Wakey Wakey!

[Glasgow_Saint]

Why not have a forum for fans that have watched on telly ? You do not have to be at SMS to watch Saints, and you can even listen to some of the matches on the radio - you might not actually see the game but you can get a bl00dy good feel for what is happening !

 

TV yes - radio no!

[badgerx16]

TV yes - radio no!

If the opposition outshoot you 13 - 4 with attempts on target, and have at least two goals called back for offside, and on top of that have a good shout for a penalty at the death, I think I can get a good feel for what is happening. :cool:

[OldNick]

Why not have a forum for fans that have watched on telly ? You do not have to be at SMS to watch Saints, and you can even listen to some of the matches on the radio - you might not actually see the game but you can get a bl00dy good feel for what is happening !

I t is not the same as seeing it with your own eyes and the commentator can have their own agendas. My daughter was telling me that the Sun didnt even mention the QPR goal being offside and so distorts how the play went.

[badgerx16]

I t is not the same as seeing it with your own eyes and the commentator can have their own agendas. My daughter was telling me that the Sun didnt even mention the QPR goal being offside and so distorts how the play went.

No, but Skate Claridge on 5Live did.

[saint_ed]

The defense is woefully inadequate for this league. Unless it is significantly improved I'm afraid we will be cut off at the bottom of the league by Christmas.

[Big Ron fan]

Thats wrong - we went 1 up (Lallana) and then WBA equalised

 

True, but we also came from 2-0 down to draw at Barnsley.

[St Marco]

The thing i never understood is how people got to the conclusion that we were going to get promoted. It was like this

+ Lowe and Wilde return without saying 1 thing about their buisness strategy

+ They let Pearson go

+ They appoint a manager from the amateur leagues of Holland who has zero experience of English football.

+ We change to a system largley extinct since the eighties in world football

+ We send out/release some of our better players Rasiak/Saga/Safri etc..

+ We hype up the reserves as world beaters with Lowe and Wilde saying our goal is promotion this season and they see why our players can't achieve it.

+ We fail to win any of the pre-season games which were against mostly non league teams

 

etc.. etc...

But yet somehow from all that people have got = promotion.....

 

We have a poor team with players who majority of are nowhere near their potential, they are youngsters learning the game. Most of them this is the first time they have played competative football let alone a full season.

What we have done is a massive gamble and right now it looks like it is one that will cost us dearly. But we don't know that yet. The lads are giving it their all and that is all i can ask from them. I can't expect DMG to turn into Torres and i can't expect Jan to turn into Mourinhio. We maybe playing poor but i still think even with the youngsters playing we are playing better then we were pre-Pearson games. We have a long way to go where 2 wins on the bounce can take you away from the bottom. We are in a relegation fight but i think at least this group will fight for every game not just the important ones.

[itchen]

The thing i never understood is how people got to the conclusion that we were going to get promoted. It was like this

+ Lowe and Wilde return without saying 1 thing about their buisness strategy

+ They let Pearson go

+ They appoint a manager from the amateur leagues of Holland who has zero experience of English football.

+ We change to a system largley extinct since the eighties in world football

+ We send out/release some of our better players Rasiak/Saga/Safri etc..

+ We hype up the reserves as world beaters with Lowe and Wilde saying our goal is promotion this season and they see why our players can't achieve it.

+ We fail to win any of the pre-season games which were against mostly non league teams

 

etc.. etc...

But yet somehow from all that people have got = promotion.....

 

We have a poor team with players who majority of are nowhere near their potential, they are youngsters learning the game. Most of them this is the first time they have played competative football let alone a full season.

What we have done is a massive gamble and right now it looks like it is one that will cost us dearly. But we don't know that yet. The lads are giving it their all and that is all i can ask from them. I can't expect DMG to turn into Torres and i can't expect Jan to turn into Mourinhio. We maybe playing poor but i still think even with the youngsters playing we are playing better then we were pre-Pearson games. We have a long way to go where 2 wins on the bounce can take you away from the bottom. We are in a relegation fight but i think at least this group will fight for every game not just the important ones.

 

I get your general gist but would quibble a bit.

 

Lowe and Wilde were quite clear that they were coming back to cut costs. In fact that was the only reason they gave for coming back.

 

JP was not an amateur manager in Holland but I agree it was at a lower level than the Championship.

 

Our so-called better players were largely absent last season (even if they were on the pitch).

 

Promotion has got to be the aim even though Wilde is saying it's a long-term strategy. If they were to say we have no chance of getting promoted people on here would be castigating them for their lack of ambition.

 

The first team (as opposed to a Saints XI) played Hereford, Cheltenham, Celtic, West Ham and Stoke City. Most of these are not non-league teams and we did pretty well.

 

Apart from that, I agree with you. We just have to be patient. I think we'll get better as the season goes on and our players gain more experience.

[SaintRichmond]

Why is it always doom and gloom. We have played 6 league games with only 4 points returned. Not good but there is enough positive signs from performances to suggest that we are not too far from being a half decent team. It is not only the inexperience of teh players but JP has made a couple of odd selections, 2 x 19 year olds in the cente of defence etc. Even last night we looked good at times, did not give up and kept trying to score.

 

The players need support, magnificent singing from the crowd when we were 2-1 down by the way, must have helped the players. So where were the 12k loyal supporters last night??? Th eclub and the players need your support. It is embarassing when Norwich manage 24k last night and we manage 14900!!!

