Koeman is a ****er but his brand of football was better to watch than puels. And more successful.
Never like to hear any manager is sacked. However in this case I say serves you right no manager deserved it more. Perhaps it might make you think a bit more about decent clubs that give you a real chance. I suppose he will be off to Leicester now to help them get relegated?
Amazing how we can forget the predominant 1-0 score lines because they were wins. Lots and lots of squeaky bum one goal wins were my main memory of his tenure. Lots of clean sheets of course. Then there were the 8-0 and 4-1 drubbings we sometimes handed out. Overall he did well but not spectacularly well. His biggest achievement was lifting the players for the big games. I was always confident that we would put in a shift against the top sides and his points haul showed that he did that well. He soured what would have been a great stint here by being a lying **** who jumped ship for money and ended up not seeing it because he got sacked. Silly twat.
My memory of his tenure is that we are the only team ever to have scored 5 goals in either half in one season. The top 4 teams have not done that. Lowly Saints have. We also have the fastest scored hat trick an incredible 2 mins something. Also when we played the bigger teams we always came out to win, never for a draw or just not to loose He wasn't perfect but he carried on an identity from MP that CP and MP2 for whatever reason are eroding
Yes, I remember all that about Koeman, and I’m grateful to him for those good times, and how he rebuilt the team after the great exodus following Poch’s departure. I also remember all the stuff going on below the surface, which most of us only found out after he’d gone. How he stopped the Academy boys eating with, or training with, the senior players, and insisted that the management team got served their food before the players. How he essentially stopped the Liebherr and Cortese plan of a smooth pathway from the Academy into the first team in its tracks. How many parents of Academy kids questioned what exactly their boys were doing at Southampton. For all that, and the way he left us, I can’t help feeling a profound sense of schadenfreude about today’s events.
