Is George Burley past his sell by date at St Mary's, here we look at the facts. 

Over the past few weeks many Saints supporters have satisfied themselves with the thought that once we signed an experienced defender then everything would be all right, however after the disastrous game against Barnsley its become quite clear that there is a lot more wrong with the squad than missing a central defender or two.

This being the case, for the first time many supporters are questioning George Burley's ability to do the job, whilst many have been content to stick with Burley for stability off the field, they have woken up to the fact that there is no stability on it !

Fans are sick of hearing about how the best players have been sold from the manager, they want their manager to lead from the front and breed confidence in the team not comeout with a string of excuses, yes we know there is boardroom turmoil but hey we have a big squad, the manager despite his protestations only lost three first team players and was able to bring in a lot more than he lost, yet he preaches doom and gloom not confidence, no wonder the team look shell shocked.

But it isnt so much the players that we have lost, after all if they were all that good, then why the hell didnt we get promoted, but the team selections that baffle fans, why was Saganowski suddenly given the cold shoulder, why when the manager clearly doesnt rate Ostlund hasnt he tried to sign a right back and why are in form players switched positions, dropped and left out one week only to return the next, its all baffling and in truth smells of a manager who doesnt have the confidence in his own actions.

But what do Saints do if they lose Burley, there doesnt appear to be an obvious replacement waiting in the wings or one with the credentials of Burley.

Its catch 22 really, do we go on and hope the manager suddenly learns from the mistakes of the past 18 months, or do we make a change now whilst there is still time to do something about it, after Saturday's lacklustre display its becoming clear that the manager is starting to lose the dressing room, not helped by his comments to the press.

So what are the options ?

Well the most obvious one is Glenn hoddle, his buddy John Gorman is already here, and has paved the way for Hoddle to be accepted back, after all we dont boo Gorman each time he shows his face and he left for Spurs with Glen, bearing in mind that we arent going to get a top manager we only have two choices, a novice having looking to make a reputation or someone looking to rebuild one, Hoddle fits the bill on that score.

Paul Jewell is another name touted, a big outside bet though for several reasons, firstly he is probably looking to land another Premiership job and secondly he has always lived in the North, would he want to relocate South.

One name mentioned a lot in the past has been former Yeovil boss and now Bristol City manager Gary Johnson, however why would he want to leave Ashton Gate, he has done well there and though it will pain Saints fans to hear this, City have just as many prospects as Saints, he would be foolish to do so.

Apart from these three the list of candidates is sparse, Hoddle would represent a good bet if only because we wouldnt have to pay compensation to a club, but is that a good enough reason to change a manager, that the alternative is cheap.

The main thing though is that the jungle drums are beating for Burley, he has been cut a lot more slack than he would normally have been, by supporters desperate to see some stability on the managerial front, but again that is no more a reason to keep him than getting in Hoddle because he is available and cheap.

In truth what most Saints supporters want is George Burley to start doing his job, that involves motivating the team, playing those in form and in their right positions without all the tinkering, but more to the point we want to hear him telling us these things, rather than excuses, we all want George to succeed, we just arent seeing much at the moment to convince us he will !      

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