Maggie May

Sigh. Time to do something else for the next few hours.

Lavia and Alcaraz aside, how any of this current lot is being linked with top clubs is beyond me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65398885 The article above is BBC Sport’s take on the relegation run in. They speak to reporters who cover the five teams involved, including Adam Blackmore for us. Blackmore’s take is fairly obvious but it completely sums up what sort of club we’ve become over the past few years, coming to a head with certain relegation under a disastrous Sports Republic stewardship so far. It’s sterile and soulless. You read the write ups on how relegation for the likes of Everton and Leicester will have a massive impact historically and within the fan base… how legacies will be tarnished, how hard work will be undone, and how players have just five games to salvage it. Blackmore’s take is the same robotic gospel sung from the same robotic hymn sheet written by board and the manager. He says we will lose the model where we unearth gems to sell on for big fees, how we will obviously rely on parachute payments and how much SR are willing to put in, and how dropping down will impact the calibre of manager we can attract. But this is just the fundamental flaw in what this club has become. The model we have in place that Blackmore fears we will lose has brought us failure in the end. The calibre of managers we could bring in was already impacted because we decided to bring in Jones from the division we are about to drop into. We’ve ended up giving a Premier League job to a novice who has never managed a team. It surely can’t get much worse. It’s massively telling when our ‘expert’ just brushes over the business impact rather than how this is going to be a massive blow for not just the fans but city as a whole. I fear most fans are resigned to our fate and wont care about relegation because their passion and fight has been sucked away, just like what the players have shown on the pitch all season. Relegation won’t just have the financial impact this time. Unless there are massive changes that sees us stabilised, with a group of players who show fight and passion that help us become established in the top flight again, we risk losing a generation of Saints fans who actually care.

The most embarrassing, cringe 90 minutes of the club’s history. - losing to Bournemouth at home when fighting for survival. - Walcott’s note. - zero fight. - starting Adam Armstrong. Thanks SR, you’ve just lost a generation of Southampton fans and the club’s top tier status for years to come. You can hate on him all you want but Chris Sutton was spot on with everything he said tonight. He is no fool.

Utter disgrace.

I see Theo has gone all Nasty Nick from Big Brother 1 by showing notes to everyone. Hopefully it’s a “very dirty” plan to beat Bournemouth.

Yep. Ended up in a league cup final and two FA cup semis with inferior sides. That said, I don’t think I could forgive Ralph for the completely absent performance against Leicester at Wembley a couple of seasons ago. Probably our best chance of winning a major trophy for a very long time.

He’ll be at Spurs next season.

I’m amazed by the reactions to many on here when it’s announced staff like Crocker are leaving. We’ve been awful for nearly two years. I know nothing about him, obviously, but I’d love to know what he brought to the club during his time here…

Bournemouth are dreadful. We just have to hope they turn out a similar performance against us on Thursday.

Alcaraz is a diamond of a player. The highlight of a terrible season.

What do these guys think when they see tonight’s line up? 7 of the 11 starters were part of Ralph’s abysmal descent last calendar year. They spend millions on “transforming” the team to try and stay in this league only to see only one of the January window signings starting with three on the bench. The striker that they spend millions on that’s looked closest to scoring over the past few games can’t get on the pitch over Adam Armstrong who’s up their with Carrillo in terms of our greatest ever dud signings.

I’m only tuning in as it’ll be the last time I see us play Arsenal in the league for a while. That line up is shameful.

Hilarious how everyone’s been reeled in by Pilchards’ hot air.

Les Reed left nearly five years ago.

Considering the lack of youth players who’ve taken the step up and cemented their place in the first team over the past few years… no real loss.

I wish I could share the same “blessing in disguise” optimism you think relegation will bring to this club. This is how I see it going: investment will pull out despite what Ankersen has pledged, the turgid football we’ve been churning out for the past couple of seasons will continue, we won’t do a Burnley, we’ll scrape mid-table as it’ll take too long to adjust to the league… The two transfer windows we’ve had with Sports Republic have been a disaster. How bad will be it in the Championship? The only way out of this is breaking the bank for a good, proven manager who wants it. Selles won’t bring us up, Potter won’t even entertain the idea, Viera is too good for the Championship… Weirdly, NJ could’ve been a very good solution… if we hired him next season.

Can we sack Selles?

It would be so sweet if Villa finished above Newcastle.

What does that mean?

The board should have listened to me!

I think he’ll keep them up.

He’ll probably do it when we are mathematically relegated and the pressure is off everyone.

Don’t worry, guys. Ankersen told the fans’ forum we’d have cash in the Championship. You couldn’t make it up.

Leicester in for Dean Smith until the end of the season. Could it work?