Fitzhugh Fella

Probably the last of a long line of good solid Echo reporters who have written about Saints from AE Rawlings before the war, Brian Haywood during the 60s and 70s, Bob Brunskell, Graham Hiley, John May and one or two others I have probably forgotten. The Echo is but a shell now, a massive shame as we need local journalism to question our politicians and our football clubs and keep an eye on things. Sadly Saints are now allowed to spread their own spin with no opposition to the propaganda. Adam Blackmore does his best but he can't bite the hands that feeds him.

Not sure why you think Rohl's departure was not of Hasenhuttl's making? The word around Staplewood was they fell out.

Not sure why you think Rohl's departure was not of Hasenhuttl's making? The word around Staplewood was they fell out.

Absolute poppycock - I had never felt so encouraged and hopeful by a manager up to and including the beginning of the season but I have been very shocked how things have unravelled. No, we can't keep binning the manager I agree but the extent to which things have deteriorated means we might not have much choice. I know I hate saying it I really do I can't believe how quickly we have gone off the rails. Saturday's first half convinced me he hasn't got what it takes to turn this around. To play like that after a 9-0 thrashing was poor poor poor. If I had my way sure I would rather Gao resigned but that aint gonna happen. SG is not my friend btw he's my son in law and he was very happy to leave and he left with no bad feelings so that has not come into it whatsoever. He was even at Maine Rd with my daughter for the League Cup-tie to support his old mates.

By Back to basics I was thinking more in terms of the way the club is run. I envisaged it meaning streamlining the number of employees, coaching, recruitment staff, partners, cutting back on frivolous expenditure, concentrating on getting the foundations secure, putting football issues first, withdraw from initiatives abroad, getting rid of slogans, better and more honest comms. There is a lot of crap surrounding the club, a lot on the payroll just use the club as a stepping stone in their careers, there's no continuity. I deal regularly with the club commercial and marketing depts, and rarely meet the same people. The left hand knows nothing what the right hand is doing. There is no overall structure joining the different depts up. There is no real cohesion among the staff. I could go on and on and that's just off the field. On it? Gawd knows I am no tactician but at the moment the players seem incapable of following the manager's instructions, so I would simplify everything, get them to play their natural game and build confidence up again. We are like a golf pro who has completely lost their golf swing. What do they do? They take time out to go back to basics and rebuild from scratch and if I was a manager I would do that first and foremost. Pick two full backs, 2 central defenders etc etc. With respect you are it seems to me basically prepared to sit tight and see how things pan out? Fair enough but I would rather step in now and change the philosophies that just don't seem to be working, before we are too far down the road. we are all critical of the club at the moment, I was merely trying to see some wood from the trees. Not saying it would work but at least there would be a plan.

But Hassenhutl needs to have a word with himself and accept his methods aren't working. Not sure he has the humility to do that.

Christ if things are going to get worse we are in for a helluva ****e 2020. Just think we need to get back to basics and somehow try and start again.

Ok fair comment. You have shot my suggestions down in flames without putting forward how you would navigate us out of this mess. It’s easy to criticise but I am all ears as to what you would do if you were in charge?

This

I'll probably get shot down in flames by the "don't rock the boat" crowd but I stuck this on my Facebook page earlier today. Bear in mind I wrote this having just witnessed the three worst halves of football ever in the last fortnight. Well what to do now? We are a mess, a shambles tactically, no confidence, no direction no leadership. Yes the players are to blame, yes the "Buy to Sell" driven Board appear useless (even after Reed has gone) and yes Gao's ownership is universally and quite rightly condemned. But he and the Board are going nowhere (unfortunately), we can't shift the dross players, so the axe must inevitably fall on the manager whose record is now worse than Hughes's. We should accept relegation is highly probable and plan for the future. Get in Adkins (that will at least lift the moral of the fanbase and he knows the Championship well). Then get rid of who we can, player-wise and bring in one or two experienced pros who can display leadership.Then fill up the remaining places with hungry youth, some local, some plucked from the lower leagues. Shake up our whole recruitment dept. Streamline it, we have far too many clipboards walking around the place. Get some people in behind the scenes who know about football and, even better, know about Southampton. No one up there has a clue about Southampton FC as a football club - we are just a commodity or a means to generate income and profit for the owner. It's frightening how unconnected it is at St Mary's when it comes to knowledge about the history and traditions of the club. We don't ask for an instant return to the PL - we need to completely restructure from top to bottom and, hopefully without the Premier League money, Gao will bail out and maybe we can find some genuine ownership who actually care about the football club. At the very least we need our pride and self respect back. We need to regroup under a manager who is respected by the players (that is not the case with the present incumbent - they all think him arrogant). Saints fans do not over demand or over expect, most are reasonable and accept the days with competing with with the Citys and Liverpools are long over. The playing field has never been so uneven. But the million dollar question now is who up there in the Britannia Rd district is brave enough to pick this awkward chalice?

