Ultimately it was heartbreak for Saints deep in injury time, but this was a performance which gave hope with several new stars starting to emerge and also a new confidence, but there is still a long way to go yet.

Most Southampton supporters were fairly happy with the line up when it was announced at 1.45 pm, the only real surprise being the omission of Kyle Walker Peters, but aside from that it was a freshening up of what had been a tired and shell shocked starting XI in the previous games.

The game had an explosive start when a superb short pass from Adam Lallana split the defence and Tyler Dibling opened his account for the first team.

But from then on it would be a tough end to end game, Southampton only just shading possession at 53% and with chances at a premium as both sides dug in.

The stats for the game were pretty even, aside from goalkeeper saves, with Aaron Ramsdale having to make 5 out of 6 on target and the visitors keeper only 2 from 3.

In fact the only stat that really varied was corners, the Tractor boys had 10 compared to our 2.

This probably showed that this was no easy game for Saints, it was one that they had to get a result from sheer guts rather than controlling the game through possession football and it probably tells you a couple of things, firstly we are better when we are not having to overplay and are more direct and secondly we do have the squad to fight our way out of this position we are in at present.

Several players here showed their class, Tyler Dibling was the obvious one and in him we have someone who is capable of getting into double figures this season, Adam Lallana rolled back the years and ran the show in midfield for an hour before departing, Mateus Fernandes showed why he may become the bargain of the season, not only was he dynamic, but he showed he can battle for the ball as well as use it.

Flynn Downes looked a natural captain, Aaron Ramsdale once again showed why he will save us points and not cost us and the back four showed grit and determination with Charlie Taylor adding experience and organisation that has long been missing.

But everyone played a part, of the 16 players who took part, you could say one or two didn't have good games, but you couldn't say they lacked effort and fight and they made sure that average games didn't become poor ones.

Sadly though it would not end well, but perhaps for the first time this season we conceded a goals that we really could have done little about, yes perhaps we were a little too deep, but Morsy's effort was probably unstoppable even before it took the deflection.

So there were a lot of good things to take from this game, last season Ipswich beat us twice, so we have improved, we were only a couple of minutes away from swapping places with Ipswich in the Premier League table, if we could have hung on then we would have been out of the bottom 3.

Of course that is not the case, but it does show that the battle at the bottom of the table is far from a foregone conclusion we are only a win away from getting out of the relegation spots and we are coming up on the rails.

As I mentioned in the preview, Russell Martin is a lucky manager, key moments in his reign have shaped the season and forced him to make changes he might not have otherwise made, this was one of them, let us hope that as he did at times last season he shows a tendency to play players that are not in on merit, on Saturday he found not only a starting XI that can pull us clear of trouble, but also strength on the bench that could serve us well.

In the previous four games we lacked a Captain who could lead, someone who leads from the front and is respected, on Saturday we had half a dozen Captains out there, Flynn Downes of course, but Adam Lallana was just as influential, so was Aaron Ramsdale, likewise Taylor Harwood Bellis, Jan Bednarek & Charlie Taylor at the back, even Adam Armstrong who came on and rallied the team by example in the final stages when they must have been out on their feet.

Ultimately this seemed like a defeat as we conceded so late in the game, but these things happen, there were a lot more plus's in this game than negatives, of course the sceptics will have their say on social media, but to get out of trouble we have to surround ourselves with positives and not negatives.

Photo: Reuters

TissLeGod added 09:34 - Sep 23 This was a much better performance and the shape of the team looked much better. Saints had chances to put the game to bed but yet again failed to do so. Ipswich are a side that fight but had little end product but we know form last season how many late goals they scored, so we should have done better to see the game out. Talk of exiting the Manager is bonkers at this stage. Lets see where we are after the Wolves game - there are a few games coming up we just have to win and kickstart the season - if not fair enough the knives will be out .

