Probably highlighting our ex-players because he was ignorant about others. If you look at the ages of those who arrived and, perhaps more importantly, the ages of those who left, you can see that Southampton gambled on a high-risk strategy. They arguably gambled on getting a younger team in one summer and hoped that there would still be enough experience at the club to guarantee their survival this season, after which they would build again and climb the table based on that combined experience . The failure of that strategy does not lie with kids fresh out of academies.Jeff stellings take, Lavia and all the other city youngsters weren't up to doing a man's job and keeping the Saints up!, interesting point of view.
They're a weird team. Last season, from the first 7 and last 12 games, they took just 9 points. Relegation form.Southampton sacked Hasenhüttl after he had taken only 12 points from the first 15 games. From the subsequent 21 games, they have taken 12 points.
There’s a really insightful article in The Times today about them by Tom Allnutt, with some good (anonymous) quotes from inside the club, which paints a damning picture of what’s gone on.Probably highlighting our ex-players because he was ignorant about others. If you look at the ages of those who arrived and, perhaps more importantly, the ages of those who left, you can see that Southampton gambled on a high-risk strategy. They arguably gambled on getting a younger team in one summer and hoped that there would still be enough experience at the club to guarantee their survival this season, after which they would build again and climb the table based on that combined experience . The failure of that strategy does not lie with kids fresh out of academies.
https://www.transfermarkt.com/fc-southampton/transfers/verein/180
Haven’t seen it but then what you say doesn’t come as a surprise. From the link I posted above, we can see that they brought in almost an entire team of players aged 25 or under, none of whom had substantial top-flight experience, from fees ranging from 500K to 25m. With such a scattergun approach, you would expect one bullet to hit the target, and it just so happens it’s Lavia.There’s a really insightful article in The Times today about them by Tom Allnutt, with some good (anonymous) quotes from inside the club, which paints a damning picture of what’s gone on.
However, he makes an exception of, and actually names Lavia, as an exception who is viewed internally and externally as having been a real success and worth upward of £40million on the transfer market.
Always wary when clubs wield the axe on managers, and from what I can gather strategic decisions were made right up the chain.They're a weird team. Last season, from the first 7 and last 12 games, they took just 9 points. Relegation form.
In the middle 19 they took 31 points. European form.
Worth considering for sure.Haven’t seen it but then what you say doesn’t come as a surprise. From the link I posted above, we can see that they brought in almost an entire team of players aged 25 or under, none of whom had substantial top-flight experience, from fees ranging from 500K to 25m. With such a scattergun approach, you would expect one bullet to hit the target, and it just so happens it’s Lavia.
If the rumours of us having an option on Lavia are true, I hope we exercise it and bring him back.
More iron pyrite with the occasional nugget. When clubs such as Southampton end up having three managers in a season, then subdivisions, cliques, and disharmony amongst the players can only be expected, and because they now have so many young players, who might even have exit clauses, they are not in a strong position to build for immediate promotion.Worth considering for sure.
The one I read talked about subdivisions in the dressing room between young and older players, and African and French-speaking cliques; a lack of connection between different parts of the club, and a recruiting team who boasted “anything they touched would turn to gold”.