Southampton V Watford Build up and match day thread

I cant see Les Reed getting any credit at all for Pele and Tadic! Very clearly these were Koeman buys. Mane maybe but as he was already on strike for a move im not so sure. The fact he got Koeman was his real success. Poch was nothing to do with him

As for unearthing gems being very tricky. I agree it is, but as Watford prooved on Saterday its not that tricky.

I think Les is really good at making his job seem harder than it is. Any talk about getting us up from Leauge 1 is irrelvent usnless it is a suggestion that he should go back to Charlton. We are in the Premier League. If we want European football we need to up our game in executive management and the players we get in. At this early stage it seems too many mistakes are being made.

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Sympathy upvote you spanner…

But the worrying thing is both shots were outside of the area and Forster wasn’t able to react quickly enough. Seems to me he is slow to get down* fast enough these days. His Achilles heel, that Watford took advantage or just luck on the day?

*Not as in strutting his stuff on the dance floor - though that may be an issue too, but we haven’t been told…

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I have a feeling that The Monster Mash is his number.

I agree with the slow getting down and faster keepers may and I mean may have reached those ball but I’d have been fkn impressed if he’d saved them, him or any other keeper come to that.

Don’t know @cellone , the first goal didn’t seem to be hit with any power, yeah it was wide of him but he just didn’t seem to react to it. It was right in front of me too as I was in the Chapel (but I’m not going to get married!!).

And there is the rub. As with Rupert Lowe as I remember, anything that goes wrong is down to Reed, anything that goes right is down to someone else. I read elsewhere that Reed was responsible for all signings. Perhaps he is, perhaps he isnt, but if he signs them off then he has a part to play in the process (as I assume he also says no to some). All the way through our journey from Division 1 I have read about all the mistakes we have made, and yet we are where we are. Amazing for a club riddled with poor decision making. Funny how people outside the club, without an axe to grind, talk about us an example of a well run football club. Considering that we do not have the clout of the likes of the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Liverpool we have done amazingly well over the last few years (despite with the apparently crap Les Reed on board). We are never going to compete with the top clubs but I dont see as trying to best of the rest is such a bad thing. I can certainly live with 8th and good cup runs. I have been a Saints supporter since 1966 and this is the best period I can remember apart from the McMenemy years. It is by no means perfect, it never has been, even under McMenemy, but I really dont see why the club (and Reed) get so much stick.

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If Reed gets credit for buying he surely must get the blame for not buying enough quality as well as we’re weaker than last year with options up front, spent nothing in premiership terms, and our manager saying Redmond and JWP could help the England cause really says an awful lot, they’re poor first team players in the premier league and that is all there is to it.

One reason that immediatly comes to mind as to why the club and Reed deserve stick is because they invite it on themselves. There is a false arrogence and there is straight up lies and delusion. I dont believe either Potch or Koeman would have left to Spurs and Everton if we has been true to our words on ambition. Both managers would have left for top CL league clubs I know but they wouldnt have gone to Spurs and Everton if we had showed them we were going to grow into a European club.

I have said before I dont mind really what league we are in as long as we win. If we are in the Premier league we need to grow if we dont want to grow lets get in the championship and have a roller coaster of 2 games a week and fight for the top.

Mid table football is shit. Its worse than relagation battles.

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I totally agree, the ceiling was reached, where the fuck has the headline of attempting to get into the champions league gone? Next to the trophy attempts with a weakened squad I suppose, people believe their shit, they’re all comical Ali’s.

Good cup runs when we don’t take them seriously and get knocked out by Wolves at home, at you smoking crack?

Short memory? Do you expect a final every year? And we still have the FA cup to go. But let’s just slit our wrists now eh?

I expect a trophy once every say 40 odd years yes, name a major club with less trophies?

Newcastle?

and are we a “major club”?

True but they have won things, we’re a major club in the sense we’re the largest I can think of with the emptiest cabinet.

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Sunderland?

Haven’t won anything since the fa Cup in 73 and their only other success came in the same comp in 37. They did come second in division 2 in 64 if that counts(not sure what they they put in the trophy cabinet).

They’re a bigger club and although shit, haven’t had the problems we’ve had.

You’re such a modern day sky kind of fan. Get a grip.

You need to think harder Barry. Also there a bigger clubs than us in the Championship.

That have won more, you need to understand what I have written, name a bigger club with less trophies?

Sunderland are bigger and have won more, next.

And bang on queue the “we didn’t play well, we’ll play better” quotes start pouring out.

This’ll get @barry-sanchez 's gusset in a bunch…

Define bigger and are we going back to the 1800s?

ps. we are not a big club.