Tonight’s fans forum.

[gio1saints]

Only just back but took copious notes and in particular listened Intently to what was being said by JW and RM , and how they said it - especially their body language. 

im writing the full stuff up for saintlist but im sure there are plenty others from this forum who were there and can report. 

My summary is : WOW.
 

Impressive command of the subject, from all three speakers ( including our Swedish set peice coach). We were shown and talked through multiple slides multiple real game video situation analysis and tons of background info on the whole spectrum of attack, defending possession , set pieces, Psychology training set ups, inverted wi g backs, false nines, the role of flair players, Gavins roles, the younger ones coming through - the works. 
 

Kenzi was the compère and there were at least one pre sent in question and one from the floor question from five different popular topics. The crowd responded and both she and they were very good. 
 

I will comment later on specifics if anyone’s interested or go read it in the Saintslist.m or on saints website tomorrow no doubt. 
 

Saintly regards, 

Giordano. 
 

 

Edited 18 October, 2023 by gio1saints

[Noodles34]

I went. I asked Russ about the beer on the concourse ansi asked Jason about SR expanding the stadium. 
 

Aside  from that, it’s clear that RM is the. 
messiah of football. 

[AlexLaw76]

40 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Only just back but took copious notes and in particular listened Intently to what was being said by JW and RM , and how they said it - especially their body language. 

im writing the full stuff up for saintlist but im sure there are plenty others from this forum who were there and can report. 

My summary is : WOW.
 

Impressive command of the subject, from all three speakers ( including our Swedish set peice coach). We were shown and talked through multiple slides multiple real game video situation analysis and tons of background info on the whole spectrum of attack, defending possession , set pieces, Psychology training set ups, inverted wi g backs, false nines, the role of flair players, Gavins roles, the younger ones coming through - the works. 
 

Kenzi was the compère and there were at least one pre sent in question and one from the floor question from five different popular topics. The crowd responded and both she and they were very good. 
 

I will comment later on specifics if anyone’s interested or go read it in the Saintslist.m or on saints website tomorrow no doubt. 
 

Saintly regards, 

Giordano. 
 

 

No good if we go 2 wins in 8 at Hull

[Highfield Saint]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

No good if we go 2 wins in 8 at Hull

Or 3 in 4?

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Highfield Saint said:

Or 3 in 4?

or 0 in 1?

[Roger]

Anything on when Ross Stewart is going to be in squad? 

[Highfield Saint]

9 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

or 0 in 1?

Or 1 in 1?

[Holmes_and_Watson]

57 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Only just back but took copious notes and in particular listened Intently to what was being said by JW and RM , and how they said it - especially their body language. 

im writing the full stuff up for saintlist but im sure there are plenty others from this forum who were there and can report. 

My summary is : WOW.
 

Impressive command of the subject, from all three speakers ( including our Swedish set peice coach). We were shown and talked through multiple slides multiple real game video situation analysis and tons of background info on the whole spectrum of attack, defending possession , set pieces, Psychology training set ups, inverted wi g backs, false nines, the role of flair players, Gavins roles, the younger ones coming through - the works. 
 

Kenzi was the compère and there were at least one pre sent in question and one from the floor question from five different popular topics. The crowd responded and both she and they were very good. 
 

I will comment later on specifics if anyone’s interested or go read it in the Saintslist.m or on saints website tomorrow no doubt. 
 

Saintly regards, 

Giordano. 
 

 

Look forward to hearing more of your comments.

[Noodles34]

The key to what he was saying was it was going to take time. To get the players playing how he wants to play. 
He was very engaging and he said it was gong to come good. 
He spoke really well to be fair. 

[warsash saint]

I was there as well - reiterate what gio1saints said

RM & SW both very impressive speakers.  Key things i took away was that RM felt the team were now playing near how he wants but Rome was not built in a day...fans have to be patient as he AND club will not change their way.  So interesting when RM presented video's of games to show the tactics he was employing to make players braver on the ball & create the space on either flanks.

Good evening & certainly came away more positive

[Colinjb]

Very soon after the last forum. An attempt to get people more onside? 

