Saints secured their Premier League future for next season with a point at Sunderland, but there was a feeling that it typified our recent form.
A member of this site commented on this game that he felt that this was Groundhog Day for Saints and he had a point, so did Saints for that matter but watching the game you had a feeling that you had seen it all before, A performance where Saints dominated for long periods but failed to capitalise on that dominance and then get hit with a sucker punch, luckily for us though unlike some of the previous groundhog days like Spurs last week, we hit back and got something out of the game.
I highlighted Jason Puncheon in the preview of this match, he didnt start but had an immediate impact when he got on the end of a cross by his fellow substitute Jamie Ward Prowse, this week the substitutions paid off, last week at Spurs they didnt and perhaps if JWP had come on at Spurs we might have an extra point.
But if Saints want to improve next season then a major overhaul is needed, put bluntly our defence isnt good enough and still suffers from lapses, we dont have any natural wide players in midfield and up front our way of playing doesnt seem to suit Rickie Lambert who made it another game without a goal.
A few weeks ago many were talking about Saints in terms of a top ten finish, such is the compactness of this league that could still happen, but the truth is there isnt much to choose between West Brom in 8th and Wigan in that final relegation place, Saints as they have showed in the last five games are no better or worse than any of those teams.
But up in the North East on Sunday we got the point that 99% assures our place in next seasons Premier and that being the case this game merely once again highlighted where we are weak and need to improve next season if we want to avoid another relegation battle.
In the situation we were in this was about getting that point and we did so, what matters now is what we do in the summer transfer window, our struggles this season where all because we chased so called Marque signings and didnt get the basics right in the areas we were weak, do err once was forgiveable, to do so twice as we did in the January window was sheer folly, to do so a third time this summer could be catastrophic.
If we want to move up the table games like this should be won, with no direspect to Sunderland at the moment they are a poor side and we looked no better on Sunday and we really should have done, in January we were told that Adkins was replaced by Pochettino as those in charge felt that he was the man to take us forward in a way that Adkins could not, this was Pochettinos 15th game, in that time he has ammassed 18 points, ironically in Nigel Adkins last 15 games he gained exactly the same number of points, neither total is particularly impressive, slightly above the average needed to stay up this season, what it does show is that with the same squad to work with, both managers did virtually the same job, Pochettino now has the chance to revamp and improve the squad, its all about what happens next now.