A few observations; I bought my ticket for Chelsea off the back of our third straight win under Jones. So thanks for that Nathan. One thing I couldn’t defend Jones for, was recalling Bednarek. Selles started with Bednarek yesterday. If Jones makes the triple substitution Selles made on Saturday, he gets booed. Everyone around me was saying exactly that. Sometimes the stars align, like things are just meant to be; Saturday was like that for Selles. It clearly wasn’t meant to be for Jones, but some of the personal animosity directed his way does not reflect well on sections of our support.
I agree completely, that was another reason I wasn't Jones out as quick as others, I do think that he wasn't given a fair chance from before he even came in to the club. Obviously this has played out that everyone was right and he is useless. Fans are very fickle in general. Bednarek is terrible when Jones brings him back but under Selles he is in Garth's team of the week! Walcot is a good influence in the dressing room under Ralph and Jones and should never play for us again but had a great cameo yesterday! We can all agree that NJ didn't work out but when Selles keeps us up, we will have that awesome feeling that comes from a truly Great Escape and we can then thank Jones for his part in delivering that to us, let's be honest NJ will probably take credit for it somehow anyway! The end of the season is gonna be ****ing marvellous!
“Ruben is razor focused,” one dressing-room source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, told The Athletic last week. “He has the ability to make players run through brick walls for him.” With a first clean sheet in 11 Premier League games and the most fouls committed in a league game this season (24) during their 1-0 victory at Chelsea a few days later, Southampton personified the cliche. Stamford Bridge was not quite an audition for Ruben Selles, but more the opportunity for vindication. It took less than a week for him to impress Southampton’s players when he arrived as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s assistant in the summer. Some, back then, even wanted him to be the manager. Selles led the early sessions in pre-season — a concerted effort to take the burden off Hasenhuttl’s shoulders — before the Austrian kicked back into action as the competitive fixtures neared. The Chelsea game was a long time coming for Selles. It served as the culmination of more than a decade as a coaching nomad. He earned his UEFA Pro Licence aged 25 before starting out as a fitness coach at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki in 2008. He is only 39 but this is the 10th club and seventh country in which he has coached in a senior capacity. In other words, he felt ready. From Selles’ perspective, he has stressed his desire to get the Southampton job because of his coaching acumen, not because there was no one else. He is content to be in the role until the end of the season but the notion of being a “caretaker” rankles. Selles arrived for Friday’s pre-match press conference and shook the hands of each journalist, in contrast to his predecessor Nathan Jones, who appeared determined to forge enemy lines. Shortly after, all diplomacy vanished when Selles said, in no uncertain terms, he wanted to be the long-term Southampton manager. First impressions are not everything but they are something. A day later, Selles arrived in west London in untypical caretaker attire: a black turtle neck, a matching jacket and trousers and Lacoste shoes. He did not wear the look of a man that saw himself as a stop-gap. More importantly, he knew the players did not want that either. In some ways, Selles’ demeanour was symbolic of the mood inside Staplewood. In the wake of Jones’ disastrous spell, the squad needed healing. Close observers stressed the need for a manager to come in and get a hold of a situation that was fast unravelling. Jones was thought to have been overawed by the Premier League. Selles, though, had a simple message — keep fighting. “One of the things we looked at was giving players the tools to manage key moments,” said Selles. “When you score a goal or when difficult episodes happen, you need to be together. We’ve looked at times we need to speed up or slow down the tempo. We are in a delicate moment but we have personnel with character.” Throughout Jones’ fractious reign and Hasenhuttl’s final days, Selles remained a popular figure inside the club — or the “household” as he calls it. He was marginalised by Jones, particularly in the final week, to the players’ detriment. On Monday morning, a little more than 24 hours after Jones was sacked and Jesse Marsch remained the favourite to take over, Selles led training. “Ruben told a few home truths,” said one source close to the dressing room. “A few people will be surprised at his focus and high standards. He is not afraid to make tough decisions.” Selles made it clear some players needed to step up or, considering the bloated squad size of 30, they may not play again this season. The session was described as “great” by one player with the Spaniard keen to, in his words, “close” the painful 2-1 home defeat to Wolves. Once the darkness lifted, the team would begin to dust off specific elements of