Is it still Squeaky Bum time for the Saints?

A manager with little grasp of the language, an inexperienced squad and a tricky fixture list should leave Saints fans worried despite their performance against Liverpool. With only 4 points separating themselves and the bottom three, Southampton's stay in the premier league is starting to mirror that of Blackpool.

 A few weeks ago in his post interview for MOTD, I noticed that Saints' Manager Mauricio Pochettino requested a translator to assist him. While I'm certainly no xenophobe, I firmly believe a Premier League manager should be able to converse with his players adequately. I try to position myself in that dressing room by comparing it to my school French lessons. Basically, you try your best to understand, but ultimately, you end up drawing uncompromising pictures in your mates book. While this comparison is sketchy at best, it delivers an ultimate message: Why over-complicate things? Atkins had the confidence of his players, was slowly picking up results in a new league and represented an up and coming contingent of British managers.

 Moreover, he knew his squad, nurturing them from the depths of League 1. For the players, once the thrill of impressing new management has passed, they are faced with the reality of not knowing where they stand. Perhaps this is why the Saints haven't been picking up the results recently. We as fans often forget that footballers are humans and the job isn't simply 90 minutes on a pitch. Imagine having to re-establish yourself at work while your workload is at its optimum. (As I write this Southampton have just banged in two against Liverpool...the curses of blog writing).

 I'm not suggesting that the Saints will necessarily go down this season. Rather, I look at the teams around them who boast more experience in a relegation scrap. Firstly, Aston Villa represent a club desperate not to go down because of their stature. They are now picking up results when it matters and boast a formidable frontline. Coupled with this, Wigan have proven over the last couple of seasons that they love a good flirt with relegation but have severe issues when it comes down to commitment. Finally, it is impossible to rule out 'Arry Houdini pulling off a miracle at big spending QPR. All these points add together to form a mean cocktail against Southampton.

 So, what can I conclude from my ramblings? Well, for one thing, Southampton should watch carefully over their shoulders for the rest of the season. However, perhaps the overall message is that Premier League Owners should trust the skills of English management. How do we expect to encourage football at the grass root level if the "English" Barclays Premier League is dominated by foreign management?

Comments

[skeckersley]

Its hard to take this article seriously when its main argument is that Saints replaced an Englishman with an Argentine but cant even get ADKINS name correct! The Saints have lost just 5 times in the last 20, have a far superior goal difference to their rivals and a number of players (Lallana, Shaw, Clyne, Lambert) being discussed as deserving International honours. The teams run in is not especially difficult with only Chelsea (H) and Tottenham (A) from the top 7. The truth is that had they not suffered such a horrendous start (4 points from 10 games) they would be sitting pretty in mid table. They are not yet clear of relegation but with QPR and Reading already looking doomed and Sunderland falling like a stone, it is implausible to believe that Southampton will fall through the relegation trapdoor!

[Southampton Fan]

I agree with the English managers point and think that more should be done to help young british managers in the game.
However I'd like to point out that I don't believe you've done your homework on the rest of the article before writing the article. If you were so interested in the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, you'd have realised that he can in fact speak English, he just isn't comfortable speaking it in front of the cameras yet. Whilst I loved Adkins and will always praise the work he put in to get the club to where its at, ultimately he made the wrong decisions at the wrong time. Who brings on three attackers when you're 2-1 up against the worlds best comeback kings. I could list the decisions but i'm not going to.

Poch has installed a new belief into the team, who would have bet on Saints beating City and Liverpool so comfortably at home? Who would have thought that Sir Alex would have stated that Saints were the best attacking team he'd seen at Old Trafford this season?

I hope the doubters are shown up come the end of the season.

-Southampton Fan.

[Simon]

Completely nonsensical article. A tricky fixture list? We have Chelsea at home and Spurs away but apart from that, nothing too frightening. We have played Man U, Man C and Arsenal twice whereas a lot of other teams near the bottom still have to play them. I would say our run-in is the easiest of all the teams that are down the bottom.

[SEPP BLABBERMOUTH]

You all present a valid argument and I must apologise for the human error regarding the"Atkins"gate scandal...must have been thinking about dieting at the time.

However, I would argue against the 'nonsensical' statement because I stand by my beliefs that Southampton have as hard a run in as any team at the bottom. The whole point of the article is that QPR, Aston Villa and Wigan all have experience. As you have pointed out, Chelsea and Spurs are hard fixtures. What you have failed to highlight is the fact that the saints have to play a lot of the surrounding teams, each fighting for their lives. Perhaps I should have gone into more depth regarding my reasoning so I reserve the right to be challenged.

The 'lack of homework' comment was very witty if you meant it to fit in with the whole french lesson theme.

Thank you for the feedback.

[skeckersley]

You comment that QPR, Wigan and Villa have experience which will help them. This might prove correct as Saints themselves showed over many years during the 90's. However relegated sides invariably fall into one or more of three camps - lack of quality, lack of cohesion or fear! Southampton have quality in abundance with Lambert being the leading English goalscorer in the Premier League, Lallana having already featured in tthe England squad this season and Ramirez and Boruc being regular internationals. Add to that Shaw (surely the Young player of the Year) and Clyne and you surely have Englands future full back pairing. Oh, and Schneiderlin is the top tackler and interceptor in the Premier League. Cohesion - despite the sacking of Adkins there is an absolute togetherness at the Club - including fans and players. No booing from the St Mary's stands! As for fear - well performances against Man Utd, Man City and Liverpool have shown that it doesnt exist. Saints arent perfect - defeat at home to QPR and dropped points from dominant positions show that, but are better than at least 3 teams. To summarise - I suggest that you look elsewhere for your fall guys cos the Saints are Staying Up!

[Saint]

Oh dear. If you're going to write an article on a team, do your research first, saves you looking like a total idiot!!

[Saint]

To add to the above replies correcting your mistakes.
The Saints are in the process of extending the players contracts, most of the best ones have already agreed new deals. I think the players have all agreed to stay for at least 3 more years and see where we are after that.