At 6.44pm The Bell pub opposite Pokesdown Station was full of Saints fans full of hope, a minute later the team news came in and was greeted by incredulous gasps, you fel at that moment that the night would not end well.

We can dissect the Southampton performance at the Vitality Stadium till we are blue in the face, but the verdict is very simple, this was a team very uncomfortable with the way that it was being asked to play and stuck two fingers up to it's manager.

In truth the first 17 minutes weren't bad, but then Saints got caught out by a quick free kick and you could almost see the confidence ooze out of the team and it totally collapsed conceding two more goals in a 7 minute spell after the half hour mark.

This was just plain embarrassing and in the final minutes of the first half, you would have thought that we would have shut up shop, but we still continued to play suicide football along the back and we were lucky not to concede again before the break.

Why didn't we shut up shop? The only conclusion I can reach was this was a team sending a message to it's manager, a team that knows that in the Premier League you need to play to the abilities of your squad and not try to force them into playing in a way that doesn't suit them.

It was a direct message to Russell Martin and one that he appeared to have realised, judging by his comments after the game.

At half time he made 3 changes, that was as clear a sign as you can get that he had got his team selection and tactics very very wrong.

In the second half we were slightly better, Taylor Harwood-Bellis pulled back a goal 6 minutes into the second half to give hope to those Saints fans who hadn't already left or were still in the ground drowning their sorrows in the concourse.

The final stats didn't look to bad, someone who hadn't seen the game but just seen the stats, might well of thought that this was a very even contest, the truth was that we ran up the white flag in the first half and it was done and dusted by the 39th minute.

Russell Martin said he was "hurt by the lack of spirit and fight" bizarrely claiming that the fact that Bournemouth committed 20 fouls to our 10 was part of the problem.

He was right about the lack of fight and spirit in the team, but he has to ask himself some soul searching questions about why his team were like that, it is not a bad squad, it is capable of avoiding relegation, but it is not capable of playing his style of football to the degree that it's manager wants it to and the players themselves know this.

The spirit has been knocked out of them by the manager and his refusal to compromise and play to his own players strength.

The saddest thing is that if Martin had been a little flexible then we would not be in the bottom 3 today, that doesn't mean giving up a possession based game, it means adapting it to the level we are comfortable with.

But I think things are now too far gone to be retrievable, Martin's public criticism of his own players suggest that he has lost the dressing room, he has come to the realisation that his own inflexibility to change things and his insistence in playing his own favourites has now left us in the position that we are now in.

The rumours will flow today, Saints now have to go to an inform Arsenal, Leicester showed that you can put up a fight, but to be honest if Russell Martin is in charge and enforces his possession football game on his team, I truly fear for how bad the result will be.

I have stuck up for Russell Martin in the past, last season he could get away with his tactics in the Championship, but not in the Premier League, I hoped that this season he would be savvy enough to adapt, but it looks like that is not the case and so it is hard to see any other end to the sorry situation bar his sacking.

That pains me to say, I wanted him to succeed, he is by all I have seen a decent man who has just been found out, he is not the first football manager that this phrase could be applied too and he won't be the last.

What happens next is crucial, if Martin is fired then it is important to get in a strong manager who the players will respect, if we go out and get the likes of John Eustace for instance, the squad and the fans will just see it as swapping like for like, we need someone who has Premier League experience and can restore the spirit to the squad.

Monday night at Bournemouth is now done and dusted, we can go round in circles ranting about it, but the scoreline will not change, but the 32 games left to play in the Premier League are still unwritten.

All Photos Via Reuters

goalie66 added 09:39 - Oct 1 I am not sure if I am alone in this view but I have become indifferent in watching Saints. The predictability of possession based football is a sham.. If you want analytics then "possession" in the opponents half would be far more meaningful. We are boring to watch notwithstanding the inevitability of the opposition to press us and attack at will. It was laughable that we were playing high balls to Frazer with 5 centre forwards on the bench as our only outlet after 10 minutes.. The jury has now delivered their verdict on Russball and for the grace of whatever God you beliee in, please go...Now

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FrankSaint added 10:01 - Oct 1 I do wonder what happens in training between matches. And also what happens with scouting. I think Sports Republic are the problem as much as Martin. Maybe working at Staplewood is like being in an episode of The Office. Cornet and the Chelsea loan player are both carthorses without a first touch. The same has to be said for Diaz. He needs six yards to turn with the ball. One reason why the defence passed between themselves was because they could not see an outlet and knew that a clearance would just come straight back at them. The team had no shape in the first half. Poor Sugorama (sp?). He looked like the new Ivan Golac at the start of the season and now he has been reduced to doubting himself and his team mates. As Australians would say, we are a sh#tshow and Bournemouth outclass in every way, bar their stadium. Brighton are stellar by comparison.

