Christophenburg

Not saying Rohl isn't a good choice, I actually think he is, just don't see SR being willing to pay the compensation

I really don't see SR paying out compensation to land an in-work manager, not with all the financial grief over sacking RM, or the impending loss of PL TV revenue next season

Stephan would be consistent with the possession based style of play SR want to pursue. Other then the usual suspect, Niko Kovac, Roger Schmidt, Rudi Garcia, my money is on Mark van Bommel, it feels very SR-y (and not in a good way)

When all those players we bought only to loan to other SR clubs come back we're going to have an amazing team in the Championship

I could see us trying the next Hasenhuttl, someone who has been relatively successful in Europe but not yet managed in the PL, like Roger Schmidt or van Bommel, etc. Maybe even van Nistelrooy if he didn't want to go back to being an assistant

Got to be less then relegation surely? I don't see why it's up for debate, or why so many fans still back him. He's stubbornly sticking to a system that barely worked in the Championship, he's shown absolutely no sign of improvement, and doesn't seem to know how to resolve any of the glaringly obvious problems in how we play. We're on course for a record in how bad this season is going, it's absolutely insane that he's still here

There's nothing disingenuous about comparing the performance of two managers of the same club in the same division, whilst absolutely acknowledging that yes Potter's success at Ostersund was incredible - from the 4th tier of Swedish football all the way to the Allsvenskan, qualifying for the Europa League by winning the Swedish version of the FA Cup, and beating teams like Galatasaray and Arsenal on the way (I randomly follow Swedish football too). But on a purely apples to apples comparison, a manager who we'd all probably celebrate coming to Saints did comparably similar (though marginally better IMO) as the manager we're all a little underwhelmed by with the same club in the same league

Maybe because he's a good guy and doesn't want to do the dirty on Aberdeen? Yea but the fact that he actually has a footballing background ignores the fact that his most recent job is in rugby and folks just want any excuse to say everything is shit

Exactly! The championship and the PL are leagues apart, and managers that do well in one league often don't in another. I think Martin is a sensible if not exciting appointment, but ultimately it's a practical and realistic one for the direction of travel of the club and the league we now find ourselves in. It's worth remembering (again) that Graham Potter's only season in the Championship was a 10th placed finish with (an arguably better post-relegation) Swansea, just like Martin achieved this season...

Piroe's record is a prime example of 'found his level' - first two seasons in the Eredivise: 1 goal in 11 and 2 in 18, first two seasons in the Championship: 22 in 45 and 19 in 43

Whilst I agree it's not the most exciting appointment we simply don't know how it's going to pan out. In 2019 Brighton appointment a championship manager who had finished 10th with Swansea in the previous season and look how that panned out for them. Rather then having a massive wobbly, lets see what Martin can do for us

Really rate McKenna. Might not be exciting but as an up-and-comer there's much worse choices out there

If the 'young and up-and-coming' category really is what Saints are looking for then I'd rate Kieran McKenna quite high on the list. Might be "only" a league 1 manager (though he got Ipswich promoted this season) but he's from the same mould as Carrick, has Ipswich playing incredibly well and his opposition coaching and adaptability is something we've lack for a long time. Certainly not saying he'd be an exciting appointment, and I'd like to see us making a statement in who we appoint as opposed to another project, BUT if that's the route we did go down we could do a lot worse then McKenna

Why!? Gerrard has been found out since he and Michael Beale parted company, he offers absolutely nothing other then being an ex-player that people have heard of

SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH! (I make no secret of disliking the stripes, though I may be won over if we had blue shorts)

Are you genuinely asking how Viera is different to Lampard or Rooney?

I guess it becomes a case of prospects and pay, doesn't it? If we paid enough, he had a war chest to build a good squad, and he felt he had better long term prospects of managing in the PL with us over Borough then of course he would. If Borough gave him a good window and he felt he could get them promoted then I'd understand him staying. Same if a PL side came in for him. At the end of the day it's not about steeling anyone away from anywhere, it's about selling a project to a manager that is in the best interests of their long-term success and prospects.

As much as Potter makes sense as an ex-player etc., if Forest do sack Cooper I'd be all in for him. Might not have gone well in the PL (and lets not forget the most insane transfer window Forest had), but all three seasons he managed in the Championship he made the play-offs, and the transformation for Forest from bottom of the table to winning the play-offs final in a single season is pretty phenomenal! He also favours a 4-2-3-1 with holding midfielders and attacking wing-backs (or at least he did at Swansea), which suits our squad. He's also Welsh, which must be a requirement (why else did Jones-y get the gig otherwise!?) Though if we're talking phenomenal turn-arounds, if Middlesbrough fail to make the play-offs maybe Carrick could be a bit of a wild-card? (and only a wild-card as he's managed a single season, what he's achieved as been incredible)

Just my opinion, but: 1 - the first team coaching set-up was utterly, utterly dreadful when SR arrived! Lets not be revisionist about it, it was dreadful 2 - again this feels a little revisionist. They absolutely messed up in the summer, but certainly in the January window we invested heavily in the squad and they tried to improve in core areas, it's just that for whatever reason those players either haven't been selected or failed to live up to their potential. Lavia, Alcaraz and Sullemana are all easily better then what we had before, and I'm prepared to die on the hill that in time Paul Onuachu will show he's a class above literally all of our other strikers. 3 - I'm less convinced that formation changes are SRs influence then most, but who knows as it's certainly been completely baffling! We've looked much more confident playing a 4-2-3-1, but Ralph and Jones seemed to be determined to stick with formations that the squad weren't comfortable with. Could have been SR, certainly hope it wasn't! 4 - what?! I get that the let him down not buying a striker in the summer but I don't think they actively undermined him, and he deserved the sacking her got (unless you're talking about Jones of course....) 5 - Yeah that was dumb, no sugar coating that! 6 - Maybe too long, but managers do need time and I can understand why they didn't want to make a snap decision 7 - Lots and lots of hindsight going on with Selles' appointment. Whilst it's absolutely on SR to see through the noise to a sane decision, lets not pretend that pretty much everyone was at least broadly in favour of Selles getting the job after Chelsea 8 to 10 - How much the staffing losses will be a bad thing or SR are finally bringing their people in to realise their vision, only time will tell Absolutely no doubt it's been a disastrous season, and SR have certainly made mistakes, particularly not signing a striker in the summer, hesitating on sacking Ralph, and then making one of the worst managerial appointments in Premier League history, but the seeds had been sown long ago with season after season of poor recruitment leaving us with a lacklustre squad with no passion, no energy and no fight. I actually think the January window was probably our best transfer window for many years, but it was too little too late with Jones tanking any chance of staying up. Lets see what happens next season

Right? Surprises and slightly pains me to say it but Bednerak's energy and passion has been one of the few sparks. Could even see him as a potential captain should JWP leave - can't believe I said that...

But arguably all of them would have improved the matchday squad over who was actually on the pitch. Hard to blame this season's recruitment when mangers simply won't select players and instead stick with those who have underperformed for two years

That's why I could see it being Potter - ex-player (albeit it briefly) and all that. Needs to be a mood booster as well as smart choice for a promotion push (IMO)

We've got 6 wins in 31 games, we need 4 wins from the next 7 - it's not happening. I'm not saying don't replace Selles, I'm saying that if they do the replacement needs to be the manager they think will get us promoted next season which, less face it, isn't going to happen (not least because we might have our eyes on someone who is currently in work). Otherwise it's all just another waste of money on compensation for an almost impossible feet for footballing.