My name's Liam Harding and I contain Southampton DNA in my blood.

My great grandad is former Saint of distinction, Ted Drake, who was top goal scorer for three consecutive seasons from 1931 to 1934 at The Dell, racking up nearly 50 goals in just over 70 matches.

He later went on to become a legendary figure in the game, representing England and Arsenal, where to this day he holds the record for the most goals (7) scored in an English top-flight game of football against Aston Villa in 1935.

Ted Drake (Image: Archive) The Gunners' fifth all-time top talisman in history became the first player then manager to achieve the English top-tier title in 1955 with Chelsea.

For the past four years, I have supported Saints and have attended over a dozen games when possible, but this season has been the worst for me!

It was not great witnessing Saints relegated from the 2022/23 Premier League, but at least they put up a fight and looked more convincing than this season.

This campaign has been extremely disappointing for not only myself but for thousands of Saints fans.

I can’t see how Southampton will be staying up this season; it’s as simple as that.

If then Russell Martin’s Saints hadn’t beaten Everton 1-0 in early November, the South Coast side would be without victory in the league with half the season played, which isn’t good enough for a newly promoted team.

Even Leicester City have three victories since reliving life in the English top-flight again this season, relying upon an ageing Jamie Vardy upfront!

Apart from the promising youngster Tyler Dibling in midfield and attack, Saints have absolutely nothing going for them.

You wouldn’t believe that Southampton, as a football club, were in the Premiership for 11 years before reinstating themselves in the league this season with recent performances.

Ivan Juric’s Saints are not only rooted to the bottom of the Premier League but have also scored only 12 goals, which is less than the number of matches played (19) woefully.

This is the least number of strikes recorded by any team in the English top-flight!

Martin’s final game in charge against Tottenham summed up Saints' season so far.

At halftime, they were 5-0 down.

In the second half, nothing got better and they struggled to adjust, losing by the same score line with little impact for the rest of the match, albeit containing Spurs' goalscoring rampage.

It’s such a shame.

Last season, the club set a record-breaking 25-game unbeaten streak, earning instant promotion back to the Premiership through the playoffs following relegation to the Championship a year beforehand.

It was never going to be easy to get off to winning ways once in the Premier League again, but it felt as if the club had created a new vibrant atmosphere after a successful 2023/24 Championship campaign and would do better than what they’re doing now!

Saints need to restore their identity, camaraderie and chemistry created under Martin last season if they have any hope of avoiding relegation and life in the Championship come next year.