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'Martin's high-risk approach is easy prey'published at 15:37 25 November
15:37 25 November
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BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions.
Adam asked: What do you think Southampton have to do to survive this season? And should Russell Martin stay or go?
Phil answered: Cutting out the crazy individual errors I witnessed against Liverpool at St Mary's on Sunday would be a good start.
The unfortunate thing for Southampton is that so much of what I saw in that game was good, only to be undermined needlessly.
Yes, I do think Russell Martin needs to tweak his style of playing out from the back because it was inviting trouble from the start against Liverpool. It is all very laudable but there has to be a time and a place, especially against Liverpool.
Obviously there is attention on Martin's position and no top-flight team has ever stayed up after losing 10 of their first 12 league games, so the situation is very serious.
Will the Saints board stick or will they twist in a bid to survive?
I hope he does survive, as he did take Southampton up, but his high-risk approach is easy prey to the best Premier League teams and there has to be some pragmatism when results are so bad.
'Something has to give'published at 12:29 25 November
12:29 25 November
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Former Southampton player Jo Tessem says they are not good enough at playing out from the back so "something has to give" if Saints are to survive this season in the Premier League.
The catalogue of defensive errors that led to Flynn Downes presenting Dominik Szoboszlai with the chance to score Liverpool's first goal on Sunday was the seventh time this season they have made a mistake that has contributed directly to goal.
"In the first half of the game we were trying to play possession football, in our half, when there wasn't actually any space to play it," Tessem said on Goin' Home With Adam And Jo. "Liverpool were set up to punish us. They were just waiting.
"Some of it comes down to the responsibility of the players - but Russell Martin has said it is his ideas and style, so the main responsibility lies on him. He is the one who is saying that is how we are going to play.
"We are here in the Premier League and you play to stay in the league, not to go down. If the style of play clearly isn't good enough for it - and we are clearly not good enough at it - then something has to give.
"We don't need big changes - so I'm not saying just boot the ball up long - but the possession football you have has to come from smart play that stretches the opponent.
"I don't see them creating space for one another. These are the things that make you better in the Premier League."
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool - the fans' verdictpublished at 10:14 25 November
10:14 25 November
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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Southampton and Liverpool, which the Reds won 3-2.
Here are some of your comments:
Southampton fans
Rod: Played well, again, but gifted them two goals, again. It's time for Martin to acknowledge that his desired style of play does reflect the capabilities of his team.
Duncan: I'm convinced that sacking the manager would be a disaster. There is fight in this team, there is skill and there is intelligence. We saw with our own eyes what happens when the defence just hoof the ball out - to cheers from the crowd - it comes straight back. Off to Brighton next, with hope and confidence.
Hedley: The manager must go! He employs suicidal tactics, taking ridiculous risks in and around the team's penalty box. In addition, many of the players are not nearly good enough. They wasted millions of pounds buying third rate players in the summer. They must change the manager and completely change their style of play, or else relegation is certain!
Tom: Well Russell, pride comes before a fall. Unfortunately your refusal to change and adapt your style in the Premier League is getting us relegated. The same interview every week by him. Thanks for getting us promoted but it's time for a change.
Liverpool fans
Sean: Found a way to win again despite not being at our best. Great team spirit goes a long way in a title charge.
Zahid: I'm not exactly sure we were dominant but we were certainly doing well. Salah's performance showed why FSG need to agree a new deal with him. We were caught on the counter-attack and the other goal was a penalty that should never have been. But, I'm pretty satisfied with the game and hope we can get wins against Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Barry: Before the game I thought this was going to be a tough game considering what happened at the Eitihad and the underlying pressure that brings. The difference is we battled back to a deserved victory and got the job done. I'm really confident about next weekend now. Only downside was Darwin was non existent for me (again).
Trevor: The Reds still like to go behind and then come back to win. Not good enough when the manager every week says we lack the intensity in the first half. A required win rather than a good one. Well done, Saints. Not good enough, Reds. You are getting away with it at the moment - results and table flatters.
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 07:49 25 November
07:49 25 November
Jason Mohammad presents highlights and analysis from Sunday's two Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.
🎧'Something needs to change, and you can't sack the players'published at 19:25 24 November
19:25 24 November
A new episode of Goin' Home With Adam And Jo is now available to download and listen to on BBC Sounds.
BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore is joined by former Saints stiker Jo Tessem who came out of the international break fired up and wondering if Steve Cooper's sacking by Leicester might start a domino effect.
"Something needs to change, and you can't sack the players," he said after Sunday's dramatic 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool.
