Russell Martin

[lambtiss]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

That's not Saintsy. Saintsy is keeping him here until Xmas, sacking him with no contingency plan, putting Lallana in charge (he draws the first game and wins the 3rd and 4th round FA Cup match against lower league opposition). This mini-resurgence proves we don't need to improve the squad and we buy no-one in January, before we go on a run where we get 2 points out of a possible 24 and Lallana gets sacked. We then bring in Big Sam for a mini-resurgence before we go down with 19 points. 

Nailed it 😂

[kitch]

I quite like Russell Martin, as a guy. I enjoy his insights and his thoughts, and I think a Championship team with some decent ball-playing staff would enjoy a season with him. I really enjoyed last year, despite the feeling that I actually think we underachieved. Promotion papered over the cracks somewhat, but he came up with the goods when it mattered and I'm grateful to him for the memories.

But as a PL manager, I've never been more certain than any other manager we've ever had that he will NOT turn this around. He's wedded to his ways, and his ways are suicidal with the level of club he manages in the league it finds itself in. If he had a stronger, lower league team, maybe. If he was managing Man City, maybe, but stick him at any bottom 6 club in the PL and it's a one-way ticket back to the Championship.

His sacking is inevitable. I'll always be grateful to him, and I would LOVE to be completely wrong, but I fear I'm not. It's a case of when, not if.

[SaintsBarry74]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Unfortunately for us they know exactly how to beat us as they proved last season. They will press us hard and flood men forward knowing that 1) they are likely to win the ball near our goal and 2) if we do beat their press we'll take so long to get the ball forward they'll have ample time to get back into shape.  They hammered us twice last season by doing exactly this and Rm learned nothing from the first game at St Marys.

I think RM was happy with us dominating possession in both games.

[mikee]

20 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Not legal, but Alan Ball when he took over as manager apparently banned it from training to knock the Branfoot launches forward by the defenders every time. Players who launched into the channels in training matches without targeting a specific striker/winger were fined.

I'd do something similar with this squad - I'd ban passing backwards. They need to instinctively think forward first. Passing back should be a last resort rather than the default option.

[notnowcato]

1 hour ago, Master Bates said:

Something special happened last Christmas, I met the future, our lord saviour.

Sadly, nothing yet has come to fruitition, but I believe it will. 

Change in ownership?

[FarehamSaintJames]

Micah Richards summed it up on the Monday Night Club yesterday:

”When it works they’re incredible, when it doesn’t they look ridiculous”.

[saintant]

45 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Micah Richards summed it up on the Monday Night Club yesterday:

”When it works they’re incredible, when it doesn’t they look ridiculous”.

Yeah, trouble is, 95% of the time they look ridiculous - if only it was the other way round 🙂

[Jack]

4 minutes ago, saintant said:

Yeah, trouble is, 95% of the time they look ridiculous - if only it was the other way round 🙂

Exactly, if it was closer to 50/50 and playing out was actually getting us up the pitch and scoring goals, people would be more behind it. 
 

Taking all the risks at the back then turning around to pass to Ramsdale as soon as we get into the opposition half, isn’t going to get much buy in. 

[Suhari]

2 hours ago, Master Bates said:

Something special happened last Christmas, I met the future, our lord saviour.

Sadly, nothing yet has come to fruitition, but I believe it will. 

Interesting. Please go on........

Edited October 8 by Suhari

[pingpong]

we are exceeding expectations, as bookies favourites to finish bottom, we are higher up in the league than expected, so it would be insanity to change manager at this point.

[Saint in Paradise]

1 hour ago, pingpong said:

we are exceeding expectations, as bookies favourites to finish bottom, we are higher up in the league than expected, so it would be insanity to change manager at this point.

You are Dragan Solak and I claim my £5   😁

[Disco Stu]

1 hour ago, pingpong said:

we are exceeding expectations, as bookies favourites to finish bottom, we are higher up in the league than expected, so it would be insanity to change manager at this point.

You must be trolling 😂 So you expect us to lose every game? Not even Russell Martin is deluded enough to think we're "exceeding expectations".

