Saints threw the game away from a winning position, on a night when everything came home to roost for Mauricio Pellegrino.

I almost felt sorry for Mauricio Pellegrino last night, in many respects it wasn't all his fault, injuries had reduced his back four to a virtual second string line up, had taken away his top scorer and add to that the transfer window has not had time to kick in and there are some mitigating circumstances for the manager.

But the problem is these things happen and if Pellegrino had performed to the standards expected of him in the previous 21 games then nights like this can be seen as just one of those things, unfortunately for the manager that is now not the case and we remain out of the bottom three only on gol difference.

It started so well though, Saints dominated the first half and went into the break with a deserved lead through a well taken Shane Long goal, indeed the second half looked more likely to see a goal from the home side seal a win that Palace threaten.

But again Pellegrino was not pro active and he was barely reactive, Roy Hodgson made a change just after the hour that saw Palace take ff a defender and put on a midfielder and suddenly the flow of the game changed and Saints were on the back foot.

In fairness Pellegrino had Davis stripped off and ready to go on, but did not throw him into the fray when the game stopped presumably because we were defending and we paid dearly.

You could see the Palace goal coming, firstly Shane Long made a clean tackle but the referee pulled the game back and gave a free kick, Long himself cleared the free kick but the ball was worked out wide and put back in and there was McCarthur completely unmarked to fire home from close range, if he hadn't put the ball in the net there were another two of his colleagues unmarked alongside him.

Saints concede most goals in two ways, the first goal was textbook Saints lapse of concentration, none of the defence was marking anyone, there was no organisation, no marking, no concentration and we keep paying the price.

If that was our first way of conceding our second was not far off, an unmarked man sweeping the ball home from about 25 yards and that happened 10 minutes later.

Saints huffed and puffed in the final minutes of the game and should have had a penalty as Gabbiadini was hauled back by his shirt, TV replays showing it was a massive tug that surely should have been spotted by the referee.

Roy Hodgson is much derided as a manager, indeed Saints fans were up in arms when it was suggsted that he might manage the club, but he showed courage and foresight in his substitutions, once again from Pellegrino we just got like for like, why does he never consider taking off a defender and putting on an attacker or midfielder for instance.

But ultimately what cost us was our failure to deal with stuff at the back, a couple of years ago we would have seen this game out comfortably, but we did not have the quality there, 3 of our 4 defenders would not have got into our first choice back four at any time in the last four years, indeed I would say they would not get into any other Premier League back four and their lies the problem, teams know our weakness's.

Benteke must have been rubbing his hands when he saw our defence, certainly Hodgson would have pointed out our weaknesses to his team and they exploited them to the full, it is no coincidence why so many of the goals we concede are in the same manner, we get pushed back too deep and we lose concentration and leave men unmarked, that also means our midfield drops deep and allows the opposition to pick their spot from distance and too often it goes in, as I say it happens week in week out it is no coincidence.

The only bright spot in this game is that when we get Soares and Hoedt back in it will give us more stability, add a quality central defender in the transfer window and we can be almost as strong at the back as we used to be.

I will no doubt get a bit of stick suggesting that I have an agenda against certain players, this is far from the truth, I say it how I see it and week in week out I see goals conceded by an unmarked player in our penalty box, last night, Huddersfield, Arsenal, Burnley, Leicester, thats 4 out of the last 6 home games where someone has had an easy finish because he hasn't been marked, it has cost us 6 points at least, with those points we would today be 10th, instead we are 17th, that is how tight football is and what margins we have to work too.

Im sorry but loyalty and 100% commitment are not enough, last night we put out a Championship standard back four and we paid a heavy price that may see us back in the Championship because of this result.

Things look grim for Saints, but we have to try and take this result as part of circumstance, if we had lost with a fully fit squad then I would be very worried, but we have players t come back from injury and hopefully before our next league game a player or two signed in the transfer window.

But the overall problem is sadly the manager, you have to question whether things have now gone too far for him to turn it around, I can see where the board are coming from, we do not want to go back to being a club that sacks managers at the drop of a hat, but sometimes you have to do this, this is our worst ever Premier league run we have gone 9 games without a win, something has to change.

