The Emperor's New Clothes

[fran-MLs little camera]

Just want to throw this out there: is Ronald as great a manager as we thought? We all like and respect him as a person and as a previous player, but, since he is trying to put the blame on the board for lack of purchases, I think it is fair to assess him as well as them. I know we may be in a temporary blip, but if Ronald is making these comments we can assume he is seriously concerned. When he panics (as well as Fonte), I think we can as well.

We are going to spend, but we can't compete with the top clubs, so anyone who manages us has to be a good manager who gets the best out of a decent (but not top level) squad. This is aggravated by having few coming through at the moment from the Academy...whether this is due to lack of quality or Ron's lack of confidence in them is unclear.

If Ron leaves at the end of his contract, who else is out there? It's a question of finding the right man...not always easy, as even the top clubs find. You need a man that suits. I would like Ron to stay because I think we need stability, but will we progress with him, will he grow as a manager, thoughts?

 

[mowgli]

If he WAS trying to put the blame on the board for lack of purchases, it might be worth a debate but as he is not...

The academy continues to flourish although as we move higher up the table it is inevitably more difficult for all but the cream to breakthrough to the first team. Add to that there are some that are just using us to develop before joining their preferred club (Chambers is a classic example and, I fear, Slatterly - but happy to be proved wrong).

Ron said all he needs to stay is to be as happy as he is now but that's a discussion for next season not this.

 

[fatletiss]

He is good and will continue to be good. This doesn't automatically mean success though. Personally, I think he is just a little frustrated that he has come close to very good success with Saints and knows that last year and this year, we are just a little short in quality/depth to push on as we could. He also has dipped out two years running at quarter final stage the cup and we are about to enter the December madness fixtures, that Ron knows will be an issue for our squad (and everyone else's).

He has been good for us and is good for us. If he doesn't stay beyond the three years, then we will find a replacement. We are an attractive club for good managers.

Fear not young Padawan, the force will be with us.

 

[TheSecondStain]

Kneejerk.!

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

*Tiny voice* I don't think he's as good as Poch.

 

[fatletiss]

*Tiny voice* I don't think he's as good as Poch.

Meh, Ron would never have let Michael Owen dive like that for a penalty in a World Cup game!

 

[Toss saints]

Our replacement is thirty miles down the road when Ron feels his work is done here

 

[Whiteley Saint]

This is the real test for his management skills. The second year when everyone knows how we play. I'm sure as FLT says we will find a quality replacement when he goes. He has made some team choices which have caused much debate on here and maybe he is still learning the English game - although most of the managers are foreign so is there an English game anymore? He is a good manager but that is all so far. We should be doing better in the cup competitions but we have had disappointing results to teams most people would expect us to beat and we should never be losing 6-1 () at home. Now the honeymoon period is over he's still got quite a bit to prove in my eyes . Please don't take this as me thinking he is not good enough or wanting to get rid of him, I just want to see how good he really is and this means getting the existing team playing well again.

 

[SAINTDON13]

I suspect there is a bit of the usual language difficulty and loaded questions being misinterpreted and taken out of context here. Most fans would be pleased if we did make some progress in the purchase department, but none of us expect any marquee signings in January do we?

 

[Archers Road]

H

*Tiny voice* I don't think he's as good as Poch.

I sort of agree. Pochettino is a visionary, with strong ideas about the game, and the courage to put his faith in youngsters over experienced pros.

But Ron, I reckon, is a better man manager; and in all probability a better man.

I've no idea what the future holds. But for the time being I still have faith in Koeman, the man, the myth, the legend.

 

[San Tejón]

I thought the general consensus was that the squad had been improved, at the beginning of the season, certainly in numbers. Yet many/most of the new players, brought in to give us the extra depth we sought, have yet to prove themselves worthy of being selected and TRUSTED by Ron.
Are they black box signings gone wrong or Ron's choices?
The subs bench, in recent weeks, especially since the loss of JRod, and when Long was injured, has been far from inspiring.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

I thought the general consensus was that the squad had been improved, at the beginning of the season, certainly in numbers. Yet many/most of the new players, brought in to give us the extra depth we sought, have yet to prove themselves worthy of being selected and TRUSTED by Ron.
Are they black box signings gone wrong or Ron's choices?
The subs bench, in recent weeks, especially since the loss of JRod, and when Long was injured, has been far from inspiring.

I think the only signings you can say with certainty that haven't worked are Caulker and Martina. Neither are Ron's or black box (though Beef will confirm).

