Although the majority of the fanbase are calling for the head of Mauricio Pellegrino, the Saints hierarchy need to make sure that they have carefully planned and thought out the situation.

Last season saw Claude Puel under fire almost from the first month of the season and now we see Mauricio Pellegrino facing the same wrath from the supporters.

But in hindsight now Puel does not look so bad, back then although it could not be denied that the Frenchman made mistakes, he was also plagued by long term injuries to key players not to mention the situation with Jose Fonte, after still steering the team to an 8th place finish and a major Cup Final, it has to be said that perhaps the Frenchman could have been given another season, however poor season ticket sales swayed the board and in fairness things were not quite right, even after the extenuating circumstances that meant that after a couple of good wins away from home with four goals scored in each, that Puel had to switch tactics and concentrate on stopping goals and not scoring them.

Mauricio Pellegrino does not have the same excuses as Puel, he has had a series of baffling team selections and line ups and so far has resolutely refused to change his tactics to suit the players he has.

The supporters themselves recognise this, although it has to be said that as much as some of them can see what is going wrong with the way Pellegrino sets up his team, they seem unable to acknowledge tat these very same tactics are not helping the performances os several players, if the supporters are frustrated that we only play a lone striker, then how must the likes of Redmond and Tadic feel, as wide men and crossers of a ball, they more than anyone want a target to hit and they don't have one, people should at least cut them some slack on this.

Therefore with Puel at the moment it is hard to see hw he can carry on in the long term and although the Everton game is now taking on a big significance, a defeat should not mean instant dismissal, as much as a win should make everything rosy again.

The board have to look at the stuation carefully and perhaps the most important thing to consider is what the next move is.

Sack Pellegrino now and who would run the team whilst we searched for a manager ? Pellegrino's own assistants would go with him and that would leave Eric Black, a man who those shouting loudest for the sacking of both Puel and Pellegrino, seemed to equally blame for our tactics, after Black there is no one at the club currently with the experience to guide us througgh a couple of difficult weeks.

So if Les Reed and Ralph Krueger are considering sacking Pellegrino then they need to be careful what they do and have the new man lined up before they wield the axe.

They also need to consider the long term affect on the club, therefore appointing someone like Sam Allardyce might boost results in the short term, but ultimately it will cause more problems in the long term, too many clubs look for short term fixes and ultimately it only keeps them above water for a short period and they still end up going down eventually, think Aston Villa and Sunderland here.

Some fans are also calling for Les Reed and Ralph Krueger to go, the question is why ? they have steered the club to a position it has never been in in it's entire history, that of an established top ten club, we have to realise that sometimes things go wrong, people make mistakes, that doesn't mean the club is rotten to the core, the Premier League is tough, each year at least two big clubs do not qualify for the Champions League due to not being in the top four, those that call Krueger "Wreck it Ralph" and laugh at their own wit, should look at Arsenal and Manchester United last season and the likes of Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool the season before that and consider that if they can't get in the top four every year, how are Saints supposed to on a regular basis, ambition is about having a plan and a structure and not idle boasting, Saints have that structure, but there is a reality here and that is that we do not have the resources os at least six other clubs, probably nearer ten.

So we need to stick to that structure, not panic and make our next move carefully and if Pellegrino is to go then it is a planned departure in the boardroom, not a knee jerk reaction that we see at so many other clubs.

Saints have a good team, this season might not hold the riches of other seasons, but we are still nearer the top ten than the bottom three, ironically if we beat Everton we could find ourselves back in the top ten, if we had beaten Burnley as well we could have been in the top seven.

All if's and but's but they do tell us that things are bad, but they are far from a panic situation.

What we need is a win on Sunday that will buy us time, time that perhaps could see the manager learn from his mistakes and show he is the man to take us forward, this would not be the first time at this football club that that has happened as Lawrie McMenemy will testify, I don't think it will happen here but it should be noted that Pochettino, Strachan or even Nigel Adkins did not set the World alight in their first dozen games at Saints either, however I do not think this will happen.

So that is why we need a win and time, time for the board to set up their next man for the job and one that could take us forward and not backwards.

