Claude Puel - Gone!.............Confirmed.

He is over hyped badly.

 

Wouldn't say over hyped so much, but certainly had the perfect storm here.

 

By a few he is.

 

The few that want him back? Certainly.

 

His big achievement was getting promoted out of the toughest league with basically the same team as we had in League One and for that he deserves the utmost respect.
It is impossible to say what would've happened for sure, but he would've had better resources than what he had at Reading and I may be wrong but I believe that he was popular with the players.

 

Quite topical for me too. Came back after 2 weeks away (Have I mentioned that? ), and the garden was like a forest. I refused to cut down the hedges with my crappy electric trimmer and am looking for a good reasonably cheap long reach set - any recommendations ?

 

Massively.

 

People could relate to him. For me, he represents a really exciting time. I'll always be fond of our time together, doesn't mean I want him back.
Anyone who thinks he would have done better than Maurice, Ron or Claude, is sadly mistaken.

 

Yeah that's it, one of my favourite football people ever. He was actually a nice guy.

 

Smashing chap. I met him twice and just so genuine.

Never forget what he did. Will always respect him for that. I too don't think he could have done what we needed doing.

Going when he did, as he did, he stays a legend.

 

Yep, I reckon we would've been lower midtable for most seasons, kind of like a Palace...

 

.......but to see that smile........

 

"It's not about the 11..."

 

I did once too, he did a talk for an hour ish, I forgot most of it but the thing I remember most was him saying he couldn't have achieved anything without all the sacrifices his family had made to support him. That was nice.

 

In fact, now I think about it, one of his sons was there too (I think he has 2?), and I was quite jealous that he got Nige as a dad.

 

Remember that interview at the training ground he did with Mark Clemmit (I think) and they asked what he would like to do that afternoon if he good do anything? He said make love to Mrs Adkins!! What a bloke!

 

I'd say Southampton has been a relatively stable club in recent years but the stability hasn't come from the managers, it comes from behind the scenes. We may have changed manager several times but the club keep saying we want to play a certain way and there have been rumours they want a certain formation too - his apparent reluctance to play it might be something that counts against Puel.

So our managerial changes have a consistency to them and aren't as extreme as some other clubs where you get a manager who wants to play the ball on the ground replaced by a more direct Big Sam or Pulis type where the squad needs a total overhaul.

 

Roger Schmidt - former Leverkusen, and Paulo Bento - former Sporting, Portugal and Olympiakos manager, could be two that interest Saints. Decent pedigree, and also out of work - seems to be the way Saints go.

Schmidt plays attacking, high press football, although this has had some mixed results in his time at Leverkusen. Watford couldn't agree a deal with him supposedly, before going for Silva. Could be a possibility.

Always De Boer as well of course.

May be a waste of time, as could stick with Claude.

 

By all accounts Puel is all but gone, It's when the announcement is now.

 

Is that just gut feelings or from anything credible yet?