Hey there Swans,saints fan here! I've watched some of your matches on TV and I think it's great that you play that type of football!But where did this start?Did Martinez introduce it? Good luck for the rest of the season.
Yeah, it was brought in by Martinez. And it's been maintained through Sousa and Rodgers thanks to some careful judgement by our Chairman when employing new managers. We had Jackett before Martinez, and it was a more traditional 442 with a big man upfront under him. Martinez came in and transformed the club - made the players fitter, always trained with footballs, lots of one touch practice, and added patience and possession to our game. It's proved to be the right way to go as it took a good League 1 side to runaway Champions, and then provided us with a platform in the Championship which has sprung us into the Premiership. Rodgers has found the right balance though - we leaked goals under Martinez, and didn't score many under Sousa; we haven't really had either of those problems under Rodgers (despite our 4 game goalless run at the start of this season). On a side note, I'll be shocked if Southampton don't get promoted this season!
Yea, you pretty much have all you need to know from Breezys answer. Martinz knew the club from the inside out, because he used to play for us as captain for a few years, but got released by jacket...He then went on to play for Chester for a season i think, then got the call to be our manager towards the end of the season, in which we made a late surge for the play-offs...Resulting in us having to win our last game by a lot of goals to get in there...We ended up losing 6-3 to blackpool! The next season we really did storm the league....It was a fantastic season for us. Martinez changed most things about the club....Our transfer policy (obviously along with other members of the staff, but he was the catalyst) Our attitude - the players eating together. He ushered in our Joe Allen, who is getting a number of plaudits in the prem now...His debut came in that game against Blackpool. So yea, Jacket - partly route 1 - territory Martinez - attacking - possesion football Souza - defending - poession football Rodgers - a blend - possesion football Thats not to put Jacket down. He baught in a number of valuable players, and got us promoted from league 2, and also lost the league 1 play-off final against Barnsley....A horrible day, but probably the best thing to happen to us...I think we may not be in the prem now if we had won that game.
"Jacket - partly route 1 - territory Martinez - attacking - possession football Souza - defending - possession football Rodgers - a blend - possession football" Kind of sums it up. Both Flynn and Jacket stabilized the Club after a rocky period when we almost died. Martinez is owed a massive debt by us even though a lot of our fans ultimately felt betrayed. But hey, I'm over it. Look at his legacy. Yes, he was the one who got us playing the 'right way' in many fans' eyes. Sousa is a talented manager but being immersed in the Italian way he was far too defensive for my tastes. He got us into the best league position for decades then blew it by being too timid in games we should have bust a gut to win towards the end of the season. His emasculation of forwards like Pintado, who greatly suffered under his reign is almost unforgiveable. I know others disagree. Rodgers - what can you say? Always diplomatic in his interviews; never heard him criticise his players publicly; always respectful of the opposition and a thoroughly nice guy. I've met him and he really is! But I also get the feeling he's quite ruthless behind the scenes when he needs to be. Ultimately he's the one who's managed the blend you see today, drawing heavily from the styles of both his predecessors. The key with him is possession. If it means going back to go forward then do it, even if some fans get frustrated. Other fans from elsewhere have knocked us for this but that's the way we play and it follows the thinking of lots of managers in the Prem. But it should be noted that we are capable of mixing it up and have successfully employed the long ball to great effect on occasion. And yes, the Saints should make it this season, but the Championship looks tougher than ever this time.
Agreed. Should also point out this has been allowed to happen thanks to the fans being understanding as well. Many club's fans wouldn't take kindly to the style of play and may get impatient with the short, slow build-up in our own half, demanding a long-ball... but the Jacks got on-board early on and now understand the possession-style and don't get on the players backs when we're happily knocking it round our own penalty box
Yeah thanks for the info! Well we've had a great start to the season!Nigel Adkins has done a great job at St Mary's and long may it continue!fingers crossed!! I hope you stay up!
