Tbf, you make a good point and this has been the case even back in RH days. Once players are across that white line they are responsible for their actions/decisions in the moment. Tactics/set up etc it’s the manager who is responsible. Most of us would have taken a 3-1 yesterday which looked like 2-1 until for some reason or other 2 Arsenal players had complete freedom on the far post? That is a team/individual issue to deal with. RM can’t be responsible for that oversight, as you say.
Maybe this is the missing piece of the jigsaw! If you play RM's post-match interview backwards, he is clearly saying that Loading threads are the answer to the team's issues. Probably
In which case, why even bother with a manager at all? If it’s all down to the players. In my opinion, objectively he has cost us a lot of points this season; - Set up crazily defensively against Forest - Played a more attacking line up against United - Mental line up against Bournemouth I think arsenal he actually showed some promise that he is learning, but all of the above are objective examples where he has cost us points. Why did he play 5 at the back against forest, then go attacking against United? Does he not realise who are the strong teams and who are the weak teams in the premier league? Does he know which teams will press us and which teams will sit off? Does he even watch tapes of the opposition? These are just his (in my opinion) major blunders which come on top of the backdrop of coaching the team to play it around in dangerous areas, lose the ball and give goals away. Can he learn in time to save us? That’s the multi-million pound gamble. Which imo is a gamble we don’t need to take when we have the money to appoint someone with experience in this division.
You really make it sound like a toddler could manage a Premier League football team. Every team we go up against this season has better players than us, bar the sides we came up with. They also have more experienced managers. You can't just look at a team and say, "Right, yep, it's Fulham, they play like this". It's obviously an extremely complex game with infinite variables. As fans we probably only really comprehend about 20-30% of what is really going on. And you're being somewhat revisionist. We were outplaying Utd, and had Archer scored the pen, then who knows. We could have got something from the game. So yes, that's a prime example of what I was saying; it's because Archer wasn't good enough in the moment that we lost that game. It's all well and good saying Russ should have got someone else to take the penalty, but they obviously practice these things in training. And any striker who misses a penalty, deserves 100% of the blame, as far as I'm concerned. Forest was a rough experience, and I agree Bournemouth was a nightmare. But Russ is obviously going to make wrong calls sometimes when he doesn't even know what some of the players are going to be like. We all thought Ugochukwu looked decent in his first couple of appearances, and then he was dogsh*te against Bompey. How do you explain that? How is Russ supposed to foresee things like that?
United would probably have beaten us 3-1 instead of 3-0 if the pen went in. We were playing well by our standards but still conceded ample chances on the break. Absolutely zero evidence to suggest we would have won that. Of course there will be things that are outside of his control, which is why you have to zoom out and look at the overall picture instead of focusing on the small moments. The big question is: Do we have the players capable of playing a high possession style at this level? The answer is a resounding no. So we need to bring in a manager that is less dogmatic and can play to the strengths of the team we actually have. The argument that we have bad players actually strengthens the decision to get rid. He will never adapt his style, he is a possession zealot
Okay, that's fine. I don't disagree that this style is beyond the players currently. But if the answer is no, then what playing style do you think our squad would better be suited to? Or you think we should be fluid and change our style depending on the opposition? Sounds great and all that, but if our players are incapable of playing a possession-game, then what makes you think they'll be capable of playing any of these other styles, let alone being dynamic enough to switch from one to the other each week? Put simply, what exactly are our 'strengths'? For me the possession game is the right way to go. We just need to be slightly less extreme with it. At the end of the day though, if we don't have players who can create and score goals, then what difference does it make?
This is also a fair point. Our recruitment has been all over the place, so we don’t really have any strengths that we can rely on. Ultimately we need to be more solid and stop giving away so many easy goals. It’s a shame Lesley had a shocker against Bournemouth. I was really hoping he could come in and help Flynn and make us more solid. One of the things with Martin in his whole time here is his inability to set up a solid midfield that sees out games comfortably.
The papers are saying we have a few good names to replace him in the back ground. I still wonder why they are hanging around!
In fairness you can't really judge on the Arsenal result, and we actually played alright. If these rumours hold any truth it's likely they've given Martin the Leicester game. If we don't win then he'll be sacked. Get a caretaker in for City away as its a free hit - that gives 10 days to get the new man in and signed. That way the new managers first game would be a home cup tie against Stoke then Everton at home. That would be as close as you can get to a good start.
Ridiculous to waste the Leicester game with this manager tbh. What if he starts with no striker again like the Bournemouth game? His mental tactics could easily cost us another 3 points
Who are Football Insider? Why are the BBC using them as legit gossip? The only Saints posts are Martin out, no game or other saints coverage. I don't necessarily disagree with them but who are they and what is their agenda?
I have no idea who 'Football Insider' is - one person or a group. However I suspect that their raison d'etre (ooh, there's posh) is to get as many clicks as possible, to maximise in come from advertisers. In other words, it's an attempt (accurately or otherwise) to create a story, that other people, such as the BBC, will pick up, in the absence of anything else. This then has a snowball effect, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. My gossip, on the other hand, is incredible. You'll never guess who I saw sneaking in the back door of Saints training ground - Can you keep a secret? So can I
