Don’t buy this ‘Only Hughes’ option

[the saint in winchester]

If the players have confidence in him and want him to stay, that says a lot to me. I'm not a fan of player power, but good working relationships are very important in any employment. If we choose not to offer the role to Hughes and offer it to a.n.other, we are back to square one.

[sadoldgit]

Yes it would have done. But it didn't go into meltdown when we appointed him because most people knew the severity of the situation and apart from possibly Marco Silva, there weren't any other viable options.

 

But now he has been here, it's hard to dispute that he has got the players onside, he has given them some belief, and he has got us playing with a bit more purpose.

 

On paper there might be a better manager out there, and the club would be silly not to at least look around to consider the options. But really, unless we can attract a world class manager (which, if we couldn't last summer, why would we now?) then a marginally/questionably better manager than Hughes is surely offset by the risk that he isn't good enough. At least we know that Hughes can give us some of the things we are missing.

 

It's a bit like a game show when you have to gamble your prize money for a chance to win more. Maybe it's worth gambling your £1,000 for a chance to win £100,000, but not if the prize is £1,200.

 

I totally agree. It would be silly for the club not to explore its options. Hughes came in and did what needed to be done over 8 games. He managed to get an underperforming squad to win two games (but who is to say Pellegrino wouldn’t have managed that?) plus some draws and, thanks to WBA, Stoke and Swansea being even poorer, we avoided the drop. It is one thing doing what you have to do over 8 games, another doing it season after season. The club need to make a decision based on what their policy is going forward. It would appear that mid table mediocrity is the order of the day based on many posts here. Perhaps we should get Claude back? At least we might get another cup final to spice things up a little.

[Matthew Le God]

It would be daft not to at least explore interest from other managers and possibly hold interviews, as long as we are quick in making a final decision. Hughes clearly has an advantage in that he has essentially had a successful 8 game probationary period.

Edited 15 May, 2018 by Matthew Le God

[Dr. Kucho]

I would like to see Emery (spelling) as a manager as he likes to play attacking and fast football. However we have had 2 poor seasons and narrowly missed relegation. Maybe keeping Hughes for 2 seasons to steady the ship and rebuild the squad won’t be a bad idea.

[doddisalegend]

It seems like a lot of people would take Hughes because they are terrified what Les and co will saddle us with instead of him rather than because they think he is a particularly good manager.

 

I can totally understand that.

[Matthew Le God]

I would like to see Emery (spelling) as a manager as he likes to play attacking and fast football. However we have had 2 poor seasons and narrowly missed relegation. Maybe keeping Hughes for 2 seasons to steady the ship and rebuild the squad won’t be a bad idea.

 

The Telegraph in 2016 reported that Emery has been interested in Saints.

 

Emery has been interested in the Southampton job in the past and is keen to come to the Premier League

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/04/ronald-koeman-agrees-to-become-everton-manager-as-southampton-tu/

[verlaine1979]

The Telegraph in 2016 reported that Emery has been interested in Saints.

 

 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/04/ronald-koeman-agrees-to-become-everton-manager-as-southampton-tu/

 

Even after a relative failure at PSG, Emery's stock is still way too high to come to Saints. Just like Tuchel, if he's smart he'll sit on his hands for as long as it takes for another big club to come knocking. Why risk genuine failure at a small club with limited resources? The list of managers with sufficient experience and profile to manage the top four in any of Europe's big leagues is very small (whether it should be is another question entirely) and as long as these people have sensible agents, we're never going to see them chancing their arm on two years at Saints as a stepping stone to the PL - they'll never need to.

[Super_Uwe]

I would like to see Emery (spelling) as a manager as he likes to play attacking and fast football. However we have had 2 poor seasons and narrowly missed relegation. Maybe keeping Hughes for 2 seasons to steady the ship and rebuild the squad won’t be a bad idea.

 

I see Sparky as being in a similar bracket to Koeman as a manager. Both have been managing at a high level for a long time, Koeman has had more individual success as a manager but Sparky has generally done well at the clubs he has been at. Both were also top players in their own right.

