I can't remember any of our previous managers having a number to a budget made public. There may have been one published somewhere, but I don't recall it.
Also, no sense in spending on too many players before the new manager gets in and can be consulted (and tapped for any connections he might have as well). I don't think we've changed our policies in terms of breaking the bank this year, or going cheap. I expect Puel will have the same money available to him as Koeman would have had or any other manager we might have hired.
People on Saintsweb seem to have their knickers in a twist about Eric Black....when have fans started to care so much about the assistant coach. One said if he was any good a big club would be in for him...well, a top 6 side have employed him so he can't be that bad. It's not as if people usually blame the assistant if a club does badly or gets relegated. And Villa were already a basket case. Not an apologist for EB as I know nothing about him, but am fascinated by such strong dislike....perhaps they dislike Puel so much it has bubbled over.
I'm not too impressed by him. He wasn't to blame for what happened at Villa, but he did less than nothing to change things. The guy is a bit of a Albatross* & should consider himself very fortunate that Saints have given him this wonderful opportunity. If he has a bad time here, I don't expect to ever hear his name again. *check his record if you dare
I completely agree. Villa are not the only mess he's been involved in. Yes, other managers have ben responsible for the messes, but what role did he play in pulling it all together? More than that, our apparent first choice manager was rejected due to wanting his own backroom staff, then we suddenly ditch Sammy Lee for our second choice? Smacks a little of desperation.
Sammy Lee was an awful manager. For that matter, so was Les Reed. Saintsweb are just being idiots, as usual.
http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/43189/ Blog from Ugly Inside about why we appointed Puel and didn't go for one of the usual suspects....which the media keep trying to assign to us. I like their idea that our cake doesn't collapse when our manager leaves....we just re-ice the top.
We're like royalty. We know that if you don't introduce new blood into the gene pool, you end up reducing the quality of the whole EPL family, ending up with the Redknapps, Pardews, Hodgsons and Allardyces.
I like this Puel gem: Claude Puel: "It's OK if you don't know me. Nobody knows who Batman is either. So what?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0400vwn Piece from Live5 re Puel....sorry if posted before. I like the line: He is an authentically good coach.
