There was only ever going to be one verdict in this one you felt, after all this was a City side getting into full gear and with the goal machine that is Erling Haaland in his full glory, overall most Saints fans would have taken 4-0 going into this game.

This was never going to be easy, after all City are unbeaten in all competitions this season, only Newcastle & Aston Villa have prevented them winning a game, in the Premier League they had won 6 out of their 8 games and in doing so had scored 29 goals, thats an average of almost 4 goals a game and frighting Ly they had walloped in 11 in two home games in the six days before they played us, putting 6 past rivals Manchester United and 5 past FC Copenhagen.

So it didn't look good, this was always going to be a game about damage limitation and putting in a shift and we certainly had to do that.

They started like a train, but we grew into the game despite going a goal down after 15 minutes, we did well to get into the break only 2-0 down.

A goal only 4 minutes after the restart didn't look good and it highlighted out inability to concentrate before and after the restart, apparently, we are now the team that has conceded the most goals within 5 minutes either side of half time

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But that didn't phase us and we kept going when City looked to put us to the sword and when the inevitable goal came from Erling Haaland on 65 minutes, the full time whistle looked a long way off.

But we kept going, this didn't turn into a gutless performance, I read on social media that some did consider it that and they you could see that the players lacked confidence and motivation, I am not sure what the writer there was expecting, we were the Christians to the lions in this one, it was firstly about the performance and secondly about the result and in that matter it was always going to be about keeping it respectable and when you play Manchester City 4-0 is certainly that.

I have felt bad after many defeats, not least the three games we lost in a row by a single goal margin going into this one, but after the game up at the Etihad I felt nothing other than relief that is was all over.

This is actually a very sad situation as it highlights just what the Premier League has become, the competition has gone out of it completely, even in the top six and make no bones about it Newcastle are just getting their feet under the table.

For the rest of us we are turning into canon fodder, fight amongst ourselves for the relegation place and a token top 8 or 9 finish, but other than that we are making up the numbers, bring on a European Super League and give us back football as we know it, devoid of Middle Eastern Sheiks and hedge fund owners.

So this game is over, in the terms of the season it mattered nothing, the only fact is that we have ended the weekend out of the bottom 3 and now we can move forward, all that matters now is the next game and that is a big one against West Ham United who are just getting back to form, we need a stadium that roars us on to victory.

Do not let the moaners on social media bring this club down, remember the backs to the wall atmosphere we got in the 1990's at the Dell as we fought relegation, back then even when we were getting walloped and although some would tell you different, virtually every Saints manager good or bad has seen us concede 6 or 7 at some stage, even when we did get thumped, it somehow gave us a sense of pride in our football club, now we don't seem to have that as every tom dick & harry seems to think it is funny to make a comical quip on line at the clubs expense.

I would normally be imploring the fans to buy tickets next week and get behind the team, not this week, I would rather have only 15,000 in the ground who are proud of the club, than another 13,000 who go to mock it !

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 10:42 - Oct 11 I don't think players are deliberately not doing what Ralph tells them - I just think that Ralph has lost control of on-field events. Loss of player confidence due to 12 points in 21 games and a sudden influx of youngsters seem to have undermined an already declining situation - JWP and KWP are good players but seem to be being dragged under. Throw in the failure to buy a goal scorer and you are left wondering which three other teams in this league are worse than us? At the moment one at most. Of course that can change but has Ralph another good run in his tank ? I think the majority of fans fear the answer to that is no. That good run has to start vs Wet Spam if it doesn't surely the owners will have no choice - 12 points from 22 is not just relegation form it is tailed-off by Christmas form...

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SWH1748 added 11:49 - Oct 11 Personally I don’t think we played to badly against a city side that smashes everyone. But hey Nick how times and the Ugly Inside have changed. Forgive me but I recall this site when it all started with a paper mag and a very much younger anti Branfoot group who organized rebellious groups outside the entrance to the dell demanding Branfoot out, often leading to outrageous behavior and arrests. Yet know we seem to want to put down any supporter who dare to criticise RH on social media and not want them to attend games to voice opinion, seems a tad hypocritical to me. Ps I for one see both sides of the picture here with RH, but he just can not keep on putting too little and often too late little runs of wins together to survive just to go back to the long droughts of utter crap. He needs to go before the World Cup break to give the successor time to implant his ideas before the restart, but hey a lot wanted Puel out just because he did not entertain and look how that never worked.

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