Ralph Krueger Interview Incoming

The only similar qualities he had were that he was slow and couldn’t score. Qualities that many teams will be after i’m Sure
Although He did try

 

Doh, cause we are Southampton.

 

Under MP2 we matched united, Spurs and were very narrowly beaten by Chelsea and United, then robbed of a point at City. I still don’t think that made him a good manager.

Not exactly the easiest of opponents either.

Schad’s comments have some validity,

 

You can't compare 8 games with no transfer window to pre season and two transfer windows though.

 

The supposed Southampton Way had an aneurysm when Cortese and Poch left. It continued twitching through muscle memory during the Koeman years, then essentially died with Claude.

We need some CPR to get that back, or accept we’re not that club any longer.

 

Here we go, the shine and elation of survival is starting to wear off. The doubt creeps in. Before we know it we are appointing Cecil Pochitoloa as our new manager and getting excited bout the recruitment of two defensive midfielders who couldnt get a game in Serie A.

 

You cannot compare Hughes 8 games with anything other than his own tenure. How did his first 3 compare with the last three. Did he achieve any significant changes to the team, How was his tactical flexibility, did he affect the games he managed with the timing and choice of his substitutes? These are fairer questions than what was his win ratio IMO.

 

We were robbed way worse vs Arsenal than we were against Everton.

We did well against a lot of good teams for 70 minutes. Only difference is when it was Pellegrino, everyone said it was because he was tactically inept and we threw away points. When it is Hughes, everyone still blames Pellegrino even when he was no longer managing the club.

But I am tired of arguing this, because it least turns into a Pellegrino vs Hughes thing, or like I am slamming Hughes.

What some of us are saying is simply that there was and is a **** ton more wrong with the club than the manager. It is a genuinely bad team, only perhaps slightly less bad with Hughes.

 

Just read the second part of the RK interview in The Echo. More RK bollocks.Would not answer a straight question of what Gao's intentions for the club were and why did he buy it?

Tells Adam Blackmore that the club were spending to much time and intention on overseas opportunities and that they had taken their eye of the ball at home. Then tells Adam Leitch in The Echo that Mr Gao is in it to expand his popularity and the game in China, and along with looking to buy another club in Austria or Switzerland. But no investment in the Southampton playing staff, only that all money from sales will be the only investment in new players, basically.

Looks like most people were right, that he only bought the club for his own personal profit mainly in China, oh, and because he has holidayed in The New Forrest and loves the area. Couldn't make it up really?

 

I thought we were down after the Chelsea result. Not just the fact that we had failed to make ground on our rivals - and it was a question of plural then! - but also the psychological damage caused by the manner of that defeat. This was compounded by that Bournemouth equaliser in its significance and timing. That somehow Hughes got them back up and had them run out winners that day made me think we had a chance, and I was clearly not alone. The fact that he got Duscan Tadic playing like the footballer we know he can be, together with the comments of players about the new regime, was enough for me to think Hughes was an improvement.

Win ratios and all that stuff may have significance, but there was a point this season when Brendan Rodgers win ratio at Liverpool was better than that of Klopp. No sane Liverpool fan that I know was hankering for Brendan's return! Quantitative data has its place, but qualitative can be more significant at times

 

Couldn't make it up, but you just did?

We know nothing about Gao, or his intentions. And I suspect Ralph knows about as much as the rest of us. Let's just wait and see before deciding everything's ****

 

This is a good post in my opinion but the issue with Rodger's use of data is fleshed out in a detailed and interesting chapter in the book "The nowhere men." The use of data to assess recruits stemmed from Damien Comilli's input and resulted in Dalglish leaving the club because he did not believe that this was the right way to sing players preferring to rely upon scouts. The book goes on to elaborate that Liverpool grew frustrated with Comilli but explains that the kind of data assembled was at fault because it was not specific enough and did not ask the correct questions. If you like, we are now at the point of using a "second generation" of "Black Box" data and I believe this has been more successive. Anyone , I would really recommend this book.

