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30 Nov 2025 23:57:42
Might sound crazy but I'm actually glad for the loss at Millwall.
Let's be honest Tonda has to be up there in contention for the job BUT and this is the important part, the only thing that brought him into that contention was this recent run we were on.
Now I know I bang on about the managerial bounce but part of the reason I believe in it is because the guy who takes over gets to unshackle the team by going in and just letting them play a lot more free then we're.
This can only go on for so long though and eventually man management/tactics have to come back into play, otherwise anyone of us here could take charge.
I'm not saying that Tondas reign has all been the managerial affect, not at all. But there definitely was some of watch I mention occuring. So when I say I was happy for the loss it means we get to see how well Tonda and his team adapts to loss and rightly so. I think he would have been giving the job if we had won at the wknd but I think anyone who gets paid the amount they do should be judged on their losses as well as their wins and how they adapt to them.
I'm hoping that right now SR are looking at Tonda and asking wether his wins were down to his management or just the effects of taking over I'm hoping if it's the latter they are continuing their search.
If it was me I'd sit down with Tonda and see what kind of signings he wants to make in January and wether the board approves of them. I'd even hold of giving him the job even if he's doing well until January. I'd keep the search going and of there's no one out there who can match Tonda (i.e. Tondas doing a great job) then gets it's. I think too many times in recent history SR has given the job to anyone who strings two results together, hopefully their learning is all I hope for.
1.) 03 Dec 2025 20:55:21
I tend to completely agree Lesleee, which feels a bit weird. Birmingham at home is a perfect test to see if we have the bounce back ability.
Remember this is at least a top 6 side and we should be performing as much, but this will include losses and as you say a lot depends on our reaction.
22 Sep 2025 11:02:14
Ah, now saint's ggg, you're twisting what I said ?
I did argue a case for keep RM after last year's dismissal season BUT I said it would come with some caveats. The main one being that the club spend the time were working on promotion back to the premiership to find the right manager we need to take us forward .and whenever that man is found not to hesitate or spare RMs blushes.
That is because just like players some mangers are suited to certain leagues/levels so too are managers. Whilst RM wouldn't have been a popular choice he would be back in a league with players he knew playing a style that is more forgiving in the championship. Even as stubborn as he is he would have learned a few things and I do feel we would have been up with the leading pack again.
Instead we have a new manager now, that has to go through the whole process of wether he feels the players he has can make it in the championship.whereas RM would have the players he knew and the ones who were the stars of the promotion the year before. I mean RM finally realised what I said all along about Bazuna and yet it seems like Still is going to waste the whole season conceeding goals until he figures out the same thing, Bazuna doesn't cut it.
One of the endless criticisms of RM was that he was stubborn and not change things and now we have a manager the opposite of that and yet ?. When Will Stills name was being touted alongside Danny Rohls I didn't see much rejection and I saw a lot of people saying we've finally got a proper manager and yet the results have yet to come.
My point is a manger people didn't like DID get us promotion, whereas Still were unsure of. I do think Still will (pun) be decent enough but wether he's the massive turnaround everyone was hoping for I'm not sure.
I remember Guernsey boy saying things couldn't get any worse once upon a time, he's no longer around suprise suprise, but I said at the time they most definitely can and in sacking RM I forecast a foreseeable future as mid championship at best. My point of RM was that at least we'd get back to the premiership, than we could sack him.
As you're aware I said that many months back, but here's an article in SaintsMarching today saying pretty much the same thing.
1.) 23 Sep 2025 16:08:17
Erm, if this is in reference to a comment on another thread then all I said was you mentioned that Martin would guarantee promotion. You did mention this, so no twisting here .
Why would he? We were promoted in spite of Martin, not because of him. He has one promotion on his CV I believe, of a side that should be challenging for automatic promotion and finished 4th.
I also said he is probably better than Still and Juric but he (Martin) certainly wouldn’t guarantee anything except boredom.
2.) 24 Sep 2025 10:06:45
There's never a guarantee to anything, but yes I undoubtedly said he was our best foreseeable chance of getting promoted straight away . Not because I liked him or thought he was a decent manager, simply because he did previously despite that and with the same team. He knew the players and league. The same way I knew Juric was a bad choice for being sacked by the same team 3 times. Instead we've rolled the dice with still and despite you guys thinking I'm crazy/obtuse I posted the link to show others say the same thing now.months after I initially predicted it ?
