What a disappointing night for Saints as they went out of the Europa League with a whimper not a bang.

For some reason this never felt like it was going to be one of those magical nights, back in the 1990's when we fought some epic relegation battles you sensed that the crowd was completely behind the team and would lift them to great things in certain games.

That feeling wasn't present when we took on Manchester United in the final game of 2005 and were relegated and it was not there last night when we took on Be'er Sheva.

With 20 minutes to go Saints were in command of the tie and heading for the last 32 but you could hear a pin drop in the ground at times, too many of the crowd seemed not to be there to roar the team on, but to pick on certain individuals.

I cant complain about the team that Claude Puel picked, yes I would have preferred to see Fonte in instead of Yoshida, but the Japanese defender did not let us down.

What cost us this European campaign was the sub standard teams that we put out in both Milan and Prague where we lost by a single goal where in both games we deserved at least a point.

If we had gained just one point from those two games then we would be through to the next round now.

Saints did not play well last night, but they did not play badly either, they attacked well but the issue was creating and taking chances and the longer we failed to score and the quieter the crowd go apart from moans and groans you sensed that the visitors were looking for the one decent chance they got.

When it came in the 78th minute they took it and from the reation of the crowd you would have thought that it was fatal, many standing up and leaving and others standing up and abusing.

We have come back from two down before, yes it was disappointing , but at that moment the team needed something to lift them and they did not get that from the crowd, there were 12 minutes of normal time left and you could assume at least 3 of injury time, if the crowd had rose as one and shown that they were behind their team then perhaps things could have been different.

It turned ot that they so nearly where, with half the crowd already out of the ground Virgil Van Dijk fired home, this inspired the die hards remaining who found their voices and Yoshida almost heaed home in the dying seconds to create one of those special nights.

But it was not to be and losing Charlie Austin in the first half did not help, Saints had plenty of opportunities but too rarely did they truly trouble the keeper and too often they got into good positions bt did not find the final ball or cross.

For the fans it was perhaps down to perception as to why we lost, they perceived that Josh Sims is the hero and his swashbuckling styl was driving us forward and they perceived that Nathan Redmond was terrible.

The truth is far different, Sims did not have a good game, too often he lost the ball and created problems for us with Be'er Sheva breaking and in the main he failed to beat his man and put a ball in.

Redmond on the other hand although not having a brilliant game, was good up to the point of delivery, he seemed to be able to take on and beat his man, but too often he too failed to deliver although he did have a decent effort on target in the first half that the keeper had to deal with and push round for a corner.

But the crowd perceived both players differently, Sims of course is very young and with little experience, his time will come and I don't want to make this about him, but it is important to emphasise that if sections of the crowd had perhaps concentrated more on cheering the team on insted of getting on Redmond's back, then it might not have changed the result, but it would have had a better chance of doing so.

This seems like the end of the World, it was hard to take, but we have to look at reality, we are still handily placed in the League, we are n the semi finals for the League Cup and this is as good a start to the season as last year.

There is stil a lot to play for, there is still a lot to be happy about, so do we as supporters want to see the team do well, or do we prefer to get on their backs and see the season peter out.

I know what I want and that is success and I know that supporting the team on the pitch gives us a better chance of achieving it than getting on their backs.

This is a set back, a big disappointing set back, but we still march on and we still have a lot to play for.

Photo: Action Images

StRipper added 18:27 - Dec 9 Oh, and I forgot to mention the inevitable flogging off of future assets that the club will try and sell us. We know Fonte off at the end of the season, which I an live with. It's the nauseating selling of VVD that makes supporting Saints pointless. We know the inevitable cashing in is coming. Then what? A season of seeing if Gardos is going to recover playing alongside Yoshida? No doubt the PR exercise is already in motion, releasing stories of VVD frustration so that the club can plea their hands were tied and we had to sell I wouldn't be surprised if the club released the rumour about VVD £20m release clause to make us all feel better when they flog him for £30-35m. What's the point of putting money into the club as a fan when it is clear the constant player flux will deny us ever having a settled team or scope to have a team that gells. Its going to be gutting to see VVD keeping us out at one end next season whilst probably scoring against us too in the process.