'Very disappointed but very proud' - Martinpublished at 16:46 24 November
16:46 24 November
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Southampton boss Russell Martin to Sky Sports: "I'm very disappointed but very proud of a lot of the performances. We went toe to toe with the best team in the league at the moment. The two goals are really not good and the penalty is as well. I have a big issue with Adam Armstrong not getting a penalty at 2-1. The goalkeeper collides with him. It's what VAR is there for. I have a big problem with that decision.
"There's a real clear offside as well. There are five of their players clearly offside and the flag doesn't go up. We had a real threat but we should have been better with the ball. I think there's so much more to come. The fight is there, they're running. It gives us a platform to build on.
"It's about work, analyse the problems. It's my fault because we thought we would have a chance on transition play. We have to keep learning and helping the players through it as much as we can. Playing out is what got us to the Premier League and I'm really proud of the players.
"Paul [Onuachu] has been so patient and had to wait for his opportunity. Disappointed to lose him to an injury, hopefully, it's not too bad. Tyler [Dibbling] is a really great young player who needs to play at the right place. His ceiling is so high and can play where he wants in the future.
"I think the feeling is very different from the last time this club was in the Premier League. There's no lack of fight. They're really trying."
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool: Did you know?published at 16:23 24 November
16:23 24 November
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Southampton have made eight errors directly leading to goals in the Premier League this season, the most of any side.
Southampton 2-3 Liverpool - send us your thoughtspublished at 16:09 24 November
Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies
Sutton's predictions: Southampton v Liverpoolpublished at 11:05 24 November
11:05 24 November
Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.
For week 12 he takes on The Farm singer and Liverpool fan Peter Hooton.
The Farm's new single, Forever & Ever, is out now and their new album, Let The Music (Take Control), is released in May 2025.
Sutton's prediction: 0-2
Liverpool could not have wished for a better start under Arne Slot, whose side are five points clear at the top.
This is a game where everyone is expecting them to easily beat bottom side Southampton, and understandably so.
I am expecting Liverpool to win too, but I don't think it will be an absolute walloping.
Saints are scrapping and they proved they can be resilient when they lost narrowly to Manchester City at the end of last month, so they can make it hard for Slot's side too.
Hooton’s prediction: 0-2
I was looking at the Premier League website and not many teams at the bottom have ever beaten a team at the top. There have been 39 games between top and bottom, with bottom only winning four of them and I can't see this being any different.
My only worry is that a lot of our players will have been in South America but it definitely helps that we are playing on Sunday and have 24 hours more rest. We have got two massive games coming up next week, against Real Madrid then Manchester City, so I think we might be rotating our squad a bit here anyway. Hopefully Slot carries on his pragmatic way of winning games.
Slot has high praise for Saintspublished at 12:00 23 November
12:00 23 November
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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot says Southampton "have been unlucky" this so far this season and do not play like a team that are bottom of the Premier League.
Before Sunday's meeting at St Mary's Stadium, Slot had high praise for Russell Martin's side, who have picked up four points from 11 games.
"They are bottom of the league but they don't play at all like this," Slot said. "Their playing style is intriguing.
"I would say they are much more than a capable team. They have shown that they are very, very capable of playing teams like us.
"They have been unlucky but their style has ben excellent. They could have got a result in almost every game they have played.
"Everyone is talking about playing Real Madrid and then Manchester City but, in my opinion, Southampton will be difficult as well."
'We need to make it tough for Liverpool'published at 13:09 22 November
13:09 22 November
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Southampton midfielder Flynn Downes says the Saints should watch the way that Liverpool "pick their times" to press and attack in order to make life difficult for Arne Slot's Premier League leaders on Sunday.
"It looks like they are more structured and pick their times better," Downes told BBC Radio Solent. "That's something we need to watch, see how they do it and then hopefully do that against them and make it tough for them."
Southampton sit bottom of the league after 11 games, but Downes believes they have the quality to start climbing the table.
"I know I can do so much more and do so much better,. We are all adjusting to the Premier League and we have new players. That isn't an excuse - it just takes time to build those relationships with players. There have been a few changes in the team and that is tough as a player, but I just want to do the best I can for the team.
"I do feel like I am doing too much running at times. When I watch it back, sometimes I look and you could not do the running and sit back, watch and wait. That's something I want to add to my game.
"I know we are bottom of the table. There is so much to play for. On the training pitch, we know how good we are.
"This season on the pitch, we have not handled setbacks well - when we go 1-0 down. We all feel we are good enough to be in this league and we have just got to show it."
Martin on Ramsdale, Harwood-Bellis and Liverpoolpublished at 14:00 21 November
14:00 21 November
Phil Cartwright BBC Sport journalist
Southampton boss Russell Martin has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Liverpool at St Mary's Stadium (kick-off 14:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale (finger) and defender Jan Bednarek (knee) will miss Sunday's game and be out for "a number of weeks". Alex McCarthy will deputise for Ramsdale and Martin has "so much trust" in him to perform.