 

That is the problem ........ we are a "half decent Team"

 

Trouble is, Lowe has shipped out those that would have made us into " a decent Team " ........ and we now ( allegedly) have no money to buy the other " half decent Team " to make us a true force.

 

Not a lot of point in being frugal at the expense of another Relegation is it Mr Lowe ???

[St Marco]

I get your general gist but would quibble a bit.

 

Lowe and Wilde were quite clear that they were coming back to cut costs. In fact that was the only reason they gave for coming back.

 

JP was not an amateur manager in Holland but I agree it was at a lower level than the Championship.

 

Our so-called better players were largely absent last season (even if they were on the pitch).

 

Promotion has got to be the aim even though Wilde is saying it's a long-term strategy. If they were to say we have no chance of getting promoted people on here would be castigating them for their lack of ambition.

 

The first team (as opposed to a Saints XI) played Hereford, Cheltenham, Celtic, West Ham and Stoke City. Most of these are not non-league teams and we did pretty well.

 

Apart from that, I agree with you. We just have to be patient. I think we'll get better as the season goes on and our players gain more experience.

 

Lowe and Wilde were not coming back to simply cut costs. They had their own plan. Crouch and co were cutting costs and even had the banks support for it. When Lowe and Wilde returned they did not mention anything about their plans. We have cut costs but we have also added costs, in some areas even agreed transfer fees, given players better contracts and so on. Make no mistake of it they chose the route we are going down.

 

However you wish to look at Jans career he has spent majority of it in the amateur leagues. In Holland the first 2 leagues are pro leagues the rest are amateur, seeing as he spent most of his time in division 4 that is amateur. It is nowhere near the CCC level, in fact it is not even near conference level.

 

The main Saints squad (proffesionals) played pre-season against Celtic (if you want to include that as was Claus testimonial), Cheltenham,Hereford,West Ham and Stoke. So while they are not non league clubs they are non league in quality in terms of Chetenham (finished 19th in L1) and Hereford (finished 3rd in L2). So of the 4 proper games 2 were against a lot lower quality teams (50%) hence my point.

 

Saying promotion is our aim is wrong. It raises expectations and places pressure on players who have yet to even know what pressure is let alone how to deal with it. The players should have had no expectations and the fans should of been under no illusions as to how tough the job is going to be. Coming out saying we expect promotion serves no purpose but to attempt to keep the fans happy and to make people part with their cash to buy tickets. 3 home games in and that illusion has clearly been broken hence the attendences. To me a draw vs Ipswich was a good result, that is because i don't expect us to win simply because our name is Southampton.

[Glasgow_Saint]

True, but we also came from 2-0 down to draw at Barnsley.

 

we did?

[Wildgoose]

I wonder.......

 

Whether our first real chicken may be coming home to roost borne out of enthusiasm but inexperience.

 

The reserve & academy teams play 25/30 games a year. The first team 50+

 

Most of us can remember back to the days of WGS with the incredible amount of work done in the pre-season period - stories of players having to run up sand dunes until they vomitted, then doing it again and again. In that season we played hard, fast and pressing football and were probably the fittest team in the PL.

 

During THIS close season our coaching staff - did not have actual Football League experience, and as I recall from reading many of the articles we pre-season started early and it was all about pace and movement, and playing matches.

 

Now I am not a sports coach, but I seem to recall that there are some differences between stamina training and speed training. With kids suddenly playing 2 or 3 games a week, I actually wonder whether they are suddenly feeling the strain mentally and physically, did they build enough stamina training pre-season?

 

To me mental tiredness is as big a problem as inexperience. Gillett covered miles in his first few games, now Lallana is doing that = Gillett seems to have burnt out, how long can Lallana keep going.

 

I'll not judge anything yet, but trends are appearing. I wonder if only 4 changes on Saturday will be enough and whether the Rotheram game is time for some to have a rest

 

Mental and physical stamina is a big issue for the team this season I think. Good post.

[benjii]

we did?

 

We did.

[derry]

I wonder.......

 

Whether our first real chicken may be coming home to roost borne out of enthusiasm but inexperience.

 

The reserve & academy teams play 25/30 games a year. The first team 50+

 

Most of us can remember back to the days of WGS with the incredible amount of work done in the pre-season period - stories of players having to run up sand dunes until they vomitted, then doing it again and again. In that season we played hard, fast and pressing football and were probably the fittest team in the PL.

 

During THIS close season our coaching staff - did not have actual Football League experience, and as I recall from reading many of the articles we pre-season started early and it was all about pace and movement, and playing matches.

 

Now I am not a sports coach, but I seem to recall that there are some differences between stamina training and speed training. With kids suddenly playing 2 or 3 games a week, I actually wonder whether they are suddenly feeling the strain mentally and physically, did they build enough stamina training pre-season?

 

To me mental tiredness is as big a problem as inexperience. Gillett covered miles in his first few games, now Lallana is doing that = Gillett seems to have burnt out, how long can Lallana keep going.

 

I'll not judge anything yet, but trends are appearing. I wonder if only 4 changes on Saturday will be enough and whether the Rotheram game is time for some to have a rest

 

Hockaday was first team coach with Boothroyd at Watford the year they were promoted. Stewart Henderson has been here for years.