No ambition from the club, players or fans!

[SKD]

You are dead right on that one !

I'm afraid that a number of posters reckon that ambition is defined by slagging off the owner, DoF, manager and players (in any order you choose!) on a continual basis !

Strangely, in my (fairly successful) business life I always found that positivity, support, encouragement etc.. were far more likely to motivate and produce good performance and I certainly would not have advised my team that "we were the laughing stock" of our sector !

Because we are on an internet forum, these people are regarded as 'trolls' but for me, they are just a bit thick !!

 

If the players look on here for motivation then we are in bigger trouble than I thought.

[Lord Duckhunter]

We are not a laughing stock , not to the media, not to pundits & not to other supporters , although if they read some of the posts on here, we may start to become one.

 

Lack of ambition is just a pony phrase that gets trotted out (pun intended) time & time again. I have plenty of ambition for the club, and I suggest that the club have plenty of ambition , but it's realistic ambition. Our 5 year plan was incredibly ambitious when we were in league 1 at -10. I don't know what our ambition is now , but suggest it will be top 10 finishes every season & challenging for Europe, whether in cup or league , season after season. For a club our size that's pretty ambitious imo.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mr Saints]

The club's ambition is a subject that is splits the fanbase IMO (ignoring the usual "troll" and "bedwetting" bants).

 

If we are ever to reach the next level (top 6/7 regulars) we have to avoid selling our best players to Liverpool (and other English clubs that are the step above us) every summer or we'll never get there ourselves.

 

The club seems happy with being regulars in the 8-12th slot which most would say is fair for a club of our size. In my opinion that's dangerous as standing still in this league for too long usually ends with Championship football.

[The Cat]

The top 3 in the laughing stock league is currently:

 

Sunderland (awful squad, manager and setup)

West Ham (scummy owners, overpaid players, raided by HMRC)

Arsenal (Wenger contract, pathetic fans, their fan TV channel)

 

No one thinks any other PL teams are in the slightest bit amusing.

[doddisalegend]

The top 3 in the laughing stock league is currently:

 

Sunderland (awful squad, manager and setup)

West Ham (scummy owners, overpaid players, raided by HMRC)

Arsenal (Wenger contract, pathetic fans, their fan TV channel)

 

No one thinks any other PL teams are in the slightest bit amusing.

 

I'm having a little laugh at Man U to fair. Bring in the "special one" buy a load more super expensive players and pretty much end up where they were last season under LVG while swapping the FA cup for the League cup...

[Saint-Fred]

No definitely not a laughing stock and I agree lots of teams would swap positions.

We have 100% gone backwards though and even if we win the rest of our games we cannot match the points total we had under Poch and definitely no where near Koemans totals.

 

We have spent more money on players and wages than at any point in our history.

 

Should we ever compete with a Man U team which spends 200 million in one transfers window? Or a man city which has a team which cost a billion pounds to put together?

 

We can't beat them over a sustained period, But I would however like to see us capable of bloodying the odd big boys nose.

[Dalek2003]

The situation we find our self now, is completely different to those during the 90's and 2000's... that's what has moved the goalposts.

 

Lets take Tottenham for example... from 1990 - 2010 their average league position is 10th. Do you think they would accept a top half finish now, just because they we're average during the 90's?

 

You cannot judge success on previous failures. As a club grows, ambition / targets changes.

 

In answer to the OP, I don't think it's that we lack ambition, I just believe it's that Kat cannot afford to throw money about, like Cortese had done with her fathers (I do wonder where we would be if we still had them both.. I suspect either top 4 or bankrupt). After all, if we really lacked ambition, would we have invested as much as we did in the training ground?

 

I do agree that some of our fans lack ambition though. Some would just happy to be in the lower - mid table of the PL.

 

Once new investment comes in, I fully expect player sales to slow however, due to FFP, you have to live within your means. If we get a bid of £50m for a player, we have to accept it. As frustrating as that can be for Fans.

 

I think it is the right time for Kat to sale, she's openly admitted that we need new investment to take us to the next level, I just hope she finds and chooses the right buyer, who keep the same infrastructure in place (i.e keep Les!!!).