Edited October 8 by Disco Stu

[ChrisPY]

3 hours ago, pingpong said:

we are exceeding expectations, as bookies favourites to finish bottom, we are higher up in the league than expected, so it would be insanity to change manager at this point.

Great point.

Interestingly, Yuki Sugawara has scored 10% as many goals as Erling Haaland but is far longer odds than 10x Haaland to be top scorer in the Premier League. I think by your logic this makes him an overachieving centre forward.

[Osvaldorama]

Has he gone yet?

[Tommy Mulgrew]

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-southamptons-board-holding-russell-martin-talks/

Some movement reported at last but not especially definitive.  Too many ifs and buts for my liking.  But here’s hoping.  🤞

[CB Fry]

5 hours ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-southamptons-board-holding-russell-martin-talks/

Some movement reported at last but not especially definitive.  Too many ifs and buts for my liking.  But here’s hoping.  🤞

Football Insider is just guesswork clickbait. 

[Chewy]

8 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

Has he gone yet?

He’s clearly here until the Leicester game at a minimum. Nothing will happen until then so there’s zero point in hoping otherwise 

[FarehamSaintJames]

7 hours ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-southamptons-board-holding-russell-martin-talks/

Some movement reported at last but not especially definitive.  Too many ifs and buts for my liking.  But here’s hoping.  🤞

Football Insider is not a source. They’re more reliable sources coming out of colleges in Portsmouth than that shite. 😂

Problem is its rags like the above that mainstream media latch onto for a good story.

I don’t think he’s close to going, but if it comes to the November international games and we haven’t picked up a significant number of points against Leicester or Wolves then I don’t see a way forward for him.

I’d like it to work, but don’t think it will.

It’s amazing to see so many players come out and go “we’re nearly there”, or talking about RM in positive light, it’s refreshing but it’s a results business.

[Dman]

2 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Football Insider is just guesswork clickbait. 

you've gone all MLG. I dont like it. 

Edited October 9 by Dman

[Zorba]

I said he deserved a shot at the Premier League just for acheiving promotion even though his football is boring and predictable. I thought ten games would be fair. I’ve seen enough now though. We are wasting time that we really don’t have. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late for a competent manager to save us from the drop. Thanks for the “memories” Russ, but you’ve got to go now! 👋🏻

Edited October 9 by Zorba

[kitch]

Another thing that worries me about waiting is that, right now, Graham Potter is literally there. I could be wrong, but I think he'd like to come here.

If we wait too long, he'll end up at Everton or Wolves, or possibly even Leicester.

[notnowcato]

14 minutes ago, kitch said:

Another thing that worries me about waiting is that, right now, Graham Potter is literally there. I could be wrong, but I think he'd like to come here.

If we wait too long, he'll end up at Everton or Wolves, or possibly even Leicester.

Apparently Potter turned the Leicester job down in the summer, if that’s true, the likelihood of him coming to us is slim. 

[austsaint]

12 minutes ago, Zorba said:

I said he deserved a shot at the Premier League just for acheiving promotion even though his football is boring and predictable. I thought ten games would be fair. I’ve seen enough now though. We are wasting time that we really don’t have. I don’t want to wait until it’s too for a competent manager to save us from the drop. Thanks for the “memories” Russ, but you’ve got to go now! 👋🏻

I feel the same way.  We are wasting time In maintaining the status quo with RM.    There’s no guarantee a better manager can save us from the drop but it’s a change which has to be made and will give the Club a chance, if it’s done soon.    There’s an inertia about SR decision making which we’ve seen before.  Is it reluctance to take the financial hit of sacking Martin?    Is Dragan getting the right advice from Andersen, Kraft and co?    I can’t believe things can just meander until Nov./Dec. by which stage the bird may have flown.    Can anyone seriously see RM managing Saints in the Championship next season?

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, notnowcato said:

Apparently Potter turned the Leicester job down in the summer, if that’s true, the likelihood of him coming to us is slim. 

I wonder if that was more to do with the possible points deduction more than anything else. Maybe Cooper was just more prepared to take the chance.

[ErwinK1961]

27 minutes ago, kitch said:

Another thing that worries me about waiting is that, right now, Graham Potter is literally there. I could be wrong, but I think he'd like to come here.