Photo: Action Images

obelisk added 09:50 - Nov 22 Eric Black is the common thread here. He ruined Villa and he's doing the same at Saints. I've said this for months but for some reason the bloke seems to be blame free. Get rid of him and his methods and then take it from there. I don't care who replaces him but Black is the sign of relegation.
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SaintPaulVW added 10:29 - Nov 22 Agree. Knee jerk reactions are not needed however decisions could have to be made soon. However, more ongoing engagement with the supporters by the board/owners would be desirable. We have still heard nothing about the new owner's plans for the club.
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perazi added 10:33 - Nov 22 The Club has less points at home this season, after a run of favourable fixtures, than they did during their last relegation season. The Manager is not good enough; many of the squad aren't good enough and the likes of Reed and Kruger have presided over a weakening of the team and two awful Manager appointments. Things have to change quickly, and decisively, else SFC will be mired in the Championship next season. It starts with a new Manager, getting rid of Black - getting rid of players like Forster, Long, Austin, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Bednarek, Gardos, Pied - and the new owner needs to replace Reed and review the player recruitment staff.

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perazi added 10:33 - Nov 22 The Club has less points at home this season, after a run of favourable fixtures, than they did during their last relegation season. The Manager is not good enough; many of the squad aren't good enough and the likes of Reed and Kruger have presided over a weakening of the team and two awful Manager appointments. Things have to change quickly, and decisively, else SFC will be mired in the Championship next season. It starts with a new Manager, getting rid of Black - getting rid of players like Forster, Long, Austin, Ward-Prowse, Tadic, Bednarek, Gardos, Pied - and the new owner needs to replace Reed and review the player recruitment staff.

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redandwhitedee added 10:34 - Nov 22 As i argued many times. Those who call for Les Reed to go need to take a long hard look at his record in charge. 5 year plan to be in Europe (from bottom of 3rd tier - everyone laughed at the time). Then.. 2x promotions, 2x cup finals, 2x europa lge campaigns - as well as top, top signings along the way. There seem to be those saying he replaces with sub-standard ... Well personally i don't see that atall. Of course there will be the odd one who is simply so good that it is almost impossible to attract similar to a Club like ours, but 95% of the time he has helped saints punch well above our weight in transfers with some very shrewd replacements... VVD for Hooiveld // Mane for Lallana // Cedric for Clyne // Bertrand for Shaw // Long for Forte // Forster for Boruc // Yoshida for Jaidi // Wanyama for Hammond // Romeu for Wanyama // Lemina for Clasie // Pelle for Lambert // Boufal for Ramirez // Pied for McArthy // Hoedt for Fonte // Redmond for Juanmi // .... The Club acted too much on fan pressure to sack Puel - who I agree with Nick did a very good job under the tough circumstances he faced (as well as many more midweek games). Sometimes to build a strong team you have to start with making yourself hard to beat. He certainly achieved that. Most notably if you compare Koeman conceding 6 at home to Liverpool, then a few months later, Puel manages 4 consecutive clean sheets against Liverpool - winning 2 of them. So in my book, the only things Les Reed has got wrong so far are(1) sacking Puel and (2) replacing with Pellegrino who is clearly an untested gamble which is not paying off. His next move is crucial now.

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wessexman added 10:39 - Nov 22 The board had the last international break to put contingency plans in place. Reed and Krueger pride themselves on their forward thinking. "We march on" is plastered all over St Mary's. If we do not beat Everton, the board must show they are in control and have their strategy worked out. If this is not the case.....we will be in trouble.
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SanMarco added 10:59 - Nov 22 Yes - if they do sack MP next Monday they need to have a new man in place at once and not 'begin the search' for a replacement then. Redandwhitedee's defence of Les is ingeneous ("Redmond for Juanmi" is brilliant - I apologise if it satirical and I didn't get it...) but doesn't there come a point where those who make the transfer decisions and appoint managers have to be judged like the managers are - on current events. If MP deserves the sack after just 12 games it has to be said that, League Cup run notwithstanding, things have been deteriorating ever since Koeman left. So MP 12 games, Les nearer 70. If MP is not up to it then that is two in a row (after all the fans' views can't be that important to Les or he would resign himself - sacking CP was just as much his decision as appointing him). I now regret moving into the 'CP out' camp - on that basis I am not going to jump into the 'MP out' camp yet. Give him until Christmas. We can't bring much needed new players in until January anyway...

