OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

I reckon that's the point. It would have been negligent for SR not to have made overtures to various managers but it's how you make the overture that's important. "Hey Moyesy, hey Graham fancy giving us losers a go?" isn't going to work. But presumably managers also have agents and our recruitment people should be hammering down the doors of Moyes and Potter and presenting them with proposals they can't refuse.

Could have done with Palace not beating Spurs, but ultimately, Wolves & Palace are going to pick up points. We're now rapidly going to be left behind unless rabbits are drawn out of hats for Everton & Wolves. Yes we have a mediocre squad, but they're not a 1 point out of 27 squad. Would like to see two up front for these next two games (TP and Archer). We need to be brave 😉

And with Ralph, I always got the feeling he wanted the best for the club and had the club's best interests at heart. With RM, I've always had the feeling he's got RM's best interests at heart and the club is a stepping stone. This 'I'll live and die by my principles' nonsense is telling us he'd rather preserve his 'principles' and take us down rather than adapt to the situation we're in. Or perhaps he's just too stubborn to accept what's he's doing is wrong. A few posters have commented on the lack of footballing men in the hierarchy of the club. There doesn't seem to be anyone at the top to tell him to change direction even though we can all see that's what's needed.

And quite a few on this forum were predicting this is exactly what Pep would say! Don't listen SR. Russell Martin should not be managing our team

Because these managers got the team fit, and though the team weren't great players, they did ok. With 9 games gone and one point on the board, ordinarily you'd be dead and buried. But this year, there are four team really struggling and we have a 'Get out of jail free' card given to us on a plate. What really concerns/annoys me is the RM is holding the card and he doesn't know what to do with it. Everton home/Wolves away. Seasoning defining matches.

Doesn't it just? So it's not just me, it's almost embarrassing.

Stop putting everyone in the 6 yard box to defend a corner. It doesn't work you thick twats!

I still can't believe SR gave RM a 3 year contract. In his position, he would have grasped a one year rolling contract. FFS, with four/five league games to go last year, we were looking all over the place. And he's not a footballer with a sell-on fee. Did we really think clubs would be clambering over themselves to get a piece of RM? If it costs half a Sulemana to replace him, it must make business sense to depart with him. I still think there's a lot of talent in our current squad and it's a squad capable of mid table anonymity with a half decent manager.

I always thought VAR can get involved if there was a 'clear and obvious error'. Using that reasoning, VAR saw Taylor didn't intervene on TP's tug so should have been equally lenient on Fraser's tug. I sometimes think our problem is our guys don't throw themselves to the floor or surround the ref enough.

That's the thing. Many of these previous nightmares were pre-VAR. If anything, it was VAR that was against us on Saturday. They didn't pick up on TP's pull back (admittedly Taylor saw it too) but Taylor initially gave the goal and they were all too quick to get him to check the monitor.

They have had a tough start and one of my work colleagues who played for their academy when younger and follows them says they're playing OK and scoring goals so he's not concerned yet. But we'll have TP and Archer starting and will give them a shock on 9th November. Last time I was there the only shock we got was Che missing from one foot!

So early in the season and already looking like three from the current four bottom will go down. Wolves are also scoring goals which is a concern

I would like to have seen TP lay off that ball to Archer on Saturday instead of to Sulemana.

Sulemana's chance was huge but you can't be angry about the result. He's useless and it would have been a total surprise if he had scored. Someone should sit him down, order him to take his head out of his arse and watch the video of Fatawa playing against us over and over again. And yes, Fernandes is shaping up to be a top player

Pretty sure the team spirit is there but it can't stand you in good stead if the team tactics are crap and the players' fitness levels aren't where they should be. Every team we've played not only move the ball quicker; their players also seem to be quicker than ours, and that's been especially noticeable with the 'lower' team like Ipswich, Forest, Leicester. It's not as if RM has the excuse of playing an energy-sapping high press. Fernandes or a.n.other makes a half-hearted challenge while the others sit back and let the other team come to us.

Yes, it's really odd. Other teams don't do it because it doesn't work. When that last corner was taken every one of our players bar one was inside the 6 yard box (and the other was standing one yard outside). So the ball could be dribbled out to Ayew and he still had time to set himself up and take his shot. Absolute nonsense and frankly indefensible when exactly the same thing happened just a few games previously. You've got to learn by mistakes and RM has shown time after time that he doesn't. I can only guess that Potter and Moyes have turned us down because I'd be banging down their doors trying to persuade them to take us on.

What the game did show is that Tall Paul has something about him. He can hold up the ball and pass, in fact the only thing I haven't seen him do yet is header the thing. Sh*t, if he could jump then he could get on to half our wayward crosses. He also looks fitter and faster than I remember him. TP and Archer up front together? TP laying off to Archer. Maybe something for the Everton game.

They treat our club like a toy and they're all in it together. Don't think for one minute that Dragan is dipping in to his own pocket. Yes, they want success but ultimately to them it's a venture with sadly a lot to gain but very little to lose. What I will say in their favour is that money has been spent on players. What they need to do now is realise Russ Martin is not the answer.

The numb feeling is just dying off and then looked at the league table. This has been all so avoidable. Yes, we've got an average squad, but with Ipswich and today alone we've squandered five points and the four at the bottom are already looking detached. It really is noticeable how so many of our players are blowing out their arses after 60/70 minutes and they're not running around like headless chickens before that either. KWP aside, we look slow and comparatively unfit. This is inexcusable. C'mon Potter you know you want to!

Genuinely think Saints should lodge a complaint against that refereeing display. That said, from 2-0, the way RM managed the team should be a straight red. That's up there with the worst of inept managing. So many substitution errors and that defending of the final corner, especially after Ipswich, was criminal.

Two goals in one game. To us! What's happening? Still think we might need another two because the midfield is getting swamped.

That's odd. I can see Manning getting in the way of KWP. Sulemana back on the bench so he's fit again.

Nope and frankly watching his touch in the games he has played so far, I'd rate him miles behind Archer and Tall Paul and that's not setting the bar very high.

And we're relying on an OAP in midfield. I'd still want to see Sugawara and KWP at the back rather than Taylor because they present more of an attacking threat. But when you look at that forward line up or the options, reality does hit. Our goal threat is so limited. I'd go for Archer in the middle - at least to start.

Could this be Jack's new role? Nurturing and bringing on the youngsters? Fingers crossed.