Its been quite a while since I have written in these pages.

However I feel such frustration that I am hoping that my questions and concerns may provoke some answers from someone at St Mary's - perhaps even Russell Martin himself !

The first four games this season were played against relatively easy opposition thus giving a false sense of complacency. Then we started playing tougher well organised teams.

Unfortunately we didn’t up our game or change our tactics! They had sussed us out.

Russell Martin had said several times during the Transfer Window, that he would love the chance to keep some of his “best experienced players”, well he did.

So in a team of inexperienced youngsters why would he not include in the line up, players like Stuart Armstrong and Alex McCarthy. Also, although both Alcaraz and Sulemana are young they have Premiership experience?

The manager frequently states his preferred tactic of playing ‘possession’ football. That’s great if you maintain possession and do something with it!

However passing the ball sideways and backwards will not open opportunities for our forwards. In fact it will frustrate them.

We do not have a good enough defence to keep playing out from the back. We are making ‘schoolboy errors’ and being punished.

With Kyle Walker-Peters and Manning or Holgate coming inside to support possession in Midfield – we are completely exposed on the wings.

So Russell when you keep saying in post match interviews “the boys aren’t brave enough” and there is still a lot of “scar tissue” from our Premiership relegation, you are diverting criticism from the obvious errors that us fans can see every week. We have moved on, that was then this is now!

Good managers take teams and coach them to play to their strengths. They do not insist on playing only one way irrespective of whether the players are capable. That’s not good management it shows uncertainty and lack of ideas.

Please Russell pick the strongest experienced team and give them a plan B in case plan A doesn’t always work. Clearly the players will respond if given some freedom to play to their strengths.

We are in need of new flexible tactics. Good luck Russell. COYR.

John Carter
Bitterne