Saints fans are becoming increasingly more frustrated with the lack of incoming signings in the January transfer window, especially in the centre of defence.
Saints supporters understand as much as the next man that the January window is a very difficult one to do business in, the selling clubs prefer to hang on to the last moment to try and create more interest in a player and therefore an increase in price.
But that is not always the case and when it was announced before the year had ended and the window opened that Virgil Van Dijk would move to Liverpool on January 1st Saints supporters rather hoped that signalled that the club already had Van Dijk's replacement all lined up and ready to go.
Certainly Van Dijk had been dropped long before Xmas due to his attitude and he wasnot earning the wages that Saints were paying him, but the problem was that we lacked quality and it has cost us dearly.
Saints sit outside the bottom three only on goal difference, but it could easily have been different, if am Vokes had been marked properly, if Giroud had been marked properly and Depoitre of Huddersfield likewise we would now be 5 points better off and sat in 10th place.
That is how little room there is in this years Premier League, we can all moan about how this is the worst Saints side ever etc etc, but the reality is if we had marked those three men and not left them unmarked close in on goal then things would look a lot better, indeed if we hadn't done the same for Palace's first goal then we would be withing sight of 8th.
But we have blundered on this season trying to lacate Van Dijk and rotate players and the reality is that at the moment our defence is not good enough, with everyone fit we are touching it, but we need Van Dijk replacing and a new man forming a partnership with Weslry Hoedt, this is not anything against Yoshida and Stephens, they are just not good enough as has been shown by the soft goals conceded in the past couple of months, I can barely remember a decent goal scored against us, I would say 80% of them would not have been conceded two seasons ago and that is the difference between where we sit now and were we really should be.
Our League position is false because it is based on giving people chances that they should not get, it's been happening all season, I have just highlighted four instances in the recent past.
So why have we not tied up a new central defensive signing, if it wasn't lined up then we should not have sold Van Dijk, the fact we have £75 million in our bank only pushes up the price, it would have been better to let him rot at Staplewood than sell him because of this.
So we have some important games coming up, get in a new central defender and a striker an we are more than capable of winning them, whether or not Pellegrino is in charcge, lose them because the same players are making the same old mistakes and we are in big trouble.