Sadly there is only one conclusion.

As kids we are all taught the basic of football and indeed as we grow older we never stop to learn, some of us become managers, most not to any great level, but we apply the same princibles to motivating and selecting as does a manager at the highest level of the game.

On Saturday at Hillsborough George Burley seemed to break every basic rule of football management.

His team selection was baffling to every Saints supporter sat in the stands, supporters shook their heads in amazement and wondered why after speaking so highly of the defence that had kept out Wolves he promptly changed it.

The midfield was a total enigma, again what had been an efficiient, chance creating machine a few weeks back has been tinkered with beyond recognition, of course the absence of Nathan Dyer through breavement was unavoidable, but only Safri seemed to be playing in his natural role.

Up front it was once again all change.

The upshot of it was that all pace seemed to be removed from the side, at the back the dropping of Ifel seems to be a complete mystery, nothing was mentioned pre game about injuries and we didnt even have another defender on the bench, this made the removal of Viafara at half time strange in that he was the only other outfield player who could play in the back four in the event of injury and with Thomas reported as doubtful with a calf strain, not many would have betted on him completing 90 minutes. Most saints fans see the Jermaine Wright situation happening again, Burley is going to play Davies and Dailly whatever the situation and is going to drop players that dont deserve to be dropped in the meantime.

But Sheffield Wednesday werre no great shakes and although Saints didnt look great going forward they seemed to be coping defensively, that was till the 40th minute when inexplicably Kelvin Davis came rushing out to concede a needless penalty, now in truth it didnt look a pen, but even from the other end of the ground it was obviuos what was going to happen next, there was just no need for it.

At half time Burley once again made two changes at once, why, OK he had got it badly wrong in the first half but this is the actions of a man who clearly has lost the plot.

The foru goals in 13 minutes came out of nowhere, the keeper didnt cover himself in glory in any of them (more of that later) but in truth the defending was absolutely awful and none of the scorers should have been in the position to get a shot in.

But this wasnt a game that Saints looked like conceding five, I can barely remember Davis making a save of note, it was a game when a team completely bewildered by the managers selections and completely lacking in confidence and motivation as a result, gave up too easily and metaphorically speaking stuck two fingers up at their manager.

Kelvin Davis went a step further by sticking up two fingers and more at the travelling supporters behind the goal and not for the first time in his Saints career either, punishment from the club must surely follow.

Bu after this display its hard to see how the manager can continue, when a side goes from one extreme to another game to game, as Saints have been doing all this season, then there is clearly a major problem, its not the quality of the players, as has been proved in some results, the reason is glaringly obvious.

Saints now have two weeks before they play again, this situation cannot be allowed to continue.

Photo: Action Images

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