Saints had this game under control and then gave it away for not the first time this season, once again certain players failed to perform and it was down to the substitutions, Palace's changed the game, ours failed to perform.

Some will rant at Ralph Hasenhuttl, but truthfully he was let down by players who have previously this season performed to a far higher standard.

The game started well for Saints and they took the lead from a headed goal from Oriol Romeu and for the first half looked comfortable although the warning signs were there for all to see, but things all changed after the break .

The problem for Saints stemmed from leadership on the pitch, as Palace stepped up a gear after the break and looked for an equaliser, we had no one on the pitch calming things down and steadying the ship, we still played as if we were a goal down with 2 minutes left on the clock, no one put their foot on the ball and this was the issue when Palace equalised.

Yet another Saints move broke down due to us trying too many intricate passes instead of concentrating on keeping the ball and keeping it simple, we were still going at it like a bull at a gate.

Palace won the ball and played it quickly to ex Saint Nathaniel Clyne whose cross was met perfectly by the totally unmarked Eze, yes Fraser Forster should have stopped it, but this was now going to be one of those days.

Now came the substitutions, on came Wilfrid Zaha for Palace and we made a double change with Armando Broja and Stuart Armstrong, with both strikers going off Che Adams & Shane Long, both have had decent games, you could understand taking off Long due to his age, but not Che Adams.

We lost shape and enabled Palace to get the upper hand, that is not to say we didn't have chances, Armstrong himself had two good chances and blazed them both, one high and one wide.

Broja looked a shadow of his former self and although he had one good run, he did little else, the issue now was with Long & Adams we had strikers making runs and space, now we struggled for that up front.

But as the game entered injury time we looked to have taken a point out of the game, but then came another lack of concentration with 2 minutes of injury time played out of 4, Wilfrid Zaha received the ball with his back to the goal, with plenty of Saints men around him he really should not have been allowed to turn and fire a shot into the bottom corner.

So Saints now limp to the finishing line where really they should have been surging to a top 10 finish.

So where have we gone wrong, in simple terms it is down to two areas, first we need a leader on the pitch, someone who dictates the pace and nature of play, who can put his foot on the ball when needed and who can keep his teammates focused when things are either on top or in the final minutes of a game when discipline is needed.

Secondly we need to pick players who are in form, Broja and Stuart Armstrong are badly out of form, as was Mohammed Elyounoussi the third substitution made, bringing on one should not be an issue, but bringing on three players for the last part of a game who are all out of form was a recipe for disaster.

I am not arguing that Shane Long should have gone off, but we should have brought on Adam Armstrong a striker who will be a the club next season, not one who wont, take off Tella who like Long had run himself into the ground and bring on Djenepo if you want to attack or even Will Smallbone a tidy player who has never let us down.

Too many players out there did not put in a display , we went into the final 10 minutes with not only the three substitutes, but the likes of Salisu also going through a rocky spell, the team was too imbalanced.

I think that within the club there is a feeling that there will be changes in the summer and although this should manifest itself in some playing for their places, for some it hasn't and that is worrying.

Ralph Hasenhuttl needs help on the coaching side of things, would any of our three general coaches, Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson or Craig Forrrest, get a job at another Premier League club ? I think we all know the answer, there is not a lot of help and experience for Ralph to call on when he needs advice.

Personally I didn't get mad about Saturday's result, we have achieved what we set out to do and for the most part up until the last half dozen games it has been a good season, but we have let ourselves down badly in the last couple of months, if we had won this game we would sit 11th in the League, we are not that far away from being a decent mid table side, but we aren't because of error strewn games.

Things will hopefully change in the summer, so I look towards the future and not the past, we need to get this season over and then prepare for the next one.

Photo: Action Images

wrathoftazz added 18:05 - May 1 I have NO clue how you can say it wasn't the fault of Ralph... even the pundits and commentators said it was his dodgy tatics, subs failure to react cost us the game. NOT for even the 20th time this season. Let's face it, if we need more leadership at the back (something we have ALL been saying for many seasons) then Ralph is the one to ensure its there. The errors and faults were of Ralph's doing. Even looking at the starting line up was a joke. He now has the WORST stats in many years of managers at Saints, and yet, alas, some people are still dazzled by Ralph, refusing to get off the Ralph hype train and continue to constantly blame other, making him look better than he is. Those supporters will be to blame should we get relegated next season, not having the insight and backbone to see it for what it is, slagging off us that can see through his BS and say it like it is. For the sake of our PL position, it needs to happen now, or it won't only be a top 10 finish that's slipped away by dodgy management decisions. HE JUST ISNT THAT GOOD...and feel free to negative rate my post for speaking the truth and I hate to say I told u so, but its coming lol

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SanMarco added 18:41 - May 1 Nick's report is fair enough but it does read as if Ralph has been with us three months and not three years. As the manager he is responsible for sorting out all of the obvious failings mentioned. If he is staying then he/and the club do really need to sort things out this summer. If that involves ten out and ten in then so be it. If it involves a big fee sale of JWP to fund it then, sadly, so be it. We cannot afford to be still saying these same old things in November. If Ralph knows what he is doing and what he wants then it is high time that things starting looking far less "one step forward, two steps back" and more like progress. And after Everton's win today is 40 pts enough? The loser of the Brentford match next week will be looking very, very anxiously over their shoulders. Burnley could easily get 7 more points and Everton will win their two remaining home games. I would now say Leeds are favourites to go down but I don't think it is ridiculous to put us next...

