Southampton V Wolverhampton Wanderers The Verdict

If ever a game epitomised what has been going wrong this season, it was this one at Molyneaux, whatever way you look at it, it was disappointing, perhaps the most damning statistic was the fact that we did not get one shot on target, at least one that wasn't disallowed.

There are two sides to the story of this game, the first is that Saints can count themselves extremely unlucky not to get a point out of the game, there seemed very little wrong with anything surrounding Ryan Manning's strike that should have given us the equaliser after the home side had gone ahead around 1.50 seconds into the game.

If that wasn't bad enough then the referee made another error when he waved on the initial challenge leading to Wolves second goal and in doing so did not follow the ball and missed a second challenge that was an even bigger foul than the first.

The second side of the story though is even more damning, it was one of a team that failed to build on the foundations of last week's win against Everton and went back to the full on possession football game.

It was almost as if Russell Martin had gone into meltdown after the win a week ago, we were having shots on goal and weren't passing the ball enough and he was determined to stop that.

Wolves started the day rock bottom with the worst goals against record in the Premier League, 27 in just 10 games, yet despite 71% possession we failed to register a single shot on target.

That is unacceptable and shows just how much the manager's strategy is not working, we are a team now playing with fear, scared to have a go at the killer pass or the shot on goal, so just passing it to the nearest team mate knowing that the manager cannot give them a rollicking for doing that.

This was a game that was there for the taking, Wolves caught us napping with their early goal, but we had a lot of time to reply and we should have equalised through Ryan Manning, VAR once again sticking it's nose in, but given the amount of possession that we had, we should have at least had a shot on target.

But we went back to the bad old days again, over passing, failing to create good chances and with Jack Stephens reprising his hybrid left back/ central midfield role, that in itself highlighted where we were going wrong.

Nothing against Stephens but he is not the best defender in the team, nor should he be in central midfield, so why is he being asked to play both.

So what we had was another performance with little end product, on paper although 0 shots on target is the most damning stat, we actually had more attempts on goal than the home side, but none of them troubled the keeper, whereas they had 8 attempts and half of them were on target.

Indeed we had 9 corners to their 1, so why did we not win this game.

Quite simple, Wolves played to a strategy, they knew they just had to sit back and wait for us to make mistakes in the possession game, whereas Russell Martin's strategy seems to be that possession football has failed in 9/10 games, so it is due to a win or two, I cannot find any other reason after seeing us give away yet another game.

We cannot play this type of game to the level that the manager want's, he must know that, so why does he keep on persevering with it.

Team selection's are just as bizarre, especially the substitutions, players like Sugawara, & Dibling on the bench, the likes of Charlie Taylor not even in the squad, while Martin makes desperate substitutions such as Tall Paul Onuachu who hasn't a hope of actually making an impact in Martin's type of game plan and Ben Brereton Diaz who has been out in the cold for the last 6 weeks.

It's a scatter gun approach and Martin does not seem to be able to work out who is best side is or for that matter adapt the tactics, yes I sound like a broken record again, but that is because this was the 10th game out of 11 where we dropped points because of our possession football game.

It is truly hard to see where we go forward now , something has to change and it the manager isn't willing to adapt to the players he has at his disposal and change the playing style to suit, then it is the manager himself that has to be changed.

Southampton supporters have been remarkably patient, there has been little call for the manager's head at the matches itself, most Saints fans appreciate what Russell Martin did for us last season, but this season he has let us down by his stubbornness.

No one expected him to ditch the possession football game, what we did expect him to do was adapt it to suit the increase in quality of the opposition in the Premier League.

That hasn't happened, so something now needs to be done about it, in most other years we would have been well adrift at the bottom by now, yet we are still only 4 points off of safety, that to be blunt is the only hope that we have.

I am not expecting the club to make any comments' football club's don't do that sort of thing, I would hope though that someone is counselling Martin, talking to him about why he is doing the same things week in week out and getting the same results and not changing things.

I would think in any other football club in the Premier League that this would have been a result too far for their board, but this is Southampton and we do things differently.

What to read next:

Late Drama at Hull: Leeds Held to a Draw After Meslier's Costly Error
Leeds seemed to be cruising to victory after turning the game around in the second half, but this match will be remembered for the error from Meslier that allowed Hull City back into the game, and ultimately cost us another two points on the road.
Hull Awaydaze
This season’s trip to Hull City is on Saturday, with a rare kick off at 3pm. You’ll find the stadium now known as the MKM a mile or so to the west of Hull city centre.
Fatigue or Fortune? Leeds Held to Draw by Resilient Blackburn
It was a disappointing end to the holiday season as Leeds took most of the game to break down a stubborn Blackburn Rovers side, and then allowed our opponents to grab a late equaliser. It won’t be a game that will live long in the memory.
Top of the Table: Leeds finish 2024 at the summit after Stunning Team Goal!
Once again we dominated the possession in an away game, but struggled to make it count. That was before a superb team goal in the 79th minute finally broke through the Derby County defence, and that proved to be enough to ensure that we finish 2024 on top of the Championship table.
Farke Seeks Improvement Despite Comfortable Win in the Fog
Even though we went back to the top of the table Daniel Farke thought we should have won more comfortably, but we were more than good enough to beat a woeful Stoke City. For the third time in 2024 a Leeds win cost an opposing manager his job, after Narcis Pelach was called in to collect his P45 yesterday morning.
Derby Awaydaze
Our first visit to Derby County four five years is at 5.45pm tomorrow, which has of course been dictated by Sky Sports. We’re not famous any more!
Stoke Awaydaze
Our visit to Stoke City is on Boxing Day evening, with kick-off at 8pm, having been put back by our very good friends at Sky Sports.
From Frustration to Relief: Leeds United Equalise in Dramatic Final Moments
We should have been playing against ten men for over half this game, but in the end Leeds had to be content with a point after forcing a very late equaliser against Preston North End.
Preston Awaydaze
Our visit to Deepdale is on Saturday, with a 12.30pm kick off, and once again we’re live on Sky Sports. As the name Preston North End suggests, the stadium is a mile or so to the north of the town centre.
Leeds keep home run going against lively Middlesbrough
This time we were made to work hard for our home win, but two late goals proved to be enough to take the points against Middlesbrough.