Gloucester Saint

It’s depressing though from whoever it is - Jenrick, Schapps, Reeves, Reynolds. Gift to populists with their own shady sources of funding (Nick Candy). And a stain on the offices they hold/held.

Good article about how Pep’s possession-focused style stopped working a few months ago. Which of course is what Martin styles rigidly on. Put simply, we artexed all of the ceilings in 1989 or went to the barbers and asked for curtains https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c20l7lw3ypzo

Agreed, I’d like to see Spores tackling SR’s and Saint’s leadership head on about many of these issues, and he can do it in public because their stock is so low and his is quite decent. Get Dragan and his new SR board members onside and win the politics inside SR early so Rasmus and Kraft are irrelevant. ‘Gavin needs a fresh start elsewhere and we haven’t managed a young goalkeeper well’. - honesty goes a long way.

What’s Duncan’s or anyone’s politics go to do with valid opinions on the team we follow? Why don’t you and you lads have a read of S-Clarke’s post above. You might learn something.

A key role Spores has in the miracle turnaround he’s being asked to produce is to speak truth at the SR boardroom level about the likes of Bazanu, McCarthys extension, the very long-term injured and ensure Dragan writes off some of the dreadful decision on ‘assets’ even if he winces writing the cheques. No face saving for the likes of Rasmus and Kraft, the full Pandora’s Box has to come into the open warts and all for any trust from the supporters to ever be possible again,

That’s the PL to an extent as well. Might be a bit better next season with a manager, DoF and new squad who actually try/give a shit bar the three names mentioned. Ship Downes off to Goztepe as well, that’ll cheer the crowd up. If Goztepe don’t like him either, he might turn up in the pre-match kebabs on sale. Properly cooked through though.

It’s so hard to make an objective view when this season has been one of the worst ever recorded at professional levels. The numbers are impressive in the circumstances, but they could sing for 90 minutes and there’s only Fernandes, Ramsdale or Dibling who would respond to it/are worthy of wearing the shirt. The rest are just SR’s journeymen and mercenaries, a jizzum stain on the history of the club and city. We’d be wasting our time. They’re SR assets, I don’t even recognise them as being part of Southampton Football Club.

For me, Bazanu not being #1 is a key early test of whether Spores and the new manager are going to be up to it. I’ve never seen a less natural or obvious goalkeeper.

If his appointment works and he gives him a decent spine of athletic players and results stabilise, he’ll get some credit and time. How quickly they can move forward depends on how much backing Dragan gives them both.

Frankie used to be a waiter. Based on his shooting accuracy, diners would have been wearing more soup then they ever ate.

I agree with all of this but it’s got to start turning around somewhere. Whether that’s Spores and finally making an obvious sensible managerial appointment (Cooper or someone similar) not a left field Jones/Martin/Juric gamble, or Dragan selling up, who knows. Let’s hope for the former and that some football common sense comes to the fore. Main thing next season is to avoid a relegation battle and build a decent spine to stem the blood losses. Then work from there.

I’ve tackled some challenges in my career with mess left by others but what faces Spores dwarfs that and then x1 million. I hope he’s got some very heavy financial backing from Dragan because there’s players to retire through injury who haven’t played any serious football for 3 years, multiple loan outs (Edozie, Edwards, Charles) who are probably not sweet with SFC, raising funds through selling remaining talent (Fernandes, Dibling, Ramsdale), and a boat load of Martin groupies who didn’t put in the work for Russell or Juric in the top flight seemingly causing trouble. Then there is recruitment at scale to build a spine from keeper to centre forward of pace and physical power lacking throughout the squad. All this at a club with losing in its 🧬 at levels rarely ever seen in the sport. Oh, and finding a new manager who can work hand in glove with him to roll this out who will command respect and being much-needed discipline, realism and industry-knowledge who is willing to put their reputation on the line.

What % of first team matches for Sunderland and Southampton would you estimate he’s been match fit and available for selection for over the last three years? I reckon it’s in single % figures at best.