The other thing I wanted to add is that Arsenal, West Ham and Everton as well as Saints will be looking for a new manager this season. If the papers are correct, Newcastle could be added to this list. It is interesting that all potential candidates are foreign and that the suggested names appear to be "glamorous." It will be interesting to see what happens at Arsenal in particular where Arteta is being mooted and the once likely suggestion of Eddie Howe is being seriously considered even though he is probably the brightest prospect amongst all the English coaches at the moment, I applaud the fact that fans are turning their back against the more pragmatic style of football offered by the likes of Mournho and want to watch football to be entertained.

In light of this, the appointment of Hughes seems to be bucking the trend as he is more of a pragmatic manager and Welsh as opposed to being from the continent. To me perception, I think he is actually a good fit for Saints and we will see a different style of football to that he produced at Stoke. There are elements of what I have seen so far that remind me of the discipline instilled in the squad by Koeman. I am not too worried about this appointment and feel it will actually be better than most people predict. The team that will be fielded on August will be radically different to the one that walked off it last Saturday but I also concede there are deeper issues that will not be addressed until Reed and Krueger are replaced.

 

Thats the problem Archers, nobody really knows what Gao's intentions are. PR wise, it would have been a perfect time to outline the future plans, and the Echo interview quotes RK saying that he is the mouthpiece of Gao? And its not as if he's just bought the club, this was completed several months ago. Personally I would still like to hear LR speak on football matters, as that is the main concern for most fans?

 

I have to say that I was happier under the Leihberrs where we were the centre of their sporting universe i.e. their only team. Not so happy about being part of a planned sporting empire...as that means there is always a chance that another side becomes more interesting and we get side lined. However, it is what it is. If money has to be self-generating there is still room for improvement at the club by getting a better balanced side...with some real talent up front who can augment whoever we keep from Austin, Long, Gabbi and Carillo.

 

Thanks, Ian. Now on my holiday reading list

 

Just read the 2nd part of RK's interview in full...he mentions how all their plans (probably worked on for years) virtually froze from January onwards. Only now can they restart them, but presumably with a very frightening lesson learned....if Saints can cock something up, they probably will....or at least scare you to death in the mean time. Life is what happens when you aren't looking.

 

We did well against a lot of good teams for 70 minutes. Only difference is when it was Pellegrino, everyone said it was because he was tactically inept
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Never did we do well for 70 minutes with MP in charge. Tell me one game we dominated for 70 mins. I can think of a few 45 minute periods that were subsciquently chucked away by a cowardly negative next 45 minutes. Mark has had to deal with fitness issues left by MP, and that has probably played a part in the dropping off of performances in some of his eight games.
I also should point out at this stage that Mark Hughes is not my dream manager. But, I think we need a settled team to lead us for at least a couple seasons while we re-adjust the team & our ambitions. Times have changed, we are very much part of the pack, small details will be telling now.

 

I think Hughes is what we need rather than what we want. We had some good seasons where we had truly exciting players, but, unless there are major changes in the summer, we are now in a phase of being a decent side who should have done a hell of a lot better without being world beaters. A side like that needs a manager to galvanise the side, convince them they can be a lot better than they are....and to make the right substitutions when things don't go as planned.

Whilst buying players is an art and I recognise that we seem to have done a lot better in the past, there is also a bit of serendipity involved. The right player has to be available at the right price and be willing to come here...and not be spotted by other more attractive teams. Think fans have to sometimes cut the transfer team a bit of slack...they too would like to find the next Mane or Rickie Lambert....but they can't kidnap them off the streets. Sometimes you have to settle for OK players....which hopefully a good manager can polish up to look like a gem. Then we can sell at a high price and the next team (Liverpool) discover they have bought a turd.

 

I’m not really, I’m just saying that Schad’s original comment that we haven’t been that good really, has some validity.

 

Er I’ve said give the job to Hughes.