Charlie Wayman

Exactly right! The problem for him is that this season may have been his big and possibly only chance to become a PL manager. Arguably he had at his disposal one of the best squads of players in the division if not the best. Next season half of that squad will not be here as they explore other options. He will likely end up with a bunch of plodding journeymen and a clutch of youngsters who are no further forward in their career development than they were this time last year due to lack of opportunities under Martin. On that basis his team might struggle next season to feature in the top six at all especially if transfer money is tight and we cannot replace adequately the star players that won't be here. If he can't get us into the PL this season or next then his days will be numbered and quite rightly so.

Our failure yesterday was entirely down to the midfield. Downes did his job splendidly but Aribo and Rothwell were totally ineffective as creative attacking midfielders. Both seemed content to hang about midfield near opposition players, not bothering to lose their markers and find spaces so that they could receive the ball and turn and run forward. As a result when in desperation the CBs forced a pass to try and get things going the ball was more often than not promptly returned to them at pace especially from Rothwell. Thus the front three were pretty much isolated except for occasional hopeful long balls. Some credit to Stevens for recognising the problem and trying now and then to take up a more central position to get the ball forward down the channels. He is the captain though and could have and should have reminded those players of their responsibilies on the pitch. It was stroll in the park for Blackburn, all they had to do was hold their shape to blunt any efforts from us and then run at us on the counter when they retrieved the ball. Some people have a better opinion of Aribo than I but if you watch him carefully what you see is a player who reacts to situations rather than anticipates them, often like a rabbit caught in headlights; as a result he is nearly always a yard or two too late to get to the ball. It seems to me that he doesn't read the game well and all too often is guilty of ball watching. Apart from an eye for a goal now and then Rothwell offers nothing and like many of you I wonder why he is here at all.

Results are all that matters in this football business. What RM has proved is that there are at least three managers in this league who are better than him. If SR are content to have the 4th best manager in this league then so be it but it isn't an obvious recipe for success.

The only players who have been given enough match time this season under Martin to prove beyond any doubt that they are absolute crap are Manning and Adams. To a lesser extent perhaps Baz has shown that he still has some learning to do but Shea Charles like many other kids has been messed about enough times with RM's weird team selections to do the poor lad's head in. How can he be expected to show his full talent under those circumstances? He is one of those whom I expect to hand in their notice in June and wouldn't blame him. RM is surely "Marmite Man" and there will be a significant exodus of talent in the summer if we fail to go up.

The long sought for mid-Championship mediocrity beckons with Wilcox jumping ship and another SR appointed "next great young manager" proving he is anything but. Some are calling for SR to sell up and go. Their failure to keep Wilcox seemingly demonstrates that they do not have the means or allure to break the mold. Their failure also to see that RM is too set in his ways to be anything other than a mediocre manager in a mediocre league but see him as our future then our future is bleak indeed. Ipswich felt like a kick in the balls, our last, last chance saloon. A predictable failure to rise to the occasion has left many of us with that empty end of season feeling of indifference to the outcomes of remaining matches. Just the time then for Saints to romp to an easy 4-1 win that raises more questions than answers followed by another inevitable let down on Tuesday night.

…and Adams, Stevens & Manning!

Martin is a clown and his lasting achievement here will be to have pissed off pretty much every single one of our players to the extent that none of them will want to stay here after the summer.

Don't hold your breath. If we keep playing like this we won't even make the play offs. In a way that would be a relief at the end of a season of unfulfilled promise.

We will be in the play off's (🤞) simply because of our long unbeaten run earlier in the season. We seem to be a poor imitation of that side right now and arguably are undeserving as a candidate for promotion on merit. We might pull ourselves together for the last few games and find some better form by the time the 46 game league season ends but don't hold your breath. The appalling misses in front of goal yesterday smacks of panic setting in amongst the players, are they unsettled, over-trying whatever but they are certainly not the cool headed side that strolled through matches a few weeks ago. I hope the players have not given up on Martin but you wouldn't blame them if they had what with all the chopping and changing of the side that he alone is responsible for.

Wanna bet some clown will give him a new contract in the summer

There, corrected that for you. The Stadium of Light was built on the old glass works site, hardly a co-incidence you would have thought.

Nice recovery from a sloppy back pass aimed straight at your goal!

Look on the bright side, he'll have to start playing the lads who actually belong to us.

Let's hope he doesn't jump ship because of a lack of game time under Martin. He and Meghoma are real talents but not getting much of a look in under the current regime.

As long as we get 3 points, not that bothered who he picks. Probably it will be an easier passage to Wembley if we finish 3rd instead on 4th. My bet is Russ will go with; Manning Manning Manning Manning Manning Manning Manning Manning Manning Stevens Manning

Why not keep this seasons shirt, what's the point of change for changes sake.

Perhaps the reason the PL don't go after the big clubs who have breached FFP rules is that those clubs have the money to employ top lawyers to mount a prolonged challenge in the courts of any ruling against them and the PL are scared of this. The small clubs don't have the financial means to fight civil court challenges in that way. Same in real life really, individuals seldom have the means to challenge in the civil courts whereas corporations do.

Non-metropolitan.

They did but their success was built around the legendary midfield trio of Scoular, Froggart & Dickinson by any standards world class players. We had Smith, Webber & Mallett by the way at that time… who, you may well ask? Just so my loyalties will not be questioned, I haven't a clue who plays for them now and cannot name a single player from their squad.

Portsmouth won League One in 1949 and 1950. They are one of only five English football clubs to have been champions of all four tiers of the professional English football pyramid. You might soon have to get used to the idea of us possibly being the 4th best team on the south coast. As a Hampshire man through and through, I remember very well their post-war achievements and not without a little envy as Saints drifted between Division 2 and Division 3. Rivals they may be but give recognition where it is deserved. Your careless and insensitive remark about handicapped people in care homes does you no credit whatsoever and in the context in which you set it, wildly inaccurate. There are still plenty of football fans from the Silent Generation who still know which way is 'Up' even amongst our season ticket holders.

Put it another way. The challenge for us going forward is that we must beat the top three at least once each and one of them twice. If we can do that then we will be promoted and deservedly so. It's a very tall order but stranger things have happened in Saintsland. Is it worth betting the house on? That's for you to decide but it sounds like a brick too far to me.

It is disingenuous to limit our appreciation of Ralph to his ability to have kept us in the PL. He did far more than that and had us top of the league for a brief moment. Given Saints were a cash strapped club unable to buy decent players to fit the system he wanted to play, he did extremely well to fashion a team from our dross that at times looked like they could claim a top ten berth; alas even Ralph could not defy gravity indefinitely but he did not have to suffer the ignominy of relegation. Could he have kept us up? That's the million dollar question that will never be answered. Especially I miss his press conferences that were always full of good humour and bon amis, an intelligent but humble man that rarely had a bad word to say about any body or anything. Good luck Ralph and hope to see you around these parts soon.

Play the ball not the man. Everyone has a different point of view. Take a chill pill!

Leeds turn to win today. The top three are relentless, we are falling further and further behind. It will be hard to drop any lower than 4th or to climb any higher. At least we should get our day out at Wembley probably against Leicester at this rate.

One thing is evident from Leicester's performance today is that they are a much more accomplished and skilful side than Saints and will do well in the PL next season. Can't see us getting anything from our game against them and they could run us ragged.