Some Southampton supporters will throw their arms up in horror and accuse me of all sorts of things when I say that if public opinion pushes Russell Martin from his job, this will be the 8th time in a row that a Saints manager has been sacked in this way.

Since Ronald Koeman left in the summer of 2016, Southampton FC have had 6 permanent managers, plus Ruben Selles, all of them have two things in common, firstly they have come under pressure on social media from fans, but tellingly not too much at the games themselves and secondly they have all been sacked.

In some cases you cannot argue with the decision to sack the man in question, in others you feel that he was damned before a ball was kicked, in some cases they have done nothing worse than take us to a safe mid table finish, only 2 of the 6 have actually completed a full season in charge and only 1 has actually managed to last more than a year.

This is telling us something and before anyone tells me that it is all down to the club, yes all were employed by Southampton FC, but during this time there have been 3 different regimes, the end of the Liebherr era, the tenure of Gao Jisheng and now Sport Republic.

So from this perspective this is 3 different regimes all apparently getting it wrong.

But have they got it wrong in all 7 cases so far and more importantly are they about to make it 8 sackings in a row.

So lets take a look at each manager and see if sacking them was justified or not.

Claude Puel was the man tasked with taking over from Ronald Koeman in the summer of 2016, a man who had presided over the best period in Saints League history since we finished 5th in 1985, Koeman was always going to be a hard act to follow and he had issues from the start, he lost the services of Victor Vanyama, Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and to a lesser extent Gaston Ramirez. He also had Jose Fonte whose head was already out of the club.

Yet he still stated the season reasonably well, the side scored goals at times, a 3-0 win at West Ham testified to that, but by November the fans were on his back, one theory is that some supporters felt that he had played weakened sides in the Europa League and I can understand that, whilst the main gist of the fans seemed to be they were not being entertained.

After Xmas Puel lost the services of not only the departing Fonte, but also Virgil Van Dijk to injury, but he still managed to get to the League Cup final, lost only to Manchester United in the final minutes and steer the club to an 8th place finish.

To do that he had to abandon any ideas of attacking and protect the defence from counter attacks firstly and then build on that, slightly ironic as that is exactly in my opinion what we need to do now.

But come the end of the season the knives were out for Puel on social media "I'm not being entertained" & "I can't justify buying a season ticket" being the most used reasons why supporters wanted him sacked.

So sacked he was within a couple of weeks of the season ending and season ticket sales slow, but was it a good move, after all Puel had probably just presided over a season that when considering the League position and reaching a major cup final was perhaps in the top 8 seasons in the club's then 132 year history, just behind Gordon Strachan's 2002/03 season 8th and reaching an FA Cup final just trumping a League Cup final and just ahead of Lawrie McMenemy's 1978/79 season of 14th and runner up in the League Cup.

I can see why some would want him sacked, but most outside of Southampton wondered what we were doing.

Next up was Mauricio Pellegrino, he was not popular from the start, he was seen as journeyman coach and was not what the fans wanted after Puel, they wanted another name as Koeman had been, Pellegrino too had issues in the squad, Van Dijk was refused a move to Liverpool and was now going through the motions.

But Pellegrino started reasonably well, 8 points from the first 5 games, but by Xmas a rot had set in with 20 points from 19 games in the League and then a disastrous Xmas period including a 5-2 walloping at Spurs with Van Dijk already out of the squad and posting pictures of him holding a Liverpool shirt next to his Xmas tree.

But in the start of the New Year a mini revival saw 6 points in 5 games and with 26 on the board a nudge towards safety.

But the knives were out for Pellegrino and criticism mounted, after 30 games he had 28 points on the board a ratio of 0.93 per game, maintain that in the remaining games and we would hit the 36 margin.

But a defeat at Newcastle saw the panic button pressed and his sacking followed.

Mark Hughes was swiftly installed to the end of the season, but he fared little better, 7 games yielded 8 points and we stayed up, but it wasn't a case of Hughes led us to safety, we stayed up because Swansea City who with 8 games left had 31 points, still only had 33 come the end of the season, a 1-0 win in Wales in the penultimate game secured our safety.

I won't claim that appointing Mark Hughes on a permanent basis was universally acclaimed by the fans, but there were enough who read the headlines of whom he had managed in the Premier League rather than what he had achieved to welcome him.