 

[Beddy]

Would we be having this conversation if we were competing for 3rd-4th place at the moment?
It is true we have been struggling over the last few games. We do have a lot of players that have lost form not to mention a few that have not hit the ground running since their arrival.
It is easy to blame the manager just as Swansea have done by sacking Gary Monk. Yet he didn't lose as many of his good players as RK did. Again last year they had a ripping season they're mainly the same players in the team so what is it?
At least RK has a justifiable reason for our lack of cohesion this year. Although he does seem to be struggling to combat and therefore over turn our recent run of bad form. Time will tell if he really is the manager we all hope he is. All I can say is he ain't done a bad job up to now and therefore the team and manager deserves our total support and backing until proved other wise.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

Don't take this as losing support. More an honest appraisal of things to date. I don't think he's at Poch's level in terms of an all-round coach, but then I think Poch is an exceptional talent. That's not to dismiss Ron's myriad qualities in the slightest. I love the man, I really do.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

I accept this could be a blip (after all it happened last season as well) and I wouldn't panic if this was a poor season (as long as we avoid relegation), but I start to be concerned when the manager suggests things are going wrong because the players we have aren't good enough. Talk like that is for him and the powers that be...throw it into the arena and the happiest bunny will get concerned.

 

[Romsey_Saint]

I think now is the defining time to observe RK's management prowess - we stated poorly this season, had a reasonable run of form and have now slipped back. The manager needs to instill confidence, provide direction (tactics) are get us playing like we were last season - which we have rarely achieved this season. He has a stronger squad than last season - so I do not understand the inference that we cannot be better placed in the league than we are - especially as the usual top 4-6 look suspect - never has the EPL been this open. A team with our qualities should not be languishing in 12th this season. Had we done better against some of the sides we could be much higher than we are.

I think his appointment was timely for the club and for him too. I think he is a good manager, he had the advantage last season of many teams not taking us seriously and sprung many surprises - now teams are wary of us and tactically he needs to make some adjustments to his game-plans. I do think we are a little one-dimensional and we seem not to have a defined Plan B. I also think he favours Pelle a little too much, sometimes its good to change the attacking emphasis.

 

[Tintin]

I personally believe that any top manager would have picked up on some things straight away that Koeman hasn't. Like the fact Tadic is by far a better player on the left, and our most creative player. Therefore he should be a nailed on starter on the left side. His failure to pick up on such an obvious thing (and still he seems unsure about Tadic) for me means that I have always been sceptical about Koeman.

At to this other recent things like Questionable substitutions, Yoshida right back, playing Caulker over Yoshida in the cup, signing Caulker, signing Martina, playing Alderweireld as a DM and disrupting the back four last season, not playing Reed more, only using Gaston twice as a sub in his entire spell as Saints manager and so on..

Personally I don't particularly rate him as a manager. Despite being a poor tactical manager, and a poor team selector, the players seem to play for him which is a positive thing. He was a great player and it seems the players respect him for that..so he has authority over them that many other managers don't (because Koeman was a world class player). But his team selection and tactics leave a lot to be desired.

I honestly think if we lose to Palace, Spurs and Arsenal that he will get definitely sacked. And that is certainly possible the way things are going at the moment.

 

[Beddy]

Strewth that would be a bit harsh surely if we lose to those three teams mentioned. He does need to sort our problems out true. However we are not in total meltdown yet. Even if we lose to them, but no doubt on current form we will struggle. He will sort it out but you just need to have a bit of faith.
The fact that people do not agree with his choice of player or players has little credence either. The same can be said for his substitutions. Simple fact is we do not know if doing things any different would have got us a result. It is after all just an opinion....... Not a fact

 

[Tintin]

Strewth that would be a bit harsh surely if we lose to those three teams mentioned. He does need to sort our problems out true. However we are not in total meltdown yet. Even if we lose to them, but no doubt on current form we will struggle. He will sort it out but you just need to have a bit of faith.
The fact that people do not agree with his choice of player or players has little credence either. The same can be said for his substitutions. Simple fact is we do not know if doing things any different would have got us a result. It is after all just an opinion....... Not a fact

We've picked up 1 point in 4. Defeat in those games would be 1 point in 7 games. With the sole point being against Villa at home. If that doesn't get him sacked, then he'd have West Ham away to follow, which would be a tough one (and would surely be the final nail in the coffin if he didn't win).

This is all hypothetical. I do hope he has the experience to turn things around. He has a decent track record as a manager and had a great one as a player. And of course it depends who is lined up. There's no point sacking him, even if we lose the next three, anyway if there isn't a good option available.

 

[Schad]

Considering what he has been working with, I'd say that he has been quite good overall. I'm not terribly fond of his reticence to use youth, however. I'd also like him to rotate the squad more, while being fully aware that many of the options beyond out set XI aren't overly appealing as starters.

That said, it feels like in light of his comments, we're beginning to set the groundwork for post-Ron.