If we wait too long, he'll end up at Everton or Wolves, or possibly even Leicester.

Potter isn’t remotely interested in coming here.

[VectisSaint]

11 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Apparently Potter turned the Leicester job down in the summer, if that’s true, the likelihood of him coming to us is slim. 

Maybe he turned down Leicester because he fancies the Southampton job more and was prepared to wait. Maybe he turned down Leicester because they were looking likely to get a points deduction. Really don't see that turning them down makes it less likely that he would come to Saints. Think its more likely he would not come to Saints because he knows the players available are not up to scratch. 

[Colinjb]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

It’s amazing to see so many players come out and go “we’re nearly there”, or talking about RM in positive light, it’s refreshing but it’s a results business.

The strength he has in managing the team's moral and the various characters in the dressing room is probably what is keeping him in the job.

That is clearly his main strength as a manager, it's a shame he doesn't have the same instincts and flexibility with his tactics.

[kitch]

6 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Potter isn’t remotely interested in coming here.

Do we know that for sure?

[Ken Tone]

59 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

Maybe he turned down Leicester because he fancies the Southampton job more and was prepared to wait. Maybe he turned down Leicester because they were looking likely to get a points deduction. Really don't see that turning them down makes it less likely that he would come to Saints. Think its more likely he would not come to Saints because he knows the players available are not up to scratch. 

Suspect Potter is hoping for the Man United job.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Colinjb said:

The strength he has in managing the team's moral and the various characters in the dressing room is probably what is keeping him in the job.

That is clearly his main strength as a manager, it's a shame he doesn't have the same instincts and flexibility with his tactics.

If that's the case, he would be better off being a coach or an assistant manager, keeping that link open between player and manager. He clearly wants to be liked by all the squad 

[BARCELONASAINT]

Anyone thinking Potter is coming here think again!

[Osvaldorama]

4 hours ago, Chewy said:

He’s clearly here until the Leicester game at a minimum. Nothing will happen until then so there’s zero point in hoping otherwise 

 

Tbh I still really hope he can turn it round with a big win against Leicester to buy himself more time. 
 

The Bournemouth game was the final straw for me in wanting him gone, the tactical naivety shown in that game was a sackable offence. But I would really like him to turn it around as he is a good bloke. I just can’t see it happening. 

[Oldandtired]

6 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

 

 to buy himself more time. 

That's the whole point. The PL is a cutthroat, merciless place and time is one thing you don't get.

Get it right pretty much straight away, and that's from the top to the bottom, board decisions to manager decisions to player decisions, or you're adrift at the bottom.

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, Ken Tone said:

Suspect Potter is hoping for the Man United job.

Yep, the way he was talking on Sky before the Bournemouth game he has definitely got his eye on it. Whether he would get it or not is another matter, but he was definitely putting himself in the frame, and he'd probably get an interview at least. 

Also if Carsley shits the bed against either Greece or Finland in the next few days then the conversation might open back up about the England job, which he specifically said he would love to do. 

Either way, if he stays in club football then I think he wants an underachieving team with decent resources who are looking up, rather than a relegation fight.

I think that would rule us and Wolves out, although it sounds like they're backing O'Neil for now anyway.

If the Everton takeover goes through I could absolutely see him there, being given all that lovely new investment money to spend and the attraction of a brand spanking new stadium. Or West Ham, if they end up canning Lopetegui. 

[OldNick]

On 07/10/2024 at 22:03, Osvaldorama said:

What a crock of shit. 
 

THB is steadily improving week by week.  And Flynn is being thrown under the bus consistently by the managers shite tactics. 
 

Of all the people to criticise at the club, those 2 are toward bottom of the list

So they would walk into all the other PL teams in your opinion I assume?

[Wade Garrett]

Sacking Martin for Potter isn’t a binary choice.

We just need someone better than Martin.  That is a pretty big pool.

[david in sweden]

3 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

Maybe he turned down Leicester because he fancies the Southampton job more and was prepared to wait. Maybe he turned down Leicester because they were looking likely to get a points deduction. Really don't see that turning them down makes it less likely that he would come to Saints. Think its more likely he would not come to Saints because he knows the players available are not up to scratch. 

apparently, Potter was on a TV panel during one of our recent defeats, and he surely cannot believe that he could do better ..

