Saints went into this game full of confidence, but before there were 60 seconds on the clock they were a goal down and within minutes the game would be over, so why did it all go wrong, the answer is a lack of leadership on the pitch, but it always has been recently.
There were some eyebrows raised when the team was announced at 11.30am, Shea Charles who had been in the top two players in the last two matches was on the bench with Will Smallbone back in the side, up front was Sekou Mara.
But as surprising as these two changes were, they were not the reason that we lost this game and lost it so heavily, the reason that we did that was because we did not have one leader on the pitch and this showed.
Stuart Armstrong and Jan Bednarek may be senior players in the squad but they are not leaders of men, this is not a criticism as they are far from alone in that trait in this squad.
How on earth did we go a goal down after only 55 seconds, especially as we had a corner in the first 30 seconds, the answer was quite simple we piled forward like a bunch of schoolkids and left no one back on the half way line.
Russell Martin will be under fire for this but I am sure that he didn't say things like " If we have a corner all pile forward and don't worry about leaving anyone back" or " Don't worry about marking anyone" never has the old adage that when a team crosses the touchline to go on the pitch the manager is powerless.
Once again there wasn't a goal conceded where we were not fount wanting, poor marking, giving the ball away, failure to hold shape and even in the final seconds of second half added time, we couldn't keep it tight and the scoreline vaguely respectable.
Yes we didn't have the luck, one goal would have been ruled out for offside at one end, where at the other it would have awarded us a penalty, but a side should make it's own luck.
We have signed some good players in recent weeks, but from what I have seen we have once again failed to sign the one key player we need, a leader at the back.
Am I surprised ? The answer has to be no, I have been saying the same thing for the last 6 years.
Throughout most of my time watching Saints there has been a crucial factor in the side and that is a leader, Lawrie McMenemy signed Alan Ball and then left the legacy of Jimmy Case for his successor Chris Nicholl.
In contrast Ian Branfoot let Case go and we floundered, in the last dozen or so seasons we had Jose Fonte and Steven Davis, but in recent times we have had no one of that ilk and we have paid the price.
Sunderland did their homework, their gameplan was clear from the first minute, defend deep and then hoof the ball forward, the fact that this worked in the first minute was a crime, the fact that it kept working throughout the game was a mortal sin.
The worry is that if Tony Mowbray worked that out and lets face it QPR employed the same tactic last week, then you can bey your bottom dollar that most of our opponents are going to do the same.
The gist of the problem is that if you are not there you can't deal with a problem, whether it is one on one chases as the ball is hoofed forward, unmarked player in our box or a player 25 yards out with time and space to tee up his shot, they all had one thing in common and that is we had lost shape and we had player standing around watching.
Adam Armstrong was Captain on Saturday, as most will know I rate Adam Armstrong, but he is not a captain, a forward should never be a captain, they play most of their game with their back to their team mates, they can't see and direct play, it has to be a central defender or midfield player or even a full back, someone who dictates play and not flying forward.
But the problem we have is where is the leader in our squad, perhaps Will Smallbone is a potential leader, hence his restoration to the team, but he isn't ready yet, this was only his 11th start for Saints, a leader has to have experience and the respect of his team mates that comes from playing games at a high level, we have no one who meets that criteria.
Flynn Downes might be a candidate, but can you have a loan player as your captain, perhaps it's Ryan Manning, but he is struggling for his own form at present and his game is too much about attacking than holding the line.
In the centre of defence I have mentioned Jan Bednarek is not that leader, Taylor Harwood-Bellis has a bit of experience but perhaps not enough due to his tender age.
Jack Stephens was appointed captain, but how much of that was because he was the nearest that Russell Martin had in his squad that fitted the bill, but in truth I can't see Jack getting much game time if we sort out things at the back.
So this result was a shock, but not a surprise, the only surprise is that as a team we didn't learn our lessons from last week and we have certainly paid the price for that.
But rant over, we can't keep harping back to the past, they say you are only as good as your last game, that is not strictly true, I think that you are only as good as your next game, this debacles is gone now, no matter how much ranting is done it changes nothing, we won't get to replay the game and rectify our mistakes.
It is what we do next that matters, all the great Saints teams got a walloping from time to time, Lawrie McMenemy wasn't immune to his teams suffering a good beating at least once in a season, nor was Chris Nicholl, Alan Ball, Gordon Strachan, Nigel Adkins, Mauricio Pochettino or Ronald Koeman, that is not an exhaustive list, just pointing out that it seems to be a rite of passage.
All of those had one thing in common though, they put it behind them and made their teams better and stronger for it and that is what Russell Martin needs to do now.
It shouldn't be difficult, it was clear to see on Saturday where we were going wrong and our opponents seem to see we don't switch on quickly in both halves and indeed at the end of both halves.
Bizarrely all but one of the goals was scored within minutes of the start of the game, either side of half time and in injury time, for most of the game we dealt with things, we just switch off at key moments.
Conceding 12 goals in just 5 games is completely unacceptable, no one can claim otherwise, but the good news is that most of the issues around this come down to concentration, we can deal with it.
This is a blow, but it is not the end of the season, we are still in 7th place we are still only 3 points off the top of the league, there is plenty to be pleased about, one game does not define a season, we have to make sure that days like these are not that often.