 

For a variety of reasons, the club has taken several steps back the past couple of years. I'm not against another appointment but I see him as a good fit to help the club rebuild its reputation. Equally Hughes needs to do well in his next job in order to get the critics off his back. So in that sense it seems a good partnership.

 

I have seen Emery mentioned a few times before. Unless we are going to suddenly spend mega bucks and change our philosophy altogether, I can't see what on earth would possess him to come to Saints. He has been managing at the very highest level in Europe for a number of years and his next job will more than likely be a much bigger club than Saints.

[SNSUN]

It seems like a lot of people would take Hughes because they are terrified what Les and co will saddle us with instead of him rather than because they think he is a particularly good manager.

 

I can totally understand that.

 

This, but in addition their ineptitude to do anything quickly. We need a manager in place NOW, in a summer interrupted by a World Cup and with an early transfer window finish. Hughes has been here a couple of months, he has seen and experienced our strengths and weaknesses and would know what needs strengthening. Additionally, it's highly unlikely he'll bugger off at the first sign of interest from a bigger club.

 

I'm very much "Hughes In", yes there are better managers out there I'm not disputing that, but Hughes is here now, knows the club, now knows that squad, some of which praise him for the job he was doing, and can start the rebuilding process now. And yes it's true, for all the talk of Emery and Silva etc, who's to say Reed won't saddle us with some nonentity from the Romanian second tier!

[CB Fry]

I see Sparky as being in a similar bracket to Koeman as a manager. Both have been managing at a high level for a long time, Koeman has had more individual success as a manager but Sparky has generally done well at the clubs he has been at. Both were also top players in their own right.

 

For a variety of reasons, the club has taken several steps back the past couple of years. I'm not against another appointment but I see him as a good fit to help the club rebuild its reputation. Equally Hughes needs to do well in his next job in order to get the critics off his back. So in that sense it seems a good partnership.

 

I have seen Emery mentioned a few times before. Unless we are going to suddenly spend mega bucks and change our philosophy altogether, I can't see what on earth would possess him to come to Saints. He has been managing at the very highest level in Europe for a number of years and his next job will more than likely be a much bigger club than Saints.

 

Debatable that Koeman has actually done anything better than Hughes, apart from managing in more leagues. Remember Steve McClaren has won the Dutch league.

[captainchris]

Yes it would have done. But it didn't go into meltdown when we appointed him because most people knew the severity of the situation and apart from possibly Marco Silva, there weren't any other viable options.

 

But now he has been here, it's hard to dispute that he has got the players onside, he has given them some belief, and he has got us playing with a bit more purpose.

 

On paper there might be a better manager out there, and the club would be silly not to at least look around to consider the options. But really, unless we can attract a world class manager (which, if we couldn't last summer, why would we now?) then a marginally/questionably better manager than Hughes is surely offset by the risk that he isn't good enough. At least we know that Hughes can give us some of the things we are missing.

 

It's a bit like a game show when you have to gamble your prize money for a chance to win more. Maybe it's worth gambling your £1,000 for a chance to win £100,000, but not if the prize is £1,200.

Just been thinking why Hughes wouldn’t be 1st on Reed’s list.....

Carillo nowhere the first team and neither is Boufal two of the highest capital outlays.... Now this looks a bit crap here for Reed if neither are considered good enough.....

Hughes as we know does not suffer fools and Reed looks a very poor decision maker if he does allow Hughes to recognise the frailties of two very expensive failures, one being a record signing for gazillions....(Who really is bloody useless btw)

Could be that Reed has an agenda here and it’s based on his ego and not the best manager for the job....

Lets hope not ......

[Tom & Gerry]

I believe Hughes does have the potential to be a top manager if he gets the right backing.

He has the respect of the players and the fans, knows the premier league and is tactically astute, has the players playing as a team and to their ability.

What he can't do is get Charlie Austin to score a goal like Jesus did on Sunday.

To get towards the top of the league requires more than a good manager - it requires such things as investment, good recruitment and youth development.

[sadoldgit]

This, but in addition their ineptitude to do anything quickly. We need a manager in place NOW, in a summer interrupted by a World Cup and with an early transfer window finish. Hughes has been here a couple of months, he has seen and experienced our strengths and weaknesses and would know what needs strengthening. Additionally, it's highly unlikely he'll bugger off at the first sign of interest from a bigger club.

