To be honest with you, I don't mind there being differences of opinion. That is what football is all about. I know I have been guilty of being offensive myself (which I regret and apologise for) but I think it is far more interesting to read posts where people make a statement and then argue their position. You may not agree with my comments all the time , if at all, but I think it is important to respond in a fair and reasonable manner but I also appreciate reading more considered arguments. There is a bit too much of re-posting other people's comments and making statements that they are ridiculous without presenting a case. For what it is worth, it is a shame that some of the older posters like Lampras are around too much these days. The board was probably more balanced when I first started posting about five years ago. Back then , it was only Singing Blue 3 that had me banging my head against the wall. Always thought that he was like the knight from the Monty Python film who had all his arms and legs cut off and was still up for a fight.
I've seen enough of the promising football that we played against, Manure at Wembley and Palace and a few others to be hopeful for a good season next time. It has taken a while to find the right formula because of the need to rotate and injuries to key players but the football we have played it the second half of the season has improved (apart from the odd game like last Saturday). I see little point in starting again with a new manager next season, we need stability and continuity to grow and this season has been far from a disaster anyway. Plus Puel has already proved his worth in intregrating youth players into the first team which is a big reason as to why he was appointed in the first place.
The only issue I have with the topic of Puel is the lack of a chance some fans have given him. The people calling for him to go or complaining about him have been doing it for months and months. That's simply not fair and they've never given him a chance. It's one reason that I make such an effort to defend him. I think he's managed a tricky season of fixtures, injuries and squad issues fairly well. Not outstanding, but certainly not enough to be considered for replacement. I firmly believe that anyone thinking so is showing signs of the so called "self entitlement" that seems to prevail among Saints fans in recent seasons. I can't even begin to understand why he wouldn't be given the start of next season. If we get to end of October/November and we are struggling, then I would expect the Board to be considering his position. Before that would be nonsense.
The moaning about the rotation is the one thing that truly baffled and annoyed me, we played by a distance the most football in the top European leagues until February, how could people not understand that was something that needed to be accounted for? We've accrued enough serious injuries this year as it is, we'd probably be playing the U23s at this point if we hadn't rotated. Other than that there have been positives and there have been negatives, but it has been an extremely difficult season. If we had a manager who the black box and whatnot loved, and thought would give us a Nigel -> Pochettino style upgrade, then I wouldn't be overly disappointed if they went for it, but it would be extremely harsh and I don't know how we could do that with certainty. From my personal experience of speaking to people who aren't at all happy with Claude, some have had valid arguments that I understand or even agreed with, but the majority have come across completely spoilt and entitled by our recent history of continual improvement. And some just seemed to not like the bloke personally.
I differ on a lot of things with you but totally agree that Claude Puel was never given a chance by Southampton fans. The atmosphere during the opening match at Watford was dreadful and there was a lot of dissatisfaction at half time in the Chapel end where I sit. This was not made any better by the following match against Sunderland as both fixtures were seen as "home winds. " It took nearly a month first the first victory but , by the then, the rumours of the notorious diamond had taken hold. It didn't help that Dave Merrington stuck the knife in very early in the season and has always been a severe critic. It is reasonable to say that a good proportion of the Saints fans did not like Claude Puel from the beginning but if he had come out of the traps far earlier one , I think that most people would be more sympathetic. He has had a mountain to climb in winning the fans' trust especially as the two previous managers were both class acts. Had the achievements and performances of Jan / Feb not been affected by the massive break throughout March, I think that Puel would have faired better. However, I am aware of three publications (L'Equipe, Sunday Telegraph and Daily Echo) which are now suggesting that he has a battle on his hands to convince the board. Claude Puel has undoubtedly been unfortunate this season with injuries and not supported by the board in strengthening the squad sufficiently at key moments but my worry is that he is technically being outthought recently that he has a very difficult job of both winning the fans around and getting points on the board against some difficult opposition. I wonder what the perception of the league as a whole has been this season. For me, I don't think it has been a particularly strong season in the Premier League. I would anticipate a tougher and more competitive season in 2017 /18 with the teams going down being replaced by others from the Championship who look like they might make an impression?
Ian what amazes me about your above fair post, is that I would put you in the category of fans that hasn't really given him a chance. Very early you have called for him to go and you even went to the point of trying to belittle those fans who suggested giving him a chance. "Puel Apologist" was the term I believe. Confused from Northampton.
See, that is exactly why I can understand why some people might not want him to be given next season. If you give him a few months and it goes wrong, then we've almost certainly wasted next season. And good luck keeping our decent players the following summer in that case. It's very similar logic to what I have every single season about wanting our signings made before game one of the season. Just those three or four August games wasted can be hugely costly each year. And for others, the football is just too dull. I don't agree with those people who want him gone before next season. But I can understand. As with many things I disagree with (football related or not), I can still understand.
