SaintsBarry74

Well, yes... 5 points after 16 games isn't exactly very impressive, is it? It would've been concerning if he claimed we were meeting expectations.

That would deffo top our 0-9's.

We should take a punt on a foreign coach imo. What do we got to lose?

Looks like Russball to me. Will take time.

Lets batter these scousers!

Make fun all you want, but that banner did the trick! These lads are heroes now.

I wonder what happened?

Playing in the Premier League brings in £100m in TV money and who knows how much more in indirect revenue. Surely they'd want to priotise keeping this up.

They let in 3 goals after subbing Danny Ward in who's probably the 2nd worst shot-stopper the premier league has ever seen (worst is Baz).

This comment is spot on. We've seen many delusional managers trying to copy Pep Guardiola's tiki taka football because of his vast success, but without his tactical genius and experience, it's been an absolute tippy-tappy disaster for most sides. Vincent Kompany is a perfect example, another one is Brendan Rodgers' pathetic attempts at playing out from the back with Celtic in the Champions League - they got absolutely battered until he changed it up, Celtic's Champions League record under Rodgers' tenures was shocking. The difference is that unlike Kompany and Rodgers, Russell Martin hasn't achieved sod all in his career. It's like the muppet asked ChatGPT to write his tactics and now he's stubbornly stuck with them, hoping that one day all this meaningless stats-padding will lead to him pulling off a Kompany-style move to a bigger club.

I think RM has been found out. The media initially didn't pay much attention to us as we're not part of the big six, so not as many clicks to be made on Saints coverage. But I've noticed in the last month or so that the commentators, pundits and various media outlets, not to mention opposition fans, have all started to point out the flaws in our one-dimensional system. The best comparison I read the other day was: 'Russell Martin is either very stubborn or very naive, or perhaps both, in persisting with a system that clearly isn't working. It's like insisting on driving a car with square-shaped wheels made of concrete.'

Premier League Win Percentages: Lampard 41% Gerrard 32.5% Cooper 18% Steve Cooper is very unlike Martin in the sense that he employs no tactics, there's no patterns of play and it's generally all just a mess. Would still be an improvement on RM, but surely we can do better by just taking a punt on a foreign coach?

"Southampton may have got away with such poor possessional play at the back in the Championship, but the Premier League is more unforgiving. They rank top of the division for the most errors leading to shots and the most errors leading to goals." "In the recent fixture against Wolves, the Saints had 71% of the play, but the majority of their passes that match were made between the centre backs, Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis." "It is admirable to impose such a possession-based system at the top level for a newly promoted side, but it comes with a sense of naivety. Martin must learn the art of adapting if Southampton are to survive." Laughing stock of the league, Martin is a fucking idiot.

Enzo Maresca also prefers to play out from the back, but unlike Martin, he actually knows how to adapt and mix things up depending on the opponent. When Leicester faced us last season, they scored five goals with a low possession in the mid-30s, punishing our tippy-tappy football with quick transitions. I can't recall seeing a manager as delusional as Martin, who stubbornly sticks to this one-dimensional style of play no matter the opponent or how the game unfolds.

Same here. Leicester fans were saying that he plays without any set system or tactics, the players didn't know what to do.

Same experience here, my mates and colleagues have also started taking the piss about our suicidal tactics. I think other fans started noticing after Pep’s comments about wanting to learn from RM, followed by their unprecedented losing streak that came after. The commentators and media have also definitely caught on. Over the past week, they’ve highlighted how meaningless and one-dimensional our approach to the game is, or, as we all know by now, high-risk, low(no)-reward football. We’re clearly not as bad as Derby if you actually watch us play, but we gift so many goals due to RM’s dreadful tactics that, results-wise, we’re currently on par with their record-low season. I feel like, unlike our previous relegation, this time we’re undeniably the laughing stock of the league.

We are projected to finish on 12/13 points based on our current points per game ratio. Should be just enough to avoid snatching the record from Derby.

We need a proper shot-stopper. Should start Bazunu.

The patronising continues, at this point I doubt anyone is falling for that nonsense other than RM. What is it now Pep (I bet he regrets those comments), Arne Slot, Madueke, Emery?

Why can't RM take a more pragmatic approach? Why is he stuck in this suicidal one lane system that is killing us week after week. The few times I've seen us divert from the tactic we've looked significantly more competitive, why can't this idiot see this?

Madueke also came out post match and being very complimentary of Saints. That’s like the 3rd or 4th person associated with a “big team” being complimentary to us. Was it Sir Alex who said to Pulis that if the big teams come to you and compliment you, you’re doing it wrong.

Anyone else saw the scolding Lumley got for playing long? I'm not sure what more can be said about this abomination that is Russball, surely if something isn't working for this long you'd try to change things up?

Leicester 39% possession, that's well shit.

So it’s actually a perfect match!