Saints put in there worst performance in a while but still made it six games in a row to edge closer to total safety.

The biggest shock of the day for many travelling Saints fans was the fact that Luke Shaw was not preferred by the manager in place of Danny Fox and some of them seemed unable to accept this and spent half of the game slagging off Fox whenever he was near the ball, luckily for Saints as a team this didnt seem to put him off and he played his part in a rare clean sheet for the Saints defence.

In truth both teams seemed to be ready to go on their summer holidays, that probably has a semblance of truth as i think if you asked the supporters of either club they would have been quite happy for the season to have finished at the final whistle on Saturday.

But there was a game to be played and although it wasnt pretty to watch there was the odd chance at both ends, for Saints Lambert had a free kick well saved in the first half as well as a goal disallowed that television has since proved was perfectly legal, the linesman flagged presumably for a hand ball, but whilst Lallana hadnt helped his cause by jumping with his hands in the air, he didnt connect with ball or keeper with them and the goal should have stood.

In the second half Boruc had to spread himself well on a couple of occasions and Yoshida made a goaline clearance that owed as much to his reading of the game as anything else, in the final minute Mayuka thrown on almost won it, but his shot although nearly catching Vorm in the Swans goal wrong footed, lacked any real pace and so was comfortable for the keeper.

All in all a point that most Saints fans would have been happy with, yes it wasnt the greatest performance, but Saints kept going and made sure that although they were struggling to get their attacking side of the game going, defensively they worked hard and made surre the game wasnt thrown away, there are those that would say that when a team plays badly away from home and still doesnt get beat then thats a measure of that team.

It was good to see Pochettino throw on Mayuka in the dying minutes, it would have been a little longer if he didnt have to wait to see if Fox had to come off, but in the final games of this season we really need to find out if players like Mayuka and indeed Vegard Forren actually have what it takes to play in the Premier League or are just expensive mistakes by our transfer committee, as mentioned in Mayuka's case it was a little too short for him to make any sort of real impact, however he did show that as an impact player he might just come on and nick a goal or two in the last minutes of games, sadly from the other games i have seen I think that might be as far as it goes for him.   

Its a point that although not exactly putting Saints safe, was a step towards it given results elsewhere at the bottom, yes the likes of Sunderland, Stoke and Norwich all made up ground, but Wigan were beaten, Newcastle drew and hopefully Aston Villa will get beat at Old Trafford tonight, to make it a point gained rather than two dropped.   

Photo: Action Images

scummerlou added 09:49 - Apr 22 wrt FORREN, was wondering if anybody watched the U21s yesterday, and how VF got in the game?? I know they drew 3-3.
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Whatsforpud added 10:53 - Apr 22 Was it 'there' worst performance, or 'their' worst performance? The goal should have been allowed. Lallana put his hands up but did not touch the ball. Nor did he push the keeper, who merely dropped the ball.
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Scummer added 11:00 - Apr 22 So, it that two games in a row where we cannot attribute a sloppy goal to a Danny Fox defensive lapse? I only saw the highlights, but is he looking more solid? I noticed that Hooiveld / Lallana got themselves a little mixed up, and Clyne knocked one back in to a dangerous area. The lapses are still there at times, but we generally do seem to be a lot more difficult to break down. When does Cork's contract run out? There seems to be a lot of noise round him on the internet at the moment, but that might be just because we have sorted out the long term contracts of so many players that we are just no fun for the rumour mongers,

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SaintNick added 11:32 - Apr 22 Fox gets attributed sloppy goals even when he is not playing
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Scummer added 12:00 - Apr 22 That's probably Guly's fault. ;O)
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slynch added 12:16 - Apr 22 A draw was inevitable as Saints lacked the bite of other teams, like Liverpool and Swansea were just dyer.
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SaintNick added 12:18 - Apr 22 For a club that's one big happy family and where there has never been a better time to be a saints fan, there have been an awful lot of players abused this season, Guly, Fox, Boruc, gazzaniga,
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michaeljoycetf added 12:33 - Apr 22 Fox had a torrid 1st half hour facing Nathan Dyer who ran him ragged, however he settled down as the game progressed and played his part in containing a lively skilful Swansea side who hold and pass the ball as well as any in the Premier. I think we played as well as we could against a decent side who play our type of game. All in all it was a creditable performance, as the report said, skirmishes at both ends with the draw a fair result. I dont know why Fox was preferred to Shaw but The manager seems to know exactly what he is doing even if it makes no obvious sense to us fans

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Scummer added 12:44 - Apr 22 Nick, I know what you mean about certain players getting grief. (I said Guly's fault as a tongue in cheek reference to that.) Some players make mistakes and get a free pass from the crowd, others get crucified. It bugs me when people have a go at Guly all the time. He is a decent player. In fact he has the highest pass percentage of the whole squad. Same with Fox and Hooiveld. Both have had mad and bad moments, or just sheer bad luck, but I think that they have both improved in a season where it has taken some players a little time to acclimatise. And now that they have, they are looking pretty decent. Hopefully Mayuka will be the next to follow the trend after a stinker of a game when he started last.

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simmo400 added 13:17 - Apr 22 Very average game by both teams. Both could have won or lost the game in the end, but a game we would have lost at the start of the season for sure. We have learned to hang in these games and get something. Get rid or alot of our loanees and buy some good solid professionals for next season. After our poor start we are always on catch up. A win saturday and it will have been a decent 1st season back in the top flight.

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legod7 added 15:17 - Apr 22 Fox deserved to be in the starting line up after the way he played against West Ham.
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slynch added 16:39 - Apr 22 "SaintNick added 11:32 - Apr 22 Fox gets attributed sloppy goals even when he is not playing" Maybe that's why Pochettino thought it safer to put him in the team!?!
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felly1 added 17:03 - Apr 22 I thought Fox had a decent game last week against West Ham and we don't want to burn out Luke Shaw so it made sense to keep Fox in. The fact is, this season generally he has not looked good enough for this division. I think you are a little obsessed with the fella to be honest!
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SaintNick added 21:30 - Apr 22 My only obsession is im hacked off with people giving him and for that matter Guly personal abuse at games, get behind them when they are on the pitch is my obsession
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felly1 added 17:16 - Apr 23 Agreed, anyone who abuses their own player is a total tool and yes Guly has had far too much stick from the stands and needs backing not barracking. Personally I have not heard any abuse aimed at Fox, just fans bemoaning his shortcomings on forums like this or when chatting with mates etc.
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Kiwifiedpom1 added 23:21 - Apr 23 I think many fans these days have succumbed to the common fault of selecting players on reputation rather than on form. Our manager seems to rely on form rather than reputation. Fox in particular has done nothing that others haven't. So Shaw has to wait his turn.
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