 

I don't lack ambition for SFC. I think staying in the Premier League, 17th and upwards is fantastic ! I wouldn't bother about the Cups though.

[View From The Top]

This season has been a let down, make no mistake. Les and his player selling, Les and his failure to invest in a striker during the summer, Les and the lack of cover at CB, an owner who wants out and has no intention of investing and a playing staff who see us as a hotel on the way to a greater destination.

 

Add to this and you have a manager nobody wants, who is negative and lacks tactical skill and a fan base who should be vocal about going backward as a club. Instead we just keep rehashing history about administration, The Dell and for all I know the war.

 

When was the last time we sold a first team player because we recruited better? Jack Cork maybe. We are the laughing stock of the league, the only selling club with 30K gates!

 

I for one am excited for the right new owner to come along.

 

Dry your eyes you big girls blouse.

[doddisalegend]

No definitely not a laughing stock and I agree lots of teams would swap positions.

We have 100% gone backwards though and even if we win the rest of our games we cannot match the points total we had under Poch and definitely no where near Koemans totals.

 

We have spent more money on players and wages than at any point in our history.

 

Should we ever compete with a Man U team which spends 200 million in one transfers window? Or a man city which has a team which cost a billion pounds to put together?

 

We can't beat them over a sustained period, But I would however like to see us capable of bloodying the odd big boys nose.

 

It was going to happen sooner or later or do people just think we'd go on improving our league position for ever? All teams have ups and downs and if this saints having a down I can live with it.

[Heisenberg]

It was going to happen sooner or later or do people just think we'd go on improving our league position for ever? All teams have ups and downs and if this saints having a down I can live with it.

 

Did you copy and paste that from the Swansea forum April 2016?

[Saint-Fred]

It was going to happen sooner or later or do people just think we'd go on improving our league position for ever? All teams have ups and downs and if this saints having a down I can live with it.

 

I didn't say it was a negative or unexpected .however it is a fact.

[Batman]

Did you copy and paste that from the Swansea forum April 2016?

 

pardew did brilliantly getting palace to the cup final.

Shame so many did not think it was a travesty he lost his job this season

[The Cat]

Because no clubs in the history of football have ever followed a successful season with a slightly less successful season. Nope, not one.

[CB Fry]

Tottenham are just an example of where you would not judge current expectations on previous failures. At no point did I compare the size of our club to Tottenham or say we should have the same expectations. I would say the same could be said about Everton and West Ham (as also shown this year as they will sack their manager)

 

Of course we won't finish top 6 or 7 every season, but given our recent history, European qualification should be the target for every season, IMO. Whilst current league position may not suggest it, this season I would say we are as far away from the top 7 than we have been since we came back to the PL.

 

I also do not expect any new investment to turn us into Man City, even if they wanted to.. they couldn't due to FFP. All I said was that I would expect players sales to slow (not stop) when new owners come with more money. I believe it was reported on here that she is possibly 'only' worth a couple of hundred million, which isn't a great deal in terms of football club owners.

 

I don't understand what you mean by "target", then - European football is the target every season, it was the target this season and we got pretty close to delivering it at wembley, which would have three years in a row, flipping good for a team our size (I can't think of any clubs like us in my lifetime that have done it. Villa, but they are much bigger than us).

 

So where has anyone said it wasn't the target?

 

Yes we have made some mistakes and dropped back a bit this season but there you go, it was going to happen eventually. So you are saying "of course we won't finish top 6 or 7 every season" but you seem to be struggling to accept a season when we are falling short and pretending we have changed the target.

 

We haven't. We target European football every season. Fact. Happy now?

[doddisalegend]

Did you copy and paste that from the Swansea forum April 2016?

 

No Gooners web 2017....

[Saint Billy]

Well, if your owning up fair play...

 

Your a legend and a pure genius, Tolkien has nothing, I repeat, nothing on you!.

[mattyd]

It would be good if several of the loons on here would do the same too, but in truth most of them don`t actually support Saints at all though, but they

are easy to spot...

