Alliteration be buggered. I was just encapsulating the way far too many Saints fans think. Think small and you'll stay small.
I think it is more important what the owner/board think...I can think as small as I like or as big as I like and it won't make any difference.
Is thinking big being too ambitious? Or is thinking small being too negative? Is wanting your Hobby/sport to do exceedingly well, over the top? Why the hell would it be? You don't enter any competition not to win it, no matter what the odds. You want your team to win no matter who they are playing you also want your team to be there or there abouts' at the top of their game. I don't see any posters on here saying we are bigger than Chelsea or Liverpool et el. Only that we want to compete and compete at the highest level. Sometimes you have to accept facts and at this moment we are not on top of our game, we are not playing as well as we can. We can do better and yes we are a smaller club in the PL. So if that is thinking small for wanting more than we are doing and knowing we can do better, then for me time stands still!! As we all know that 'aint true......We all have an opinion and entitled to it, but to suggest people are thinking too small because they see things differently is in my opinion more negative!!
I'd be very surprised if that were the case, unless something else was going on behind the scenes. Haven't we only lost to Stoke and Man City in the league since we were all fine? I swear we are some sort of marker for teams above us in the league - whenever we win, they all win too; whenever we lose, they all drop points themselves. It was my frustration last season with Spurs - they would just mirror our results so we couldn't get above them. Anyway, seriously hope we turn this around for Spurs. As per my usual plea when this fixture rolls around.
I reckon our Board is a level-headed one. I believe they are realistic about this project, and that stability - at least at managerial level - is key to our model working. I think they would allow Ron a transitional season to round off his contract, given what business decisions have been made regarding players. Even if I was a neutral, I think I would have more faith in Saints' long game than any other team's in the entire English league system. We see static (ie. zero) or backwards momentum, but behind the scenes they will have a good view of what's coming next in our plans, and will base any decisions on that rather than losing to the four clubs mentioned. Insane that it's four London clubs in a row, incidentally.
Hmm, think he probably is. Infact, Pep Guardiola is closer to being sacked than you are to being manager at the league system's bottom club, but I get your point...
Seemingly running counter to what I said on the same subject a few posts ago, I do need to point out here that regardless of when Ron is sacked (if he is at all), there is a 100% guarantee of there being a next manager (natural and financial disasters notwithstanding). It isn't the case that there is only a next manager once Ron is sacked. So in theory, the vacancy doesn't need to exist for Mowgli's chances of being next manager to improve (i would say the odds of that happening remain the same now and when the vacancy exists!). They could have started talks behind the scenes for Mowgli to replace Ron whenever he choose to go, be that next year or in ten years' time.
Good post ISIRTP - pretty much agree with all of it, although in Poch's defence, he's absolutely turned Spurs around from a team with a bunch of overpaid, overly mollycoddled "stars" into a cohesive unit that plays in his preferred style so I think he could have done the same transformative job here, despite player sales. I also don't think Adkins is better than either Poch or Koeman - that's a big stretch and would be borne out by what's happened since he left us. He was great for us up until a point, which (in my view) was a point that was correctly identified by Nicola (though I vehemently disagreed at the time). I know you were kinda saying that in the post, but I just had to point out my differences when saying he's better than MP or RK. Not for me. The post-match carping over player choice is something that bugs me, I completely agree.
Yes I believe MP could have done it too, had he put his mind to it. In fact, had he stayed and really tried to get the players onboard, I think it is possible he could have convinced at least one player to stay. But he didn't though, he bailed. RK actually did it. So that to me has to be a point in favor of RK.
Great post, ISIRTP. Don't necessarily agree with the Adkins analogy, but I think the rest is just about right. RK has done a sterling job since he arrived - yes, we have a weaker squad than last year, primarily because of Schneids, but we're a cohesive unit going through a bad patch. I know the next few fixtures are tough, but the players need to get themselves sorted out, the tactics need to be there and we, the fans, need to be behind the team, not carping on about sacking the manager. We don't want to do a Swansea, in my opinion. We all knew we wouldn't have as good a season as last year, but we're still way better than most of the clubs below us and we will come good. My opinion - I've seen Saints through worse "crises" than this and the manager needs to be given the benefit of the doubt, in my opinion.
I absolutely question Ron more than I ever did with Poch, and I continue to rate Poch as the better manager (although he was not without his faults - refusing to have a plan B probably being the biggest of them all). I question Ron's use of Tadic (although that has improved this season). I question Ron's use of substitutions (conversely, I think this has got worse this season). I question Ron's use of Yoshida at RB. I question Ron's favouritism of Pelle. But I don't think Ron is the issue here, and I don't want him sacked. The issue - or at least, the biggest issue - is our lack of squad depth. It's been a big issue in previous seasons, and it's an even bigger issue this year. Why is Cedric our only 'legitimate' RB? Why do we not have a natural right winger? Why is Pelle our only natural striker? Why do we not have a CM who can score or play well in an advanced role? Why did we basically only increase our squad size by two whole players over the summer, particularly when those players were Martina and Juanmi. Everton had three players on their bench today, any one of whom I would love to see in our starting XI to add an extra attacking threat. That's not Chelsea, or City. That's Everton.
All these comparisons between MP and Ron are pointless, but I'm much happier to have an honourable man as our manager than a deserting rat that ****ed off at the earliest opportunity. Make no mistake, we could've been in trouble at the start of last season, as many pundits predicted. We had a fantastic season thanks to Ron and his staff and has earnt a bit of faith as far as I'm concerned. A lot might depend on the January transfer window, but i'm certain that things will turn around and we will have another good season. The facts stand that we finished higher under Ron Than MP.
Time to just provide support. We are missing Clyne and Schneiderlin...Ron is trying to sort out a team that seems a bit lost, but it will turn round. We just need that bit of luck....losing 1-0 could easily be a win to us. The team must feel down...like us, wondering were the next win is coming from. Luckily, our board is made of sterner stuff than Swansea.
We are having a hiccup...may be a bit longer than usual because of the opposition coming up....but we will get enough results for an okay season. Show faith in RK and a good summer will see his 'last' season back to the same level as his first. If we believe in him, he may believe in us and sign a contract extension....even another year would provide us with stability. Ron is not the finished article as an EPL manager, but, with the right attitude and aptitude, you can learn more from a difficult time than from a string of easy times.