We are still paying out £6m per annum to our past sacked managers (Hughes, Puel and Pelligrini) but I think there now should be a 4th to join that gravy train. The players have no relationship with him. Who's fault is that? Well some would say the players but Hasenhuttl is not respected and not liked. They think he is arrogant and without Rohl there is no relationship or proper communication. Quite frankly someone like Coleman could do no worse as things stand. And there is no point slagging Gao, although he deserves it. He aint going nowhere.

Whatever the truth of the matter one thing you can be sure about the club will not be open about it. It took over a month for Rohl's departure to filter out. It's the way the club is run these days.

I tried to but the article is twice as long as the forum would allow

Our most talented player as you put can't pass though

Carl's doing a good job and he talks to the right people. I think he irritates some bodies at SMS and the fact we no longer have a vibrant local paper to question what goes on it is important journos like Carl flourish.

Heard last night that Gao is not letting the Board get on with things and is interfering without having any clear objectives.

Nope I don't feel any better this morning either. Totally unacceptable. We have let down all those thousands of ex-players who over the last 134 years haven't managed to be that inept and spineless.

Sometimes you come across as incredibly pedantic or incredibly argumentative. Is it a good message to announce to the world that when we buy a player it is with the main purpose of making a profit on him? We might as well go into banking or real estate if all we want is to make money. Yes I know modern football means it is hard to hold on to your Manes and van Dijks but let’s not hitch our skirt up too high and then boast about it. If you don’t understand the negative vibes that statement elicited then you need to get your head out of the sand.

My assumptions are not unfounded. I have known one or two instances he has not done what he was tasked to do

But do you have any evidence to say he is? The worst defeat in our 134 year history would suggest something aint right at SMS.

that's exactly what I heard plus the players really respected Rohl who was far better at communicating with them.

He's only on loan don't forget. Feel a bit sorry for the lad, he has been horrendously treated by the manager

How about ditching the "we are a buy to sell club" mantra too?

Can I say I was very impressed with Ralph Hassenhutl's appointment last season - for once we appeared to have unearthed a manager capable of stopping the rot. But then early in pre season I was told that Rohl had departed. The players said their had been a rift between him and Ralph but that could have been just player gossip. Nevertheless it was strange the club didn't announce it until about 3 weeks later though. This season, however the manager has been as unimpressive as he was impressive last year. So I have "asked around" and been told that the players have no liking for Ralph mainly because he is very arrogant. Apparently Rohl was "the brains behind the coaching" and was also the one who did all the communicating between the management and players. Something is definitely amiss up there, Charlie Nicholas alluded to something wrong behind the scenes. I hate to say this but I can't see a future in Ralph staying. He looked completely isolated last night as all of his assistants remained glued in their seats. We are probably going down and I would rather bed in a good young manager now, if I had some faith in those doing the selection - which I haven't. Talking about the Board, they have hardly covered themselves in roses either. Publicly stating that "we are a buy to sell club" is stupid and an insult to the fans (even if it is true). Plus it hardly sends a good message to the players who care more about what they look like in the shop window. And then we have the biggest problem - our owner who sees us as a nice commodity to put on his company's CV. Long term we will go nowhere with Gao in charge, but how the **** do we get rid of him? All in all very depressing we need leadership and a backbone two qualities visibly missing last night in abundance.

Yep sort of agree. There doesn't seem much point in football these days.