 

Free speech doesn't mean I am not a Saints fan! I have been attending since the 1980's but feel frustrated that we appear to be going backwards.

 

By the way people who get fed up reading different opinions should stop using a forum designed to air guess what, opinions!

[mattyd]

A bit thick to speak my mind on a fans forum, really? I wouldn't speak to my staff like that, calling them thick. You are rude mind!

[Lets B Avenue]

A bit thick to speak my mind on a fans forum, really? I wouldn't speak to my staff like that, calling them thick. You are rude mind!

 

If they came out with the guff you did, I would hope you would sack them.

[tobes8]

It's not all about the league position it's more to with the style of football we are playing compared to what we have been used to over the last few years. We are a team with lots of decent attacking players but our style doesn't support the quality we have. That's the problem here.

Cup final all well and good but we lost and I'll never watch it back, like I didn't the 2003 final. We lost so it means absolutely nothing and I bet the players medals are in the back of a drawer. With puel I just see that winning mentality unfortunately and we're stuck with him as les will never ever admit he's made a mistake.

[SKD]

I don't understand what you mean by "target", then - European football is the target every season, it was the target this season and we got pretty close to delivering it at wembley, which would have three years in a row, flipping good for a team our size (I can't think of any clubs like us in my lifetime that have done it. Villa, but they are much bigger than us).

 

So where has anyone said it wasn't the target?

 

Yes we have made some mistakes and dropped back a bit this season but there you go, it was going to happen eventually. So you are saying "of course we won't finish top 6 or 7 every season" but you seem to be struggling to accept a season when we are falling short and pretending we have changed the target.

 

We haven't. We target European football every season. Fact. Happy now?

 

So you admit and agree with me that Puel has failed this season?

 

I accept that we won't get top 7 and European football every season, I expect us to give it a good go &a play exciting football along the way. Yes we may have nearly achieved our target by reaching a cup final, but in the league we've not been good enough.

 

Don't really see what relevance that has to this thread, all been discussed in the nemerous puel threads.

 

This is about the board lacking ambition, which I do not believe is the case.

[Winnersaint]

We are not a laughing stock , not to the media, not to pundits & not to other supporters , although if they read some of the posts on here, we may start to become one.

 

Lack of ambition is just a pony phrase that gets trotted out (pun intended) time & time again. I have plenty of ambition for the club, and I suggest that the club have plenty of ambition , but it's realistic ambition. Our 5 year plan was incredibly ambitious when we were in league 1 at -10. I don't know what our ambition is now , but suggest it will be top 10 finishes every season & challenging for Europe, whether in cup or league , season after season. For a club our size that's pretty ambitious imo.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Stop with this rational, sensible talk LDH.

[eurosaint]

A bit thick to speak my mind on a fans forum, really? I wouldn't speak to my staff like that, calling them thick. You are rude mind!

 

I didn't suggest that speaking your mind was the problem, it was the content of your post that came across as pretty nonsensical to me !

Statements like 'we are a laughing stock' do you no justice and most fair minded Saints fans will actually find that a bit insulting to everyone involved at the club !

Anyway it was not intended to be personal, so my apologies for that !

[Ultimatt]

It's ridiculous the amount of fans that think you can just push on and improve league position year on year. Real life isn't football manager. The differences in £££ spend don't just suddenly close.

 

Premier League Clubs Wage Bill For 2016-17 Season

1. Man City £225m

2. Man Utd £220.8m

3. Chelsea £218m

4. Arsenal £200.5m

5. Liverpool £165.6m

6. Tottenham £121.2m

7. Everton £83m

8. West Ham United £79.8m

9. Stoke £75.9m

10. Sunderland £68.3m

11. Leicester £66m

12. West Brom £65m

13. Southampton £63.6m

 

If we realistically want to compete with the Top 6 then we need to raise our income. I can't believe people seriously think we can hold on to a strong team with £63.6m wage budget. Impossible. Money talks and it's the most important thing bar none for how successful a club is year on year.

