Its an old saying, but the fact is that Southampton Football Club, like all football clubs does not rely on one employee to keep it running.

In today's social media driven witch hunt's it's easy to forget that Southampton Football Club has survived for 129 years with more than just one manager and the same squad of players.

If you believed some supposed Saints fans out there if Mauricio Pochettino leaves for Spurs then the club will collapse faster than a house made of cards in a gust of wind.

These supporters seem to think that football clubs are not run by manager's these days, but by messiahs and that getting it right one season is a guarantee of doing the same the next, they also seem to think that football is an exact science and that a good manager + good youngsters + massive investment will always = Champions League Football.

That is certainly not the caseas was shown by David Moyes at Manchester United this season and perhaps we should learn a lesson from them in how the "desire" of the supporters for success can drive a manager out of a club.

Saints have always survived and always will, Chairman come and go, managers come and go, players come and go but what remains constant is the club itself and the supporters behind it.

This takes me back to our history, on several occasions its seemed like the club is about to implode, the summer of 1982 would be one such occasion, the departure of Kevin Keegan lead to mass protests from supporters about how we lacked ambition etc, especially when we replaced him with the likes of Justin Fashanu on loan etc, however within two years we were second in the league and within a whisker of an FA Cup final and competing for a League & Cup double.

Likewise when Lawrie McMenemy left in 1985, this was to be the end of Saints in the iorst Division, yet under Chris Nicholl we prospered the following year, a reasonable League finish aligned with another FA Cup semi final with then invincible Liverpool needing extra time to beat us.

The moral is that over the ages we have often lost managers and players that have brought the gloom merchants to the fore, yet we have always marched on because in football managers will always come and go, the trick is to replace them well.

So at Saints we are about to enter a new age, in some respects nothing has changed, we are still owned by the same person we were when we got promoted from League One, her commitment both financially and physically is as much as ever, if not more, absolutely nothing has changed in that respect.

What has changed is that some sections of the support had bought into Nicola Cortese's so called dream, a dream that he did not have the money to implement and as we now know Katharina Liebherr did not wish to back financially to the degree that would be needed, ironically Spurs are the club vying for Pochettino and look at what happened a year ago, they could not hang on to Gareth Bale, but that wasnt their problem, it was what they did with the money, indeed Saints made three signings last summer and of that one was a £15 million failure, another £12 million spent on a position we did not need to strengthen and a third ironically the cheapest of the bunch was the most successful.

What Saints supporters should remember is that Markus never intended to spend multi millions in changing Saints into a club challenging for the Champions League, this was not a business venture for him, this was his train set so to speak, something to enjoy at weekends, so blaming his daughter for Pochettino leaving as some seem to be doing is ludicrous, Katharina Liebherr has honoured the memory of her Father well and continues to do so, because she knows that money does not guarantee success and that stability is the first step is no reason to lambast her as I have seen some do.

So fr Katharina Liebherr hasn't let us down, if Nicola ortese was still in charge then the offers for our players would still come in, Manchester United will get Luke Shaw if that is what he chooses to do whether it is Gareth Rodgers or Nicola Corte in charge, football has always been about the big clubs attracting players by paying them big wages and the selling club using a big fee to build stronger, this is what we at Southampton have always done since the days of Ted Bates it is the Southampton Way.

Yes some fans don't like that, for them its about showing ambition by showing your wallet, but our wallet will always be smaller than at least six other clubs whether we like it or not, that is a fact, some supporters have lost sight of this lately.

We are in a great position, if Pochettino and a couple of players go then we will have a chance to be in a greater position next season if we appoint the right man to succeed the Argentinian and allow him to spend the transfer money wisely.

This club has had many periods of turmoil over the last 129 years, it will have many more, if we are to succeed then our supporters need to get behind the Club and not hamper its progress by waging campaigns against the owners based on nothing but a few fine words from an ex Chairman.

I of course want Saints to achieve everything possible, but before we run we must walk, only a year ago we were amongst the relegation favourites, no one talked of Lallana to Liverpool or Pochettino to Spurs back then, there was good reason for that and that was no one was interested, our success comes at a price and we are finding that out now.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 11:47 - May 27 I agree entirely with the sentiment but still not sure you have Katharina Leibherr's ambitions correct. She has done not much wrong in my opinion since she became involved and as you state, it is ridiculous blaming her for Pochettino's folly in talking to Spurs. I for one will be very disappointed if Lallana goes and even for him it may not be a smart move as if Suarez goes Liverpool will promptly return to mid table I would guess. Will be an interesting week, but even if MoPo goes a quick quality appointment of a replacement would be a good sign for all. Follow that up with signing of Lukaku or similar and things will look much rosier.