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PezzaSaint added 10:24 - Oct 1 That was just plain awful! We look so fragile mentally. As soon as Bournemouth scored you could see the confidence evaporate. Playing tippy tappy requires confidence and when confidence isn't there we look a shambles. I like Russell Martin, but I've now come to the conclusion that his lack of pragmatism in how he sets us up to play and asks them to play will NEVER work in the Premier League and if he is not prepared to adapt and develop a Plan B then he should be asked to leave the club.

10

Ali_Diarea added 10:27 - Oct 1 That team selection last night was a cry for help. The board need to put him out of his misery, he’s out of his depth, inflexible and getting more and more desperate. Conceding goals has always been an issue for RM’s teams, and a newly promoted team is never gonna out score the opposition on enough occasions to get to 40 points. He needed to build solid foundations over the summer, instead we have champ level centre backs, so it’s inevitable we get the same old shit show every week…

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saintmark1976 added 10:29 - Oct 1 I fully expect to get a barrage of down arrows similar to my last post when my opinion was different to the “ It’s all Russell Martins fault brigade” but here goes. The vast majority of blame for our current malaise lies squarely at the door of Sports Republic’s Owners, Directors, Board, and Player Recruitment Team. Our current manager is simply carrying the can for their combined ineptitude. Our Club spent a nett £70 million in the last window and has left us with a squad full of unknown young hopefuls and ( K W P and possibly Ramsdale aside ) seasoned journeymen underachievers. A squad arguably no better than that which achieved promotion from The Championship. In anybody’s book that takes some doing. Sports Republic’s ineptitude resulted in a totally unnecessary relegation two seasons ago and will I fear have the same outcome this time around. In a nutshell, currently Sports Republic are not very good at what they do. Unless and until they get some personal who know what they are doing ( or sell up and depart ) our Club’s malaise will continue unabated.

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redwight added 10:34 - Oct 1 A bloated squad of average ability has left us in a position where RM has no idea what his best side is. His 'apology' to Aribo for not playing him from the start clearly demonstrates this. Fewer players of a higher quality signed for the same outlay was so obviously the way to go. Instead of which, and just as an example, the manager seemed to think that signing Ryan Fraser was the final piece of the jigsaw, which says it all. Nothing against the wee man, but he did not represent an upgrade on what we already had. The same mistake was made in the relegation season, but the lesson wasn't learnt.

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Colburn added 10:35 - Oct 1 Missed captain Jack by the sounds of it.. lol Time for a new manager for sure after last night. Another game started with no centre forward. Crazy..
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TissLeGod added 10:56 - Oct 1 Its clear Martin doesn't want the job, he's just talked himself out of it with that team selection, and blames the players. The squad is poor, yes, but its his squad and they were lucky to lose 3-1. Problem is who is out there with Premiership experience to take this squad on. Arsenal will put 5 past this lot at the weekend and then we have a break and a new manager I suspect.

4

onetowatch added 10:56 - Oct 1 saintmark, whilst I agree with the flaws you comment on with SR running, and ruining, our club, that does not exonerate in any shape or form the decisions taken by RM, for what he DOES have control over. Starting against a lowly fellow struggling team without a CF on the pitch...without KWP, our most consistent performer over several seasons, and , even at FB often our biggest threat going forward, where's ABK, why hasn't Charlie Taylor been there since the start if the season, with KWP at RB, persisting with JS?? Unfathomable substitutions and timings? These are all decisions that RM has taken himself. Yes, of course we all knew that we'd struggle this season, but, maybe wrongly, I honestly do believe that if managed properly, improved selection being a priority and restoring confidence in players by allowing them to play in a system and way they feel comfortable, I think this squad can battle with the other teams that'll be down there and at least have a chance of surviving...currently, there's none sadly.

