Has Cortese Moved Too Soon To Remove Nigel?

This season after two years of non stop success Saints were seen floundering at the foot of the table after a severe start to the campaign.

After the first ten games we saw signs of recovery and slowly began to climb away from the foot of the table to a position of safety. When Nigel was removed we were beginning to think that we would end up in mid table which would have been a good result for our first season back in the Premier League.

When explaining the reason for bringing in Mauricio Pochettino, Nicola Corteses said, 'This decision has been made with the long-term ambitions of Southampton Football Club in mind. Whilst we acknowledge the contribution Nigel has made during the past two years, for the club to progress and achieve our long-term targets a change was needed.'

'Mauricio is a well-respected coach of substantial quality who has gained a reputation as an astute tactician and excellent man-manager. I have every confidence that he will inspire our talented squad of players to perform at the highest possible level.'

The move caused consternation among the fans and bewilderment generally across the football world. Saying that the new man had a high reputation as having an astute tactical brain and was an excellent man manager could be true.

That Mauricio Pochettino has had but one post as a manager which began well but then tailed off is not to my mind enough to state such clear reasoning for the appointment.

He may well turn out to be what we have been led to believe, a genius in the making, but plenty of us have some doubts after the manner in which his reign has begun at Southampton.

He has changed our style slightly by making us more aggressive and this has worked up to a point. However we find that as games draw to a close the team starts making mistakes as they tire.

Our high line has also been found out in our last two games by a simple counter option by opponents. On Saturday we will see if we have a change of plan if it is needed.

I for one would like to see us revert at times to our flowing open football playing style and firmly believe that this would have been enough to see of QPR last week.

Did Cortese make a mast move or has he lost his Midas touch? We may soon find out and I pray that the answer is no.

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