Will Still concern at Southampton dismissed - "I find it quite annoying" this is going on | OneFootball

Football League World's resident Southampton fan pundit discussed Will Still's start to life in charge of the Championship promotion hopefuls

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…

Will Still has embarked upon an underwhelming start to life at Southampton, taking just one victory from his opening five league encounters in charge of a side hotly-tipped for promotion after suffering relegation to the Championship back in May.

Southampton claimed a dramatic 2-1 opening day victory at home to newly-promoted Wrexham, though Still's side trailed for much of the afternoon and only came away with all three points courtesy of additional-time goals from Ryan Manning and Jack Stephens.

The Saints are yet to win since, however, having played out draws with Ipswich Town, Watford and, most recently of course, fierce rivals Portsmouth alongside losing at home to Stoke City. Sunday's south coast derby stalemate was much more of a disappointment for Southampton than it was for Pompey, who outplayed the hosts for large parts of the affair and, to their credit, did extremely well to keep the Saints at bay.

It means that Southampton are now placed in 15th position ahead of Saturday's trip to lowly Hull City, in which victory will surely be required to resist further pressure and scrutiny growing on Still.

The former Reims and Lens head coach only took over in May during the immediate aftermath of Southampton's relegation, which saw Sport Republic strip through three separate managers in the club's worst-ever Premier League campaign, and they are yet to get going this term after undertaking a summer of seismic transition and turnover.

Southampton made eight signings by recruiting Caspar Jander, Damion Downs, Elias Jelert, Mads Roerslev, Joshua Quarshie and Leo Scienza, accompanied by proven Championship talent in Finn Azaz and Tom Fellows, and a mass exodus also took place as the likes of Jan Bednarek, Tyler Dibling, Mateus Fernandes, Aaron Ramsdale, Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana all moved.

Still has also incorporated a new approach, markedly different to the array of styles exhibited without success in the Premier League, although patience is, in some quarters, already running thin in light of the centrality of achieving promotion back to the promised land at the very first attempt.

Will Still, Southampton concerns dismissed as Saints supporters urged to be patient

Football League World asked our resident Southampton fan pundit, Martin Sanders, whether he holds any early concerns regarding Still's tenure or if he believes that more time is required for the 32-year-old, having made the bulk of his signings late on into the window.

It comes amid backlash and criticism from a number of Southampton supporters, which Martin finds "quite annoying".

In Martin's view, sections of the fanbase are being reactionary with Still, who he believes will need time to succeed after implementing a new style of play and contending with significant squad turnover.

"Absolutely not, and I find it quite laughable that the fans are already jumping on him," Martin told FLW.

"He's only been in the job for like two months, we've lost our two players, we won two games last season and let in about 85 goals, we were awful on epic proportions. We stunk the league out.

"We've had a huge transition of players with a lot going out and a lot coming in, he's tried to change the style and we've gone from (Russell) Martin to (Ivan) Juric, then to (Simon) Rusk and now to Still, it takes time.

"I don't know what everyone was thinking, it's like he was going to be some miracle worker. I'm defensive of him, I guess, because I had a really good conversation with him the other day and I got a very clear idea of what he wants to do as a manager and where he wants to take it.

"Saints fans are totally going over the top at the moment, he needs time. I don't know how anyone can judge it after five games, our fans are proper on him already.

"I actually find it quite annoying."

Southampton's summer recruits should hit the ground running for Will Still

It hasn't clicked yet, but one would like to imagine that, in due course, Southampton's batch of recruits throughout the summer will find their feet, deliver on expectation and significantly aid Still's ambitions of leading the side back to the Premier League.

In Azaz and Fellows, Still has recruited two of the Championship's most productive attacking players last season from potential promotion rivals who, aged 25 and 22 respectively, will be expected to play leading roles while continuing to upwardly progress individually.

The likes of Downs, Jelert and Brazilian winger Scienza, meanwhile, have all arrived with impressive continental pedigree and appear real coups at Championship level, with few in doubt of the talented squad that Still has completed the window with.

It's now time for Southampton to show what they are all about, and while some sort of uptick in results is necessary in the coming weeks, Still needs to be given faith, patience and time to kick the club's season into gear.