It was a better performance at Craven Cottage on Saturday, but ultimately the result was exactly the same as most have been recently, the same old issues still remain, a lack of experience and leadership in the side at crucial moments.

This was a much better performance from Saints and unlike other games since the arrival of Nathan Jones, they at least looked like they knew the formation they were playing and what they needed to do.

Indeed we should really have taken the lead when Che Adams was through on goal, he hit the ball well, but the keeper saved well.

When your luck is out it is out and that proved to be the case on 32 minutes, Fulham corner was well worked but the shot from outside the area was going well wide until it struck James Ward Prowse and his deflection flew past Gavin Bazunu giving him no chance.

The second half saw Saints as the better side, with several good chances and rarely looking like conceding, after James Ward Prowse hit a trade mark free kick 10 minutes after half time, the confidence started to return and we looked like we could win the game.

But as the game entered the later stages Saints were clearly tiring, Stuart Armstrong on for Joe Aribo was an obvious change on 67 minutes, Aribo had an awful game, but why was Stuart Armstrong not in the starting line up was the question being asked by most Saints fans.

With 13 minutes to go the manager had what looked like an enforced change, Samuel Edozie was suffering and had nothing left in the tank.

But with the game in the ascendancy for Saints why did we bring on a left back as a wide midfielder, we had other options.

As the game entered its final couple of minutes we failed to make the right substitutions with our legs tiring, it was a soft corner to give away, but an even softer goal to concede, simplest corner in the play book, near post flick on and then Palhinha at the far post completely unmarked from only a few yards out, you don't get softer goals than that.

Nathan Jones then made the substitutions he should have made 10 minutes earlier, Lavia, Mara and Adam Armstrong all entering the fray, but it was a case of too little too late, we had thrown away a game that we really should have got at least a draw from and perhaps more.

It nearly got worse in injury time with Lynaco failing to deal with a long ball and then putting his header back to Bazunu well short, the keeper saving the resulting penalty.

Why we lost this is clear, yes of course we lack a striker, but in the meantime we need to make the best use of the players we have and in this game we didn't.

We failed to utilise the substitutions we had to hand, Nathan Jones seemed unable to replace players who were either playing badly or had run out of steam.

All players have bad games, I am not going to blame the players in this respect, sometimes it just doesn't work for you, but that is where a manager earns his corn, he spots this and makes a substitution.

His triple substitution on 90 minutes was just pure panic, tired legs had made tired decisions in the brain and we gifted the home side the winner, Lavia a holding midfielder should have been on with 15 -20 minutes left, having not being brought on what was the point of doing so in injury time when we were 2-1 down, it was baffling.

We could of and should have turned a corner in this game but we didn't do so, again for the reasons that have cost us dearly in the past, a lack of leadership on the pitch to enable us to see out games, how on earth were we so disorganised at that corner that we left a man completely unmarked at the far post !

Sadly we also lack leadership off the pitch, I am loath to say this but Nathan Jones has had almost two months to work with his squad and get it playing in the manner he wants, yet we see no fruits of his work.

Players such as Joe Aribo, Stuart Armstrong & Armando Bella Kotchap who were in good form before the World Cup break have found themselves out of the team and so it is understandable how the likes of Aribo who hasn't played in two months is now badly out of touch when recalled, understandable but unacceptable man management.

Now the Nottingham Forest game is vital, anything other than 3 points will see us cast adrift from safety.

Before the break I felt that once we got the injured players back, we would start to hit form again, we had played well earlier in the season and we could do so again, now I do not have that confidence, from watching the games, it seems that the new manager has not reinvigorated the squad, but de motivated it and taken it backwards.

He has gone from one extreme to another, in previous games he has tried to be too cleaver, changing formations and multiple substitutions, but in this game aside from Armstrong for Aribo, he sat on his hands and only made a change when he was forced to do so.

He failed to manage the game, know when to replace tired legs and bring on fresh ones to build on what we have.

