Os wanted Martin Out

Well, I didn't see him adapting his tactics to suit the opponent or the situation. To his credit he did in the play offs so I was clearly wrong but very happy to have egg on my face!

 

Can we at least change the thread title?

 

Actually the style of play itself is a very good one, buy we need better players in some positions and more depth in the PL.

 

Done.

 

sorry Russ

 

The strange thing is that RM, with his recent adaptation in formation, has shown us that we CAN play with a back 3/5, something we have always been dreadful at in the past.
Might prove useful in the Premier League, against better teams.

 

Fair play to Russell. Showed huge adaptability in the last month which is exactly what he's been criticised for this season so deserves huge credit.

Quite bizarre that defensive solidity is was crucial in us winning the playoffs. Hands up who saw that coming after Leicester.

Basically didn't concede in all 3 games. I still don't remember wba scoring and am not convinced it actually happened.

 

I’ve been really impressed with how he’s used Fraser and Stephens. Stephens is an ok LB, so a fluid 433/523 could really work.

 

Well yeah, I don’t have an issue with the style of play per se. But will we get the players to make it work against better personnel?

 

This. I was so impressed by the ****housery/gamesmanship of Saints yesterday - completely nullified the attacking intent from Leeds.

I was also very grateful that Macca mixed up the play: passing it around the back but also launching it forward on occasion to start a counter.

 

Yeah, 100% this. He really upped his game when it mattered most, fair play to him. I really hope he keeps us up next season because I really like the man for who he is.

 

We won with only 58% possession as well. There was a real change in emphasis during the playoffs- which shows he can change when needed.

 

Absolutely ****ing not mate, no






*The mods might have mercy on you, others won't

 

the goals conceded doesn’t support that so much… until we went 3 at the back.

 

I love him so ****ing much. He made days like yesterday possible, and like Adkins and Pardew, i will forever appreciate and love them for those days.

 

Never a truer word said, especially in football. We've all said silly things at times, I even said I thought Leeds would win yesterday.

 

I've been saying that since we beat Brom on Friday. Just didn't want to jinx us. Haha

 

Hopefully everyone will still be singing his praises if we are doing terribly at Xmas

 

I wonder if that Leicester result actually helped us in the end.

The Bazunu injury the previous week certainly helped - playing McCarthy gave us a keeper who is better with his hands, and also saw us slightly pull-back with the passing it around our own box. But the way that Leicester killed us potentially also helped us because thereafter (if you ignore the largely meaningly game vs Stoke) we reverted to the back three for our remaining matches. Not only did that make us more defensively secure, but it gave us an extra body to help aid our passing out from the back.

For example, Stephens gave the ball away twice early on yesterday. Fortunately we were able to recover easily and prevent anything coming from that - but it might have been a different story if we'd been playing with a back four.

 

I think his biggest quality is his man management and he really has built a togetherness at the club. He speaks so impressively and having a clear vision and identity moving forward along with a great team spirit will be worth quite a few points next season I believe.
Five years ago Villa won the play-off final and three years ago so did Brentford and I see no reason why we couldn't try and emulate their performance with these owners. There were massive changes at all levels at the end of last season so I see this year as being "ground zero" for the club and there has already been success.
I'm not going to predict anything and will just see how things evolve but I have a inkling that we might be on the cusp of a successful period for the Saints.