Drastic words I know, but these next six days will go along way to deciding Saints fate come the final league positions and indeed where the Club goes next.

Nicola Cortese has talked of the great plans for the future, that is all well and good and sounds great in principle, but before we talk of top six finishes then we have to still be in the Premier League next season.

These next few days will decide that fate, firstly there is the question of the transfer window, at the start of January most Saints fans agreed that we needed at least three players in key positions, in the months leading up to the transfer window we all hoped that Saints would have identified their targets and sorted them for the moment the window opened, we are exactly four weeks into that window and what we find is that so far we have chased a lot of big names, but landed only one relatively unknown and untried at this level central defender and this is a big worry.

Secondly there is a dire need to get a result at Wigan, of course it will be tough at Manchester United on Wednesday and no one expectsmuch there, but we have to go to Wgan and at worst avoid defeat, if we do that then we will probably not be in the bottom three but only just, defeat will probably put us in it and a win could see us pull clear, one thing is for sure though with Man City up after that and then a tough six pointer at Newcastle after that, Pochettino has to get off to a good start or face being dragged right back into the relegation battle.

So these six days are crucial in pointing to the direction that the club might go, of course there is a long way to go after that, but those with long memories will also remember the poor start that Nigel Adkins made to the job and how that saw rumours that he might be sacked after six games, that managerial merry go round nearly cost us promotion to the Championship, in which case we wouldnt be arguing about top six finishes, back then Nicola Cortese got it right by keeping Adkins and the rest is history, but in football you have to keep on getting it right and eventually you will get it wrong, every manager and Chairman does, the only question is what it costs you. 

Photo: Action Images

darthvader added 10:13 - Jan 28 Even if we do not bring anyone else to the club and 1 or 2 results go against us , we have to think and remain positive , pretty much the whole of football will want us to go down after recent events yet i believe more than ever that we will not only survive but push on now , playing positive premiership football , surprising a few of the top teams along the way picking up points where others have got beaten . keep the faith coyr

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TreeHugger added 10:46 - Jan 28 wow, has the positivity Adkins brought already gone?? 6 days to decide the season?? are you serious? we always want to pick up points but the next six days will not make or break it. and if we do lose the next 3 games...is that it, are you giving up then?? There is still a long way to go and if adkins taught us anything, let’s not get too high when we win, and not to low when we lose. As for signings, i dont feel this will swing anything in our balance. We have a new centre back, we know a goalie isn’t coming, and we have AL to come back. There is no point signing people for the sake of it. I feel the squad is good enough to stay up without any new additions and if im proved wrong, this will lie with the manager as i had no doubts with Adkins in charge. Looking forward to beating united on Wednesday

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slynch added 11:22 - Jan 28 I'm confused. There's only 1 game in the next six days?
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big_buddaH added 11:54 - Jan 28 Maybe a little dramatic. We are in good shape, lets be positive. There are many still wanting reinforcement at GK and CB. While these were requirements in the summer, that is not the case now. Boruc has improved to an acceptable level and we have signed Forren. Fonte has also raised his game, and Yshida and Hooiveld kept a clean sheet in the last game. While we are far from being a good defensive unit, there is enough evidence that the current players can do the job, particularly with a new manager with a defensive pedigree. New players always take time to gel, I would say we have sufficient defensive players, with adequate coaching, to see us to the end of the season. I would always welcome a major signing of a young and experienced CB, but I am not sure an journeyman is what we need right now. While I agree, we need a sufficient level of experienced players to ensure our PL survival, I think that can be attained with our current squad and coaching. Regarding the time until the end of the window, I think it is more important to move players on. We still have some L1 players at the club, and also some Championship players that will never realistically play for Saints in the PL. Assuming they didn't get promotion pay increases, they should be moved on to further their careers at clubs where they can play regularly. While we still look frail defensively, the record is staring to look a lot better over the last 10 games. Fonte will soon be back, Forren adds options at CB, and Boruc is providing a more dominant presence at GK. At least I am optimistic that MP can tighten things up at the back. As far as additions to the club are concerned. I am in favour of brining through the youngsters, and unless MP can bring in some quality Spanish players on the cheap - a la Michu, I would be happy to continue with the squad we have now. It may be a risk to do so, but with the youngest squad in the PL, there is a vast difference in comparison with Aston Villa, whose youngsters (as a team) look out of their depth. I believe the Saints vision is to believe in the academy players, and to blood them in the PL. Will this do the job, only Cortese, MP and the future will tell.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:56 - Jan 28 It is a very important week for Saints. It'll be interesting to see how Poche approaches the two games. It's all about the Wigan game. United doesn't matter, if we avoid defeat then it'll be a huge achievement, but avoiding defeat at Wigan is absolutely neccessary. Lose to Wigan and we'll be right back in the dogfight. Poche has got some difficult decisions to make this week. Wigan have an extra day's rest while Saints only have Thursday and Friday to recover for the Wigan game. So is Poche better off resting a few key players v United and go with some more defensive minded fringe players. Then the key players will be fresh for the Wigan game? Its a tough call. Maybe Lallana will be back for the Wigan game, that might be a bonus. Whatever team he picks we'll get a better view on how Poche wants us to play, and we'll also get a better feel for how tactically astute his is.

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SaintNick added 12:57 - Jan 28 Are we in good shape ? the next six days will go a long way to deciding that, my point was that we are far from safe, if we beat Wigan then that will be a big big step forward, but lose to them and man utd and we will probably be back in the bottom three with a game against man City up next, thats the time to start asking whether we are in good shape or not A lot of faith zseems to be placed in our current squad without any additions, well again our new signing is an unknown quantity and so is the manager and his coaching staff, again in six days time we will know a lot more than we know now, what I do know though is that the capabilities of this squad in key areas are stretched and in that situation a new manager cant work miracles

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SkateHater added 19:10 - Jan 28 The squad may have improved over the last twelve matches, and deserve credit for their efforts .. But lets not forget they are only a few suspensions/injuries away from potentially another poor run imho. We don't need to go crazy, but I feel the squad would better for another quality forward ( JR = lite weight Championship player) we need regular goals from someone else other than SRL, quality winger to compete with GR/AL/JP and keep them on their toes, and dare I say it, but also another cb.

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sidsaint added 20:40 - Jan 28 We seem to have a superconfident manager who believes his coaching methods for the present squad will be enough to keep us up. Let's hope he's right. I think most of us would prefer to see a lttle more strength in depth. Let's hang on for the ride.
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avonsaint added 22:53 - Jan 28 what a load of old tosh , we have 3/4months to decide our season just the same as everyone else , wether their challenging for a title or fighting relegation , theres no set way of saying where or when a team might or might not pick up points or there would never be any shock results , the only thing thats decides the season is the point when you have enough points to stay up or can no longer get enough points to stay up , as for new players , its a well known fact its differcult to sign quality players in jan as most players are under contract and playing for teams that are already , fighting for a title or in a relegation scrap so there clubs dont really want to let them go unless its for silly money , so to me as long as you get the right player for the right price then fine , but cant see the point in signing players for the sake of it

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Pecky3 added 09:52 - Jan 29 I totally agree with this article. We all know we need signings and cover in key positions but I am getting depressed at the lack of transfer action. The squad as a whole is NOT strong enough for the Premier League!!
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