I still have faith that we have the squad to turn things around, a striker could change a lot, at the moment though I just dont have faith that we have a manager who has the experience and the nous to turn things around.

Photo: Action Images

davidargyll added 10:24 - Jan 2 I saw the game on download and yes we didn’t look anything like as disjointed as against BHA. So not exactly the same sh*t show but the result was almost as bad, and we come back to the same question, “What on earth was Nathasntanyidea Jones doing with the squad in his first six weeks in charge?” Apparently they have been practicing defending against corners etc but sure as hell he didn’t - or couldn’t - get them to listen on the evidence of yesterday; so what does that tell you about his managerial abilities? But it isn’t only our defending that’s hopeless: why is it that when we attack it seems to be without any shape, just a “hell for leather” rush forward, whereas, when our opponents do, it seems to be in a well organised wave? As a friend of mine - a Fulham supporter who was at the game - said, we’ve got some very good players but they don’t seem to realise that the purpose is to score goals. I refer you back to my earlier question… So do we have a third rate manager? Or a bunch of third rate players? Or both? I am sure that, under this manager, we are completely screwed. HE IS INCAPABLE OF INSTILLING A SUFFICIENT LEVEL OF COMMITMENT IN THIS TEAM FOR US TO SURVIVE. It look four years for Ralph to lose the dressing room. Jones I predict will lose it in no more than four weeks. He was rubbish at Stoke and he is rubbish with us, way out of his depth. JONES OUT NOW!!! As for the players, they give me the impression of not taking their plight seriously enough. They all need a serious kick up the jacksy and told to run and run and run and keep running until they get some result. Win, or even draw? hopefully. But trying is absolutely imperative and they just don’t seem to be doing that. As it is, judging by Forest’s performance v Chelsea, I cannot see us surviving their blistering speed of counter-attack. So we are odds on to be the equivalent of “Bottom at Christmas” = bottom after 19 games, ie this year by mid-January. ‘Nuff said…

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cocklebreath added 10:39 - Jan 2 It looks desperate and with the usually positive Nick losing faith it seems we are screwed. Agree completely with the criticism of the subs.
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wessexman added 10:43 - Jan 2 Nick, we can argue all day long as to whether Ralph should have been sacked. I think he should have gone in the summer. Imo, he did a good but thankless job in keeping us up during his tenure. The timing of Ralph's sacking did make sense as it would give the new manager the time and space to work with the squad. WHAT shocked us all was the new appointment. Defeat against Notts F will probably be curtains. I was expecting the much needed new players booted and spurred to come in new year's day....especially a striker. The more we look at the owners and the powers to be......the more you despair. This is no way to run a premiership club. Tbh, the way we are going they won't be running a premiership club much longer....and then you really do worry!

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obelisk added 10:48 - Jan 2 Disappointing result but unlike Nick I'm prepared to give the new manager more than a handful of games before throwing in the towel completely. The previous incumbent oversaw a dreadful 2022 with hardly any wins and rightly was shown the door, even then it was a few months too late. Wednesday night is a massive game. At least let's show some support until then.
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TimSaint added 11:00 - Jan 2 So after 8 weeks, NJ is to blame and has poor man management, yet RH had years to perfect his team and subs, but when he changed things it was always down to the players. :-) The bottom line is, we don't score enough, we concede plenty of avoidable goals with our dodgy defence and keeper, our weak in midfield and we lack pace. Fulham summed us up. Missed good chances, concede a pathetic goal, get back into it, throw it away. You just cannot give the guy at the front post a free header to flick on and leave 2 unmarked at the far post, queuing up to score the winner. Something they had looked at and been warned about repeatedly. As for the penalty, what was the defence doing and why doesn't Bazuna shout ? James dived to win a dodgy pen and it was well saved, but why such pathetic defensive displays every game ? The keeper doesn't organise things and nor do any of the defenders. Keep this up and we are fvcked. Forest is already a must not lose !!

