I WOULD like to congratulate and thank Mark Hughes on his achievement in keeping the Saints in the Premier League.

He has, in a short time, turned around a bemused squad lacking in direction and leadership and galvanised them into believing again. There is more belief in the squad now than any time in the last two years,

However, the club must take a long hard look at why they found themselves in this situation.

It’s really not rocket science. It’s simple. You cannot continually sell off the crown jewels and keep replacing with costume jewellery. You also cannot give the job of leading and coaching a Premier League team to people who are inexperienced and inadequate at that level.

If Mark Hughes is offered a permanent contract he must be allowed to build a team that can compete in the top league. Do not sell our best players. Keep them and add at least three good players. We need a tall experienced central defender, a tall, fast striker and maybe a Quincy Promes as an attacking creative winger/midfielder.

To help offset the wage bill and transfer fees we should sell at least the following players: Forster, Redmond, Boufal, Carrillo, Classie (on loan), Gardos.

We then need to build around the remaining players, including Matt Target.

An advert flashed on the screen at the game on Sunday saying ‘season tickets on sale soon’. Well, the fans don’t have much power but why buy your ticket yet?

Let’s wait and see who we sell, who we buy and what our ambition will be. Don’t let’s get conned again!

Mr Gao saw and heard the passion from the fans. He could make his ambitions clearer by looking very hard at the current board. At least two of them could also be removed from the retained list!

JOHN CARTER

Bitterne