SAINTS FA Cup-winning hero Jim McCalliog insists it takes a strong man to sort out a top-flight dressing-room and claims that Saints are STILL paying the penalty for not recalling Glenn Hoddle to the hot-seat.

"The Saints chairman has made some good choices in the past and he should have backed his instincts and brought Hoddle back when Gordon Strachan left," said the Scotsman.

"All due respect to Paul Sturrock, it's an entirely different footballing culture down in Division 2 and he probably found a dressing room of millionaires impossible to handle.

"It's a big jump for a manager and some people make it like Ron Atkinson when he went to Man Utd and Lawrie McMenemy when he came to Southampton.

"There were people in the dressing room at The Dell who would have made it difficult for Lawrie if he hadn't been big enough to sort it out.

"He always had good advisers like Don Revie and Lawrie's not just a strong character but a wise man and he sorted it.

"I have a lot of time for Rupert Lowe has done for Southampton but, with all due respect, he's not a football man and what he needs more than anything right now is a strong football man.

"A director of football in the mould of Lawrie Mac who can form a strong buffer between the board room and the dressing room.

"The players need to know who is in charge. If there are two or three people with fairly equal responsibilities, it would more likely create confusion rather than order among the players.

"They do need to start producing results, but in their current dilemma I can't see them getting much joy out of Birmingham. Steve Bruce has made them one of the most difficult sides to beat in the Premiership."