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

dirk_doone added 12:53 - Jan 3 Reed's dealings over the last two years have weakened the club in every area, from top to bottom. He is a cuckoo in the nest who has now got rid of every manager, coach, scout and player considered good enough for any of our rivals and left us with inferior, overpriced replacements, who are mediocre, inconsistent and injury-prone. If Les Reed doesn't go now we are in real danger of following Sunderland and Hull down to the bottom of the Championship next season. Remember Wolves Reserves beat us easily.

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Frontwheeler added 13:02 - Jan 3 In reality Nick, the game changed effectively to Palace when they made their substitutions. They showed more aggression, will to win and a desire to get something from a team that lacks confidence. We stood off them, appeared scared to "get stuck in" in a majority of cases and looked like startled rabbits. all that aside, Mr Benteke appeared slightly offside for the knock back header for the equaliser, albeit that we stood as a team and watched the outcome. A real shake up of attitude and some new faces, it they are prepared to come to us, is desperately needed. What next otherwise?????????

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dirk_doone added 13:03 - Jan 3 You say, "the overall problem is sadly the manager" but you are completely blind to the old elephant in the room. The overall problem is Les Reed. He has got rid of all the staff who brought us success and reduced the playing squad to this. When he sacked Puel, I said it would only be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire and even if we sack this manager, Reed will only appoint another mediocre one. If we want to improve, we need to get our 'black box' Paul Mitchell back to replace Reed.

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bstokesaint added 13:16 - Jan 3 I’m normally more of a glass half full kind of guy, but I’ve accepted now relegation is fairly inevitable now. Just look at our remaining fixtures. They’re ridiculously difficult and this team isn’t cut out for a fight. There are no leaders on the pitch (or off it it would seem) and only 3-4 really seem to be putting an effort in. An SFC ‘relegation team’ of yesteryear would smash our current team. What those players lacked in ability they made up for in fight and spirit. Our current bunch of underperformers just see us as a stepping stone. They won’t go down with the ship. TSW is imploding badly and we’ve totally brought this on ourselves.

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LordDZLucan added 13:23 - Jan 3 I could blame the players for last night and the manager as well. But following Ralph Krueger’s interview with the Echo It’s clear that the the problem is further up the hierarchy. He has confirmed what I’d long suspected and that is that the prime motivation of the owners is to make money and if that means going down to the Championship then so be it. I’ve argued on numerous occasions that transfer fees received have not been fully re-invested and it sounds like the same is going to be the case with the van Dijk money. This is such a waste given the position we were in 4 years ago. We have allowed other clubs to not only catch us up but overtake us. It is a story of crass mismanagement and for that Krueger should go. Even that won’t stop us going into the Championship because I fear the dye is caste on that one but at least it would be an acknowledgement of how he has let our football team and our club down badly. 25 years of coaching an ice hockey team that can’t get relegated has no relevance to the situation that we’re now in because he was always able to simply write off a bad season; we can’t.

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StRipper added 13:28 - Jan 3 ​Speaking during the ​​post match interview to the club's official Twitter account, the frustrated coach revealed: "Difficult night because the history changed completely in the second half. We show another phase. We give them the possibility to be in the game. "We play five metres deeper in the second half and allow them to cause us some troubles. We maintain the ball, but not with the strength of target to go and score the second goal. We never read the game in the right way. Sometimes play more simple, more clinical, even more when you are 1-0."

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StRipper added 13:28 - Jan 3 ​Speaking during the ​​post match interview to the club's official Twitter account, the frustrated coach revealed: "Difficult night because the history changed completely in the second half. We show another phase. We give them the possibility to be in the game. "We play five metres deeper in the second half and allow them to cause us some troubles. We maintain the ball, but not with the strength of target to go and score the second goal. We never read the game in the right way. Sometimes play more simple, more clinical, even more when you are 1-0."

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SaintJez added 13:35 - Jan 3 I really don't get the "it's all Les Reed's fault" viewpoint. That just seems odd to me. Saints' problem is the 11 players we put out on the pitch and the in-game tactical changes we make in the following 90+ minutes. Ofcourse the players on that pitch are also at fault but the blame lies in there. In the past decade, Saints have done remarkably well as a football club. We bought well on the whole and where we've sold, it's been mostly orchestrated by the player himself and his agent. This is more symptomatic of the greed culture that permeates football than any fault of the board. Only twice have we held our ground. Wanyama who we then had to sell from a fraction of his worth due to contract running down and then VVD who has totally destabilised the club this season by acting disgracefully - especially considering he was captain. What are the board to do? I definitely accept that sacking Puel was harsh but we weren't playing great football and rumours were abound that he'd lost the dressing room so it can be understood. What the board / directors do have to be man enough to do is admit when they made a mistake and Pellegrino has looked for some time like being a mistake. I definitely agree that Krueger's comments in interview were very poor (constant references to being a small club is just weird in my view) but he needs to swallow his pride now and accept that MP needs to go.