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petesmaterob added 19:01 - Dec 9 The style of play is tedious to watch. Bring back the high pressing up the pitch of recent seasons. Most free kicks are now passed sideways or backwards and when we had freekick just over the halfway line whilst it was still 0-0 I counted that we had four outfield players plus the taker of the freekick behind the ball to mark one attacker. I can accept players are not on form and the rotation of the squad to ensure players are match fit but the system we currently play is the reason why we are losing matches and fans are becoming impatient.

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zonehead added 19:38 - Dec 9 That's not a bad idea VD as centre forward he is the only one who looks like scoring
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BoondockSaint added 19:58 - Dec 9 I don't have much to add, but since practically everyone is commenting, I didn't want to be left out! I still don't know about Puel because the talent of the team has dropped so badly since last year. However, any manager worth his salt should be able to give hair dryer treatment after lazy performances , but over the last few weeks, he has had plenty of opportunities but has not lit any kind of fire under the team. If they move VVD to forward, it will be because Les thinks he will get more money for a scorer that a defender.

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aceofthebase added 20:41 - Dec 9 Well said Pintsized. Too much hatred in some comments and too much barracking in the crowd. The rant of Puel out or Redmond out I find to be self destructive.
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aceofthebase added 20:43 - Dec 9 RK did not play a high pressing game that was the POX,
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Ali_Diarea added 22:20 - Dec 9 We have blown a golden opportunity to make a name for ourselves and push on to a level appropriate to our level of income (compared to other European clubs) and given the number of internationals in our squad. We should have cruised through that group. It's not enough to say we did better than last year (impossible not given that we qualified for group stages based on last years league position), success is fleeting and we probably won't be in the competition next year. not scoring away from home in three games, 270 minutes of football, against opposition that would die for our finances is an absolute travesty. I don't hold Puel responsible (and I certainly don't hold the fans responsible for not singing!!!) it is clear to everyone, especially those not connected to the club, that we have caused our own downfall. I don't blame the board for selling players for top dollar but I do blame them for not bringing in any replacements. It was clear from the start of the season that we lacked firepower, and now we're heading for a very dull season. I predict a rugby score against Liverpool over two legs, finishing near the top of the bottom half of the table and fa cup disappointment.

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SanMarco added 23:13 - Dec 9 You always know it was a shocker when we get on to a third page...
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Saintsince66 added 00:39 - Dec 10 I just had to register tonight to defend Nick’s overall analysis in the face of so many kickbacks. 1. The team selection was not a negative set up designed to achieve a 0-0 draw: with a front 3 of Austin, Redmond and Sims how much more attacking could Puel have been given the injuries to Boufal and Tadic, Long’s failure to score and Rodriguez’ sad decline? 2. The players worked their socks off – particularly the midfield 3 – and it was not a lack of passion or effort that led to this bitterly disappointing result. 3. Everyone has underestimated the quality of HBS: they are 10 points clear at the top of the Israeli Div 1 and are full of confidence, skill and strength, and they took their one chance fantastically well. 4. The problem was a lack of quality: generally poor passing and crossing, even from the usually reliable Bertrand, poor decision making from Redmond, lack of control from Sims, and the worrying lack of clinical finishing all round. 5. Results in Milan and Prague were really to blame, particularly not starting Austin, but Puel’s protection of our only proven goalscorer was justified, with hindsight, when you saw what happened to his shoulder against HBS. 6. I understand why the crowd were not noisy after the usual opening burst on Thursday – the play was uninspiring – but we have to admist that we didn’t help to galvanise Saints to play any better. The number leaving with 10 minutes to go was frankly embarrassing, and I would have loved to have seen the faces of those leavers if Yoshida had have scored that final chance, as he should have done. Saints have a huge workload with a squad that is short on really top quality players and therefore reliant on team effort and togetherness, which is sorely tested if you are playing every weekday/weekend across four competitions. As Nick says, we have to stay behind the team, not moan and groan because that sure as hell is not going to make the team play any better, or get the board to spend any more cash. COYR.

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davepid added 18:16 - Dec 11 Bit late to comment I know but don't we always play for a 0-0 ? Looks like it most games.
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