RM is out of his depths in a lot of areas but if immediate return to premier league is what we wanted whilst spending the time looking for a long term manager whilst doing so, like I say it would have been worth keeping hold of RM for that singular purpose
15 Sep 2024 13:42:45
lesleee has written an article entitled, Current Thoughts On Southampton FC
12 May 2024 20:48:11
Positives from today is; well for mez its all positive. Mainly because I didn't/don't think we'd win the playoffs and at the moment we're still in a good position .and second positive is whatever were feeling after the result today all the fans of the other 3 teams will be feeling the same as results were same for everyone across the board. We can't be critical if everyone did the same thing. Friday is a fresh start.
1.) 13 May 2024 16:20:27
Completely agree. An away draw is a reasonable result and we should be confident playing at home on Friday.
I watchd the Leeds game highlights on their YouTube channel and it was interesting to read their fans believing they will bottle the playoffs.
So nobody is blowing anybody away and we have a very good chance.
13 Apr 2024 21:44:50
I'm all for the positivity and believe me I am trying lol but I'm still not optimistic about automatic.
Yes it is technically possible again now but we've been riding our luck too hard to get where we are right now. The teams above us have all dropped massive points but we having capitalized on that nearly enough.
The main factor will be when we face them. They're away games and Leicester and Leeds will both up their games and show their promotion form when playing against us. When it comes to ruthlessness and not conceeding when it matters I can't honestly say we've got it in us. Maybe if we start playing Lumley.
I'm going to be positive though, go with the flow and hope for the fairytale lol . Here's hoping for automatic ?
lesleee's banter posts with other poster's replies to lesleee's banter posts
08 Jan 2026 13:06:01
Daniel Peretz is in.
For me this further instills that Will was on the right track. I doubt that this signing came straight from Tonda. To identify a goalkeeper target that quickly is unlikely.
Still was one of the only managers to identify early that Bazuna wasn't up to scratch. He put his faith in the only option he had McCarthy I and I'm sure he knew too wasn't any better. So I think when January came this signing was being lined up for him.
I reckon he would have identified one or two decent defenders too and I think we would have given it a decent go from here on, but now we will never know.
Now we have to hope that Tonda is the man everyone thought he was and that we haven't given the reins of our club to some novice.
Miller was calling Still a novice but in reality there are novices and then there are .novices. Tonda seems the latter.
1.) 08 Jan 2026 22:39:04
Did you see the keeper in the 5-0 loss to Norway? Didn’t command his area or organise defence.
Have you seen the points Will managed in his games versus Tonda?
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 19:29:07
Made complete sense…. until mentioning Still coming back.
2.) 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 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 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 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
13 Dec 2025 14:39:06
The cracks are beginning to show and the post Will run shine starting to dim.
2 loses in the last four and only one clean sheet under Tonda - in a game which Leicester had a red card.
On paper it should have been a winnable game, especially if the run we were on was down to managerial prowess.
Yes it was a handball but also I would never have had Armstrong on penalties.
I'm interested to see what/if any signings are bought in January. He needs to put his stamp on the team and by identifying dead weight (for me Archer, ect) and bringing in one or two solid player's.
As I've said the star players of our recent run are players bought in by Will. So this run is through a team Tonda inherited, which has been a concern for me.it means possibly that Will Still just needed a little more time.
BUT hopefully it's just a dip, big game against Coventry and I won't judge Tonda (positively or negatively) too much until after January. As I say, I want to see what he truly knows about building/putting a team together.
.on a side note, Norwich are now doing what we did. Turn of fortune's with a new recent manager > manager bounce ??
1.) 14 Dec 2025 00:24:21
Yes Armstrong is NO penalty taker ( history shows) and it’s CRIMINAL to leave Ronnie Edwards on the bench with three massive UNDERPERFORMERS In the backline.January FIX is another required positional necessity apart from goalkeeper and striker at the very least, . KOM.
2.) 14 Dec 2025 13:56:01
I think for me downs in midfield looked fragile, wellington has not been at it since his injury, and frazer was not at the races. I don’t really want to go up again. It would be the same as last year if we go up. Let’s have a couple of seasons building a squad, as our 2nd string seem to not be strong enough to cover. GK still a must.
13 Dec 2025 13:26:46
Has no manager ever looked at Armstrong's penalty record ?
He's horrendous at them, same as he is overall in the premier league.
