MATT LE TISSIER has accused Southampton players of lacking the fight to stay in the Premier League.
And the legend confessed to SunSport that it has been “a chore”; watching his beloved team slump to a record low this season.
The South Coast flops became the quickest Premier League outfit to be relegated when they last Sunday week with SEVEN games to go.
Southampton have picked up just ten points from 32 games and needTWO more to beat set in 2008-09.
And , who spent his entire career with the Saints — scoring 161 goals in 443 appearances — has not enjoyed what he’s seen from his own Suite at the club.
The 56-year-old said: “This has been a tough season to watch.
“We’ve had relegations before but never quite on this scale.
“It’s hard to watch a team which is so far away from the rest of the division. That was probably the toughest season that I have had to watch us play football — it’s been a real chore.
“It’s not been enjoyable seeing our team get outclassed on a regular basis.
“It’s not something I’m used to seeing even when we were close to getting relegated when I was playing.
“We were reasonably competitive and had a go.
“We might have suffered a bit in a lack of quality but never in terms of having a real fight for it.
“But there just didn’t seem to be that amount of fight in this team and that’s symptomatic of a lot of footballers this day and age.
“There doesn’t seem to be the same connection between the players and the fans on the terrace like we had.
“I was in at least five relegation scraps. We never got relegated — and definitely four went to the last day of the season.”;
The poor form as manager.
But Channel Islander Le Tissier, nicknamed Le God, does not think all Saints fans will be upset seeing their team back in the second tier one year after Adam Armstrong’s goal saw them .
He said: “When we went to the play-offs last season I would say there was a 50-50 split with Saints fans who didn’t want to go up because of exactly what has happened.
We are still fighting not to become the worst Premier League team ever with the number of points we’ve got.
Matt Le Tissier
“I was speaking to a lot of them a year ago and they were saying they didn’t mind if they lose the final.
“That’s not a great position to be in as a football club where you know if you go up you are going to get battered every week.
“I’m quite happy to interact with people and talk about football all day long but their frustration is palpable.
“Most of that frustration is at the presence given out by the players that they don’t care enough about the football club.
“Clubs do have their ups and downs throughout the seasons-but this is a pretty big downer.
“And it shows just how low we’ve got to by the fact we are still fighting not to become the worst Premier League team ever with the number of points we’ve got.”;
The former pundit is revered by Saints supporters – having devoted all his professional days to the club.
Back in the day he was renowned for scoring spectacular goals and in his prime became the midfielder to reach a century fastest in the Prem era.
Le Tiss, who is never afraid to speak his mind, would like to see a young manager with local connections replace Juric, who was sacked earlier this month.
But he feels Russell Martin, , might have kept his job had he not stuck to the passing game that had earned his side such plaudits in the Championship.
Most of that frustration is at the presence given out by the players that they don’t care enough about the football club.
Matt Le Tissier
Le Tissier added: “To be honest I would like to see a young, progressive manager, somebody who is not afraid to change his tactics when the need arises.
“Had Russell Martin been more pragmatic in his approach he would still be in the job. They liked him down here and it wouldn’t have taken much for him to have stayed had he swallowed his pride a bit.
“He was so stubborn about passing out from the back and giving goals away from defensive errors each week.
“He had taken us out of the league we are heading back to with his style of football – which you can get away with in the Championship but not in the Premier League.
“If the new manager had a connection with the club that would go a long way with the fans and that is something I would like to see.
“But that, I guess, is different from the business perspective of the owners and the CEO making the decisions they think is going to be the best chance to get back up.”;