On the other hand, anyone who takes over the job is certain of getting a big pay-off ... IF / WHEN...they fail and relegation were to follow. 

It's upto RM to shuffle the pack again and hope for a turn of good fortune.  We don't need another Hasenhuttl, Jones, Selles-type managerial change.

[gio1saints]

Long post. Turn away now if this is too much.

The summary version is : sacking RM is expensive and I don’t think it will happen.
 

Longer version: Not been mentioned, yet, but there is a significant financial reason why I don’t think he will be sacked. I’m sensing a bunch of “ staying in the EPL is worth £ xyz millions so if we have to blow £xx millions now it’s worth it “ type of thinking going on. Except blowing £xx millions has not got any guarantee of us staying in the EPL at all and the greatest betting probability at the bookies is that with RM - OR WITHOUT- we will still be relegated. 

But in the case of ditching him We’d not only be relegated - but in all probability both fucked financially AND relegated. 

How’s that? For a start it’s not just Russell but probably 7 or 8 other colleagues of his who also would likely leave or be replaced by the incoming new managers team of coaches, analysts, physios etc 

Paying up 2.5 years to those is going to cost multi millions. 

Buying a GOOD new manager will cost maybe £5-£10m. You get what you pay for. 
 

Getting a cheap one is surely not an option?  If you gonna sack our existing cheap option and your track record with cheap options has been terrible are you just going to go all Groundhog Day again by putting in Nathan Jones mk2?

You’d hope not…maybe there is a GOOD unemployed Manager perfect for Saints out there - But of the two most likely that spring to mind neither Moyes nor Potter are interested. If they are any good, like Zlatan once famously said -( paraphrased) - SFC really?  they are not going to drop to Saints level. 

Next: Vincent kompany got sold by Burnley to Munich for £10.2m ~after relegating them.😂.  
Not saying Russell is worth £10.2m to some other team but paying up those contracts AND foregoing his sale end of season is a double hit. And seems utterly bonkers. if the likelihood is you are going down either way why would you not keep the financial cushion of at least being able to flog the gaffer like Burnley did? 

So the itinerary goes something like this for you Russell out guys : 

(1) Buy top new Manager ( not some unemployed c&nt who is unemployed for good reason) : c. £10m. Does that include his team ? If so add extra. 

(2) Pay Top new Manager Top New Manager wages and Top New Manager contract to his mates : this is obvs higher than what RM and outgoing team are being paid. God knows how much more but it will be more. And we are desperate so our hand is weak. 

(3) Pay off RM and his team - I’m totally guessing it’s £6m -£8m. Could be more. Maybe a bit less. 
 

(4) Do NOT collect £10M by selling him to Al Hillal or Inter Miami or some such in seven months time when we are relegated. Bonkers move paying someone to take your motor away when Webuyanycar will give you up to £10m for it in 7mths time…

Thats costing well north of £20m - which is, incidentally what we did not appear to have to buy a real CF a few weeks ago….

And after all that cost and we still get relegated how about do it again - knock Top New Manager on the head ( at ludicrously high cost) but this time go with a really cheap option. OR Have fun with Top new Manager in the Championship but spend all season moaning because with Top New Manager we ought to be top of the league from match day one, leave out maybe we don’t have 75% of our better players anymore. At least we have Top New Manager and who knows, Top New way to win matches we can all enjoy. And Top New Manager is on easily highest wages in Championship even if we go down btw. That’s part of the deal. 
 

It’s really super messy fraught with extra costs we do not appear to have and with a slim chance of success ( defined as staying up) ~ about as slim as staying with RM and him turning it around but with much less drama. 
Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve now all changed your mind and all want to get behind RM team and squad and support them to victory. But I know that I am in a tiny minority here so no need to tell me how misguided I am etc. I think not only is it bad for saints ££ but I happen to believe RM can turn this baby around. 😂 That thought makes even me laugh!🤭 
 

[saintant]

15 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Long post. Turn away now if this is too much.

The summary version is : sacking RM is expensive and I don’t think it will happen.
 

