Ralph Hasenhuttl was right in his after match interviews, the performances wasn't good enough and it was littered with individual errors which eventually cost us the game, but there were some lights at the end of the tunnel.

It was back to the bad old days as individual errors and a bit of bad luck cost Saints dearly up at St James Park, in the first half Saints seemed to be rebuilding the confidence and it has to be said they were still missing key players, not only in the starting line up but off the bench.

But just as it looked like Saints were getting to grips came two goals in 10 minutes that meant we were 2-0 down after only 26 minutes, a great goal from debutant Takumi Minamino pulled a goal back and going into the break at 2-1 looked like having something to build on.

Then came perhaps the biggest individual error of the game, with 40 seconds left of 5 minutes of injury time, Alex McCarthy only had to smash a simple back pass up the field and the final whistle would blow, there was no time to build anything up, but he took too long almost got caught out and played a suicide ball to Ryan Bertrand who had no time to react and suddenly from being back in the game Saints were down and out at 2-1.

After the break there was drama, firstly James Ward Prowse smashed home a now trademark free kick to bring us back to a goal behind and then the home side had a player sent off.

But did this help Saints ? possibly not, on a pitch with surface water we struggled to keep the ball moving and our game is based on getting behind the opposition defence, with Newcastle sat back on their own penalty box this was always going to be difficult.

We did get the ball in the net but VAR did it's job , rightly on this day and Danny Ings saw a curling shot hit the inside of the post and rebound into the stricken goalkeepers arms.

If Saints scored you sensed the game would change, but until we did, Newcastle would remain resolute.

When the home side went down to 9 men with 10 minutes or so due to injury and having used their subs, it was of no advantage for Saints, they merely packed their box and there was even less room than before.

It was defence v attack and they were fighting for their lives to hold what they had.

There were some things to take from the game both good and bad, the first that we need a goalkeeper who is comfortable on the ball to play the way we do, that is not Alex McCarthy and I doubt that long term at least it is Fraser Forster.

The second is that too many players are off form, they no longer have the spring in their step they had two months ago.

But the good news is that as players come back from injury and find their form this will return, Jannik Vestergaard looked very rusty when passing the ball, but that is not unusual after a long lay off and he was pressed into service a bit quicker that Ralph hasenhuttl would have liked.

Another plus point was Minamino, he scored a superb goal and seemed to fit into Saints way of playing well, he tired a little at the end, but that was perhaps expected given his lack of starts for Liverpool this season.

The performance gave promise, sometimes you just can't click your fingers and things are suddenly alright again, it was a disappointment that we didn't get anything out of it, no excuses we should have, but we do have something to build on now after the debacle at Old Trafford.

This is a big week now with the visit of Wolves twice, we need to get back to winning ways, make no bones about it our season hinges on this week, so we need to put this performance behind us and look to the two games, one in the FA Cup and then the League.

It is easy to support a team when it is winning and I subscribe to the old adage that good teams don't become bad ones overnight, all teams have bad runs and we are in one at the moment, but that has been mainly due to injury, with players back we can start winning again.

The late Bill Shankly loved the Liverpool supporters, but he was aware of how fickle fans can be sometimes and his quote about the fans resonates today.

“If you can't support us when we lose or draw, don't support us when we win”

The fans aren't in the stadiums at the moment, but positivity is needed in this time of trouble.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 08:17 - Feb 8 an extra vote for .."what's for pud " suggestion (above) the goalkeeper's short kick-outs for defenders who will gradually move upfield may work well in good conditions, but - not for the first time this winter - we see the defender stuck with the ball, unable to make progress and having to pass it back to keeper or to another defender who has the same problem. Wrong tactic. In situations where players are literally - treading water - it's better for the keeper to hoof it upfield 60/70 yards, and have a 50/50 chance of finding a striker. The tragic third goal was a perfect example. A poor kick-out to Bertrand, who was robbed of the ball 35 yards out. The striker took a shot at goal from the edge of the area within a few seconds with McCarthy still in no-mans-land. Easiest goal he'll score this year.

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