Southampton find themselves with the weight of the Premier
League on their shoulders, quite literally.
Having played a quarter of the season’s games since their
return to the top flight of English football, they are propping up the rest of
the teams from the bottom.
Nobody could have thought it would be an easy return to
glory, but nobody would have thought it would be quite this hard to settle back
in.
So who is to blame?
Nigel Adkins, is the favourite to be the first Premier League
manager sacked and that can come as no surprise after losing eight of the
opening ten games.
The manager of any team knows that when things go wrong they
are held accountable, just as when things go right they are adorned.
Nigel picks the team, he chooses the formation and he makes
the changes needed to ensure that ‘his’ squad go out and do their job.
In saying that, some of his decisions this season have been
questionable, his insistence on sticking with 4-3-3 (or 4-5-1) when it does not
appear to be working, for one.
But should he shoulder the fault alone or should some of the
players never be graced with wearing the shirt again.
After all, football is a game of passion and that has
certainly been lacking from some of the performances on the pitch recently.
Unless you count Artur Boruc’s alleged bottle throwing
incident that is.
Whether you agree with his reaction to conceding a goal and
being abused by his own fans or not, it was his passion that showed through.
For Southampton fans, it is easy to forget that the team has
played six out of the top seven teams and only one from the bottom seven.
The majority of them have not yet turned on their manager,
their constant chanting for him despite losing 2-0 to West Bromwich Albion on
Monday evening could be heard on any tv or radio station covering the game.
And maybe they are right not to turn on him.
It is worth remembering that Southampton had a
five-year-plan and are only three years into it, who knows what will happen in
the next two years?