Longer version: Not been mentioned, yet, but there is a significant financial reason why I don’t think he will be sacked. I’m sensing a bunch of “ staying in the EPL is worth £ xyz millions so if we have to blow £xx millions now it’s worth it “ type of thinking going on. Except blowing £xx millions has not got any guarantee of us staying in the EPL at all and the greatest betting probability at the bookies is that with RM - OR WITHOUT- we will still be relegated. 

But in the case of ditching him We’d not only be relegated - but in all probability both fucked financially AND relegated. 

How’s that? For a start it’s not just Russell but probably 7 or 8 other colleagues of his who also would likely leave or be replaced by the incoming new managers team of coaches, analysts, physios etc 

Paying up 2.5 years to those is going to cost multi millions. 

Buying a GOOD new manager will cost maybe £5-£10m. You get what you pay for. 
 

Getting a cheap one is surely not an option?  If you gonna sack our existing cheap option and your track record with cheap options has been terrible are you just going to go all Groundhog Day again by putting in Nathan Jones mk2?

You’d hope not…maybe there is a GOOD unemployed Manager perfect for Saints out there - But of the two most likely that spring to mind neither Moyes nor Potter are interested. If they are any good, like Zlatan once famously said -( paraphrased) - SFC really?  they are not going to drop to Saints level. 

Next: Vincent kompany got sold by Burnley to Munich for £10.2m ~after relegating them.😂.  
Not saying Russell is worth £10.2m to some other team but paying up those contracts AND foregoing his sale end of season is a double hit. And seems utterly bonkers. if the likelihood is you are going down either way why would you not keep the financial cushion of at least being able to flog the gaffer like Burnley did? 

So the itinerary goes something like this for you Russell out guys : 

(1) Buy top new Manager ( not some unemployed c&nt who is unemployed for good reason) : c. £10m. Does that include his team ? If so add extra. 

(2) Pay Top new Manager Top New Manager wages and Top New Manager contract to his mates : this is obvs higher than what RM and outgoing team are being paid. God knows how much more but it will be more. And we are desperate so our hand is weak. 

(3) Pay off RM and his team - I’m totally guessing it’s £6m -£8m. Could be more. Maybe a bit less. 
 

(4) Do NOT collect £10M by selling him to Al Hillal or Inter Miami or some such in seven months time when we are relegated. Bonkers move paying someone to take your motor away when Webuyanycar will give you up to £10m for it in 7mths time…

Thats costing well north of £20m - which is, incidentally what we did not appear to have to buy a real CF a few weeks ago….

And after all that cost and we still get relegated how about do it again - knock Top New Manager on the head ( at ludicrously high cost) but this time go with a really cheap option. OR Have fun with Top new Manager in the Championship but spend all season moaning because with Top New Manager we ought to be top of the league from match day one, leave out maybe we don’t have 75% of our better players anymore. At least we have Top New Manager and who knows, Top New way to win matches we can all enjoy. And Top New Manager is on easily highest wages in Championship even if we go down btw. That’s part of the deal. 
 

It’s really super messy fraught with extra costs we do not appear to have and with a slim chance of success ( defined as staying up) ~ about as slim as staying with RM and him turning it around but with much less drama. 
Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve now all changed your mind and all want to get behind RM team and squad and support them to victory. But I know that I am in a tiny minority here so no need to tell me how misguided I am etc. I think not only is it bad for saints ££ but I happen to believe RM can turn this baby around. 😂 That thought makes even me laugh!🤭 
 

Could you send this to Dragan. You've made a compelling case for him to get rid of all the snake oil salesmen at SR who are continuing to waste millions of his hard earned.

[Disco Stu]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

Long post. Turn away now if this is too much.

The summary version is : sacking RM is expensive and I don’t think it will happen.
 

Longer version: Not been mentioned, yet, but there is a significant financial reason why I don’t think he will be sacked. I’m sensing a bunch of “ staying in the EPL is worth £ xyz millions so if we have to blow £xx millions now it’s worth it “ type of thinking going on. Except blowing £xx millions has not got any guarantee of us staying in the EPL at all and the greatest betting probability at the bookies is that with RM - OR WITHOUT- we will still be relegated. 

But in the case of ditching him We’d not only be relegated - but in all probability both fucked financially AND relegated. 

