I think that's true. I'm not sure there's much of an argument on that. The nature of the debate ought to be did we require that sort of abrasive manager? Or should/can some players be immune from it?
When you read Barry's interview recently about last season you do get the picture of a group of players who had let the manager down. While Barry accepts some responsibility I highly doubt he did and suspect he is one of the very few who can hold his head up high. (He is probably the only one who had a good season from start to finish last year). Time keeping, preparation, training, discipline all seemed to go out of the window. It was a telling interview.
I imagine Moshiri walked in and quite early got a picture of what was going wrong. While Kenwright eulogised a proper businessman could see things were out of control. I do wonder if Koeman has been brought in specifically with the M.O of putting some discipline back into this squad?
We know that very early on, Moshiri liked Koeman and likewise Koeman liked Moshiri. Given Koeman's character I doubt he sugarcoated anything and probably said I'f he was the manager he would give them a rocket.
Anyway I think that's central to his message and in all honesty I think it was essential for us. What we saw from Southampton was, even when players left he was very adept at finding new ones to come in.
My issue with this isn't whether it is the right thing now or indeed his desire not to make anyone immune (I think they will all benefit form a bit of discipline). However it is how he evolves this style. He hasn't stayed anywhere longer than 3 years and there is a shelf life for that management style. People (and footballers) will work hard and knuckle down for 6-12 months but eventually they need a bit of praise and acknowledgement they have got achieved something. Expected people to always work harder with no end goal is divisive.
What Koeman is good at, is in a crisis getting quick results and steadying the ship. His biggest challenge here will be if he can build upon that. I think he will have money to spend. You know as well as I do if we start throwing around anything like the figures of spend we are suggesting over the next 2 years consolidation in the top 6 alone will not be good enough in the eyes of the fans.