Martin said everyone at Saints is "immensely proud" of Taylor Harwood-Bellis after the defender scored on his England debut last weekend: "The aim when he came in last year in the Championship - and he was disappointed not to be in the Premier League at that point - was to get there together and give him the best chance of achieving his dream of international football."
Martin said the club met with [refereeing body] PGMOL to discuss two contentious decisions in the defeat by Wolves before the international break. He said he "still has issues" with Ryan Manning's disallowed effort and a potential foul for Wolves' second goal, as well as the match review panel concluding the decisions made were correct.
But he added: "It's happened - it is what it is. [Howard Webb] accepted a lot of our points and we had to accept a lot of his, because it's not easy. But I think it was important for us to have a chat."
On a busy spell of fixtures coming up: "We showed the guys the table how it looked at this point last season, and how much it changed by the end of December. It's such an exciting month. People talk about the difficulty of the games and the level of competition we face in the next four or five games, but it's what we've worked so hard for and we should be excited about the challenge."
He is therefore not intimidated by daunting games on the schedule: "Teams have shown in recent weeks that you can pick up big results against big teams and good opposition. We're going to have to at some point if we're going to achieve what we want to achieve."
The Southampton boss said Liverpool are "the best team in the country at the moment on current form" and on Arne Slot's start as boss, he added: "When you go into a club that's built on something for so long with top players that have bought into that, he hasn't changed too much. It's the best management at that point to continue some of the brilliant things they were good at, and put his own spin on it, which he has done."
England's Harwood-Bellis turns focus to Saintspublished at 08:59 21 November
08:59 21 November
Image source, PA Media
Taylor Harwood-Bellis has said his attention has quickly returned to Southampton's position in the Premier League, following a goal on his senior England debut against Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday.
The 22-year-old told BBC Radio Solent: "I'm not too bad at changing focus. People have asked me about it at home and England is not something I want to talk about too much now.
"We've got a job to do in the league. Me scoring for England has not hidden the fact that we're bottom of the league and we've got a big game on Sunday [against Liverpool]."
Harwood-Bellis added that he has been on the wrong end of some light-hearted banter with his team-mates following his international exploits.
"They give me a bit of stick whenever I mention it - they set me up and then when I start, they hammer me for mentioning it," joked the former Manchester City centre-back.
Gossip: Real Madrid teenager linked with Saints movepublished at 08:26 20 November
08:26 20 November
Southampton have registered an interest in 18-year-old Real Madrid and Brazil striker Endrick, alongside Roma and Real Valladolid. (Sport, via Mirror), external
Meanwhile, Arsenal are considering a move for Saints midfielder Shea Charles, who has impressed on loan at Sheffield Wednesday. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
Southampton Q&A: What's the long-term plan?published at 15:23 19 November
15:23 19 November
Adam Blackmore BBC Radio Solent sports editor
Image source, Getty Images
We've been putting your questions to BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore.
Matt: With recruitment being the main reason for relegation in my view, why do you think we missed out on players like Liam Delap? Our recruitment has been pretty awful for a while compared to many teams like Brighton and Bournemouth so is there a problem at the club?
Adam answered: I think part of that Matt is simply because they are prepared to spend more money, have ambitious owners, and are further along the journey than Saints. Back in the summer Saints had a certain wage structure they wanted to live by and adhere to, and of course some players and their agents will want more and will go elsewhere.
That’s the risk you take by having a wage cap. But along with that cap comes the knowledge that you’re not going to put the club in financial difficulty. Ultimately I think they probably stretched that cap to land Aaron Ramsdale on deadline day, but I think that was worth it. Should they have thrown the wage structure out of the window to land a goalscorer too? Probably. I was told Delap didn’t feel as much love at Saints as he felt when he spoke to Ipswich. And on these small things matters can rest!
Ben: What do you think Sport Republic's long-term plans for Southampton are? There does not seem to be a fundamental understanding of football, especially the way certain tactical systems simply do not work. As a business we are on the brink of FFP issues so they can't be here for the money. Relegation is almost a statistical certainty already.
Adam replied: I think Sport Republic’s long-term ambitions are to create a business model that is self-sufficient in the long-term, and can produce talent that can add value to the teams they own, but also add asset value and create profit for reinvestment and sustainability by developing talent. If Sport Republic could get to the point where their multi-club model is making it easier to fund Saints to keep them in the Premier League consistently, that has to be the aim.