How’s that? For a start it’s not just Russell but probably 7 or 8 other colleagues of his who also would likely leave or be replaced by the incoming new managers team of coaches, analysts, physios etc 

Paying up 2.5 years to those is going to cost multi millions. 

Buying a GOOD new manager will cost maybe £5-£10m. You get what you pay for. 
 

Getting a cheap one is surely not an option?  If you gonna sack our existing cheap option and your track record with cheap options has been terrible are you just going to go all Groundhog Day again by putting in Nathan Jones mk2?

You’d hope not…maybe there is a GOOD unemployed Manager perfect for Saints out there - But of the two most likely that spring to mind neither Moyes nor Potter are interested. If they are any good, like Zlatan once famously said -( paraphrased) - SFC really?  they are not going to drop to Saints level. 

Next: Vincent kompany got sold by Burnley to Munich for £10.2m ~after relegating them.😂.  
Not saying Russell is worth £10.2m to some other team but paying up those contracts AND foregoing his sale end of season is a double hit. And seems utterly bonkers. if the likelihood is you are going down either way why would you not keep the financial cushion of at least being able to flog the gaffer like Burnley did? 

So the itinerary goes something like this for you Russell out guys : 

(1) Buy top new Manager ( not some unemployed c&nt who is unemployed for good reason) : c. £10m. Does that include his team ? If so add extra. 

(2) Pay Top new Manager Top New Manager wages and Top New Manager contract to his mates : this is obvs higher than what RM and outgoing team are being paid. God knows how much more but it will be more. And we are desperate so our hand is weak. 

(3) Pay off RM and his team - I’m totally guessing it’s £6m -£8m. Could be more. Maybe a bit less. 
 

(4) Do NOT collect £10M by selling him to Al Hillal or Inter Miami or some such in seven months time when we are relegated. Bonkers move paying someone to take your motor away when Webuyanycar will give you up to £10m for it in 7mths time…

Thats costing well north of £20m - which is, incidentally what we did not appear to have to buy a real CF a few weeks ago….

And after all that cost and we still get relegated how about do it again - knock Top New Manager on the head ( at ludicrously high cost) but this time go with a really cheap option. OR Have fun with Top new Manager in the Championship but spend all season moaning because with Top New Manager we ought to be top of the league from match day one, leave out maybe we don’t have 75% of our better players anymore. At least we have Top New Manager and who knows, Top New way to win matches we can all enjoy. And Top New Manager is on easily highest wages in Championship even if we go down btw. That’s part of the deal. 
 

It’s really super messy fraught with extra costs we do not appear to have and with a slim chance of success ( defined as staying up) ~ about as slim as staying with RM and him turning it around but with much less drama. 
Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve now all changed your mind and all want to get behind RM team and squad and support them to victory. But I know that I am in a tiny minority here so no need to tell me how misguided I am etc. I think not only is it bad for saints ££ but I happen to believe RM can turn this baby around. 😂 That thought makes even me laugh!🤭 
 

Blowing £x amount on sacking Martin and his team and spending £x amount on replacements doesn't guarantee success as is the case every time we've changed manager. It does however guarantee that we won't have to watch Russball anymore. If we assume the long-term goal is to ultimately become an established Premier League club again, we know Russball isn't the solution.

Edited October 9 by Disco Stu

[gurru991]

3 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I wonder if that was more to do with the possible points deduction more than anything else. Maybe Cooper was just more prepared to take the chance.

I get the feeling that Potter is holding out for a "big job". Not many managers had any interest in joining Leicester with a large points deduction looming..  I don't think Cooper was attracting too many offers at the time so took it anyway.   He is very unpopular with Leicester fans at the moment !!!

[Wsaint]

4 hours ago, kitch said:

Another thing that worries me about waiting is that, right now, Graham Potter is literally there. I could be wrong, but I think he'd like to come here.

If we wait too long, he'll end up at Everton or Wolves, or possibly even Leicester.

There is absolutely zero chance Potter comes here. If people are banging on about changing the manager please at least be realistic.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

33 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Long post. Turn away now if this is too much.

The summary version is : sacking RM is expensive and I don’t think it will happen.
 

