If Saints fans wanted confirmation that the sacking of Pardew did not go down well with the squad, they got it for a second time in a week.
Before I concentrate on the failings of our own side, a word first about Rochdale, they were verything Saints were not, well organised, well drilled and they calmly got on with winning the game, taking their chances when they arrived, they played football in the right areas and defended stoutly in the final third, despite Saints failings in many departments, Rochdale can proudly say they won this game rather than Saints lose it.
But for Saints part although they enjoyed the lions share of possession and statistically 7 shots on target and 15 off, they rarely looked like scoring, indeed some of these so called shots off target were nearer the tv screens or back row than they were the goal.
Saints could have won this game though, but the problem is they are leaderless and one dimensional at the moment and it was clear that the players are not happy with the way the manager has been treated, we in fact stand at a dangerous crossroads, this is undoubtably the best squad in the division, but I can see many players wanting away if things arent sorted out very quickly, players are not completely immune to peripheral situations, whilst there is an element of getting on with it on the pitch, when they see what is happening around them off it, it does affect them, anyone at St Mary's yesterday would confirm that.
Dean Wilkins showed that he is not the man for the job, both in the way the team performed(or not) for him and in his use of substitutions, with only two strikers at his disposal and a goal down it was baffling why he should take one of those off with half an hour to go, but even more puzzling was his removal of Chamberlain from the fray on 71 minutes, the teenager had been the one ray of light on the field, playing without fear and taking on his man, yet he was the one substituted, but more worryingly was the reaction of Rickie Lambert, the gestures he made to the bench indicated that he clearly was not happy with the tactics.
At times Saints did dominate and look composed, but it was a fragile sheen, as was shown on the first goal when in the dying minute of the first half Saints crossed a ball to no one in the Rochdale penalty area and within 20 seconds were a goal down on the break.
There were few rays of light on the pitch, Chamberlain, Arron Martin once again, and to a degree Joseph Mills who showed willing and nearly scored in injury time with a header, but that was about it, Wilkins bench offered little match winniers off it, but strangely Dickson was not used, his second half display against Bristol Rover showed he can get forward and cross a ball.
Guly showed that he is no Papa Waigo, the rumour mill says that this signing was forced on Pardew and that it was a catalyst that sparked the events of the past week, but the new man does not look half the player Waigo was, its early days and of course this was a shambles in which many of his team mates were playing badly, but he doesnt look the part.
Lambert is badly out of form and looks slow and to be blunt, if he had just been signed he would have been booed off the pitch on Saturday, we know he is class, so something is clearly effecting him.
Jason Puncheon did come in for a lot of stick, Puncheon is one of the most gifted players in the team, he has the ability to beat men with ease, his problem is he cant kick a ball, he will beat several men and then fire the ball high into the stands, he needs to spend some time on the training pitch, he needs someone to tell him that he doesnt have to take the leather off the ball every time he kicks it, it was unfair the way the crowd got on his back, his general play was quite good, but his end product is lacking inevery area, shooting, passing and crossing and to be blunt its end product that counts.
Lastly the crowd, a poor turnout, in that it was just over 17,500 Saints fans after accounting for the visitors, if we truly do have almost 14,000 season ticket holders, then its a sad indictment of the pricing policy in that only 3,000 or so bought individual matchday tickets for this game, the Chairman has to ask himself some scathing questions and perhaps consider some changes, perhaps dropping the booking fee's and also opening up season ticket sales again.
This attendance was almost 3k below last seasons average, this was meant to be a season of success and good times, the fans were left feeling sour when the repayment plan was axed, things have gone downhill from there and there was no good will in the ground on Saturday.
It has to be said though that those fans there, did their part, they stayed behind the team until the 71st minute when the removal of Chamberlain sparked off chants of "You dont know what your doing" and "There is only one Alan Pardew" strangely this is not mentioned in the report on the official web site, but whilst a couple of seasons ago fan unrest did lead to defeats at SMS, this cant be levelled at Saturday's crowd, they tried to keep the team going.
Afterwards I havent heard so much despair amongst Saints supporters since our administration, they feel let down at the moment, but more to the point there is a lack of hope, at the end of last season, Saints fans were genuinely excited about this season and preparing to back the team in great numbers as was shown in the crowds at the end of the season, how in a few short months, or some would say a few short weeks has theclubs fanbase been split in two and a feeling of euphoria so crushed ?