fleckneymike

What it’s important is that whatever we rebuild or finish rebuilding is sustainable. Not just in terms of finance but football identity. Ultimately I want it that the manager changes but the club does not.

While I’m moaning I also loath this mentality that this season is just about survival and therefore we have to accept attritional or pragmatic football. Why do we? We had the same thing last season with some supporters adamant that promotion at all costs was needed and style of play was a poor second. We instead opted to ‘play’ our way out of the division because, you know what, success doesn’t have to come at any cost. We’ve some very good players being asked to pretend they are clogging journeymen who love balls into the channel and furious battles for second balls. Fatawu can play. Mavididi can play. Winks can only ****ing play. The list goes on.

My concern about Cooper is the negativity masquerading as pragmatism. As others have more eloquently expressed, I can accept three essentially defensive central midfielders if we counter this with attacking players either on the wing or a full back. The problem is we don’t. I also don’t like the argument that if his subs had worked we wouldn’t be complaining. 1. They didn’t work. 2. He has to make them because his initial plan in all but one game hasn’t worked 3. To invite pressure on and sacrifice the ball as readily as we do by making ‘defensive’ subs is also infuriating. I can’t currently get behind a manager who I don’t agree with tactically.

While I’m venting my frustrations he’s also reduced our attacking potency. We spent all last season attacking with 5 players: two wingers; two 8s, a striker. All (except maybe Wilf) who were decent attackers. Cooper’s tweak has massively reduced our options. We now attack with a LB, LFWD, RW and a striker. With the loss of KDH he’s opted to also remove Mavididi and play an inverted winger and add a full back to the attack. He’s taken goals and goal threat out of the side.

The contrast in ‘coaching’ is stark. This meek acceptance that passing is so difficult that Copper has used his genius to be more pragmatic is frustrating. You can see how far off knowing where to stand, how to pass, when and where to pass is frightening. We just seem directionless beyond the left back overlaps and the right back doesn’t. No plan for getting Winks on the ball. No idea how to play though the middle and get a 10 on the ball. We’ve lost KDH, that’s all, yet the way some speak you’d think half the side left.

Apologies if this has been answered. Which is the best DH Gate for the kids home shirt? Want to get the kids indoctrinated.

I’m never a fan of these false dichotomies where one tactic is presented as pragmatic and flexible and the other some rigid dogma that is incapable of change. We lost games we should have won; we won games we should have lost. Sometimes we scored goals after 40 passes; sometimes we scored goals after 4 passes. We were pretty bloody pragmatic. Now we seem to want to embrace a poverty of ambition because we think we’re not suitable for a certain style. It’s not for the likes of us. We should get back in our box and play some imagined ‘direct’ football better suited to a club such as ours and our status.

The prospect of the huge Chelsea fire sake this summer might keep him here. Just as we’re in breach of the rules surrounding sustainability let’s not forget Chelsea have now run out of hotels to sell to themselves. They’re going to need to sell not just their reserve players but a number of first teamers too. That’s why they want a young coach. It’s not a footballing vision thing, it’s a no experienced coach will touch them thing.

A quid a bottle. I’ll be kind and give you £5

Perhaps Souttar isn’t very good? He was culpable for a few of the goals we conceded: he often got caught playing the opposition onside and has slow recovery speed. in the system that we now may be trying to play he may have shown very limited aptitude in training for it.

As with all the sales and outgoings the money is ok but it’s more the shame we’re not doing it on our terms but because we’ve been relegated. We’re not strengthening with the money but cushioning the fall.

Have DH Gate issued a version yet?

Looking back at his recruitment track record is there anyone Southampton have signed in the last 3 years that they've had to fend off interest in? Similarly Everton between 2016-19. Signing players for the future is obviously 'good' but now Southampton's 'future' is in the Championship.