First thing on Martinez: I had no doubts about his ability to do something here because he's already proven in his first season here he could fashion a team playing a certain brand of football that could finish as high as anyone had a right to expect in the PL with such players. Seeing was believing. Stepping into the post-Moyes era and doing it differently and better took some nerve and coaching. So whatever happened later was viewed through that prism, and I make no apology for doing so. At the end of the day the feller was not strong enough character wise to use his second summer here with his stock high to deconstruct the squad he inherited off Moyes and go with a new generation of players in the direction he wanted. That was his big blunder: carrying on with players who essentially had always - despite that first season - kept faith with the football of his predecessor and wouldn't ever put themselves on the line for Martinez. If he'd done one simple thing like sell Stones last season and brought Williams here from Swansea (a player he'd signed for them in the first place), he'd still have his job now. But he wouldn't upset players he had, and he paid the price....but even them there could have been a get out of gaol card with a cup win last season...that's how close it all was.
Ok, Koeman: I'm not skeptical about Koeman having the ability to give us the 5th-8th spot we've come to expect in the past. He has the ability, it looks to me, to get us there. Talent + disciplined players will get you there and Koeman can provide the discipline that's slipped of late. I just dont so easily buy into the belief that he shows us any previous evidence that he can mould a team that can play the sort of audacious football that gets you a sniff of the CL spots. He builds athletic teams with a lot of power and pace. It can frighten and beat some top teams if they're not prepared to match those qualities. But I dont see the creativity in Koeman's outfits that allow a team to find that bit extra and secure the massive points totals we require to trouble the elite of this league. His first season at S'ton they played some nice stuff, and I compare that season very favourably with the huff and puff of last season's S'ton team. The difference between the two was not replacing a flair player like Lallana. I see us being more like his second season S'ton team than his first team there. And I just dont think an overwhelming emphasis on pace and power troubles the upper echelons of this league enough to have them looking over their shoulders fearful of their CL places.