I've never been a fan of what he has produced but have not called for his head. It is only recently that I have been convinced that he has not been the made for the job. He should be allowed to see the season out and, if you check my earlier posts, I have never called for him to be given the chop. At the least, I feel he deserves to see the season out. I don't think he has it within him to take the club forward next season. Given the performances at hime, our league position is amazingly good but, as I said before, I don't think this has been a particularly strong Premier League, I wondered if you had read the Ugly Inside link this morning? Not sure what to make of this as it is hard to credit a fanzine with being ITK. However, the Sunday Telegraph was making comments yesterday about lack of satisfaction with Puel and a similar article appeared in "L-Equipe" this morning. Smoke without fire?
Ok, I should have been pedantic in my post. You have not wanted him to carry on for a long time and you have taken every opportunity to criticise him. As for the articles. You may be correct but I've also read that Van Dijk is off to Liverpool, Man United, Man City, Everton, Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona. I know that at least 7 of those articles have smoke but no fire.
Have any articles said tha Les or the Board aren't satisfied with Claude? They are the only ones that matter really.
L'Equipe is the most likely paper Puel will read. Also probably the most likely paper he would talk to. As for the fans trying to second guess what the Saints board are likely to be considering.......just to remind them.......you are wasting your time. Whatever their agenda is we will not know until they act. Just ask yourselves how often we have been surprised by what they have done and not necessarily in agreement with them. All we can do is talk amongst our selves, laugh about the rumours and laugh or cry about the decisions they do make. That's called being a footy fan I guess........
I'm interested how you can write this. You talk about how much sharper he looks and then use it as a way to beat Puel over the head (by implying he's not been as well coached as he might have been by someone else). What basis do you have for the accusation hidden within your question? Now can you see why I accuse you of having an opinion then fitting the facts to suit? I doubt you can but it's worth a punt. Vin
its funny that after an entire season, i still can't really form a judgement on him. The one thing i can definitely say is he has everything within him. We've had matches where we've created lots of chances, matches where weve defended really well, matches where we've controlled the midfield and matches where we've been clinical on the counter. the problem is he's never managed to really get everything to click and we just seem to go from one extreme to the other. I think this season would look a lot differently if the season didn't start with the likes of like Austin and Long missing from 5 yards. from my memory most of the matches at the start of the season had us creating quite a few chance but we just couldnt put them away. when we did put the chances away i thought we looked good but although he tried a few things, it was a problem we struggled with until we got Gabbiadini in the first window he really got, and then we started banging them in but we lost VVD and Fonte and our defence seemed to unravel. since then we've just been alternating between barely creating anything and looking ok in defence, to trying to outscore our opponents and scoring 4 in a match. It just feels like every time he finds a balance, one of our keys players gets injured and he has to change everything again. I would rather he stuck to the trying to outscore his opponent mindset we've sometimes employed as i think we are strong enough for that and will win more than not and we would have a more enjoyable ride. Either way he's clearly shown he has the ability to take us forward if he can just put it all together. I'm excited to see what he can do with a full preseaon, full summer window, a full selection of players and a much more forgiving fixture list (hopefully without throwing away the tournaments like Koeman)
So, as I see it, Nathan Redmond has gone from a player aspiring to play for England to a player who has actually played for England, under Puel's coaching. Interestingly, another player, James Ward-Prowse, who many on here had written off, has also been selected for England while being coached by Puel. Please can someone explain exactly what the problem is here? Puel has had a mountain to climb this season, and a large, self-entitled and impatient section of our fans have been trying to pull him back down at every step. These people's views would be unimportant except that booing and jeering at matches is actually completely counterproductive. That he needs another season, preceded by a preseason uninterrupted by international tournaments, late transfers, and injuries to key players should be obvious to everyone.
I absolutely think Puel should get another season, as I like the football we've been playing (when we're playing well) however some of the football during matches where we haven't sparked has been dire. We've lost key personnel for long periods, played loads of matches and competed in 3 cups so I wasn't expecting a top 4 finish however I have been often disappointed with performances. I think that we have reached the limit where we can compete without serious freshening and improving of the squad, due to the buckets of money washing around the coffers of our immediate rivals, and although I have enjoyed supporting a club that tried to do it differently, I believe the plan needs to change. I think Puel is a talented coach, I don't give mentions of communication problems any credence whatsoever as he seems to speak decent English and has Eric Black sat with him who is fluent in French so I don't imagine getting his ideas across is difficult...I just think we need better players to be able to put those ideas into practice. Half the squad are great, the other half not so and I think we need that ratio improving before making any decisions on Claude's future.
