Unlike last Wednesday night no one was disagreeing too much with the team selection pre match, but in typical Saints fashion a great result is usually followed by an abysmal one, but every club has a bad day at the office sometimes.

Ralph Hasenhuttl changed the team again from the side that beat West Ham in the cup on Wednesday, no one was too disappointed pre match, but there were key players missing from the line up.

There was no Mohammed Salisu and Kyle Walker Peters was only fit enough for the bench, but these two weren't the only thing missing, we lacked the spirit and determination of the last months, we seemed to think that we could turn over Villa just by turning up.

But the home side were fired up with Danny Ings looking especially determined to put one over his home town side.

The writing was on the wall from the start, Saints knocked the ball around well in their usual manner, but the moment they lost it Villa were down our throats, they could have been 2-0 up before they scored the opener on 9 minutes and in the following half hour could easily have doubled or trebled their lead.

Fraser Forster making key saves on a number of one on ones and overall one of the few players who came out of the game with any credit.

As we hit the 44th minute we thought if we get to half time only one nil down we surely can't be as bad in the second half, but we couldn't even do that and were carved open again and we went into the break demoralised.

Yan Valery came on for Elyounoussi at half time and we seemed to switch to 3 at the back, but it didn't change much, initially we again knocked the ball around well, but we were destroyed in a blitz that saw Villa score twice in two minutes and with 36 minutes to go your feared for the scoreline.

With the game won Saints did get more of a grip on the game but that was perhaps because the home side were perhaps with the game won, taking their foot off the pedal.

So how did we lose so badly, a look at the statistics showed we had 62% possession, we had 11 attempts on target, only 3 less than Villa themselves, we even had 7 corners compared to their 4, but they had 9 of their 14 attempts on target and we had a pitiful 1.

The main issue was in the centre of defence, we missed the strength and reading of the game that Salisu brings to the side, time after time Villa were breaking quickly and our defenders could not seem to stop them, we were continually out of position and letting them turn us and run at us at will.

Yes the rest of the team have to take some of the blame for letting Villa break so fast, but our defence should really have coped better, without Fraser Forster it could have been much much more.

But every side has an off day and we have to make sure this is a one off and not the start of a bad run, it doesn't make us a bad side, we just didn't do the things that have propelled us up the table and got a little lazy.

We now have to pick ourselves up for the visit of Newcastle on Thursday and then Watford at the weekend, key in those games will be the return of Salisu and having Kyle Walker Peters 100%.

Credit to the Saints supporters who made the trip on Saturday, they flew the yellow & blue colours both in support of Ukraine & their team, but they were let down terribly with a poor performance.

To conclude, it was a bad day at the office, if you are Manchester City you don't have many, if you are a mid table team like Saints you have them a lot more often, it is now about making sure this doesn't become a losing streak and that we keep on pressing forward and hold our position in the table.

We have the squad to do that, but there will be days like these again this season, hopefully not too many.

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 09:43 - Mar 7 As you say Nick, I think we put this down to a bad day at the office and quickly move on. There were comments about the fact we played midweek being a contributing factor but as many of the starting XI differed I don’t really buy that. This hopefully doesn’t damage the confidence and momentum built up in recent weeks but will give the squad and coaching staff a timely reminder that we cannot just turn up and expect to win. At the start of last week most Saints fans would have given up the result at Villa as long as we beat West Ham. That’s what we got so can’t be too down as long as Ralph and the team use the experience to put a performance in against Newcastle.

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SaintNick added 10:14 - Mar 7 I agree the starting XI's were so different there was no one out there aside from JWP & Perraud who could use the excuse of being tired
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JoeEgg added 10:38 - Mar 7 A fairly short repôrt from Nick but sums up the match very well. The players badly let the manager down and I dont attach any blame to Ralph! Villa going forward were magnificent and Coutino is going to help turn Villa into a top six side - Watkins and Ings also had great games with Matty Cash quite outstanding behind them. By contrast we had no stars - nobody had a good game except perhaps Forster in goal - it is frightening to think what the score might have been without a series of excellent stops from our keeper. Bednarek and Stephens are not bad players but defensively we were embarrassingly poor. We have had a good run recently but as has been commented by many, fortune has been on our side and the results did actually flatter us somewhat. It had to be a team featuring Danny Ings that emphatically demonstrated that we are not as good yet as some fans were beginning to claim. It would also be ironic if the team managed by Eddie Howe provided a further reminder of the weaknesses that still exist. The Newcastle and Watford games will provide a fascinating insight into just how much we have improved as a side since the turn of the year, and it is to be hoped that Ralph is not let down for a second or third time as he was at Villa!

