Cabrone

We have an incompetent board who just about got away with their managerial appointment last season but RM was an average champ manager and was never going to be good enough for the prem. To be fair he didn't hide it, he openly stated that he wasn't going to change his tactics even when the team were being spanked week in week out. A half decent manager would have had a bit of self reflection and tried a different way but not him. The incompetent board then held on to him for half a season when he should have been shown the door after 6 games. By that stage it was already too late. Juric was no better but our fate had already been sealed. I really don't have any feelings about him either way, he was doomed. So we had an incompetent board and incompetent managers following an incompetent strategy hiring players to play a way that was doomed. Heads dropped, morale fell and a self fulfilling cycle was established. We should have adopted the strategy of being a very hard to beat team from day 1, grinding out enough low scoring games to have at least made us competitive. That is what Brighton did, that is what Forest did and others. You cannot expect to come up and play pretty football straight off, you WILL get run over but no-one at the club seemed to realize this. Ramsdale and KWP apart we never had a defence that even came remotely close enough to what was needed. No-one realistically thought we'd be anything other than a relegation candidate but I think most of us expected to at least be somewhere in the mix come this part of the season. To have effectively been down by Xmas was abject. The club has to understand that you need to adapt to your environment, not just stay stuck in one mode of thinking. RM was held on to for far too long. Off the pitch SFC needs to massively improve its scouting and data operations which over time will reap rewards in the academy and transfer market. We used to have them so what happened? Incompetent board strikes again? Maybe a new recruitment team will make some differences but if the heads running the show stay the same we'll have the same problems going forward. I also think we are really going to suffer next year on the back of this. A season like this really takes its toll. If the club gets it right I think it's going to take 2 years minimum to get back up. That's if the club gets it right......

We're not bouncing back after this, I think we may be on a Stoke trajectory.

It's just about getting past the 11 points now. Defend like your lives depend on it and see if we can scrape a couple of draws. How about a 10-0-0 formation?

Sean Dyche could get us up. I'm tired of philosophical managers, I want a wily down to earth pragmatist. Also if he got promotion we'd have a much better chance of staying up.

He inherited a car crash and failed to improve it. Despite his bad record IMO this season is on RM, he started the nose dive whilst Juric couldn't pull us out. That said the people who deserve to be sacked more than anyone are SR but we are stuck with them.

I don't think we'll get anything away from now on so if we are to get past the Derby millstone this is the game to do it. They owe us that at least.

9 games left to get 3 points..... Not sure we can do it.

Gordon Watson, didn't think he was that bad TBH.

The biggest priority is to sort out the board. Until they go nothing will improve.

This is as dark as I can remember, a total capitulation. Even the Dutch duo got more points than this. The summer we almost went bust was another low point but this actually feels worse. Just relentlessly depressing.

Saints 1 Brighton 3.

It was noticeable that when the MOTD pundits went through their post match comments they said nothing about us. We are an irrelevance now. Can't say I disagree TBH.

Not really bothered about him TBH. He didn't blow me away last season and I was a bit surprised that the club pushed so hard for him. If he really wants to go he needs to get his head down and show other clubs what he's about.

I can't really judge the guy given the horror show he stepped into. Whilst both managers had to deal with a board that hasn't got a clue the big difference is that RM started this season with a team high on confidence whereas Juric inherited a dispirited, disinterested bunch of bashed up players. It was mission impossible. My hope for IJ was that we go down with some dignity and our tails up ready for next season, maybe on 20 points? I'm still OK to see if he can do it.

That was a golden opportunity to get another win under our belt and generate a bit of confidence as we head to the champ. Naturally we blew it. The club needs a total overhaul starting from the top.

Hopefully this is the game that we look back at as the game where the players rediscovered their mojo. Next up is Burnley, Bournemouth and Brighton at home, got to be a good opportunity to build on this and finally put that Derby hoodoo to bed. Feels good for once.

If it's a choice between them at their peak then it's Draper all day long. If its Saints Draper vs Saints Prutton then Prutton gets the nod, only because Saints Draper was pretty anonymous.

Tickets for the post season cruise on HMS Sports Republic available now . Going (down) fast.

Signs that Juric is slowly turning them around - at least in the 2nd half. Top marks to the support who made their way up yesterday. Grey, cold, post Xmas Sunday against an in form team in a season where we have won once. Well done all those who made the effort. 👍

According to the link below this one is (no surprise) currently held by Derby. They were relegated on 29th March 2008 having played 32 games. They are joint 1st with Huddersfield who were relegated on 30 March 2019 also having played 32 games. BTW Portsmouth got relegated on 10 April 2010 after 33 games. Gulp..... https://www.90min.com/posts/6334744-the-8-earliest-relegations-in-premier-league-history

Well that was worse than getting stuffed playing Russball. At least back then I had the comfort of knowing that Russ was not up to it and I expected a beating. What's really galling is the lack of heart. Have the players just given up? Juric has an even bigger task than I thought and I already thought it was massive.

Looking at the numbers.... 4th to bottom are Wolves who are on track for 32 points. To get 32 points we'd need 26 points over 19 games. That's the form of a 52 point season which is currently between Spurs and Brighton. Not quite impossible but not far off. We are now in 'minor miracle' territory. TBH I'm just hoping we can rediscover our mojo and end with some degree of respectability, hopefully somewhere between 20-25 points. As for Saturday...if the players leave it all on the pitch then who knows, a draw or even nick all 3? I just want to see some real heart.

Nothing personal but bottom half of the championship is his level. He'd do an OK job down there.

That was night and day compared to Russball. Such a shame the new guy didn't have another 10 games, we could have pulled off an escape. SR - you are useless.

Right now I want to see gritty determination to compete so If they give it their all I'll be happy regardless of the result. Who knows - they may even win.....