5

SaintPaulVW added 10:04 - Sep 23 Definite progress. We have the nucleus of a really good team. Shame that a fluke unstoppable defection took 2 points from us at the death. It was always going to be tough coming up. Going up to 18th with a draw was an eye-opener. COYR
8

mattlegod added 10:58 - Sep 23 Much happier with a more balanced defence and midfield. While KWP is a great player, I think having a Taylor as a natural left footer playing in the correct position payed dividends, we didn't look so obvious playing inside or back all the time. What a headache that will be for Martin! Our issue is goals, Archer was unlucky and to be fair, ran his socks off. I am hoping Stewart will start to get back to his best with more minutes under his belt. I'm not sure of Diaz yet, but it's early days. All in all, a better performance and dare I say it.. just like last season, we started to improve when Stephens was out of the team and injured. I just hope RM can see this!

12

halftimeorange added 10:59 - Sep 23 Although the outcome was disappointing we did look like a team with some fight and, going by Ramsdale's earlier heroics, I reckon he might have saved Morsy's shot but for the deflection. We were the architect's of our own downfall by repeatedly giving the ball away, particularly towards the end of the game. It should be noted that Ipswich's attacks were often sharper and incisive than our pedestrianism. We haven't overcome the need to process the ball from midfield to front as often as could be. Sadly, when we did, our forwards didn't have their shooting boots on. In two words "slow progress" summarises Saturday's outing.

6

Bowlercow added 11:44 - Sep 23 The Morsy shot was bound for row R in the chapel end if it hadn't got the deflection Overall a much better performance Will Archer be a ketchup striker At least he's getting into the right positions Less playing out but Rambo needs to improve his distribution Too many under hit passes when he tried to get the ball to a player near the halfway line. I enjoyed this game and I can see improvements in what we are trying to do I am always the optimist and this performance went someway to justifying that The club should publicly deny reports of RM being sacked It all seems to stem from one on line rag. Football Insider Is it run by a skate?

4

Bowlercow added 11:45 - Sep 23 The Morsy shot was bound for row R in the chapel end if it hadn't got the deflection Overall a much better performance Will Archer be a ketchup striker At least he's getting into the right positions Less playing out but Rambo needs to improve his distribution Too many under hit passes when he tried to get the ball to a player near the halfway line. I enjoyed this game and I can see improvements in what we are trying to do I am always the optimist and this performance went someway to justifying that The club should publicly deny reports of RM being sacked It all seems to stem from one on line rag. Football Insider Is it run by a skate?

0

kingolaf added 11:51 - Sep 23 We were architects of our own downfall again with our shape defending corners. Diaz actually won the corner that they scored from but we had nobody on the edge of the box for the loose ball. I thought the subs were poor. You mention Adam Armstrong, but he did nothing. Didn’t keep the ball or close down. We need an experienced manager. We are throwing points away and Saturday was no exception.

1

A1079 added 12:02 - Sep 23 I feel I may be going against the flow here, but I enjoyed the game apart from that final few seconds when Ipswich equalised. I thought generally the performance was good without being perfect and there were some really good individual performances - Dibling, Lallana, Sugawara, Downes to name a few but no one had a bad game. The defence looked much better drilled and Ramsdale brought off some good saves, though interestingly 3 times he kicked the ball out and nearly put us in trouble (and a better opposition may have capitalised. The line up on Saturday was better and they worked well as a team and looked much more energetic. The opening goal was well worked but after that Ipswich actually looked the better side and had it been 1-1 at half time I doubt many of us could have complained. But, the second we were the better side. Had we taken one of our chances we would have been celebrating a win. I am not sure all the subs worked but I understood some of them. I just felt too many were made at the same time. On their equaliser - was we surprised? We hadn't taken our chances and the opposition gets a late equaliser. Not that unique for us - rarely though does it happen the other way. Relying on one goal is always dangerous and we are just not prolific scorers. If you want to stay in the PL you have to invest in a quality striker. All that said, I thought Archer was no better or worse than Adam Armstrong at this level. On the equaliser, I do have a different view and the match analysis was good in respect of the Ipswich goal. They pointed out that AA just stood and watched which lead to the corner which lead to the goal. I do not understand players turning their backs. Ironically I was watching some of the West Ham game and I said then, why do players now turn their backs with an incoming ball? low and behold we did the same. But, I enjoyed the game and whilst I think both these sides will go back down at least the performance was better. I am not looking forward to those games against Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool though!