[Griffo]

Oh f*ck off. We support Southampton. We are not a big club compared to the top 6/7 clubs in this league and never will be. If you want us to be some sort of super power in football then support someone else. It's not what we're about. It's the way of the world, clubs like us will always lose their best players to bigger clubs. The 'I want it all' mentality of our Premier League support is doing my head in. ANOTHER top 10 finish after losing our best players again and our support are crying and wanting the manager out. Embarrassing Arsenal behaviour.

[angelman]

I don't lack ambition for SFC. I think staying in the Premier League, 17th and upwards is fantastic ! I wouldn't bother about the Cups though.

 

Disagree with you about the cups. We won't win the league, but we might win a cup.

[Verbal Kint]

It's ridiculous the amount of fans that think you can just push on and improve league position year on year. Real life isn't football manager. The differences in £££ spend don't just suddenly close.

 

Premier League Clubs Wage Bill For 2016-17 Season

1. Man City £225m

2. Man Utd £220.8m

3. Chelsea £218m

4. Arsenal £200.5m

5. Liverpool £165.6m

6. Tottenham £121.2m

7. Everton £83m

8. West Ham United £79.8m

9. Stoke £75.9m

10. Sunderland £68.3m

11. Leicester £66m

12. West Brom £65m

13. Southampton £63.6m

 

If we realistically want to compete with the Top 6 then we need to raise our income. I can't believe people seriously think we can hold on to a strong team with £63.6m wage budget. Impossible. Money talks and it's the most important thing bar none for how successful a club is year on year.

 

Our wage bill, according to the echo's article on the accounts, is likely now in excess of 80 million. I suggest your figures are wrong and am guessing our wage bill is one of the highest outside the top 6 and Everton

[Heisenberg]

Someone tell RB Leipzig that you need an Illustrious past to have a bright future.

 

Do it quick as they are 10 points clear in 2nd spot

[Jonnyboy]

Our wage bill, according to the echo's article on the accounts, is likely now in excess of 80 million. I suggest your figures are wrong and am guessing our wage bill is one of the highest outside the top 6 and Everton

 

Thus putting us as 8th-10th place contenders!

 

Oh...

[CB Fry]

Someone tell RB Leipzig that you need an Illustrious past to have a bright future.

 

Do it quick as they are 10 points clear in 2nd spot

You do it. The rest of us couldn't give a flying fu ck.

[Ultimatt]

Our wage bill, according to the echo's article on the accounts, is likely now in excess of 80 million. I suggest your figures are wrong and am guessing our wage bill is one of the highest outside the top 6 and Everton

Do you think only ours went up? Lol

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[nta786]

It's ridiculous the amount of fans that think you can just push on and improve league position year on year. Real life isn't football manager. The differences in £££ spend don't just suddenly close.

 

Premier League Clubs Wage Bill For 2016-17 Season

1. Man City £225m

2. Man Utd £220.8m

3. Chelsea £218m

4. Arsenal £200.5m

5. Liverpool £165.6m

6. Tottenham £121.2m

7. Everton £83m

8. West Ham United £79.8m

9. Stoke £75.9m

10. Sunderland £68.3m

11. Leicester £66m

12. West Brom £65m

13. Southampton £63.6m

 

If we realistically want to compete with the Top 6 then we need to raise our income. I can't believe people seriously think we can hold on to a strong team with £63.6m wage budget. Impossible. Money talks and it's the most important thing bar none for how successful a club is year on year.

 

This is wrong I swear

 

Remember reading how our wages were in fact near Dortmunds wages- but tbf think we were 8/9th in wages table as whu and everton were higher than us

[ScepticalStan]

The situation we find our self now, is completely different to those during the 90's and 2000's... that's what has moved the goalposts.

 

Lets take Tottenham for example... from 1990 - 2010 their average league position is 10th. Do you think they would accept a top half finish now, just because they we're average during the 90's?

 

You cannot judge success on previous failures. As a club grows, ambition / targets changes.

 

This.