[CB Fry]

43 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

The key to what he was saying was it was going to take time. To get the players playing how he wants to play. 
He was very engaging and he said it was gong to come good. 
He spoke really well to be fair. 

"Come good" meaning we finish 10th, which is around about where his teams have finished for the entirety of his managerial career.

Win the next three in a row and I'll let him wank on about scar tissue and inverted whatever as much as he likes.

Edited 18 October, 2023 by CB Fry

[Galway saint]

29 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

The key to what he was saying was it was going to take time. To get the players playing how he wants to play. 
He was very engaging and he said it was gong to come good. 
He spoke really well to be fair. 

He does speak well, but did he give an indication of how much time he needed to get the players playing how he wants to play and how will we know when he’s achieved that ? The reason I ask is that in his managerial career totalling nearly 200 games he has produced broadly as many wins and losses so it looks like the way he wants to play typically delivers as many wins as losses which means we aren’t going anywhere any time soon. 

[Saint Garrett]

Also went…Think his main point is we are starting to see it in the last 3 games, and really should have got 9 points from last 3 games, Rotherham was a freak result which we should have won by 3 or 4.

He was really impressive, stated we will get better as the season goes on but it takes time, the players are slowly learning and will get to the point where they are really confident doing what they need to, but he will be stubborn.

And this is the way the club is going, so if you want to see a bunch of lads sprinting around after the ball, flying into tackles and “getting it forward” you’re going to be disappointed. 

I thought it was really great evening, I’m obviously aware this was a PR exercise mainly, but a really worthy one. Martin has done it at his last 2 clubs, and he wants to be really open with the fans. 

We’re in really good hands with Wilcox and Martin IMO. But fans will have to have patience and not groan at every pass backwards etc, there is method to it. 

Edited 19 October, 2023 by Saint Garrett

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, Roger said:

Anything on when Ross Stewart is going to be in squad? 

Nope. There were lots of references to different players in different ways - including an astonishing (if accurate) statistic about the number of squad players out of 31 at the start of season who indicated to RH they were considering leaving. But nothing about Ross. 

[Turkish]

31 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

"Come good" meaning we finish 10th, which is around about where his teams have finished for the entirety of his managerial career.

Win the next three in a row and I'll let him wank on about scar tissue and inverted whatever as much as he likes.

What’s interesting is that it takes time but nothing to back this up. As He has two years a piece at MK Dons and Swansea when they got to know his way of playing and hit the heady heights of 13th and 10th respectively he left. So just as we start to see his philosophy manifest itself he leaves the club. Where could he have taken those clubs if he’d stayed? Who knows. What we do know is that there is pretty good chance we won’t find our here either

[hypochondriac]

15 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Also went…Think his main point is we are starting to see it in the last 3 games, and really should have got 9 points from last 3 games, Rotherham was a freak result which we should have won by 3 or 4.

He was really impressive, started we will get better as the season goes on but it takes time, the players are slowly learning and will get to the point where they are really confident doing what they need to, but he will be stubborn.
 

And this is the way the club is going, so if you want to see a bunch of lads sprinting around after the ball, flying into tackles and “getting it forward” you’re going to be disappointed. 

I thought it was really great evening, I’m obviously aware this was a PR exercise mainly, but a really worthy one. Martin has done it at his last 2 clubs, and he wants to be really open with the fans. 

We’re in really good hands with Wilcox and Martin IMO. But fans will have to have patience and not groan at every pass backwards etc, there is method to it. 

I'm not knocking this and it sounds like a good evening, but ultimately this is all bollocks if we keep losing more than winning. This approach will ultimately be dictated by results and if we get spanked too many times the it doesn't matter how much Martin says we aren't changing. 

[Patrick Bateman]

43 minutes ago, Turkish said:

What’s interesting is that it takes time but nothing to back this up. As He has two years a piece at MK Dons and Swansea when they got to know his way of playing and hit the heady heights of 13th and 10th respectively he left. So just as we start to see his philosophy manifest itself he leaves the club. Where could he have taken those clubs if he’d stayed? Who knows. What we do know is that there is pretty good chance we won’t find our here either

9th

Edited 18 October, 2023 by Patrick Bateman

[SotonianWill]

Just checked twitter (x), how come all the same people always get invited to these events?

