They aren't incompetent. For the most part, the decisions made have been excellent. But they do have a tendency to get caught flat-footed by developments that should have been anticipated, and have made some unnecessary missteps in the press. Witness the article DTLW posted just a few days ago from The Telegraph, their preferred journalistic mouthpiece:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...southampton-who-can-now-afford-to-keep-star/?
Among the bullet points are the fact that they scoffed at Koeman moving to Everton, deeming it so unlikely that they didn't bother to discuss it, and that Mane is not for sale, and they will not even consider an offer unless it's a massive sum that tops Shaw's return. Koeman is now off to Everton and Guan has stated that Mane will be sold. Same thing happened with Clyne and Wanyama's new deals, and with Alderweireld. We can blame the individuals for perhaps deceiving the board, sure, but by now they should probably have learned to stop stepping on the same rake.