The Premier League Thread

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-57182793

Ashley Barnes charged with drink driving.

 

Why is that any more "pointless" than the Europa League? I think for clubs like West Ham, or indeed Saints, any European competition should be one of our main targets, along with a cup win. Unless you are a huge club that is used to Champions League/Europa every season, you can't really turn your nose up at the European Conference because it isn't prestigious enough.

Realistically, teams like West Ham or Saints aren't winning any European competition anytime soon, so it is more about the possibility of a European away day for fans and to fun of playing different opposition such as Inter.

 

Neither this season or Puel's were that bad really. Puel's performance as a manager was arguably worse as he inherited a better side and the football was dull but both seasons we finished well clear of the relegation zone and enjoyed good cup runs.

This season may well feel a bit crap now because the majority of our losses/poor performances have come recently. If we had an awful 1st half but then gone on an incredible run in the 2nd half of the season, or even had a steady mix of results throughout, then we would all likely feel a lot better about how this season has gone.

 

Agree re Puel.

He deserved a lot of credit for the League Cup run, especially as we had a very difficult route to the final.

But in the PL 8th position flattered to deceive, we lost 17 points on the previous season with mostly the same squad and were closer to 18th than 7th in terms of points. It was a massive decline in performance from the season before and set the tone for our very near relegation the following season. (Although we can’t blame him for Pellegrino being the Ali Dia of football management).

I feel like he was just about an ok manager, but a massive step down from Pochettino and Koeman. Kind of emphasised with what Rodgers has gone on to achieve with Leicester after he left there as well.

 

Mostly the same squad = minus the previous season's top two goalscorers and Wanyama. Virgil and Fonte for only half a season too.

 

That is a fair point, but I don’t think we were that good when VVD was fully fit either and his management was also partially responsible for destabilising Fonte.

I still feel like he was a big step down from Poch and Koeman though and his Leicester tenure hasn’t really redeemed his reputation, although I think he is a safe pair of hands as opposed to terrible.

PL Managers ranking
1 (Great) = Pochettino and Koeman
2 (Good) - Hasenhuttl
3 (Fair + Points for being a lower league God) - Adkins (didn’t really get a fair crack at the PL)
4 (Ok) - Puel
5 (Poor) - Hughes
9999999999999999 (Apocalyptically woeful) - Pellegrino

 

How I the hell did we ever get Pellegrino and his useless striker mate? Something suss about that era I reckon.

 

Puel is/was better than Ralph

 

I’d say last season dispels that, lower position but better results / points total and performances with a worse team.

He also managed to turn around the Pellegrino/Hughes clusterfuck, which was no mean feat.

 

Worth remembering that a world exists beyond Southampton football club... and in that world, Ralph has had a much better career than Puel.

Clearly a better manager

 

*from Pochettino.

 

I disagree, Ralph is the best since Koeman.

 

It’s all about opinions but I had to read that a few times for it to sink in! #differentplanet

 

Naaaa Koeman is a better manager than Puel. He just has a self destruct button that luckily he saved for Everton.

 

Good luck hoping to come up against someone like Inter in the Conference League.

There will be a tiny smattering of "names" in there, but they'll be so few that the chances of coming up against one of them is pretty slim. Especially if the qualifying round and then group stages. Things will improve ever-so-slight in the KO stages, when the third place sides in the Europa League drop down into the Conference League.

For me, it's way more pointless than the Europa League. It's being created to give more European football to the smaller nations (which is fair enough for them). The only reason for including one side from each of England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany - plus those dropping down from the Europa League - is to help it get sponsorship and TV coverage.

 

And all the other clubs he managed, bar us.

 

The teams will probably be at a similar to level to us - so how could we possibly dismiss it as pointless?

We would be lucky to ever get to play in it as a 7th place finish isn't looking too likely!

 

Your previous post seemed to put it on a par with the Europa League, in the pointless stakes. Whereas I see a huge difference in the two competitions.

 

I never claimed either were pointless, I was replying to another post that made that claim.

My point was that this competition is no more "pointless" [to clubs like Saints/West Ham] than any other european competition as it is the best we are likely to ever get.

Granted it isn't as prestigious as the EL, but with our history, or indeed lack of history, in European football, I don't think Saints fans are in any position to write it off as pointless.

If we ever qualify for this conference league I'll be buzzing and looking forward to an away day in some obscure european town!