Matty Watts takes a look at George Burley.
If you’re a Scottish football manager you are going to be linked with the (Scotland) job. I’ve got a job to do at Southampton."
The above words from George Burley are an attempt to distance himself from the possibility of becoming the next manager of Scotland, which is a real shame for Southampton FC.
Following a hard-fought away win at Leicester City, perhaps now is not the time to be denouncing the manager, but this season of inconsistency is not going to go away until Burley goes first.
The warning signs were made abundantly clear during the playoff semi-final second-leg against Derby at Pride Park if you hadn’t already seen what lay ahead when Kelvin Davis signed on the dotted line at St Mary’s.
Tactical decisions are most certainly not Burley’s strong point, as was there for all to see with the inclusion of Leon Best and Davis on that fateful Derby day, as well as the substitution of Danny Guthrie and the foolish decision to leave Best on the pitch to score an own goal and miss a vital first spot kick.
This current season has simply reinforced just how obvious it is that the former Ipswich and Derby boss is not the man to take this club forwards and into more comfortable ground.
His desire to keep error-prone Davis in goal, his urge to move arguably the team’s best central midfielder and player this year. Jhon Viafara, to centre back, his blatant hostile relationship off the field with Adam Hammill, his late substitutions – the list just goes on and on.
So it was sweet music to my ears to hear about Burley being made a distinct possibility for the Scots vacancy, clearing the St Mary’s hotseat for a fresh face and, hopefully, someone with the skill, passion, grit and ability to grab this bunch of no-hopers that currently constitute the Saints first team around the neck and instil some discipline.
Most fans agree that we are currently experiencing some of the worst football ever played by a team in the red and white of Southampton FC – and this debacle just cannot go on.
You can talk about Burley having to sell his best players and having to scrimp and save on loan signings, but the fact of the matter is that he has to take a share of the blame for poor performances due to his calamitous decision-making.
This win-lose-win-lose scenario is really starting to grate on everyone associated with the club, but it is more so the fact that fans now trudge to all home games seriously debating whether the team can get a result.
What happened to the old Dell spirit, the days when you could walk with a spring in your step to matches against the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool actually knowing the team could certainly bag three points in an entertaining fashion.
Although some way from those heady heights, even last season we expected to get results at home without fail and in the majority of away games.
Yet last season was the most crucial season for the past 30 years, as promotion cash plus parachute payments were fundamentally vital for the future of Southampton Football Club.
For reasons stated above – and for many other factors – that did not happen, and now we sit here in the knowledge that this great club has been jeopardised in a very serious way.
Many, many things need to change soon, but we can make a start by getting some fresh impetus in the dugout and maybe, just maybe, it might actually be enjoyable to watch Southampton FC once again.