http://www.footballfancast.com/prem...hampton-have-finally-shown-their-true-colours Do not read above article if eating or drinking....you may choke. But once you have avoided that hazard to life, what do you think? I think there is an unpalatable truth in it....although I prefer to think we are still a team in transition as we have only been in the PL for 3 years in this incarnation. We are having to construct a team on relatively limited funds and compete with very rich clubs who already have many expensive players before they even buy any...and we have done very well. Our plan is to show there is another way to build a team than to spend billions. Watch this space.
What a knobhead. Clearly been waiting months to write this. The kid at school who used to glow with smugness and an "I told you so" whenever one of his peers got into trouble. **** him. His article has received a total of ONE comment, a comment which in several short paragraphs completely kills the writer's argument.
With 10 games to go, I think the author has over done the told you so story. This last paragraph tries to balance out the previous, but it doesn't manage it in the slightest: Still, this season has still been a phenomenal success story for a side tipped by some to get relegated this season, and such should be celebrated, not castigated, in light of what was ultimately a fairly inevitable drop in form. Incidentally, why are seasons already considered over at this point..? I thought somewhen in May and after 38 games was the time when pundits can say words like has been, had, rather than are having.
As usual, reality is somewhere in the middle. We were not as good as we liked to think we were at the start of the season and we are not as bad as some people are making us out to be now. Currently, we are a decent Premier League team. We can win games that we probably shouldn't and we will lose games that we ought to win. And, having said that, I still think we can get into the Champions League, of course!!!
Why even give the guy clicks? You do know he gets paid by the ads on his page when he gets people click the link.
Sod that then: "For so long they deceived, casting their doubters aside, misleading everyone into believing they were a genuine top four team ready to take on Europe’s elite. But just as everybody half knew, almost like the inevitability of Arsenal making their traditional top four surge, Ronald Koeman’s Southampton have finally stalled this season. The Southampton fairytale-bubble has finally burst, and everybody can now go back to saying what they thought all along. This is not a top four team in disguise, dressed up in red, white and black, providing inspiration to similar-stature clubs, but just an impressively progressive club whose wholesale investments in deep-rooted structural changes have paid overwhelming dividends. Hence, Southampton have performed badly in recent weeks because that’s a more honest reflection of how good they are. Before last night’s tentative victory over Palace, Koeman’s men had won just once in their last five, which was a one nil win at QPR. Until then, they had failed to score in five consecutive games, and Sadio Mane’s winner ended a prolonged attacking drought. This is clearly Koeman’s greatest challenge for the time being, because their defensive solidarity remains intact. Graziano Pelle has failed to score since December 20, and is looking like the striker they actually signed. And incidentally, it’s Pelle’s stalling form that actually epitomises a very prominent trend throughout the entire club, which best explains their slight downfall in last month. In essence, Southampton built their progression on recycling their squad in a really exceptional manner. That’s why they’ve defied all expectations this year, as the departures of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Dani Osvaldo, Dejan Lovren and Callum Chambers looked sure to see them rooted back to the depths of the table. Losing and replacing as many players as that (not even including manager Mauricio Pochettino), regardless of their quality, looked sure to unnerve and unsettle, just as Spurs were when they brought in whole host of new players after Gareth Bale left. Those departures have meant nothing because Pelle, as well as Dusan Tadic, Mane, Shane Long and Ryan Bertrand have all slotted in with an assumed ease, masking those frailties sufficiently. The fact of the matter is, Southampton were only able to acquire these players because they weren’t really that good across Europe. Pelle was a failed Italian striker, scoring a mere 21 goals between 2007-2012. Tadic only broke into (the less competitive) Serbia national team when he was 22 because he wasn’t perceived as an especially good player. Dejan Lovren rarely started for a mediocre Lyon side for two seasons before having his breakthrough debut last season, and looks to be showing his true colours this year at Liverpool. Perhaps then, in recent weeks the mask has been off. Pelle’s looked more like the mis-guided Parma man who scored once in two seasons. Tadic’s creativity isn’t what most assumed it might be. Their assured defence has remained quite consistent, but their ability to score has certainly faded. This isn’t the over-riding reason for Southampton’s recent regression, but it’s certainly a factor. If signing replacements from Europe was as simple as they’d made it look from September through December, the Premier League would be a significantly stronger league. Ryan Bertrand, Victor Wanyama and Fraser Forster have all still been inspired signings for the most part, but there needs to be an element of recognition that importing and integrating players from abroad is hardly as straight-forward as it might seem. For sure though, their Premier league slip has coincided with the second-half-of-season runs that all good teams have. In fact, with Arsenal and Liverpool now making serious headway, Southampton’s consistent form may well have not been enough to get them to the top four anyway. Still, this season has still be a phenomenal success story for a side tipped by some to get relegated this season, and such should be celebrated, not castigated, in light of what was ultimately a fairly inevitable drop in form."
