Romain Perraud was a regular member of the Southampton squad last season and proved popular with the St Mary's faithful, but Russell Martin has shown that he has a different strategy for the club than they had last season.

The fact that we are now approaching something like £200 million in incoming transfer fees with the departure of Nathan Tella and Lyanco who looks set to join Al Gharafa in Quatar, suggests that relegation was more to do with the leadership of the team, than the quality in the squad.

Both Nathan Jones & Ruben Selles ultimately did not have the courage of their convictions and their answer to every setback was to change and change again, ultimately this led to uncertainty and relegation.

In the short time he has been at the club Russell Martin has shown that so far at least, he has a strategy and he is focused on it, he has belief in his players and he knows who will suit his style of play and who wont.

Some Saints supporters were up in arms about the news that Romain Perraud has left for the season to join OGC Nice in his native France, I am not going to dis the Frenchman here, but I am going to be pragmatic.

The 25 year old Perraud was not versatile, he was a left back in the traditional sense, he was not a wing back and although he could at times have a charge upfield, ultimately his style of play was not that he could do that up and down for 90 minutes.

Russell Martin could see this and he knew that Perraud was not his type of player, nothing personal, just business.

He also knew that in essence that although Perraud had played regularly last season, that was due to the long term injury to Tino Livramento, the previous season had mainly seen him as back up to Kyle Walker Peters who despite being right footed was switched to the left.

Indeed last summer Saints signed Juan Larios from Manchester City and he was seen as the heir apparent to the left back spot going forward.

Larios is the type of player that will fit Martin's style and as he gets his fitness back after his long term injury, he will be the natural back up to Ryan Manning.

So knowing that with having 3 left backs at the club, one will be surplus to requirements, Russell Martin is not afraid to talk to the players and make it clear where the land lies.

He does not see Perraud as fitting into the system, he knows whom he wants in and although that wont please some, especially those that seem to have taken against Ryan Manning almost from the first game of the season, the fact is Martin is following his own path and having had Manning under him last season at Swansea he is comfortable that he is the man for the job.

Indeed with two assists on Saturday against QPR, the first a sublime ball for Sam Edozie to run on to, Manning is starting to find his feet in the Southampton side.

So this has been the first test for Martin, of the players that have left so far most have been inevitable to leave or those that will not be missed too much, it could be said that Perraud is the first to leave that will divide the fans rightly or wrongly on whether he could have been kept and would have played a part.

Russell Martin though is the opinion that counts and he has shown in allowing Perraud to leave on loan that he has a clear path that he is following and that he knows just what he wants and needs to achieve it.

Photo: Action Images

AgrellaSFC added 10:12 - Aug 29 I think Perraud is too attacking for RM style of play. Perraud is clearly the better player between himself, Bree and Manning which is why I think he will be a huge miss. Rather him playing on loan then benched and resenting the club however.
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SanMarco added 10:20 - Aug 29 We will all have our views on the relegation narrative Nick opines here but the point about Perraud being a 'conventional' left-back is a fascinating one. I get the 'modern' idea that full-backs have to be attacking resources but surely their core function is still to defend? It is great when a full-back appears on the wing and crosses for a grateful forward to score (funnily enough the only one I can remember in recent times is Perraud for Adams at Bournemouth, I know there will be others where I have forgotten who crossed it) but surely competent play at left-back has to be the main function? Or am I just old and behind the times?

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SanMarco added 10:21 - Aug 29 Sorry 'traditional' but I think 'conventional' is probably the same.
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SaintNick added 10:22 - Aug 29 Bree is a left back or central defender, not too sure that Perraud is a better attacking option than Manning, but I think this time next season we will be talking about Juan Larios in the left back spot
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highfield49 added 10:30 - Aug 29 It seems as though Larios might be close to fitness again so it makes sense to let Perraud go on loan. Maybe there's an option to buy clause within the deal as well. I'm wondering if Perraud's departure indicates that the versatile KWP is going to be part of the squad, despite persistent transfer rumours. It also looks as though Jake Vokins is being kept at the club this summer, rather than going on loan, and he may also be regarded as capable of stepping into the left back position if needed. As you have posted Nick it does seem as though Perraud would be, at best, bench warming this year.

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Kingsland34 added 10:32 - Aug 29 Well we needed a clear out but it's getting extreme. 13 departures so far and it's hard to remember who is left in the squad and what their role is. Not many full backs left and not much cover but I suppose that does not matter if defending is not part of the tactics.
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highfield49 added 10:46 - Aug 29 Taking up the point made by SanMarco concerning the defensive capabilities of full backs in the current game, I suspect that finding one who can effectively defend as well as attack means Man City etc will be on the phone within minutes. So I think SanMarco is correct and despite understandable support for Perraud there were numerous times last season when Djenepo covered the inability to get back and defend. I also think that we need our current young wingers to think about that side of their overall game because KWP and Manning and have been exposed too often in the early part of the season.

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A1079 added 10:51 - Aug 29 I went to the game on Saturday and our defending in the first half was a bit of a horror show and though it improved it lapsed again towards the end of the game when we almost conspired to lose our slender lead and turn the game into a draw. A good side would have beaten us on Saturday - that is not to say I did not enjoy the game, as I did, but there were many flaws in our performance.

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halftimeorange added 10:54 - Aug 29 Perraud was, in my opinion, one of our better players last year and had an eye for a shot at goal. He got the crowd going and the crowd responded to him. Manning hasn't convinced me. His play on Saturday was punctuated with too many backward and defensive passes, he's been largely responsible for two goals against us so far and looks one-paced. I hope I'm proved wrong but, Perraud moving on is a mistake, I believe. Also, I have doubts about Larios' lack of height in this division.