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1962saint added 11:01 - Jan 2 I said in a previous post that we should stick with Ralph. However, if he had to go then he should have been replaced with someone better. Jones seems to be a nice guy and hard working but is out of his depth at PL level. Why he was chosen is beyond me. At least, if we go down, which seems inevitable, we have a manager who is more comfortable in the Championship with quite a few championship standard players. With luck we might do a Burnley although they did appoint a manager with top level experience.

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SanMarco added 11:05 - Jan 2 With you there obelisk, Wednesday is a 12 pointer at least!!. I actually agree with Nick's report, even if a similar performance under Ralph would have been laced with excuses. The scatter-gun 'look-to-future-profit' approach in the summer transfers and the extraordinary appointment of Jones lead me to believe that we need to look above managerial level for the root cause of our malaise. If we lose (or draw with a poor performance) vs Forest I can see Jones becoming a Liz Truss and being quickly ditched. A proper replacement and several well chosen new players coming in asap (not 11pm on 31st) is probably our only slim hope now. Hope I am wrong but I don't think I am. The point to make yet again though is that if you own a car that is running poorly and decide to buy a new one and that one breaks down just as much or even more than the last one then it is NOT your decision to change car that is at fault but your choice of replacement. Ralph had to go but the choice of a replacement with zero real experience and very little achievement was VERY ODD.

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HythePeer added 11:33 - Jan 2 Saints are not even top of The Championship!
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Ifonly added 11:37 - Jan 2 Ridiculous report. During the world cup Nick says he's confident we will rise up the table and we should all be positive and give the manager a chance. Now, after 3 games he's given up. In contrast to Nick and others, I've been saying for a long time that we will be relegated but I do think you have to give the manager a chance. 3 games is not giving him a chance. There's no point complaining anyway. We're stuck with NJ to at least the end of next season. As I said before, his appointment showed that avoiding relegation was not top priority. They'll give him at least 1 season in the Championship to try and make it work. If you want to complain, then complain about the business plan of the new owners, which is all based on developing and selling young players. By definition, those youngsters aren't ready for the top level when we sign them.

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jameslastfan added 12:05 - Jan 2 We just seem to be in a groundhog movie. Same old same old. Season ticket holder here since 1975. Yes we played better but that just confirms what has happened before. We played poorly, then played well, poorly, poorly, well. Confirms inconsistency. But somehow worse. Seen nothing in the new manager to give any confidence, indeed we have the jam tomorrow hopes and expectations of players coming good, but when tomorrow comes we are back to the mediocre nonesense of individual mistakes and no leadership on the pitch. Who is advising the new manager and his team? Seems to me we are re living 2021/22 and pt 1 of 22/23 again now as if that all never happened. Ralph wasn’t the answer, but we still don’t know the right question to ask to know what the answer needs to be. As I said before I don’t think the new manager is the mystical answer either - but we are stuck with him. Feels precarious.

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saintmark1976 added 12:10 - Jan 2 For fear of repetition, owing to the World Cup this is not a normal season. It’s not yet a case of “abandon hope all yea who live within”. There are 21 games remaining and realistically we need to obtain only slightly more than one point a game to have a good chance of remaining in the Premiership at seasons end. The chances of Sports Republic belatedly admitting that Jones was the wrong appointment are next to zero in my opinion, so going forward our interests as fans are best served by supporting the players. I’ve watched the Saints for over Fifty years and experience has taught me that situations can change very quickly. A win against Forest on Wednesday and a streaky 1-0 win in our next away game with a goal from the ball going in off Che Adams’s backside and things could well look a lot better.

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I_would added 12:10 - Jan 2 No point in fans caring on their own as the management and players don't seem to give a toss. We need a striker, 2 x MF, 2 x CB, LB and GK. Some hopes of that, just remember to get the insurance bets on...... oh and relegation bet.
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LordDZLucan added 12:11 - Jan 2 Thiis is the 6th season in succession that we've been fighting relegation. In the previous 5 seasons I've always felt that we had a decent side but were just short of quality in 1 or 2 key positions, such as the need for a top class striker. Now I look at the side and I'm thinking we're short of quality all over the pitch. We've sold a lot of our experienced players, the more experienced players that we've kept/recruited look miles off it and the young recruits don't look ready for the Premier League and may never be good enough. It would be a tough ask for any manager but is an impossible ask for a manager with no top level experience. In the past 5 seasons I've always had hope of surviving the drop but not this season. We're down!