But he was not to last long in season 2018/19, the knives were soon out and by Xmas so was Hughes to be replaced by Ralph Hasenhuttl.

So The Austrian became the 4th Saints manager in 2 1/2 years and he lead Saints to 16th & safety in his first season, followed by 11th in his first full season and then two solid 15th place finishes in his 2nd & 3rd full seasons.

But social media was after Ralph, in October 2019 came definitely the worst game at St Mary's and possibly our history when Leicester came and won 9-0, there were mitigating circumstances, Ryan Bertrand had been sent off with barely 10 minutes on the clock, we were awful, no one can deny that, it was embarrassing no one can deny that, but at the end of the day it was still only 3 points dropped.

But there were some that would not forgive and forget, whenever a bad result happened despite an 11th place finish Ralph would never be accepted by a section of the supporters and the 9-0 would be brought up.

A second 9-0 the following season did not help his cause, despite even more mitigating circumstances, Jankewitz sent off after only a minute, that we were only 6-0 down with 6 minutes left when Mike Dean gave a penalty and sent off Jan Bednarek, a decision not overturned by VAR but it was the next day, this possibly remains the only decision in Premier League history that a referee didn't change when called to the VAR screen.

Ralph Hasenhuttl was a dead man walking from that moment, despite still steering the team to 15th and now he had the added issue that with Gao now unable to get money out of China he had virtually no transfer budget he was the subject of a lot of abuse on social media, although again little in the way of protest in the ground.

When Sport Republic arrived they stuck with Ralph for a while, but a bad ending to 2022/23 season followed by an average start to the following one that was seen as getting worse by many who did not consider the injury problems that he had in his final games.

But if there are those who are perhaps unsure that there was any real social media opposition to any of the four managers mentioned so far, there can be no doubt that the last year has seen much opposition to all of the 3 managers that we have had since the departure of Hasenhuttl.

Nathan Jones was given stick before he had even joined the club, as the rumours that he was going to replace Ralph grew, there was much opposition as to what many saw as his direct type of football and after Jones lost his first game 3-0 at Anfield we had six weeks o the break for the World Cup to build up a head of steam as to why he was going to be no good.

Now I am not going to say I was impressed by Nathan Jones, but I am going to say he was never given a chance from the start, hindsight is perhaps a great thing and no one can say that Jones did a good job here, just 3 points from 8 Premier League games is testimony for that and I can understand why the rot had to be stopped, but lets not kid ourself any chance Jones did have of succeeding was not helped from the negative and toxic vibes towards him before he had even managed his 2nd game in charge.

Initially Ruben Selles did well, winning 2 out of 3 of his first games in charge led to an outbreak of optimism and that seemed to be taken on board by the club who gave him the job to the end of the season, a little hasty I though, but he was seemingly popular with the players and the fans had a good song about him.

But his second win was his last and we slumped to defeat after defeat and he seemingly did not have the experience to halt it, the singing had stopped and the abuse had begun long before relegation was confirmed.

Any thoughts that the board might have had of appointing him as manager for the return to the Championship were quickly dispelled with the supporters making it clear that he was not the man, I have to say I don't disagree and perhaps the board didn't either, but we lost a man who would have still been able to play a part if he had returned to being an assistant.

So to Russell Martin the 7th manager in 7 years, many names were put forward on the internet by the supporters to replace Selles, most were pie in the Sky, but few actually championed Russell Martin, some were soon his back before he had even taken part in his first training session with his new team, they pointed at his possession football and how it would fail, no credence was given to the fact that he had taken Swansea the previous season to within 3 points of the play offs with no money available.

He was going to fail we were told, for a while it went quite, 3 wins and a draw in his first 4 games silenced the doubters, but two straight heavy defeats brought out the knives and another two defeats has seen the knives turned to machetes as people queue up to slag off Russell Martin's tactics but also Sport Republic for appointing him.

Again I don't know if Russell Martin is the man for the job, but I do know 6 games in charge is not enough to judge and even 8 games is too little time to get things right, but there are those who are wanting him out now, they have made their mind up and to be blunt the loudest critics had made their us before a ball was kicked this season.

Martin has had a difficult task, he was not sure who would be at the club and who would be gone until a little over 3 weeks ago, he could not implement his way of playing properly until then, indeed since the start of August we have seen 6 senior players leave on a permanent basis plus another 4 go out on loan, coming back the other way we have seen only 1 senior player on a permanent basis and 4 on loan, out of these 15 transactions only 1 occurred before the season started and most happened in the last week of the transfer window.