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ItchenNorth added 13:39 - Jan 3 In my opinion there are three reasons why it is all unravelling on the pitch (in this order) 1. The manager, simply not good enough. Hasn’t worked out our best formation or players. Continually rotated players in and out of the starting 11 for no reason other than: he hasn’t got a scooby what works. 2. The supporters, shocking support at St Marys, no passion for the fight. Supporters we can make a big difference to player performance. If the support does not wake up: we too are culpable. 3. The players, not motivated, not playing for the manager, not playing for each other or the shirt. Too many players are not good enough. However good managers can get the best out of players as can the supporters. I am not a fan of the Board at Saints either. Forget Krueger though: he is just the marketing mouth piece for the rest of them. When to going gets tough, up pops Ralph with his guff. Hurrah ! Does anyone actually believe any of the rubbish he speaks ! We need to hear from Les Reed or one of the owners. We need someone who is straight talking. We haven’t done badly in the transfer market in recent years, but if January fails to deliver the targets that will get us out of this mess (we need our next Pahars), we have to question their approach. The Premier League is tough and we have no right to be there. Its a massive month ahead and we must all focus on backing what we have to the end of the season 100%.

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LordDZLucan added 13:47 - Jan 3 There's plenty of passion in the supporters at St. Marys, ItchenNorth. But we need something to feed off and the team is just not giving us that at the moment. It's difficult to feel involved in the 2nd half of a Saints game when the action is all up the wrong end!
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richardmdcooper added 13:48 - Jan 3 There is so much wrong with the club, it is wrong to blame any one person. BUT, if MP stays, we will be relegated. Simple as that. Why not make a change to give ourselves a chance. Let Kelvin have a crack. Anyone else. The guy is useless. And after not hearing anything for months, now Freddie decides its time to speak up and say the manager is doing a good job! He's backed himself into a corner now. Unbelievable. If the new owner is any good, he would also get rid of Kreuger and Reed for letting it come to this and enforcing a ridiculously rigid playing system on whoever the manager is (see Puel - obviously not a bad manager but completely constrained when he was here). Depressing but with the staus quo, there is only one outcome and it is relegation. Who knows what will happen then with an overpaid, unmotivated squad. 2005 all over again.

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DorsetIan added 13:54 - Jan 3 One thing nobody is mentioning is last night's pitch (and I know it's the same for both sides and all that) but trying to pass the ball effectively and efficiently in that type of bog is not easy. Palace had the physicality to overcome the conditions whereas we tried to pass the ball into the net on a bed of treacle. Optimistic thought: The team has not been playing like a team for weeks and yet we are still not in the bottom three and still only 6 points off 11th. We've got to be able to do better than three other teams in this league. Let a couple go and get three good players in Jan and we will avoid the drop. But I think if MP falls at the first hurdle in the FA Cup to Championship opposition like he did in the League Cup, he will be toast. (Hey, maybe we can even have a cup run!!)

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BoondockSaint added 15:10 - Jan 3 Hi SaintJez- I would like to present the "It's all Les Reed's fault" side of the argument (better known as the Fish Rots From The Head Down Theory): As dirk_doone points out, Les has systematically got rid of all the staff and players we have of any quality. And brought in the cheapest replacements. Any questions, as in the Kruger interview, is met with public relations double talk that avoid the questions. Reed and Kruger, when they decide to actually speak to the press, take the condescending attitude, of "Don't worry, we have a plan. The supporters don't understand how football clubs are run. We know what we are doing." Yet the whole league is laughing at the "Scouse feeder club." Has anyone noticed that our on-field problems-questionable line ups, benching a player who scored a goal, playing for a draw, putting on defenders as soon as we get a goal up, horrendous set pieces, penalty shooting that is a joke and no motivation in the players-have been the same complaints under Puel as they are now under Pellegrino? Looks like they are being told what to do from upstairs and have no influence on the training ground. No quality manager would put up with that, and that is why we haven't been able to attract even the slightest interest from quality managers when the position is open-they and their agents see the Saints as a manager's graveyard. OK, maybe it isn't Les, it's the owners who just want to turn a profit. But if that was the case, Les could walk out, stating how he was not allowed to do his job under their conditions and would be snapped up by another club in a week (at a much higher pay scale) based on his previous success when the club was willing to spend. Saints have been a success and up until about 2 years ago were everyone's "Second Favourite Team". Les and the board should have built on that to grow the fan base in the UK and world-wide. How does he do this? Exhibition games in Baltimore!!!! Les has crafted a team that not only is a joke in the media, but even turns off it's own fans, never mind attracts new ones. This is a critical point in the club's history. With the advances in the league and playing style of Bournemouth and Brighton, if the Saints are relegated, it is those two teams that will step up and attract newer fans. While the Saints flounder in the lower leagues, new generations of kids on the South Coast are naturally going to be drawn to teams and stars in the Premier League, not the Saints. Can anyone imagine the owners of the successful teams in the Prem putting up with this? They would be on TV stating how the rot had gone on long enough and they had to step in and clear out the management. How this was not the quality of football the fans expected or deserved. That the search was on for new management and players that would win back the supporters trust. Alas, i don't think any of this will change, as the club's owners don't care as long as Saints don't lose money.

