New Southampton frustration with Sport Republic is clear - "no faith" claim now made | OneFootball

Southampton's owners have made a series of poor managerial choices

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Southampton’s owners have been told they must get their next managerial appointment correct to keep any faith within the fanbase.

The Saints dismissed Will Still shortly before the international break after he won just two of his 13 Championship matches in charge at St. Mary’s, which left the club dwelling towards the bottom of the table.

Still marked the latest in an increasingly long line of poor managerial appointments made by Southampton under the Sport Republic ownership group.

Nathan Jones, Ivan Juric and Still have all massively flopped, whilst Russell Martin failed to perform in the Premier League, which is where the Saints ideally want to be operating out of.

Sport Republic told they must get next Southampton appointment correct

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Following Still’s departure, a number of names were linked with taking over at St. Mary’s, including the likes of Frank Lampard and Mark Robins.

Gary O’Neil also appeared to be in the running for the role, but interest in pursuing that avenue seems to have dropped after a mass negative reaction from Southampton fans due to his Pompey past.

Tonda Eckert now appears to be the most likely candidate to take over the job, after assuming the role temporarily following Still’s departure. The German has won both of his Championship matches so far, already matching his predecessor’s tally in 11 fewer matches.

However, his lack of experience could be a major worry for some of the Saints’ faithful and spark fears that Sports Republic may be on their way to making yet another blunder.

With this in mind, Football League World’s Southampton fan pundit, Martin Sanders, has sent a clear message to his club’s owners about what they must do to restore some faith among the fanbase.

“I think the fans have lost patience; they have no faith,” stated Martin. “They're so sombre and low.

“I don't think I've ever seen the Saints fanbase so low actually in all the years I've supported it.

“It's low, I don't think they trust the ownership to make the right decision. I think it's got to the point now where the relationship between the owners and the fans is totally broken.

“Unfortunately, I think they have a big decision on the manager front. I've been really clear on what I've said.

“You have to go and get an experienced manager. You can't mess about.”

Next managerial appointment could be make or break for Sport Republic

Given that Southampton currently sit 17th in the Championship, their next managerial appointment must be a successful one if they want any chance of an outside shot at the play-offs.

The Saints are only seven points behind Millwall in sixth and a strong run of form over the festive period could see them join that fight very quickly.

However, making a poor choice might see Southampton fail to get past the mid-table stage, which would condemn them to another year in the Championship. Furthermore, another ill-fated selection would remove all faith from the fanbase in Sport Republic and may lead to a serious movement to get them out of St. Mary’s.