Photo: Action Images

pintsizedsaint added 18:47 - Jan 3 My word underweststand, you have nailed that! I cannot agree more. Fed up of hearing this is Lea Reed's fault, the DOF who has seen Saints reach top 8 in the EPL past theee seasons (and back to back promotions before). And what is this about "buying cheap replacements?!" Haven't we broken our transfer record several times in the last few years?! Kruger's words were well intended, but the use of the term "small club" is toxic. I see what he means: compared to Liverpool et al we are a smaller club. Period. We cannot compete with those clubs if they are prepared to pay £75m for our players and offer them big money and possible trophies as a result. Period. The team are in a bad place now, but sacking MP is not the answer. Saints want a manager who is here for the long term and who will develop the Southampton Way: not destroy it by demanding a number of expensive journeymen in the transfer window and impose a different style etc. And who exactly would Saints replace MP with?! Pulls? As I've said before short term vision doesn't necessarily lead to longer term stability. MP needs reinforcements. Morale is low, and he doesn't have what he needs to bring about change and competition. Defensively we need a CB, but that's a lower priority as we do have quality there. We desperately need somebody big/pacy who can score and a proper playmaker. Tadic doesn't offer playmaking that consistently anymore and we need somebody who can unlock defences with a single pass. That way Gabbi (who I rate) can play more. We also need a winger who can score, although we have quality in Boufal, he's devoid of confidence/form at the moment. Similar to Redmond, who is not a leader and is far from realising his potential. Overall, we need to take the shackles off the team: let them attack, high press. If we get caught on the counter so be it: at least we will be trying and getting the fans behind the performance. I agree with the comments earlier about attack being best form of defence. Perhaps there is hope in having the FA cup tie as a distraction: MP, let them have a go at high press attacking: it doesn't matter if we fail and we have everything to gain in terms of confidence. Look at your academy: is there a player who might just send a spark? Hesketh? Get them in the squad and tell them to play with no fear. Let fear be the other mans problem. Come on Saints: it's by no means over. Plenty of time to strengthen and unshackle the clear quality we have. Perhaps it needed the kick up the backside that being near the bottom of the EPL provides

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sholingred added 19:01 - Jan 3 I never liked Rupert lowe but I understood he wasn't wealthy in football terms so I understood the situation,this new owner is worse in my book and this idiot chairman banging on about us being a small club,and we now know why two good managers and all our good players left,i have never herd a chairman with the ambition of our club put us down and our expectations squashed.I am gutted I love this club but these people are only interested in making money and kat has sold us out,already we are being told van dyke money wont be spent in this window,why do we have to sell to buy ,[ don't understand it so wheres the transfer budget from the tv deals gone ffs,the Chinese owners not even coming out and telling us there plan ,just sound bites from the Canadian clown patronising us.

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AmericanSaint added 20:16 - Jan 3 Everyone is entitled to their opinions and passions for the club, but the lack of objectivity in some of the comments is startling. The one sad truth about football today is that it is a business and not about the fans or city. As some of you pointed out, the new owners are nowhere to be seen or heard. Expect that. Many of you complained about Catherine, but I will tell you this right now, we are in worse shape than before. The new owners will not put money into the club and will only use it for their marketing back in China and to take the majority of the profits. I have seen it before. Football these days is for Billionaires who want a club as a pet project and so they can boast to their friends.

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king_sid added 20:18 - Jan 3 Every time I think it can't get any worse it does. It really is the system and the manager that is the problem. We have a decent squad, but we don't utilise it and we set ourselves up to fail. Long is not a goal-scoring lone striker, but he is a handful and a great foil for another goal-scorer. Redmond is a decent right-winger, but not a left-winger. Gabbiadini is definitely not a lone striker, and Tadic is not a No10. Good ones are very scarce & he is well below what is required. He is an okay wide-man, though. Not sure what Boufal is, but he is a luxury in our current predicament. Our full-backs started by attacking but retreated, allowing their wide men into the game. The problem is not the back four – it is our inability to attack meaningfully. We have scored 23 goals in our last 23 home games, 12 of which we failed to score in, and in only 5 have we scored more than once in open play. Last night the instruction clearly came from the manager to hold onto what we had, when another goal would have killed them off. How many times did one of our attacks end up back at our keeper. It gets the fans on the players backs, it forces them backwards and then Hodgson, like the away manager in our last five home games, sensed blood and made a bold substitution. Not only does Pellegrino not act first, he doesn’t even respond. What was the point in putting Davis on for JWP – it achieved nothing, just another like for like. Going two up front at the end wasn’t a tactical switch, it was headless chicken hoofball desperation. But he seems incapable of learning. I have heard from two people with youngsters involved in the youth set-up that the ‘template’ of 4-2-3-1 is imposed across the club, which would be fine if it worked, but even the U-23s got relegated playing it! Puel (who I was no fan of last year) is playing 4-4-2 at Leicester and scoring for fun. I don’t know if it is Reed or Pellegrino or both, but their dogmatic inflexibility is the route of the problem. 4-2-3-1 is fine on occasions, especially away from home, but if the opposition have got to grips with it, there has to be a workable Plan B. Buying yet another forward to leave isolated up front, or another ineffectual twinkletoes like Boufal or Tadic won’t achieve anything if we carry on as we are. It is about tactics and mindset, not players. And you can’t buy that, however much money is in the bank.

