I support the players and the club in general. I can't say I support Pochettino yet because he hasn't done anything with Saints to earn it yet. However, it would be the same with any new manager, even if it were Pep Guardiola or Alex Ferguson. I do like what I have read about Pochettino, so I'm cautiously optimistic and will try to judge with an open-mind. And by extension, I suppose that means I'll be doing the same with Cortese. During the game, I will cheer on Pochettino just as I would any Saints player even if I thought they were pants. So "support" in terms of what I do as opposed to what I think is not a question.
Spot on mate. Took me a while to grasp what you were trying to say but when I finally got it I was in full agreement with you. PS Except the idiot reference to Nicola.
We have to support Cortese and Pochettino. NC made a tough choice before and we were all very upset and AP going after a 4 goal win over Bristol, look how that decision turned out So if this new chapter becomes a massive disaster then we can get upset, until that happens lets keep looking upwards and hope we do achieve European Football that NC has promised.
Hmmn. Forgive me if I insist that the jury is still out on that one. He's taken a hell of a gamble getting rid of a respected manager just as we were starting to edge away from the relegation zone. And just for good measure, he's replaced him with a guy who doesn't speak English, doesn't know the squad, and won't know anything about our opponents. I remain to be convinced that Cortese actually knows what he's doing, though to be fair his decisions up to this point have been vindicated by success.
A good question will be if he sticks to Nigel's usual line-up or goes for some dramatic changes? Key areas: Up front: Rodriguez & Lambert? He might want to remove the long ball from our game which would reduce the effectiveness of Lambert. Left side of midfield: Could be Guly but he could play Puncheon or Fox? Defence: Reports suggest he likes a high defensive line which could mean Hooiveld is replaced with Forren. He might even change the formation? No is going to have a clue until we see the match tonight!
I feel like if Pochettino is really interested in possession and creative attacking play he would actually be more prone to use Lambert than Adkins. He is better at those things than Rodriguez. I think Rodriguez is more suited for long ball style as his speed is effective at counters. Saints have been playing long balls for him to run onto the last few games and he's been effective at that. The biggest knock on Lambert is probably his lack of speed, but that doesn't matter if you are playing a high line and trying to hold the ball in the opposition's half. Rodriguez really, really needs to learn how to be effective from a less central postion. He can still use his speed to get behind defenders there, in fact I think it is more effective for him. Right now we are sort of playing angled long balls up from the outside of the pitch into Rodriguez in the middle. But it works just as well he makes a run at an angle to the goal and then Ramirez can simply play a straight throughball. If there's one thing I hope to see change under Pochettino it would be attacking (and defending) more effectively through the middle. Right now Clyne and Puncheon have good interplay on the right side but we rely too heavily on that.
One thing that has come out of this and it is that there are a few apparrent Saints fans without any backbone, I have great difficulty trying work out these from the wind up merchants. I had a thought about some of those accusing JRod of diving, until I realised the ones that were saying it were guilty of simulation themselves!
Strange thing to do after Adkins was starting to turn things around. You have no choice now than to back the new manager as no matter what obscenities the fans throw at him he wont understand as he cant speak a word of English.. Give him a chance but it will be a tall order for someone who wont be use to the speed of premiership football but that wont be his fault as your chairman is the one who sacked Adkins not him.... wait and see how he does to determine anything and hope the right choice has been made...
Oh look another non-saint who doesn't know what he's talking about. Can we start a thread on here for these guys to chat amongst themselves or something? No offence Dai, but your summary view is pretty tedious for those of us who have been discussing every minor detail for the last three days. To be fair your comments are more nuanced than most of the "MADNESS" armchair punditry.
Wouldn't dream of WUMMING myself!! Perhaps JRod was demonstrating that he is not now likely to be picked for the Olympic Diving Squad now that funding has been withdrawn. That however is another story!!