THREE of Saints' 'rebel' directors today lift the lid on why they have sold shares in a bid to force under-fire chairman Rupert Lowe out of St Mary's.

For the first time, long-serving directors and life-long Saints fans Keith Wiseman, Ian Gordon and Brian Hunt have broken their silence to speak out against Lowe.

In a statement given exclusively to the Daily Echo, they reveal some of the goings on inside the same boardroom as Lowe.

Last Thursday the chairman called an EGM of the club's football board for June 1 when Wiseman, Gordon and Hunt will almost certainly be voted off.

Wiseman and Hunt will stay on the PLC board of Southampton Leisure Holdings, but Gordon's directorship will end.

In a statement last Thursday, Lowe said the main reason behind calling the EGM was because the three directors did not agree with director of football Sir Clive Woodward's sports science methods at the club's training ground.

Lowe said: "There has not been unanimity round the SFC board room table for some time, particularly in the context of the improvements at Marchwood and the role of sports science as a component of running a successful football team."

But Wiseman - the former chairman of the FA and Southampton's city coroner - Gordon and Hunt say that is "simply not the case" and they have actually welcome "new training methods and related ideas".

Wiseman, Hunt and Gordon - who along with fellow PLC board member Paul Thompson have sold or proxied shares to majority shareholder Michael Wilde this year.

Read what Wiseman, Gordon and Hunt have to say in tonight's Daily Echo