Before the speculation and rumours begin in earnest about who will be taking over at St Mary's, it's important to reflect and analyse what has gone wrong since Will Still's appointment in May.
Both inside the stadium and online, things had become pretty ugly in the lead-up to Still's dramatic sacking.
Fans decided that they had seen enough after Saints threw the lead away and suffered a heavy defeat away at Bristol City. Then, when they did the same at Ewood Park in the 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, things turned quite toxic among the St Mary's faithful.
Losing 3 in-a-row was the final straw
Losing for a third time in a row, at home against Preston North End, was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as the board were concerned. And they were already under pressure themselves from the fans.
When fans start turning on the owners, like they have done on Sport Republic in recent weeks, the board have just the one option - that was never going to be good news for Will Still.
This sacking, as Saints journalist Alfie House argues in the Daily Echo, should not be celebrated. Still's tenure has been a failure, sure, but how much of that is down to the manager is open for debate.
Time and time again Sport Republic have recruited managers with plenty of potential. But poor player recruitment and lack of spending on the right type of player at the right time has undermined the chances of Hasenhüttl, Jones, Martin, and Still.
You don't have to be a football journalist to put your finger on Southampton's inherent weaknesses. Their best goalkeeper is out on loan. They lack leadership and they lack a goalscorer. They don't work hard enough and they don't take responsibility. Still identified most of that.
Some of the summer signings have been good. Léo Scienza and Caspar Jander have improved the squad considerably and there is clearly more to come from Tom Fellows and Finn Azaz. The jury is out on Joshua Quarshie and Kuryu Matsuki (returning loanee). Damion Downs has been a disastrous waste of £6.8m until now.
However, there is enough quality and talent in the Southampton squad to be closer to the top of the table. But, the effort and application of some of the senior players is hard to excuse.
Senior players have had the last laugh
Questions should be asked about whether the senior players were ever fully behind the young coach. From the opening day friendly against Eastleigh the application and effort seemed to be lacking. It hardly looked like a bunch of players who were willing to fight for their shirt and atone for that season in the Premier League. Maybe they didn't believe that they would have to?
Adam Armstrong walked through Saturday's match against Preston. Ryan Fraser's form has fallen off a cliff since pre-season and Jack Stephens can't be looking forward to being booed at every opportunity. Alex McCarthy has made some smart saves but has been found a little wanting in the other aspects of his game.
Another transfer window may have seen most of these players leave the club and it feels like Still would have been in a better position, if he had been able to see things through until then. Sadly, time and the attitude of the senior players, may have been Still's downfall.
Now, the same players are voicing their opinion about who should be appointed as the next manager. It will be interesting to see how much their voices will be heard.