I felt sorry for Ralph Hasenhuttl after the game, sometimes the players have to take the blame and this was one of those games, it was back to the bad old days of poor marking and not taking our chances.

Writing this 17 hours after the game has ended I can't believe the manner in which we lost this game, for large periods of it we competed, but we let ourselves down at key moments at both ends of the field.

Newcastle played the game just right, they sat back and comfortably held us, then they burst forward with pace and ripped us apart.

We just about shaded possession with 55%, but we murdered them in terms of attempts on goal with 16 opposed to their 7, we even had more shots on target than them with 5, but the only stat that counted was the goals, they only got 4 shots on target but all of them went in.

You could feel the crowd turning when they scored twice in quick succession on either side of the hour mark and I have to say, for the first time I felt that perhaps Ralph's time at the club maybe coming to an end soon.

Not because of this game, but I just think the anti Ralph Hasenhuttl factions have finally turned the crowd, it is going to become toxic and that is not going to be good for results.

Sometimes our supporters seem to take against a manager and for some reason some fans have decided they don't like Ralph Hasenhuttl, same as how the fans turned on Claude Puel despite the fact that he had got us to 8th and a Wembley Cup final, perhaps having something like the 7th best season in our history taking into account League positions and cup finals.

Up till now Ralph Hasenhuttl has kept us out of relegation trouble and in a stable position, yet some have been on his back for the best part of two years and this is the moment some have longed for.

I am not blaming the fans for this, everyone has a right to their opinion, the blame is with the manager and the players, the failure to sign another striker in the summer is coming home to roost, that wasn't Hasenhuttl's fault, he wasn't given the tools to work with, it is hard to see whether any other manager would have done much better in these circumstances.

As I said this was another game where we didn't play badly for long periods, but ultimately let ourselves down at key moments with lapses of concentration, it should have been a lot better, Moi Elyounoussi blazed over an open goal from close range in the first half, if we had gone in at the break at least level then we might have got something out of this game.

But there was a spark missing in our play, we lacked the fight we had in us against Arsenal, the crowd sensed this and in turn they seemed resigned to our fate once Newcastle scored, at times in the game I could hear the players shouting to each other, I can't remember the last time that happened.

It should be remembered that we went into this game with two of our best players missing, and two starting the game after injury lay offs and not quite match fit and sharp, from this point of view I am still not worried about a relegation battle, I think after the World Cup break we will have a strong squad again and if we sign that striker in January we will be ok.

But games like this have to stop happening, we are shell shocked and like rabbits in the head lights, that has to stop and it is from this point I am worried about Ralph's future.

But we have been in worse spots before and pulled through and we have to keep going, but we need to find that Spirit Of Southampton that has always pulled us through before, it wasn't there in 2005 when we got relegated and i fear that it isn't there now, as fans we have to pull together after the break and get behind our team whoever is in charge.

I think at the moment there is too much "anybody but Ralph" about the place, that will bring us down.

But ultimately the manager has to do his bit and the team has to do theirs, this defeat was more about the latter than the manager.

Photo: Action Images

smartjoe added 09:42 - Nov 7 Nick You are at it again. The anti Ralf section IS the crowd. I can think of only one other person in Hampshire who would have selected Theo Walcott to play in that game.......and that is Mrs Walcott.
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dirk_doone added 09:53 - Nov 7 You might as well copy and paste these match reports. Perhaps you do. It's all the fans' fault. If only we were Liverpool.... I remember the Newcastle fans' angry protests to get rid of Pardew as their manager: chants against him throughout the game, anti-Pardew demonstrations both inside and outside the ground, banners demanding his sacking etc. It must surely be their fans' fault that they are where they are now. If only we were Newcastle ......

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grumpy added 09:54 - Nov 7 ' I am worried about Ralph's future.' I'm worried about Saints future.
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wessexman added 09:56 - Nov 7 Ralph may have to work with the tools provided but he is not exactly getting the best out of them. Looking at all goals conceded, they were far too easy, no bodies were put on the line....there was no one willing to die for the cause. At the end of the day, how many reports have you written where you lament our defending and lack of goals? Yes, Ralph has not exactly been helped from above but he knew what the gig entailed when he took the job. Ralph is not exactly helped by his gutless players either.. I do not share your optimism about surviving this latest dice with death. I think Ralph and the club should part after the Liverpool game and he should be lauded for the fact he kept us up under very trying circumstances. There are two chinks of light on the horizon.. After next week, we don't have any games for about 6 week which at least will not see us going adrift come next transfer window. Also, we are not adrift now and there are so many poor sides around us. But, our owners have some serious work to do after the Liverpool game. We shall see......

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RobtheSaint added 10:00 - Nov 7 Normally agree with you on most postings but not this one. The anti Ralph sentiment is results and performance related not some sort of social media campaign. It was clear after 20 minutes that Theo was not going to give us that spark up front and we were all of the opinion to make a change asap but Ralph either could not see it or too stubborn. Time for a refresh. Had we kept Puel by the way I would have stayed at home to watch the grass grow.

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felly1 added 10:01 - Nov 7 Ralph's time is up, he has to be sacked now. Not a perhaps or a maybe, it has to happen. 4 wins in 24 matches. This cannot continue. We are a club with no playing identity, what happened to the high press? Ralph has run out of ideas..which explains playing Walcott. It's not the managers fault entirely. The players and owners have failed too. I liked Ralph and was a fan, but he's now a failing manager and the club are in a tailspin.