So should we be surprised that Martin is struggling to get his players playing his system well , in Saturday's defeat to Middlesbrough 5 of the starting 10 outfield players were not at the club last season, indeed 4 of those 5 had only been with us for 3 weeks.

So are we surprised that Russell Martin has not yet got them playing in the way that he wants, yet many are not taking any of this into account, to them the season is already over unless Martin is sacked now, if fact worse than that we will be relegated.

I am not going to say that Russell Martin has got everything right, he has made a few selections that have made me raise my eyebrows, but they are usually just the odd one per game, rather than wholesale changes, but in effect he has had to start from scratch again at the start of September, it hasn't gone well but he has to be given some time and he hasn't had enough yet.

So we come to the headline of this article, "Will Russell Martin Be The 8th Manager In A Row Hounded Out Of Southampton"

The answer is I hope not, I hope that he is given time, I hope that he proves his doubters wrong and that he leads us to promotion, but I am afraid that i also see a vociferous minority that seem to want him to fail, they were not happy with his appointment and they almost seem to only accept his sacking as a vindication of what they have been telling the rest of us for the last two months.

This is not a pro club stance, this is not a pro Russell Martin article, it is one about what the modern game appears to be turning into, one where continuity is frowned upon by some, it is about disposable managers, if you have a few bad results sack the manager and reset.

But that has not been the answer at Southampton FC in recent times, Mauricio Pellegrino didn't improve the squad from Claude Puel, Mark Hughes fared no better than Pellegrino did with the same set of players and indeed a potentially stronger squad as Gao forked out for a few players when he actually could.

Ralph Hasenhuttl brought us stability although I think by the end he had become shell shocked by the strain of it all, change is not always a good thing, especially in football.

There are many cases where the fans think that change is the answer, but sometimes even when you have a good squad it can't turn things around overnight just with a new manager.

In fact the Premier League is littered with clubs who change managers at every crisis, but ultimately don't really improve, Everton, West Ham, Aston Villa, Newcastle are all examples of this over the past 5 years or so, Spurs since sacking ex Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019 are now on their 4th permanent manger, things have not got better in that time.

So we have to give Russell Martin a chance, it is always going to be fluid, lets be blunt setting rigid timescales is not good practice, if Martin loses the next 4 games then there are big decisions to be made, but he deserves a bit of time to get things right given the turmoil that he has faced, if he moves forward then Xmas is perhaps a good time to judge, but he might need to be judged earlier as i have said, but that time is not now, at the moment it is a blip, his first task is to stop it becoming the norm. if he does that we are moving forward.

Sport Republic have to take some of the blame for the chaos that has ensued and no one can claim that they have not made mistakes, but that does not mean that everything they have done has been terrible and the infrastructure of the club is now far different than it was a year ago.

Yes it has cost us our place in the Premier League, they have made changes, the person that appointed Russell Martin was not the man who sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl and appointed Nathan Jones or Ruben Selles, things are changing, Sport Republic cannot change the last 12 months but they can change the next 12.

I am not saying that what I have written here is right, I am not saying anything other than it is my opinion, I want Southampton FC to prosper, I do not want them to fail and more to the point I am willing to give them the chance to prove that they are the people for the job.

Let's be blunt on this, football is changed, few clubs are run by billionaire supporters of that club , they are playthings for the rich, look at the mess that Everton are in, there are two types of club now in football, those with rich Arab or American owners and the rest of us, who is to say that the next owner will be any better than Sport Republic.

Show me a better alternative and I would happily see a change of ownership, but I don't see anything on the horizon, Sport Republic have ploughed the money in as the fans wanted, they are perhaps not bad owners, they have just not been good at appointing people to run the club for them, but that seems to be changing.

Perhaps it is harsh to say these 7 managers have been driven out, I'm sure that some will take exception, but all to varying degrees had very vocal criticism from the supporters and no one can deny that they left of their own accord.

It is not the supporters fault that they were sacked, they are adults in charge of the club, indeed at least three sets of them over the 7 year period, but supporters can be the instigators for change both good and bad, Sport Republic would not be the first owners who sacked a manager in order to curry favour with the supporter base and I'm sure they won't be the last

Photo: Action Images

codge added 13:37 - Sep 26 We can only hope.
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davenbennett added 13:51 - Sep 26 I think Puel was hard done by. As we finished 8th and got to a final. But it was playing weaken teams in Europe that upset me, and of course Fonte. Why bother to try and qualify for Europe, then see it as a distraction? Fans don't get managers sacked, results, or with Peul, being boring, do. As for Martin. Said before, he's been brought in by SR as he fits the style they want to play. Sacking him won't make any difference. So, we will go down, unless 3 teams are worse than us.

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DellBoyWally added 14:19 - Sep 26 I agree Puel was the only manager driven out. Ralph was a strange one in that SR brought in the players he wanted:- Tall Paul and Sulemana - then sacked him. (Tall Paul had a goal and assist last night!) But Martin had a poor record at 2 clubs. You say, Nick, that he got The Swans to within 3 points of a play-off spot. But that was after 18 months of his dreadful tactics when he changed to attacking football. He comes here and reverts to his disastrous tactics that failed previously at 2 clubs. And let's consider our season to date. We fluked a win against SW, a poor team destined for relegation. We fluked a draw against NC with 2 very dubious penalties after conceding 4. We fluked a last-minute win at PA with an offside goal. We got stuffed by LC who have the same scars and faced the same turmoil as ourselves. Ipswich; we were totally outplayed and escaped with a 1-0 loss. Middlesbrough, with 1 point to there name outplayed us and won! Leeds with the same scars and even more turmoil than us are clicking. And no doubt looking forward to boosting their goal difference next weekend. So, explain again the positives? I think the only positives are that we scraped, very luckily, 10 points and we haven't conceded many more goals. Stick with RM and we will go nowhere unless HE changes. Forget the risk of the play-offs. We are 11 points and 13 teams from promotion. We are 5 points and 6 teams from relegation. Even expecting a dodgy start, that is abysmal and reflects just how bad RM is with tactics and as a manager. We actually have a useful team that should be in the upper reaches of this league at a minimum, not struggling against a relegation fight and being an embarrassment to the fans and the laughing stock of other fans.

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EvertonSaint added 14:23 - Sep 26 Until Mr Martin wakes up and realises that games are won in the oppositions penalty area and not at the back where we pass across and backwards, then there is little chance of him surviving. He has lost the fans, lost direction and sadly, lost four games in a row. ALL were winable. The verbal excuses he keeps giving are not acceptable to the fans. What has happened to the “Southampton Way”? We need a new manager who understands how to defend and win games. RM will not last until Christmas and the sooner he goes, the more chance we have of turning this current mess around. We sold the backbone of a team when Romeu, Lavia and Livramento were sold and replaced with less skilful players. Five thousand less fans at the last home game, could be another 5000 at our next home game if we lose again against Leeds. Anyone know where Aladdins lamp is, I want to make three wishes..

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DellBoyWally added 14:32 - Sep 26 I deliberately didn't mention Sunderland!
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kingolaf added 15:23 - Sep 26 That is either pure clickbait or the most ridiculous article you’ve written. I’ve got a season ticket, and I don’t see anyone at the games hounding him out. If he gets sacked it will be based on results and performances.
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IanRC added 15:46 - Sep 26 The only one of those I regret is Ralph as I am sure he would of kept us up. SR are increasingly looking like an asset stripping operation and there manager appointments and transfer dealings only appear to confirm that they are not serious about promotion. The only thing that will make me change my view on them is if they make a serious attempt to persuade Potter, Ralph or someone of similar ability to step in. With regard to the present incumbent I see a manager who consistently picks his old favourites over better players, slags off his best players publicly and comes out with ridiculous excuses about hangovers instead of taking responsibility himself. The sooner he goes the better.

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Monksway added 15:51 - Sep 26 I don't think it's fans that hound managers out. Poor performances and poor results mean that fans are disappointed and make their feelings heard -not unreasonably. SR will stick with RM. They have to, they appointed Wilcox, they have banged on and on about the long term project, alignment, playing a new way etc etc. The elephant in the room is whether RMs tactics will EVER produce a consistently winning championship team, even when the players learn how to play as he wants them to.