[Fabrice29]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

What’s interesting is that it takes time but nothing to back this up. As He has two years a piece at MK Dons and Swansea when they got to know his way of playing and hit the heady heights of 13th and 10th respectively he left. So just as we start to see his philosophy manifest itself he leaves the club. Where could he have taken those clubs if he’d stayed? Who knows. What we do know is that there is pretty good chance we won’t find our here either

A managers style isn’t the only thing that dictates an outcome though. It’s not a case of ‘my style is better than yours so I win’. 

[tdmickey3]

2 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

Just checked twitter (x), how come all the same people always get invited to these events?

So the speakers get an easy ride 

So its going to be more and more of the bore fest we`ve seen for much of the season..... 10th place finish...... 😴

Edited 19 October, 2023 by tdmickey3

[Fabrice29]

2 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

Just checked twitter (x), how come all the same people always get invited to these events?

Don’t think it was an invite thing so probably because those same people go out of their way to get tickets.

[Long Shot]

I smell horseshit. 
if it’s necessary to have a sweet talking session at the stadium with gullible fans that’s a sure sign they are getting desperate. I prefer to judge what I see on the pitch and up to now I am underwhelmed. 

[SotonianWill]

8 hours ago, Turkish said:

What’s interesting is that it takes time but nothing to back this up. As He has two years a piece at MK Dons and Swansea when they got to know his way of playing and hit the heady heights of 13th and 10th respectively he left. So just as we start to see his philosophy manifest itself he leaves the club. Where could he have taken those clubs if he’d stayed? Who knows. What we do know is that there is pretty good chance we won’t find our here either

He should’ve loaded up fifa and show them his tactics working 😂

I’ll believe what I see on the pitch, but a tactics evening will fool some. Don’t be fooled people. 

[Zorba]

Does anyone really buy into this? Be patient.. just a couple more years.. We’ll still be a mid table championship side. No-one will want to play for us due to the dreary “win one week, lose the next two or three” football and RM will be off - with another mid table failure and another couple of mill in the bank. 

I’m not but it looks like we’re stuck with it.

Roll on 2025!

[Turkish]

23 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

Just checked twitter (x), how come all the same people always get invited to these events?

Saw some woman who looked in her 60s moaning on a facebook group she applied but never heard anymore. I'd have though this would have been the perfect person who would have lapped it all up and not asked any tough questions

[AlexLaw76]

I love how fans go to these things, get a few words, get their bellies tickled, have a beer and say - COYRs, it is going to be great (whilst we battle for 9th)

Edited 19 October, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, tdmickey3 said:

So the speakers get an easy ride 

So its going to be more and more of the bore fest we`ve seen for much of the season..... 10th place finish...... 😴

It was advertised on the club website - tickets cost an £3 donation to the Saints foundation. And I think ST holders got first dibs. There was no pre-selection of attendees. 250 people were there.
 

If the “ same” people seem to attend these events maybe they just like turning up to these things or care enough about the club to make the effort to find out for themselves, from the horses mouth, what’s going on in Saintsland.

The questions asked from the floor were all pretty insightful / good imo and not sycophantically worded or “planted”. 
 

Given all that it was certainly a PR exercise. But Saints are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Given the obvious support base disgruntlement at the results it was the right thing to do imo. 
 

Neither RH and JW were hiding and both took 2 solid hours out to explain, face to face and often in minute detail, the thinking, the actions, the processes, the statistics, the player feelings, their own feelings and so on.  Many ( all ) anecdotes used to flesh out the responses were first time I’d ever heard or known of. 
 

just one example: Day one someone was late to training. RH is not a fan of fines. He prefers running. So the whole squad do a punishing run. Second day someone was late. So the whole squad had to do a punishing run. Day 3 Jack Stephens ( and remember JWP was still captain at the time) went to speak to RH about it and there was a group discussion amongst the players. Result: discipline enforced, team support for each other, accountability and back up for each other reinforced, JS obvious captain and squad leader credentials exposed. 
 

Many similar stories. 

