Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
Here are some exerts from an article following Southampton's exit from the Europa League under Puel. It does make me wonder whether there is any point even aspiring for a 7th place finish under him.
"Claude Puel made it clear .. he is not a fan of social media and it is a good job for the Frenchman following Southampton's limp exit from the Europa League on Thursday.
For a search of the "saintsfc" hashtag on Twitter would have made grim reading for Puel in the wake of the 1-1 draw at home to Israeli minnows Hapoel Be'er Sheva, which denied his side a place in the knockout stages.
Disgusting, gutless, shameful and boring were just a few of the more polite descriptions fed-up fans used to describe their team's pitiful performance.
Puel's negative, possession-based tactics and his insistence to continually rotate his squad were the main sources of frustration.
...
There is no doubt Puel deserved most of the flack that came his way, especially given his bizarre prematch admission that four months into the season he still does not know what his best team is.
There are other key factors in the former Nice coach's downfall too. Puel's decision to stick two fingers up to captain Fonte in the wake of his Instagram outburst by leaving him on the bench would be applauded if Southampton had gone through, it can now be used as an extra stick to beat him with.
...
Surely Fonte, having led Saints from League One to the Premier League, deserved better than not playing a single minute of their European adventure. While Puel's rotation policy has at times served Saints well as they attempted the difficult task of balancing competing on three fronts it has not helped the coherency of the team.
Had Puel not stubbornly refused to name top-scorer Charlie Austin in his starting lineup in all three of their Europa League away games, which yielded no goals and a single point in Israel, they would most likely have already had their place in the last-32 sewn up without the need for a tense final day showdown.
...
While Austin's nine goals are all that are separating Saints from a grim relegation fight it can be argued he does not provide the same focal point as Italian international Pelle.
http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/club/s...ing-with-claude-puel-after-europa-league-exit
"Claude Puel made it clear .. he is not a fan of social media and it is a good job for the Frenchman following Southampton's limp exit from the Europa League on Thursday.
For a search of the "saintsfc" hashtag on Twitter would have made grim reading for Puel in the wake of the 1-1 draw at home to Israeli minnows Hapoel Be'er Sheva, which denied his side a place in the knockout stages.
Disgusting, gutless, shameful and boring were just a few of the more polite descriptions fed-up fans used to describe their team's pitiful performance.
Puel's negative, possession-based tactics and his insistence to continually rotate his squad were the main sources of frustration.
...
There is no doubt Puel deserved most of the flack that came his way, especially given his bizarre prematch admission that four months into the season he still does not know what his best team is.
There are other key factors in the former Nice coach's downfall too. Puel's decision to stick two fingers up to captain Fonte in the wake of his Instagram outburst by leaving him on the bench would be applauded if Southampton had gone through, it can now be used as an extra stick to beat him with.
...
Surely Fonte, having led Saints from League One to the Premier League, deserved better than not playing a single minute of their European adventure. While Puel's rotation policy has at times served Saints well as they attempted the difficult task of balancing competing on three fronts it has not helped the coherency of the team.
Had Puel not stubbornly refused to name top-scorer Charlie Austin in his starting lineup in all three of their Europa League away games, which yielded no goals and a single point in Israel, they would most likely have already had their place in the last-32 sewn up without the need for a tense final day showdown.
...
While Austin's nine goals are all that are separating Saints from a grim relegation fight it can be argued he does not provide the same focal point as Italian international Pelle.
http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/club/s...ing-with-claude-puel-after-europa-league-exit