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roamer added 11:06 - Nov 22 OK, I read a lot here the last two days. What we need to do is very simple: we need changes. The problem with the changes is that we need a lot of changes in a lot of places of club's ierarchy. 1. It is obvious that we need to change Pelegrino. He is obviously can't even to learn from his own misstakes. He can't to select the right eleven for the concrete game or to manage the team during the game. 2. We need to change obviously some players which are far from a good form the last two seasons: Forster, Long, Tadic, Bertrand, Austin are very far from what the form we need for our squad. 3. We need to change some people in the Board. Someone must take responsibility for the last two failures with manager appointments and with a bad selection of the players. In my opinion, Les Reed and Kruger are in the scope here. I agree that Les Reed gave a lot in the past, but in the last two years he ruined almost everything /especially this year/. When is the right time for these changes? 1. According to my opinion we lost pretty much precious time and games with Pelegrino. We will lose in Sunday - I am sure about that. So, probably even if we fire Pelegrino today-it is waste of time. We need someone hardworker who is already adopted in PL. I assume, Eddie Howe, Sean Dyche, even Chris Houghton will be in this category. We don't need foreign managers at this particular moment. 2. In my opinion we could sell Tadic and Long even in the winter transfer window. We need real attacking creatve midfilder and a at least one striker-preferably with a good shot and to be 6 ft and even more. For the other players from the list - they could be sold in the summer, but in my opinion they reached their maximum level. 3. Changes at the Board should be planned. That's why in my opinion both should be replaced in the summer.

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sidsaint added 11:13 - Nov 22 Next Sunday is crucial for MP. Another loss and the same formation and he has to go. As for a replacement, we had better be quick as Everton, WBA, Swansea and maybe Watford if Da Silva goes, are in the same position as us, It;s going to be a dogfight to stay up this season.
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Santos added 11:20 - Nov 22 Echo redandwhitedee, although a few replacements are slightly out I feel!! but as Nick say's every club has it's share of new signing hits and misses but on the whole the board have done well. The biggest mistake currently is the manager. Pellegrino has kept his head above water somehow with the national press due to a few results at the right time, Palace away WBA win and only losing 0 -1 at home to Man U all these have masked to the masses what we see each week!! a team that seems to lack motivation, fitness and are devoid of any tactics, formation or ideas and poor substitutions!! all of which I attribute to the manager. I don't want a knee jerk reaction but is this so,13 games plus pre season more than some have had!!! For 12 games people have said about him learning I have not seen any change to suggest that anything has been learnt and as for Sunday whilst I have hope really feel we will see much of the same, even a win will be another head above water moment for MP. Thought through yes lets hope they have started but things really do not look great.

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SaintNick added 11:24 - Nov 22 Obelisk - I do not mean to insult you here, but sometimes a persons perception is nowhere near the truth, somewhere along the line you have read something about Eric Black ruining Aston Villa and you have accepted that as gospel and now repeat it on here, this is how things suddenly esculate and a view is formed by a sizable portion of the fanbase that is then cascaded, I a not saying that you have started this, just been a small cog in the machinery, but it tells us that the current knee jerk reations going on throughout the supporter base are ill informed You statethat Black ruined Villa, the reality is that he joined them as first team coach in January 2016, at the time they had only 8 points on the table with over half the season gone, given that they had only escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth the previous season, Back could in no way be blamed for "Ruining" Aston Villa, they were in freefall when he joined them. He spent only the final four months of that season at the club, the last six weeks or so as caretaker manager, if we wanted to be pedantic they ended up on 17 points, so it could be said he improved them in their time there. The point is though I read so many things about Eric Black and how he ruined Aston Villa, but there is absolutely no fact to back that up. Im sorry but you have just perputated the rumour without really checking it out, most people do that which is how witch hunts start, perhaps Black is a part of the problem at St Mary's, I dont know myself, but it has nothing to do with his time at Aston Villa

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SanMarco added 11:44 - Nov 22 Nick's comments on Black are enlightening - I certainly hadn't checked the facts out. I also wonder how powerful he really is in his role at the club?
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SaintNick added 12:02 - Nov 22 Interesting to read these comments on Black from Coventry fans after he was sacked after only six months in charge. "This angered many fans who believed that Black had brought an attractive and highly effective style of football back to the club and was merely being moved on for a bigger name"
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DorsetIan added 12:14 - Nov 22 Eric Black also knew how to play attacking football when he was at Coventry. 4-0 up against Preston at home after half an hour...(following a 4-0 the previous week too)... http://www.coventrycity-mad.co.uk/rprt/mtch/coventry_city_4__preston_north_end_1
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Number_58 added 12:25 - Nov 22 Has anyone on here ever met Eric Black? Has anyone on here ever spoken to anyone who's met him? Can anyone corroborate that he is indeed the dreadful coach that many make him out to be? He may well be the son of Satan for all I know, but the fact that the club kept him on when Puel left would suggest that he's probably popular with the players and staff. I doubt very much if he formulates the tactics and picks the teams (not sure if anyone does these days, to be honest), so from the outside the criticism seems a bit harsh.