Edited 19 October, 2023 by gio1saints

[beatlesaint]

18 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

I love how fans go to these things, get a few words, get their bellies tickled, have a beer and say - COYRs, it is going to be great (whilst we battle for 9th)

I dont really get the cynicism to be honest. When have the club EVER had a session where they invite fans to a "tactics" evening? They didnt have to, there is no precident for it at this club so yeah, ok, maybe you dont like the way RM plays, I cant say I'm crazy about every aspect of it, I think a lot of it is what Strachan used to call propoganda football but bloody hell when they try to be more open and transparent they get this shite thrown at them!!  

[Saint Garrett]

1 hour ago, SotonianWill said:

Just checked twitter (x), how come all the same people always get invited to these events?

Tbf, you had to be a STH, and go on the website and buy a ticket, there were spare seats there so guessing they didn't sell them all.

10 hours ago, Turkish said:

What’s interesting is that it takes time but nothing to back this up. As He has two years a piece at MK Dons and Swansea when they got to know his way of playing and hit the heady heights of 13th and 10th respectively he left. So just as we start to see his philosophy manifest itself he leaves the club. Where could he have taken those clubs if he’d stayed? Who knows. What we do know is that there is pretty good chance we won’t find our here either

And with all due respect, proof was in the pudding last season at Swansea. Look at the last 9 games of last season.  We have a budget to be able to offer him a good chance of promotion, whether it takes a season for us to build this style, but wouldn't be surprised if we went on a similar run towards the end of this season. And when it works we look really bloody good IMO. 

He's said we're not perfect at the moment, and we're still making mistakes, he highlighted the 20 min period at the start of the second half against Rotherham where the players did the opposite of what was asked of them. We found it too easy and ended up labouring a bit. It then took one moment from their Goal kick and it's in the back of our net, we will get better at that, but ultimately if that same game was played 100 times we'd win 98/99 of them.

But atm, all of our stats and metrics (KPI's if you will) are heading in the right direction. They won't win a game on their own, but will give us the best chance to.

Edited 19 October, 2023 by Saint Garrett

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

11 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

The key to what he was saying was it was going to take time. To get the players playing how he wants to play. 
He was very engaging and he said it was gong to come good. 
He spoke really well to be fair. 

I can see a potential problem here if we're sticking to the SR 'business plan' of buying and developing players and then selling on for big profit (or keep signing loan players), if we keep losing the better ones and then have to continually wait for new arrivals to get-up-to-speed with the 'process' each time, then that will keep setting us back.

[Block41 Saint]

Did the set piece coach touch on why the opposition look far more likely to score than we do from our own corners? 

[Saint Garrett]

3 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

I can see a potential problem here if we're sticking to the SR 'business plan' of buying and developing players and then selling on for big profit (or keep signing loan players), if we keep losing the better ones and then have to continually wait for new arrivals to get-up-to-speed with the 'process' each time, then that will keep setting us back.

There is a difference between 3 or 4 learning how we play, and the whole squad learning how we play. Clearly thats why he wanted to sign Downes, Manning, THB, the rest of the city kids too.  This is a long term thing, this isn't going to happen in a few months, but the club is working on a long term plan. This is about building a club including the academy sides, playing in the same way and building a side that will go up and stay up. The goal is still top 10 of the premier league. 

[badgerx16]

20 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Tbf, you had to be a STH, and go on the website and buy a ticket, there were spare seats there so guessing they didn't sell them all.

And with all due respect, proof was in the pudding last season at Swansea. Look at the last 9 games of last season.  We have a budget to be able to offer him a good chance of promotion, whether it takes a season for us to build this style, but wouldn't be surprised if we went on a similar run towards the end of this season. And when it works we look really bloody good IMO. 

He's said we're not perfect at the moment, and we're still making mistakes, he highlighted the 20 min period at the start of the second half against Rotherham where the players did the opposite of what was asked of them. We found it too easy and ended up labouring a bit. It then took one moment from their Goal kick and it's in the back of our net, we will get better at that, but ultimately if that same game was played 100 times we'd win 98/99 of them.

But atm, all of our stats and metrics (KPI's if you will) are heading in the right direction. They won't win a game on their own, but will give us the best chance to.

