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Reply | Whats The Chances Of A New Manager Before The Weekend
at 15:52 17 Dec 2024
Ifonly - I'm 100% with you on your first sentence.
Dragan may have been good at running a telecom/media business in the Balkans but probably knows as much about football as we all do on this forum. I genuinely believe that Ankersen has conned him into running an experiment with Dragan's money - after all, why risk your own if you can persuade some mug to part with the readies.
As a result, all of us who have paid money to Saints over the last three seasons - we've been conned as well into the belief that there is a credible plan/vision/strategy - call it what you will. Barring any evidence to the contrary, it seems to be one big ill-fated experiment and the losers are the fans .....and Dragan. |
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Reply | Rohl
at 16:48 16 Dec 2024
I think the key is that we get relegated with some dignity left and have a fighting chance of automatic promotion next season. Who the person that can give us that is beyond me but I suspect there are a fair few - many of whom have been named so far.
Do we trust SR though to make a decent decision? At the end of the day, owners are just caretakers - in this case they would struggle with a mop and a broom though. |
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Reply | Southampton FC Sack Russell Martin
at 10:57 16 Dec 2024
I am more relieved than pleased. Russell Martin was clearly deeply flawed as a manager and I would expect to see him return in either League 1 or the lower reaches of the Championship - where he belongs.
However, for me, the main issue is Sport Republic. Their track record so far on both footballing and business decisions is frankly woeful. Personally, I don't feel like giving them another penny of my money unless either something radically changes (eg Ankerson leaves)
or they demonstrate clear improvement (something I am not confident of). |
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Reply | 'Martin Out' fans are clueless!
at 12:08 11 Dec 2024
StMichael - you say stick with the plan. Maybe I'm a bit thick but I have no idea what the plan is. As you are clearly much more intelligent, would you mind explaining what the plan is? Thanks |
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Reply | Is fan sentiment changing?
at 14:05 9 Dec 2024
It's a bit like the club have an unpleasant disease, like syphilis, which comes with unpleasant symptoms - lesions, boils etc. In order to cure the boils, you have to get rid of the disease. In the case of Saints, Martin is the unpleasant boil, which need lancing, and SR ae the syphilis which needs to be removed.
Supporters have the following choices:
1) Boycott - probably easier if you live further away or don't have a season ticket;
2) Stop buying merchandise - tricky if you have kids!
3) Go to games and protest before during and after matches. This has to be organised and could take many forms eg.:
a) Demonstrations outside the ground;
b)Arriving en masse 15 minutes into the game;
c) Leaving en masse at half time;
d) Banners
e) negative chants during the game aimed at SR and RM;
f) throwing tennis balls (what's wrong with cricket?) onto the pitch;
g) pitch invasions.
4) Pretend you're a realist and keep going or just go because your mates go (you could go to Eastleigh, Sholing, Totton, Salisbury instead if you just want to go to football). If you do nothing, then nothing will change. If you do something then something might change.
Failing all of the above I would urge people not to renew season tickets for next season if SR are still here. |
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Reply | Slack Jack should get the sack.
at 12:19 5 Dec 2024
IF VAR could direct the ref to Slack Jack's merited red card, how come it didn't direct the ref to Cucurella's play acting, as this also merited a card? |
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Reply | Meanwhile in the Bundesliga
at 12:16 5 Dec 2024
Agreed - in retrospect the mistakes were:
1) either not giving him an honourable out at the end of SP's first season, when there was clearly something amiss; or
2) not backing him properly with a striker in that window.
Either way - it's on SR. Frankly until they go, I don't see any cause for optimism. |
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Reply | RM still here ?
at 11:09 5 Dec 2024
RM is still here because Saints fans are frankly too pathetic to do anything. |
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Reply | Is it all a giant con trick?
at 12:21 25 Nov 2024
Let's face it, short of a miracle, Saints are already down. If you have a season ticket or membership your money, along with Saints' Premier League status is already gone. (Even the banks reimburse victims of scams!).