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montecristo added 12:06 - May 27 I disagree with this article completely. If Saints have ever had a problem it is precisely because of this kind of thinking, that the club is destined forever to be either mid-table or fighting relegation. its nonsense. The city has doubled in size since I first started supporting Saints, its a completely different club now to the one where you could bump into Saints players on match days if you need where their favourite diner was located. What is deeply annoying, to the point of distraction is that some fans simply do not recognize that Saints now find themselves with perhaps a dozen top youngsters at the club some of whom have yet to make their first team debuts. The club has an almost unprecedented opportunity to break into the top six but for that you need continuity. Its not about whether we retain one man its about maintaining the status quo , if it aint broke you dont go and fix it. All the powers that be had to do was assure Poch that investment was there and that no players would be sold.And what is most annoying is that Reed actually pledged publicly not to sell players without Poch s say so. But it looks as if the club have agree deals with Man U and Liverpool and I have letter from a major newspaper personally signed by their sports editor to prove it. They dont send out those unless they very very sure of their ground. So no marks for this article from me I m afraid.

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landsdownsaint added 12:28 - May 27 Can't believe you've written this!! NC & Poch have just given me the best seasons football iv ever seen ! And you say oh well managers come and go !? I'm desperate to see him stay and where have you got this idea Ms Liebherr is doing everything right ? We ain't a clue what's going on ,there's more secrecy now than when NC was in charge
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SanMarco added 13:41 - May 27 montecristo - the manager and the players want to go - so they will go. We are not as 'big' as the 7 clubs above us nor one or two below us. Yes we have got bigger due to the obscene amounts of cash in the Sky league - but everyone else has got bigger too. We have no right to expect the owner (who saved us from extinction) to promise a manager hundreds of millions (that's what it would be over several seasons) for no guaranteed outcome. It is romantic in the extreme to think that this could have happened and it wouldn't have happened under NC either. We are all disappointed but I am just surprised that some people seem surprised. Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd etc have always been able to outbid us and they always will be able to. What do you think Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw thought when they saw Bale score that goal the other night. A goal to win the European Cup with Saints (?) - dream on.

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legod7 added 14:13 - May 27 Nick, Why are being so NEGATIVE. When NC and Marcus took over they had a 5 year plan. That 5 year plan was to get SFC back into the Premiership. If Marcus was still alive PERHAPS they had another 5 year plan where he would spend lots more money to make us a Champions League team .Perhaps Katherina has this ambition as well. You seem to think we are still a mid table Premier side who will ALWAYS sell our best players. Why not think POSITIVE for a change

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BoondockSaint added 14:14 - May 27 We have to be realistic. We need to grow the club, but that will not happen overnight. Look how hard it is for Everton just to maintain their position and try to crack the top six. Hell, Arsenal is a top club, run with financial responsibility, and still they lose players to "bigger" clubs! And their fans start with the "the club has no ambition" talk. Having "ambition" means nothing in the real world. We all have the "ambition" to date supermodels, but how many of us have a shot at that? OK, maybe Nick, but that's just so he'll get them a mention on this site!

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thegeneral added 14:20 - May 27 Well said Montecristo agree with you 100%. Making comparisons to the 1980's is ridiculous, and this southampton way nonsense has one us sweet FA and lost us every decent player we bring through the academy. The reason so many of us are disappointed is that we are at a stage where we don't need hundreds of millions to progress, we've got players like Cork, Lambert, Fonte and Clyne that were brilliant deals and players like Shaw, Lallana and Chambers who have come through the system, three players in the England team (plus Rodrigues) is a good marker as to how close we are to future achievement. The addition of two or three average priced players could see us move up to 6th or 7th next season and that IS progression. Had MP not thrown it i feel sure we would have been in the FA cup final and that IS progress as well. I'm sick and tired of this small club mentality

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brady100 added 14:56 - May 27 I totally disagree that Pochettino's exit isn't a huge blow! It's just so disappointing that after the season that we have had, for the team and management structure to be broken up and the club be forced to start again. I think it is unrealistic to think that selling the likes of Shaw, Lallana, lovren, Schneiderlin, JRod and Clyne (all heavily linked with moves) would make us stronger...we simply won't replace them with anywhere near similar quality. Is this the inevitable result of smaller clubs success in modern football? Probably yes but that doesn't stop us fans at times like these asking ourselves why we bother. It's a glass ceiling and perhaps 8th is the highest we can finish, the top clubs will now take our best players and manager and we will begin our next 5 year plan to ensure a similar finish again. I am more worried and frustrated than usual about MPs exit because of the support he has from the players, which could have held the key to them staying. My last point is this, our style of play under MP has been the key to our success and we need a successor who can provide some stability and continuity. God forbid a Moyes, Mclaren or similar who will take us back to our old industrial style. As supporters we were sold a vision that perhaps could never have become reality, but we couldn't help but feel excited with a young ambitious manager, financial backing, great young players and a chairman that got people talking about the possibly of breaking into that top 4. Unfortunately we have all been brought rudely back down to earth which is a shame after what has been such an unforgettable season.

