The last managers have had the initials MP, RK, MP so we're due another RK...Welcome to the hotseat Ralph Kruger! We'll have loads of defensive shutouts, powerplay our way to the playoffs and have a stupendous Summer Franchise Enhancement Draft....Go Southampton Saints!
I'm absolutely fine with Hughes. He's vocal on the touchline and he has connections with the club albeit a long time ago. He's the sort of personality we need. For too long we've had managers afraid of saying what they really think. Hughes is not that! I'm confident he will fire up the players.
Hughes may be the quick fix we need, but long term I’m not sure. Since he took over from Pulis, at Stoke, you could see a gradual decline in their defensive solidity. I don’t think we have room for our defence to decline any further than it already has. But should he come here, and should we survive, perhaps he could have a word with Shaqiri. There’s a player playing on the wrong side, but doing it effectively, someone who Tadic should be looking to emulate.
My recall was that it was all a bit flat, it's true, and missing penalty kicks didn't help. Even Aussie cricketers (my ultimate standard for **** off competitiveness) can have problems raising themselves in a dead rubber game unless they're playing England. It was a bizarre end of season where, no matter how much we screwed up, no team seemed capable of taking advantage and leapfrogging us in the league. For me it was simple. Whatever the hell was going on, Puel took us to 8th and within a whisker of winning the League Cup. He had no luck at all with injuries to boot. But a manager of a club like Southampton should not have been sacked with that record. On topic ... I'd take Hughes in a heartbeat. I know a few Stoke fans who'd agree with the assessment quoted earlier. I know some who thought Hughes was crap, but mainly they only see games on the telly.
At the end of the day, Southampton is still a big job for a large majority of managers. Reasons to want the job:- 1. We are not in the relegation places with 8 games to go 2. Still have games against teams in relegation trouble (W'Ham @ Swansea) 3. Games against clubs hopefully with flip flops on (Leicester / Everton / Bournemouth) and hopefully Man City will be in champions league final, and no player will want to be injured before that. (Ok dreaming about beating city) 4. Still a talented squad of players, that with a little motivation and organisation, are more than capable of getting out of trouble. #tryingtobepositive
I am and was completely pro-Puel, but we must also remember that Saints that season seemed to have a magical ability to remain 7th or 8th while winning no games for an age. We were helped by extreme incompetence behind us in the table. Burnley are doing the same thing this season (their win against Everton was their first three points since early December).
Not sure if been mentioned (and probably not related in anyway, shape or form) but Brendan Rodgers was down at Hungerford Town watching his son play yesterday, which is 40 miles (ish) from Southampton. On the day he was sacked.
Yep, that's just how desperate things have got around these parts Tobes, Stoke aren't below us for no reason....