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TeamCortese added 21:39 - Jan 3 This article is for underweststand https://www.thesportsman.com/articles/5-managers-who-could-replace-mauricio-pell You are completely deluded. If there's a better management option you take it! That's just common sense!
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KiwiSaint added 22:33 - Jan 3 Hi everyone, I've been a die hard Saints fan for over 20 years now and live in New Zealand. I'm not in much of a position to watch the games these days but do read match reports and fans feedback quite regularly so I enjoy watching the Ugly Inside on YouTube. So for me I think the rut we are in started when we had a good run under MoPo and Tin Tin but even then the discontentment was there to see if you peered through the haze of good performances. I saw a board who were shrewed about acquiring new players but for whatever reason we were unable to keep them. I could be wrong but it felt as though the board were infected with gold fever seeing that they had stumbled onto this goldmine of a business model encapsulated by the catch phrase "We don't just buy talent, we make it - The Southampton Way" creating a production line of players who came here at little cost or developed through our academy (which by all accounts was put forth as always producing future stars like Gareth Bale) It felt to me that just as we were beginning to get a good team together under Roko, sadly I think they began to believe that their revolving door policy could work out for the long term. I'm not a football scientist or tactician but I believe a good team is one how plays together and sticks together unless you are a club like Real Madrid who can buy whoever they want. The lack of unity and ever changing face of the the team and managers has created an aura of anxiety, lack of confidence and belief about where we are going. We really do seem rudderless as well with no stand out leader on the pitch who we had in a captain like Fonte for so many years. I think regardless of where we go from here the club needs a solid and cohesive team with new direction and ironclad purpose. They say they want European football but they seem to be breaking transfer records on players who either don't or can't live up to their reputed potential whether it be poor team management or the black box was wrong seems a hot topic of debate depending on what side you wish to take. Also with regards to Puel and Pellegrino I wasn't as excited about their arrivals compared to when Roko came in after seeing what he had done with Feyenoord and for whatever reason despite last season's 8th place finish I think most Saints fans agree it was a step backwards in terms of on-pitch performance overall for that season. Anyway I think it is safe to say it was a let down and my suspicions were confirmed when I read Ralph's interview the other day and his statement about us being a small club beat out any talk of us being a top 6 team and their apparent aspirations for European football as they had said in the past. Unfortunately I think some financial success that was enjoyed overtook the real importance of a cohesive and solid team and now we are seeing the effects of that.

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SanMarco added 22:37 - Jan 3 Which of those five for you Cortese? I would change the O at the end of the current manager to an I because I don't think Koeman or Howe are possible, Rogers is sh1te and Viera too inexperienced. I wonder wht Touchal isn't on the list?
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SaintBrock added 23:01 - Jan 3 Of course we should have signed Roy Hodgson friend of Reed and his FA clique, so why didn't we? It would have been a damn site more shrewed move than appointing a clown to run the circus.
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SaintBrock added 23:02 - Jan 3 Not going to SMS to watch Saints last night was a good decision... as the advert goes!
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wibbersda added 11:22 - Jan 4 Yeap right on the money. Every time we have gone 1 up this season we never push on for a second. Try to hold what we have got and invite pressure on us. We were the best I had seen this season in the first half. Its a difficult one as MP and was like Custer's Last Stand in the second, and through everything on, to save his job. Unfortunately, there are no managers out there to come a steady the ship. His constant rotation of the team is bizarre, given that he does not have the game pileups Puel had. I think he is out of his depth and should go. Yoshida is a hard worker but always makes mistakes which cost us. At Chelsea, the players were high fiving him for stopping a shot outside the box by fouling the player. You don't give the top teams a freekick just outside the 18yard line, and of course, they scored. Redmond is a waste of space darting down the wing and then cutback every time and we lose momentum. Why Tadic cannot read Gabbidinis moves is baffling as well. The attacking midfield just ain't up to it. I can see us throwing the Fulham game to concentrate on the league.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 11:49 - Jan 4 People saying we should stick with Pellegrino, I ask you ; has he actually shown ANYTHING to suggest that he's worth persisting with? I can't think of any redeeming feature or anything good he's done or any sign of him being a good manager!? He just seems constantly confused and out of his depth. His constant changing of the team and the system suggests he has no clear vision of what is best for the club or the players he has. When he was appointed there was a statement from Reed that we would play a high pressing, high tempo, attacking game, but we haven't seen anything like that from Pellegrino! Its as if they were hoping to find the next Pochettino but all they have found is the most incompetent manager in the league! And to make it worse Kruger publically backed him making it now very difficult for the club to get rid of him in January. Meaning which ever players we buy in January will not be the choice of our new incoming manager, when Pellegrino does inevitably get the sack as we get sucked into the bottom 3 with no sign of survival.

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underweststand added 08:02 - Jan 5 Yes I read the article TEAM CORTESE. and Yes they all look like "attractive names " except that on closer inspection - which of them would leave their present task to join Saints next week?. The one exception is Koeman (presently unemployed) and I'd have to agree that he would be a good choice but I fear that his return would create more anger amongst many fans than his departure did. As for the rest. Rodgers has become a folk hero at Celtic. Howe is showing up "Little Bournemouth" better than Saints at present, and I think most people realise where his "spritual home "is ..Pellegrini is a long way from wherever he calls home - I wonder how much the Chinese are paying him, or the NY club are paying Viera for that matter. Back to Saints..it is far from ideal a.t.m. with MP, but a dramatic change right now might be jumping out of the frying pan .etc. I stand by my original comments. We are stuck with a group of "non-scoring" strikers, who for better or worse must shoulder most of the blame. The chances have been there ..and have gone, and as we must all remind ourselves you can only buy new players twice a year. If we can sign some new names who can put the ball in the net, the panic will subside The outcome of this season will be the litmus for many at SMS - and not just MP.

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