If you're not happy, there are things that can be done:
1) just stop going to games (indefinitely) or buying any merchandise (especially pre-Christmas). FWIW, I stopped going a couple of years ago after the capitulation by RH in the second half of SR's first season of ownership, which was the writing on the wall for me ;
2) If you do go, protest before, during and after games;
3) Instead of singing the crass Pompey songs, rework them to be about Martin or SR.
If fans keep going to games, clapping and cheering then, quite frankly, nothing will change for the better. |
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Thread | Is it all a giant con trick?
at 11:52 25 Nov 2024
Does it go something like this?
Some players con Martin that they are PL standard.
Martin cons SR that he 's a PL standard manager.
Ankerson cons SR that he's a football genius.
SR cons Solak into parting with his cash.
SR then con the fans into parting with their cash back to Saints.
The fans keep blindly going to games, happy clapping, getting more and more frustrated but doing nothing about it. You often find this victim mentality with people who have been scammed.
It's just a theory of course 
|
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Reply | Russell Martin
at 10:07 25 Nov 2024
I would say that getting lucky together with Leeds imploding got us promoted! |
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Reply | Is The Journey Better Than The Prize
at 17:14 15 Nov 2024
It's so clear that you have to wonder what on earth SR/RM are thinking. This is all about really pathetic team & business management (in it's broadest sense). I think part of the problem lies in relying on a charlatan for football guidance. Fans and the majority shareholders are basically being ripped off by a charlatan (at best!).
Business strategy is all about both making choices but also executing on them and I cannot understand why our owners/board/management have been so incapable to recognise this.
I now feel totally disconnected from the club I have loved for nearly 60 years, so given all of this, I am disinclined to give Saints any more of my money until at least RM and hopefully SR are gone. |
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Reply | Martin would have gone by now if....
at 14:56 21 Oct 2024
Unfortunately, I believe the current issues with Saints are somewhat complex. It’s difficult but I’ll try to be brief. For starters:
The players. Saints have too many players who are not good enough individually. This need not be a fatal problem but is exacerbated by:
1) Mental fragility – both individually and collectively;
2) Lack of fitness; and
3) Being played out of position and in a team which is picked inconsistently.
The manager. Many of the players’ issues are compounded by the way they are managed. Last season Saints were lucky to be promoted – we came good in the play-offs (lottery) whilst Leeds, to a certain extent, imploded. Given the squad last year, this was simply not good enough and was a good predictor for this season. Unfortunately, Martin is tactically naïve and seems stubborn. Some people say he deserves a chance because “he is a nice guy” or because we got promoted last season. These are both irrelevant – the only thing that counts is current performance. Quite frankly, he should have gone some time ago – I suspect it’s now too late.
The owners/board. Many of the root causes are down to the owners/board. When Sport republic took over Saints were 14th in the Premier League and beat Brentford 4-0 in the first game. By the time of the Man. City cup match, Saints were up to tenth on 35 points. Since then, it’s been downhill. A combination of poor player recruitment and shocking managerial recruitment/management has been at the heart of the decline. I believe it’s not because of a lack of investment in transfers but, put simply, the board is trying to be too clever. I think they are experimenting with an unproven model of running a multi-club structure without either the necessary funs or competence to do so effectively. In order for Saints to get out of the current hole, either this season or next, the need is for a proven manager & I think that the board would find this too challenging and so I have no faith in their ability to appoint the type of manager Saints need.
There are two other issues that are worth noting:
The fans. There’s always a lot of criticism of Saints’ fans for two reasons – being too quiet and being on mobiles during the matches. The former is a long-standing problem exacerbated by a lack of on-field joy this season. The latter is a function of modern society. I don’t believe that either of these issues are unique – but they don’t help in the current circumstances.
Refereeing. By all accounts Saturday’s refereeing performance was beyond inept to the point that it raises some serious questions. It’s worth noting that last season Forest were fined for complaining, seemingly with some justification, about the quality of refereeing. I can’t help but notice that this week they are playing on Monday AND Friday, which I’m sure is just a coincidence. |
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