Saints fan Martin van Tuyl, a Kingsland regular, has written the following letter expressing his frustration at the club’s recent performances.

This Christmas seems to be a repetition of the last - a bad run of results and performances.

Now, the cynic in me says it is due to the transfer window being upon us once more. Saints players, more than most, having their heads turned by the incessant speculation.

As we all know, for better or worse, the club’s philosophy is every player has a price.

Nobody is going to convince me the players’ performances are not affected negatively by this constant gossip.

Koeman turned around a potentially calamitous situation and saw Saints qualify for Europe twice.

A wonderful achievement, given the restrictions he was working under.

Now, did he leave because he thought he’d taken the club as far as could?

Did he leave because he was being pressurised from above?

Or are we simply reading too much into it and he left purely for the big money? You take your pick.

Fact remains, every time we change manager, it takes time for him to bed in.

As in any major organisation, major upheaval is never good.

RK managed it fairly quickly but, it is fair to say Puel is finding life a lot more difficult. We could argue he wasn’t dealt the easiest of hands with an average-sized squad and the difficult Europa League fixtures thrown in.

Many are critical of his style of play - as am I - but, having sold Pelle and Mane without replacing them adequately, goals were always going to be the problem.

Nathan Redmond is young and has potential, but we are yet to see it. Having two strikers who are very, very injury prone hasn’t helped (Austin and J-Rod).

As someone who went to Milan and Prague, I am not impressed with Puel’s rotation policy.

Prague in particular was dire. 

Jekyll and Hyde performances have become the norm this season.

Yes, players cannot function at full throttle for so many games in such a short space of time, but surely there comes a time where you play your best side? West Brom at home was such a game.

Our first eleven can be good enough, but our second string is not.

The board’s insistence on showcasing our academy is very laudable, but are these youngsters good enough?

McQueen is showing good promise and Sims looked good against Everton.

But JWP now has 150 games under his belt and I cannot see it with him. Targett is another one, jury still out. It was rumoured RK didn’t rate the youngsters and went for the tried and tested option.

Puel was clearly hired to bring the academy players in....for better or worse.

Fonte’s treatment has raised more than a few eyebrows.

Yes, he is 33 and, yes, it may make good business sense to cash in on him.

And, after his exploits in the summer, does he want to stay?

As the last League 1 player left in our squad, doesn’t his treatment give you the impression SFC are now nothing more than a soulless money making machine?

It is clear Puel and Fonte don’t get on.....is this treatment instigated from higher up?

Given Fonte is symbolic of our rise from bankruptcy to the higher echelons of the Premier League, does this not leave a very nasty taste in our mouths?

It must also have a detrimental effect on morale in the squad, surely?

There are quite a few players performing well below par.

Forster looks lethargic, Hojbjerg can be a headless chicken, Clasie is finally starting to show glimpses, Long has gone missing for most of the season and even Fonte has had his moments. Yoshida has done well enough but there is always that big mistake lurking, and as for Martina.....

It is Puel’s job to get these players functioning.

It is also Puel’s job to find his best eleven and the best system for this team.

Playing negative football and hoping for a 1-0 win is certainly not the way forward, especially when our defence goes AWOl as it has done as of late.

Talking in riddles and stating the obvious is also not helping his cause much.

Do I want Puel gone?

My first question would be ‘then what?’ Who is available?

Even if we were to fire Puel, we’d only replace him with another ‘yes’ man.

What I do want is for Puel to march into the boardroom, thump his fist on the table and make a statement. It is blindingly obvious we need a striker, and a good one does not come cheap.

I would also demand the board make a statement of intent.

I would want them to put a stop to all this damaging speculation and stop treating the fans with an arrogance bordering on contempt.

Slap a ‘not for sale’ sign on every player this window and stick with it for once.

If the board refuse all these things, then we know where we stand!

Selling both Fonte and van Dijk would be suicidal madness.

We are at a crossroads.

To read WBA are in for Morgan Schneiderlin is a cause for concern.

It means they, along with many teams around us, and even Bournemouth, are stealing a march on us. I don’t agree with these fire sales of players we seem to conduct, but I am also painfully aware of the realities of the Premier League.

Like I said, we were in a similar slump last Christmas. But this time it feels different.

Last season we had Koeman who had that aura about him and, more crucially, had players who could change games. This season, Puel and his team certainly do not.

Apart from VvD and maybe one or two others, our squad is distinctly average. It is up to the board to back the manager and it is up to Puel to raise his game. Midway through the season, there is no reason to panic - but the warning signs are there.