He probably will and as a result we will be in genuine danger of doing a Sunderland or this season, Luton. There’s too much baggage, and I’ve seen a promising young Saints keeper when Nicholl recruited a teenage Tim Flowers from Wolves, then relegated from the Third Division. Got early chances with injuries, yes, made mistakes in a far more physical top league as it was then, but also got the Milton onside with some saves he really shouldn’t have been able to make. Of course, the club had actual football professionals and human being running it, so he was mentored by Shilts and when he went to Maxwell’s Derby, we brought in John Burridge. Mad as a box of frogs but carried on showing Tim the right habits. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen nothing from Gavin that indicates anything like the potential clear with Tim Flowers, and I’d go further and say Bart looked a miles better prospect tbh. League One at best. The club hasn’t handled and managed him right whatsoever, so not all on the player at all, but he won’t achieve any potential he does have after those two car crash seasons with Saints. Judging by his opening games in Belgium, I’m not seeing anything different. Maybe he will with a clean start elsewhere with proper coaches, boundaries and environment which cares. Nobody gets that at SFC under SR, it only comes from within - eg Fernandes. Being on loan to the skates didn’t do him any favours because their local rag probably tagged him the Irish Gordon Banks after a couple of decent saves plus the Irish press were probably in overdrive. Came back, wanted first team football which he clearly wasn’t ready for, and Shields had our pants pulled down on the fee. If he hadn’t been at City, nobody would be talking about him if he was £500k from Shrewsbury. But that’s his current level.

Stephen Davis, there was another serious player from the early-mid 2010s. Superb engine, intelligent and could link up play wonderfully.

To think an 18 year old Lavia, however talented with a boy’s body, was going to be an Oriol replacement shows the naivety and stupidity of these buffoons. I don’t know why Ralph didn’t bag them in the press for that along with the striker failure, I would have done as Rasmus fully deserved it even at that stage, but I guess Ralph was just too worn down and fed up with life in the circus tent.

I agree, forget Sheff Utd comparisons, this isn’t a club going into a new season with a legend ex-player and former promotion winner at the helm. Making sure there isn’t a double relegation is priority one. The only way they can avoid this scenario is going for a tried and tested name at that level who could compete in the PL as well - Steve Cooper. Would delay his start until after final game but as a signal with a new DoF in Spores it might give us some kind of glimmer. Get plenty of business done early in the transfer window and clear out the strongest stenches of failure although the smell and taint of this season won’t leave the club for several decades.

I’m loathe to criticise our fans full stop, the gates are highly admirable given the pathetic dross on and off the pitch, but I do understand the frustration. The full houses and lack of protests reinforce SR’s perception that everything has been alright. They’ve finally made changes far too late to their dreadful structure but we saw what a few banners did in bringing the end of Martin. If we could combine the numbers with a bit of ambition, drive and fire it would give Dragan far more of a kick up the arse to transform it or sell it.

If 99% of the squad, and actually the club’s management, coaching, scouting, and boardroom as well, had Fernandes’s attitude and will to win, whilst I’m not suggesting we’d stay up but we’d have a million times better chance and the nonsense of falling below Derby’s low points record would be exactly that. A lion amongst jellyfish thieving wages.

Another player that arrived bright and dragged down in short order by the morass of doom.

We won’t have a defence with KWP, THB and possibly Bednarek in it. Been dreadful this season but quality second tier players. On the positive side, we won’t have Martin’s kamikaze tactics either. But then with less emphasis on footwork and kicking, even less case for Bazanu. No way we’d have gone up without his injury.

You have your opinion, I have mine. But if he’s in goal (Bazanu, not Hyperbole), Saints are going to be in the lower half of the Championship next year.

Frankie Bennett-esque

I couldn’t give a fuck if it did or not. That’s my opinion on Bazanu. I’ve never seen a worse keeper at professional level. Cheltenham have two better, as is Torquay United’s. I’m sure Gavin can improve elsewhere but the situation is not helping anyone.

I went 75/25 because whilst I have no time for any of the players, when you go Ralph-Jones-Selles-Martin-Juric the player recruitment is going to be scrambled. Steve Cooper please on a pre-contract for June, but co-developing a ruthless plan with Spores now for what needs to arrive and what needs to go.