Longer version: Not been mentioned, yet, but there is a significant financial reason why I don’t think he will be sacked. I’m sensing a bunch of “ staying in the EPL is worth £ xyz millions so if we have to blow £xx millions now it’s worth it “ type of thinking going on. Except blowing £xx millions has not got any guarantee of us staying in the EPL at all and the greatest betting probability at the bookies is that with RM - OR WITHOUT- we will still be relegated. 

But in the case of ditching him We’d not only be relegated - but in all probability both fucked financially AND relegated. 

How’s that? For a start it’s not just Russell but probably 7 or 8 other colleagues of his who also would likely leave or be replaced by the incoming new managers team of coaches, analysts, physios etc 

Paying up 2.5 years to those is going to cost multi millions. 

Buying a GOOD new manager will cost maybe £5-£10m. You get what you pay for. 
 

Getting a cheap one is surely not an option?  If you gonna sack our existing cheap option and your track record with cheap options has been terrible are you just going to go all Groundhog Day again by putting in Nathan Jones mk2?

You’d hope not…maybe there is a GOOD unemployed Manager perfect for Saints out there - But of the two most likely that spring to mind neither Moyes nor Potter are interested. If they are any good, like Zlatan once famously said -( paraphrased) - SFC really?  they are not going to drop to Saints level. 

Next: Vincent kompany got sold by Burnley to Munich for £10.2m ~after relegating them.😂.  
Not saying Russell is worth £10.2m to some other team but paying up those contracts AND foregoing his sale end of season is a double hit. And seems utterly bonkers. if the likelihood is you are going down either way why would you not keep the financial cushion of at least being able to flog the gaffer like Burnley did? 

So the itinerary goes something like this for you Russell out guys : 

(1) Buy top new Manager ( not some unemployed c&nt who is unemployed for good reason) : c. £10m. Does that include his team ? If so add extra. 

(2) Pay Top new Manager Top New Manager wages and Top New Manager contract to his mates : this is obvs higher than what RM and outgoing team are being paid. God knows how much more but it will be more. And we are desperate so our hand is weak. 

(3) Pay off RM and his team - I’m totally guessing it’s £6m -£8m. Could be more. Maybe a bit less. 
 

(4) Do NOT collect £10M by selling him to Al Hillal or Inter Miami or some such in seven months time when we are relegated. Bonkers move paying someone to take your motor away when Webuyanycar will give you up to £10m for it in 7mths time…

Thats costing well north of £20m - which is, incidentally what we did not appear to have to buy a real CF a few weeks ago….

And after all that cost and we still get relegated how about do it again - knock Top New Manager on the head ( at ludicrously high cost) but this time go with a really cheap option. OR Have fun with Top new Manager in the Championship but spend all season moaning because with Top New Manager we ought to be top of the league from match day one, leave out maybe we don’t have 75% of our better players anymore. At least we have Top New Manager and who knows, Top New way to win matches we can all enjoy. And Top New Manager is on easily highest wages in Championship even if we go down btw. That’s part of the deal. 
 

It’s really super messy fraught with extra costs we do not appear to have and with a slim chance of success ( defined as staying up) ~ about as slim as staying with RM and him turning it around but with much less drama. 
Anyways, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve now all changed your mind and all want to get behind RM team and squad and support them to victory. But I know that I am in a tiny minority here so no need to tell me how misguided I am etc. I think not only is it bad for saints ££ but I happen to believe RM can turn this baby around. 😂 That thought makes even me laugh!🤭 
 

Clever clubs assessing the risk of having an unproven manager enter his first PL job, could have negotiated clauses into his contract.

For example, if 0 points are obtained after 10 league games, then either party can end the contract for an agreed amount.

It protects the club, is negotiated to be a fair deliverable by both parties and will give the manager some recompense, while giving him every opportunity to avoid the trigger event.

Martin can have a similar clause reducing the asking price if either Barcelona or Man City come calling for his possession based style.

[kitch]

45 minutes ago, Wsaint said:

There is absolutely zero chance Potter comes here. If people are banging on about changing the manager please at least be realistic.