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cocklebreath added 10:05 - Nov 7 Ffs Nick you’re a broken record. I don’t feel sorry for anyone who picks Walcott and gives him 60 minutes, A Armstrong did more in 30 seconds.
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StAnt added 10:19 - Nov 7 You continue to give Ralph a get out of jail free card and now you are blaming the toxic crowd. Wake up and smell the coffee. This club is rotten from the top and Ralph has been a large part of the blame for some time. Yes, we competed yesterday but without any real shape or sign that the players knew what they were doing - it was all off-the-cuff from us. Newcastle weren't that great but they were a unit where every player knew his job at all times. We need someone to come in and drill the side into a well organised team. That will take time because much damage has already been done and morale will need to be raised. I wish Ralph well but his departure was needed and long overdue.

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HythePeer added 10:28 - Nov 7 It rained, then the sun came out, there was a rainbow over Saint Mary's, and at the end there was a crock of shite!
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underweststand added 10:38 - Nov 7 We had enough good chances to have been ahead at HT, but their 2 goals in 4 minutes - in the middle of the downpour - put pay to any thoughts of getting even one point. We are bound to concede goals in games, but our downfall has been the lack of someone able to score ourselves and enable us to get even one point a game. I wouldn't want to overly blame a defence that has had three serious injury cases and have rarely fielded an unchanged line-up for two games in a row. We have had three BAD results against teams who are rightly in the top echelon whereas we have lost FIVE games by a single goal margin, and only 5 goals have been scored by a recognised striker and we have managed just 5 goals from the last 95 shots.

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Block8 added 10:43 - Nov 7 A very confused article Nick both supporting and bemoaning Ralph's tactics and motivation? As stated earlier Theo Walcott should never have started this game as it was perfect for Armstrong (A) and the fact that he was still on the pitch at the start of the second half just rubbed salt into open wounds with the fans! We had more shots on goal but only one of them caused their keeper any concern and that was in the first few minutes. Isn't it strange how a team keeps its shape, no full backs in our box at all, lets us have possession where it doesn't hurt them and then with quick concise movement and passing fire in four goals. We played across their back four but very rarely through it and left ourselves exposed to the counter every time. Something a good tactician would have noted and made the necessary changes before the flood gates opened. Perraud was undoubtedly our best player going forward but left Almiron in acres of space every time he bombed on? Guimarães was gifted so much space in midfield he must of thought his the covid restrictions were still in force and Kieran Trippier gave a fantastic example of how a modern full back should play. Nigel Adkins was at the game, do we read anything into that??

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kingolaf added 10:43 - Nov 7 Comical Ali at it again.
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derry added 11:22 - Nov 7 Yesterday was a mess. The team selection was poor. Square passing possession just inflates the figures giving a false impression. Maybe time for JWP to follow Ralph out the door plus Adams and A. Armstrong and bring in three proper forwards who are quick. Edozie should have had a start by now. We need to defend first and stop kamikaze attacking leaving the space behind for opponents to exploit on the break. I liked Ralph but yesterday I made my mind up looking at that team that to save us he has to go. There is no place in a team for flawed favourites such as Elyounoussi.

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SanMarco added 11:25 - Nov 7 " I just think the anti Ralph Hasenhuttl factions have finally turned the crowd". As others have pointed out that is rubbish - it is not worthy of someone of your stature Nick. His sacking was a long time coming and the vast majority of Saints fans stuck with him for a long time. The problems, unsolved by Ralph, were all there to see yesterday. Of course at those moments when Adams and Ely were missing chances easier than the 4 Newcastle took it wasn't Ralph's fault. But he had to take responsibility for not solving those long-standing problems. If not - what is the point of a manager at all??

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saintinexile added 12:16 - Nov 7 What do you think when you see the team selection? What do you see when you watch a match? What world do you actually live in??
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AmericanSaint added 13:51 - Nov 7 After this game, I have to agree with many of the fans and RH needed to go. I was a fan of his and stuck with him through the times everyone else were attacking him, but picking Theo when either AA or more likely Endozie should have started was a true sing that he had given up. Then his subs were too little too late. RH did well for us considering he kept us in the PL even without the support of the previous owners. BUT this summer we had the backing and HOW we did not buy a PROVEN striker is just ridiculous. My final though is that the players should also hang their head in shame as many of the "veterans" failed to produce when it mattered. Che, Moi, JWP stand out over the last 5-8 games. One goal at the right time in each of these games would have a drastic change in the points and position of our time in the table. Well now we have to move on and hope we get the right manager as the issues are still there and if the club doesnt buy a proven striker in Jan, then we will be fighting an uphill battle the whole way and the :kids experiment" may bite us in the butt.

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SAINTSNIL added 13:56 - Nov 7 What an absolute load of verbal diarrhea this article is!!! Not a case of the crowd taking a dislike,just the simple fact that results and performances have not been there.I cannot think of another club that would have let him stay so long with the record he had over the last 12 months (ignoring the 9-0s!!) And as a previous poster mentioned with regards to Puel---90 minutes of watching his team's just sent me to sleep --had to be woken up at 4-55pm!!

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YosemiteSaint added 15:47 - Nov 7 It's difficult for anyone to imagine someone who's had more opportunities to succeed than Ralph has. I think we have a squad that can win games and stay up. But Ralph has turned them into relegation fodder. His fate was sealed—for the final time (his fate has been sealed SO MANY times)—when he submitted a team sheet featuring two "strikers" who can't hit the side of a barn door. There was no sense in it; there was no inspiration in it—just stale ideas fully gone off. (BTW, if it wasn't already obvious, Romain Perrault is our deadliest striker!) In other words, the team was set up to fail. At best it's negative football, and it's not good enough. Bye Ralph!

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