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allsaint54 added 10:58 - Oct 1 After 2 games I said RM should be sacked & nothing since has changed my mind, except we've wasted another 4 games. Only RM could start Dibbers, our best young winger, as a striker & surprise surprise he struggled, not his fault, with 5 strikers on the bench which included our last 4 strikers signed - unbelievable. First half was just embarrassing, no fight, no commitment & no skill. Fraser was miles off the pace, jury still out on Ross but at least he was an outlet. Not a great fan of Aribo but at least he showed some effort fort & desire distinctly lacking with most of the rest of the team. Just sack RM now, whatever the cost.

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underweststand added 11:12 - Oct 1 I wasn't alone in the summer demanding that we sign more strikers, well we got them -despite the fact that none can score - but starting with 5 on the bench was madness. As in Man U game we looked in command for 20 minutes - until their first goal - and a look at VAR would have seen a wrongly-placed freekick, and a blatant " illegal moving ball ". Confidence went out the window and 3-0 at HT, and so why no attacking formation in second half when the game was effectively already lost? Can only think RM looked for a 0-0 HT and then send on more strikers (?) THB's goal showed a little fight, but we still lacked any creativity in midfield. Without Aribo and Smallbone, then Downes looked like a one-man band. Lallana should have been on after HT and (sadly) Aribo made no meaningful contribution in the rest of the game. Why bother to leave Onuacho on the bench - at least he knows how to score goals and with two full backs who can centre the ball, and at 6'8" at least he's worth a try. Ugochukwa adds nothing to the side, and we need to "convert" one of the unused strikers to a midfield role and give some support to Downes who looked shell-shocked. No excuse can give a satisfactory explanation to that debacle ..so onto a win at Arsenal !.

6

nysaint added 11:15 - Oct 1 I agree with the comments on the ownership. We seem to have a model where they invest their (?) capital only in players they feel they can sell at a large mark up and pay minimal wages for. I suspect that’s how they can justify the investment to their backers. It didn’t work last time and it won’t this time and we need to get angry about it. This model precludes us from buying experienced prem players on higher wages like Ings and investing in players like Delap who’s future value is reduced by the amount being asked now and who’s wage demands are higher that their failing model. Martin is clueless, not to start Adam L and to continue to exclude Walker Peters, he has to go now. But the model also doesn’t include buying managers who don’t accept their policies so what PL manager would join us?

2

wessexman added 11:34 - Oct 1 If SR go out and gets someone like Eustice, we'll know they are not taking our survival in the Prem seriously. You do wonder whether RM is doing this on purpose so he can walk off with a tidy sum.
4

HythePeer added 11:37 - Oct 1 That was the worst Premier League team I've seen...and as for Saints....
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saintmark1976 added 12:15 - Oct 1 onetowatch, the last time I suggested that it’s not all Russell Martins fault I received eleven down arrows. This time around none so far, suggesting perhaps that my views are at least now finding an audience prepared to give my view a hearing. I’ve never suggested that Russell Martin is without fault and frankly not playing K W P is beyond my comprehension as it is with yourself. Not playing with a recognised centre forward last evening smacks of desperation also. However, it’s understandable given that the available players in this position ( Armstrong, Archer and Diaz ) have to date amassed the grand total of 14 Premiership career goals between them. Their proven lack of top flight goal scoring ability is not the fault of Russell Martin, it’s the fault of Sports Republic’s transfer and recruitment policy in that they are all he ( or any other manager ) has to work with. If a new manager is appointed and turns the so far disappointing start to the season around I will be the first to say that I was wrong. Personally I’m firmly of the opinion that thanks to Sports Republic’s ineptitude The Championship beckons whosoever our manager is.

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IanRC added 12:53 - Oct 1 Dreadful performance with no excuse for Martin’s ineptitude. Then he has the nerve to blame the players. Officials were incredibly biased, would we have got away with taking a free kick with a possibly moving ball with one of our players down injured. I don’t think so. Poor sportsmanship from Bournemouth too. I don’t think anything will change until we get a decent manager which seems a remote prospect with Sports Republic in charge.