I know there is a general level of criticism currently because of the league position, and a lot of that anecdotally gets aimed at Rasmus Ankersen because fans see him as responsible for recruitment, which ultimately he is as a co-owner. Some of his signings haven’t hit, but some have. And when you are operating in the price brackets that Saints are, that is always going to happen. There are no guarantees. I also remind myself sometimes that what Rasmus did alongside Matthew Benham to develop Brentford between 2015-2020 shows he understands plenty about football.
Southampton Q&A: Manager change? published at 11:04 19 November
11:04 19 November
Adam Blackmore BBC Radio Solent sports editor
We put your questions to BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore.
Chris asked: I know we are struggling and lacking goal threat. A bit more directness when we have the chance to break would be good but with the squad we have would a different manager really do much better?
Adam replied: My honest answer Chris is that I don’t know and neither does anyone else. It could be strongly argued that you may get a cliched new-manager-bounce if that were to happen, but it’s just too simplistic and short-term. Ultimately the knock-on financial effects can be expensive and restrictive for the club. People always say to me that relegation is more expensive. But in the long run, imagine a change of manager not working again and even more money being wasted and players wanting to leave who were previously happy and enjoying their football.
We’ve seen it before. And if a new manager didn’t get the best of the talented players there are, their values go down along with the team and the club are worse off again.
That is one way of thinking. Another way is to say “we have to make a change to save the season and give us a chance of staying up” and there’s nothing wrong with thinking that either. But if you are going to build long-term success and have a consistent strategy and philosophy in the direction you want to go in, you don’t do it by lurching and changing course every time you hit a bump.
Image source, Getty Images
Maximus asked: Do you think it is viable for Saints to change manager at this point of the season; have they left it too late for the incoming person to make any significant difference. Should they get a fresh face in before the transfer window opens to allow the new person to change the team to as they want it, or allow Russell Martin to make some changes too?
Adam replied: Hi Max, I’ve given a longer answer to a very similar question. Do I think it’s viable to change manager? The answer is yes if you’re an owner and you’re 100% sure you are getting an upgrade. I’ve outlined the risks of doing it in this thread too, but me personally? I think the squad are playing for the manager and I’d rather gamble on spending money on a striker that can make a difference in January, as a preference to ripping everything up and starting again. It is very rare that the constant changing of managers benefits a club’s long-term future. Ask Watford fans. Martin is Saints' fourth manager in the last two years. Enough is enough in my view. Let’s give something the chance to grow and flourish rather than panic.
Southampton Q&A: Is Martin 'only concerned with his brand'published at 08:38 19 November
08:38 19 November
Adam Blackmore BBC Radio Solent sports editor
Image source, PA Media
Throughout Tuesday, BBC Radio Solent's Southampton expert Adam Blackmore will be tackling your questions.
The first segment focuses on the future of manager Russell Martin.
Joel asked: Do you think Martin is doing more to promote his own brand and profile through his football philosophy, rather than changing his style and tactics to the betterment of the team, and more importantly the club?
Adam answered: It is an accusation I’ve heard and discussed, especially in relation to what happened at Burnley last season, but it’s not one I totally agree with.
I think there is a nuance to it, which is this: Russell Martin is coaching football in the way he believes is best and Southampton FC’s owners employed him based on doing it that way in his previous roles.
Most managers stick to what they believe in and know best, but for some reason Russell is seen as more stubborn and more ideological than other managers. Again, that’s not something I totally agree with.
What I do think is that he needs to come up with solutions to help the team and not sacrifice that help for his own ends. Let’s be honest, we all forget that no manager’s reputation is enhanced by losing. They want to play through teams, but they too often do not pin sides inside their own half when they are doing it, like Manchester City do for example. That is because they are not always in a position to press them near their own penalty area to win it back.
Too often, Saints are the victims of sides doing that to them, and Russell needs to finds a way to flip that. They were better in the Championship at playing forward earlier and longer at times, and I would like them to play the game higher up more often in possession by getting into the final third quicker.
Being brave can mean many things in football, and as a comparison to Saints, the managers at Aston Villa and Tottenham push their defences up very high and squeeze the game more. It is risky but it can create more turnovers and more attacking opportunities.
Image source, Getty Images
John asked: Hi Adam, what are your thoughts on the failure to replace Adams? He might not have been the most prolific striker, but his willingness to show for the ball and his ability to link the play made him a perfect fit for a Martin team. Archer has loads of potential but is a very different style of striker.
Adam answered: Totally agree John. I was gutted Saints messed that up to be honest. You’re right, he’s never been prolific, but he was absolutely a focal point for the team in possession, and better than anyone else in the current squad at holding the ball up, showing for it, and at playing round the corner to be used as a pivot to start attacks.
They miss that.
Archer has qualities and I wish players on the ball would play him in down the sides of defenders more and earlier to turn games around more. He is talented but needs to be more involved in matches than he has been so far.
Image source, Getty Images
