Saints made the same old mistakes and made it 3 defeats out of 4, but more crucially slipped 5 points shy of the automatic promotion spot, it has to be said that once again Russell Martin got his team selection wrong.
In the last four games Russell Martin has rotated his squad, but to be blunt he has made the wrong selections for the wrong games and this was the case for the visit of Millwall to St Mary's.
Bearing in mind that we were playing Millwall who arrived in Southampton facing the prospect of dropping into the bottom 3, his tinkering didn't make sense, at the back he dropped Ryan Manning, who for all his faults is an attacking full back and brought in Jack Stephens who is very much a defender.
But perhaps the most bizarre decision was to drop top scorer and perhaps just as importantly top assist provider Adam Armstrong, this was a game that we needed to get back on track and keep on the shirt tails of Leeds who had beaten Leicester the previous evening.
But this was not about playing our best team, the team that had gone so long unbeaten and knew what it was doing, it was about trying to be too clever, the formation although on paper looking 4-3-3, actually was more 3-4-3 and late in the second half when we were pushing for an equaliser was 2-5-3 and had no real organisation to the play, other than all charge forward.
The game started well until the 5th minute when Gavin Bazunu came for a cross, he really should have got it, but it was a Millwall head that got to the ball first and we were 1-0 down.
The visitors then got stuck in and I mean stuck in, for 20 minutes or so they kicked us off the park, Ryan Fraser was a particular target and after numerous fouls on the Wee Man, he was forced off through injury on 19 minutes, Millwall continued where they had left off on his replacement Edozie with the referee failing to control it.
There was no need to panic and we equalised with a fine glancing header from Che Adams on 34 minutes, surely this would be the catalyst for the comeback, wrong Millwall took the lead again a minute before the break, from the stands it did not look a penalty, from TV replays it was one that you scream for if you are the attacking side and feel is harsh if you are the defenders, so can't really argue with it.
So surely the second half would be better, in terms of possession it was, we had 81% in the entire game, Millwall parked the bus and went on the break, the problem was that we had no organisation and no leadership and in the last 20 minutes we had thrown on virtually every attacking option, but as I have mentioned we were no longer a disciplined organised side, we were a disorganised rabble, with no pattern to our play other than charge forward and with Jack Stephens often sat in midfield leaving just two at the back.
Adam Armstrong had come on at the hour mark, but like Adams whom he replaced, he was starved of the ball, and when he got it often found that with virtually 17 of the 20 outfield players camped in the final third of the Millwall half, there was no space or room to create chances.
Joe Rothwell should have scored with 20 minutes remaining, but fired straight at the keeper, if that had gone in then perhaps the game would have taken a different turn, on level terms we would not have thrown everything at Millwall, but stayed disciplined and perhaps got a winner.
Just about the only clear Saints chance after came in the dying minutes when Adam Armstrong powered his header into the bottom corner, but the keeper somehow got a hand to it and kept it out.
It was not to be Saints day, but we were architects of our own downfall, in truth other teams have now worked us out, but that should not have been a problem, what is the problem is that we are constantly changing the side in key positions and at the wrong time.
As I have said why is arguably one of the best players of the season in Adam Armstrong dropped and that coming after being substituted in the previous game when we were 2-0 down and chasing the game.
It seems to me that David Brooks and Joe Rothwell agreed to come as they weren't getting game time at Bournemouth and we are obliged to give it to them here and then there is Russell Martin's tendency to play Jack Stephens whenever the chance arises, I am not blaming Jack for this defeat, but we did not need an extra central defender in this game, even if the intention was to play 3-4-3.
Shea Charles stayed on the bench when he would have been far better coming on for Stephens as he would have offered pace, aerial power and strength.
As I have always maintained Russell Martin is learning on the job, it his hard to criticise him too much in terms of the fact that he has led us to a record breaking unbeaten run and that although the last week or so has been a disaster, we are still a nailed on play off spot place.
But he has to turn things around again, he has to show leadership off the pitch and find someone to do that job on it.
It is no coincidence that our bad run has coincided with the injury to Flynn Downes, we have missed him badly, he is essential to the way we play and when he is not there we lose our shape.
We need a leader on the pitch, there is no natural captain in the squad, Adam Armstrong has mainly been the Captain, but in truth having a forward as a captain is not a good thing, Jack Stephens is Captain when he plays, but to be blunt, he is not a first choice player, a Captain need to be respected firstly as a player and then as a leader, it cannot be a player who is not a first team regular.
The team were quite rightly booed off, but the issue is not with the players themselves, but the fact that the wrong teams have been selected over the past few games, it is a managerial issue, you cannot just stick 11 players on the pitch and then make 5 changes, ie half your outfield line up and keep shape, not unless you have that Captain on the pitch to hold that shape in place.
Russell Martin had done brilliantly this season for Southampton, it is hard to pick fault with him given the job he has done, but now he has to take stock of the situation and as he did back in September, get the squad into a solid unit again, keep that shape and make sure that the players know the position they are playing and the job they have to do and not make changes for changes sake.