Hasenhuttl’s playbook and restore key principles. “We need to find a way to go back to what the club had before,” Selles told The Athletic on Friday. “It’s not one manager or one person, it was the identity of the club. And we need to find it.” Selles worked on re-installing Hasenhuttl’s favoured 4-2-2-2 system, operating with two No 10s and building from a narrow structure. It was intense, methodical work and bolstered by Dave Horseman, the B-team coach, supporting the first team at Selles’ request. The coaching staff reminded Southampton of their greatest strengths; pressing and verticality. They would squeeze Chelsea in uncomfortable areas of the pitch and exploit the space left on transition. James Ward-Prowse’s free kick stemmed from Stuart Armstrong picking up the ball in what Hasenhuttl coined “the red zone”. During talks with Marsch, Southampton’s board asked about keeping Selles. The American, as it turned out, was enthused by the idea. No decision had been made before Chelsea but Selles was the undoubted favourite to succeed Jones. Even when Marsch was in the equation, the hierarchy deliberated between him and Selles, with the former Leeds United boss just gaining the edge due to experience. If Selles carried the guise of a manager in waiting before kick-off, he fortified the hope throughout the afternoon. There have been few more obvious projections of unity from players and staff. Southampton were transformed. They pressed, making the third most tackles of any team this season (32), passed from the back and were courageous. Ainsley Maitland-Niles — previously maligned for his lack of intensity — made one goal-saving block from Raheem Sterling before Romain Perraud did the same a minute later, beating his chest and letting out a loud roar. Selles did too. He also celebrated when Perraud made a slide tackle. Towards the end, the substitute’s bench crouched in tension. Paul Onuachu banged the chair in front and Moussa Djenepo held his head in his hands. Selles continued to fist bump, rally and smile. This was his moment. When the final whistle blew, Southampton’s players pushed him towards the away end, which chanted his name in unison. This was not a caretaker moonlighting. This was a man ready for the top job." By Jacob Tanswell
I think, in a squeaky bum finish we can survive with 4 wins and 3 draws. 33 points could be enough to stay up. The other teams all have varying run ins but Everton Bournemouth and Forest are my picks for the drop. Wolves have a pretty torrid end to the season, I wouldn't rule them not getting another win for a month or more, that could damage their mentality. Hardest part now is teams like us with everything to lose can pick up unexpected results anytime - Sat for example. If it's not us, its going to be Everton/Leeds/WetSpam It's going to be one of the tightest finishes ever I think, 6 points could seperate 7 teams.
I can see Palace sliding right down the table and taking one of those dreaded places. Every team regarding of how bad they are, always has a decent run. Saints havnt had theirs yet, so hopefully the Chelsea win is the start of the great escape, again.
Fair enough. Part and parcel of populist culture which can be incredibly ugly. He also needs to look at himself though.
He’s a new manager and the fans are behind him. If he’s made that triple sub when we’ve lost 8/9 games I’m sure Selles would get booed too. He comes across well, which Nathan did not. Think about the amount of slack Ralph was cut over his time here!
It wasn’t Nathan Jones’s substitutions which were getting booed, it was his incompetence at being a manager. The substitution is just a lull in the game where supporters can vent.
Ah, but Selles was pro-active with his subs unlike Jones against Wolves. He saw we needed fresh legs up front and changed it before it was too late. That was the difference. As for Bednarek, I suspect he, like all the squad, has really warmed to Selles and his man management style.
The weekend’s performance, the league table and the wolves fixture list really does make the decision for Jones to have 1 more game all the more baffling. imagine being 1 up and a man up with the Selles bounce last week. Suddenly gives the table a totally different complexion
Betfair oddswatch: Friday we had a 3/4 chance of relegation Today it's 2/3. Keep repeating: it's not a foregone conclusion. Vin
Ref comments on Bednarek. Maybe, just maybe, the Polish international defender who for a long time was first pick for our central defence isn't actually a duffer. Vin
It`s a bit of a catch 22 - if we had held on against Wolves, then Jones would maybe still be with us.
For me there really is very little between our CBs at present. ABK has the most potential for sure, but I feel Bednarek has the leadership/experience. Salisu switches between Virgil van Dijk and Dick van Dyke in the space of a few seconds. DCC should be our leader at the back but he's on strike or something. I feel it might not be a total coincidence that we earned our first clean sheet in ages, as soon as Salisu wasn't playing. I also feel the Bednarek redemption arc is gonna throw up something beautiful.
Trouble is they probably would give away too many free kicks when players trip over their zimmer frames.
