Saints have had an awful run with only one win in nine games, a sequence that has seen them drop right out of the battle for a top six place, if something doesn't change soon the season might descend into a relegation battle.
The time for excuses is now running out, just over a month ago the internet was full of those declaring that Saints really could earn a Champions League place, some thought that achieving that was merely a case of football by numbers, follow certain rules and it guaranteed success.
Of course football is never quite as simple as that as many teams have found out over the years and sadly too many seemed to be counting their chickens before they were hatched.
So after a nine game run that has seen us drop from potentially going top of the league down to 9th and looking over our shoulders, questions do need to be asked as to why we only garnered 5 points in that run, one of the worst runs we have had in our Premier league career, only perhaps beaten by our four points from the opening 9 games last season.
So now we find ourselves truly at the crossroads for the season, with four games coming up between now and February 1st the pattern for the rest of the season will be truly set, in the last nine it can be said that we had a tough run of fixtures, in the next four we play two sides in the relegation battle, another in West Brom at a similar point to ourselves and an Arsenal side looking to win the league.
The stark reality is that if we lose to West Brom on Saturday we could find four or five sides breathing down our necks including the Baggies themselves who would be only 3 points behind us, for a real reality check, they arrive at St Mary's only four points off the bottom three, this is an important game for them as well make no mistake.
The blunt truth is that if we fail to get at least six points from these four fixtures then we will start to drop down the table and if repeat our points average of those last nine of .55 per game then we could find ourselves on a slippery slope where it is difficult to arrest the decline.
So for Mauricio Pochettino its a key moment of his Saints career, what he does in the next month will be crucial to his long term tenure as manager of this football club.
The root cause of our drop in form is of course the injuries, however its not the loss of key players that have really hurt us but the failure of those stepping into the breach to step up to the plate, the fringe players when called upon where neither match fit due to the same 12 players being played to distraction meaning they never got a look in even off the bench, but the real issue this has caused seems to be a lack of motivation in those fringe players, they seem to come in and play as if they feel whatever they do will only see them back on the fringes again once the player they are deputising for is back.
They are probably right, but if we have made one mistake this season it is effectively creating two squads within one, there is definately a first choice of around 13 players who played week in week out till fairly recently and then the rest of the squad who seem to have become completely de motivated as has been shown by some lacklustre performances from them.
Of course they are not completely to blame and this mood has spread to some of the better players as well who have not been performing as they did in the first part of the season.
So as mentioned Pochettino is now at a crossroads himself, he has to now show that he is truly capable of managing this football club, when a teams performances go from boom to bust, something is clearly not quite right, there are of course reasons ie injuries, but our decline should really have not been so rapid.
This is manifesting itself on the pitch as players themselves become frustrated, as highlighted by the recent Adam Lallana situation and the club's refusal to let it drop.
So we go into this next four game spell knowing that only a positive set of results is acceptable, we have to start getting more points than games played or we will be in trouble, yes i know we will still be ninth whatever happens on Saturday, but the warning signs have been there for a few weeks now and havent been heeded, defeat to the baggies and the writing is definately on the wall.
I do have confidence in Mauricio Pochettino to pull it around and it is testament to the faith that Saints fans have in him that there have been no mutterings calling for his head, in today's game managers have been sacked for a lot less than getting five points from nine games, its good to see that Saints supporters are seeing the long term view.
So far our Chairman has seemed to also have faith in the long term, but how long he will continue to do that is anyones guess, certainly both of Pochettino's predecessors were sacked after faring better than our current run, will the Chairman's patience continue if results dont improve ?
The team definately needs freshening up, the squad isnt strong enough and there needs to be additions, we need to have different options to what we have at the moment , our high tempo pressing game has been sussed out now, there needs to be alternatives, we need to have options off the bench rather than like for like players, the squad looks jaded, understandable they are probably shell shocked, although we dont want to rush into the transfer market due to over inflated prices, we should at least be looking at the loan market and trying to find value in there.
So for me its still about the long term, however there has to come a time when questions are asked and that time is coming near at St Mary's, a win against West Brom will do a lot to stop the rot and if we can follow that up with at least a point at Sunderland then a corner will have been turned, but as i said we need to get at least six points from these four games and Arsenal at home wont be easy, but if we can turn a corner then we can chase our realistic target of a top ten finish, however lose to the Baggies and it could be a tough few months ahead.
So in conclusion something has to change, if we keep doing the same things we will get the same results and that is not something that I look forward to, a year ago when Mauricio Pochettino arrived an article by an Espanyol fan published initially on the QPR website on this network suggested that in every season Pochettino would start well and then it would taper off as other teams worked out how to play against them, although he liked the Argentinian his one criticism was that he was too rigid, that certainly could have been levelled at him in the first quarter of the season, however we were winning games so no one cared or noticed, now we will find out just what Pochettino has learned in his first year in English football.