Drastic words I know, but these next six days will go along way to deciding Saints fate come the final league positions and indeed where the Club goes next.
Nicola Cortese has talked of the great plans for the future, that is all well and good and sounds great in principle, but before we talk of top six finishes then we have to still be in the Premier League next season.
These next few days will decide that fate, firstly there is the question of the transfer window, at the start of January most Saints fans agreed that we needed at least three players in key positions, in the months leading up to the transfer window we all hoped that Saints would have identified their targets and sorted them for the moment the window opened, we are exactly four weeks into that window and what we find is that so far we have chased a lot of big names, but landed only one relatively unknown and untried at this level central defender and this is a big worry.
Secondly there is a dire need to get a result at Wigan, of course it will be tough at Manchester United on Wednesday and no one expectsmuch there, but we have to go to Wgan and at worst avoid defeat, if we do that then we will probably not be in the bottom three but only just, defeat will probably put us in it and a win could see us pull clear, one thing is for sure though with Man City up after that and then a tough six pointer at Newcastle after that, Pochettino has to get off to a good start or face being dragged right back into the relegation battle.
So these six days are crucial in pointing to the direction that the club might go, of course there is a long way to go after that, but those with long memories will also remember the poor start that Nigel Adkins made to the job and how that saw rumours that he might be sacked after six games, that managerial merry go round nearly cost us promotion to the Championship, in which case we wouldnt be arguing about top six finishes, back then Nicola Cortese got it right by keeping Adkins and the rest is history, but in football you have to keep on getting it right and eventually you will get it wrong, every manager and Chairman does, the only question is what it costs you.