 

I'm very much "Hughes In", yes there are better managers out there I'm not disputing that, but Hughes is here now, knows the club, now knows that squad, some of which praise him for the job he was doing, and can start the rebuilding process now. And yes it's true, for all the talk of Emery and Silva etc, who's to say Reed won't saddle us with some nonentity from the Romanian second tier!

 

Or another Pochettino or Koeman.

[saintalan]

One would have hoped that as we agreed a contract to the end of season that they would have been doing this (Black Box) research already.

 

I think it's time for them to decide.

 

I would go for Hughes.

[the saint in winchester]

why can't I access anything after page 1?

[the saint in winchester]

It seems like a lot of people would take Hughes because they are terrified what Les and co will saddle us with instead of him rather than because they think he is a particularly good manager.

 

I can totally understand that.

 

That's a good summary, Doddy. We have seen a coiple of left-field appointments and now are ready for a solid turgid mainstream appointment.

[mrfahaji]

I totally agree. It would be silly for the club not to explore its options. Hughes came in and did what needed to be done over 8 games. He managed to get an underperforming squad to win two games (but who is to say Pellegrino wouldn’t have managed that?) plus some draws and, thanks to WBA, Stoke and Swansea being even poorer, we avoided the drop. It is one thing doing what you have to do over 8 games, another doing it season after season. The club need to make a decision based on what their policy is going forward. It would appear that mid table mediocrity is the order of the day based on many posts here. Perhaps we should get Claude back? At least we might get another cup final to spice things up a little.

 

I, for one.

[the saint in winchester]

Martin Allen no longer available.

[GGalpin]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16227303.Saints_set_to_confirm_Hughes_appointment/

[shurlock]

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/16227303.Saints_set_to_confirm_Hughes_appointment/

 

wtf is ralph waffling on about?

[Batman]

wtf is ralph waffling on about?

 

Getting deep. So emotional that man

[Nolan]

He's saying the right things in the longest way possible.

 

We'll be able to have a proper stable pre season for the first time in years.

[DuncanRG]

Debatable that Koeman has actually done anything better than Hughes, apart from managing in more leagues. Remember Steve McClaren has won the Dutch league.

 

Koeman's won trophies. McClaren did well to win the Dutch league.

[UpweySaint]

Even after a relative failure at PSG, Emery's stock is still way too high to come to Saints. Just like Tuchel, if he's smart he'll sit on his hands for as long as it takes for another big club to come knocking. Why risk genuine failure at a small club with limited resources? The list of managers with sufficient experience and profile to manage the top four in any of Europe's big leagues is very small (whether it should be is another question entirely) and as long as these people have sensible agents, we're never going to see them chancing their arm on two years at Saints as a stepping stone to the PL - they'll never need to.

 

By all accounts he could probably do better than us on the continent.

 

Indulge me a little on this but let us say he wants a chance to manage in the premier league. How many jobs are there that appear to be available and are better bets than us?

 

Arsenal look set on Arteta,

Everton seem to want Silva - probably have more going for them than us right now though but not by much, the Allardyce saga might also be a red flag to anybody considering taking over.

WHAM, linked with a range - again probably have more going, finance, stadium, london etc. Though would he want to work with the dildo peddlers with the rent a gob sprog tweeting about all things WHAM?

Leicester - will it be available? Nobody seems sure in the media.

 

That sort of leaves us. He couldn't really do much worse than this season. We have a few pennies to play with, an decent squad, the academy is always a plus. I don't think it is any way likely but I would suggest we would make an interesting challenge for the right manager.

 

All the same I still think Hughes is probably the safest and most realistic bet. He wasn't my first choice by any stretch but he's probably done enough to be top of the list.

[Baird of the land]

I still have some major reservations about Hughes but fully expect him to be in charge next season after keeping us up.

Taking another gamble after two unpopular gambles seems highly unlikely from the board.

Of the unemployed managers with significant Prem experience Wenger wouldn’t come, if Silva was interested surely he would have come in feb .....

