OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint

Looks like a RM team though I guess it's the formation/style in which they play that's important. That said, with a day to get used to each other, can't think we're going to see too much inspired footie tonight.

Not to sure picking Marsch would be hilarious. The joke would be on us...but it would be a Saints thing to do. Rohl is still in the running. Known quantity. Would have confidence in him in the Championship getting us promoted.

That goes some way to explaining players lack of fitness/alertness, but straightaway that also is an opportunity for improvement. Still don't blame the players. How many of us if told: "Don't come in on Monday," would say "No, I want to."

Only ever driven to Palace, but fancy a drink or two on the way. Looks like it's change at Clapham and train to Selhurst.vAnyone caught the trains/buses there? Wondered if it's relatively easy or not.

That well known, highly-reliable source - Saintsweb. Recall it was on the Russell Martin thread...

It was a bit of a concern to read that Ankersen was on his phone at half time and there was a flurry of director activity. Almost as if they were determined to stick with RM and then suddenly the penny dropped and they went in to overdrive making calls looking for a new manager. I do hope they've been searching for a while but with SR, I feel we have a bunch of chancers who basically 'wing it' and lurch from one crisis to the next.

And given they are focused on the league and just dropped a couple of points they didn't expect, their team will look like their 2nd eleven...could they do us a favour and make it their U21s, then we might have a chance?

That's what concerns me. He's also probably still in contact with Ralph and I'm not sure Ralph will speak too highly of SR.

Wonder if our management have a bet on our manager being the 4th to lose his job in the premier league this year? Time to cash in. Hopefully, SR will see what other clubs are doing and be brave!

And therein lies the problem - perhaps our work hasn't been done on the training pitch. In fact, I'd love to see what they actually do for a whole day's training at Staplewood.

Has anyone else watched our matches and thought the other team's players look fitter and more up for it? Most of us agree our squad isn't the strongest, but there's no excuse for not being among the fittest. With Archer, we have one of the fastest players in the league. Even Sulemana, if he could take his head out of his arse, is super quick. With proper training, that alone could be an asset, and apart from KWP, most of our players look knackered at the end of a game. Our slow, plodding style doesn't help and makes us look lethargic but we've had numerous international breaks where these guys could have worked on speed, agility, endurance. This year, I've thought Brentford and Bournemouth looked particularly fit, and with that comes mental awareness and mental strength. And in a sport of fine margins, this makes a big difference.

The thing is - at this stage in the season that's fucking embarrassing. Our squad doesn't deserve this. Agreed, they're not the strongest in the league, but this is down to how they've been managed. Don't know if TP is fit, but I'd like to see Archer playing off him up front and Lumley thumping the ball up to the strikers at every opportunity. And every time he does, give a wave to RM!

Watching Forest gives hope. They've been languishing in the lower leagues for years. Survive a year in the premier league and doors open...ah, there's a problem.

But like Obelisk said, we were extremely lucky with Everton (thanks mainly to Rambo), so there's nothing to base our hope on. Maybe, if the squad will say to RM: "Gaffer (or whatever they call him), it ain't working and we need to play to our strengths, so let's do it our way", we have a chance, but it's like watching the inevitable.

Totally agree with this sentiment. I would add "possession football" is a fad which is already losing its appeal. RM is likely to become a dinosaur if he doesn't adapt. And many don't find this style attractive at all. I find it boring, plodding and unexciting. Trips to Blackburn & Huddersfield last year convinced me this style was not going to conquer the leagues.

Said to my son, that'll be the best ten days he'll ever see supporting Saints. Fantastic atmosphere. I don't blame the players. In fact, I think their sum of the parts could make them over-achievers and, from a distance, it looks like they've got a good camaraderie among them. The problem is the manager and the inability of the club to do something about it.

It's all guesswork but I reckon they've gone out and approached managers to join "the project" but they've all turned us down. It's patently obvious to everyone that the current style of play isn't working. As an owner, my plan B would be to direct the manager to change his style. In fact, I would sit him down and make him watch the 9/10+ mistakes that have resulted in goals against because of this style - and then I would show him Real Madrid's goal last night which was a boot up to Bellingham who turns and scores. If direct football is good enough for Real Madrid, it's good enough for us!

I see from the BBC website that the Wolves Board are keeping the faith with O'Neil on the basis that they have the belief the squad are good enough to get out of the danger zone and O'Neil can lead them to do it. Don't get any ideas SR. Russell is not the person to get us out of our mess.

Someone wrote on one of threads that the agents of Potter and Moyes had been contacted and turned us down. Totally believable but talk to the organ grinder. If I was in the SR hierarchy, I would be getting their direct contact numbers and speaking to them direct not their agents. Yes, in our current situation we're a hard sell, but ultimately, if you're a manager wanting a 'turned it around and now look at us' club on your CV, you can make a good case for Southampton FC being that club.

At the Wolves game, I was talking to a member of the Hampshire FA, a group dedicated to developing grassroots football in Hampshire. He said you wouldn't believe how much £100k would help their FA, so I asked him how much the Saints contributed to their cause. The answer was nothing, diddly squat. In fact, they get more support from Bournemouth - which isn't even in Hampshire! I just find it difficult to find any positives about our management.

Given up pushing the refresh button. He's still here. Time for Plan B. The players need to advise him that they are going to ignore his directions, instead play to their strengths and practice doing this on the training pitch. It didn't go unnoticed that one of our few threatening attacks at Villa in the opening minutes started from a hoof/targeted pass by Lumley.

There's a motto something like: If it's broke, fix it. I don't blame the recruitment team. In fact, given the financial pond we're fishing in, I was quite pleased with the summer signings. An England goalkeeper, an England central defender, a player in Downes who was instrumental in getting us promoted, Fernandes and even Archer up front has something about him. I certainly don't blame the players. There seems to be an understanding among them that they're not the strongest squad but they'll give it a good go - unlike the last time we were relegated when there were so many bad apples. What I do blame SR for is the manager. They could see last year that with a strong squad we only just scraped promotion, they could see Burnley in the premiership playing a similar style to us and failing dismally and they can see this failure of a season and are letting it ramble on. Perhaps a Director of Football would help. What I do know is that anyone is better than Russ Martin. This isn't like Ralph's departure when people were warning be careful what you wish for. This is a club and a team that deserves more than RM. Get them fit, get them playing to their strengths, stop this nonsense possession ideology and we'll get a few good results this year. Come on SR - do what you have to do.

Top tip. Thanks Convict.

Streams seem to be harder to find nowadays. Usually go for Soccerstreams.io but despite giving lots of choices, none seem to work. Will try again in 5 minutes unless there's another site someone can recommend...preferably without the cartoons which don't look like Tom and Jerry!

S-Clarke, you're not doing your post match analysis so much nowadays which is a shame because they've always been pretty insightful...and so are your comments on SR. Sadly, the days of a Jack Walker at the helm of a club are long gone. Boards often consist of no-one with a special love for the club and we're no different. To Dragan and his team, we're just a project. If it goes wrong, so what? But what I don't get is why they haven't got rid of RM. Surely they can see he is dragging the club down. I can only assume they've been approaching managers and they've all said no.