06 Jan 2026 11:18:50
I do hate being right but it seems Tonda is the living, breathing incarnation of the managerial bounce I was referring to.

I wanted/wished the board to judge him on his losses and wether he was able to return to form following defeat. Alas it doesn't seem like either was the case.

If that run we were on was down to Tonda's managerial prowess and not simply taking the shackles off and letting them do whatever, then he should be able to recreate it. Like I say I won't fully judge him negative/positive until the end of January to see what team he builds/continues to play but it is looking like anyone of us could have done what he did.

As always I put this situation down to the board and (partly fickle) fans. If they never had a suitable replacement for Still then why sack him.

Ultimately I'd sit down with Will Still and look to bring him back. If it's something the players want and the performances weren't down to player attitude to manager. Will built a great team in his first transfer window and I think with this one he could have bought in one or two more.

If the board don't have a clue who to bring in them they should stick with something that has potential rather than chopping and changing

1.) 06 Jan 2026
06 Jan 2026 19:29:07
Made complete sense…. until mentioning Still coming back.

2.) 07 Jan 2026
07 Jan 2026 08:40:34
Taking punts on youngsters like Still and Tonka just hasn’t worked. Our dressing room needs a commanding leader who knows how many beans make five - not apprentices.

3.) 07 Jan 2026
07 Jan 2026 18:28:50
Not necessarily.I don't believe in this old school/hard knocks/leadership managerial approach.I mean pep was a young manager from the start, Arteta his assistant .the same.

It's about getting the combination right and part of the combination is time. I don't think Still was giving anywhere near the time the other guys was and Still for be is definitely the best of that bunch.

We nearly were crowned the worst premier league team in history.anyone who expected us to go from that to tearing up the championship was/is delusional. For me were exactly where I thought we would be . although like I say I would have given Still more time. I think his next team potentially has a great young manager on their hands

4.) 08 Jan 2026
08 Jan 2026 10:28:05
Forgetting Still, I’m intrigued why you thought he was a good manager but much more importantly Leslee.

Why do you think that this team has gone from playing free flowing, fast attacking football, with multiple players getting in and around the box…
To this awful slow build up play, build up is probably the wrong expression as it never builds up to anything!
Same manager and same players .
But complete different formations and tactics to when we were scoring goals for fun!

Has he been instructed to play the SR way?

5.) 08 Jan 2026
08 Jan 2026 12:50:36
This is my point about Still. I think 80% of what he was doing he was getting spot on. When Tonda came in what I think he done was continue what Still was doing but just took the shackles off. This was evident in how we attacked but also in how we conceded every game.

I think if Will was still here now he would change things up but it Tonda is beginning to be found out because he doesn't know what to change up to because he hasn't got as much as experience. At least with Still he was with Riems for a few seasons.

Also if you look at the pre game interviews of the opposing managers of Tonda's firs few games none of them really knew how to train their team for Southampton because they didn't know what style they would play, that gave us an advantage. That advantage is gone now.so teams just look at us and go, OK so brace for the attack, cut them off and then focus on their weaknesses which is defense