PokingFun

There is no new manager bounce,it is a myth. Some new managers win, some new managers lose, some new managers draw. This has been proved quite categorically and statistically by Kevin Pullein, a very well respected Racing Post Sports Betting journalist that specialises in football and football betting. He had this exact issue identified in his book about betting on football and lists it as one of the top 5 betting myths along with items such as the FA Cup being a great leveller. There is a psychological thing here where people only remember the managers appointed that went onto a brilliant run at a new club. No-one (including the media) ever really bats an eyelid about those that perform at the same level as the previous manager or worse, but those that "turn things around" get highlighted and remembered. The reason we have not had a new manager "bounce" effect is simply because it does not happen as often as people might think and tends to be the exception to the rule unless the playing staff gets improved. As Kevin Pullein pointed out, the primary reason for teams winning football matches is the quality of the players on the pitch and to my mind we are simply short on that quality this season so far. Lallana / Lambert injured, little pre-season, Papa / Antonio not replaced, Barney suspended for 3 games and so on. Thats a lot of firepower to not have available at 100% this year plus I agree with you that a couple of areas still need strengthening (mainly to replace Papa / Antonio) but CM needs competition. Hopefully NA can resolve this in the loan window and January transfer window if were there abouts.

Of course he will be as he needs to be on here to get the team and tactics right for this evening's game ;-)

Good luck Nigel and the team! COYR!

Sincere condolences Daren, best wishes to you and your family.

That will be a big help then ..... ;-)

The guy looks like he has fantastic credentials if you see his educational history about the game / sports management etc so we should be patient as I think this fella could be really good for the club.

Adkins with KK his asst?! :-)

SSN reporting compensation deal close now ....

On SSN now B'mth chairman

I find it really quite funny that you believe this is true ha ha

Jeez, you guys are nuts! There is very little influence he could have over the Swindon game by taking training for a couple of days. If NC has pulled the deal because NA wanted to go home to pick up some clothes etc and say goodbye then you have to question how much he really wanted him. In my opinion neither NA or NC would behave in this way. If the Deal was agreed, NA would need to make arrangements as to where to stay and so on so doubt he would be in a position to take training 8 hours after signing on the dotted line. FFS people will believe any old rubbish on here!

Surely he must have true desire to come and do the job otherwise he surely would not have applied or wanted to talk to us if approached? I don't think it is anything to do with desire, the simple issue for NA is that he wants our club and their club to agree on the compensation figure so that he can leave on good terms still hold his head high at a club where he spent many years and has achieved some success. If he resigns then the fans may consider him a "Judas" for want of a better phrase and it seems he has more respect for them and his chairman to be remembered for walking out and shafting them. That does not suggest he has no true desire it just shows that he likes to go about his business in a sensible and appropriate manner. Now if his club were being unreasonable then he could probably come out and say so, resign and join us and let any tribunal decide (if there is such a thing). It just seems we cant agree compensation with them and NA does not want to get involved in that spat. Perfectly fair in my opinion and nothing at all to do with desire.

I think the fact (if true) that NA will not resign until compensation is agreed is borne out of respect for their chairman and fans and his behaviour (if this is the case) is appropriate. It shows that he is a man with morals and integrity so I see that as a good thing and hope they can resolve the issues if there is still potentially a deal to be done as the guy seems to have respect which can be no bad thing when trying to gain buy-in from Southampton fans, staff and players. He definitely has the ability for the job given his record of success in L1.

Well, to be fair they knew about Dickson well in advance so there is every possibility they know this has been done.

No need to worry fellas GH said he might possibly go back to international management ..... sorry Dalek.

SSN is due to have a report on Hoddle about a return to management but don't know what yet .....

We will have to agree to disagree. It is not correct to say we were in freefall either, well certainly would not have been if GB stayed. After he left we went straight into freefall.

Pearson did not turn Saints around FFS, we were lucky to survive. That is a complete myth regardless of what people thought of Burley. If NA comes in give him 100% support and expect promotion as I firmly expect this team to have more (or at least similar) quality to S****horpe when they have been promoted. All the best to the fella, I have an open mind.

Or maybe people prefer (generally) to highlight their criticism rather than offer praise. Its standard human behaviour in most people to have a moan about things that don't go well but forget about when things are going well / have gone well. Anyone who manages people will probably agree with that statement unless they have been very lucky to have an ultra positive and talented workforce.

Well, I only look at results and this is his managerial record computed as points in the division operated. Team From To Games Won Lost Drawn 3 1 Southampton 17/07/2009 30/08/2010 64 34 13 17 53.1% 20.3% 26.6% 1.59 - 0.27 1.86 85.53 Charlton 26/12/2006 22/11/2008 89 28 35 26 31.5% 39.3% 29.2% 0.94 - 0.29 1.24 56.85 West Ham 20/10/2003 11/12/2006 163 67 58 38 41.1% 35.6% 23.3% 1.23 - 0.23 1.47 55.72 Reading 13/10/1999 10/09/2003 211 102 57 52 48.3% 27.0% 24.6% 1.45 - 0.25 1.70 78.05 85 pts for us after a terrible start (and not his team imo), 78 pts for Reading (L1 and CCC) and more importantly 56 pts in the PL over 163 games for West Ham which was a magnificant achievement at a pretty small PL club. This record tells you that he is a good manager. There will be few outside the top 6 in the PL that would achieve such a decent and consistent record. 85 pts on average across a season would be near on automatic promotion even excusing the poor start last year. At the end of the day, I'm sorry to see him go based on his results and not anything else. However, he has gone so good luck to him and let's hope we get an appointment as good otherwise we'll soon be wishing we had him back.

But do you not think that he would be easily able to identify this from watching the teams we are due to play against on videos and getting reports from those within the club that have watched these teams or played against these teams and so on? I expect it is quite easy to gain the knowledge of what teams are about, how they play, who their key men are, strengths and weaknesses etc. It's just about assessing the information freely available in advance of the planning for games. I'm sure an ex PL manager is capable of doing this in an orderly and sensible manner.

I'm in agreement with everything you say there. I'm happy to get the person you describe and therefore feel someone like Tony Mowbray would be an excellent appointment (as your description matches him perfectly) but I still think people like Zola, with recent experience managing in the English PL would be very capable if appointed as he is clearly an articulate guy who knows English football well. What I wouldn't necessarily want is someone that has shown some promise but never managed in the spotlight (Eddie Howe fits in here). For me, any new appointment must have at least the pedigree to get us to the PL, at which time they will be under pressure to stay there but should be given an opportunity to show they can do so.

I'm sorry but this is simply rubbish. It's football. Over a large number of games better teams with better players win more matches as long as someone competent is in charge that doesn't put square pegs in round holes. Anyone that has managed at the top level I'm sure would be capable of using our players to win promotion this season including the likes of Zola. The key to winning the league is playing good football that had a bit of invention to break down the proverbial buses in front of the goal.

Thats probably how many fans Swindon have as well in the bottom picture .....

There can be no other explanation than this really if Martin is out of the team for Saturday's game. Clean sheet versus Bristol Rovers and had an excellent game against Bolton and the physical threat of Kevin Davies. Aaron Martin is far more mobile than Jaidi and a bit no nonsense which complements Fonte really well. Also, he will come on leaps and bounds playing alongside a CB of Fonte's quality. Wilkins would be mental to not play the lad Saturday unless under instructions not to ......