Saints went down to defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach in their final pre season friendly, disappointing yes, the crisis that some say no !
All through this pre season I have been saying that results mean nothing, it is all about Mark Hughes and his squad learning more about what is needed for the upcoming Premier League season.
Now I am not trying to say that this friendly is anything that it isn't, it was a bad performance by Saints, but it is not the crisis that some would suggest on social media.
For Mark Hughes the problem is finding out what is his best side and the players to play in it, he opted to play a very narrow formation with all three of his recognised widemen on the bench, with it being the job of the wing backs to give width.
It didn't work very well though and that is going to be an issue for him over the next week, to stick with this formation for the opener against Burnley or revert to a more traditional back four.
In truth the first half was fairly even and Saints got caught by a very well worked break from the visitors which saw the ball slotted home from close range, it could have been two even three, but a free header flashed wide when easier to score, McCarthy made a decent save at his near post and another chance was put wide.
Within 5 minutes of the restart though the lead was doubled with a 30 yard shot beating McCarthy and on the hour it was three.
The raft of changes on both sides at half time made it difficult for Saints to get much pattern from the play, although the introduction of Mohamed Elyounoussi and Nathan Redmond, two genuine attacking players gave us a more cutting edge going forward and both sides missed good chances meaning that the score could easily have been 5-0 or 5-3 to the visitors.
There is no need though for the hysteria shown by some Saints supporters, the only barometer we can measure by is when the Premier League season starts, this was a friendly played at a low tempo as I have said about all our games whether won or lost it is not about the result but about what we learn.
So what has Mark Hughes and his team learned ?
Firstly they wont be complacent, they will be under no illusions that they can just walk out and beat Burnley , they now know that they will need to put in a lot of work.
Mark Hughes will also have to consider his formation, is his 3-5-2 as played in the first half with what could be considered a starting XI for next Sunday working ? certainly f he is to stick with it then subtle changes need to be made, Ryan Bertrand and Matt Targett are essentially defenders, would we be better using those who are genuine wide players if we keep this formation.
Or would we be better to go back to a 4-5-1 as we used to use, if so who wold play up front.
Or could we go to 4-4-2 and change the way we play competely.
Hughes problem is that he has the quantity of players to play all three formations, but as of yet hasn't really shown his hand completely.
One good thing to be learned from this is that Hughes has not really shown his hand, each friendly has been about multiple changes rather than fine tuning his preferred line up.
That tells us the real work will be done behind the scenes, friendlies have long stopped being competitive games with each side wanting to win, they are show pieces for the fans, I.m sure Mark Hughes and his fellow managers would rather not play these sort of games but play behind closed doors friendlies.
Thirty years ago friendlies like this were not so prevalent, now they are showpiece games that the fans expect, good for the supporters but not for the coaches.
Hughes will have lambasted his team, he will know that this has been a long pre season and that his side needs competitive action, they need to have the adrenalin pumping, it wasn't against Monchengladbach, it will be against Burnley and that is going to be the key.
Now Mark Hughes need to hone his side on the training ground, he needs to fire them up and he needs to get them chomping at the bit, as I said it's not about the result it's about what we have learned and sometimes you need wake up calls and this was certainly that.
Perhaps losing this game will help rather than hinder, certainly there will not be any complacency in Hughes and his squad, we will have learn't and come back stronger for it.
As I have said recently, we need to watch without prejudice, let Hughes show what he can do on a permanent basis, don't tarnish him or the team on last seasons performances, don't make a difficult situation harder by being on the teams back before they have done anything wrong.
There is a week to go now before we find out the truth, perhaps like we were in 2014 and 2015 we will be pleasantly surprised, but till then lets be positive.