The return of Matty Watts column

IF THREE simply awful home performances leading up to Saturday’s devastating defeat were not enough, you can always rely on this current crop to go one step further.

They didn’t even go just one step further at Hillsborough, though, they were slaughtered, embarrassed, crushed and defeated with aplomb by an organised, solid and proud football team in the Owls.

The win over Cardiff, the defeat to Charlton and the draw with Wolves were truly dismal matches and Saints did well to garner four points from them; with an away loss to Bristol City and a narrow win at Burnley sandwiched in between, everyone knew a hammering was on the horizon.

But, in many ways, it is probably a major blessing in disguise for Southampton Football Club as a whole – that goes for the players, staff, board and every single fan that had any far-fetched dreams of this team gaining promotion in its current state.

Frankly, this football club is in a very dangerous, frightening and unstable position. Changes need to be made, players need to go and certain people should keep their outrageous thoughts to themselves.

We might as well go for the jugular when trying to dissect this crisis and begin at the very top – so that means the boardroom.

For too long now, Saints fans have been disrespected by men in suits who possess a conceited attitude and, most certainly, a destructive power.

That begins with Mr Rupert Lowe.

When will he realise that people didn’t want him to have anything to do with Southampton FC at any point during his ten years at the helm of this once stable and entertaining club, were overjoyed when he resigned and don’t want him back on the scene now?

When we needed investment on the back of an FA Cup final and an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League, he couldn’t give us that.

Why was there never an explanation as to why Paul Sturrock was sacked two games into a season that ended in our relegation?

Whose decision was it to put an untried and untested coach in charge of a team in disarray and then sack him to bring in an ex-Portsmouth manager with a chip on his shoulder?

Who then decided it would be a good idea to try and use a youth team to get us promoted from a very tough, poor quality and physically demanding Championship league and give the manager £90,000 to spend on rebuilding?

Now he has the audacity to come back to this club – a club he destroyed as a consolidating Premier League side – and demand answers from the first possible large investor to show a real interest in the club just so he can get more money for his shares.

It is nothing short of taking all people connected with Southampton FC as a complete and utter joke.

It just seems quite ironic that Lowe’s influence over our club has spread so viciously. As opposed to the years when we had an incompetent chairman in the boardroom, we now have no boardroom at all and an incompetent team out on the pitch; that shows how the ‘Lowe-effect’ has reverberated around St Mary’s.

The situation with Michael Wilde and Leon Crouch is a tough one.

I do truly believe they had the best interests of the club at heart during the removal of Lowe, but none of the investment they promised has been forthcoming. Therefore, it has to be said that both men have, in effect, not done anything at all to help the club’s plight.

To then join forces with the enemy of this club and form a tripartite group in order to intimidate the Sisu investment group was a real sickener.

Of course there are risks associated with this hedge fund bid, but what else have fans of this club had to cheer about – ever – with regards to financial backing off? Nothing is the answer.

Now we have an ideal opportunity to try and get the club back on its feet and moving forward again. Sisu’s offer to take control of the club for around £16million and make a fund of around £10million available to the club via a share rights issue is the best we are going to get.

Ipswich recently agreed to a takeover deal similar to that proposed by Sisu Capital, selling a majority stake to private businessman Marcus Evans which will see him buy the club for approximately their £32million debt and make around £12million available for boss Jim Magilton.

It is high time everybody took a really hard look at the situation and thinks about whether we are going to get anything better. The club are losing £1million a month and are in an absolutely dire state on the field.

Lowe, Wilde and Crouch can’t find the investment, but they want to hold up any deal to make sure they get their fair share of the dividends. This club is in danger of near-on following Leeds United into League One – we need action now.

Coming away from the politics of the boardroom, we could spend an age debating the on-field problems.

Everyone is aware that, to an extent, George Burley’s hands have been tied; he has had his best players sold and been given none of the proceeds to strengthen for this season – but he did spend £7m last season and made some big selection problems during that campaign.

He has already made some atrocious tactical choices this term, ranging from his strange substitutions, to an unpredictable rotation policy and concerns over the fitness of his players.

Saturday’s 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Wednesday has been coming and really shows what is happening at the club.

These players have no passion.

These players have no commitment.

These players have no desire to win for themselves or the fans.

We need major changes to the management and playing staffs; George Burley’s time is up, he needs to go right now and he needs to take his coaching team with him.

Saints are currently an absolute disgrace of a team and, in the last few matches, have played like a team going through the motions.

Or perhaps the players are simply of such a poor standard that they can’t compete in the Championship?

Let’s begin with the goalkeeper and work our way up.

Kelvin Davis is an extremely poor goalkeeper and needs to go, but not a lot more can be said of the defenders in front of him.

Gregory Vignal, Wayne Thomas and Rudi Skacel are not of the required standard for this club. Fans here are used to players with something about them, a fizz and a certain level of quality.

Darren Powell and Claus Lundekvam...will they ever be fit to play again or will they just continue to drain the wage bill?

Can you compare Vignal and Skacel to the Bridge’s, Le Saux’s and Bale’s of this world? No. Can you compare Thomas to some of the central defenders we have seen in the past? No.

Nathan Dyer has had his chance and has proved to be unreliable, weak and easy to mark out of a game, while Inigo Idiakez can only last for two games at a time before having a month off.

Bradley Wright-Phillips can only score goals coming off the bench, Grzegorz Rasiak can grab a goal but can’t actually play football and Marek Sagonowski looks like a different man – has he lost it or what?

There are still decent players left in there to give it a go and get things on track, but will that mean a new manager before it can happen? If it does, so be it; how about a dream combination of manager Jimmy Case and assistants Matt Le Tissier and Francis Benali joined by Director of Football Big Lawrie Mac?

It might seem unrealistic, but this club needs a complete renovation and it needs it quickly.

Sisu can provide the fresh investment and business outlook this club desperately needs, Burley and his management team’s time is up and he needs to go and we need to root out some of the quite horrendous players that are currently pulling on the red and white shirt.

That will be a start, then we can maybe begin to enjoy watching this football club once again. If it stays as it is...well, we can all guess how the next few months will be spent.

Photo: Action Images

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