Was this the worst performance in the worst game ever at St Mary's since the stadium opened in 2001 ? Many would say yes.
Hull City came with a game plan, one that entirely predictable given their circumstances and record away from home, they are not the first to use it and will not be the last and it is certainly one that Saints have used themselves many time in the past.
The plan is simple, get most of your team behind the ball at all times and try to catch the opposition on the break or from set pieces.
In truth after 10 minutes had gone the visitors showed little inclination to cross the half way line even when they had the ball, but they were facing a Saints side who were in complete disarray with little leadership or tactical nous from the bench.
When the line up came out it was an attacking one, Boufal, Tadic, Gabbiadini & Redmond all in the team, but the question was how would we fit them all into a formation, I still don't know the answer to that question, in short this was schoolboy tactics, just put out all your attacking players and hope that they will all score.
The reality was that we were disjointed and had little rythym to our play, it would have been far better for Puel to have kept the basis of the side that he usually puts out and concentrate on doing what we have done well at times this season.
The man in the centre of midfield who can pick a pass James Ward Prowse was left out of the side, indeed that seems a trait of Puel, when a player starts to show form drop him, that has been the case with Ward Prowse and indeed Jordy Clasie may have expected to have built on a good performance and goal at West Brom, but instead has not seen any action since and indeed could not even get on the bench for this game.
Gabbiadini barely saw the ball in the first half, he had little service with neither Tadic or Boufal getting the ball and using it to any great advantage. Hull sat back and watched us huff and puff and struggle to work the ball into the box.
The second half was a little better and we started well, but Puel's first substitution seemed to upset the balance even further, Sims coming on meant that we had three wide players on the pitch, baffling all it seemed to do was block the channels for the full backs to get forward.
Shane Long coming on was not unwelcome, this seemed to be the sort of game that he would thrive on, but taking Gabbiadini off saw boo's echo around the ground, why could the manager not try something different and play with two up top, it was not as if we needed the extra man in midfield, Davis and Romeu looked capable of holding the centre, indeed they were the only two players to come out of this game with any credit, no one could have argued with Boufal and Tadic off leaving Redmond and Sims wide in a four man midfield with the full backs supporting behind them.
That would have been a better attacking formation, it would have given us more in the box to aim at, but all Puel did was change like for like, the result was we were just bogged down in midfield with little to aim at in the box.
We almost won it at the end, would we have deserved too ? Yes we kept going and nearly got the win, but it would have been harsh on Hull who gainfully stuck to their task.
Should Tadic have taken the penalty ? he had missed two before, again I would have said Ward Prowse or Ryan Bertrand would have been better candidates.
Saints are a good side, that is proved by the fact that we are still 9th despite a season that has not taken off at any time, it has been one of complete inconsistency, we have not managed more than two wins in a row and that tells you something.
I have always said the manager should be judged at the end of the season and that day is drawing nearer, games like this do nothing to enhance his reputation and show that he is the man for the job, looking at the team yesterday everything is wrong about it, it is set up wrong, there is no consistency in picking some players and then others are played whatever their form, the squad do not appear to be playing for their manager, they seem confused by his tactics and he appears to have alienated several members of the squad with his treatment of them.
I had hoped that this game would be a big step forward for Puel, but it was a big step back, like Klopp at Liverpool, he appears incapable of changing tactics against the lower sides to enable us to beat them well and that is worrying.
Ralph Krueger and the Saints board have a lot of thinking to do about whether Puel is the right man for the job, as those who have read my reports throughout the season know, I m not one for knee jerk reactions, I do think Puel has had several factors beyond his control like injuries etc, but he has also had many thinks that he is in control of and so far when he has had to step up to the plate tactically he has not done so.
This result is not the apocalypse, we are still in the top ten in the table, we still have a decent squad and the ability to move forward, but when you have everything in place in terms of good players then you have to look at why they have failed to consistently perform this season and that comes down to managers.
This season can still have a good ending, on a plus side we are a point nearer West Brom in 8th, next season we can re group and with the squad have a real go at the top 7, the teams around us are playing above their weight, we are playing below ours yet we are still above most of the division.
This is the time when supporters need to stay behind the club, supporting a team is about getting behind it and staying behind it through thick and thin, if we truly want Saints to prosper fans have to realise that if they want the club to put their hands in its pockets for players, then so do the supporters, empty seats should not be happening when a team is in the top ten and challenging for trophies.
The crowd against Hull was subdued, yes it booed the team off at half time but it was entitled to and in the main stayed behind it till the end, it needs to stay behind it now and for next season, we have to take the bad times with the good, we have been spoiled over the last 8 seasons, its been all improvement year on year.
This one has still been a season 14 of the Premier League clubs would have died for, indeed on the face of it we would have taken it last August, but it just doesn't feel like it at the moment