All this Chopin and changing, I hope we are not all Brahms & Listz off when we hear who the new manager is........
I know it ages me, but to accuse a manager of only managing Ajax still seems absurdly strange, seeing as they used to be one the powerhouse football clubs of the World. I mean, Feyenoord are second to them and we had their ex-manager.
Well, we did have a Dutch ex-manager who made his name with PSV, and also managed Eindhoven...close enough, right?
Ajax is world renowned for bringing academy players into the first team. Southampton have a great academy and FDB will bring out the best of the academy players.
I'm sure you know what I meant, but just in case.... I said he has only managed Ajax, because he has literally only managed Ajax. The same way Zidane has only managed Real Madrid. Saints are ideally looking for someone who has brought their football style/philosophy to multiple clubs. Who can go to different environments, leagues and adapt. I admit to not researching FDBs playing career, but I'm not sure he is as well travelled as Poch & Koeman
I said this to a few of the lads who came on to the Everton board when we were linked to RK. It appears that the club is setup in a particular way, they looks for a manager that has a style that fits within it, the club has continued to grow and improve even as managers and players move on. Getting players and managers picked up by other clubs is ****, but it hasn't held your lads back.
That's hit the nail on the head. The whole structure is compartmentalised, and the coach/manager is just a department head. As long as the club keep recruiting staff who fit the existing structure, then disruption can be minimalised (in theory) I'm not bothered by Koeman changing his mind and jumping ship like he did - I feel it shows a lack of character in the man but hey ho, thats life. What the last 6 or 7 years have given me are really interesting transfer windows (I genuinely look forward to personnel changes) and a reinforcement of my belief that I follow the club and all who sail in her, not the individual players, and certainly not the manager. I expect Saints to bring in a quality manager who can work within the system and hopefully take us onwards and upwards and I don't expect any great loss of players due to Koeman leaving.
Our board call it the Southampton Way...even use it on the entrance board at our training ground. It is a style supposed to ride out personnel changes. So far, it has worked. Liverpool used to have the same idea years ago...the Boot Room (if I remember correctly). It was introduced by our mad as a wet cat ex-leader, Nicola Cortese, though where he got it from I don't know. Started with him but not really used by him: he believed in compartmentalisation....then tried to micromanage everything. Perhaps it was Les Reed all along.
Swansea are setup in the same manner and have kept the same style/ethos as the came from nearly folding to being a PL club for years to come. Finally Everton have realised that something needs changing, after 11 years of one manager that it seems best to put a structure in place that means they are more adaptable. It came too late for Villa, let's hope our new guy gets it right.
It'll certainly be interesting to see how it all pans out for you. As has been said multiple times (and has nothing to do with sour grapes), I do think we have a structure that makes managers (and certain players) look good. Now, they have to obviously have a level of 'goodness' to start with, but the way we are set up compliments people - hence why some players have struggled after leaving us, and some managers (Adkins, for instance). Now of course there are some managers that are just good - Pochettino. I just have a sneaking suspicion that Ronald is one of those that's been made to look better than he is by the system. If you replicate that, likelihood is he'll be fine for you. If not, well, we can only wait and see if my suspicions are right. I do think you've massively overpaid for him though.
I believe Pochettino is the better coach, but Ron is a better tactician. Will be interesting to see how he does in the transfer market. Although Krul is perhaps an uninspiring early rumour.