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SaintNick added 10:55 - Aug 29 San Marco, its not a question of defending it is how you defend, a lot of teams these days dont play with a traditional back four, Perraud is Ok defending, lets be honest not many of our defenders can look back on last season with any sort of pride in a job well done. Kingsland you say we dont have many full backs left, we have KWP, James Bree, Juan Larios, Ryan Manning & Jake Vokins , but we also have Mason Holgate and Jack Stephens who have played that position, as well as Jayden Meghoma who played at Gillingham, so i would say a fair bit of cover

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Jesus_02 added 11:03 - Aug 29 Good player, sad to see him go. Hoping we get some experience at center half and our exiting wingers grow their defensive game otherwise we will continue to concede goals.
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Bowlercow added 11:33 - Aug 29 Manning has made 2 school boy errors which led to goals 2 assists on Saturday to balance that out If KWP leaves and we are left with Bree and Manning as our first choice full backs I can only see disaster
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saintmark1976 added 11:40 - Aug 29 Nick, I can’t help but think that like a number of other posters your judgement at the moment about all matters currently S F C is being heavily influenced by our rather fortunate good start to the season. For the sake of balance and caution it may be wise to remember the following:- 1. The fixture list has been kind to us in that two out of the first four games have been played against newly promoted clubs. 2. We got out of jail against Norwich with a dubious last gasp penalty. 3. Against Q P R, if their player with the Coco the clown haircut hadn’t missed a sitter at the very end we would have drawn rather than won. Reference the Perraud loan. I’ve watched the Saints for nigh on sixty years and can tell you categorically that he is a a better player in every aspect of his game than Manning will ever hope to be. If the Club don’t want to keep him for financial reason then I understand his departure, any other reason, not so.

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Monksway added 12:53 - Aug 29 Perraud signed from France for a Premier League team. He was part of a very poor premier League team that got relegated. Presumably he doesn't want to play second tier football but there has been no interest from EPL sides even poor ones. He is moving back on loan to a mid table French team getting at least some of his wages off the wage bill. I'm sure he will be earning more that Manning as he is probably a better player but we are building a championship squad on championship wages with championship aspirations - which is ok with me given our situation.

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saint901 added 12:55 - Aug 29 I think the assessment of last season, the part played (or not) by Perraud and the "fact" that one transfer can be confirmation of a new style of play, is at best premature and at worst a poor justification for losing a good player. Perraud was (in my view) better going forward than defending. His defensive positioning was at times suspect. He was not helped by the defensive midfielders staying central which often exposed him to two players to mark. Going forward though he offered options which when KWP player at left back, were missing because he always wanted to come inside and that was predictible. The team/squad from last year has seen a number of departures, often of players who arguably fit the passing/possession style that we're told RM wants to adopt. JWP perhaps the more obvious example of somebody who probably made more passes than anybody else in the team of the bottom half of the PL last season. I know the reason will be given that he was a quality player who wanted away but of RM had a strategy and was prepared to stand by it, JWP was the last player who should have been allowed to go. In my view, the fact is that RM may have a preferred style of play and may well consider some players fit that better than others, but ultimately as the owners seek to balance the books in the Champ and pay for some of last seasn's mistakes (Orsic, Tall Paul, etc) he will be told to make do with whatever is left on September 1st. His influence on who stays and who goes, is limited - and that worries me. The owners clearly did not see soon enough the disaster of last season and when they did react it was to install two inept managers and not improve the squad. By the time Selles arrived, it was too late and he had a disheartened group to work with. I get that the lead article here (as many are) is positive and looking to be encouraging but I fear that on this occasion the "facts" and the conclusion are too distant from each other. In my view we are still at least one defender short of a squad good enough for promotion and probably missing a creative midfielder and a striker. I'm also unconvinced that a passing/possession based game is the way out of the Champ (look at QPR this weekend with 25% of the ball and as many shots on target as us) and that the lack of Plan B when we are 1-0 down at home in February and need a goal and need forward going players, all we have is people wanting to pass isdeways.

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saintpete01 added 16:37 - Aug 29 A Big thank you Romain True Gritt
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Boris1977 added 17:59 - Aug 29 Idiotic
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Boris1977 added 22:26 - Aug 29 Stubbornly idiotic.
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Boris1977 added 22:41 - Aug 29 It seems to me that being outside the premiership is a victory in its own right for many fans. Whilst the premiership does not hold much interest for me I consider relegation as a failure by the owners and management. A needless failure by a board who I'm still not comfortable with or convinced by. We've squeezed past a few very average teams over the past few weeks and this has got a few vocal happy clappers high as kites. Winning games is a nice feeling and all that really matters. However from what I've seen we have a mixture of mediocrity and promising youngsters in the team. If we are still in the top half of the table in March it'll be an achievement. While sports Republic are in charge the best we can hope for is a high squad rotation and possibly play offs if the stars align. In my opinion. We have the same issues at the back and have not strengthened, if anything we're weaker there. In midfield we seem to be reasonably strong but lack depth. Up front we still need 4 on target shots to score against and average of 1 on target to 1 goal for the opposition. In my opinion sports Republic's main objective is developing players and selling them off. This makes continued success impossible. This club has enormous potential as we saw up until 4 years ago. Under sports Republic we'll continue to underwhelm and under perform. I've not had a season ticket post COVID so I feel removed from the club to be objective rather than seeing it as a cult that can do no wrong. I love the club but not how it's being run. COYRs

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