I like to think that success in the Championship is less about tactical masterclasses, and more down to simply having better players on the pitch. The fact that Nathan Jones didn't know that there was more than way of pressing, would allude to this. I'm just hoping we have such a relatively strong squad come the opening day, that even a fairly average manager couldn't fail to get into the top 6. Just put the square pegs in the square holes.
Martins track record over his three seasons of management looks very similar to Ralph with us….Terrible winless runs followed by streaks of title winning form. from a couple of interviews I have watched, he doesn’t seem like a nutter, he talks about the game from a technical perspective and not like the PE teacher “Work Rate, Desire, Penetration” and he played himself at a decent level, plus he has management experience in the championship. its a huge opportunity for Martin, we’re a club with the resources and our fans/owners are going to expect results, so the pressure will be something new to him, but the squad will be going through a major overhaul and there is no reason why he can’t put out an eleven who can play his way. essentially he has no excuses for not getting us to at least a play off spot.
But does he consider playing against 10 men and advantage or disadvantage? You know, in terms of stuff. Oh good, then I’m on board
I absolutely agree with you, but just for context one manager who was utterly atrocious for this was Pochettino. You would know how the game was going to go within the first 10 mins because there was no way in hell he was changing. He turned out alright….
I think having 11 players on the pitch who are committed and at it is just as important - no room for any primadonna passengers! Hard work beats talent when talent doesn`t work hard as a wise man once said.
I've got no idea how well or badly Swansea played during that 16 game run immediately after the WC break, and whether or not they deserved the lose the amount of games which they did, but looking simply at the fixture list, it wasn't the nicest run of games. Their 11 losses in that time included Burnley, Norwich, Millwall, Sheff Utd, Blackburn, Luton, Boro and PNE. They also played Coventry, Sunderland and Watford during those 16 games, and took seven points from those three matches. That's almost the entire top half they played in those 16 games (only WBA are missing). To be honest, I'm not really sure what point I'm trying to make here. Because to succeed in the Championship, you do need to get results against the better teams. You can't just hoover up the points against the bottom half, and expect to make it into the PL. But it does maybe put Swansea's poor run of results into some sort of context. Maybe I'm just desperately trying to find balance, when in reality I'm just very unconvinced about his apparent appointment.
All I will say now, is SR have failed in their first mission this summer .... uniting the fanbase. This should have been an appointment for everyone to get behind. Instead, it's more of the same.
I don’t really think uniting the fan base/playing to the fans should be a factor in a decision like this. Just pick the coach you believe is right and then empower him to do his job and get the players that he needs. And don’t interfere with either of those things. Large swathes of our fan base thought the 2022 summer transfer window was an eight or a nine out of ten. It was utter sh1te as it turns out, we signed a load of pap and failed to address the clearest and most obvious need of the team for many months. If Martin plays nice stuff and gets some early wins, people will be fine.
Side point but if people can’t bring themselves to get behind the appointment of a young, inoffensive coach whose stock is rising and who has only ever managed teams neutral to us, never said a bad word about or clashed with Saints and tries to play attractive, attacking football - then it’s probably for the best that they do something else with their weekends anyway.
That's exactly my point. If he doesnt? There won't be any goodwill from the fans, like there would have been if it was more of a name that the majority of fans were behind. We need to get rid of the toxicity at SMS, and getting the managerial appointment right was the first step to that.
Impossible task. There’s no manager out there that we could realistically get that would have everyone agreeing on.
What credible name were the majority of fans behind? We’re three months on from NJ’s sacking and I haven’t heard one credible suggestion. If the atmosphere at St Mary’s is near-immediately toxic next season, despite a large-scale clear out of execs, coaches and players then that’s on the fans. There should be goodwill because we’re trying to turn the ship around and the personnel will, presumably, be massively different. I truly appreciate how sh1t we’ve been and how tough it’s been to sit through it for two years, but people do need to realise that it’s time to support the people on the pitch and in the dugout to try and bring about the change we want, even if you’re fed up of some of the antics from the boardroom.
Yeah, it's impossible but there are names out there (realistic, not Potter) who'd do a better job of getting the majority fans onside.
Good will needs to be earned. If we don't start next season well, regardless of team or manager, fans will turn again. And rightly so. All I'm saying is, if we had more of a name whi had more history & pedigree as a manager, that fuse would be longer if we don't start rhe season well. If we do start next season well, then happy ****ing days.
I don’t know. Looking at Facebook etc, we have many idiotic fans (as do all clubs) and to make any decision around the fickle needs of the fanbase wouldn’t be too clever. Where I agree with you is that SR haven’t got a lot of rope with the fans, because of the debacle of this season, but any managerial appointment is risky. What they have done now is move quickly and decisively. That would indicate at least some level of learning. Back him in the market now, and let’s see how we go. He’s at worst a 50/50 risk appointment, and there aren’t that many out there that would give you better odds than that in our situation.
I don't get the toxic comments, we just got relegated last game and the atmosphere didn't ripple at all, so I don't see how it would go that way quickly next season. Saints players, management and directors get an extremely easy ride. The only time it did get spicy this season was toward the end of Jones and he had to behave like a colossal bell end to achieve it.
I don’t think “being decisive” or “moving quickly” is something SR struggle with. It felt like Jones was basically appointed the same day Hassenhuttl left, and Selles was given the job after 1 caretaker game. If anything “rushing into decisions” is a more accurate summary of them so far. Sounds like they’ve done the same again and got a new manager lined up before the season is technically over. I appreciate with the rebuild/turnover in the summer we wanted a new manager in place quickly but if feels very rushed to me. That being said the only manager I could see uniting the fanbase (and it’s not a given) would’ve been Vieira. And I’m sure there would still be some people not happy with that appointment. We may have approached him and he said no, we won’t know at this stage
I thought Sheffield United appointing relative non-entity Paul Heckingbottom was a terrible move. What do I know?
That’s true - and I do understand the frustration. Sport Republic have now boxed themselves into a position where they don’t have an awful lot of slack with the fan base (deservedly so) but I don’t want to see Martin jumped all over within three weeks because someone’s unhappy about something Rasmus Ankersen did a year earlier. Also… people do make mistakes. They happen a lot in football governance and administration. Despite their naivety and failures, I do not believe SR are wilfully negligent or doing anything other than making decisions with the best interests of the club at their heart. As I said earlier, let us not forget that a lot of our fans were merrily cheerleading the summer business and thought it was amazing just based on the quantity, rather than the quality.