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IanRC added 11:16 - Mar 7 Valery should have started instead of Stephens for a start, then their first goal might not have occurred so easily.
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DorsetIan added 11:18 - Mar 7 I wasn't at the game, so I don't know if this observation is a fair reflection on the whole game. But on the clips I've seen Perraud wasn't offering much defensively for any of their goals. You mentioned that he might have been tired after Wednesday. I can believe that - his adrenaline levels would have been through the roof. Wonder whether he might have been overcommitted in his attacking positions too?

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TimSaint added 11:50 - Mar 7 This was easily the worst showing this season and was the type of performance we were accustomed to in the earlier part of the season. Pass it around a bit, concede a silly goal, heads drop, players go awol and that's it, game over. Absolutely awful in defence. Nobody wanted to play left sided CB or take command of the defence - leaving them all over the place, the full backs were either too static, or too far up the pitch. Rom and JWP were content to pass it around the midfield and back lines (hence the possession stats) but failed to pick up Coutinho throughout the game. Ely was way out of sorts and probably shouldn't have started. S Armstrong was the only one trying to run at their defence and create something, but like the rest of the team, the decision making in the final third was woeful. Adams had 2 chances, put 1 over when easier to score and the other was brilliantly saved. Broj had an off day. He was well marshalled (by Chambers FFS) and became frustrated to a point that Young wound him up so much, he should have been hooked. Sali better be back for the Newcastle and Watford games, because boy did we miss him. Lots of hard work to be done before Thursday and hopefully RH can turn this performance around.

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wessexman added 11:53 - Mar 7 Danny Ings will have briefed Gerrard all about our frailties in defence. But, the ease with which our central defenders were turned by Watkins for the first goal was quite astonishing. Ralph may have got lucky on Wednesday against West Ham with a B team, but Saturday did prove losing certain key players in equally key positions leaves us very, very vulnerable. Let us hope Salisu and KWP are back rather sooner than later.

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LordDZLucan added 12:15 - Mar 7 Villa were half a yard quicker all over the pitch and won more of the 50/50 balls. They were to an extent helped by the referee who was more than happy with their aggressive approach to the game but seemed to penalise us when we tried to fight fire with fire. But at the end of the day we got what we deserved which was nothing. Let's hope it's a one off.
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codge added 13:06 - Mar 7 Hopefully Stephens doesn’t get a new contract after that performance,runs around like a headless chicken.
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ItchenNorth added 13:46 - Mar 7 A bad day at the office, yes, but this result was coming. We were poor against Coventry for an hour, same vs West Ham for 45. Norwich and Everton games were also not the most exciting; but hey, we were getting results, which is really all that matters.Happy days ! Villa looked sharper and thankfully at 3-0 the idiots behind me walked out, as listening to them for an hour; you would have thought we in the midst of a terrible season! It happens. Move on. Up the Saints.

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SaintPaulVW added 14:12 - Mar 7 Yes it was a bad, wasteful, lackadaisical performance from, at times, just about everyone with the CB's both adrift. However, hopefully just a blip. Ralph's comments earlier in the week might have been used as a bit of motivation. Coutinho was in superb form. Ings had something to prove. This all meant they just seemed to want it more than we did in front of a noisy home crowd. We all know this team can play better. We've seen it non stop now for several months. Just got to move on and show a reaction against Newcastle. Given how they are playing at the moment, should be a great game on Thursday. COYR

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janecook added 14:49 - Mar 7 What was Stephens doing for their first goal? He was like a carthorse lost in a field. This game showed how much we need Salisu to play every game and Stephens not to play any games! Lets hope Salisu is back for Newcastle because we need to show that cheating the covid rule doesn,t prosper!
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davidargyll added 14:52 - Mar 7 Villa looked to me like where we were a couple of months ago: pacey, hungry for the ball, always closing the opposition down, never giving them a chance to settle. In other words they are improving whereas perhaps we have plateaued, at least temporarily. And everything came off for them, whereas nothing did for us. But tbh Watkins and Coutino were a class above anything we had on offer. Their first goal I have to say oozed skill, in fact we’d have been proud to have scored it, or indeed any of their goals. And yes agree with everyone about FF who kept the score from being embarrassing. Overall I don’t think anyone was was to blame for what was frankly a near walloping: I don’t want to point the finger at anybody - and I think all this knocking of Jack Stephens very unfair - because all our players were consistently crowded out by what looked like a much fitter side. But we had had a tough Cup game midweek which clearly did take the edge off, despite what others have said. We always seemed to be half a pace short. And Villa never really tired and only let us a bit more into the game well into the second half by which time it was all over. We just looked a bit jaded, or at least were made to look so. Which showed up in how many of our passes were either inaccurate or intercepted. But look, we have had a run of pretty tough games which we have done incredibly well in, and our winning streak was bound to come to an end sometime. So don’t let’s beat ourselves up over it. Yes a bad day at the office when luck deserted us but we have to put our hands up and say we were beaten by a much better team. Ralph has consistently said that there are no easy games in the PL and Saturday proved how right he was. And Newcastle are also another improving team, much as it pains me to say so, so we have to be very careful that we don’t succumb to Fortress SMS overconfidence on Thursday.

