The trouble in football (probably as in life generally) is that people are judged by their last job or achievement. A manager gets a team relegated and suddenly everyone forgets what happened before. I know people talk of Mark Hughes as if he was crap throughout at Stoke...whereas they did relatively well for a couple of seasons. Fans are really ungrateful beasts. I hope (though don't expect) that Reed gets some credit for what he has done should he leave. Although he doesn't need me to speak up for him, he hasn't been the unmitigated disaster that revisionists are trying to make out and neither has he been perfection personified.
Hughes had 3 successive finishes in 9th place in his first 3 seasons at Stoke. Those are the only times they have ever finished top half in the Premier League, so I agree with that part of your post Fran. I also agree we owe a lot of our past success to Les, but there is also a lot of bad stuff, which people like a Beef, DTLW, and Laces have inside knowledge of, and which doesn’t feature in league tables or balance sheets. The thing is, now he is undisputed top man in football terms at Saints, his position being Vice-Chairman (Football), the buck stops with him. The last 2 years saw us begin our downward trend following 6 years of uninterrupted rise, which could be forgiven if it were merely the blip that many had predicted would happen. This season is way worse than a blip though. This season is years of negative transfer equity coming home to roost, and poor recruitment of team managers twice in a row. If we fail to escape relegation, the blame will be down to one man more than anyone else.
Just because we change the Headteacher doesn't mean that the practices of the school will change. They might get worse, they may get better. It might be time for a change but I'd be more hesitant then excited if so.
Not just the football with him though. There's a malaise in the club and it lands at his door. Sooner he's out the better IMHO (as some others will likely follow too, which will be no great loss).
Reed leaving has to happen I think but i don't think it will be the turning point sadly, we have new and rather odd Chinese owners with no experience, a Canadian hockey coach for CEO and we are odds on for relegation. I don't see much cause for optimism in the short term e ven if he moves on.We need a strong vision and leadership backed by motivated owners who have respect for the legacy of the club and its traditional strengths. By which I mean relegation dogfights and articles about the team we could have had if we hadn't sold all our best players. ..hang on
You like sitting on the fence, Beddy!! You sound like one who has the measured tones of a former ABC journalist, Nathan Thomas who contributes to TRE in Spain. You have an opinión but it is not opinionated.
Measured is always an attribute. Jonathan Agnew has that gift in abundance, so did Mike Ingham when he was the football correspondent at 5 Live.
The article isn't very accurate anyway - we signed Schneiderlin under Lowe in 2008, a couple of years before Reed was on the scene. And I think most will agree that Pochettino was Cortese's man. We've had successes under Reed, but I do feel his role at Saints is grossly exaggerated in the media - both positively and negatively.
Having been in management for a good number of years, when the big boss (sponsor) moves on, it's time to clear your desk. I don't think that would be a bad thing either as have been concerned about the development of our young players for a while
This is what confuses me when I browse through threads. Does the buck stop with him so we can play the blame game? Some say the buck stops with the manager which is why we've kept changing him over the last 18 months. Others say it's the players on the pitch who are to blame. Some say it's Katerina.. ..or Krueger ...or Gareth Davies... ...or Matt Hale. There's even some that say its the whinging cynical fans that have driven our best players / managers away and played a part in our downfall. My point is that the blame game is pointless. It's a bit like sailing - you can get everything running smoothly and then you hit a wind hole and it all goes to pot as the others sail past you. We've had a great run and Les Reed has been part of that. I don't give him any more credit that I do blame. We've all enjoyed the ride so now we just have to knuckle down and get through this together. For that reason alone, I'll be sorry if he leaves but would wish him good luck for the future as I'm sure he would to us.
Maybe that’s our plan. LR goes & then we get as far away from him as possible by dropping into Championship!
It would not have been in their interest to do anything else but comply.......The reality is other big clubs would have lost interest if they didn't give of their best in my opinion.
If a team wanted our manager and still wanted him a year later, I doubt they would care what happened in the interim. Only fans judge people by their recent performance only....good players and good managers do not become poor after one disappointing season.
A deliberate poor season just might go against them..........most managers have integrity once they sign a contract they would expect to see it through hence why they would be compensated should they be dismissed..........Clubs have insisted before that managers see out their contract (maybe not Saints) and they have not to my knowledge let the club down because of it.