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saintmark1976 added 16:02 - Sep 26 Firstly Nick, thanks for a giant review of the last seven years of management comings and goings. I genuinely admire your stamina in composing such a long article. I couldn’t have done it. By way of contrast I will keep it very short:- At the present we are a team going nowhere with a manager who has never been anywhere. He should be replaced post haste.
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chinesetakeaway added 16:08 - Sep 26 The thing that sticks in my mind is that Eddie Howe was out of work for I think 15 months and lived down the road in Bournemouth. But the clueless owners never thought to try and recruit him. Saints no longer have any heart or reason to exist. The team dont play for the badge they are just a bunch of overpaid journeyman.
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landsdownsaint added 16:09 - Sep 26 Ralph would’ve kept us up, Danny ings let Ralph down he was that important to us for goals . Il be honest and say it still annoys me now Ralph going because we all new even if you wanted Ralph out the next managers were a real step down .we really need to do a palace & get a experienced manager in coz I really fear the worst atm
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JoeEgg added 16:17 - Sep 26 " they have just not been good at appointing people to run the club for them, but that seems to be changing." So Nick is telling us that Russell Martin is a step in the right direction? Sports Republic and their 'team' have decided to be clever clever , make a name for themselves , ignore the obvious and experienced managerial candidates and instead appoint complete nobodies with the hope that they can reveal what great football knowledge our owners and their advisors possess! We could have appointed Eddie Howe - but I remember Nick didn't rate Howe. The Forest boss was definitely interested - and now Graham Potter could bring his experience, judgement and tactics to fruition at St Marys. But 'No' lets contijnue with the same waste of space as we did with Reuben Selles, for example, and carry on to the bitter end! What a great job the latter is doing at Reading in the League. With such a turnover of proven talent replaced by youngsters and second rate ex-Premier League players the LAST THING that you do is to bring in an equally inexperienced and unproven manager employing tactics that might just work for Man City but represent a ludicrous path to go down with the current situation at St Marys. As I have said many times before we have chosen the wrong path to go down - not once but three times now. Sports Republic cant admit yet another howler - we are stuck with this total misfit.

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AgrellaSFC added 16:43 - Sep 26 Can't comment this season as I've been on holiday (THANK FU*K) since our battering from Sunderland. I remember believing in Ralph until that spanking from Newcastle but ever since then I've been quick to jump down the managers throat. Starting to wonder if, as a club, we can argue that we're a premier league side at the moment. Lot of teams with huge history like Sheffield must be looking at our one FA Cup and wondering what we're complaining about. Want to be positive but finding it frustrating. What' people's thoughts?

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Newdawn2014 added 16:45 - Sep 26 King Olaf I also have a season tkt in the Northam, and while you right there isnt a lot of negative chanting , there is little positive chanting for RM . out of curiosity I`d love to know who the alternatives were for the Managers job .
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PatfromPoole added 16:53 - Sep 26 Re Martin: "....to be blunt the loudest critics had made their us (sic) before a ball was kicked this season." Is that me? Fantastic. I'm honoured.
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Kingsland34 added 17:01 - Sep 26 I desperately hope that RM can find a solution and we can get some stability and hope. Trouble is that SFC have become the Russel Martin Show. He talks too much and needs to concentrate on basic football needs. Comes over as an 'influencer' for tippy tappy and always seems to be attention or sympathy seeking in the modern over emotive way. He unnecessarily bared his soul in stating he had seen things in life that nobody should, that's no excuse for imposing on us stuff that we should not be watching! Much preferred Ralph's taciturn one sentence summing ups, which were usually on point.

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SaintNick added 17:07 - Sep 26 This article points out that it is not results that mean people are not hounded out, Claude Puel had the 8th best season in our history in terms of achievement yet he was exactly being begged to stay. Ralph gave us stability but some were on his back always reminding everyone of the 9-0 defeats
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kevleykeegle added 17:26 - Sep 26 There were certain fans calling for Martin’s removal after our first loss! Who on earth do they think will be attracted to a club that, like Watford, gets rid of their manager after a few months. I’m as disappointed as the next fan by our recent showing, but I believe a manager needs to be given a season at least to build a team. There’s only one thing worse than poor results and that’s a large vocal section of our fans who gripe and moan and imagine that there’s a magic bullet out there. They’ve forgotten what the word ‘supporter’ means. Reading their constant bulge drives me to despair.