[Ultimatt]

This is wrong I swear

 

Remember reading how our wages were in fact near Dortmunds wages- but tbf think we were 8/9th in wages table as whu and everton were higher than us

 

Whatever they actually are, I think we can all agree that there's a big pack of clubs at similar budgets and we're all worlds away from the top 6. It's just impossible to compete year on year with the big 6 with half or a quarter of their money.

[Kingsbridge Saint]

Living in Oz I get to watch a lot of our games - they are all available live. This season is the first I can ever recall where I have had a saints game on, but literally could not be bothered to watch it and surfed the web on my phone instead. Some games have been that turgid. No-ones laughing, more are sleeping. The lack of excitement and the obsession with possession based slow moving negative football is why Puel has to go.

[Saint-Fred]

Oh f*ck off. We support Southampton. We are not a big club compared to the top 6/7 clubs in this league and never will be. If you want us to be some sort of super power in football then support someone else. It's not what we're about. It's the way of the world, clubs like us will always lose their best players to bigger clubs. The 'I want it all' mentality of our Premier League support is doing my head in. ANOTHER top 10 finish after losing our best players again and our support are crying and wanting the manager out. Embarrassing Arsenal behaviour.

 

people have a different opinion than you shocker!

You need to calm down a bit, it's not good for your health.

[Norm]

It would be good if several of the loons on here would do the same too, but in truth most of them don`t actually support Saints at all though, but they

are easy to spot...

 

 

I despair, I really do.?

[ally_uk]

This season at times has been boring to watch. I find our manager lacking in charisma, passion. Tactically some of the decisions have been bizarre. Quite a few of our players have gone backwards / haven't kicked on. ( Shane Long)

Is it down to the system?

 

This summer we will have to rebuild again. Potentially we could lose Virgil, Tadic, Soares, Bertrand.

 

Of course we lack ambition.... As a club we need to put the foot down! And tell the Liverpools to f@@k off. We shouldn't be held to ransom by player demands. If a player throws toys out the pram get them training with the reserves and block any move!

 

We should be recognising that Virgil is the future of this club..We should do whatever it takes to tie him down! And build a squad around him!

 

Some of the decisions by Les and Co have been stupid. Not getting in a replacement for Fonte... When we finally do we are not playing him.

 

To much deadwood average players also like Clasie.

[Pilchards]

This season at times has been boring to watch. I find our manager lacking in charisma, passion. Tactically some of the decisions have been bizarre. Quite a few of our players have gone backwards / haven't kicked on. ( Shane Long)

Is it down to the system?

 

This summer we will have to rebuild again. Potentially we could lose Virgil, Tadic, Soares, Bertrand.

 

Of course we lack ambition.... As a club we need to put the foot down! And tell the Liverpools to f@@k off. We shouldn't be held to ransom by player demands. If a player throws toys out the pram get them training with the reserves and block any move!

 

We should be recognising that Virgil is the future of this club..We should do whatever it takes to tie him down! And build a squad around him!

 

Some of the decisions by Les and Co have been stupid. Not getting in a replacement for Fonte... When we finally do we are not playing him.

 

To much deadwood average players also like Clasie.

 

Totally agree with all this.

whats the point of making them sign a 5 year contract and them leaving after 4.

The ball should be in the clubs court not the player.

[GGalpin]

This season at times has been boring to watch. I find our manager lacking in charisma, passion. Tactically some of the decisions have been bizarre. Quite a few of our players have gone backwards / haven't kicked on. ( Shane Long)

Is it down to the system?

 

This summer we will have to rebuild again. Potentially we could lose Virgil, Tadic, Soares, Bertrand.

 

Of course we lack ambition.... As a club we need to put the foot down! And tell the Liverpools to f@@k off. We shouldn't be held to ransom by player demands. If a player throws toys out the pram get them training with the reserves and block any move!

 

We should be recognising that Virgil is the future of this club..We should do whatever it takes to tie him down! And build a squad around him!

 

Some of the decisions by Les and Co have been stupid. Not getting in a replacement for Fonte... When we finally do we are not playing him.

 

To much deadwood average players also like Clasie.

 

Considering that Long has only scored more than 10 league goals in the Premier League once, isn't it possible that it was just a purple patch of form? Last season was the first time he scored more than five in the league since 2012-13 when WBA finished eighth and had Lukaku alongside him.