I don't think it's unrealisitic. Had a shit time at Chelsea, wants to rebuild his stock. We're a team very similar to Brighton, so the chances are decent that he could replicate the success he had there and use us as a stepping stone to something bigger in another couple of years or so doesn't seem outside the realm of plausability. I'm pretty sure he'd guide us to premier league survival.

The England job is a spanner in the works, but all his has on his CV in english football is a good stint at Brighton and a poor run at a bigger club with higher expectations. Would any of the top 6 really have him high on their list? Utd might, but Utd is a bin fire, same as Chelsea was at the time he went there - to go there would be a disaster for him. 

[gio1saints]

53 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Clever clubs assessing the risk of having an unproven manager enter his first PL job, could have negotiated clauses into his contract.

For example, if 0 points are obtained after 10 league games, then either party can end the contract for an agreed amount.

It protects the club, is negotiated to be a fair deliverable by both parties and will give the manager some recompense, while giving him every opportunity to avoid the trigger event.

Martin can have a similar clause reducing the asking price if either Barcelona or Man City come calling for his possession based style.

Sounds logical but only a small handful of likely candidates would consider such a deal.
 

I think only a manager ( or actually wannabee) with already loadsa money but maybe a massive ego and or desire to build a rep as a new young manager would take that on. Frankie Lampard springs to mind. Probably a millionaire ex or even current footballer  I’d imagine it might suit. Like AL perhaps. He stands out as caretaker material anyways and would be cheap. 😁. Would not expect to see style of our football change nor relegation prospects either though from any such a move. Can’t see that causing celebrations in this forum.
Much the same if we brought in Carlos Foreignmanager after his successful stint in Portugal or similar. 

No, I’m sure there’s many making the case for Gareth or whoever as our next manager if he’s sacked but if it’s NOT Potter or Moyes I don’t think there’s a party. And I don’t think either fancy the hassle..

[ErwinK1961]

26 minutes ago, kitch said:

I don't think it's unrealisitic. Had a shit time at Chelsea, wants to rebuild his stock. We're a team very similar to Brighton, so the chances are decent that he could replicate the success he had there and use us as a stepping stone to something bigger in another couple of years or so doesn't seem outside the realm of plausability. I'm pretty sure he'd guide us to premier league survival.

The England job is a spanner in the works, but all his has on his CV in english football is a good stint at Brighton and a poor run at a bigger club with higher expectations. Would any of the top 6 really have him high on their list? Utd might, but Utd is a bin fire, same as Chelsea was at the time he went there - to go there would be a disaster for him. 

He doesn’t need to be in for a top 6 job - West Ham, Palace, Everton, even Wolves are all better options than we are, whose jobs could be available soon. He’s also shown he’s not scared to take a job abroad.

He’s not coming here. We’re a whole different level of bin fire.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, gurru991 said:

I get the feeling that Potter is holding out for a "big job". Not many managers had any interest in joining Leicester with a large points deduction looming..  I don't think Cooper was attracting too many offers at the time so took it anyway.   He is very unpopular with Leicester fans at the moment !!!

They should try a year with Martin. Then they would appreciate what unpopular is

[Dark Munster]

17 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

He doesn’t need to be in for a top 6 job - West Ham, Palace, Everton, even Wolves are all better options than we are, whose jobs could be available soon. He’s also shown he’s not scared to take a job abroad.

He’s not coming here. We’re a whole different level of bin fire.

In your opinion. 

[gurru991]

11 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

They should try a year with Martin. Then they would appreciate what unpopular is

Yeah.   They would love Cooper after that.

I can't see Martin surviving if you lose at home to Leicester.  Boring Defensive Cooper against Play Out From The Back Martin.    Should be fun !!!

[OldNick]

I can understand the fans being unhappy, but surely you all must have known we were going to have a poor season with the squad we have?

I was very sceptical from the first games of the season but still enjoyed the 25 game unbeaten run. I really only got more on board with RM right at the end of the season when he changed and seemed to be more pragmatic. He went a bit against his football ideology and mixed it u a bit, that encouraged me a tad.

It does seem to me that the fans crave the fix of a new manager every 10 games or so, one minute they are eating out of his hands and lapping him up the next acting like a woman scorned! Id love to have the time to read back from all the naysayers posts after Wembley, not a peep then of course.