http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490 Article in Mail from our shy and retiring Chairman
Fair play to Ralph. He fronted up in the summer and did some difficult interviews when everyone was calling him a clown, so deserves these little smug chats with humble journalists. It maybe a positive Krueger spin, but he is right when he says that all the current big clubs went through a process to become the big clubs they are today. Except maybe Arsenal, most would have reached the top for the first time in Godders lifetime
'It’s normal there will be a certain danger of losing elements this summer but it won’t be on the magnitude of last year because there were a lot of lessons there, even for the players,’ he continues. The above quote from the article agrees with the drum I've been banging...we may lose players in the summer, but it won't be like last summer...just what happens in any club (except we get paid more because they come with a Southampton Certificate of Excellence ).
I'm extremely happy to hold my hands up and say that I got it very wrong about Ralph over the summer and preceding that. He's really impressed me with how much he's learned and his approach. It's lovely to be wrong sometimes.
There is a slightly less effusive but none the less complimentary piece in the Times today by Alyson Rudd who has interviewed our chairman. It appears that the art of chairmanship is 'to remain in the helicopter', I take this to mean have an overview. It would appear there was however one instance when he had to jump into action and this was when Morgan threw his toys out.
I am happy to admit I was right.... Tbh I even had a few doubts in a back of my mind. But I just wanted to give him a chance. Glad he has proved people wrong.
I was super high on Lex Kruger coming in, thought it was something to be optimistic about, so I'm ****ing right and everyone should listen to me. Hear me out lads, new manager: Brett Ormerod. Oh and we're retiring the squad number 36.
I threw my toys out at him.. But at the time it was justified. We are lucky the gamble paid off, but if pelle and Tadic had turned out to be pony, we would be in trouble. Luckily our recruitment paid off - so the club deserves a lot of credit.
He is right, the bigger clubs had to go through an evolutionary stage. Arsenal merely pinched Huddersfield Town's great championship winning manager in the 1920's and the rest was history. They've been there or thereabouts ever since, growing when required to stay at the top The rest have risen in a 65 year old's lifetime. When Krueger came in, his delivery was so different to Cortese's that it took loads of people aback, me included. We'd got used to Cortese outsmarting the other clubs with his lack of news and clever moves. Then he'd come out with the tremendous vision and statement of purpose and ambition. And crucially, whatever he promised, he delivered. I believed him, but many people, including many Saints supporters, either laughed or boggled at his audacity. But Krueger's message is exactly the same. He just puts it across differently and now we've got used to the delivery. If anything, the world beating hockey coach in him allows him to put forward the message more forcefully and regularly. I'm even beginning to believe he could find a way to extract minerals from the Moon.
The club were already in crisis before they lost manager Mauricio Pochettino to Tottenham in the summer and sold Luke Shaw to Manchester United, Calum Chambers to Arsenal, and Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren to Liverpool. Did I miss that?