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davidargyll added 17:37 - Sep 26 What it all boils down to is that FOOTBALL IS A RESULTS BUSINESS, no more no less. Decent managers have a recognisable and achievable game plan, with the assets they have. Decent managers put their arms round every team member and make them believe that they are the best player in the world. Decent managers can take a bunch of B and C standard players and make them into an A standard team. And if despite all these qualifications which decent managers have, if after a handful of games there is zero sign of improvement and the results do not change, B*LL*CKS TO GIVING THEN MORE TIME, THEY ABSOLUTELY 100% HAVE TO BE FIIRED, AND MUCH MUCH BETTER TOO EARLY THAN TOO LATE. And I’m afraid that anybody who doesn’t realise this is doomed to support a team that will continue to disappoint. Yes of course any new manager is a risk, but how much more of a risk staying with the incumbent? And if you want an answer to that, just look at our last few managers and, putting your hand on your heart, cinvince me that any of them would have done better had they been allowed to stay. NO, RUSSELL MARTIN IS A COMPLETE CHARLATAN, IS LEADING DOWN A HO,E FTOM WHICH IT WILL TAKE YEARS TO RECOVER FROM AND THE SOONER HIS IS GIVEN THE SPANISH ARCHER THE BETTER.

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YosemiteSaint added 18:35 - Sep 26 I have to say that we might not be having this conversation were it not for Sports Republic pursuing and hiring three straight baffling, anonymous gaffers (Jones, Selles, and now Martin) these past twelve months. In whatever they're doing, they're not seeing something. (Arguably, they're not seeing _anything_.) Of course, candidates (like Marsch) probably also see right through SR—which makes it even tougher for them to get someone of quality. To make matters worse, in is post-match commentary Martin sounds as if he just can't be bothered. Surely that's translating onto the field—which is perhaps why our performances have been so gutless of late. Disconnects like these warrant a new manager. Whether SR could and would pursue one is another story.

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Boxingman75 added 18:49 - Sep 26 sadly it seems someone from sports rebublic or Russell Martin himself has hacked the site and written a load of drivel that took me 4 and a half hours too read , best get your computer looked at nick, there making you look an idiot
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WoolstonSaint2 added 19:40 - Sep 26 Have you seen us play this season? We are sh1te. Have you seen how SR have destroyed our squad, pocketed a massive net profit, and left us with nothing all over the pitch? Or how SR prised Martin away from Swansea? A manager with no previous success? Our tactics are utterly pathetic. SR and Wilcox have destroyed any chance we had of promotion. I’m tolerant and all for giving anyone a chance, like most Saints fans. What I don’t accept though, is our club being ruined. Again. I’m not going to happy clap that, ever. Get the right manager and players in. Or we’re doomed to obscurity.

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Farlow added 20:32 - Sep 26 We were extremely lucky to keep Alcaraz and Suleemana and this total doughnut won,t pick them.Downes Charles and Smallbone are far too similar with no flair.The fans would tolerate losing if the football was worth watching,please have a go RM
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cramd1 added 00:58 - Sep 27 Apparently, Eddie Howe turned down Celtic because he was expecting RH to get the sack and would have been the prime candidate to take the Saints job.
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Boris1977 added 01:15 - Sep 27 Saintmark76 - I join you in doffing the cap to Nick and thanking him for this article. He, like us loves this club, and gets off (sits on his) a#se and produces the content we comment on. Bottom line is now Nick does this because he gives a toss so disagree with him but don't insult him. Without the Ugly I don't know where I'd go to off load Sports Republic make me nervous, I really don't know what their game is and the multi ownership model is flawed. Peul getting sacked was wrong at the time and Ralph was screwed over by the club who saw a good manager doing a decent job with ever diminishing resources who didn't give him decent CBS or a quality CF to replace Inngs and expected him to deliver the same positive results as before. This club destroyed him by not supporting a manager who could have had a brilliant legacy with premiership level investment. Post Ralph, who I think had to leave as he was close to cracking up, was replaced with indecent haste by an obvious downgrade in Jones. Selles results damned him and sports direct had a massive decision to make. I don't think the majority of fans were against RM when he took over but his underwhelming past wasn't the inspirational appointment a team low on confidence would have chosen. As for the scar tissue nonsense - as others have said most of that team have gone and you don't play high risk passing football with a team made up of newbies, loanees and left overs. Walker Peters is the exemption - his class both in terms of ability and personality. For what it's worth I think Stu Armstrong, one of the most talented players on our books for some time is now unfit due to lack of use. What a waste.

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