How sad do you have to be, to go on to another teams forum and wind them up about stealing their manager? If we had poached another teams manager, I wouldn't bother speaking to their fans, other than to maybe apologise and understand their frustration. It's genuinely so embarrassing that the toffee's feel the need to continually rub it in.
Ehh... you have to consider the likely sources. They are people who work within the club, so you're getting that viewpoint. I think the likes of K,Billy and Guan 2.0 are legitimate ITK's and they are in possession facts that we aren't. At the same time, they don't have ALL the facts, either. Just the ones someone is telling them. If those guys say "These managers are on the short list" or "We've been looking at X player" I believe them. But when it comes to more complicated issues where they reporting on things laden with interpretations and opinions, there are always two (or more!) sides to any story. For me personally, it doesn't matter because I don't really care that much about the moral issues. I just want the facts, not the hearsay. But I think it's a massive step from "Club will announce a signing" to "Okay, here's exactly what's been going down over the last six months."
Either way, I'm not that arsed. If they want any player, They will have to pay a huge fee.. And how much will that dig into Koemans 100Mill?
I honestly think it's hilarious - got a very strong suspicion they've just had their fingers burnt. Time will tell, but I shall look forward to seeing if Koeman (Valencia Version) is back.
Hmmm - Well so far, Scott Dann and Tim Krul are to be his first 2 signings? This is going to be a car crash.
It's splitting hairs, though. If you want to put it that way, then the club had enormous expectations, and it's to Koeman's credit that he matched them. How many people really thought during the Meltdown of 2014 that Saints would beat their points total in 2015 and then beat THAT in 2016, qualifying for Europe twice in the process? I don't like the way Koeman left us and I get the anger towards him there. And personally, I've always felt like switching up managers every 2-3 years is not a bad thing, for a number of reasons. Things just get stale and need to be shaken up every once in a while. Still, I can't minimize what Koeman accomplished. There are many managers who couldn't have pulled us out of that situation as well as he did. Even if we accept that he doesn't have the tactical nous of Pochettino, or pooh-pooh his managerial skills altogether. His reputation still carried weight. I don't think we end up with Pelle, Tadic, Alderweireld and then later Clasie without him. And those guys were all pretty instrumental in our success. IMO, Koeman was the person we needed in a moment of crisis. Even if he did it only for his own ends. Even if he is a lying, greedy jerk. I'll always like and respect Adkins more than RK but we wouldn't have done nearly as well with him.
Good post, and I largely agree. But I think RK benefitted (way more than Poch) hugely from the way the club is run and good coaches around him. I may be completely wrong, of course, but we shall see.
I genuinely don't think he was as big a draw as your making out. Tadic was on our radar anyway, and Clasie said he'd have signed for us with or without Koeman. If Toby was that impressed with Koeman, he'd have signed for us permanently.
Koeman is a big big name in football and no doubt carries some weight (sniggers) when attracting players. They just don't know he's a lying twat til later
It isn't all Saints or all the manager....it's a symbiotic relationship. We provide a good opportunity for a player or manager to do his best.
