Fitzhugh Fella

I would really like to know who was in charge of football matters during the summer because for me that was when our destiny was shaped with poor recruitment and bad decisions regarding new contracts. At the time when I mentioned Wilcox hadn't been replaced there was a view it didn't matter but I think we can all see now it did. Whether or not Martin had too big a say or someone without a football background was involved I don't know but in a very important summer we were effectively without someone who knew his football onions in charge. Was Ankerson still pulling the strings from the wings or was the unqualified Parsons involved in football decisions? The longer Martin is kept on the deeper the hole is being dug but I'm not sure there is anyone at the club who is suitably qualified to run a football team at present.

Sorry about the double post

It's not moronic as many leaving the stadium were saying exactly the same. One slightly fortuitous win does not change the fact Russell Martin's style of football is very unpopular with the large majority of fans who find it, dull, tedious uninspiring and largely unproductive. Yes he has a tough job to compete in a skewed environment and yes - good for him he has made his choice as to what tactics he thinks is the club's best chance to get results, but I and many others think, he is wrong and his system flawed. If we are going to go down I would rather do it with all guns blazing rather a series of monotonous meaningless sideways or backwards passing triangles. The stats and points total speak for themselves. We can't keep flip flopping because of 1, somewhat unconvincing, win.

Your logic is flawed. To keep a man blatantly out of his depth in his job because his two predecessors were crap is basically insane. When does the statue of limitations run out on this? 5 years? If he's not up to it then he's not up to it whatever might have gone before and what ever might happen in the future.

Anyone who names a charitable foundation after himself has to have some sort of ego. I'm told by those who work at St Mary's that he is far more personable than RH was and I don't doubt it, but to me that just says he works on his man management which Ralph didn't. His comments after yesterday's game about the season is going to be a lot of fun is near Nathan Jonesesque in terms of crassness and will undoubtedly come back to haunt him. I think he is an imposter who is out of his depth but I have zero confidence in the people who are above him which leaves us so far up shit creek it doesn't bear thinking about.

Sacking a manager is one thing. Picking the right replacement is another.

I'd really like to know who was making the footballing decisions in the post Wembley summer because whoever it was should hang his head. Most of the recruitment was below average and based on emotion and hope. Without a D of F I would also like to know was Martin given a freer hand? The euphoria and feel good following the 1-0 win over Leeds has been utterly wasted and in 6 months we are going to be relegated with a bigger hangover than 2023. It's inept management all round. I don't think RM s going to get the sack anytime soon. The Board know they are in the firing frame if yet another manager on a long term contract is dispensed with and I think they will hunker down while the club slowly implodes.

My quandary is this - while I have lost all confidence in the manager (I never had much in the first place), I have also lost confidence in Sports Republic and its directors and the thought of them choosing another manager fills me with dread. While Dragan Solak has commendably put his hands into his pocket the people he has chosen to run his company have an awful track record since their arrival. Their decision making is poor, their recruitment is poor and their turnover of staff a real concern. So many mistakes were made in the summer - post Wembley - when we had no DoF in place. Extended contracts were given out unnecessarily (Martin, Armstrong, McCarthy) and players were signed on the back of emotions who were not an improvement or good enough (Fraser, Brereton-Diaz, Cornet, Wood). Russell Martin chops and changes depending on who is flavour of the fortnight. Why no Sam Amo- Ameyaw recently? Why no Bella-Kotchap either, both shone v Cardiff. Its hokey-cokey management which undermines player and fan confidence which goes on to create a weak and negative mentality. We are in an awful mess and while sacking RM will be a welcome (albeit expensive) development I can't help thinking it won't really address the underlying problems at the heart of our club.

I would take a dignified relegation right now because I fear that the rest of the season, with Martin in charge, is going to be humiliating, painful and highly damaging long term. Our recruitment yet again has been poor. Ipswich went big for Delap (a gamble that appears to be paying off) we went low for Ben Brereton. Fraser is not a PL player and neither is Cornet. Archer is unconvincing. I don't know how much input RM had in some of these signings but he must have rubber stamped them. There was too much emotion around after the Leeds game at Wembley. Extending RM's contract was a costly mistake for example. We are not a well run football club. The comings and goings off the pitch have been destabilising. The whole summer passed without a DoF in place and I am not sure even now who RM reports to or takes advice from. Martin should be relieved of his duties. There's lot to like about him but he's out of his depth, he's making bizarre team selections and the players don't seem to be responding to him or his tactics. The mask has slipped enough to reveal a man clutching at straws and revealingly "losing his shit" in post match interviews. The writing looms large on the wall but can the Board read?

Can't believe you are young enough to have a son U12!!!

Will we ever find out is the million dollar question.

There's's a lot of hot air in this post. So you disagree with LD but do you have to take up so much space to let everyone know? He's just a fan who thinks differently to you FFS. PS The lego head quip actually made me smile.

Cant see a Prem club buying a keeper for 30m only to loan him out to a struggling team that is likely to ship a lot of goals, thereby denting his confidence.

People question as to why Brighton are able to outbid us but that's simply because over the last few years they have made some good investments while we have made some poor ones. That's the bottom line. We are having to shop in the bargain basement for at least another couple of windows and hope we can avoid relegation in the meantime. Recruitment is so important for clubs like Southampton who do not have a bottomless pit when it comes to funds.

Adam Blackmore is an important link between the fanbase and the club and is obviously used (if thats the right word) by the club to get information out without their name being all over it. They are obviously frustrated with Celtic dragging their heels have told Adam to publicise the reasons this deal is dragging on. Fair enough. In his tweet advertising the piece Adam says himself you have to read between the lines in some of the things he says. I do sometimes worry that he has had to sell his editorial independence to gain access to the inner workings of the club but that's the price you pay I guess. His comments re Ramsdale's salary being out of our range is interesting too because that is the club reining in the fans' expectations, but as someone has pointed out, signing Ramsdale on loan could just keep us up and that being the case it would be worth "splashing the cash". It's a huge gamble. All in all with just over a week to go before the season starts like a lot of others I am concerned our squad is not near PL standard. I am not criticising the club because it is incredibly hard for promoted clubs to compete in the financial maelstrom, created by the mega wealthy with access to bottomless cash reserves, without bankruptcy if it all goes wrong. What might keep Saints up is a togetherness, all players pulling in the same direction and some canny under the radar signings that all work out. We have a manager the players seem to like and the euphoria of the win at Wembley has created a feel good factor among the whole club but there is no hiding place in the PL and I fear a few big losses in the early weeks may shake our confidence.

Absolutely this and it ain't going to be easy.

Interesting Wolves "dally" while we on the other hand sensibly take our time.

Really? You either do not know Rupert Lowe (a narcissist if ever there was one) or your politics.

Depends who you heard it from.

Please No! Couldn't get in a struggling Burnley side last season and he was dire for us in his last two seasons. This would be a ridiculous (if true) signing.

While I can turn a blind eye to the circumstances of his departure to Liverpool and I can can concede a 36 year old may still have something to offer in the PL, I would say the deal breaker for me is his vulnerability to injuries and his inability to manage even one full game in over 3 years of football.

Top bloke and a good Saints fan.

We do play games in midweek too

Should we go up then there would be a necessity for a lot of serious recruitment and without a DoF ready and waiting then we will be handicapped before the season gets underway. Not sure I understand the logic of SR's thinking on this if House's tweet has any substance.

I will support Southampton until my demise but right now I am finding hard to "like" my club.