Strachan to leave Southampton

[GeordieRoo]

According to BBC News (www.bbc.co.uk/football) Gordon Strachan will not renew his contract with Southampton beyond the end of this season.

Interesting one this, begs the question what will Strachan himself do next season, and can Southampton attract a big name to take over from him?

Maybe Peter Reid could come in and renew his partnership with Kevin Phillips!!

Any thoughts?

 

[moomba]

Interesting, he did have a go at the Saints fans the other day after he was jeered, maybe he has had enough.

If he doesnt find another job elsewhere he will be missed, one of the characters of the game.

Moomba

 

[GeordieRoo]

Just a correction...

Saints chairman Rupert Lowe said in a statement that Gordon Strachan had decided not to continue for "medical and personal reasons"

According to the early media reports Strachan simply wants a break, and has given no indication that he will seek another job for next season.

 

[bulldog pommy]

That may explain our patchy form of late.
Bring in Sparky Hughes!!!

 

[Sammy D]

According to an article I read it is simply for medical reasons and he promised his family he would have a break from football to spend time with them

 

[evertonfc]

Bound to happen.

Small clubs; always shuffling coaches.

John Gregory will be their next manager

 

[Weaver]

Names linked so far (don't really like any of them) ...

Saints Links

Micky Adams - did well at Fulham and was unfairly replaced because he was not a big name. Did well at Brighton. Doing OK on limited resources at Leicester. If he is sacked or relegated he might be interested. 6/10.

Mark Hughes - committed to manage Wales. Had an unhappy time at the Dell where he was boed for playing poorly. Rumoured to have a contract which prevented him from being dropped. No club experience and may not be too keen to begin at Saints. On the other hand, if he wants the Man Utd job he will need to get some runs on the board. 5/10.

Peter Reid - religious conviction to play 4-4-2, long-ball and offside trap. Tactically inept. Failures at Sunderland and Leeds might not scare off Lowe who is very conservative and will want experience. 4/10.

Kevin Keegan - if he is sacked or quits he is unlikely to be too keen to jump straight back into management. Likes to have jobs where he can spend money. 3/10.

Greame Souness - if sacked at Rovers. 'Rescued' by Saints but burnt us when he moved on. Shut down our youth team and it hasn't really recovered yet. 1/10.

Iain Dowie - Only recently started a new job at Crystal Palace. If he was still at Oldham he might have been a chance, but being only a few months into a job would make him unlikely. 1/10.

Glen Hoddle - good coach, rubbish people skills and terrible in the transfer market. Burnt bridges at Saints and won't be back. 0/10.

Dave Jones - poor coach (4-4-2 with wingers and nothing else) but good in the transfer market and good developing kids. Even if they go down Wolves may keep him. Bad blood with him and Saints. 0/10.

Jason Dodd, Francis Benali, Matt LeTissier etc - Lowe will not follow the Chris Coleman example and go for an inexperienced manager. Won't even go for one of the assistant coaches. He will want an experienced Premiership manager if he can find one. 0/10.

Non-Saints Links

Gerard Houllier - unlikely to survive into next year no matter what happens. Not good by Liverpool standards but very solid by almost anyone elses. Lowe has been willing to 'rehabilitate failures' like Souness, Hoddle and Strachan. 7/10.

Paul Sturrock - Took St Johnstone too promotion in Scotland, managed Dundee Utd and got Plymouth promoted in his first year. Plymouth are looking like they should win another promotion. Scottish managers seem to go OK in the Premiership and he has a pretty good record. Would be cheap too !!! 5/10.

John Gregory - Portsmouth, Plymouth, Wycombe, Villa and Derby. 15 years experience, premiership experience. He did OK at Villa most of the time but had his hands tied. Derby was a basketcase when he arrived. Bad people manager and clashes with board-rooms would make him unlikely. Lowe is too big an ego to take on someone like Gregory. 4/10.

George Graham - Just the sort that Lowe would go for. Experienced and available. Footy may have passed him by a little allthough he played a big part in laying the foundations for O'Leary to enjoy success at Leeds. May not want to give it another go, the media line up to take a swipe at him whenever they can. Yesterday's man? 3/10.

David Platt - respected as a player, friend of Saints coach Steve Wigley, did his coaching badges at Saints and previously linked to the job. Had tough task at Forrest and was OK with England Under-21. Played in Europe which makes him a bit more 'wordly' than some others. 2/10.

John Toshack - led Swansea from 4th to 1st divison, then manages Sporting Lisbon, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Deportivo La Coruna, Real Madrid, St Etienne, Real Sociedad (3rd time). Also managed Besiktas. Certainly experienced enough. May be over-the-hill. 2/10.