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dirk_doone added 12:39 - Nov 22 Do you want us to keep Les Reed until he's 70 or until he dies? It's tme for him to retire now, otherwise we'll get MP Mk III, still be stuck with Eric Black, Dave Watson and Ross Wilson and sleepwalk to relegation. Our former head of recruitment, Paul 'Black Box'Mitchell, was the real man behind our success and since he left we've looked rudderless and clueless. He would be the ideal replacement for Reed. Things are going wrong. It is time for a change. Les Reed out. Paul Mitchell in.

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helpineedsomebody added 12:47 - Nov 22 the pressure is now on krueger reed & pellegrino to delever not to hide / hope will not help them the new owner has invested a huge sum of money he wants results not talk from these 3 people
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ItchenNorth added 13:26 - Nov 22 I broadly agree with redandWhitedee. What i don't get is why fans bang on about Eric Black when they have absolutely no idea what goes on behind closed door or on the training field at Saints. It wouldn't surprise me if the VVD situation is having an impact on the dressing room. In the same way as last year with Fonte. We need shot of VVD in January and Pellegrino needs his own players in before anyone considers pulling the trigger on his time at the club. Jack Stephens and or even Wesley Hoedt must be thinking 'what the hell is this all about'. They must start (or Yoshi) from now on and lets forget about VVD. Fans also need to stop passing the blame buck around as well and get their our house in order first. Saying 'i pay my money so therefore I can act /react like I want on match days' is utter nonsense and shows a lack of true passion of the cause. As Nick always points out; keep the negativity away from the match itself and wait until the final whistle. Until we see St Mary's rocking in full support of the team on match days (throughout and even if we go 1 or 2 down), fans can't moan that the players appear not to care or look uninterested. There is no doubt about it, asks any manager or player, past or present; positive atmosphere and support form the stands goes a long way to seeing improved performances and results on the pitch. If we can'y provide this for the players for an hour and half each weekend, we have to accept degree of accountability, if the club continues to struggle or even goes down.

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dirk_doone added 14:09 - Nov 22 By the way, I do agree with you on cetain issues, Nick. I would never boo our team during or even after a game and I also don't think we should hastily replace Pellegrino. There really is no point in sacking Pellegrino, the same as there wasn't in sacking Puel, if Les Reed is still in place to choose his successor. Reed has to be replaced first. We really don't need to feel sorry for Old Les. He's had a good innings, made more money than most of us could dream of and now he can retire happily at 65.

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BoondockSaint added 14:32 - Nov 22 ItchenNorth-If the PLAYERS can't provide a proper effort for an hour and a half each weekend, THEY have to accept a degree of accountability! Nick-Pellegrino DOES have the same excuse as Puel: Cr@p players! If Eric Black brought .."attractive and highly effective style of football" to Villa, he must have forgot to pack it when he left, because our attack has no imagination and our set pieces are a joke. (Sorry, passing the ball back or side to side is not really an "attack" is it?) As to Ralph, i don't know how many of you have followed the NHL as long as i have, but to me his running of the Saints (how much is Les and how much is Ralph I don't know) is completely against common rules of the NHL: Players complacent? Bring in a hard case coach to put a boot up them. Players not scoring or putting in an effort? Send them down to the minors and bring up some hungry players. Never sell or trade with teams that are your competition in the standings. Always have a quality back up goalie, one that will step in and win games when your starter is out hurt or is on a losing streak, and, is always competing in practice for the Number One spot. Always have strong, tall, physical players that keep other teams from pushing your lightweight players around and intimidate other teams attacking players.

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SaintBrock added 15:28 - Nov 22 Our board... act in haste! Where on earth did you get that idea from Nick? Takes them about 15 minutes before each home matche to sort out who's sitting where.
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ItchenNorth added 16:14 - Nov 22 I agree BoomdockSaint; player are of course accountable, that goes without saying.
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Clayton7 added 16:46 - Nov 22 Out Reed & Black In Nick Cortese if he will come !😇👍
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Damo1973 added 18:40 - Nov 22 redandwhitedee...the reason the 5 year plan was put in place was due to Cortese and not Reed. Cortese found MoPo after he got rid of Nigel A. This board are the reasons we are getting through managers like a new born gets through nappies. We have sold, sold and sold our star players, replaced with cheaper options and not replaced in some cases, and now it’s finally caught us up. Gao may be swinging the axe in Jan, but I hope it starts at board level. José couldn’t get the best out of the squad we now have. So yes it is Reeds fault, but I also blame the others for the fire sale of players, trying to make this club purely a good business to invest in because of the profits. Simple as that

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the_saint added 18:53 - Nov 22 Get rid of them all lock the doors to St Mary’s withdraw from the league and support liverhampton......problem solved
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