Rohl feels more like the guy we'd turn to in the summer, post relegation, to give us a clean slate for the Championship. Just a feeling. I might be wrong.
My theory on this is that it boils down to the RM way. He doesn’t set up a game to try and stop a team if we want to defend a win, he sets up a game with his stubborn method and the result is that his subs happen because of this too. I don’t think he can deviate course to the point when he is a reactive coach to what the opposition do, otherwise it means his method is out the window and we’d have to play an untested system. I don’t know if it’s arrogance, naivety, or some from each column. But it’s costing us all the time, because he truly believes we have to play ‘his way’. We got found out in the championship in the same way, but we got away with it more.
Absolute bare minimum we need to do is bring in a set piece coach as soon as possible. Ficking shambles that we don’t have one
Still I always say if you can't defend you won't win. We can't defend. The team has no back bone! Maybe we will grow one over the next 9 years.
They say no plans as it is a 10 year project. However, come January when there are 20,000 at St Mary's and boos all around they may change their plans.
Speaking of crowds. Can see the club regretting the big price rises next season. Can't see them dropping much even with relegation and we'll have nowhere near the crowds of the last championship season and think we'll average low 22k ish.
They will have factored all this into the decision making. There must be a model where they can still scrape a profit from 20k crowds in the championship or they would be trying to stay up. I won’t be giving SR any more money until they make a change.
What about Kjetil Knutsen? He's always on the lists, and someone will take a punt on him at some point. Brighton were considering him along with Hurtzeler, so... I'd definitely be up for that, and we could get him for sure.
I think I've mentioned this sort of thing before. That maybe SR don't worry too much about relegation, maybe it can actually be a good thing. The fans don't like it but if the business can navigate it and still make money, then they will be chilled about it. THB, Downes, Archer, Dibling, Fernandes will be better players after a season of Premier League football, regardless of where we finish. Then next season if in the Championship, we could potentially walk the league. Some of these players will be sold for decent sums, some will stay with us helping us to improve. We all know they love the data, well this 10 year plan is that, they won't care about relegation and will almost certainly have factored this into their thinking. Unfortunately being anywhere near the Premier League and all that goes with it, means it's not all about the football, it is a business and businesses all over the world in all walks of life have to make hard decisions and take steps backwards to make bigger steps forward. With football though, it is so personal and there is so much passion, no other business like it, when things are going bad, it's hard to deal with, but we have to try and see the bigger picture....stick with it through the hard times and the reward could be bigger and better than anything we may feel is possible!
Although the results and tactics were probably not as bad we got relegated under Lawrie McMenemy if I remember correctly and that did not turn out to be a bad thing.
Problem is, the “10 year plan” is just empty PR. All football clubs spout this sport of bollocks. Corporate speak nonsense. If we keep losing every game they will have to do something.
10 year plan will be “we want to be a stable PL club in 10 years time”. Unfortunately about 20 other teams will have this as their goal after 10 years, and we can’t all be that. Football is very fluid if you want to continue business speak. There is no “planning for 3 years time” as it is just too reactive and too many moving parts you can’t control to have any confidence in anything lasting season to season. In the summer we could’ve been planning for growing some youngsters and getting relegated and then coming straight back with them. If Dibling and Fernandes keep up their individual levels of performance then there is a very high likelihood they won’t be here next year, we would get good fees, but then you have to replace and reinvest and that is always a gamble. A gamble we could **** up and then not come straight back up Martin might suddenly start getting results and we end up finishing safely in midtable, then some bigger club might want him and he would leave. This is the reason (imo) we offered him a new deal as if his style worked in the PL he would’ve been very highly sought after and wouldn’t have been here longer than a year. Basically beyond a vague “we want to be somewhere in the football pyramid after x years” there isn’t much more planning you can do too far ahead
Got till the next international break apparently https://x.com/TheSaintCentre/status/1848685197283217550?t=SO2CLqUUqwSklNuZjfkvSA&s=19
