As I sit here attempting to take a break from work, I make the vacant mistake of scouring social media to see what is happening in the Southampton world. To my disbelief, there are individuals crying out for the departure of manager Mauricio Pellegrino.
Football is a game that tears at emotions. We make it a lifestyle; a methodology of coping with happiness, anger, sadness, or any emotion. Sometimes, we irrationally lash out at the people who provide this source of outlet for us, rather than supporting the task at hand. It is important that the impatience do not grow weary, as we cannot expect players to follow through with our organization if we can’t even follow through.
How is it that we can expect a player to want to stay when our fans are calling for our managers head only three games into the season? Has anyone truly been listening to what Pellegrino is attempting to do? His methodology behind coaching is a long and drawn out process. It is not something that will magically happen overnight. To build a successful squad based on team chemistry and proper tactics is one of the most difficult things to accomplish. You can’t just force players to like one another, let alone knowing where each other will be on the pitch at all times. It is a process.
But this process seems to not be understood by our fan base. Many fans must not understand football and how the process of building a squad truly happens. When you are given a team, you need to be able to sell the team on your coaching methods. Once you finally accomplish this, it is time to move on to a point where you integrate the methodology into practice, on and off the pitch. This step is a process. There will be many failed attempts, and many successful attempts. Throughout the season, you will see both sides of the spectrum. You should not get impatient though.
Pellegrino has an extremely high football IQ. He is a manager who’s every action indicates purpose and not done without reason. A lot of people hears what he says, but doesn’t truly listen. Next time, during his interview, watch it three times. Understand what he is saying and what he is attempting to process within the organization.
We as fans are unable to witness everything that happens during training, meetings, film, ect. The only indication of success by our manager is by the games. Try and watch it not only on a surface level, but try to understand what the team is attempting to do. Don’t make your judgment purely on results, make it on style, approach, competence, player performance, and effort.
We will have bumps along the road, no doubt about that. It is time for us as a fan base to support the individuals striving to make a difference at this club. When the team loses a match like the one Wednesday against Wolves, they know they played bad. They don’t need to be consistently reminded of how poorly they played.
There is a term in psychology called Social Facilitation. It is said that the psychological mindset of an individual can be increased or decreased depending on an audience’s reaction. It is proven to be psychologically accurate and can cause dramatic results on individuals or a group of individuals.
If there is a sense of negativity around a group that already knows they had a poor performance, how do you think anything will change? Sure, players are being paid, but if you are being driven by money then you probably aren’t going to be the most successful at your job. It is time for us as a Southampton fan base to rise up this season and provide the type of support that these players deserve.
We all share a commonality: The success of Southampton football club. No matter whether you are on the positive, or negative spectrum of your mentality, that is always the goal. Although it may not seem as such, the fan base is crucial to the results and culture of an organization. If we continue to act in passion and dedication, you will start to see the same internally.
Things will get stressful, but at the end of the day we will continue to love this club. Act out positively towards the club, it is the easiest thing we can do to give our squad a better opportunity to be successful.
We March On.