Ivan Juric

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

34 minutes ago, madge said:

I liked juric for his honesty and that he wasn’t prepared to take any shit from what appears to be a mentally weak squad of players who were disappointed to see Martin leave. He  had no hope really as the squad had completely gone. Juric tried different things, some were odd but I suppose he tried a different formula. His career won’t be defined by the shit show at saints. He seemed a decent bloke and wish him luck. Sports republic though have destroyed this club. Alex crook completely nailed it when he said Rasmus Ankerson had broken SFC, Ankerson should be absolutely destroyed by our fan base if he ever attends a game here again. 

I think that Sports Republic have acted in good faith. They have certainly spend the money. I think that they have been very badly advised.

[Galway saint]

It doesn't matter who we appoint as manager in the PL as until we sign some ( a lot) decent players the story will be the same. We have a really poor squad. We don't need to spend hundreds of  million but next time round (if there is a next time) we have to spend  money on several proven PL players who can hit the ground running. 

The gap is also now so wide the promoted teams are uncompetitive - can anyone really see Burnley, Sheffield United and Leeds staying up next year ?

It's been the most dull year of PL football I can remember. No title race and the relegation spots effectively confirmed months ago. 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

Despite his sometimes strange selection and substitution decisions, Juric was IMO spot on in his post-match assessments, his appreciation of the fans who attended the matches and were vocal in support of effort from the players, his insistence that the players applauded the fans and his criticisms of past decisions by the club, specifically those connected with recruitment, which gave us, as he emphasised, an unbalanced squad that lacked the physicality to compete in the EPL.  I just hope that he bemoaned the crap that he found here and the reasons why that came about in his internal discussions with DS and others at the club.  I am disappointed that he did not do better but not really surprised that it ended as it did.

Two more points and the world will be a better place.

[Lighthouse]

Saints are now on their third manager since Leicester last scored at home. Not won, scored.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

One track mind manager brought into replace one track mind manager, by one track mind recruiters who think they are smarter than everyone else, and can bring success on the cheap. Again.

Hopefully, with the back of this one Spors will be able to tell Solak that, while having some innovative ideas isn't in itself terrible, it shouldn't be at the expense of being remotely competitive. 

That's assuming they do want to be a PL team, and not just farm youngsters and left field players to bigger clubs, with promotion and immediate relegation seen as a windfall every now and again.

I'd like to see us get someone in who has had some experience with success. That means they are going to challenge SR, which is as it should be. SR have to decide what it is they want to be. Another up and coming manager for an up and coming team just increases the chances of yet another repeat. Hopefully, they are looking for someone with experience to get us where we want to go, not someone who simply dreams of what it will feel like.

 

 

 

[woodsaint1]

I dont feel sorry for him at all....he was fucking dreadful.

Yes he inherited a terrible team, but he talked up how he had been analysing us for months and also prided himself on being defensive astute.

He then proceeded to

1. Play James Bree or Joe Aribo as a CB

2. Start some games with 4 full backs

3. Play most games with 7/8 defensive players

4. Start some games with no recognised striker

5. Employ some mental man marking system which hasnt be seen since the early 90s.

All in all he delivered 4 points from 42 and is the worst PL manager to have coached 10+ games in the league. We conceded 38 goals in that run (nearly 3 per game) and the players looked like they didnt know what they were supposed to do (they deserve alot of the criticism too).

I definitely wasnt expecting him to keep us up, but I was expecting him to make us more defensively sound and organised in the hope that we could win a few games and delay the inevitable until at least the last few games. Somehow he took us backwards which is some achievement.

[Thereisonlyonemickychannon]

At least the owners made a decision quickly. It gives me hope that we can be a much better team next season.

[Sheaf Saint]

Sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't see it anywhere...

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/25068287.juric-sends-message-southampton-board-relegation/

Can't disagree with a single word of this. The recruitment last summer was a whole new level of terrible.

[Whitey Grandad]

11 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

I think the players have been escaping this the most.

2 manages, 2 completely different styles of football and they can't play either.

As I said in the COT thread can sports republic give the French based players a rest this summer.

Because those two styles were useless. 

[Whitey Grandad]

9 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Saints are now on their third manager since Leicester last scored at home. Not won, scored.

There’s always someone worse off in the world than you are.

[OldNick]

1 hour ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Sorry if this has already been posted but I couldn't see it anywhere...

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/25068287.juric-sends-message-southampton-board-relegation/

Can't disagree with a single word of this. The recruitment last summer was a whole new level of terrible.

Yep he is correct, shame he couldnt impliment it , or we gt somebody who can

[Football Special]

Farewell Ivan, we'll never forget you. 

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Because those two styles were useless. 

How many styles and managers will we have to go through in the Prem to establish that they aren’t the root of the problem in your mind out of interest? 

