Sport Republic

[miserableoldgit]

2 hours ago, SaintNewForest said:

Les was very under appreciated in those early days; we all hear about Cortese this, Cortese that but Reed was a huge part of those early years, double promotions & europe ... it's a shame it went sour at the end and clouded the contributions he made to the club when people evaluate and judge his time here.

This is how these things work......selective memory. I don't quite get the Steve Cooper thing. A man who was sacked twice in a matter of months wouldn't normally be a fans favourite for the job here.....quite the opposite.......but....what do I know?

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, SaintNewForest said:

Les was very under appreciated in those early days; we all hear about Cortese this, Cortese that but Reed was a huge part of those early years, double promotions & europe ... it's a shame it went sour at the end and clouded the contributions he made to the club when people evaluate and judge his time here.

 

3 hours ago, Badger said:

This would be an important step in my book. Happy to have Spors for  recruitment and other areas of the back room works, would be pleased by the appointment of a good coach from Europe (Rohl for example), so by no means is it a Little Englander stance, but I’d like to see someone as you describe a proven UK Director who understands the club, supporters etc. 

If you go back, when Liebherr and Cortese arrived they had Andy Oldknow for local knowledge and understanding of the game here. Admittedly replaced early on. I think NC appointed Les Reed around this time. And despite how he was perceived later on with us, I suspect his early contribution was vital. 

Yep, in the early days Reed was the filter for Cortese. There were a few times when Reed was absolutely vital at holding it together behind the scenes. For example after the Reading home game which we lost 3-1 Cortese lost his shit and was going to sack Adkins there and then but didn't because Reed calmed him down, however from that moment Adkins knew he was a dead man walking. Reed was also key to some of the signings back then, despite what Cortese would have everyone believe. 

Reeds issues started when he got a bit more power and thought he had cracked the code of selling and buying cheap, it worked for a while with Koemans pull and kudos but when he was running things without a strong manager to work with and an absent chairman in Kruger things started to go down the pan. Although he looks a genius in comparison to the current lot.

Edited Friday at 16:20 by Turkish

[leesaint88]

26 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

This is how these things work......selective memory. I don't quite get the Steve Cooper thing. A man who was sacked twice in a matter of months wouldn't normally be a fans favourite for the job here.....quite the opposite.......but....what do I know?

 I think he's a realistic target for a club like us, he's had reasonable success in the division and could probably build a team which will work hard and grind out results. I know a lot of fans like Rohl, but watching a few Wednesday games this season they've looked a little iffy at times and the performance against Burnley a few weeks back was woeful.

[CB Fry]

3 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

This is how these things work......selective memory. I don't quite get the Steve Cooper thing. A man who was sacked twice in a matter of months wouldn't normally be a fans favourite for the job here.....quite the opposite.......but....what do I know?

Well, he did a better job in the Championship than Russell Martin getting Forest up with far less resources and he did a hell of a lot better than Martin in the Premier League with both Forest and Leicester.

Yes he was sacked but he was miles ahead and achieved miles more than Martin who was being drooled over on here as Bayern Munich-bound Champions League genius level mega manager.

Edited Friday at 19:15 by CB Fry

[Turkish]

25 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Well, he did a better job in the Championship than Russell Martin getting Forest up with far less resources and he did a hell of a lot better than Martin in the Premier League with both Forest and Leicester.

Yes he was sacked but he was miles ahead and achieved miles more than Martin who was being drooled over on here as Bayern Munich-bound Champions League genius level mega manager.

Sacked by Leicester 16th place with 10 points from 12 games, now 19th with 7 points from their last 15 since Van Nistleroy came in. Got Forest promoted and kept them up in his first season, never finished outside the play offs in the championship. Has achieved way more than Russ has and surely would be at the front of the queue for any club looking to get promoted out of the championship. Still what do i know.

Edited Friday at 19:41 by Turkish

[Dusic]

I'm certainly not disputing Cooper's achievement with Forest but personally find him so dull and uninspiring.

One thing Russell Martin did well was galvanise a club that had just been relegated and in part that was due to personality, media handling etc.

We will definitely need that from whoever takes over (and its one thing Juric has massively failed on).

Personally don't see Cooper as that type.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Dusic said:

I'm certainly not disputing Cooper's achievement with Forest but personally find him so dull and uninspiring.

One thing Russell Martin did well was galvanise a club that had just been relegated and in part that was due to personality, media handling etc.

We will definitely need that from whoever takes over (and its one thing Juric has massively failed on).

Personally don't see Cooper as that type.

It was due to results, as he was an arse in the media to be fair 

[Dusic]

5 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

It was due to results, as he was an arse in the media to be fair 

Not with fans by and large though. And certainly handled the summer period very well. With players also.

[E_H_Saints]

 Manager

Premier League wins at Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl

47

Ruben Selles

2

Nathan Jones

1

Russell Martin

1

Ivan Juric

1

Simon Rusk (interim)

0

Pretty depressing when you think about it. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Dusic said:

I'm certainly not disputing Cooper's achievement with Forest but personally find him so dull and uninspiring.