8

Colburn added 13:02 - Sep 23 We could have done something about their goal which was not going in the top corner until Aribo shied away from the shot and created the slight deflection rather than standing strong and taking one in the chest or face like their defender did to one of our blockbuster shots from outside the area. This was weak and pathetic from Aribo and not the first time a player has bottled out of standing in the way of a shot. The other reason we lost the win was because of our reluctance to hit row Z in injury time when keeping possession was more dangerous in our own last third. This is down to the manager and nobody else so he must take the blame for naivety and stupidity, after all, every team clears the ball in these scenarios, even Man City. As such, this was the game that has finished me off with Martin as his stubbornness has now cost us a vital win. Graham Potter or Eustace will get better results from this squad, as would Corberan probably so I’m not surprised we are looking elsewhere. Lampard would keep us up too, we have a decent squad, it’s not the players..

4

ItchenNorth added 13:33 - Sep 23 What a player Fernandes is and Ramsdale will win us points this season. Lallana looks to be in great form as well. There are plenty of reasons to be positive imo.
6

ItchenNorth added 13:35 - Sep 23 And how could I forget Dibling! COYR !
4

IanRC added 14:22 - Sep 23 I don’t think you are correct about the goal being unavoidable. What idiot told them not to leave anybody on the edge of the penalty area when there were three unmarked Ipswich players there. Mosey had all the time in the world, and even then needed a really lucky deflection. Certainly some good points, such as Ramsdale, Dibling, Fernandes and Lallana, but I do worry where are goals are going to come from. Arma looks pale shadow himself last season, Archer has missed a number of opportunities and Stuart is either not fully fit or overhyped. Also hope that when he is fit Sulemana is given an opportunity rather than continuing to play Brereton Diaz on the wing. In fact, it might be worth giving Sam Amo-Ayew a chance until then.

9

davidargyll added 16:26 - Sep 23 Talk about a nail-biter! Which inevitably ended the way all 6-pointers do… Trouble was we were struggling through the entire game to contain…Ipswich, for God’s sake!, who are barely out of short trousers (aka L1j. But overall was this a better performance? Well in parts, yes, especially Ramsdale, Lallana, Dibling, Fernandes and Sugawara. But then against that you have the massive negatives of Archer (such a lightweight), Harwood-Bellis (far too big-headed), Ugochukwu (slow and careless) and Ross Stewart (embarrassingly slow and unfit). So I would say on a scale of 0 to 10, we may have moved up a shade, from say around 4 to maybe 5, but still well short of what is required. I know the optimists will say we played better, but that isn’t really the point, because WE STILL LOST! And I continue to think that under RM we really won’t, indeed cannot get much better because he is out of his depth. No one is going to wave a magic wand and suddenly make him a better manager because we have seen the total length and breadth of his talents, he’s not going to improve, and the longer SR wait to sack him - and note he will definitely be sacked, it is just a question of when - the further down the track we will be before a new manager can start to get us playing better as a team. In a nutshell we are a half decent car being driven by a man who will forever be stuck with his L plates on. And if you need further proof, as someone else has commented, how come Fulham, a similar sized club and level of abilities to us, can do it and we can’t? Answer: the manager pure and simple.

3

YosemiteSaint added 19:17 - Sep 23 I am buoyed by the positive comments here, because most of the time I dwell on the suspicion that we don't have the personnel—the manager or the players—to compete in the Premier League. Here's hoping I am wrong.
-1

saintmark1976 added 19:38 - Sep 23 YosemiteSaint, you are not wrong and we don’t. The fella who manages Man City couldn’t get a Premiership tune out of our current squad.
2

Block8 added 09:45 - Sep 24 A decent well organised defence covers the edge of the box, at every level of football, enough said!
1

Blogs 31 bloggers

Sunderland Polls