I have been patient in my comments in recent months about the club and some of the accusations levelled at it by some of it's supporters, but now it is time for some accountability.
Many Saints fans seemed happy to condemn Les Reed before he has actually done anything wrong, whilst Reed has his faults his CV would make good reading for any football club outside of the big six in English football, it has been one of constant improvement and success over a 7 year period at St Mary's since he arrived in 2010.
But perhaps his best work for the club is what has been achieved in rebuilding Staplewood and restructuring the academy and set up behind the first team, Reed should be applauded for this.
Last season might not have felt like it at times, but the statistics say it was in the top six succesful seasons in our history, although a section of the fanbase were not satisfied.
Reed might therefore be entitled to expect a little leeway this season when we hit stormy waters, but there was none of that as the fans took him to task even before the first month was over, he could do little right in their eyes, he was damned if he sold Van Dijk, damned if he didn't
I remained patient and although I was not happy that action was not taken in December regarding the manager, I understood some of the frustrations and the difficulty in replacing a manager and getting the right man without just jumping out f the frying pan into the fire.
As some raved and predicted that we would not spend the Van Dijk money I again was not prepared to condemn a man for his actions or at least lack of them until the transfer window was closed, now it is shut I am not a happy man.
I agree with many that given the Van Dijk situation we should have had his replacement lined up and ready to go at the start of the window, we should also have had some plan B's in place
Lets get this right though in terms of corporate governance before we start, Mauricio Pellegrino is in charge of the team, if he is not performing to the desired standard then it is Les Reed's job to sack him and identify a replacement as well as bringing in players.
If Reed is not doing his job then it is Ralph Kruegers role to sort the situation out and sack Reed, it is a very clear demarcation of roles within the club, ie Krueger should not be berated for not sacking Pellegrino, that should be Reed, if Reed is not doing his job then Krueger has to deal with him.
Some supporters don't grasp this concept and blame everybody.
But this January Les Reed had two specific tasks, bring in players and review the manager, he appears to have done little on either, the fact that with so much money in our coffers we landed only one player is nothing short of a disgrace and Les Reed should be accountable, likewise the manager, Pellegrino has won only one game in three months, again this is totally unnaceptable and Reed has allowed it to drag on and on to the point where the situation is now unrecoverable with Pellegrino due to the lack of faith in the fan base in him and indeed now Reed himself.
AS I say this is partly unfair, Reed has done much good work behind the scenes, but it seems that today bringing in players and sorting out an underperforming manager is a task that is beyond his capabilities and the question has to be asked if his role is too much for him and needs to be divided.
Losing Reed would be a blow in the organisational sense, much of the structure at Staplewood is down to him, but it cannot be ignored by Ralph Krueger the situation that has been allowed to develop with the first team and it's manager and the failings of Reed to deal with it.
To his credit and indeed Reed's they did not sack the manager at the first sign of stormy waters, they gave him time to show he could turn things round, Pellegrino has not done that, he has had every chance, he now needs to go.
So Ralph Krueger needs to show he is overseeing the club well, in any other department he would not let the director preside over such a decline and indeed in any other department that director would not let his head of department under perform so badly that things deterioated to this level.
Reed needs to start doing his job and Krueger his !
Results now are what matters, a month ago I wouldhave aid that just sacking the manager would be pointless unless a replacement was already lined up, now I would say different, last night I could not fault the effort of the players, they put in good performances individually, but they were not a team, they had no leadership and that has been clear for a while now, literally there is no point in Pellegrino being in charge, tactically he is naive and he can seemingly change nothing in a game, so we might as well let the crowd pick the team by poll and substitutions made by a vote on twitter, the team would have fared no better or worse last night if this had been the case and that tells you something.
So if Reed wants to keep his job he should be pro active now, with only one new signing in to the club, the playing squad is barely changed so something else has to and that is the manager, if the fans are to be rallied to get behind the team then there is only one thing left to do, sack Pellegrino and do it now.
I hate to demand something like this, but to be blunt there is not another club in the top four divisions of English Football, perhaps even further beyond that would allow a manager to win only once in 16 games and still be in a job !