Conversation 'will be different now' for Southampton

Whether there is a feeling of relief at Southampton that they no longer have to play Russell Martin's style of football or whether there is anxiety over a change depends on the players.

Some of the players in that squad have been given an opportunity by Martin and as a consequence they would have tried everything they could to make it work out.

Unfortunately it has not worked out for them. As far as the style-of-play conversation goes, it is very easy to only talk about the negative side of things because of the goals they conceded - but it has also been responsible for goals they have scored and chances they created.

I think even though there will be a new manager coming in and the style of play may change a little bit, the fact is not many people outside of Southampton still believe in them anyway.

The conversation goes from being about the specifics of how they play, to how people still expect them to go down. Whether that is right or wrong, people have seen their style of play, the players they have and how many points they have on the board.

I think they will still feel the same levels of criticism but it will look slightly different because there will be a different point of focus for external people to discuss.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward