Over the last month Saints have been going downhill faster than an Olympic skier and whilst some of that can be put down to injury the real problem has been gifting the opposition goals.

Complacency seems to have set in with Saints over the past month, not only have they started conceding goals but they have been conceding sloppy goals and far too many of them, yes every goal conceded will have an element of error about it other wise it could be said we would not have conceded it in the first place.

But the goals we are letting in are different they are sloppy and they are the result of poor play and lapses in concentration and if we wish to take that "Step Forward" that we harped on about earlier in the season then we need to keep cutting them out of the game.

The crowd seem to love to blame individuals and this helps no one, some of the goals have just been sloppy as in Spurs opener on Sunday and some have been individual error ie Newcastle's goal, but if we are going to get through this bad patch, the fact is we are going to have to do it with the players we have got at least for the next 3 games, so blaming individuals is helping no one, what did those who ironically cheered every time Paulo Gazzaniga caught the ball on Sunday think they were achieving, we only lost the game 3-2 there was every chance we could get back in it or do some people prefer to see us beaten so they can rant about Gazzaniga, Fox, Guly or whoever is not flavour of the month.

I see so many people speaking as if the world is over because certain players are out injured, they conveniently forget that those who came in for them this year actually won games for us last season, so all this "Im not going to watch whilst Fox/Hooiveld/Gazza/Guly are playing because we are beaten before we are started" is nothing more than sensationalism.

So for Saints this Christmas has not got to be one of goodwill and giving, we have to tighten up and be more Bah Humbug with Cardiff & Everton, at the moment this is just a drama, we have been found out a little and we now need to do something about it, hopefully Mauricio Pochettino will do what most good managers do, get back to basics and not confuse the matter by switching players here and there, if he keeps things simple then it wont become a crisis.

At this moment in time we are still far ahead of what we would have hoped for at the start of the season, its easy to support a team when they are winning, now the going has got tough its time for the supporters to do their bit as well.

Photo: Action Images

stmichael added 11:07 - Dec 24 I think it was you who made the point that our squad should and probably would have been stronger if we had not squandered so much money. The obvious culprits are Osvaldo and Ramirez but there are others like Mayuka and Forren and to some extent Wanyama (is he actually any better than Cork?). What is clear is that the defence we put out Sunday was shambolic. 2 experienced players who are championship standard at best. A young inexperinced 3rd choice keeper and an 18 year old kid. To ask Lovren to keep that lot together is impossible and at the end he was a shambles too. Fair play to Chambers who ended up left back who was excellent through out. What a prospect he is!! We mustnt lose sight of the fact that injuries have caused this however my point is that we have not spent wisely.

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SingaporeSaint added 11:56 - Dec 24 Agree we need to stop giving presents away - this most obviously comes with picking players less likely to give them away. We can talk about team spirit and ethos and that is fine but decent let alone good sides will like water exploit weak links and before you know it you have a flood. Agree with Michael we havent spent in the areas of squad we need need it most - the defence. What I really fear is an injury to Lovren btw. I hope we get a decent C back in the window, until we need to pick players less likely to concede - 2 of our 4 on Saturday rarely do even the basics well and full on calamities often. It is no surprise that these 2 did not feature in any of our good defensive displays this season and pretty much all of our bad ones this and last. With these 2 playing every week I would expect a relegation battle. I agree that it is futile for fans to ironically cheer a keeper taking a catch - but the fans pay the money, suffer the pain of a defeat, breathe and sleep the club and support the club for generations. The fans deserve better than recent defensive decisions from the management and I don't blame some frustration being shown if this continues. I predicted 8th this season so we are behind my estimations, although if we pick the right personnel we finish top 8.

