That failure is still to be admitted by the latest in a long line of curious Lowe appointments from within. Gray, Wigley, Dodd and Gorman, all inexperienced and underqualified managers that resulted in failure.
It seems unbelievable that rather than admitting that the 'revolutionary' football just isn't working, they are instead appointing the number two. If the number one choice wasn't up to the job, how can the number two be?
Perhaps this is a smokescreen while Saints bring in an experienced manager, but Lowe doesn't seem to have learned from his mistakes. What is frustrating is the number of good English managers who are available - Dowie, Boothroyd, Pardew, all with experience of getting promoted from the Championship.
There's even a young manager working wonders at Leicester, a certain Nigel Pearson...
The timing is curious with barely a week left of the transfer window and a full week's training lost the new manager.
It's time the club came clean about exactly what the situation was. Did he really resign or was it a mutual decision, are the club paying him off, can the club not afford to bring in another manager so are forced to appoint from within?
What's curious is that I spoke with Poortvliet after the Doncaster defeat and he was surprisingly upbeat, prepared to work harder with his players and unshaken in his belief that he could turn things around. He even spoke about the players he was waiting to bring in, subject to certain exits on the playing staff.
There was even a broad hint about Lupoli joining the club as he responded with a knowing laugh when asked directly whether the Italian arriving shortly. Not the actions of a man about to resign.
I can't help but feel desperately sorry for a very likeable and decent man given an almost impossible task, with his hands tied in the transfer market and thrown in at the deep end of a league he knew little about.
I hope he can pick himself up and find another managerial role shortly. Clearly a great thinker about the game, he would probably have made an excellent number two under an experienced Championship manager, but we will never find out.
Let's just hope that the club finally learn from their lessons and appoint someone capable of competing in the league before we end up passing Nigel Pearson's Leicester on our way down and wonder what might have been.