It was a mixed day for Saints after the other Premier League scores came in, but Stoke's win saw us enter the drop zone, this needs to be the catalyst that sparks the revival, rather than drag things down.

If Saints board have had their heads buried in the sand about the way that the results have been dragging us down over the past three months then surely they cannot ignore the fact that we are now in the relegation zone for the first time in over five years.

Stoke's win over Huddersfield saw them leapfrog us into the safety spot fourth from bottom although ironically that keeps the Yorkshire side in our sights and should we by some miracle beat Spurs tomorrow then we would jump over them and into 14th spot and only two points off the top 10.

But that win looks far from being acheivable at the moment and our season at the moment is one not of a squad being short on quality but one short of leadership.

Indeed we have conceded four last minute goals that have cost us dearly, Stoke away, Arsenal at home and Manchester City and Watford also away, those four goals alone have cost us 6 points, which if we had held on and kept would now see us in comfortaby in 10th place and six points above Stoke who would still be in the bottom 3.

But we did not hang on in the final minute for those points and this is down to poor leadership in each of those games.

Today needs to be the catalyst to spark the revival, from the boards perspective that means taking a long hard look at the performance of the manager over the last four months, the fact that we have gained only two wins in the Premier League in that period is nothing short of disgusting and at any other club the manager would have already gone.

The board need to accept they have made an error and replace him, a win against Spurs might be a stay of execution, but the reality is that he has had more than enough chances, to be blunt with the quality of the team and the little he is etting out of it, we would be better putting a fan in charge, he would probably fared no worse.

The team and the supporter base need a boost, Palace, Stoke, West Brom have all replaced their manager and seen a burst of points on the board, we need to do that ourselves and i do not think Mauricio Pellegrino is the man to do it.

From the supporters perspective it will be very easy to turn this into a crisis which sucks us down, we need to focus on what we want as fans and that is the club to stay up, this is a time that a football club needs it's supporters, this is not happy clapping it is the reality of "supporting" a football club, anyone can go to Cup Finals etc, but it takes true supporters to get behind the team when it needs them and become the 12th man.

Yes perhaps some will moan they are not getting value for money etc, but that isn't what being a supporter is all about, it is about at crucial times putting your own personal gripes to one side for a while and being focused on what aim, it is now not about Mauricio Pellegrino it is about Southampton Football Club, you are either with it or you should stay away and not be against it !

B*llocks to all this We March On propoganda that is just words, we now need actions, in my 46 years of attending I have seen many us and downs, it may surprise some to learn that this is far from being the worst, the club needs it's supporters more than at any time in the last 9 years, are you a SUPPORTER ? or merely a follower !

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 09:04 - Jan 21 An addition to item in the above from ...Boxingman 75. your reference to recent U18/U23 players isn't quite true. Going back to Wayne Bridge, (the first truly 21st century Academy / Youth recruit,) it should be remembered that the fame attached to Walcott, Bale and Oxlade-Chamberlain all came when we were a Championship level club, Subsequently, Chambers and Lallana made moves that didn't go all that smoothly either. Very few Academy players are good enough to make it to Prem. level, (although last season I counted more than 20 former youth products who have made careers in the lower divisions), but many more will progress no further than playing in L2 or National League sides. There are some excellent products from the system (at present)... Jack Stephens, Sam Mc Queen, Matt Targett and of course Ward-Prowse have all featured this season, and last years hopefuls ; Jake Hesketh and Josh Sims are both slowly returning from catastrophic injuries that have kept them out almost a year. Sadly, some of our better prospects could have gone on loan to " better clubs". (Gallagher and Seager in point). Callum Slattery and Jake Vokins are certainly names to look for ...along with a few new names from the U18 set-up, but we are not likely to see many of them on the bench in the near future. We don't produce Walcott's and Bale's every season and it would be a cruel condemnation of the system because of that. LIke MP with the Prem. squad, (for better or worse) the U18/U23 coaches can only work with the players they have ..but (sadly) very many will never make Prem. grade.

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TeamCortese added 09:21 - Jan 21 underweststand: I find your comment very snide and disrespectful. Of course they would cost less because we were in the lower leagues! Neymar and Mbappe are nearly double the value of Southampton FC because they are world class players. What is your point? Does this really address my previous comment which primarily focusses on the club's success. Anyone can cherry-pick flaws of an individual. However, when you look at things objectively what we achieved under Cortese, you'll find the below: 2010-2011 season: Promotion from League One to the Championship 2011-2012 season: Promotion from the Championship to the EPL. The first time the club had reached top flight since it's relegation back in 2005. First season (2012-2013) in the top flight we finished 14th despite being primed as relegation candidates under Adkins for much of the season before he was replaced by Poch. Second season (2013-2014) we finished 8th with four of our players being in strong contentions for World Cup call-ups in the England squad. This was until the next season our best ever premier league finish (for position and points total). This was all steered by Cortese and his backgrund staff obviously (i.e. Paul Mitchell and co). KL obviously got cold feet towards the end of his tenure about the club's finances and decided to pack it in by selling our best players the following summer. This effectively relegated us to a mid-table team at best. What Koeman did two years in charge was nothing short of a miracle and to be quite frank we would be maintaining our status as a top 7 side with him as manager had he continued along Cortese as Chairman. I find it crazy how anyone can think that we've had more success without Cortese at the helm than with him. Your logic doesn't make sense unless you have a personal grievance with his character.

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saintmark1976 added 10:20 - Jan 21 TeamCortese. I see fully where you are coming from and agree with nearly all of what you say. However with great respect, I question whether it was necessary for you to state " She's a cancer to this football club". Whatever you think of K L, mentioning in the same sentence with this hideous disease does you no favours in promoting your point of view.
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petedoors1 added 10:55 - Jan 21 Watford have sacked their Manager Marco Silva How much longer do we have to Wait to sack our Clown? Would Marco Silva be a good manager for Saints?
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aceofthebase added 18:26 - Jan 21 A_Saint_in_Stoke Putting a fan in charge would at best give the same results but never better. Our players have made too many mistakes and have not given their best for Saints. MP taking all the flak and that is unjust.
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TeamCortese added 22:25 - Jan 21 saintmark1976: Apologies, I guess I got overly-passionate but I'm struggling to see what she's done for this football without her decisions being primarily to line her pocket. She's clearly caused divisions within the club and turned it into a feeder club for Liverpool. Where is our pride and identity? Where are we heading? Why are we in a relegation fight given the quality and stature of our football club? She's the cause of it. Les Reed is only acting in her interest not the fans or the club for that matter. Why is she still involved if all she wants to do is make money. There are plenty of other ways of making money. Running a football club and asset stripping it year after year isn't one of them?

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