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legod7 added 11:58 - Dec 24 On December19th you criticised an online poll in the Daily Echo that overwhelming said that Saints need a new keeper. After the absolute shambolic display on Sunday I think that Gazzaniga is the worst goalkeeper that ever played for Southampton. Even worse than Dave McClaren from 66/67 season. But on the plus side I think that Fox had a decent game. He made Lallana's goal. And also the first two Spurs goals were from crosses down the left wing

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montecristo added 12:14 - Dec 24 Defensively Saints were awful, and I am sorry but the moment when I saw the line up I knew we would lose. Fox and Hooveld are not premiership class, and Gazzanniga needs to go out on loan. Saints need to do something about this, because it is critical. If you get injuries you need to have good replacements and there are several in the Saints squad who are lightweight. To the three mentioned I would add Yoshida. Lovren needs a quality partner at center half, and if as it seems he will ,Ramirez goes, he also needs replacing. I actually will be sorry to see him go because I believe he is a class act.But he just didnt suit Poch s type of football. I also suggest that Shaw may be leaving. He was left out for no apparent reason and you have to think that there may be some big money deal going on. It might not be a bad decision for Saints as it will enable Cortese to fund two top quality acquisitions and we can replace Shaw from within anyway.

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schatfield added 13:20 - Dec 24 I dont normally agree with Legod7 views, but in this case, sadly i do. Gazza is one of the worst keepers (at present time), although I am still unsure if Kelvin back in the sticks would be much better....And Hooiveld...Yikes!
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abingdonsaint added 13:59 - Dec 24 Don't think it has anything to do with 'focus', 'complacency' or whatever. It is basically down to the fact that, at the moment, we are having to use players that, unfortunately, are going to be more prone to making errors! Again, would never jeer or criticise during the game, but there are a few that are simply not good enough, but we are still a work in progress. I also think that a few underestimate the influence of Wanyama, and whilst I am a big fan of Corky, and he can do many things better, he (and so do most!) lacks the physical presence Wanyama adds defensively. Ps......I would be astonished if Shaw was sold either in January or this summer, if for no other reason than the message it would send out. He is very much part of the strategy! Keep the faith, and Merry Christmas to all!

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Boris1977 added 14:15 - Dec 24 Well said Nick - Saints have come a long way over the past 4 years and it's been mostly easy to be a Saints fan. Now is time to dig in and get behind whoever wears the badge on their chest. Watching the highlights last night (before the power cut kicked in) provided some perspective. In midfield and going forward - things are not broken, there is an issue with the defence as we know but a team like Saints is going to struggle when injuries kick in. We have not become a rubbish team suddenly. Mistakes are getting punished at the and we are not getting the rub of the green as we did earlier in the season. The season is about 38 games not one month. We will get out of this blip and once players and confidence are restored things will be rosy again. COYR,.

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mayfairsaint1 added 15:20 - Dec 24 Okay. If Boruc, Shaw and Font had been fit we would have beaten Spurs. They weren't and we didn't. Its disappointing but no one will be feeling worse than those 3 players getting all the flak. It's up to the club to get better cover but in the meantime lets get behind those selected.
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darthvader added 20:25 - Dec 24 It's a team game. The whole team lost the match not one or two players , mistakes are made all over the park in different positions in any given game . No single person should be villified for a specific mistake or performance it destroys confidence .sometimes confidence can win a game lack of it can certainly lose it , why take away any threads a player may have left by abusing or taking the Mick out of them during a game ? . Supporting and encouraging is our job ,we may pay for the privilege but if we all want success then surley getting right behind the team the best we can can only help ??? Sorry for going on ..coyr

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saintmark1976 added 21:31 - Dec 24 To maintain some balance I do wish posters would stop giving our keeper stick. Any keeper is only as good as the defence in front of him. Some of us older fans can remember Mr Peter Shilton conceding six at Luton Town of all places. Who was he ? At the time, one of if not the best keeper in the world. Give the kid a break please.
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thegeneral added 22:42 - Dec 24 Problem with being a defender is mistakes are not forgiven and the strikers 'sitters' and good chances are quickly forgotten. One thing is for sure, said players will perform a hell of a lot better with the crowd behind them.
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