I think that former head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell, leaving for Spuds was a massive blow. If you look at most of the successes Saints have had with purchases they arrived during the three years he was with the club. Clyne, Jay, Big Vic, Dusan, Mane, Pelle, Bertie, Toby all arrived then and VVD not too long after (presumably he was being tracked long before though). You can't even blame him for Osvaldo, as Cortese claimed that one!.
I'm willing to give Gao the benefit of any doubt for now, but he has to act swiftly and stop placing his trust in the men that are damaging his investment.
Problem with Gao is, ‘ambition’ comes from the top. By ambition I mean, wanting more than to just stay in the league and collect the TV money and having vision and a plan to get there. Instead we got a big speech from Krueger about being a small club and it being an achievement to just stay in the league. That’s an attempt to manage fans expectations because we have no ambition other than to spend as little as possible to stay in the cash cow league. You can do well without spending like Liverpool, but you still need a plan, a structure and good management at all levels to achieve under such constraints, especially when your opposition are ‘all’ spending big. In an ideal world you’d have an owner that has an ambition of pushing the club forward on and off the pitch, and backs that up with some injection of funds. But Gao hasn’t shown any of that and it’s not like he’s been in the door 5 minutes. I’m not entitled enough to believe he should spend his money sorting us out. It’s his money not mine. In an ideal world he would, but at the very least I want to see some sign that he cares about something more than just making money from the club. We’ve regressed massively in basically every area of the club to the point where it’s a matter of when not if we get relegated. Even as a businessman and not a football man that must be clear to see.
No thank you...... Southampton manager Mark Hughes could be sacked if Saints fail to beat Watford on Saturday, with Sam Allardyce and David Moyes favourites to replace him. (Mirror)
Who is brave enough to start a new thread/poll for Sparky's replacement as it is obvious that it's only a matter of time before those responsible for this shambles decide to blame him for their ineptitude.
No to Allardyce. Moyes I would begrudgingly accept. At least he had a long period of success with Everton.
We should have got rid of Pellegrino this time last year, 100%. Hughes is more complicated, as the damage has now been done so it isnt entirely his fault - however, I can see zero positives in his management so far. We have actually gotten worse. I would give him Watford, and if he can’t get us to beat them he has to go. Time isn’t a luxury we have any more.
How often has David Moyes name come up? He's the go-to guy for the media to name if they have no more idea than the rest of us. Sam Allardyce is becoming frighteningly more attractive as the weeks go by....but he is a sticking plaster manager like Mark Hughes. I can see him knocking some heads together and squeezing enough results out to be safe, but he isn't the way forward and yet we could end up giving him a contract because it would seem mean not to (like Mark Hughes again). However, I can see the board being willing to go down this route because staying up is a must for a valuable asset like the Saints team.
