Well, it looks like CP and MP2 did the right thing with defensive play but unlike MH they knew the team was not good enough to play the previous style of football when we had the quality players that we sold. Maybe Les Reed got the best people he could at the time.

..KD and Radhi for the short term if Hughes goes - why not? They could hardly do worse.
Hughes' job future (if he has one) depends on Saints scoring goals, which are in very short supply this season..and last... for that matter.

Kelvin has been with the club since 2006 (?).and Rahdi came in 2010 and was a pretty good CB (before he was injured) and he and Jose Fonte were a formidable pairing.

With Reed and Hunter gone they are the longest serving club employees and survived the " Cortese clearouts", and have served the club well both on and off the pitch.
Of course they shouldn't be called "managers " as (to my knowledge) neither has the necessary UEFA Coaching Diploma required to be a Prem. manager ......or do they?.

At any rate they know the playing staff all the way upto first team dressing room, when KD has been an ever present since his newly-acquired job as "link man " between the dressing room and the Boardroom.

As for being unknown ..history has a good example if you look back to Liverpools glory days in the 1960's and after. BillShankly got L'pool back into First Division (1963+) and then into Europe and winning things, but that was only the beginning as their "Boot Room " came up with a run of successors. In fact they won even more silverware after Shanks retired. Being unknown doesn't mean being unqualified .

On my reckoning Mark Hughes has until after the Man U / and Tottenham games - after which it's down to the battle with other relegation-threatened clubs before Christmas.

Ironically (on current form) Mourinho might feel the draught more than Hughes if Saints get the better of United on Saturday, and he wouldn't be the first MU manager to get the boot after being beaten by a Saints side either - ask Matt le Tissier.

Well Talksport are reporting that Kelvin Davis is about to take over on the instruction of Kruger on a Caretaker basis. Sounds ridiculous but given what Kruger knows about football I wouldn't be surprised. What do yo thing Nick?

He isn't the one Fücking things up on the pitch. It doesn't matter who picks the team if they can't do basic things right what hope do we have. Keep fingers crossed for a scrappy win tonight but only if a miracle like at goodison .

The Puel factor and the chairman factor says we will get beat. Then on to those other two games where,barring a miracle we will ship loads of goals unfortunately .

Sack will then be inevitable. But who would actually want the job?

I say cancel all the loans, get them all back . Get them working harder on fitness, harder on the basics, if Austin or any of the others winge or moan drop them and play youngsters from the start. We can't be much worse. At least they will try.

Think you’re asking the right person Luke, none of us have a clue, so we need someone on the inside to help us understand!

I like the idea of Brendan Rogers, but I have been beating the drum loudly for Derek McInnes at Aberdeen.

The reason why we don't score goals is quite simple, we have not got one premiership class player. The sooner we get into the championship where we rightly belong, the better. Currently, if we play Pompey now they will hammer us.

The last manager discovered that getting through to a quarter final was no protection from the sack. I can't see that the temps being mentioned will be a good idea. Keep Hughes until a good replacement can be appointed. December looks frightening - after the display on Saturday I would say 5 points from the 7 games would be a VERY GOOD return as things are at the moment. That would leave us with 13 from 20. Something has to change so please a new manager very soon, the player side of things has to wait at least another month and I am not hopeful over that either. As for tonight I would rather win there in the league...

Because of an inability to correct mistakes, we are absolutely repeating and exacerbating the problems of last season, so that means we could sneak through tonight and magnify the same problems for all to see -yet again, only worse. The 'management board' and it's paymasters continue to show an even more blatant and transparent disregard to test this fan base even more. It is clear that they need to do something less treacherous and more positive to unite this club, and give the fans what their loyalty deserves.

NOTE TO... wibbersda (first post)

You noted a fact that many people seem to (want to) overlook, in that ..
Les Reed probably did choose the best of the people he could get ...AT THE TIME.

The best time to get a new manager is in the close season, and not in the midst of an Autumn collapse in form. Very few good managers are available during the season, except perhaps those who are enjoying a longer rest between sackings from other clubs.

The best of the best go to the top six clubs, or to those with a billionaire owner who has money to squander on his footballing hobby...ala Koeman. Maybe Pellegrino was given too long in the job although at least Mark Hughes did oversee our survival in the Spring.

You can only employ those who want the job, from those who are available - at the time.
I'm sure Pochettino secretly regrets signing a 5 year deal with Spurs when Zidane left Real the following week. He was probably the right man for Real - but at the wrong time.

I wonder if Saints fans would have been so enthusiastic if the new Fulham manager had taken the Saints job ...or was he ever considered before MH signed an extension.?
YES - he had one really great season with Leicester, (thanks mostly to Jamie Vardy) but right now Claude Puel looks to be treading water and Leicester are nowhere near the team they were - when they won the Prem. title. If they lose against us and don't pick up some proper form, their new owner may get as impatient with Puel as Saints fans did.

underweststand - I think most people accept that Hughes was as good as we were going to get when MP went. The interesting thing is you talk about an 'Autumn collapse in form'. Sadly that would suggest that we are 'forever autumn' as the song went. Our form started its long dive probably two autumns ago. It is a good point that it is better to appoint in the summer but (I think) the majority accepted that it would have been unfair to sack Hughes. In hindsight we should have got rid of him then and had more choice. The longer we leave it the longer there is for the better options to be snapped up by other strugglers. Big Sam to Burnley would not be a shock and Cardiff and Huddersfield could soon be looking...

In all honesty would it make any difference at all if Hughes and his assistants left the club? Either the players are incapable of doing what the coaching staff try to get them to do or the coaching staff are incapable of imparting the basics of the game to the players. Hojbjerg was visibly instructing his team mates where to position themselves on Saturday as though they had no game plan in mind. Surely it would be suicidal to risk appointing anybody as manager unless they have extensive, winning, knowledge of the league and the only people who spring to mind who fit the bill are Allardyce, Rodgers and Moyes. A bitter pill to be swallowed but there's little point in being treated by a faith healer when you're knocking at death's door.

Really, I hope you are right Nick. It is unbelievable that no action has been taken suggesting that the club was so beholden to Reed's opinion on all football matters that without him they are impotent.

How long has Reed been gone, yet there is not even a hint of a rumour of a successor? This beggars belief. Without a successor in place the club seemingly are stymied, stuck with Hughes and praying for a miracle - hardly a coherent strategy for a PL football club.

We will lose tonight, we will lose on Saturday so what's the difference between sticking with Hughes or giving Jaidi a chance?