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Fabrice29 said:

How many styles and managers will we have to go through in the Prem to establish that they aren’t the root of the problem in your mind out of interest? 

I would suggest that we need a sample of more than just the two.

I’m sick and tired of our club being used as an experiment in footballing philosophy by some manager or other trying to prove that his way is the only way. All I ask is a settled team that knows how to defend and knows where the opposition goal is. One that doesn’t chop and change from one game to the next. As the great Mike Bassett once said,

”Four-Four-Fucking-Two”

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Fabrice29 said:

How many styles and managers will we have to go through in the Prem to establish that they aren’t the root of the problem in your mind out of interest? 

Like most things, it's a combination. Which is why every party has supporters and detractors.

SR have put money in. But their plan on outsmarting others was fatally flawed, and they keep repeating it.

Ralph. Martin, Jones and Juric have specific styles. All of them have suffered from SR not filling key first team gaps and their wider decisions. Yet all were masters of their own downfalls too.

Our playing squad has been brought in on SR's strategies and those of the managers they selected. Different styles, different requirements, with a bloated squad resulting in a leaderless group of mentally shot drones. Even there, you can see the effort of some. And it's still got plenty of players who got us promoted last time.

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I would suggest that we need a sample of more than just the two.

I’m sick and tired of our club being used as an experiment in footballing philosophy by some manager or other trying to prove that his way is the only way. All I ask is a settled team that knows how to defend and knows where the opposition goal is. One that doesn’t chop and change from one game to the next. As the great Mike Bassett once said,

”Four-Four-Fucking-Two”

Well there's been 6 over 2 seasons in the PL. I think blaming managers and style is such an easy cop out and doesn't actually tackle the root cause of the issue. The idea that we're losing again so it must be the style and manager is exactly what leads us into a 3rd manager in a season again. 

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Like most things, it's a combination. Which is why every party has supporters and detractors.

SR have put money in. But their plan on outsmarting others was fatally flawed, and they keep repeating it.

Ralph. Martin, Jones and Juric have specific styles. All of them have suffered from SR not filling key first team gaps and their wider decisions. Yet all were masters of their own downfalls too.

Our playing squad has been brought in on SR's strategies and those of the managers they selected. Different styles, different requirements, with a bloated squad resulting in a leaderless group of mentally shot drones. Even there, you can see the effort of some. And it's still got plenty of players who got us promoted last time.

Yeah I think you're bang on here. Don't actually think having a style is an issue, I'm personally in the camp of we should be having one instead of "adaptable" but the key is recruitment and patience and then having a manager to implement it/and or help themselves whilst finding the time to implement it. Don't think we've had enough of any of those things at this level over the past two attempts. Players not good enough, bad results, managers getting stroppy/and or stubborn and recruitment done to pacify them before very quickly binning them off and doing something different.

Now we've finally replaced Wilcox I'm hoping we'll go back to some joined up, long term thinking again. Going into the PL without anyone heading that up was a terrible idea and just resulted in us attacking the season which a bunch of players the manager naturally felt loyal too but also was full of players we'd seen fail at this level before. We really need someone to be thinking with a much bigger and more objective overview of things and hopefully Spors can be it.

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

16 hours ago, madge said:

Ankerson should be absolutely destroyed by our fan base if he ever attends a game here again. 

Some of our Nods would probably applaud him…

Edited Tuesday at 13:11 by Lord Duckhunter

[Whitey Grandad]

6 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Some of our Nods would probably applaud him…

Can applause ever be sarcastic?

[Farmer Saint]

I feel for both Martin & Juric, they were given such a poor side to try to stay up this season that this was wholly predictable. The amount of abuse I got when I was putting these ideas forward was disgraceful, but then I do appreciate the apologies that I got sent, so all is well on the farm.

Martin & Juric were given a team equivalent to a chef being asked to cook a Michelin starred meal with a Fisher Price hot plate and Play-doh utensils. Before anything happens then squad needs stripping down and being sold for parts - every defender needs to leave for example - and Spors to start completely from scratch. We are fine financially, so let's see what we can do with no legacy players.

 

Edited Tuesday at 14:05 by Farmer Saint

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, Farmer Saint said:

I feel for both Martin & Juric, they were given such a poor side to try to stay up this season that this was wholly predictable. The amount of abuse I got when I was putting these ideas forward was disgraceful, but then I do appreciate the apologies that I got sent, so all is well on the farm.

Martin & Juric were given a team equivalent to a chef being asked to cook a Michelin Chef meal with Fisher Price hot plate and Play-doh utensils. Before anything happens then squad needs stripping down - every defender needs to leave for example - and Spors to start completely from scratch. We are fine financially, so let's see what we can do with no legacy players.

Have you considered Russell Martin played a key role in assembling the squad for this season? He wanted to stay loyal to those players that won promotion, even though they weren't good enough. We needed a complete overhaul in the summer of 2024 and didn't get one. Martin can't blame the tools when he help pick which ones he wanted this season. Juric was a tactical disaster, but he was hamstrung by the squad Martin left him!