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Ifonly added 12:17 - Jan 2 I should also add why this report was ridiculous. Nick says: "Why we lost this is clear, yes of course we lack a striker, but in the meantime we need to make the best use of the players we have and in this game we didn't. We failed to utilise the substitutions we had to hand, Nathan Jones seemed unable to replace players who were either playing badly or had run out of steam." No, that's not why we lost. We lost because of set pieces, which is true of many games at the top level. Fulham had a clear plan on their set pieces and executed well. We were a shambles. First we didn't cover the man on the edge of the box (and they got lucky with the shot) then we failed to pick up both near post and far post for the winner. The major crime here was not the far post that Nick stresses, but being nowhere near the man at the near post fort the flick on. Once they've flicked it on anything can happen, even with the best defence in the world. The critical thing is stopping the near post flick on. Lyanco was supposed to do that and he weas standing still. Nick says we lost because we didn't bring on a half fit Lavia plus Mara and AA. Get real. Yes you can always second guess subs, but can you seriously say that these 3 would have prevented Fulham gaining a corner as they pressed on for a win? Can you seriously say they would have defended the corner better? Of course not. We lost this game due to the same longstanding problems we've all seen before.

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ItchenNorth added 12:21 - Jan 2 A better performance. Unlucky with the own goal. Deserved a point. We'll beat Forest. Need a striker.
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stmichael added 12:33 - Jan 2 I think I read that our points tally for 2022 was the worst in England all 4 divisions. As for S.Armstrong he is a defensive liability. It was he that wasn't marking at the back post although why anyone thought he should have been on that duty at they point of time is beyond me - as Nick said a lack of leadership. We do not receive those gifts from anyone.
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landsdownsaint added 13:02 - Jan 2 Ralph could change things in games but often didn’t set out right in the beginning, NJ can’t from what I’ve seen so far & every team we play look like Man City .we never knew what the team was gonna do under RH but I’m starting too know exactly what they’ll do under NJ & so does the opposition, I thought we was poor Saturday & the only reason why it was a better performance than the BHA fame is Fulham ain’t as good as Bton .

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JoeEgg added 13:05 - Jan 2 Some excellent comments from the likes of TimSaint, San Marco and If Only. Thanks guys - any chance of you taking a job or role with Sports Republic?! I believe Saints wanted to replace Hassenhuttl at the end of last season and that Steve Cooper was their first choice- sadly in my view, that became impossible when Forest gained promotion and Steve got a new contract. It is also worth considering what might have been the case if the current team of youngsters had been assisted by the likes of Ings, Romeu and even, Boufal. No good dwelling on what might have been. Perhaps unfairly, and ironically, Nathan Jones will be under enormous pressure Wednesday night for the game against Forest. It will be very much the Nathan Jones v Steve Cooper show!! Having watched the Forest - Chelsea match, even for this 'must-win' home game against Forest, I see us starting this crucial game as the underdogs. We all have different explanations as to why we are in this mess, but few will disagree that Saints v Forest on Wednesday night is no ordinary Premier League match! The consequences could be enormous for both clubs.