Michael Henke - Assistant Manager of Bayern Munich and assistant to Ottmar Hitzfeld for 15 years. Was first choice for the job when Gray got the nod, but Bayern refused to let us speak to him. Hitzfeld is not golden-boy anymore so we might get him and it is now or never if he wants to prove himself as a Number 1. 1/10.

Phillipe Trousier - Been a national team manager and a manager of African club teams. Not really the best background. Only recently signed a 15 month deal for Qatar national team. Some fan sites like him but no chance. 0/10.

Claudio Ranieri - Chelsea could well let him go but he will probably return to Italy or Spain. His record is mixed. Spells at Napoli and Athletico Madrid were disasters. He likes to spend money and would probably want a 'bigger' job than Saints. 0/10.

Steve Cotterill - Did very well at Cheltenham before getting the job at Stoke. He quit to be assistant and Sunderland but lost that gig. Would probably have to go back to Div 2 to get another job. 0/10.

 

[windyhill]

Originally posted by evertonfc
Bound to happen.

Small clubs; always shuffling coaches.

John Gregory will be their next manager

What ? Like Everton ? When is Kendall going to have another shot at it ?

 

[Catman]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2004011813,00.html

I knew it wouldn't be long before we were once again linked to Gordon.

 

[sainter]

Originally posted by moomba
Interesting, he did have a go at the Saints fans the other day after he was jeered, maybe he has had enough.

If he doesnt find another job elsewhere he will be missed, one of the characters of the game.

Moomba

I dare say our supporters would be one of the most tolerant in the league (apart from anything to do with pompey). Our form has been terrible over the past few months but the early good form and our ladder position has probably masked that.

Despite only being manager for such a brief time at Southampton, he is loved by almost all Saints fans. He'd hardly leave because of a segment of our supporters rightfully voiced their displeasure at our poor performances of late.

Definitely the biggest disappointment I've had since supporting the Saints. Providing we can finish this season off in a reasonable position, he'll go down in history as someone who did a lot of good for the club.

Originally posted by evertonfc
Bound to happen.

Small clubs; always shuffling coaches.

John Gregory will be their next manager

The kind of comment that doesn't dignify a response and usually comes from a messageboard hero that will claim a victory because he got a few replies.

As Savatage would say, lick a wallsocket.

I'll take our small club over a club that lives in the past any day of the week.

 

[moomba]

Originally posted by sainter
He'd hardly leave because of a segment of our supporters rightfully voiced their displeasure at our poor performances of late.

You are probably right, but I'd argue over whether or not any of your supporters were right to jeer a bloke that has done so much for the club. You can disagree with a decision all you like, but I would have been extremely p1ssed off with the ungrateful pricks if I was Strachan.

Moomba

 

[sainter]

Originally posted by moomba
You are probably right, but I'd argue over whether or not any of your supporters were right to jeer a bloke that has done so much for the club. You can disagree with a decision all you like, but I would have been extremely p1ssed off with the ungrateful pricks if I was Strachan.

Moomba

Were they jeering Strachan or the players?

A few of the players, Anders Svensson, Neil McCann and Paul Telfer in particular, were copping a fair bit.

Like I said almost all of the Saints fans are huge fans of Strachan. If he was on the receiving end of some abuse from the crowd I'd say it would have been almost the first time since he has been at the club.

 

[moomba]

Originally posted by sainter
Were they jeering Strachan or the players?

From what I read they jeered when one of your substitutions was announced, apparently Strachan sarcastically applauded the crowd when it happened.

As with Barton and Man City the other week, I put that down as jeering the managar.

Moomba

 

[Weaver]

Originally posted by moomba
From what I read they jeered when one of your substitutions was announced, apparently Strachan sarcastically applauded the crowd when it happened.

A lot of the Saints fans want Brett Ormerod in the team because of his workrate and commitment. He was even pinching a goal here and there. Hence a bit of tension about putting him on the bench. Phillips hasn't one anyone over yet, we'd be happier if he worked the goalkeeper and not the offside flag.

 

[moomba]

Originally posted by Weaver
A lot of the Saints fans want Brett Ormerod in the team because of his workrate and commitment. He was even pinching a goal here and there. Hence a bit of tension about putting him on the bench. Phillips hasn't one anyone over yet, we'd be happier if he worked the goalkeeper and not the offside flag.

You might not have to worry for too long. The press in the NW seem to think that Wigan will end up bidding £2m for Ormerod, and that the Saints will sell at that price.

Moomba