Dalek2003

Well, many would argue that you were wrong. Wrong to set the club on the path to near total destruction !

Well watch out s it could happen again ! Where have all the Blackburn shirts gone ?

No it wasn't planned, things had deteriorated so rapidly that Sturrock had to go as he had allegedly 'lost the dressing room'. The talk was that the players had wanted and expected the much more respected Hoddle, but the board panicked due to a demonstration by a vocal minority of Saints fans,

Yet many ex England players claimed he was a great England manager and a very good tactician.

So if Sturrock was so good, why did he get the push ?

It is early days and we are still seen by many as the under dog. Mind you, carry on like this and Saints supporters may one day be confused with being 'glory hunters'.

Yes you are right, of course no one for sure can say what would have happened had we appointed Hoddle. However, we do know what happened by failing to appoint Hoddle and it is hard to argue that he could have done quite such a bad job as Sturrock !

I am surprised at you Alpine. You may have strong views but you rarely personalise things. I have never made an argument in favour of Hoddle's personality or character, but have simply stated that he was a good manager and would surely have been a preferred choice to Sturrock, who was a complete disaster and started the rot leading to our eventual downfall. As for people saying they would take our 7 years in the minor league over Hoddle, crazy, although at least you are tacitly admitting that the failure to appoint Hoddle was a large cause of our downfall.

Hoddle was one of the best managers Saints had and the stats prove it. Had we appointed him in 2004 it is highly likely our unbroken run in the top league would have continued.

Should have sent Ramirez on loan instead.

Yep, got that wrong. Also, we were going for the 'yoyo strategy'

Hoddle was a 'dead cert' for Saints job in 2004. Still can't work what went wrong on that one.

I will be happy with anything above the bottom three.

Surely they can apply for charitable status ?

Our exit from the League Cup was a very wise tactical retreat.

One of the great things about Southampton is that the players are picked by 'merit' rather than by name. It is right that Osvaldo, a multi million signing has to fight for his place and it must be a shock for Ramirez to find himself right down the pecking order. We still have players from league 1 in the first team, on merit, with youngsters breaking into the team. This creates a hunger and desire to play first team football, but because first team is achieved through pure merit and everyone knows why people are there it cuts out the destructive elements of envy and resentment. The opposite to our spirit is that at Fulham.

Some people are more cautious and if you look at things historically there is every reason to be. That is no reason for people to come across as being so smug.

Nervous ?

We could well hit reality soon. Still looking to be clear of the bottom three rather than looking at the top 6.

Quite

Spilling tears over being knocked out of the League Cup. This is the League Cup, not the FA CUP. There is a world of difference.

Sensible move, quietly slipping out of the 'League Cup' back door with the minimum of fuss. We need to concentrate on securing our premiership future for another season and a vital 3 points against Hull will be much more important in moving us towards the 40plus point mark. The earlier we do this the more we can push for a top 10 finish.

I we can hang in there we can still get something from this.

A great analysis. I can see the logic but we all know that football is never that easy to predict, which is what makes it such an enthralling sport to follow.

The Stoke supporters are OK. Waste Sham are the most arrogant IMO, other than the plastics. Having said that, proper Man U supporters are a decent lot.