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ItchenNorth added 15:21 - Jan 3 Hi LordDZLucan. I get where you are coming from but as supporters we will all be here long after the manager, the players and this board has gone. We are the one’s who will be watching Championship football (or worse); and I don’t want that. I pay my money, not just to be entertained but to play my part in making the club I love a success. I’m not sure how many games you go to (this response is not a dig by the way !) or where you sit, but the atmosphere inside St Marys has been shocking all season (and throughout last season). There may be plenty of passion (passionate supporters / fans) at St Marys but not in the way that will drive the team forward to get a positive result. I am not a happy clapper, I’m massively pissed off at things as much as anyone, but there’s a time and a place for that (after the final whistle). Take last night as an example. I sit in the ItchenNorth (as you might have guessed !!). The Palace fans were ok, made a far bit of noise for a while, but they were not relentless. With that in mind, I honestly don’t think I heard more than one song from the Northam Stand all night. Even if those moments were when the Palace fans were singing (and so drowned them out) nothing could be heard from the Kingsland North during those moments. In the Itchen North stand about 100 of us sang ‘Oh When The Saints’ continuously for about 20 odd minutes in the later stages of the first half, but still 1000s around us could even be bothered to lift the roof and back the team (when we were winning !). There was no support in the second half at all, just an air of resignation. Positive vocal support doesn’t necessarily mean that the outcome would have been different, but at least we’d have put the platform down for the players to play in. Don’t get me wrong; the manager, the players, the board are all part of the problem as well. But we can at least do our part and get our own house in order. Then what will be will be.

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ItchenNorth added 15:24 - Jan 3 but still 1000s around us couldn't even be bothered (dam computer !!!).
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SaintNick added 15:50 - Jan 3 Too many people have been told too many times that Les Reed is the problem, yet most people have never been behind the scenes at St mary's and never met Les Reed or for that matter actually heard him speak even on TV. Yet they believe he is the problem because a number of people keep telling them on social media and forums, again most of the people doing the telling have never met Les Reed either. The only evidence is that we have finished in the top 8 four seasons running and that despite accusations of doing things on the cheap we have constantly spent big money in the transfer market. Krueger is berated when he doesnt say something berated when he does, but he actually nails it when he says the only position that matters is the one at the end of the season, same response as last season when the fans spent most of it slagging off Puel. Therefore both Krueger and Reed have a track record of delivering so far, no false b*llsh*t, no false promises, they have just got on with the job in hand in a business like fashion, but that doesnt please some who would prefer to be told that we are going to make the Champions League etc. I dont think Pellegrino is the mn for the job, but I do think that Krueger and reed have got to be given the chance to get it right and that means being judged at the end of the season

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schatfield added 16:05 - Jan 3 Reading all the comments on this site, you would think that MP was on the field playing yesterday.....did he put a goalkeeper in place that we all believed was right? did he play a defense with 2 wingbacks? An attacking midfield, and when we were drawing, did he put another striker on? What would you all have done differently? Can you account for the outstanding strike from the Palace guy that won it and the penalty that wasnt given to us? MP did nothing wrong in this game that any other manager wouldnt have done

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richardmdcooper added 16:27 - Jan 3 I can't believe the last two posts. Schatfield - what about the rest of the season for heaven's sake?!?! Nick - I've actually defended Reed in the past and the investment approach but at some point, he has to take accountability for the product on the field and the poor managerial decisions. Waiting to the end of the season to judge them is simply a recipe for disaster as the only question will be where do we finish - 18th, 19th or 20th.

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SaintJez added 16:31 - Jan 3 There are elements to what you say schatfield that I do agree with there. His front 3 have proved all season they can't hit a barn door - which is a worry and something he can't have not noticed - but given the squad we have, the starting XI and subs were probably ok. But we got yet another poor result, at home, versus a poor side. So either the players are not up to it or there's something wrong with the management of those players. On an individual level, I think saints are too good to go down. Collectively, we are clearly not. For that, responsibility must lie with the manager. That is what they get paid to do.