2

Bowlercow added 13:09 - Oct 1 My anger and frustration is not aimed at RM but at the referee and the players We all the stuffing knocked out of them by that first goal It's ok to allow a quick free kick but it must be taken from the place where the foul occurred That one certainly wasn't Either Oliver or VAR should have correctedu l Ag
1

Bowlercow added 13:18 - Oct 1 My anger and frustration is not aimed at RM but at the referee and the players We all the stuffing knocked out of them by that first goal It's ok to allow a quick free kick but it must be taken from the place where the foul occurred That one certainly wasn't Either Oliver or VAR should have corrected a "clear and obvious error" How a team of full time highly paid players can let their heads drop after a minor set back is amazing to me How would they cope with life in the real world? As for team selection I didn't like it much but isn't it done by committee and players are also consulted? I thought strictly come dancing was the worst thing on tv until last night caused by gutless chicken hearted players

0

wrathoftazz added 13:29 - Oct 1 The best part of the match was by far the supporters... we got behind the team as always and we're loud... thats always great, no matter how we really feel. My own view and tbh, it's no different to what's been said already... SR and RM are both to blame. SR only vision is to make money, they are not interested in the club or what we, the fans, think or feel. Cheap managers, players that are just there for 'sell on value' etc etc shows what they are really interested in. As for RM, while I do feel sorry for the guy, he has also bought it all on himself! Won't change tatics, refuses to play players due to their abilities but instead goes on 'friendship' values, plus his subs are simply all over the place. He looks like a desperate man, out of answers to questions he wasn't prepared for (I wonder if when SR gave him the job, they actually expected us to go back up?) Bottom line is he needs to go and so do SR, neither are in it for the football or the fans.. the longer it is left, the quicker we will be back in the CH

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beynali73 added 14:43 - Oct 1 I'm firmly in the camp that SR own this due to both their managerial appointments and the spread betting of average players. There business model from day 1 seemed to be pack the team with loans and youngsters and see what happens but don't lose their money. It makes sense to be watchful of spend and not breaking the bank of 2 or 3 players but spending 10 M plus on several unknown entities on the basis that they might come good doesn't make for a winning formula. No-one can hold RM's limited ability against him, it's who he is, but he was incredibly lucky in getting Saints promoted. We regularly conceded 3,4 or 5 against the likes of Huddersfield, Norwich and Sunderland and ultimately went up because of a fortunate injury to the worst GK over the previous two seasons. Lets not forget when he also brought Stephens back into a record breaking winning team (for which he deserves credit - although again rode his luck in several of those games) which resulted in us almost dropping out of the promotion places - until the injury to the GK restored winning ways. When RM leaves his report card will make for very odd reading but unless SR provide him with hundreds of millions of pounds he will leave the club very soon. The issue then is what comes next?

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bryanK added 15:10 - Oct 1 RM please go. Nice 3 year contract to ease the pain and a dolly bird to boot life is tough! I was bored last year and nothing has changed apart from we don’t win any games. I now feel we are a joke and cannot take any more of this total crap style of play. We will all have opinions on players but honestly how many of our players would be in any premier league side’s starting lineup? Ramsdale, Walker Peters (who get a game in this wonderful team) can’t think of anyone else. Where the hell did they get Diaz from??? Enough is enough RM go now.

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SaintPaulVW added 15:12 - Oct 1 Think we need a rapid assessment of who, has the ability to play in the PL and is also up for the challenge and then play them in their correct positions. Whether this is from a new manager or RM gets the message from last night's abject display is beyond my pay grade. COYR
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davidargyll added 17:10 - Oct 1 On April 20 1653, Cromwell addressed parliament: It is not fit that you should sit here any longer. You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing lately … In the name of God go.“ I can think if no better words to be addressed to Russell Martin….
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saintmark1976 added 17:28 - Oct 1 davidargyll, It worked in the end against Neville Chamberlain in 1940 when quoted by Leo Amery and again more recently when quoted by David Davis against Boris Johnson. If it succeeds again for Russell Martin you will certainly be in some exalted company.
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davidargyll added 17:51 - Oct 1 I think it’s much more to do with how much faith Solak still has in Rasmus Ankersen’s black box. Because I reckon Moyes would just blow it up, in other words there has to be a board room bust up for there to be any change in managerial philosophy.
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