A worrying and disapointing defeat in many ways.
To be blunt this wasnt just a defeat, it was more the way in which we lost that rankled, of course sides lose games at home from time to time and with this being our first home league loss in over a year we have no cause for complaing there, however it was the predictable way in which we went down that gives a lot of cause for concern.
We just couldnt change our style of play once Bristol City had set out their stall and coped comfortably with our attacks, even Jack Cork agreed with me on this one in a post match interview.
So why couldnt we change the pattern of the game ? firstly I see it as a lack of leadership both on and off the pitch, tacticaly Nigel Adkins didnt take the bull by the horns and try something different to break down the City defence, secondly there wasnt a leader on the pitch, someone who took command and dictated the play.
Nigel sat on his hands and did nothing for almost 80 minutes, when it was clear something needed to be done a long time before that as in the main the visitors coped fairly easily with out attacks, its times like these when a manager earns his corn with the right changes and subtle switches in play, Im afraid that on this night Nigel Adkins was found wanting.
Ironically when he did make a change it resulted in a goal, but at the other end, the writing was already on the wall when City had the ball in the net but it was ruled offside, however with ten minutes to go there was no reprieve for Saints, to be blunt Davis should have done better with the long range shot, he stopped it but he had merely parried it into the danger area, he redeemed himself with a brilliant save as a City player followed in and could do nothing as that rebound was tapped into an empty net.
Now i know a lot of people will say this is harsh, but bluntly good goalkeepers when they cant hold a ball will get it out of harms way, Kelvin did not do this and it cost us a goal, which in turn cost us at least a point, yes there ar eplenty of goalkeepers who would have done no better, but we are seeking to win this division and to do that we need the best players and what wins promotions is having a keeper that at vital times does something that earns his side a point, there are many fans decrying Guly despite the fact he is one of the top scorers in this division, yet still people want better, that being the case then surely that should be in all departments, good teams are built on solid goalkeepers, look at Man Utd, their dodgy periods have co incided when firstly Schmeichel and then Van Der Sar left the club.
As a team we were flat, predictable and unispired and that has been the case in too many games lately, apart from the odd game here and there we have been patchy for the last couple of months, our last six games have yielded only 8 points, way short of what should be our minimum standard of 12, even worse when you consider that three of those came in the first game of that spell in fact over that two month period and 12 games we have got only 21 points, again short of the minimum standard,
Five points from the last five games is not promotion form its relegation stuff, those five games have been full of individual error, poor decisions from the bench and a general lack of spark on the pitch, the point I am i am making here is that my opinions arent based on a knee jerk reaction but fact based over a period of time, this latest defeat wasnt a blip on the lanscape, but part of a pattern that has been forming over a longer period than we would like to admit, its disguised by our league position, but to be blunt we are only still top due to the failure of the club around us to take advantage of our por form and our ability to pull the odd win out of the bag.
Saints have a good team and the frustrating part is, that every few games we put in a good result or two and there lies the problem, why can we play so well one game and be utterly awful the next.