How long should Ron get to turn things around?

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If we have committed to no selling in January [100% according to Koeman] then we won't be buying anyone who'll make a difference. We might get some strange no-heard-of bloke who could well be a diamond-in-the-rough but he will have to hit the ground 'running' and as we have seen this probably only happens once in a long while.

Therefore I see no immediate change of fortunes - so next three games, few, or maybe no, goals and then we really are in the poo...

Constantly saying, look at the league, anyone can beat anyone, errr, no we can't even beat the worst team in the league Aston Villa, at home. Eventually at some time we are going to have to wake up to how poor we really are.
 
Oh, and most importantly of all, I have complete faith that Ron has the desire, determination and will to turn this around. I don't think he's out of his depth, I don't think he looks like a broken man. I think with a bit of teeth gritting and holding on tight, we'll eventually come out the other side of this current form and ultimately finish a safe mid table.

But as Schad says, next season could be a whole different story...
 
Schad said:
I disagree that self-sustainability is BS; most teams in the PL are pretty sustainable at this point, and certainly will be next year when the TV deal increases dramatically.

However, I'm also dubious that sustainability is the long-term goal of our current board. I think getting as much of Kat's money back before selling is more likely the aim.
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This is the problem with the PL though - sustainability for most clubs means, staying in the league, not kicking on, not trying to finish as high as possible and to win something.

It's the false hope that kills me - just say to us at the beginning of the season we hope to finish 17th or higher and make money. We won't qualify for Europe and we won't win any cups and the only star players you'll see here are those hoping to become a star and using us as a stepping stone and those in the opposition line-up.
 
Further to sustainability, our '14/'15 accounts showed us with a debt of 62.2m. However, cash on hand reduced our net debt to 47.7. We were also owed 11.5m more than we owe in transfer payments; if all of our past transfer business was wound up, that would have reduced our debt further to 33.2...a figure that is 1m more than what we have spent on capital expenditures (namely, the development of the training ground).

So if the goal was merely to be in a position to keep the finances level, good news: we're already there, barring another capital investment that no one seems to expect. If the goal is to pay KL all of her money back, that's a much different and more difficult prospect...and one with major, major risks, because relegation would leave us with a much more difficult financial situation (and with KL no longer having the ability to sell up for the significant profit she'd realize now).
 
We gambled in strengthening the squad in the summer so we could survive in Europe. The gamble did not work and now we have a lot of top class players to keep happy. Their cameo appearances are not enough to keep them happy whereas cameo appearances from youth players last season was a breath of fresh air. Despite Ron's promise not to sell, it does make sense to offload a few just to create opportunities for the young uns.

Maybe we could raise enough funds to bring that Schneiderlin chap back from Old Trafford as clearly he's not getting any game time there....

In answer to the original question - no, we should not be talking about sacking Koeman. He shows more passion for Saints in his little finger than anyone showed on the pitch today. Sacking mangers is the easy way out for too many pre Madonna overpaid footballers (e.g. Chelsea, Liverpool, Swansea). Lets not fall into the same trap.
 
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I mean, he has a lethargic style at the best of times, but he literally looks like he doesn't care. His passing is awful, his marking and positioning dreadful, he's slow, ponderous. I was a huge defender of him last season, but he is a massive liability recently.
 
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mowgli said:
We gambled in strengthening the squad in the summer so we could survive in Europe. The gamble did not work and now we have a lot of top class players to keep happy. Their cameo appearances are not enough to keep them happy whereas cameo appearances from youth players last season was a breath of fresh air. Despite Ron's promise not to sell, it does make sense to offload a few just to create opportunities for the young uns.
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Yeah, I'm afraid that I don't see all of the 'top class' players kicking around our bench.
 
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Wanyama hasn't been that great lately (including today), but he hasn't been awful either.

I mean, it's not like we were getting overrun in the midfield. We played fairly well, gave up two terrible goals, and then everyone on both teams went into cruise control. Understandable from Spurs side, not so great from us. But also not sure that is Wanyama's fault. We subbed several players and still had no intensity. And we needed those subs to get attackers in, not improve our defensive midfield.
 
Wanyama is having to work harder with and without the ball than he had to with Schneids so he is getting caught out more. God we miss morgan
 
I think I'm right in saying that it was Victor attempting to play a Morgan-esque cross-field ball that led to Spurs' second goal, and ultimately the end of the match.
 
Wanyama made seven tackles, four interceptions today and had 87.1% passing completion .

His season averages are 2.9 tackles, 2.6 interceptions, 82.6%
Last seasons was 2.9 tackles, 1.9 interceptions, 84.1%

I'm not buying that he played badly personally. I thought he had a decent game. It could easily have been 0-0 if the defence wasn't a complete shambles. Or even a 1-0 win if our attack had any end product currently.
 
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Tintin said:
Wanyama made seven tackles, four interceptions today and had 87.1% passing completion .

His season averages are 2.9 tackles, 2.6 interceptions, 82.6%
Last seasons was 2.9 tackles, 1.9 interceptions, 84.1%

I'm not buying that he played badly personally. I thought he had a decent game. It could easily have been 0-0 if the defence wasn't a complete shambles. Or even a 1-0 win if our attack had any end product currently.
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What were Clasie's stats today out of interest?
 
Wanyama completed a dribble and won three free kicks also. He is clearly the best DM we've got, I'm surprised people want him dropped. Reed and Wanyama together for me would be great. Both very good ball winners.

Le Tissier's Laces said:
What were Clasie's stats today out of interest?
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Started very brightly and fell off. Didn't think he did too badly personally. One of his better games. I defended him earlier when he was getting slated. Just looked. 88.9% passing completion, three tackles, two interceptions. I'd still prefer Reed (or Romeu), but Clasie didn't have a bad game at all.

I actually think all four DM's today (Clasie, Wanyama, Dier, Dembele) were decent. That doesn't mean Reed or Romeu wouldn't be an improvement on Clasie (imo).
 
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