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MSB added 13:39 - Jan 2 All the above comments are looking backwards. We need to spend a lot of money fast on manager and players
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underweststand added 13:53 - Jan 2 Yes a better performance.. but we were still killed off at the death. Too many young, inexperienced players, who make typical schoolboy errors. Hard luck on Prowsey for bring the only player trying to block a shot that eventually went astray, but even delivering his master-class free kick was a poor consolation for a lot of effort. The fact that our most outstanding player in the last 2 games has been an 18 year old speaks volumes for the lack of team consistency. Our worst defeats have all been to teams in the top 8, whilst we have lost 7 games by a one goal margin, and in 4 of those we've failed to score at all. I'm sure I'm repeating myself AGAIN, but we do need a striker..or even two. Ever since Danny Ings departed we haven't had anyone capable of putting the ball in the net even once a month. For all his effort and commitment Che Adams has had to bear the brunt of the attack single-handedly, whilst Adam Armstrong plays out on the wing, and scarcely gets a shot at goal. Our shots to goals ratio in appalling with barely 7 goals from the last 100 shots. Edozie and Mara will need time to settle, and that's time that we we don't have and with a desperate need for a settled defence and a regular goalscorer...we all have to sit around holding our breath waiting for the essential January signings.

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cotswoldsaint added 14:11 - Jan 2 Re a new striker, might be a good time to see if we can prise Pukki away from managerless/rudderless Norwich City....?
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DellBoyWally added 14:17 - Jan 2 Shed complacency and splash the cash Southampton’s luxurious state of the art training complex at Staplewood ranks with any in Europe. It confirmed their status as a pillar of the Premier League under the dynamic leadership of Hasenhüttl. Stability brought stagnation however, and alarm bells failed to clang after just one victory in the final 12 games of last season. Parsimony at the top has meant new signings haven’t been of Premier League standard and Southampton have not spent more than £20 million on a player since Danny Ings’s loan was made permanent in 2019. If they are to retain their status, things need to quickly change. That's from John Aizlewood in The Telegraph. Pretty well sums up our plight Why would we want Steve Cooper? NF spent more than any other promoted club in the history of the game. And where has Cooper got them? Give it a rest JoeEgg! We weren't struggling because of RH. We struggled because we don't have a proven scorer that RH argued strongly for (CAdams had a tap in but hit the keeper - he didn't save it) We struggle because we don't have experience at the back (Romeu) who RH argued strongly to keep. We struggle because we are playing too many inexperienced youngsters about which RH argued. We survived with a team and manager of more experience. Now we have a team of "potential" and a manager with less-than-convincing experience and record. We are going down. (The source of my information regarding RH's arguments will have to remain confidential: they are still at the club)

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JoeEgg added 14:49 - Jan 2 "The source of my information regarding RH's arguments will have to remain confidential: they are still at the club" DellboyWally RH had four years to promote and support his arguments and failed. If the Club didn't listen to his so-called 'confidential' arguments thats's Ralph's problem and he has had every opportunity since to voice his point of view. The Club lost all confidence in Ralph as did most of the players. My information ( also from those still at the club!) was that Danny Ings was one of the players that had apparently lost or was losing all confidence in RH! I am also sure that the departure of Romeu could have been prevented had RH insisted. The fact is, everyone has their own story to tell and their own interpretation. In the long run possibly the money spent close season by both Forest and Saints will prove fully justified. There are not that many points between the bottom 10 Clubs - so as I said previously - Wednesday night is a crucial night for both teams.

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wibbersda added 15:07 - Jan 2 4.1 3.1 2.1 Not good but it is an improvement on paper and arguably moving in the right direcrion. I dont particularly like NJ style, especially the conceeding of possession but are going to have to have some faith or all will be lost. I am also not sure any of the players are going to respect NJ with Championship tactics.
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Jellybaby added 16:49 - Jan 2 Nick, I don't know why you have gone from the voice of reason to a panicked reactionary. I agreed with your support of Ralph as He kept an underfunded and latterly a ridiculously inexperienced team in the Prem and he should not have been sacked IMO. The choice of new manager was underwhelming and disappointing, but talk of crisis and replacement within 3 games especially after a much improved performance from manager and players alike is crazy talk - it's not going to happen and neither should it. For what it's worth I think we will go down, but it is by no means certain as the bottom 7 have all done badly this season and will depend a lot on the transfer window. The blame is higher up than team and manager, most can see that. You might not like NJ, but we should at least give him a chance, surely?

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