Azaz is in good form and I'd rather have him on them. You need a presence when taking penalties, Armstrong always looks like he's the keepers going to save it before he takes it.
Also - playing risky football at the back, is RM part of our background team now ?
1.) 13 Dec 2025 14:49:04
Didn’t watch the game, but when I heard Stephans was in starting lineup I feared the worst . How did he perform today? We can’t ever win 1-0 with him in defence . How does he still get game time . Stars would be interesting, goals conceded stephans in/out of team . ?
2.) 13 Dec 2025 16:52:28
Now matter how quick and skilful your attack is, if your defence contains stephens it will always be slow getting the ball forward. Whereas in previous games we were quick to move the ball around the whole pitch, this time we were too dithery.
I know the plan is to draw your opponents to you and then make the decisive break. but it relies on precise and quick balls to the front line. We didn’t do that today …
3.) 13 Dec 2025 17:37:44
It was a throw back to the RM regime - thinking we have a back line of Bobby Moore and Frank Beckenbauer. Now they could play out with precision and intelligence. Our lot - not a chance. It was key stone cops at times dicing with calamity.
I agree with y’all about Stephens - absolute waste of space. Negativity and no urgency ever.
We definitely missed Fellows - Frazer had probably his worst game in a Saints shirt.
We’ve found a way to lose games and that starts with Stephen’s inclusion.
4.) 14 Dec 2025 10:23:40
I watched the whole game yesterday, it appeared that our defence didn’t want to progress much further than 25 yards from our goal line. It also appeared that Jander and Downes were expected to cover half of the pitch, they looked tired and confused.
I’m not sure if the above was the managers request or players not adhering to instruction. I was very disappointed to see no urgency in the last 15 minutes to score a second goal but that is based on recent results so my expectations are a lot higher than 2 months ago.
18 points from a possible 24 is a fantastic return so I’ll keep being positive about Eckhert and his methods.
5.) 15 Dec 2025 10:42:08
Encouraging wing backs to play up the pitch and attack more is fine if the defence does not contain players like Stephens.
We have a very fluid, quick attack that is scoring goals!
But we have a defence and midfield that contains slow and predictable players. While there is lots of romance around the return of Romeu, I was not a fan of this.
Very slow, rash tackles and rarely a decisive forward pass.
Stephens has to be removed from the starting line up as do a few others.
Disappointing
05 Dec 2025 10:01:10
Looking forward to tomorrows game in terms or result/performance capability from Tondas team.
I think the away Millwall game would have been hard for anyone and without Leo Tonda didn't adapt in time.
Tomorrow however is about seeing wether that run was a fluke because although it's a fairly difficult game (4 points above us) we are at home and if that run was down to managerial prowess as opposed to just a change in management (managerial bounce) then I think it's fair to expect a win tomorrow at the least a decent performance.
I want to see if Tonda is able to recreate that run/performance for a few more games, to me that shows him and his team are able to adjust to defeat, work on things that didn't work and push on.
So let's see.
24 Sep 2025 10:06:45
There's never a guarantee to anything, but yes I undoubtedly said he was our best foreseeable chance of getting promoted straight away . Not because I liked him or thought he was a decent manager, simply because he did previously despite that and with the same team. He knew the players and league. The same way I knew Juric was a bad choice for being sacked by the same team 3 times. Instead we've rolled the dice with still and despite you guys thinking I'm crazy/obtuse I posted the link to show others say the same thing now.months after I initially predicted it ?
RM is out of his depths in a lot of areas but if immediate return to premier league is what we wanted whilst spending the time looking for a long term manager whilst doing so, like I say it would have been worth keeping hold of RM for that singular purpose
03 Jan 2024 20:57:11
I never said anything about Stephen's, your point was is KWP bett up the pitch .you said no.
Just because the modern game is more fast "pep-esque" demand more from players in certain positions doesn't mean certain players can't play in places. I agree Stephens isn't a great right back, but I've got nothing against mixing it up . because KWP from day one has always been an attacking full back, not a defensive one .so to argue his defensive attributes are better than his forward play is bizarre. Fraser is ok on the wing, but I'll think your find he's more suited to a Stuey Armstrong roll, attacking midfielder.
02 Jan 2024 12:23:32
I disagree with KWP comment, I'd argue he's better as an attacking winger then he is a defender .at the least he's best in both positions. It's his pace and agility that ables him to get up the pitch but also get back, track and close down players and he's shown time and time again that he's willing to that roll no matter how far up the pitch he plays .so why wouldn't you play in further up?
