A better GK and a clinical big striker to come in, in January and we will be good to go, we just need to try and keep in touch until the new year.
The thing that shocked me the most was the 'sick players' stuff, included, not-included, taxis. I mean, this is the sort of thing that a Sunday morning team might get up to - knocking on someone's front door to get him up to play - but not a fully professional club with many people involved in the organising of the team etc. If correct, I find it flabbergasting.
When was the last time we hired a manager who started off slowly but improved as time went by? Russ had a rocky start, improved for a while, before slumping spectacularly. Poch and Ralph both hit the ground running and more or less maintained the momentum for the most part. Koeman started off like a f*cking rocket and was our best manager for decades. Puel started okay, remained okay, and left us okay. Selles started well but turned out sh*t The others (Jones, Juric) started badly and only got worse. It’s just seemingly a bit of a myth that managers will improve with time. It’s more the case that if they don’t hit the ground running, then it’s a bit of a red flag. Still has started badly, and is getting worse. There is no excuse I can think of for him.
It's the fact that he can't set up a coherent team or manage it proficiently in game that is the biggest red flag for me.
Just the mention of Koeman makes me pine for him. With him, you knew where you were and had faith. You could pretty much predict his subs to the exact minute he would make them, including the identities of who would be coming off and on. It just all made sense. Whereas with Still, you just sit there and think "why aren't you making a sub"...and then a little while later "seriously now, why aren't you making a sub"...and then eventually "why the **** are you making that sub, are you crazy".
Agreed. It’s. It even as if we may get some traction against the less good teams in the league. We just lost to one of them. With Will Still managing us we are one of the worst teams in the division, despite having a pretty decent team. He should be getting a far better tune out of them, and I feel he has under achieved and won’t get anywhere near where we should be with the team he has at his disposal. That said, I was hoping he’d be gone already and that doesn’t look likely it will happen. Wonder if he gets the next game. Just sounds like the same old rinse and repeat failing of a failed sports project that is SR.
We were 0-2 down at halftime versus Liverpool and won 3-2. I'm 64 in July - if I make it - and I am saying right now I will never see another Southampton team or manager do that to that team again.
An issue for me is the sudden non availability of players and now injuries occurring more often. How much of the former is down to poor management and the latter on the back room team I’m not sure. Watching highlights (unable to attend so far) one could be forgiven for thinking how good we play for substantial periods. How al that turns into ridiculous defeats is the dilemma because players shutting down their concentration and then literally giving the ball away and the questionable substitutions that occur I’d have thought should be ironed out pretty quickly? January is the decision time for me, too many managers and their entourage, just is not the answer. In that regard we are very knowledgeable!!
I'm 30 years younger than you and I don't think I'll ever see that again in the top flight. We of course came from two down v Hudders couple of seasons back.
Said at the time of his appointment that it was a gamble we didn’t need to take if the plan was to go straight back up. Been talked about a little on here and I know some people like his no nonsense interviews but he just comes across as monotone and boring to me. Most crucial thing for any new manager coming in (especially coming into the club off the back of last season) is to motivate the players and get them confident again. I can’t imagine Still being a great motivator from what we see in his media stuff. 7 points off the playoffs is poor at this stage of the season, and still easily enough time to turn it round. Can argue we have been unlucky at times when we should’ve scored more, but ultimately if it’s happening most weeks then something is wrong. If we do sack him not sure who I’d turn to. Cooper was my first choice by miles but he’s got a job now. The unemployed list doesn’t throw up any names to me immediately, so probably have to go for someone in a job, and that’s never easy mid season. Think we should still be attractive enough to a lot of managers though, and I don’t think we need a really top tier manager to get this squad performing at this level
Will Still's last team to manage was Lens and whilst under his stewardship they finished 8th in the league, thanks to an end of season win which meant they leapfrogged over Brest who lost their final game, this was 1 place lower than the previous year. Currently Lens are 2nd in the table,1 point behind PSG without him in the dugout. Saying there are no better managers out there and that we shouldn't change and stick with him until the end of the season because we've made too many bad managerial mistakes in the past is just plain stupid. Evidence is of the contrary.
He seems more worried about not losing then he is with trying to win games. We brought players in to play a certain system that he prefers and we don't play that system and so aren't playing some of those big money players who have done it in this league before. His idea of tactical changes in game seems to be...If you are dominating the ball and trying to get a late goal just throw on as many strikers as possible. If the other team is dominated and you are trying to hold on just throw on as many defenders as possible. He is also very slow to make changes and doesn't make the obvious changes. I'd be interested if anyone has an opinion of what Will Still has done well here so far? Let's also not forget that we brought him in nice and early to get a head start on things. He's been here since the end of May! I really don't have any hope that we'll get the next hire right because...SR, but Still has shown nothing to make me think anything is going to change whilst he is here. This job is just looking way too big for him, it's just completely different to what he was good at in France. I just want SR to realise that what we need from a manager now isn't likely to be what we need from a manager in the PL and it's okay to hire someone JUST for the here and now. You don't always have to unearth the next gem.
Funnily enough I think Still would have probably done a better job had he taken over from Russ last season. We needed a defensive manager then and he is exactly that. What he definitely is not, is an attacking manager, and so understandably he looks totally out of his depth right now. So that’s on SR. If they’d have done adequate research then they should have realised this. And it’s kind of why I want Carrick. He has a very good reputation for his attacking play, but not so good for his defensively. I’m happy with that. With our attacking players, that’s got to be where our strength lies. Defensive coaches are ten a penny, while good attacking ones are rare. Last decent one we had was Koeman.
This reminds me of the AFCB away game last year. Got smashed & SR did nothing until the season was over. Please no, not again.
Sportscasting have opened odds for the next Saints manager. They read as follows: Ralph Hasenhüttl 3/1 Michael Carrick 4/1 Lee Carsley 7/1 Alex Revell 12/1 David Wagner 12/1 Gary O’Neil 14/1 Carlos Corberan 16/1 Gareth Southgate 16/1 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 16/1 Russell Martin 16/1 Steven Gerrard 16/1 Liam Rosenior 20/1 Mark Robins 20/1 Michael Skubala 20/1 Paul Heckingbottom 20/1 Paul Trollope 20/1 Jesse Marsch 22/1 Bruno Lage 25/1 Marco Rose 28/1 Rafa Benitez 33/1 Liam Manning 33/1 Roger Schmidt 33/1 Claude Puel 40/1 Matt Le Tissier 100/1
