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Southampton V Crystal Palace The Verdict

Saints had this game under control and then gave it away for not the first time this season, once again certain players failed to perform and it was down to the substitutions, Palace's changed the game, ours failed to perform.

Some will rant at Ralph Hasenhuttl, but truthfully he was let down by players who have previously this season performed to a far higher standard.

The game started well for Saints and they took the lead from a headed goal from Oriol Romeu and for the first half looked comfortable although the warning signs were there for all to see, but things all changed after the break .

The problem for Saints stemmed from leadership on the pitch, as Palace stepped up a gear after the break and looked for an equaliser, we had no one on the pitch calming things down and steadying the ship, we still played as if we were a goal down with 2 minutes left on the clock, no one put their foot on the ball and this was the issue when Palace equalised.

Yet another Saints move broke down due to us trying too many intricate passes instead of concentrating on keeping the ball and keeping it simple, we were still going at it like a bull at a gate.

Palace won the ball and played it quickly to ex Saint Nathaniel Clyne whose cross was met perfectly by the totally unmarked Eze, yes Fraser Forster should have stopped it, but this was now going to be one of those days.

Now came the substitutions, on came Wilfrid Zaha for Palace and we made a double change with Armando Broja and Stuart Armstrong, with both strikers going off Che Adams & Shane Long, both have had decent games, you could understand taking off Long due to his age, but not Che Adams.

We lost shape and enabled Palace to get the upper hand, that is not to say we didn't have chances, Armstrong himself had two good chances and blazed them both, one high and one wide.

Broja looked a shadow of his former self and although he had one good run, he did little else, the issue now was with Long & Adams we had strikers making runs and space, now we struggled for that up front.

But as the game entered injury time we looked to have taken a point out of the game, but then came another lack of concentration with 2 minutes of injury time played out of 4, Wilfrid Zaha received the ball with his back to the goal, with plenty of Saints men around him he really should not have been allowed to turn and fire a shot into the bottom corner.

So Saints now limp to the finishing line where really they should have been surging to a top 10 finish.

So where have we gone wrong, in simple terms it is down to two areas, first we need a leader on the pitch, someone who dictates the pace and nature of play, who can put his foot on the ball when needed and who can keep his teammates focused when things are either on top or in the final minutes of a game when discipline is needed.

Secondly we need to pick players who are in form, Broja and Stuart Armstrong are badly out of form, as was Mohammed Elyounoussi the third substitution made, bringing on one should not be an issue, but bringing on three players for the last part of a game who are all out of form was a recipe for disaster.

I am not arguing that Shane Long should have gone off, but we should have brought on Adam Armstrong a striker who will be a the club next season, not one who wont, take off Tella who like Long had run himself into the ground and bring on Djenepo if you want to attack or even Will Smallbone a tidy player who has never let us down.

Too many players out there did not put in a display , we went into the final 10 minutes with not only the three substitutes, but the likes of Salisu also going through a rocky spell, the team was too imbalanced.

I think that within the club there is a feeling that there will be changes in the summer and although this should manifest itself in some playing for their places, for some it hasn't and that is worrying.

Ralph Hasenhuttl needs help on the coaching side of things, would any of our three general coaches, Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson or Craig Forrrest, get a job at another Premier League club ? I think we all know the answer, there is not a lot of help and experience for Ralph to call on when he needs advice.

Personally I didn't get mad about Saturday's result, we have achieved what we set out to do and for the most part up until the last half dozen games it has been a good season, but we have let ourselves down badly in the last couple of months, if we had won this game we would sit 11th in the League, we are not that far away from being a decent mid table side, but we aren't because of error strewn games.

Things will hopefully change in the summer, so I look towards the future and not the past, we need to get this season over and then prepare for the next one.

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