It was another game unbeaten, but at the final whistle it felt like a loss to the Saints supporters up at Vicarage Road, once again it was a failure to kill off the game with a 2nd goal that cost Southampton dearly.

Russell Martin once again needed to re jig and reshuffle for the relatively short trip to Watford, Flynn Downes was unable to play after going down with an illness, so that saw Joe Aribo into the side for only his second start of the season in the League.

A look at the bench showed just how many Saints have out at the moment, once again one of the academy players, this time 18 year old Callum Bragg had to fill in the places, although at the other end of the scale Jack Stephens returned to the squad for the first time since August.

Saints as usual had the majority of the possession, but one stat that did change was that we did not have the advantage in terms of attempts on goal, the home side had 11 compared to our six.

It was Gavin Bazunu who was the busier keeper and it was Watford who should have led at the break not Saints.

That saw Russell Martin make a change at half time, on came Ryan Fraser and off went Charley Alcaraz, in truth this was not surprising , the Argentinian had looked flat, he was struggling to get into the game and when he did he could not seem to get his passing game together.

Ryan Fraser seemed to bring more impetus to the side, but it was the home side that nearly opened the scoring with Bazunu making a very good save to keep the scores level.

Che Adams went close and then came the opener, once again Ryan Fraser put in a decent cross, Adam Armstrong had a tight angle and it must have been tempting to head for goal himself, but he was aware of who was around him, he headed in back to Che Adams who chested it down to find space and fired home.

You would have hoped that Saints would now put the game to bed, certainly they could have, the lively Fraser seeing the keeper make a good save, but it was unfortunately a repeat of the Huddersfield game that was looming, we seemed to be complacent again and feel that we were comfortable.

Certainly as 96 minutes appeared on the scoreboard it looked like they had, but then came one of those moments, Watford hit a shot more in hope than anything else, it was hard and it was low and that was perhaps the problem, if it had been a foot the other way Gavin Bazunu would turn it around the post, but he got his hands mixed up and it went under them.

This was cruel on the Saints keeper, up to this moment he was a big candidate for man of the match.

So it felt like a defeat and certainly spirits weren't revived by news elsewhere, all of the three sides above us won.

But we still didn't lose and this is a marathon not a sprint, we have to concentrate on what we need to do, keep hitting the average points total rather than individual setbacks, that is still good, 7 points from the last 3 games is still 2.33 per game, 14 out of the last 6 is still 2.33 per game, we are doing all we can, it is just that the other 3 are matching us at present.

The Saints supporters up here were loud, certainly much louder than the home crowd, but why did virtually every song have to be about Portsmouth and when it wasn't it was the tiresome abuse of Wesley Hoedt.

I am not quite sure why Hoedt came in for such abuse, where was the old adage Once A Saint Always A Saint ?

Hoedt's only crime whilst at St Mary's was coming into a side that was in a mess, he wasn't the worst player in the squad during first season and in truth was the man of the match in the penultimate game at Swansea City were a defeat would have meant almost certain relegation, he was strong in a 1-0 win.

His second season ended with the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Austrian manager just didn't seem to fancy him as a player and he would spent the rest of his time at the club out on loan.

So why the abuse, I suspect Ryan Manning might have had a wry smile at it, surely supporting the team should be the priority at a game, rather than singing songs about rivals or abusing a player who in truth was only at the club for a short time and left only because he was ostracised by the manager who just didn't fancy him as a player.

Photo: Action Images

JoeEgg added 09:38 - Dec 11 "It was another game unbeaten" .........Yes it was but it was also another game that showed that we still HAVEN'T learnt important lessons from previous matches. Maybe the players are just not good enough? Nick rightly makes the point that we fail so often to extend our lead by providing that elusive second goal, and will always be vulnerable to dropping two points when the final result becomes a draw. Defensively we are looking better but I have always questioned the strength of our midfield and surely few would disagree that we just do not have, Adam Armstrong aside, the natural goalscorers that you need to put a game to bed. This is worrying and right now, despite the points tally, we are not as strong and threatening as Leicester, Leeds and Ipswich. We are a top side when it comes to possession, but possession alone does not win matches. With no Downes in the side our midfield is just not strong or inventive enough. Up front; unlike our main rivals, we frighten nobody. We have made progress in some areas under Russell Martin, but I hope that the owners of the Club can see that there is still a long way to go if we are to re-establish ourselves as a Premier League Club. As a postscript - well done to Nick for drawing attention to the fan behaviour at Watford and the choice of songs. I for one wholeheartedly agree with the points that he makes!

