Boxing Day really hit home just how much we are underperforming.

5pm on Boxing Day suddenly hit home to me just how much Saints are underperforming in this division, since the arrival of Markus Liebherr there always seems to be some excuse as to why we are not running away with the division, 10 point deductions, change of managers, poor starts, no chance to gel a squad, they are just a host of reasons why Saints have not stormed up the league, but they are just that excuses and whilst many articles on here are sometimes accused of being critical of Nicola Cortese, in many respects this one isnt, in that since his arrival, more money has been put into this team than every other side in the division combined and Cortese cant be blamed for perhaps wondering why we are where we are.

For those who would like some perspective on where we stand and who tell the World that we are on schedule, this is our second worst position after Boxing Day EVER, would you like me to say that again, our second worst position EVER, and there is no trying to manipulate statistics here, they dont lie whichever way you look at them, only back in 1955 have we ever been in a worse position in the league come Boxing Day evening.

11th in League One or Division three as we older supporters would call it its nothing to be proud of in any way shape or form.

What really hit home to me was Hartlepool winning at Huddersfield, at first i thought great result that pegs the Yorkshire side back, but then i saw that Hartlepool had now actually moved above us, it must be due to them playing more games I thought but no, they have played exactly the same number of games as us, but more to the point they have played 11 of those away and only 8 at home, for those who like to point to our home form as keeping us within spitting distances, the exact opposite is true for us, but how can with respect "Tiny" Hartlepool now be above us by winning at a ground where we were appalling ourselves and frozen with fear.

Since we arrived in this division last season in every respect we have better facilities than our rivals and none so more than Hartlepool.

There ground is one of the smallest in the division holding only 7,691 less than a quarter of that of St Mary's, but its not even half full, the avaerage attendance being only 3,061, with even their highest just topping 4k for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday, the word shoestring was nvented specially for Hartlepool, this is not to belittle them  though, merely to point out just how well they have done this season.

So given their low supporter baase and facilities how the hell are they doing better than us this season.

There is not a club in this division either this season or last that can compete with us on any level, we have more money backing us than many Premiership sides, meaning that not only do we have the biggest squad in the division, but its the most expensive with most of our current first 11 being carefully selected, big money paid for them and top wages given.

When they arrive they have a top set up, astate of the art training ground with massive indoor facilities that will mean that the snow and the ice will not affect our training, compare that to many teams in this league who probably dont even have their own facilities and if they do they will not be much more than a few grass pitches and a changing room block, most sides will have had their training severely disrupted over the past few weeks, but not us.

All of this has to be paid for of course, sso lets compare Saints and Hartlepool again, whilst of course income from gate receipts is hard to speculate entirely accurately we can take a comparison, an average attendance at Victoria Park would at their top ticket price of £20 bring in £60,000, compare that with our 21K average at £25 a ticket raking in £525,000 and the financial gap is horrendous so much so that in the next week Saints could in the two games against Huddersfield & Exeter actually see almost as many supporters through the turnstiles as Hartlepool will all season, not only that but we will almost certainly also see in this week, when you take in other incomes, ie merchandising, that we will take in more money in these seven days than our Monkey Hanging friends will do in a year, that is the gulf between the two clubs in financial terms.

So just how the hell are we the giants of this division sitting directly below Hartlepool and indeed Exeter with almost half the season gone, most Saints supporrters are talking of the squad being strengthened in January, but the big question is just why this needs to be the case, Alan Pardew can point accusing fingers at Cortese, but he cant accuse him of not allowing him to buy players, likewise Adkins inherited the biggest and best squad in the division, yet he is overtaken by the likes of Hartlepool's Mick Wadsworth & Exeter's Paul Tisdale all working on minute budgets, something is exteremely wrong here.

Of course its a marathon not a sprint aand we have plenty of time to come good, but when are we going to start showing signs of doing so, just how long will Adkins keep faith with Lambert, perhaps this is the root of the problem, for too long the underperformers this season have been allowed to get away with it, firstly Puncheon who was poor week in week out, he was given 9 games before being replaced and perhaps pointedly did not want to hang around to try and fight for it back, then Harding, he was given a couple more before he was shown up for what he was, but there are still more, Lambert, Hammond, Scheiderlin to name another 3, a side cant expect to win promotion with 3 players so badly out of form week in week out, up till recently we were carrying six and we wonder why we are 11th.

