Obviously as one of the more reasoned and emotionally adjusted posters on this board, I'm not going to count my chickens, nor do I think this will change much. But. But...... We are staying up say we are staying up Ivan Jurics Red and white army
The absolute state of that from RM, a day off on the day before a game. I thought it was fairly standard for players to do training on Christmas Day.
Alfie House on TSP tonight didn’t seem to think that the widely reported end of season break in contract actually exists fwiw.
I was surprised that he had supposedly agreed to it, but it does make sense for us. Do we know where it was initially reported?
It is, but it is also standard to have more frequent rest days when you have 6 games in 3 weeks over Christmas. I think Juric has called them in for training on Christmas day for psychological reasons and to make a statement as much as for him to spend more time with the players.
From the Athletic… “With the ball loose in midfield, Southampton’s Flynn Downes dallied on the halfway line, stuck in two minds over whether to push to win possession or retreat into his own half. Ivan Juric shifted from his seat in the Johnny Haynes Stand and shouted, “Come on, come on, come on!”, urging the midfielder to take the gamble. Downes’ decision to take the other route was met with, “Dai cazzo!” (a slightly swearier version of that ‘come on!’ expression) and an exasperated huff from the man who signed an 18-month contract as Southampton’s new head coach on Friday. While it’s unlikely his shout registered amid the collective hum at Craven Cottage, it was clear from Juric’s frustration that those passive decisions will not be tolerated moving forward. Having picked up a point in a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Fulham, Juric, who watched the game from the stands as he is yet to receive his work permit, might have seen something he can build on as he sets about overturning an eight-point deficit to Leicester City in 17th“
Gordon Strachan absolutely flogged the players to get fit in pre-season with running on beaches and visits to army training camps, iirc. Our fitness hid a few gaps in our quality and made us competitive in most games.
Hard work will beat talent if talent doesn't work hard. It's the bare minimum to expect from a weaker team
This is what pissed me off the most with RMs style. It is one thing to take massive risks at the back. But then whenever we managed to get out of our own area without making a catastrophic error, we were/are so risk averse in midfield and up front. In fact worse than that we would play a defensive pass even if it came with a higher risk of being dispossessed than the forward option. It is fraud football, honestly and it deserves to be torn apart.
I know it's not the same thing but I once played for a reserve team Wiltshire League level and the chap that managed had managed at a higher level he had us training three to two times a week, 'Chelsea Squares' proper runs around the area and although we were average and with me in goal by goodness we were fit. I remember the first friendly we played against another side who mixed in some first-teamers (Wiltshire League Senior Division) and we tonked them 5-0 and by the halfway point they were breathing out their arses and couldn't keep up with us - we weren't that good. So I have actually practically seen this.
A while back I said that it reminded me of watching Fabrice Fernandes. With Fabrice, on the occasions when he managed beat his man once, he would often seem to go back and try and beat his man again, rather than deliver the cross (or pass or shot). And with Martin's football at this level, on the occasions when we managed to get beyond the opposition press, we would often seem to go back and try doing it again, rather than actually attack. The risk-reward balance was so painfully wrong under Martin. And yes, sure, our weak attacking options were part of that. But it's a manager's job to extract the best he can out of the resources available. And at PL level, we don't have the resources to play his style. We've mainly all known that, since before a ball was kicked.
He has a touch of the De Niro about him... please log in to view this image “A chance has to be taken with one shot. I try to tell people that but they don't listen.”
I wonder which of the players feel pissed off about this. Truth is they should all be extremely grateful to have someone in charge who will have of an idea on how to win games, rather than the players stroking the ego of the biggest fraud our club ever had in the dugout.
If nothing else it might set us up well for next season. Unsure how much short term impact it might have. Surely we already had one? Clearly not an effective one I used to go to a semi-private gym in Southampton where the guy who ran it specialised on strength training. He used to talk about how far behind strength and conditioning training is in association football compared to American sport. And I think mainly due to the focus being more on the “conditioning” part than “strength”. But I might be misremembering I think he knew the guy who we had (albeit 5 or so years ago so probably not still there) - and wasn’t complimentary.
Confirmed changes to backroom staff... In: Matteo Paro (assistant manager), Stjepan Ostojić (fitness coach) Out: Matt Gill (assistant manager), Colin Calderwood (coach), Rhys Owen (sports scientist) Remaining from RM's staff: Dean Thornton (GK coach), Ben Parker (analyst) https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/jurics-coaching-additions-confirmed