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danvaughan89 added 15:39 - May 27 Montecristo and others, I agree with you here. Shame, as I normally find The Ugly Inside to be pretty good on many fronts (need an editor though, typos etc in every article!). Yes, one man doesn't make a club, but the whole reasoning behind him (and Cortese's in the past) leaving is this criminal lack of ambition. Yes, it is a huge ask to break into the CL, and yes, we can't assume that we could get there and couldn't even put a figure on that. The point is that we have an exceptional squad of players, many of whom know that, given a couple of seasons will be well capable of playing at the top of the English game and probably chancing it in Europe too. You only need top look at the calibre of clubs chasing OVER HALF OF OUR STARTING 11 to see that we indeed have an unprecedented chance of breaking the establishment of the greatest league in the world... Now, brick by brick all of the pain and suffering, and the hard work and the rebuilding looks likely to have led us to an inevitable ceiling... That's what hurts the most - 80 odd clubs in the UK alone would kill for the chance we currently have, and we are going to let it pass because we're scared to improve. While I'm hugely greatful for this run we've been on, and the massive (relative) investment behind it, to be told that we couldn't and shouldn't be pressing on is just too much of a kick in the teeth. To be happy with mediocrity and never having a chance of winning major trophies kind of makes a mockery of the whole point of competitive sport.

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Rednose added 15:43 - May 27 I get it and agree. If MP goes it's because of Spurs vs the Saints standings now. If AL, MS and LS go it will be because of what's on offer to them next season. However the big picture for Supporters is the board make the club successful by reacting to decisions made by others with well informed decisions made by them. KL by her own admission is not a footballing person (upto now at least), so she’s assembled a board of successful sports people to advise. In her fathers memory all the evidence to date is proving that she intends to continue to honor his wishes and make the club successful. The bad press she’s received to date is completely unsubstantiated, unjust and unfair. With her in the chair we’re the closest to the Spirit of our great club than ever, a family club, pulling together to be the best we can be. I’m will not be happy if MP leaves us, but there are plenty of available Managers out there that I feel could take the reigns and push us on. I will not be happy if the said players leave, but they to can be replaced with quality replacements. Adam Lalana has been a great servant for the club and deserves Champions league football in his career, he simply will not get it with us probably for the next 2 seasons, but season 2016/2017 perhaps, but can he afford to wait? I really wish him and Morgan well if they go and hope they both win everything they can in football. They stood by us in the dark days, now we are back they deserve to kick on as quickly as possible. LS and MP however have more to lose if they go, so for us and them I hope they stay. If they don’t then the money we receive from all sales will more than make up for the losses, as long as the board gives the new Manager the money needed to replace the players who leave. If we are to believe all the unfounded press then apparently this is what MP is being promised. We have no reason to fear the future we are far better off than most PL teams even some of the so called bigger clubs. Evidence is we are building on strong foundations, not debt or un-thought out money injections. I bet we even get the stripes back for the new season, now NC isn’t around. The evidence is there for all to see, despite what the (only bad news sales papers) press say, the future is looking very good for Southampton Football Club.

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Zambucco added 17:22 - May 27 Nick, funny, I thought this was a very positive statement, one designed to give fans a little hope for the future, if we should lose our manager and some of our star players. I also found the statements from those accusing you of being negative, to be very negative? Sure it would be fantastic for us to be able to afford to pay sky high wages to keep our best players and manager, and to spend tens of millions of pounds bringing in top stars. But this won't happen, in fact it can't, with the FFP rules. I do not doubt for one minute that our ambition has diminished, but it's just being handled with a little more financial care now, it's just going to take a little longer. What would you rather have, overnight success, followed by a rapid decline into financial ruin (ask our neighbours what that feels like) or to grow strong gradually with excellent foundations, to not only achieve CL football, but to be able to maintain it? I know what I'd prefer. I think what Nick is trying to say, is that the events are out of the supporters hands, but no matter what happens, we will survive and grow stronger. As history has proven.

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brady100 added 17:33 - May 27 I hate being negative, but the reality is at the top level we have reached our peak in terms of players and positioning relative to the size of club and FFP. I don't see us getting stronger, no we can't afford to spend money we don't have in order to push on, however the players we have will not be replaced by equal or better, nor will the manager. A similar 8th place finish is the absolute best we can hope for next year, which all said and done will is excellent for Southampton.

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