Just when we thought the season could not get any worse, this week saw that it could ! both in terms of the transfer market and also this sorry defeat at St Mary's, it is hard to see how it can get better.

I have to say I cannot remember the last time I left St Mary's stadium feeling so utterly despondent about what is going on at this football club, it was probably in the dark days of 2008/09 season as we headed towards relegation to League One and administration.

But what upset me the most was that we are doing the same things I have been banging on about week in week out and getting the same results.

Like most I felt that Tonda Eckert was a breath of fresh air when he took over from Will Still, but when things got tough, he didn't seem to know what to do next.

But if you put in a young experienced manager, then you need to surround him with experienced coaches, you need to bring in a leader on the pitch to assert his authority, but we haven't done that.

In fact if I am blunt, since we sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl, we have not brought in 7 different managers, Nathan Jones & Russell Martin had some experience in England, but not one of the other 6 did, in fact only Ivan Juric could be said to have a lot of experience as a manager.

The club need to wake up to the fact that if you get someone in to do a job, you need it to be someone who has actually done it before.

I still thought that there wasn't much wrong with our squad that couldn't be put right by an injection this month of experience and a player or two in key areas.

Eckert has changed things in every other position in the side bar the back three and it is clear to everyone, especially opposition manager, that week in week out we play three central defenders that have the same attributes and do not compliment each other, more to the point they have the same weak spots, they are slow, ponderous, cannot pass under pressure and not one of them has organisational or leadership qualities.

So what was our answer to this so far in the transfer window, firstly it was to replace an experienced proven Championship keeper with one that has barely played in the last year and that showed on Saturday.

Also we shipped out Ronnie Edwards, perhaps the only central defender with a bit of pace and passing ability and now it seems that we will be loaning out Ryan Fraser to an Australian club.

I have no problem with the club doing this, but they have done so without replacing them with someone better.

So going into this game there wasn't many Saints supporters that had much confidence in Tonda Eckert, but when we saw the team sheet, no one could see much that would change things.

In fairness in the 7 positions in front of the back 3, you couldn't argue much about the selections, but you knew that there would be the same issues of supply.

I could say here that I told you so, I say the same things each week and the same things happen again and again and this was no different.

The goalkeeper is an accident waiting to happen, he made a good early save which augurs well, but the truth is he has barely played in 2 1/2 years, his timing isn't there and thus his confidence cannot be high.

The first goal couldn't be attributed to Peretz though, an awful back pass from Ryan Manning sold both him and his defenders short and that set the tone.

The second goal though was down to the keeper, he half came for the cross from the corner, he did the same for one of Doncaster's goal last weekend, and was left floundering as someone headed home at the far post.

You cannot just throw in a keeper who has barely played a game and expect his timing and confidence to be high, is he an improvement on Gavin Bazunu ? I would say that very few would make that claim.

In front of him, it was the same back three line up that lacks pace and passing ability and doesn't have any organisational skills, yes I have said this before.

Nathan Wood barely won a header, Taylor Harwood-Bellis struggles to move the ball forward and why shouldn't he, he is a decent central defender when played in the middle not a wing back.

Tonda Eckert made a subtle change at half time bringing on Elia Jelert and it changed the pattern of the game, Hull would not have a shot on target in the second half, their 3 on target attempts were all in the first 34 minutes, being the Peretz save and the two goals.

We dominated the game in the second half, but rarely looked like scoring, Ross Stewart brought hope when he stabbed home Leo Scienza's curling cross, but there would be no rousing finale, Hull had their lead and were determined to hold it.

So where do we go from here ?

As mentioned since Ralph Hasenhuttl was dismissed in November 2022, a little over 3 years ago, including the interim managers Ruben Selles & Simon Rusk, Tonda Eckert is the 7th man to have a go at the job.

The biggest crime that Sport Republic have made is to keep on making the same mistakes time after time, both in appointing managers and bringing in players.

Those that say it has been 4 years of abject failure are wrong, we have had one season of success, two years ago under Russell Martin and it could be said that this was the one season where we signed experience and proven players, rather than unproven youngsters.

The likes of Flynn Downes, Ryan Fraser alongside Che Adams & Kyle Walker-Peters.

We need someone to come in now and give us that organisation and leadership, we do not need a keeper that has little experience and hasn't played for 2 1/2 years, we need someone who is proven at the level we need.

Our current recruitment process hasn't been the disaster that some would claim, but it is letting us down at the moment, it isn't delivering what is needed at this moment in time.

It has binned off 3 experienced players in Bazunu, Fraser & Edwards who offer more than those that played on Saturday, would our side have been weakened if we had Bazunu instead of Peretz, Fraser as left wing back instead of Manning and Ronnie Edwards slotting in on the left with THB replacing Wood in the centre.

I don't think it would have, I think it would have addressed the flaws that we had on Saturday, I have no problem with any of the leaving, but only if they are replaced by someone better

Tonda Eckert may well be a manager who is one for the future, but he isn't addressing the issues that we have in this squad NOW.

He isn't getting the best out of the squad and he is seeing the same old players make the same mistakes.

I want to see Tonda Eckert succeed, surely we cannot make it 8 managers in a little over 3 years, but he needs help, he needs a coaching staff that will help him, he needs a Director Of Football that will sign the right players.

Will Johannes Spors pull something out of the bag in the next fortnight and even if he does will it be too little too late.

I said before this game that anything less than 7 points would be disappointing from the 3 games this week, that is already impossible, we cannot afford for it to get worse.

This defeat made it 4 defeats and just 3 draws out of the last 7 games, that is not acceptable, something has to change and fast, it is hard to see that happening this week, but I can see 2 more defeats this week more likely than 2 wins and if our current run makes it just 3 points out of the last 27, then there is a major problem.

All Photos Via Reuters