So Adkins has to start to get things right, he has now had over three months to work with the squad and assess it, to be frank he hasnt got it playing to its potential during that time as he hasnt been pro active and dealt with the on going problems, the next month will be crucial, mt worry is that if Saints fail to win their next two home games that Adkins will be given that chance, assuming that both are played, then Saints will have played 13 of their 23 home matches but only 8 of the away games, given that its purely our home form thats even kept us up at 11th, this is very very worrying.

Im sure some will accuse me of being scaremongering, some will tell me how everything is going to be all right and I certainly hope so, however  I have seen scant eveidence of that recently and things have got to change and change fast.    

Photo: Action Images

st_bangkok added 10:51 - Dec 27 Totally agree we have to stop the excuses and win now, however, i am also certain that Leeds and Forest fans were having these same discussions for the year they took to come back up. Being the biggest does not always assure of being the bestus.
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SaintNick added 11:02 - Dec 27 It doesnt, its all about good management
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Verwoodsaint added 11:15 - Dec 27 No, I think that is very fair Nick, although you don't need to compare us to Hartlepool at all, or anyone else in the league for that matter. Everyone knows we are the biggest team in this league and 11th position is unacceptable by anyones standards. Let's just hope the 2nd half of the season is much better and we can finish strong.
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Spot51 added 11:17 - Dec 27 The UI's answer to the Queen's speech. FACT.
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Stephen added 11:19 - Dec 27 Fix the central midfield. Schneiderlin and Hammond together simply doesn't work. We can't rely on Chaplow being with us after his loan period or remaining injury free.
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sholingred added 11:31 - Dec 27 I agree we pay players ten grand a week,while other teams pay 500 quid,we are the second biggest spenders in div 3 history behind Fulham,and the Forest,Leeds and wednesday argument about how long it took them to get promoted is rubbish,as they never had the MONEY we have.
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NineteenCanteen added 11:39 - Dec 27 compelling and depressing. The answer is in the psychology of pressure and the inability to cope with it let alone understand it.
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hortonsaint added 13:26 - Dec 27 Agree with the majority of this but would make a few points. As you suggest Nick the downturn in form of Lambert is a major factor in the problems this season and his 35 plus goals last year along with the contributions of Waigo/Antonio (and their pace) and indeed Puncheon during the latter part of the season cannot be under-estimated and probably concealed weaknesses that are now being exposed, particulalry in central mid. Adkins cannot be blamed for this. It is doubtful anyone could have got Lambert to perform better in the last three months. When Lallana was injured earlier in the season or isn't playing well there is a lack of creativity in the side and we cannot rely on Chamberlain yet. I think we have to reserve judgement on Adkins, no the side have not played well since he came but in the time he has been with us we sit second in the form table I believe. He inherited a side woefully short on confidence following a crazy sequence of events that severely damaged our prospects. I think it is harsh to say he has not been pro-active enough. To focus on Dickson I am not convinced by him (although hope to be proved wrong) and do not believe he is a significantly better player than Harding but Adkins dropped Harding at the correct time in my view. Surely if he was a lot better than Harding both Pardew and Adkins would would have played him all season giving Harding's often ropey performances away from home? Adkins was definitely pro-active in his signing of Chaplow which we could all see was the sort of player we needed. I'm not sure what else he can do currently to be pro-active, da Prado is erratic, Connoly/Barnard injury prone, Holmes out for the season when clearly the aim was for him to feature, Puncheon was given a fair crack of the whip by Adkins and then was dispensed with very pro-activley(maybe too much so). Goburn is not ready to start-I'm stuggling to think who he should be playing in midfield and up front? I would say though that Adkins obsession with possession that ends up goes nowhere does concern me a little. In terms of much smaller clubs out performing us, this has always been one of the beauties of football but when you are on the receiving end it is hugely infuriating. Let's face it these clubs often have limited management (Wadsworth!), dreadful facilities but by playing the role of under dog and with little pressure on them the management are often able create a better team spirit that counts for a lot. That is not an excuse and of course we should be able to match team spirit but I fear some of our players are pampered in comparison and maybe there is a confort zone.. How often do you see this and of course when in the Premier League we saw this scenario from the other side. As an earlier poster stated Forest/Wednesday/Leeds/Man City all struggled with this too. Do we have the best squad in the league? I don't know but as you say we have to re-assess at the end of January if Adkins is allowed to make any signings and judge him then. It is also worth saying that some of the 'excuses' you mention are probably valid reasons -surely you cannot dispute the the farce over Pardew's departure and the ridiculous time it took appoint a replacement added to the speculation over his position over the summer have all contributed to our problems this season?

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