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underweststand added 15:44 - Mar 7 Bad day at the office - exactly my thoughts before reading the article. Stephens and Bednarek are too much the same sort of CB. Solid in standing positions, but lacking pace, and slow on the turn. (Our best combination is clearly Bednarek and Salisu and they have 6 clean sheets). I wasn't totally convinced by Valery's showing, but he was more mobile. Thankfully Forster showed some form or the score might have been doubled. Villa scored 4 from 14 shots, whereas we had just ONE shot on target from 11 attempts. Sometimes they just don't go in but Stuart Armstrong had more shots than anyone in the last 6 games but managed 2 goals whilst, Broja has scored once in his last 7 Prem starts. (Maybe Broja and Livramento are feeling the challenge - despite excellent season starts). We need a back to basics start side for Newcastle, (despite NOT having spent £80 million in the January window) . Maybe, time for Adam A. to get game time and show up.

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halftimeorange added 16:55 - Mar 7 I hope I'm wrong but, we've seen before under Ralph that our key players can burn out when continually asked to play an intense pressing game and then we embark on a losing run and become unrecognisable from the team previously doing so well. Newcastle and Watford will show whether fatigue has set in.
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SanMarco added 22:50 - Mar 7 It is just one game - if Ralph's pre-match warbling was intended to rile Villa it certainly worked. I am content to say bad day at the office and move on. We were due a defeat and so are Newcastle - so let's give them it on Thursday - no need for any chirping from Ralph mind. We are still light at the centre of defence, Salisu is the only real quality/leader back there. Stephens is our number 4 CB and he isn't anywhere near as good as Salisu so that alone will weaken us. Should our second reserve CB be better than Stephens is? Maybe but we are who we are and that means that injuries in key positions do make a difference. It shouldn't lead to the entire team, other than FF, going AWOL. Let's hope it is just a blip. After our last appalling performance (At Arsenal, again without Salisu) we bounced back pretty well so here's hoping...

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PezzaSaint added 08:03 - Mar 8 Ralph has done a great job at Saints with limited resources, i don’t think there is any doubt on that. But he isn’t the finished article yet and should try to avoid the hype that is building up about him. He was out thought on Saturday, we played far too open to early on and got punished!
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IanRC added 08:54 - Mar 8 Perhaps we should recall Dynel Simeu
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wrathoftazz added 09:18 - Mar 8 The way I see it is the same as always... u take out a couple of KEY players and we go back to being total crap and let's not make any mistake, we were crap. Its been no different for years. Summer will come, KEY players will leave and then we will replace with championship (at best) players, who need 6months to catch up. Then it will be the same nonsense all over again, the same rince and repeat that always does the rounds "it wasn't good enough", "the team needs time to develop", "Ralph is doing the best with what he has got". Ralph isn't great, the team isn't great and the mentality isn't great but as a supporter of over 45yrs, I'll here and away no matter what, praying the new owners shed the BS philosophy of the past and make a difference. Let's wait and see.

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highfield49 added 12:56 - Mar 8 We haven't had a player of Coutinho's quality since Lallana moved on. Despite all of the energy coming from our midfield we don't have one player on the books who can match that level of craft and vision. Hopefully the scouting team are out and about searching for just such a player who can instinctively find space and pick out a pass. I have a feeling though that unless we can find a player of that ability who is also able to bust a gut for ninety minutes they'll get shunned. Which is akin to saying, rightly or wrongly, that a LeTiss wouldn't get into the team these days. Some of the old frailties showed through at Villa and the ball into space beyond our defence was just too easy. Chambers ball over the top was a quality pass but Villa have, like others, done their homework and realised that a player running from deep can beat a high defensive line. As for the first goal, it was the sort of inept marking that you might excuse in a Sunday league game but not at this level. If a defender can be turned that easily after playing the game for so many years then it really is time to consider their future role. Adams and Broja rarely got into the game and the Villa defence gave little away, sadly our defence wasn't at the same level. A bad day at the office indeed but we can't let the season slide away now. Nothing less than three points needed against Newcastle.

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