One thing Russell Martin did well was galvanise a club that had just been relegated and in part that was due to personality, media handling etc.

We will definitely need that from whoever takes over (and its one thing Juric has massively failed on).

Personally don't see Cooper as that type.

I’d take dull and uninspiring over some philosophy manager who talks like a marketing consultant. Managers aren’t meant to be comedians or style icons, they’re meant to get football teams to play in a unit and get results, if they can be the other two things as well then that’s a bonus. 

[Dusic]

36 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I’d take dull and uninspiring over some philosophy manager who talks like a marketing consultant. Managers aren’t meant to be comedians or style icons, they’re meant to get football teams to play in a unit and get results, if they can be the other two things as well then that’s a bonus. 

Understood and agree to an extent - just feel that largely the managers that have done well at Saints - e.g Strachan, Adkins, Koeman, Hasenhuttl - have been strong personalities able to build a rapport with fans quickly to bring a bit of calm authority in their various ways and a personal opinion is that given the magnitude of the fuck up this season and type of character required to reunite the club (again) I'm not convinced that Cooper is that guy.

Can't think of any of our "dull and uninspiring" managers who have done a good job tbh.

Edited Friday at 22:15 by Dusic

[SuperSAINT]

20 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Can't think of any of our "dull and uninspiring" managers who have done a good job tbh.

The poster-boy for dull & uninspiring Saints manager that did a good job (with a HUGE asterisk) was interesting possibilities Claude Puel.

[CB Fry]

Despite being famous, Glenn Hoddle was/is quite a dull personality and his football was incredibly pragmatic.

[Eric The Red]

3 hours ago, E_H_Saints said:

 Manager

Premier League wins at Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl

47

Ruben Selles

2

Nathan Jones

1

Russell Martin

1

Ivan Juric

1

Simon Rusk (interim)

0

Pretty depressing when you think about it. 

Rusk is the only one with an unbeaten record  😀

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Dusic said:

Understood and agree to an extent - just feel that largely the managers that have done well at Saints - e.g Strachan, Adkins, Koeman, Hasenhuttl - have been strong personalities able to build a rapport with fans quickly to bring a bit of calm authority in their various ways and a personal opinion is that given the magnitude of the fuck up this season and type of character required to reunite the club (again) I'm not convinced that Cooper is that guy.

Can't think of any of our "dull and uninspiring" managers who have done a good job tbh.

David Moyes is hardly laugh a minute. Nuno not exactly Mr charisma, Potter, Howe, Silva, McKenna. All pretty average blokes, look a bit dull, hardly the life and soul all done very good jobs at clubs they’ve been at. 

Edited Friday at 23:48 by Turkish

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, E_H_Saints said:

 Manager

Premier League wins at Southampton

Ralph Hasenhuttl

47

Ruben Selles

2

Nathan Jones

1

Russell Martin

1

Ivan Juric

1

Simon Rusk (interim)

0

Pretty depressing when you think about it. 

I am old enough to remember when teams hated coming to The Dell and I always expected a good result. For too long now we seem to be an easy 3 points at home, let alone away.

[HarvSFC]

Do we think Lucy Pinder would leave Russell Martin for Steve Cooper?

[IFHP]

14 hours ago, Turkish said:

Sacked by Leicester 16th place with 10 points from 12 games, now 19th with 7 points from their last 15 since Van Nistleroy came in. Got Forest promoted and kept them up in his first season, never finished outside the play offs in the championship. Has achieved way more than Russ has and surely would be at the front of the queue for any club looking to get promoted out of the championship. Still what do i know.

And many of our fans were saying get Van Nistleroy in before he went to Leicester.

No one ever mentioned him in before his brief stint and Manchester United - if they thought he was going to be that wonderful surely he’d have been mentioned before .

[OldNick]

On 27/02/2025 at 19:53, Give it to Ron said:

Southampton’s Premier League record under Sport Republic’s ownership:

84 matches
13 wins
14 draws
57 defeats
78 goals scored
176 goals conceded
15.5% win percentage
53 points from a possible 252
2 relegations*
 

Needs more than a retro shirt doesn’t it !

Deffo, but there are 2parts of the business, unfortunately the most important one is crap. Making money to help improve our psr is a must also. So that side is doing its job, the recruitment and policy of the owners is dire

[Lard]

I wish we were Brighton…..or even Bournemouth. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[BarberSaint]

Both have better beaches, so you might be right. 

 

Maybe cart a few thousand tons of Sand down to Weston and put up a screen to hide Fawley?

[Charlie Wayman]

On 28/02/2025 at 23:56, sadoldgit said:

I am old enough to remember when teams hated coming to The Dell and I always expected a good result. For too long now we seem to be an easy 3 points at home, let alone away.

We have not been playing at The Dell recently

[Turkish]

FA cup wide open this year, city obviously still on it and only chance of a trophy now but Bournemouth will give them a game. Forest Brighton and Villa will all fancy their chances too

Edited 17 hours ago by Turkish