Glad we are keeping Sammy and Dave....have to have some continuity for the players and they will be able to help the new manager when he arrives.
My boys love watching Sammy's antics on the touchline! Let's hope we can keep him out of the clutches of Rafa.Glad we are keeping Sammy and Dave....have to have some continuity for the players and they will be able to help the new manager when he arrives.
He's got his own mind - his decision (I expect), oh well!I think Kluitenberg will be fuming with Ron, he loves it here. I spoke to him on the train once and he couldn't stop saying how much he liked being in Southampton
I think maybe people are overestimating the quality coming from the Academy and the impact it might have had.
Pochettino was excellent about playing the younger guys. That was my favorite thing about him. But when I think of him giving players opportunities, it's more about giving brief appearances to Gallagher, Rowe, McQueen and Sinclair.
Shaw and Chambers were somewhat pressed into duty. Also, they were the cream of the crop. By the time Koeman got here, they were already gone.
IMO, Targett got a chance early this season and was somewhat exposed defensively. When he got to play later in the season, I think it was mostly when we used 5 at the back. Which left Koeman in a no-win situation. If we play 5 at the back, then he gets heat for not playing the way Saints are supposedly set up to play. Plus, it forces Bertrand to the center and it takes away a spot that could go to someone else who needs playing time. If he plays 4 at the back with Targett playing over Bertrand, then he's not playing our best 4 and that is a defense that looks a little soft.
JWP honestly just didn't shine enough. His playing time would have come at the expense of Davis. I like Davis less than most here, and even I think Davis is better than JWP and it's hard to take Davis off the pitch because his "glue" role in the team. JWP got a lot of time off the bench, and a decent amount of starts. I've got no problems with how he was used.
The only player I wanted to see play more and that I might criticize Keoman for not using is Reed. But then, Clasie and Romeu needed time as well. I don't see too many people complaining that those guys suck or were terrible purchases. In fact, the prevailing opinion now seems to be that we can go ahead and sell Wanyama, and it's okay. So even then, it's hard to complain about Koeman.
That period after the bad spell where it looked like there was no danger of relegation and the team wasn't a disaster, but where it also looked like we were out of Europe and would finish 8th? That's when you would go ahead and semi-punt the rest of the season and develop the youth. Koeman opted not to do that, and instead we went on a tear, qualified for Euro, finished 6th and had our highest points total.
I'm not going to criticize the guy for that. He saw something to play for, and went for it, and it worked. Moreover, by qualifying for Euro, he basically opened up more playing time for the young players next season.
How he allegedly treats the U-21 players or whatever during training could be a problem. I'm not saying Koeman might not have some issues there long-term, I don't know. But this whole "doesn't play the youth" thing to me is unfounded. It comes out whenever the team isn't playing well, or when we want to find something to criticize about Koeman. It's sour grapes in this case. No one was complaining when we were benching our best young players and winning games.
I think Kluitenberg will be fuming with Ron, he loves it here. I spoke to him on the train once and he couldn't stop saying how much he liked being in Southampton
Agree - he looked a shadow of his former self. Who knows, however, with the shackles off he could rediscover his previous form.If you watched any of the U21 games, you'll have seen (as I did) that Harry just wasn't good enough at THAT level, so, I believe, he wouldn't have made it in the first team. He was reckless with his challenges and his game play was found wanting a number of times. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of his (the way he was playing) and I think he's let himself down a bit by (possibly) not trying because he was no longer in the matchday squad. I think the best for Harry Reed would be to go out on loan to a good Championship club, calm himself down a tad and get back the footballing nouse he had. Then he can come back stronger and wiser and be an important part of the squad. If he carries on the way I saw him play in the last U21 game, he'll fade away and slip even further down the order .......
Breaking news on BBC that deal has been agreed. Wooooo the **** is going!
Agree - he looked a shadow of his former self. Who knows, however, with the shackles off he could rediscover his previous form.
I see a lot of the 'I don't want him' managers are finding other clubs - De Boer is allegedly off to Milan and Emery is signing for PSG, Howe doesn't want to go to us [not worried reallly to be honest] and that leaves only Moyes or AVB on the guesstastic list - except of course AVB doesn't want to manage in England again [who can blame him], so it's gonna be Moyes [oh hoorah] or someone we've never heard of, or worse someone we have that is massively underwhelming.
Also having a quick early morning skim through the forums and news outlets and a strong rumour appears to be the hold up is down to Saints having a no-poaching clause added to the agreement which Everton will not agree to - so they are definitely after our better players and of course RK will probably know the release clauses, wages, etc and despite all of our hopes and beliefs we all know that money means everything and contracts, no matter how far-dated, are just guarantees to get the selling club some extra money and not any statement of intent.
I'm not feeling in the slightest bit confident or terrible happy at the moment. Only in a supporting a football club sense of course I do realise it is not a particularly big and important thing in the overall scheme of things![]()
I guess we'll see who they want more the manager or the players. No clause no manager.![]()
I think Saints should step in and announce his departure to take away the gloss of him being unveiled by Everton. Petty as it is, anything to get under the skin!You must log in or register to see media