George Burley's outburst on Monday was the sign of a man under pressure.

George Burley's recent press interviews have been very interesting, but sadly they show the signs of a man under pressure.

Last week in an interview with the Radio Hampshire he admitted that the squad was not as strong as the previous season, honest maybe, but when you are rallying your team for the opening game its not the sort of thing the players want to hear, yes our two best players are gone, but there are ways and means of saying that and putting a positive spin on it, when I heard this statement I was dismayed.

But I was also shocked to hear Burley state that he had had to sell players to stave off administration after the defeat on Monday, that may or may not be the truth, but it is not the managers place to make that sort of statement to the press.

In short it is a man getting in is excuses early and the season is only two games old, supporters are hacked off with losing Bale and Baird, but it is only two players for Christ' sake and its the managers job to replace them and motivate the ones that are left, they are big players to replace but they werent gods only men and whose to say Vignall for instance wouldnt be a better player in the Championship than Bale.

In truth Bale and Baird far exceeded expectations last year and I doubt if there was a Saints fan who last July predicted the meteroric rise and success of either of them, in short in some respects on paper at least Burley has a stronger squad than he did last August, when no one knew the impact Bale and Baird would have.

No Burley is clearly a man who is making it quite clear that whatever the problems at Saints they are not his fault, he couldnt help it that he had to sell players and he cant help it that the Club is in financial trouble, he is right to a degree, but it is his job to build and motivate a squad and these statements arent helping.

The word is that they havent gone down too well in the boardroom either and that certain directors are seething, saying that the Club nearly went into administration isnt something that helps the chances of a takeover at all.

So this could be the first nail in the coffin of George Burley, its a shot across the bows, he is saying to the football world, im not happy here, he is saying to the Club Im not bothered if you fire me, the next few weeks are going to be very interesting indeed.     

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