It was a very strange feeling on Sunday morning, one that we haven't felt for 3 months and only the second time in 10 months, getting up after a League win on a Saturday, perhaps not the start of the Great Escape, but it gives us a fighting chance of not finishing with the lowest points total ever.

Ivan Juric had Aaron Ramsdale back in goal and that was always going to be a boost, but the big surprise when the team news came through at 1.45pm was the fact that recent arrivals Albert Gronbaek & Welington were in the starting line up for their debuts.

Juric is forging his own team, missing were stalwarts from last season Adam Armstrong and Flynn Downes, with the latter not even being on the bench.

From the start Saints looked to have a fighting spirit, but both sides looked nervous and the first 20 minutes saw little in terms of goal opportunities, but that changed when Mateus Fernandes pulled the ball back for Joe Aribo to fire home unchallenged, well not quite Albert Gronbaek almost got in his way.

But if we thought that it would now be plain sailing then we were wrong, we were once again architects of our own downfall, Ipswich broke up our attack and played the ball forward to Liam Delap who was all on his own on the half way line with not a Saints defender within 10 yards.

How does a professional team do this, a total lack of organisation and leadership is the answer and has been the answer all season, Delap sprinted through, a last gasp challenge from Jan Bednarek was more a token gesture than having any chance of getting the ball and Delap finished with aplomb for the equaliser.

But if this was unacceptable then only a minute or so later the same thing happened again, it wasn't Delap, but it was an almost identical situation, the player left completely unmarked but this time Ramsdale made a great save and Big les Ugochukwu chasing back did enough to make sure that the rebound could not be forced home.

I have said this before Jan Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis are both good central defenders, but as a pairing they do not compliment each other, neither are organisers of leaders , the balance just isn't there.

At half time Harwood-Bellis didn't reappear after the break and had appeared to be limping just before, on came Jack Stephens for his first appearance since being sent off against Chelsea two months ago, but he lasted barely 10 minutes and limped off himself.

This saw a strange change, although Armel Bella-Kotchap was on the bench and the obvious choice of replacement, it was Will Smallbone who came on and slotted into midfield with Joe Aribo seemingly now in the centre of defence.

If there is one criticism of Ivan Juric it is his substitutions, they cost us dearly at Manchester United and it looked like it might again be the case here.

Saints looked comfortable but neither side were creating much.

On 70 minutes came an understandable change, off went debutant Gronbaek, who had not had a bad game, but not a good one either, a reasonable debut but not much else, on came Sulemana.

On 81 minutes came a strange double change, Ipswich were obviously looking to try and win the game, off went Welington who appeared to have a knock and on came Sugawara, but taking off Big Les Ugochukwu for Adam Lallana looked to be folly, given Ipswich would be desperate to push forward.

Personally I would have taken off Tall Paul who had, up to that point little impact on the game, not really his fault, the service wasn't there, but he had run himself into the ground and just at the moment we needed fresh legs he was staying on.

He was now a passenger and for the next 6 minutes I thought that this might cost us dearly, but football is a funny game and suddenly after a good run from Sulemana saw the keeper make a great save but only able to parry the ball in front of him, Tall Paul was the fastest to react and slammed the ball home from close range.

Saints fans went berserk and then looked for the inevitable VAR decision against us, but it never came and suddenly we were 2-1 up and victory was in sight.

The 8 minutes added on seemed excessive, but we now were re energised and although it didn't seem like it at the time, we were comfortable as we saw out the victory.

So a good win, Ivan Juric has made mistakes over the past 6 weeks, but he has slowly but surely got things done his way, there is no doubt that he has got a spirit in the team, but he hasn't got a leader.

He is getting the team fitter, something that Russell Martin didn't prioritise as he felt that it was about keeping the ball and not chasing it.

The two debutants looked to have added something to the team, Gronbaek as mentioned didn't stand out, but that doesn't mean he had a bad game, just an average one, Welington looked to be a solid defender.

You feel that the players believe in Ivan Juric, something that didn't seem to be the case with Russell Martin, you felt that the players under him liked him, respected him, the team spirit was there, but they didn't believe in his system, they got away with it in the Championship, but then again only just, but in the Premier League, they knew it was flawed.

Now they seem to enjoy playing, they have leeway to try and play a killer ball and not have to pass it sideways unless it was 99.9% certain, to clear the ball when under pressure instead of having to look for another pass despite it not being on.

It has taken time, but now we look like a team that can win games again, not all is right, Juric like Martin has no leaders of organisers and i don't see evidence of one arriving in this window.

But since he has taken over we have competed in every game, the debacle against Brentford being the only exception, yes we should have more points on the board, Juric has made mistakes, his substitutions at Manchester united costing us at least a point and his team selection at Forest also being disastrous.

But we are competing and dare I say it starting to entertain..

So waking up on Sunday morning was a strange feeling, the last such feeling was 3 months ago when we beat Everton and before that it was back in April when we beat Watford 3-2 , just two League wins on a Saturday in 10 months, has not made Sunday mornings a happy place in Southampton supporters households.

All Photos Via Reuters

Centurion added 10:39 - Feb 3 Thanks Nick. Its a long journey back to winning ways but we are making some good first steps.
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andywelsh added 11:35 - Feb 3 Only watched the game on MOTD and listened on the radio but it certainly seemed like we were second best against the team just above us. When we played this fixture last year we were clearly the better team but lost. Obviously I would rather have the points but it doesn’t fill me with much confidence that we can replicate this result against better teams and the feeling is that we finally got some luck. I hope I am wrong.

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A1079 added 12:04 - Feb 3 A win is a win and after waiting for one for so long it is a welcome feeling however it may have been achieved. But, it does not fool me. Both sides were poor and are poor and the 3 sides that came up are now almost certain to go back down. It would be nice though to at least get a couple of more wins to avoid that awful label of being the worst side to grace the PL.
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Colburn added 12:17 - Feb 3 Agreed our centre backs are too similar and Bednarek should be the leader by now but he isn’t and he looked like he was out of his depth against Delap. If we get a genuine 8 million offer for him we must take it. Id rather see Wood in there or ABK if he’s fit. Perhaps our luck has finally changed with a couple of keeper mistakes. A red card for Bournemouth next game and another win v Brighton gives us hope but I can’t see this happening given the transfers we are making in and out, if the media are to be believed.. No Archer in squad on Sat so assuming we are letting him go! Madness

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Colburn added 12:19 - Feb 3 Funny pic with Bednarek and Onuachu. I reckon Jan was saying ‘we’re joint second top goal scorers this season now’.
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Bowlercow added 12:42 - Feb 3 We have been short of a leader for years Vocally captain Jack can do it but you cannot chastise others when you are the player making the most errors THB has done the job for young England teams and done it well I still don't see Tall Paul a a front line striker going forward but in the Championship we have a 20+ striker in Armstrong The two newbies didn't look like instant mistakes as others have in the past so we can be more hopeful of achieving 12 points Sad when that's your target

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