In relation to other wingers I wouldn't say we have any natural wingers like KWP. Fraser and Sulamana aren't as good on the wing. Fraser isn't as fast and Sulamana although fast hasn't got the consistency KWP has. KWP also has the ability to cut inside and score with the best of them.
So all in all, saying KWP is not effective higher up the pitch is complete bonkers. He's one of our main threats that actually looks to move the ball forward and direct to goal. Sure he's a decent full back/defender but he's an even better winger.
25 Feb 2023 23:14:33
Nope, twas a sober post and one can still be dignified and articulate whilst using the phrase "suck dick" . In todays day and age it simply relates to some loving a person that much.
My point remains though . Fans that were calling for Ralphs head are now cheering for any meagre success. I'm certain Ralph, at the very least would have kept us up this season and though Selles is a more of a positive since Jones (though let's be fair, anyone would have been) . I think his inexperience will be the too much to save us.
The fact is football is filled with fickle fans, from all clubs and fans never seen to take account for a lot of the rubbish they chant/demand and post on online and social media.
People say Ralph lost the dressing room, yet all I've ever read from actual players and pundits alike is how well he was respected there.
All fans here (I include myself in this) think we know what's what but the reality is that if any of us were given the saints job we'd be no better than Nathan Jones.
And so now, we've got an inexperienced manager trying to manage us out of a relegation battle, who has taken over from a guy who was completely clueless who job was also to save and improve us who was brought in to take over from a guy has kept us at the least stable and more exciting than the managers before him.
Fans forget that were Southampton a lot of the time .no matter how good we start to get other teams will always poach our players/staff. I don't believe in the phrase "a selling club" as saints are one that seem to get labeled with it as well.at the end of the day we're a stepping stone for players and clubs because as soon as someone has success here they can resist moving on . I'm saying this because of we had players here still like mane, shaw, van dyk, hoijberg, ings ect than we wouldn't be in a relegation battle. We can't and never will keep these players and so were left trying to replace them until we end up with sub-par players like djenpo, Adam Armstrong, lyanco ect.
Soo, the reality is accepting our place in the food chain whilst looking for ray of hopes. Ralph was a ray of hope because he genuinely looked like he was happy to stay and try and build something. Fickle fans gave hime the boot though .and thus, here we are.
24 Feb 2023 18:49:28
Selles is a breathe of fresh air . So we can hold you to that when your inevitably calling for his head next season?
Fact is, Selles ain't going to do much more than at absolute best maybe, maybe keep us up. Then next season the bricks will begin to fall. It's only fans that seem to have this thing about Ralph. Players and pundits have all gave admiration for what he did for us.
People are sucking selles dick after one game due to him being a better fit than Jones, to which the saints fan are accountable for to somewhat for asking for change. We're see how far that breathe of fresh air takes us after a few games . Point is, if your praising Selles at the end of the season for barely keeping us up .then your whole thing about Ralph is pretty pointless
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
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
20 Dec 2025 23:17:45
Yea this was my concern but as I say I won't judge truly (positive/negative) until end of January as I want to see what/if any players he brings in and what team/style he looks to build.
Part of me feels like we've let a top emerging manager in Will Still going, seeing as he was the guy who assembled this current team. With more time would he have found a way, were never know.
All we do know is our board seems to give the job to anyone who can string a few wins together. Credit Tonda definitely deserved it, but I just wished they waited a little longer and judged him on his losses . because it tells me they had no one better lined up. Which is a concern.
28 Nov 2025 20:47:18
You need to reign it in a little bit ?, we went on an unbeaten run and promoted with RM and had the worst time in our clubs history in the Premier league.
I'm not sure if I want promotion or not even if we have a great season. I think it will depend on he manager situation and how good he/or whoever it is in the transfer window in January. That will give us some idea of their squad building capabilities going forward.
25 Nov 2025 22:04:04
I do agree he's been a breathe of fresh air but the realist in me doesn't let me get carried away.
Whilst we didn't have success with Still I think we owe a part of this success to him. He gathered a a good squad of players when he arrived, the only issue was getting them to play.
Wether tonda is able to identify and recruit successfully as well as Still did along with how he adapts to any injuries that disrupt the way he wants to play will be key going forward.
But yes, it's hard to deny his success so far. Long may it continue.