Going on that sort of late run would brilliant if it started in the play off spots, but where did Swansea start and end that run ? 17th and 10th.

Edited 19 October, 2023 by badgerx16

[Give it to Ron]

You can have all the forums you want and explanations on tactics to rival The Emporers New Clothes.

If you have just been bumped 5-0 you do not play inverted full backs in centre of midfield gifting goals after 26 seconds. Leicester ran riot down the left with KWP in centre midfield.

Thats not tactics it’s lunacy yet our fan base buys in to these platitudes.

It’s not about lumping it forward - who to? It’s about not playing your customers and thinking all are dumb and can’t see through this bollox.

Give us time……where has this worked before? Why do we think we can do something no other club has thought of before?

Play best players in best positions to the best tactics not some fairy tippy tap bollox with kids, youth and prem cast offs like Fraser and Holgate.

 

Edited 19 October, 2023 by Give it to Ron

[Disco Stu]

We already knew he could talk the talk. Presumably, that's how he got the job with such an average CV.

[revolution saint]

Cheers for updates @Saint Garrett and @gio1saints  Sounds like an interesting evening.

Appreciate the team is judged on the pitch etc etc but I quite like hearing about the tactical side of things and what they're trying to achieve.  

[gio1saints]

If anyone has a specific question and I heard JW or RH answer it I’m ok with a polite DM. 
It is v difficult as an audience member trying to explain why they are doing what they do to this forum without sounding like an apologist ie excuse maker for not being top of the league by now. 
What I can assure you is that I came away feeling reassured by it.  Those guys are trustworthy honest and honourable. Frankly good fair decent saints guys I’d have a pint with anytime. 

[Long Shot]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

It was advertised on the club website - tickets cost an £3 donation to the Saints foundation. And I think ST holders got first dibs. There was no pre-selection of attendees. 250 people were there.
 

If the “ same” people seem to attend these events maybe they just like turning up to these things or care enough about the club to make the effort to find out for themselves, from the horses mouth, what’s going on in Saintsland.

The questions asked from the floor were all pretty insightful / good imo and not sycophantically worded or “planted”. 
 

Given all that it was certainly a PR exercise. But Saints are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Given the obvious support base disgruntlement at the results it was the right thing to do imo. 
 

Neither RH and JW were hiding and both took 2 solid hours out to explain, face to face and often in minute detail, the thinking, the actions, the processes, the statistics, the player feelings, their own feelings and so on.  Many ( all ) anecdotes used to flesh out the responses were first time I’d ever heard or known of. 
 

just one example: Day one someone was late to training. RH is not a fan of fines. He prefers running. So the whole squad do a punishing run. Second day someone was late. So the whole squad had to do a punishing run. Day 3 Jack Stephens ( and remember JWP was still captain at the time) went to speak to RH about it and there was a group discussion amongst the players. Result: discipline enforced, team support for each other, accountability and back up for each other reinforced, JS obvious captain and squad leader credentials exposed. 
 

Many similar stories. 

I don’t think there was a demand from any fans for this to happen? The fact KB was drafted in to compere sort of tells me this was one large PR exercise to win over some fans who were keen to be won over. I am sure RM is a very likeable human being but I’m not really interested in that bit about him. I am only interested in can he win matches playing vaguely decent football. I don’t think he can otherwise last night would have been unnecessary. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Tbf, you had to be a STH, and go on the website and buy a ticket, there were spare seats there so guessing they didn't sell them all.

And with all due respect, proof was in the pudding last season at Swansea. Look at the last 9 games of last season.  We have a budget to be able to offer him a good chance of promotion, whether it takes a season for us to build this style, but wouldn't be surprised if we went on a similar run towards the end of this season. And when it works we look really bloody good IMO. 

He's said we're not perfect at the moment, and we're still making mistakes, he highlighted the 20 min period at the start of the second half against Rotherham where the players did the opposite of what was asked of them. We found it too easy and ended up labouring a bit. It then took one moment from their Goal kick and it's in the back of our net, we will get better at that, but ultimately if that same game was played 100 times we'd win 98/99 of them.