What a weird article. I don't mind people disliking us, but can they learn to structure a decent article? Odd, ambling piece of quasi-journalistic editorial writing from someone who desperately needs editorial input.
So no one thinks there is any truth in this...whereas I think there is a little. We have done well so far, but have only really slaughtered a couple of sides. We have brought some players in who performed better early in the season but have now faded. The difference between me and the author is that I think we are a work in progress and those players will get better again.
He's right. We're doomed I tell you, doomed. That or were going to win the league. Or we'll finish in top 7 and have our best season ever. Or we'll sneak into the champions league. Or..... Whatever!
I hate this and people who are openly so big headed and sure we'll fail. For me it's the same as being a glory hunter. Yes you'll probably win a lot of trophies (read be correct about us not getting top 4) but so what you don't get to me smug about winning a trophy you win every year and it's not impressive that you've done so.
And there's the cold hard realism - points. The reality is we are a bloody good team, and we have every chance of making the top 4 and possibly even higher. Of course, we could miss out on Europe altogether. However, so could several other fancied teams. It's only done and dusted come the final whistle of the season.
It is a great pity that we did a lot of the hard work and got points from the top sides only to lose points unexpectedly.
It's the ups and downs of league football. Don't get too downhearted. The plan is long term anyhow. I think SFC have surprised themselves how well they have done so far. They've surprised me. I expected 6th place from day one, but not from being up in the top 2 or 3 for much of the season. More like playing catch-up all the time.
Stop reading **** logs. They won't get the clicks and their money will dry up. Be selective. There are people whose opinions you consider and value and then there are people whose opinion you don't give a **** about. This prick falls in the latter group.
He has a point there, but hasn't the intellect to realise it. The point he's failing to notice is that we make players at least play to the macimum of their ability, and sometimes beyond, due to being a cohesive unit rather than a collection of individuals. The rest of what he says is unadulterated tripe.
The article actually isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I have problems with some of it, but other parts are fair. For the most part I just think it's poorly phrased - eg. "Hence, Southampton have performed badly in recent weeks because that’s a more honest reflection of how good they are." He talks about us being a decent team, but this makes it sound like "it's a reflection of the fact they're terrible". Bear in mind as well the reason people want to write "ah, Southampton's run of good form is coming to end" is because they'd been waiting and waiting, then worrying, and now are relieved. I read other club's forums too, and I thought it was really funny earlier in the season when people kept saying "Southampton will be contenders if they're still in the top 4 at this date", then when the date passed, it became "they're still there, but if they're still there after this other date they'll be contenders..." And every time we passed the milestone, they still couldn't accept it and just kept chucking the dates back. People want to say "I told you so" because they haven't had a chance to say it yet... not bad for a team "sure to be relegated".
Templar: "Hence, Southampton have performed badly in recent weeks because that’s a more honest reflection of how good they are." He talks about us being a decent team, but this makes it sound like "it's a reflection of the fact they're terrible". I have to admit I read that in the negative sense. As you say, badly constructed.
