Following Ronald Koeman was never going to be an easy act to follow, but Claude Puel was making a good job of it until a few weeks ago, despite what some supporters might say, but now he needs to get back to basics.
It was always going to be difficult for Saints this season, expectations amongst supporters was high and another top six finish would be hard in any season let alone one with a change of playing style.
But Claude Puel seemed to be doing well as his team surged up the League and also looked good not just in the Europa League but in the League Cup as well.
But then the Frenchman seemed to get too clever for his own good, he seemed to think that his team always had to be rotated, instead of taking every game as it came and looking at who was fit and not fit enough to play multiple games over a period, he always seemed to want to be thinking ahead.
The warning sign was in Milan, he put out a weakened side that dominated the game but ultimately got caught out and lost, the warning signs were there but Puel ignored them.
For the trip to Prague, many urged Puel to prioritise this game and get the points in the bag and qualification virtually assured, but again the manager wanted to be clever, played a weakened side and saw it lose narrowly but in a poor manner suggesting that if a stronger side had been played then a better result could easily have been achieved.
That led to a do or die game at home the Happoel Be'er Sheva and although he put out a strong side, ultimately it wasn't quite his strongest and again Saints paid te price for a lack of concentration.
The effect that this had on the supporters has been catastrophic, I cannot remember the last time that so many Saints fans have been so disheartened by a single result, we expected more in the Europa League and it cannot be claimed anything other than we threw away qualification by continually putting out sides that were not our best.
I truth it was not that final game against the Israeli side that did us, but that trip to Prague were a weakened side went down with barely a whimper.
Puel will argue that with so many games in a short period rotation was necessary and for the most part he is right, but the problem was he tried to be too clever, he rotated in areas he needed to keep strong and in doing so he not only lost games, but also lost the momentum gained earlier in the season as his side seemed unable to cope with so many changes from game to game.
Coming into Xmas on the face of things Saints didn't look in bad shape, after beating Bournemouth they were still in 8th and with a League Cup semi to look forward to, a position that all but the big six teams were envious of, but agan Puel shot himself in the foot by constant change.
This left him in the position that he is in now with a side weakened by injury and suspension, but more worryingly short of confidence and momentum.
Now Puel is in a real dilemma, the indications are that he will have to play a weakened side at Norwich to preserve plaayers for the game against Liverpool, in my opinion this is the wrong thing to do.
Puel needs to get back to basics, he needs to use the Norwich game to get his strongest side out and hopefully get them to start playing together asa a team and a unit, if he puts in the youngsters, yes it will rest players for Wednesday but the reality is that our best line up needs to be out there, it needs to be remembering why they got into the Europa League in the first place and why even after three straight defeats they are still 10th.
That is because we are a decent squad with a very good starting XI, if we play that starting line up it is a match for any side, but at the moment it is a different team week in week out with no real consistency.
If Puel wants to rotate then he needs to realise and accept that our success has been based on a tight back four, the reality of that is that those that come in for Soares, Fonte, Van Dijk and Bertrand are in general either not good enough or experienced enough for a regular game, yes they are all ok individually to slot in, but when you make mass changes at the back there is only going to be one result.
This is a harsh judgement, but the final 20 minutes at Everton showed that Puel seems to have lost judgement on what is needed during bad runs, he needs to get back to basics and keep it tight.
Jack Stephens is a central defender who could not get into the Middlesbrough side on loan last season, there was a reason for that and it suggests that he is not going to suddenly become a Premier quality defender and not out of position at right back as he was at Everton, yes he was solid enough, but not spectacular.
Yoshida is a good servant, but he is not good enough for long runs in the side, if he was given his position in the squad over the past few seasons then why hasn't another Premier League team tried to sign hi.
Fonte looks disinterested and there are several theories as to why both for and against Fonte.
At left back Sam McQueen has looked solid earlier in the season, but he too is inexperienced and you cannot throw him into the back four and expect him to prosper unless it is solid around him.
Why has Bertrand sat out the last two games, Puel claimed he was too ill to come on against Everton, but if he was too ill what was the point of having him on the bench ?
That is what Puel has to realise, that he has to keep his back four intact from game to game, yes one change is permissible, but any more than that and you are inviting disaster.
But Puel has constantly changed it from game to game and this is the core of the problem, I am not surprised that we capitulated so easily n the last two matches, the back four is too disorientated, our spine has been tinkered with too much and too often.
Now Claude Puel sits on the edge at Saints, rumours circulate that he has lost the dressing room, too many players have sat out games not because they are tired but because the manager just has to make change for change sake.
But Puel's position is not unrecoverable if he has learned from his mistakes, if he puts out a strong side at Norwich, one that can win the game and in doing so find the form and confidence from earlier in the season, then we have a chance of beating Liverpool on Wednesday.
The next week will be crucial for Puel, if he tinkers again then he is gambling his future at the club, if he does that and fails then it is hard to see how he can stay much longer, he has lost the trust of the fans and it will be hard to get that back.
But if he goes to Norwich with a strong side and wins then he is well set up to go at a Liverpool side themselves weakened by the loss of players to the African nations cup, win that and the supporters will start to believe again, beat Burnley next Saturday as well and suddenly things will look a lot better and the season can be re booted.
But fail to win any of these three games and Puel is possibly at the point of no return with the supporters, even those that have stuck up for him like myself have found it hard to find any excuse for the last three games.
I hope Puel does realise the errors he has made, I hope that come the end of the season he is still at the club and that perhaps we have a trophy to show for the season, that is not beyond expectations, after all we are bette rplaced to do that than at any other time in the last 14 years and that one season aside in the past three decades.
But if the Frenchamn continues to try and follow the path he has taken so far with rotation in the next week then he is ultimately throwing all his cards on the table for one last gamble, if tat happens then by the end of this month Claude Puel will either be back on course to be perhaps one of the best managers we have had or he will be a dead man walking with the only question being when he goes and not if.