The trap door is open for Southampton, but the second tier has been knocking at it for years

Defeat to Nottingham Forest at the weekend will likely confirm it for the mathematicians and optimists out there. But the reality is that the writing is on the wall for Southampton.

It isn’t a shock to anyone either, it’s almost a Nostradamus passage to Saints fans these days. The slow regression since the departure of Ronald Koeman meant this day was always going to come despite the few false dawns that have happened. But those false dawns have been equalled if not drowned by record breaking defeats and unprofessional performances.

The days of exquisite recruitment are long gone, with mistake after mistake, money down the drain on a lack of quality, identity and plan. Continuous mistakes in the hiring of coaching staff and an ownership regime that was as mysterious as it was short and pointless.

Expectation on the south coast isn’t huge and rarely has been. A period under Mauricio Pochettino and the aforementioned Koeman saw the Saints travel across europe, win at the San Siro and at one very brief point be possible gate crashers of the top four. (A t shirt celebrating being top of the league is both a shameful and proud moment for the club).

It can be laughed at to some extent, but the demise of the ownership, the decisions and the playing staff is heart-breaking for those in and around the club since it’s League One days. A monumental amount of work, thought and luck went into that climb back up the pyramid, it now feels like the slide back down is with neither a fight nor care in the world from those in charge. But if Southampton fans hadn’t seen such riches they could live with being poor.

Promises have been made, and broken. Even those kept have been ill thought out; spending £60m in Janaury would satisfy most teams fighting relegation. But bringing in players who aren’t seen as fit to help the cause enough is just outright daft. Kamaldeen Sulemana was recruited with promise and has been bit part, whilst Paul Onuachu and Mislav Orsic have been seemingly outcast by the management without a chance of even proving their worth.

Multiple changes in management won’t help those players, it won’t help those who have been at the club prior either. Ralph Hassenhuttl was a man of strong opinion and clearly had issues with certain players in the squad but there felt a sense of confidence in his choices, even if at times they weren’t echoed by the fanbase, Ralph knew who he was.

Following his dismissal, in came Nathan Jones, a man who also knew who he was, seemingly. He came in with more than just confidence but an arrogance with very little to back it up. Yes he was successful at Luton, a side punching above their weight and one that has actually excelled even more since his departure. But a spell at Stoke City proved he was out of his depth so why did the Southampton hierarchy believe he could hack it in the top flight at an already floundering club?

But Nathan came and Nathan went. Just a solitary win over Manchester City in the League Cup to shout about. But it soon became clear that it was what some would call a freak result; a combination of good day at the office for Southampton and a terrible one for Manchester City.

His replacement? Ruben Selles, who had the debonair of a man who knew what he was doing but, looks can be deceiving. Selles had been in and around the side under the two previous regimes so was familiar with the workings of them both, what suited what players and how those players reacted to different personalities in charge.

It is a struggle to see how he interpreted the privileged information he was afforded with that experience and time at the club, as team selection, tactics and messages sent out to the fans were nothing short of muddled, confusing and an abject failure.

It is quite clear that the playing squad is not up to scratch, but it hasn’t been for years now. But somehow they managed to fight their way away from the bottom three and into safety. It is the failure of a plan from the management of the team, and the club as a whole which has forced Southampton to succumb to this devastating fate of relegation.

Many will leave, the senior staff have already performed their exodus and the players can’t be far behind. The concern is, these are players on Premier League wages and have done nothing to show Premier League clubs they are capable of performing at that level, so agents phones may not be as hot as they hope over the summer.

But in truth, Southampton fans will be glad to see the back of several players, and whilst there are members of the squad who will benefit from some time in the second tier, cutting their teeth and learning their craft in a league that doesn’t possess the quality that it gained it’s reputation on.

A return to the Premier League may not be too far away for Southampton, but the issues run deeper than the teams they play on the pitch. It’s the off the pitch personalities that need to take a long hard look at themselves and adjust their perceptions of themselves, the state of the club and the decisions they have been making.

Because, ultimately, that is what has cost the fans here.

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