But atm, all of our stats and metrics (KPI's if you will) are heading in the right direction. They won't win a game on their own, but will give us the best chance to.

Good run of form or Martins methods taking hold? 

I like Martin a lot as a bloke, comes across well, talks very well, seems authentic, but midtable finishes at both clubs he's been at is hardly a ringing endorsement. I hope we go on a great run and go up, i hope everything works out and i really hope we can keep the better players in the squad. Time will tell but if we dont go up this or next season he wont be here, i'd pretty much guarentee it.

[Toussaint]

12 hours ago, Noodles34 said:

The key to what he was saying was it was going to take time. To get the players playing how he wants to play. 
He was very engaging and he said it was gong to come good. 
He spoke really well to be fair. 

The very thing we do not have if we are to bounce straight back.

[trousers]

I'm yet to be convinced but thanks for the feedback from those who went.

The nagging question I have (along with a few fellow forum members above) is.... if these tactics are the best way to get out of this division then why has no other team succeeded with it (to my knowledge)? It all sounds very clever and sophisticated but if it's such a good way of playing why isn't anyone else doing it? Surely if its the best way of playing (in this league in particular) then we wouldn't be alone? #logic

(sorry, make that 3 nagging questions, but all amounting to the same thing! )

Edited 19 October, 2023 by trousers

[gio1saints]

21 minutes ago, Long Shot said:

I don’t think there was a demand from any fans for this to happen? The fact KB was drafted in to compere sort of tells me this was one large PR exercise to win over some fans who were keen to be won over. I am sure RM is a very likeable human being but I’m not really interested in that bit about him. I am only interested in can he win matches playing vaguely decent football. I don’t think he can otherwise last night would have been unnecessary. 

Fair enough. Yes it was a PR exercise. Public Relations is not ALL about lying to customers in order to keep them buying your product/ service/ narrative though 😁
 

JW in particular emphasised that supporter connection was a vital element  in the process. RM said fan connection was easy when you win - we dont care how bad we play as long as we got 3 points- but that when results  go badly he expects to “ get hammered” called an “arrogant  prick” and so on ( his own words). So he and JW were discussing the tactics and situation that we were seeing and essentially  said why not share this with the support somehow so maybe they will have greater understanding for the scale  and scope of what’s being attempted. And with that understanding maybe confidence emerges or faith or reassurance. The opposite of hopelessness anyway. Hence the “ PR” fan forum strategy meeting. 
 

He gave a telling story about his last match after 7 or 8(or 9) years as captain of Norwich I think it was when he was booed by his own fans. In his final match. So he gets that some support dont care about anything other than the 3 pts here and now. Totally gets it. And not got a problem with it. Just wanted to inform that there was purpose - and proper decent footballingideals - behind everything. 
 

He just wants us to play beautiful winning football. Not slowly not “down the channels” but in the most highly regarded style that is in use by the best English teams right now, Our goal is to get as good as they. But sustainably because we cannot buy Foden, Grealish, Stones etc. 
 

 

Edited 19 October, 2023 by gio1saints

[maysie]

11 minutes ago, trousers said:

I'm yet to be convinced but thanks for the feedback from those who went.

The nagging question I have (along with a few fellow forum members above) is.... if these tactics are the best way to get out of this division then why has no other team succeeded with it (to my knowledge)? It all sounds very clever and sophisticated but if it's such a good way of playing why isn't anyone else doing it? Surely if its the best way of playing (in this league in particular) then we wouldn't be alone? #logic

(sorry, make that 3 nagging questions, but all amounting to the same thing! )

I don’t think it’s the best way to play to get out of this league per se, but it’s the best way for a team of our calibre to play, and when promoted stay in the Premier League and build like a Brighton for example. 

Thats my take anyway.

If you haven’t seen it check out the Burnley documentary on Sky, it’s not a million miles away from what we are trying to do and it worked for them.

 

 

[Toussaint]

I'm "probably" not a very nice person, but when it comes to the running of SFC I do not give a flying how nice anybody is and how well they come across. In fact I'd welcome a collection of absolute bastards to run the show if that bought us a bit of success, entertainment, excitement and re established a connection with the team. Absolute bollocks to all this high-brow tactical smoke and mirrors that peasants like me do not really get and the touchy feely virtuous shite!