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LordDZLucan added 16:47 - Jan 3 I've been to all the games, ItchenNorth, and agree the atmosphere has not been good but it's difficult to sing when you're on tenterhooks all the time!
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BoondockSaint added 17:06 - Jan 3 Hi Nick You don't need to be in a restaurant's kitchen when your meal is cooked in order to be able to decide if it is good or not. You don't have to be on the set of a movie to determine if it is good or not. You are not on the training ground with Yoshi, but you bash him when he makes a mistake. So why should Les and Ralph get a pass? Kruger should be berated when he does an interview and doesn't answer the questions, just avoids them and answers with p.r. prepared catch-phrases that have nothing to do with the original topic. My favourite it was, "I was a head coach for 25 years....." Not in the top league in the world he wasn't. He was head coach of Edmonton for one year. That's it.

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AmericanSaint added 18:05 - Jan 3 I would like to point out one fact about yesterday that everyone is overlooking. Palace are in better form than us and they have a better strike force. Zaha and Beneteke are the tall, powerful forwards that we are lacking. I knew that if we didnt get the second goal, Palace were going to get a good goal chance and they did. We do not have the strikers to score or play the right system with the ones we do. I think the only way we can score if we play both Long and Gabs with Tadic in behind. Forget the wingers and play 3 mid fielders, Oriel, Lemina and Hojberg. This needs to be tried out this weekend to see if works. Lemina and Hojberg can rotate and support an attack wither with speed (Lemina) or passing (Hojberg). Just a thought.

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underweststand added 18:16 - Jan 3 BOY! ..some of you really have a lot to complain about. After 60 years as a Saints fan I'm a little more philosophical. The contributor who criticised our Chinese owner for lack of ambition should remember that we have only two opportunities a season to "improve the squad" - and the latest only began on Monday 1st January. We had a "surplus " of strikers and sold JayRod (on the face of it a win-win situation) but now even he's struggling at WBA. Few of our remaining strikers have found any form (exception Austin) who had a run of "unfortunate injuries" ..but the remainder have done next to nothing. Before yesterday we could blame Shane Long on this issue too. If anyone should carry the blame it has to be the unfortunate strikers who have had around 200 chances yet only managed to convert 10% of them. MP has a number of options - screaming / throwing things at them (Fergie-style), or threatening them with a baseball bat.. but at worst, he can only "bench them " - after which he is criticised for changing the team too often.(!) Those who say we should recruit a "quality manager " should send a list to Les Reed ASAP, because a quick look at the Prem. shows that around 16 of the 20 clubs have changed their manager - at least once - in the last two years. Presumably all those clubs were "satisfied " with the man's credentials when they signed them, yet still sacked them in short order. So where are all these "quality managers " just sitting around, waiting for Saints to ring them, or should we "tap-up " someone in an existing job - Liverpool style? Watching the U18/ U23 games there are some exciting products, but they are not ready yet, and the system should not be blamed if we don't produce a new Bale, Ox or Lallana every season,(recalling that most of those who have gone before made their names when we were in lower divisions). Finally, The VvD transfer was a God-send , as it may not be in our lifetimes before we have another player valued at that level and it would be stupid to imagine otherwise. I do not expect Saints to spend large chunks of the 75 mill. in January. It's clear that survival is the priority and signing the likes of Sturridge and/or Walcott on loan may well be a positive for both parties - even if we don't sign one of them permanently. We may well pick up another Mane or Pelle for a modest fee, from a club where " his face doesn't fit " and who may turn out to be an answer to several problems. Those impatient fans who wanted Puel out - got their wish - (and Leicester seem very grateful for that). Aside from 3 quite bad defeats, our defence is not the worst in the Prem. and the real problem can be most easily remedied by having a few strikers who can put the ball in the net a little more often.

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SanMarco added 18:23 - Jan 3 The fact that a whole year after the VVD injury we are still playing Stephens and Yoshi at the centre of defence says a lot. The fact that we are still lumbering along with players that can't score says even more. We can't score goals and we are not very tight at the back. Those in authority (dare I use the word 'responsible') at the club should not be in their jobs if those problems weren't obvious to them and if, given our grim situation, they do not, finally, do something about it this month then they should pick up their P45s the day we are relegated. We have three 'winnable' home games left and all the rest of our points need to be won away from home where we have one win all season. It didn't have to be like this and those that have allowed it to happen should be ashamed of themselves. Oh, and if MP needs to go then who appointed him I wonder??

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AmericanSaint added 18:27 - Jan 3 To "Underwestand" - Thank God someone with some common sense and long-term view has chimed it. You are right about the managers and I can think of 5 games that if we had scored one of the many opportunities we had in them, we would have 10 more points and all of this bitching would be talking about the FA Cup and how we can reach top 6. Quick how people lose perspective. Just a thought.

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