I was saying due to the structure of the club, we won't be able to have two players the same level in every position. It will end up in one of the players wanting to leave. Were as if we have a player slightly worse as back up they are more likely to stay
He can't even win the poll "Which Dutch manager has the best accent, when speaking English, in the Premier league" now, with the return of Gus Hiddink.
I thought our habit of clearing out players was the problem? I know what you're saying and agree. Too many decent but not great players in the squad.
Haha. Yeah we have I would get rid of: Davis Yoshida Let Caulker leave. Martina Davis Long Then Wanyama and Mane to leave. I feel we need a cb to replace Fonte and have him as back up. But then will he like that? He is on nearly 80k as well.
I said in the summer that West Ham, Stoke, and Palace would all be better sides this season, due to the signings they were making, and Everton would be better due to having no Europa League burden. Some people come across so one-eyed, it's as if other clubs are not allowed to improve! Yes I could have never predicted what Leicester and Watford are doing, but this season was always going to be more difficult than last. As I have already said, last season we were generally just about winning our matches. This season we are generally just about losing our matches. Many of our direct competitors have improved, whilst we have gone the other way due to losing some key players like Morgan and Toby. Now unless Ron has instructed the board not to spend any more than they did (and why would he have done that?!!), then I don't see how this is Ron's fault!!!! (He does have faults, but small ones. Practically every manager does! They were faults which existed last year, but people were happy to push them to one-side whilst we were winning. Yes Hesketh did start one game last season, but that's because we had an injury list as long as anything as I recall. I would suggest that he started out of necessity, rather than Ron being pro-youth back then!) Is it a concern that we are losing all these matches? Yes of course it is. But we are creating chances. We are dominating periods of play. We are almost never on the wrong side of a hammering. Can anyone honestly see Villa or Sunderland or Norwich beating Arsenal 4-0? Or Chelsea 3-1? In my view we are a couple of decent signings away from being absolutely fine this season (points-wise, we're closer to 8th than 18th). So for me, all our attention right now should be on the board, not on Ron.
The form at the end of the day sits with the manager and players. It is easier to get rid of a a manager so if the board decide to act he will be gone. Him being far too honest in the media won't help him. It will just make it worse due to how badly we are doing.
I ventured over to read Saintsweb again, and there's a few posters saying that Koeman is unapproachable to the u21's. I'm not sure how reliable the posts are though. Poster is a person called "Allsorts". Just thought it made interesting reading, and tallies up with what we are all witnessing tbh: "I have been at most U21 games this season including the away games v Chelsea, Man City and Spurs. Yes last weeks game was a poor performance but in those other three the U21s were very good. Won 3-1 at Stamford bridge with sharp excellent goals from McQueen and Heskey. Won 2-0 v Spurs with goals from Targett and Sims out-battling a team that included Townsend (one trick pony). And deserved more from the 3-1 defeat at Man City. The first team have poor performances yet Koeman refuses to allow many U21s to even train with the first team to get serious experience or get them playing for a few minutes off the bench in cup games and it is a fact Koeman does not even talk to them never mind try and encourage them. He is aloof and arrogant. How are they supposed to develop? Koeman does not develop players his training methods are not a patch on Pochettino nor keep the players as fit as he did. Pochetino thought players like McQueen had potential and gave him his debut. He played reasonably in Feb 2014 not looking out of place. So somehow he's now not good enough. That's because the U21s are stagnating under Koemans reign. They will be going out on loan to get experience cos there is none available at their home club where many of them have spent 12 years. It's rubbish and Koeman bears some responsibility."
I agree with so much of this and it is an excellent, level headed post. I don't quite agree that "all our attention right now should be on the board, not on Ron," as he is the manager and needs to take some responsibility, however I get your sentiment. I hope that the Guan type rumour is just that, a rumour only.
Sadly, this could be the undoing of things. I back Ron, however I also have no issue if the Board dismiss him if he has not bought into the philosophy they want at the club and is going out of his way to show that.
I see another poster on Saintsweb who is close to the academy lads has posted. He/she is close to Gallagher and has been told how Koeman comes across as arrogant. How his training methods are no where near as good as Pochettino's. Plus how many feel they have stagnated under Koeman.
Think your memory is being selective,despite his hyped reputation he's been wrong several times before.
I can believe that about Poch. He is an excellent coach. Shame if Koeman is this way, but let's see how things pan out.
Long is a good option from the bench. But he won't be happy being used like that. Pelle will most likely be gone in the summer, so we need to keep Long.
