Marcus Cortese Pards and Nigel have all played their part in our recent success and i have to admit i was pretty annoyed when Pards got the bullet as he did a great job and has proved to be a good manager since but i have to say Nigel has done fantastic for us and i just hope the powers that be remain with him in what could be a tricky couple of months for us.
AP is a fantastic manager, just look at how well he is doing with Newcastle. I have to belive the rumours about his personal conduct being the reason he got sacked, by us and West Ham. If my memory serves, we finished just a few points outside the play offs with him in charge, and that was starting the season on minus 10. Didn't we also win the JPT? That was the start of the good times!
We will never know all the details, but I suspect that it might be a combination of the poor start to the season and the fact that Saints were playing a style of football at odds with vision, the "Southampton way". You may remember that under Pardue, the match stats showed that Saints always committed more fouls than our opponents. I remember AP being interviewed during a guest pundit session on TV, when questioned about ML saying that he always being asked about that. As far the often repeated accusations about Pardue, I think it's time to stop repeating libellous and unproven hearsay. The only basis for this stuff seems to be that "someone else said it". I am delighted that AP is enjoying great success with Newcastle and will treasure the memory of the 3,4 and 5 goal fests which marked his season in L1. As for Nigel, what a two years it has been. I love the man's positivity. I am hopeful that after our match at the Arsenal, we fans will take a leaf out of his book. Not get too up when we win, not too down if we lose. Look for the positives as well as the negatives. Together as one. Damn, I wish he was my boss!
I'm sure Pardew will get a good reception at SMS...always love him for the JPT, especially as it gave Markus such a good day out.