[Farmer Saint]

27 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Have you considered Russell Martin played a key role in assembling the squad for this season? He wanted to stay loyal to those players that won promotion, even though they weren't good enough. We needed a complete overhaul in the summer of 2024 and didn't get one. Martin can't blame the tools when he help pick which ones he wanted this season. Juric was a tactical disaster, but he was hamstrung by the squad Martin left him!

When you're given £100m to try to solve a £250m hole it's all that can be done. But that's PSR for you!

Edited Tuesday at 14:36 by Farmer Saint

[Matthew Le God]

12 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

When you're given £100m to try to solve a £250m hole it's all that can be done. But that's PSR for you!

The £100m was spent very poorly. He also could have raised more to spend if he asked for a clearout of existing players who weren't good enough for the Premier League rather than being loyal to them.

[Doctoroncall]

Anyone now how much Ipswich spent?

they at least seemed to have a better idea of targets for performing in the PL but are still well short (probably from the players already on the books). 

[Lighthouse]

24 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

The £100m was spent very poorly. He also could have raised more to spend if he asked for a clear out of existing players who weren't good enough for the Premier League rather than being loyal to them.

He should never have been in charge of recruitment at all. The fact that we let a man who has only ever managed at Championship level conduct our transfer deals just shows how badly organised we are/were in that department. Saying what he should and shouldn’t have done is beside the point, it should never have been him making the decisions.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Can applause ever be sarcastic?

A slow clap as he does a lap of honour on "Mr. Football" day.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, Doctoroncall said:

Anyone now how much Ipswich spent?

they at least seemed to have a better idea of targets for performing in the PL but are still well short (probably from the players already on the books). 

a quick totalling (from Ipswich wiki page) gives approx 104M with a couple of million going the other way.

I got the feeling that some of the players they got, were ones we were looking at.

For me, it's an example as I put above about the strengths and weaknesses across everything.

If our scouts/ data were identifying some of their players, and they're effective then not everything about or recruitment can be bad.

However, Ipswich could be straight back down with us. So, their target list may be just as flawed.

But with a Delap, Hutchinson, Clarke and Szmodics combined with what we had, and replacing a lot of who we ended up with (and a decent DM), who knows. As you say, still looks like a struggle. But all our managers may have had just a bit more, to get some points on the board.

Ipswich may offer more in wages. SR are keen to keep these very low, while buying in bulk.

As Farmer said, the amount needed could well have been a lot higher than either could spend.

Edited Tuesday at 17:49 by Holmes_and_Watson

[Farmer Saint]

5 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

a quick totalling (from Ipswich wiki page) gives approx 104M with a couple of million going the other way.

I got the feeling that some of the players they got, were ones we were looking at.

For me, it's an example as I put above about the strengths and weaknesses across everything.

If our scouts/ data were identifying some of their players, and they're effective then not everything about or recruitment can be bad.

However, Ipswich could be straight back down with us. So, their target list may be just as flawed.

But with a Delap, Hutchinson, Clarke and Szmodics combined with what we had, and replacing a lot of who we ended up with (and a decent DM), who knows. As you say, still looks like a struggle. But all our managers may have had just a bit more, to get some points on the board.

Ipswich may offer more in wages. SR are keen to keep these very low, while buying in bulk.

As Farmer said, the amount needed could well have been a lot higher than either could spend.

£150m approx for Ipswich before wages.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/ipswich-town/transfers/verein/677/saison_id/2024

[Farmer Saint]

6 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

The £100m was spent very poorly. He also could have raised more to spend if he asked for a clearout of existing players who weren't good enough for the Premier League rather than being loyal to them.

We had to replace all but what, 1 player? £30m is probably the going amount for a Premier League player, so what, £600m?

[Gloucester Saint]

13 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

We had to replace all but what, 1 player? £30m is probably the going amount for a Premier League player, so what, £600m?

I’d say typically £30m but not always eg Semenyo at Bournemouth. Theirs and Brighton’s squads aren’t all £30m a player but they know when to push the boat out. They’ll have a couple of bad windows at some stage like us and Leicester, Brighton had a ropey one but they fixed in the next.

That is what Saints and Leicester didn’t do. After the Fonte debacle cost us a trophy plus VVD’s injury, Reed bought Wesley fucking Hoedt, fringe player at Lazio for £17m, £30m today. Never a PL defender, too slow, and didn’t look that great for Watford in the league below bar one fluke goal. Dreadful attitude to cap it all off. Needed to be a £25m tower of pace from the VVD funds. Instead, that flopped and ended up with Bednarek as cover becoming first choice, Vestergaard, a half-arsed Salisu and regressing as far as Lyanco.

Edited Tuesday at 21:27 by Gloucester Saint