[Dman]

Its clearly a PR stunt to try and get fans on board after the boo's are starting to return to St Marys, but it comes across as arrogance from the club, beyond belief. 

Martin, the master of mid-table, is in no position to start lecturing of how his tactics 'will come good'.

It hasn't taken Enzo time to get a tune out of Leicester, playing a very similar style.

[notnowcato]

4 minutes ago, Dman said:

 

Martin, the master of mid-table, is in no position to start lecturing of how his tactics 'will come good'.

 

But you are perfectly qualified to judge how a transformation is progressing. Give me a break. 

[Long Shot]

22 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Fair enough. Yes it was a PR exercise. Public Relations is not ALL about lying to customers in order to keep them buying your product/ service/ narrative though 😁
 

JW in particular emphasised that supporter connection was a vital element  in the process. RM said fan connection was easy when you win - we dont care how bad we play as long as we got 3 points- but that when results  go badly he expects to “ get hammered” called an “arrogant  prick” and so on ( his own words). So he and JW were discussing the tactics and situation that we were seeing and essentially  said why not share this with the support somehow so maybe they will have greater understanding for the scale  and scope of what’s being attempted. And with that understanding maybe confidence emerges or faith or reassurance. The opposite of hopelessness anyway. Hence the “ PR” fan forum strategy meeting. 
 

He gave a telling story about his last match after 7 or 8(or 9) years as captain of Norwich I think it was when he was booed by his own fans. In his final match. So he gets that some support dont care about anything other than the 3 pts here and now. Totally gets it. And not got a problem with it. Just wanted to inform that there was purpose - and proper decent footballingideals - behind everything. 
 

He just wants us to play beautiful winning football. Not slowly not “down the channels” but in the most highly regarded style that is in use by the best English teams right now, Our goal is to get as good as they. But sustainably because we cannot buy Foden, Grealish, Stones etc. 
 

 

Appreciate the reply and I accept you are only telling it how you see it. I would really like to be convinced and give him time but he has been a manager for 4 seasons now and has an average finish of 14th if my maths is correct. I am comparing him to the likes of Leicester who do not seem to deem it appropriate to call a seminar to explain why they feel they have it right. Their fans just have to look at the table. Early days I accept but I reckon we are where we ought to be and both managers have been at their clubs a similar length of time. And let’s not forget we did the double over them last season. 
Of course the elephant in the room remains the catastrophic and incomprehensible appointment of Jones last season which has completely undermined any confidence many of us have in the managerial appointment process at St Mary’s. 

[ErwinK1961]

We don’t half have some miserable cunts in the fanbase. 

[Tamesaint]

2 hours ago, gio1saints said:

It was advertised on the club website - tickets cost an £3 donation to the Saints foundation. And I think ST holders got first dibs. There was no pre-selection of attendees. 250 people were there.
 

If the “ same” people seem to attend these events maybe they just like turning up to these things or care enough about the club to make the effort to find out for themselves, from the horses mouth, what’s going on in Saintsland.

The questions asked from the floor were all pretty insightful / good imo and not sycophantically worded or “planted”. 
 

Given all that it was certainly a PR exercise. But Saints are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Given the obvious support base disgruntlement at the results it was the right thing to do imo. 
 

Neither RH and JW were hiding and both took 2 solid hours out to explain, face to face and often in minute detail, the thinking, the actions, the processes, the statistics, the player feelings, their own feelings and so on.  Many ( all ) anecdotes used to flesh out the responses were first time I’d ever heard or known of. 
 

just one example: Day one someone was late to training. RH is not a fan of fines. He prefers running. So the whole squad do a punishing run. Second day someone was late. So the whole squad had to do a punishing run. Day 3 Jack Stephens ( and remember JWP was still captain at the time) went to speak to RH about it and there was a group discussion amongst the players. Result: discipline enforced, team support for each other, accountability and back up for each other reinforced, JS obvious captain and squad leader credentials exposed. 
 

Many similar stories. 

Can you spill the beans on these similar stories? 

JWP referred to slipped standards at the end of last season. This is a good example.