 

As for sticking players in the reserves and not selling them, you only have to look at Berahino for the problems with that. West Brom rejected £25m and ended up getting short of £10m for Berahino; the fact we sell on high-potential players 2-3 years after they come is one of our biggest selling points to players like Mane, Van Dijk, Lovren, Wanyama....

Edited 5 May, 2017 by GGalpin

[Tom28]

It comes down to expectations whether you think this season has been a let down or not.

 

My expectations are as follows:

 

1) I do not believe we will ever break into the 'top 6'. Utd, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea are now too big to catch without a step change in funding. Therefore, realistically we are playing for 7th in the league. We are 9th; I don't consider that a bad season; nor do I consider it a really good season from a league perspective.

 

2) I expect us to get one over some of the top 6 clubs and beat them in the matches we play against them. We haven't done that this season and so that has been a let down.

 

3) Given the PL title is beyond us, I'd expect the club to really go for it in the cups and have a decent cup run. We made it to Wembley this season so I'd mark that down as a good season from a cup perspective.

 

4) I'd expect us to be in the hunt for European qualification each season; either via the cups or sneaking in via the league in 7th. This season we got very close. Ultimately, we've failed to qualify for Europe so that is a disappointment but not disasterous.

 

5) I want to see good, exciting, intelligent football. I have actually found our football to be those things this season. Some people like to see a direct style; others like a more controlled, methodical approach. I'm in the latter camp but it's a question of personal preference and there's no right or wrong answer. I didn't particularly like the style of football under Koeman. Others will think I'm mad for preferring Puel's style over Koeman's but that's football; we all have different opinions.

 

 

If I look at all 5 aspects, I'd call this an above average season versus my expectations. A Wembley final doesn't come around very often so that improves the season from average to above-average for me.

[SKD]

This season at times has been boring to watch. I find our manager lacking in charisma, passion. Tactically some of the decisions have been bizarre. Quite a few of our players have gone backwards / haven't kicked on. ( Shane Long)

Is it down to the system?

 

This summer we will have to rebuild again. Potentially we could lose Virgil, Tadic, Soares, Bertrand.

 

Of course we lack ambition.... As a club we need to put the foot down! And tell the Liverpools to f@@k off. We shouldn't be held to ransom by player demands. If a player throws toys out the pram get them training with the reserves and block any move!

 

We should be recognising that Virgil is the future of this club..We should do whatever it takes to tie him down! And build a squad around him!

 

Some of the decisions by Les and Co have been stupid. Not getting in a replacement for Fonte... When we finally do we are not playing him.

 

To much deadwood average players also like Clasie.

 

Do you understand how stupid this sounds? Why would we let someone who we could get £20-£50m for rot in the reserves? £20-£50m would go along way to rebuilding our squad. Also, what is the point in not selling them if they aren't going to play? All that will do is cost us in potential transfer fee's + the players wages whilst they add no value to the club.

 

The players hold the key as they are the most valuable asset to the club and they know it.

 

Virgil is not the future of this club. He is too good for us, he knows that and so do we. We would like to keep him for another year, but without European football and with the potential champions (with one of the best managers in the world) interested, who will blow any contract offer we make out of the water, it is unrealistic to expect to keep him. Especially with the figures branded for his transfer.

 

Players I think we will lose, from the first team are:

Bertrand

Long

JayRod

VVD

Tadic

Martina

and possibly (dependent on replacements and significant interest):

Forster

Clasie

[brmbrm]

****s sake. Some people expect the ****ing world. I have supported this club for ****ing decades and we are on a ****ing high the last few ****ing years. OK, some better moments (e.g. 1976) but its about as good as likely to get.

 

Realistically, we will always struggle to finish above Man x 2, Arse, Chelsea, Spuds, Liverpool. Then there are 10 or a dozen "ambitious" clubs about our size: we are consistently doing much better than the vast majority of them. Dont blame Ree or Puel: every other ****ing club has their ****ing manager/director/ambition/money etc etc etc. We are not the only hopeful fish in the tank. For ****s sake - do you really think nobody else is ambtoius as well?