[MongoNeil]

This, but in addition their ineptitude to do anything quickly. We need a manager in place NOW, in a summer interrupted by a World Cup and with an early transfer window finish. Hughes has been here a couple of months, he has seen and experienced our strengths and weaknesses and would know what needs strengthening. Additionally, it's highly unlikely he'll bugger off at the first sign of interest from a bigger club.

 

I'm very much "Hughes In", yes there are better managers out there I'm not disputing that, but Hughes is here now, knows the club, now knows that squad, some of which praise him for the job he was doing, and can start the rebuilding process now. And yes it's true, for all the talk of Emery and Silva etc, who's to say Reed won't saddle us with some nonentity from the Romanian second tier!

 

This pretty much sums up my thoughts too.

[The9]

But does he fit Reed's profile of a 'Head Coach' for the long term? Hughes could be a bit too 'Koeman-type' for his 'vision'.

 

That's basically my concern too. We've played 3 CBs for 2 months and they won't have been coaching that at every level of the club, Les won't like it in the longer term (which is of course him missing the point again, our system is now predictable and easy to prevent).

[Sheaf Saint]

By all accounts he could probably do better than us on the continent.

 

Indulge me a little on this but let us say he wants a chance to manage in the premier league. How many jobs are there that appear to be available and are better bets than us?

 

Arsenal look set on Arteta,

Everton seem to want Silva - probably have more going for them than us right now though but not by much, the Allardyce saga might also be a red flag to anybody considering taking over.

WHAM, linked with a range - again probably have more going, finance, stadium, london etc. Though would he want to work with the dildo peddlers with the rent a gob sprog tweeting about all things WHAM?

Leicester - will it be available? Nobody seems sure in the media.

 

That sort of leaves us. He couldn't really do much worse than this season. We have a few pennies to play with, an decent squad, the academy is always a plus. I don't think it is any way likely but I would suggest we would make an interesting challenge for the right manager.

 

All the same I still think Hughes is probably the safest and most realistic bet. He wasn't my first choice by any stretch but he's probably done enough to be top of the list.

 

I think you're forgetting Chelsea. I would say there's a better than 50% chance that they will part with Conte one way or another this summer.

[sammysaint]

He did well at Fulham, Blackburn and 2 years at Stoke, not a bad 1st season at QPR but they then wanted to buy loads of players for the sake of it and did ****, same at Man City, sadly I think them two clubs ruined the perception he is crap in the transfer market, but i think owners pushed a lot of it.

 

I must say I don't think he will be good enough to repeat Koeman or Poch standards and level but no reason why we cant finish top 10 for 2-3 years under him and play some alright football, if he does better then that then brilliant and he could even stay here long term if he does and turn out to be a loyal decent appointment.

[striker]

Rumour has it that Hughes signed a contract already. Maybe waiting till Friday to announce?

[Saint Billy]

Rumour has it that Hughes signed a contract already. Maybe waiting till Friday to announce?

 

A bit weird, why wait till Friday?

[Lord Duckhunter]

He offers stability and a decent track record in the top flight of English football. I also think when a bloke comes in with 8 games to go, inheriting a shambles and a side woefully underperforming, and keeps them up, he deserves it. Bar the West Ham game we played pretty well in every game, actually looked liked scoring and played with a structure and tempo missing for 90% of the season.

 

He wouldn't have been my choice a year ago, but so ****ing what. He's done enough to convince me that he's a decent fit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CB Fry]

He did well at Fulham, Blackburn and 2 years at Stoke, not a bad 1st season at QPR but they then wanted to buy loads of players for the sake of it and did ****, same at Man City, sadly I think them two clubs ruined the perception he is crap in the transfer market, but i think owners pushed a lot of it.

 

I must say I don't think he will be good enough to repeat Koeman or Poch standards and level but no reason why we cant finish top 10 for 2-3 years under him and play some alright football, if he does better then that then brilliant and he could even stay here long term if he does and turn out to be a loyal decent appointment.

 

Which of the three seasons he took Stoke to 9th are you saying he didn't do well in?