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stmichael added 09:53 - Dec 11 Agree Nick. Win at Cov and this is a good point.. Our obsession with Pompey is pathetic. Small time and no help to the team at all.. Embarrassing I’d rather not sit with the mongs.
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A1079 added 09:58 - Dec 11 I was not at the game and I have not seen any highlights so in terms of the game itself I cannot really comment. But, in the recent away games I have been to, the most recent being Huddersfield there appears to be some familiar traits. An air of complacency, a lack of converting any pressure into goals, relying on a single goal to get us through, too pedestrian, slow and ponderous sideways back passing and then the inevitable. That said, we are not 12 games unbeaten and that cannot be sniffed at, at any level but all the factors mentioned contribute to us having to chase the pack rather than lead the pack. But, the point I really wanted to make is your point on the fans choice of songs and so called support. I have to agree with you Nick and others that have commented similarly. I do not get this endless singing of Pompey related songs which are tiresome and boring and I cannot see how they support the team. I obviously have not seen or heard the Wesley Hoedt abuse but given many have mentioned it, it is not acceptable and again does not really help our team. I don't know what has happened with our vocal support - the numbers that are attending away games is tremendous but the choice of how they give that support has become almost acidic in nature - I have noticed it in the last 3 away games - great support in numbers, deteriorating nature in the way that support is given. I am old, so may be that is my problem that I cannot buy into some of the songs. Pompey have always been rivals but I have never noticed so much focus on them as there is now in our choice of song or chanting - I don't really see how it helps. The above said, there has been criticism of the home support with phone lights and the response to a goal. Though I cannot relate to it, I don't have an issue with that. It is the 21st Century and things change and just because we didn't do it in the 70s or 80s it doesn't make it wrong now - at least it is not abusive.

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underweststand added 09:59 - Dec 11 Hard to criticise a side who played 12 games unbeaten, but we find ourselves doing it again. Up until the 95th minute I was ready to give Bazunu player of the match because he made several game-changing saves and a daring dive with his head down, but once again most people will blame him for losing us 2 points. NOT ME ..I blame the other 10 ...who couldn't manage 2 goals between them, and not for the first time this season we didn't win because of our inability to win the game sooner.

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underweststand added 10:11 - Dec 11 Oh..is that you trying to defend Hoedt AGAIN (Nick?) I'm sorry, but IMHO he was one of the worst CB signings in the last 10 years, and there has been a few of those, and I think his record of OG's outweighs those he scored for us ..if indeed there were any / many.(?) ......and don't let's highlight Jos Hooiveld,(who admittedly was in the wrong place at the wrong time on occasions), but did at least score 6 goals FOR Saints in one of his seasons. Maybe Hoedt will fit into the Watford set-up, in which case I wish him well, but few of us could rate him as - even as a mediocre buy - for far too much money in his time with us.

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SaintPaulVW added 10:39 - Dec 11 If you watch the highlights, we always seem to score our goals when there are about 5 defenders in the box. The teams above us score more goals and usually are only facing 2 or 3 defenders. This suggests that we are far too slow in getting forwards. It's even more of a missed opportunity when you consider we have 3 really quick players Arma, Sulemana and Fraser. A possession passing style of football doesn't need to just be slow safe passes but quick passes going forwards for players to collect and run onto. Need to build that into our game ASAP if we want to make progress on catching up the top teams. COYR

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Bowlercow added 11:18 - Dec 11 What goes around comes around We recently had a spate of late goals which some hard to please fans claimed was luck Now others are scoring late does that make us unlucky? No it doesn't. You generally get what you earn in this game I figure that with this and the Huddersfield draw Baz has cost us 4 points If we are going to even get a playoff place thatust change We must get another goal scorer as well Not easy or cheap I know but I those that have played so far AA is the only one who will get into double figures I remember a game at SMS when the fans spent 90 mins abusing Harry Redkrap whose QPR went on and won 1-0 Don't waste your breath onit Concentrate 100% on giving your own a lift

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landsdownsaint added 18:14 - Dec 11 Anybody that knows anything about football can see Bazunu is absolute class & we are gonna be extremely lucky too keep hold of him, my only gripe is take a chance & hit it sometimes , we allways seem to be looking for that perfect goal where everyone in the team has to have a touch in the build up . I gotta say RM has done really well in getting the lads so comfortable in possession, I think he’s getting there maybe a slight tweak her n there

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ItchenNorth added 21:18 - Dec 11 ⬆️ landsdownsaint
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powpow added 23:31 - Dec 12 It’s never a nice feeling conceding late goals, but we’ve scored a few to earn 3 points, so can’t complain! This team is a work in progress, they will get better in time, and there are lots of twists and turns to come this season, so lots to look forward to. What would help to drive the team forward is for our more vocal so called ‘supporter's’ (they’re mong’s) changing their pathetic small town mentality of constantly mentioning a tin-pot club down the M27, who are no threat (and never have been) to us whatsoever. Pompey live rent free in these lads heads, it’s like the ultimate praise to continually sing about them! No other club in the land with a vocal support has such an obsession, it’s pathetic, embarrassing, and doesn’t help support our team in any way. How about just getting behind the lads as individuals and as a team, it would create a much more positive atmosphere both home & away. Up the Saints!

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