 

Jeez

[StDunko]

It comes down to expectations whether you think this season has been a let down or not.

 

My expectations are as follows:

 

1) I do not believe we will ever break into the 'top 6'. Utd, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea are now too big to catch without a step change in funding. Therefore, realistically we are playing for 7th in the league. We are 9th; I don't consider that a bad season; nor do I consider it a really good season from a league perspective.

 

2) I expect us to get one over some of the top 6 clubs and beat them in the matches we play against them. We haven't done that this season and so that has been a let down.

 

3) Given the PL title is beyond us, I'd expect the club to really go for it in the cups and have a decent cup run. We made it to Wembley this season so I'd mark that down as a good season from a cup perspective.

 

4) I'd expect us to be in the hunt for European qualification each season; either via the cups or sneaking in via the league in 7th. This season we got very close. Ultimately, we've failed to qualify for Europe so that is a disappointment but not disasterous.

 

5) I want to see good, exciting, intelligent football. I have actually found our football to be those things this season. Some people like to see a direct style; others like a more controlled, methodical approach. I'm in the latter camp but it's a question of personal preference and there's no right or wrong answer. I didn't particularly like the style of football under Koeman. Others will think I'm mad for preferring Puel's style over Koeman's but that's football; we all have different opinions.

 

 

If I look at all 5 aspects, I'd call this an above average season versus my expectations. A Wembley final doesn't come around very often so that improves the season from average to above-average for me.

 

This

[ALWAYS_SFC]

This

 

plus 1

[verlaine1979]

Why are people arguing about league position, when the only real complaint anyone has made is that we're playing extremely drab football? Finish between 16th-8th playing exciting football with a few promising young/skillful players, and almost everyone is happy; finish between 16th-8th playing dull football averaging only around a goal a game, and people will be disappointed. Nobody wants to be relegated, nobody expects to usurp the top six - everyone just wants to be entertained. That's it.

[Heisenberg]

Why are people arguing about league position, when the only real complaint anyone has made is that we're playing extremely drab football? Finish between 16th-8th playing exciting football with a few promising young/skillful players, and almost everyone is happy; finish between 16th-8th playing dull football averaging only around a goal a game, and people will be disappointed. Nobody wants to be relegated, nobody expects to usurp the top six - everyone just wants to be entertained. That's it.

 

This

 

Plus 1

[CB Fry]

Why are people arguing about league position, when the only real complaint anyone has made is that we're playing extremely drab football? Finish between 16th-8th playing exciting football with a few promising young/skillful players, and almost everyone is happy; finish between 16th-8th playing dull football averaging only around a goal a game, and people will be disappointed. Nobody wants to be relegated, nobody expects to usurp the top six - everyone just wants to be entertained. That's it.

 

If we were 16th right now having lost lots of games 4-2 and draw lots 2-2 this forum would still be in the grip of a meltdown from precisely the same dins. (Why can't we hold on to a lead FFS)

 

Lets also remember the same dins have sneeringly written off the progress of young/skilful players as being by default ("yeah, but that's just because he's played"). So lets not pretend people want that either when there is proper moaning to be done.

 

Conversely, convert a handful of our drab 0-0s to equally drab 1-0 wins, put us in 7th and it would be party time.

[GGalpin]

This might make grim reading for some who want to wind up others with their own agenda... but the stats are saying we've actually been very unlucky this season... http://statsbomb.com/2017/05/what-has-happened-to-southampton/

[Saint-Fred]

This might make grim reading for some who want to wind up others with their own agenda... but the stats are saying we've actually been very unlucky this season... http://statsbomb.com/2017/05/what-has-happened-to-southampton/

 

you are right it is grim reading but not for the reason you are stating.

It's one mans view of something (not sure where the stats even come into it). There is no fact involved it's all opinion much the same as most views on here.

 

Doesn't change my perception or prove anyone right or wrong.... We will all have to wait until next season to see if Puel is the messiah or just clueless won't we?