 

Without getting ahead of ourselves, if he delivers two decent top 10 finishes over the next two seasons then happy days. I think the trick is to keep for just long enough and then all move on. Stability for too long is overrated, as Stoke (and Arsenal) know.

[doddisalegend]

A bit weird, why wait till Friday?

 

 

Maybe that want to announce it at the same time as the new ST prices try and get a feel good factor going for ST sales and distract us from the fact the ST prices have gone up ( or been frozen)..

[Batman]

Which of the three seasons he took Stoke to 9th are you saying he didn't do well in?

 

Without getting ahead of ourselves, if he delivers two decent top 10 finishes over the next two seasons then happy days. I think the trick is to keep for just long enough and then all move on. Stability for too long is overrated, as Stoke (and Arsenal) know.

 

Hopefully, it works for the next two season with Hughes.

It is obvious he really wants the job and jumped at the chance to come here. He has talked up that he has a connection with the club due his time playing for us and helping us stay up back then.

 

What like like about him is that he is a bit of a ****. The players and club were far too nice under MP. He added some missing aggression to the side and clearly, can play half decent football.

[UpweySaint]

I think you're forgetting Chelsea. I would say there's a better than 50% chance that they will part with Conte one way or another this summer.

 

Fair shout they slipped my mind. Though the same really applies say they go for a manager swap with Napoli. We could end up best option by default.

[mrfahaji]

Fair shout they slipped my mind. Though the same really applies say they go for a manager swap with Napoli. We could end up best option by default.

 

What about Tottenham? They might be without a manager soon

[Micky]

I don't buy it either, Big Sam is now available, get him signed up.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[angelman]

Find it "funny" how Everton went about it, what with asking the fans what they thought. As soon as they did that it was obvious that Sam was a gone.

[A_Regular_Irregular]

Personally, I think (and this is seemingly confirmed by interviews with the players) that Hughes is a good Head Coach - he gets the best out of players, he gets the players on board, the tactics do get results (as this season and his previous seasons at Stoke show), and the players seem happy and fit with his training.

 

However, my reservations with appointing him is that we would have a triumvirate of Hughes, Reed, and Wilson making the key off-field decisions. All three of them have player recruitment histories that can only be desciribed as average-at-best: Reed (as most people on here seem to agree) doesnt have the greatest player recruitment history, and the same could be said with Wilson. On top of this, especially what has been by the Stoke players and staff, Hughes doesn't have a great recent record of signing players (e.g. Wimmer, Bojan, Jese, Affeley, etc.). Combining these three worries me, especially as we do need some quality additions to help stabilise us and move back up the table.

[RobM]

Or another Pochettino or Koeman.

 

This will forever be problem we face, if we go for unknown, up-and-coming, unproven, etc managers from abroad. The prize for Reed and Co. getting it right, is another Pochettino and a top-8 finish. The consequence of getting it wrong, is a relegation fight and dire football.

 

Is the gamble worth it? Is any manager going to improve on 8th place, perhaps 7th or 6th at best, with a good cup run if we're lucky? It would need significant investment in new players and huge wages, which is highly unlikely.

[tajjuk]

. I also think when a bloke comes in with 8 games to go, inheriting a shambles and a side woefully underperforming, and keeps them up, he deserves it. k

 

 

He would not have been my 2nd, third, 4th or even 5th choice, but to me we looked down, he had 8 games to turn around a heavily underperforming squad, overcome a points deficit and most of those games were away.

 

In short he deserves it.

[Matthew Le God]

Rumour has it that Hughes signed a contract already. Maybe waiting till Friday to announce?

 

A bit weird, why wait till Friday?

 

If true they are waiting until Friday, then possibly so it gets more media coverage. Announce it today or tomorrow and it will get lost in the England squad announcement.

[verlaine1979]

By all accounts he could probably do better than us on the continent.

 

Indulge me a little on this but let us say he wants a chance to manage in the premier league. How many jobs are there that appear to be available and are better bets than us?

 

Arsenal look set on Arteta,

Everton seem to want Silva - probably have more going for them than us right now though but not by much, the Allardyce saga might also be a red flag to anybody considering taking over.

WHAM, linked with a range - again probably have more going, finance, stadium, london etc. Though would he want to work with the dildo peddlers with the rent a gob sprog tweeting about all things WHAM?

Leicester - will it be available? Nobody seems sure in the media.

 

That sort of leaves us. He couldn't really do much worse than this season. We have a few pennies to play with, an decent squad, the academy is always a plus. I don't think it is any way likely but I would suggest we would make an interesting challenge for the right manager.

 

All the same I still think Hughes is probably the safest and most realistic bet. He wasn't my first choice by any stretch but he's probably done enough to be top of the list.

 

As Tuchel has now proven twice, it does no harm to a manager to sit out for a year waiting for the right job to come along (and it's not as if most can't afford to with ease). Much more harmful to just immediately take whatever has been offered and risk a downturn in performance due to infrastructure problems at the club (even Mourinho's reputation is starting to get dinged a little by his failure at Man U). And it's not as if the likes of Klopp, Conte, Villas Boas, Mancini (and yes, even Mourinho) haven't been able to walk straight into the top clubs in the PL from the continent without serving any sort of apprenticeship at a mid-table team.

 

It's clearly a myth that you need to serve and apprenticeship at a lower-PL club to get a job at a better one - in fact, if anything it was a huge negative for Moyes, who never managed to escape being thought of as a small club man - and who'd voluntarily sign up for an apprenticeship when they've already established themselves as a CEO?

[sadoldgit]

I, for one.

 

You can say it all day long, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have beaten those teams. He did manage to turn over the poorer sides. He might even have surprised us all and taken points off of Chelsea and Arsenal! We will never know.

[Disco Stu]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11685/11375002/manuel-pellegrini-team-meet-west-ham-over-vacant-manager-position

 

West Ham in talks with Pellegrini...

[UpweySaint]

As Tuchel has now proven twice, it does no harm to a manager to sit out for a year waiting for the right job to come along (and it's not as if most can't afford to with ease). Much more harmful to just immediately take whatever has been offered and risk a downturn in performance due to infrastructure problems at the club (even Mourinho's reputation is starting to get dinged a little by his failure at Man U). And it's not as if the likes of Klopp, Conte, Villas Boas, Mancini (and yes, even Mourinho) haven't been able to walk straight into the top clubs in the PL from the continent without serving any sort of apprenticeship at a mid-table team.

 

It's clearly a myth that you need to serve and apprenticeship at a lower-PL club to get a job at a better one - in fact, if anything it was a huge negative for Moyes, who never managed to escape being thought of as a small club man - and who'd voluntarily sign up for an apprenticeship when they've already established themselves as a CEO?

 

To an extent yes but there is always the Curbishley counter argument. Waited too long and now get's "Alan Who?" when he goes for jobs.

 

I agree he could wait and probably do better. All I am saying is that he might not want to. If he is burning to prove himself, wants to manage in the premier league etc it is not entirely implausible he, or any other manager, might fancy working with our les.

 

Not really sure I take your point on Moyes. His work at Everton got him the Utd job. His decent showing at WHAM would likely get him another premiership job despite some poor showings in the interim.

[mrfahaji]

You can say it all day long, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have beaten those teams. He did manage to turn over the poorer sides. He might even have surprised us all and taken points off of Chelsea and Arsenal! We will never know.

 

Ok, yes you are right, it is impossible to know 100% whether Pellegrino would have done as well as Hughes if he stayed in the job. But by that reckoning why bother changing or doing anything at all to effect change, because the consequences might have happened anyway?

 

The reason I and just about every other poster on here believe that we fared better under Hughes than we would have done under Pellegrino is based on a number factors we witnessed before and after his appointment. We could all be wrong, but you have to make decisions based on that information, rather than being somewhat fatalistic (not even sure that 'but that might have happened anyway' is fatalistic...)

[mrfahaji]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11685/11375002/manuel-pellegrini-team-meet-west-ham-over-vacant-manager-position

 

West Ham in talks with Pellegrini...

 

I enjoyed 97% of that sentence.

[Whitey Grandad]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11685/11375002/manuel-pellegrini-team-meet-west-ham-over-vacant-manager-position

 

West Ham in talks with Pellegrini...

 

Good, that’s one team that will finish below us