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felly1 added 19:11 - May 1 I'd like to see Ralph as our manager next season, I'd like to see the new owners bring in 3 or 4 quality players and move on the deadwood. Ralph has set the club up with an ethos and style of play that should with the new players push us onto being a much improved side with more positive results. If the results are no better by around Xmas time then yes he definitely has to go.

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YosemiteSaint added 20:12 - May 1 I keep trying to falsify these hypotheses. But I think they continue to hold, and it looks as if I'm in good company here. I'll set them forth here in hopes of acknowledging some consensus: 1. Ralph is an excellent manager—for blooding young talent. 2. Ralph is a terrible tactician, on and off the pitch (i.e., with respect to game planning _and_ player fitness regimens). If we want to stay in the middle of the EPL pack—which may well be the best we can do anyway—Ralph may be our guy. If we want something even better, I think we need someone else to guide us.

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NewburySaint added 21:39 - May 1 If ever there was an example of a team / set of players “being on the beach” and sticking the proverbial 2 fingers up to their paying public we saw it yesterday. We were beaten by an ordinary Palace side who are in the same position as us but wanted it more than us, outfought us, out everything us in fact, and didn’t mug off their supporters. I hope Liverpool go easy on us because it could be embarrassing. As for Redmond, I can only assume he’s been told he’s no longer in the long term plans which could sort of give him an excuse for his lack of effort, skill and application yesterday, but if not, well…….

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ItchenNorth added 22:03 - May 1 Not a lot wrong with Ralph. A lot of this is all down to squad strength and this being the hardest league in the world. Drop Ralph in at Man City or Liverpool and would he win a bucket load of games and trophies; of course he would. Bring Pep or Klopp down to Saints and do we suddenly make top 6 or 8 with our squad, unlikely imo. To me it's about greater investment in the squad. If any player can't grasp what if required, ya get rid of them. We have several not good enough and two or three that play fiddly regularly that I think are Championship division players. Success (whatever that is, take her pick) starts though with stability at the top of a club; from the owners and then your manager. Ralph may have been at Saints for 4 years, but that's nothing, when he's not really had the tools to operate with against most if not all the clubs above us, for most of those 4 years. Hopefully with the new owners, he's given some better backing to go into next season, and for me; it's after next season we really know where we stand with Ralph (if he's been backed financially). Saturday's game was all about in that second half controlling the pace of the game, and our players couldn't. They panicked and endlessly gave the ball back to Palace. Simple football. A 1-0 or even 1-1 against decent side in Palace and most are happy, and it should have been but, it's a relentless and unforgiving league. In Ralph we trust.

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ItchenNorth added 22:08 - May 1 Fiddly or fairly 😆.........fairly.
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Boris1977 added 22:17 - May 1 I'm not surprised the verdict is up so early as it must be a cut and paste job from the previous 3 years. The report above is odd as it's saying two contradictory things. On the one hand it isn't Ralph's fault but on the other hand the substitutions didn't change things for saints but palaces changes did work for them, our passing was too intricate and the players were not up for it. Tactics, substitutions, playing style and motivation are key elements of successful management. This website has told us that we've got a better squad than we've had over the last few seasons but our position and results have not improved. I'm assuming that, particularly after Everton's win today and Burnley's mini run the Ralph cultists realise that we are in a relegation fight now, something we've been sleep walking into for the last few years. Ralph cannot motive the players, isn't sure who his best players are and isn't able to change game plans when matches are slipping away from us. Criticising your team's manager or players when the results and performances are below average, that is putting it very politely, isn't wrong and the majority of contributors to this website have on the whole been patient and given Ralph plenty of scope and time for improvement. We have entered a critical period and we are in another lull - a lull which could prove fatal to any aspiration to stay in the top division. Hopefully 40 pts will be enough to stay in the division but with limited funds available over the summer do the board wish to give money to Ralph on the basis that he'll drastically change his tactics or will they prefer to give that money to somebody with a new perspective. Both have risks but if Ralph was released I wouldn't be too surprised or disappointed. COYRs

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SanMarco added 12:49 - May 2 "To me it's about greater investment in the squad" - ItchenNorth: isn't that an excuse that every Saints manager from Ted Bates and before could use? If you accept the manager job at Saints you know there will not be enormous investment in the squad. It is your job to work within that framework. Ralph is Saints manager in the here and now - he will not be able to spend his way out of the problems we all saw on Saturday - nor will a new manager. If we make a poor start next season Ralph will be gone whether we trust in him or not - is that fair? Perhaps not but when has football ever been fair??

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ItchenNorth added 15:32 - May 2 Hi SanMarco. I didn't think Ralph is making these excuses, he's never came out and said as much. Historically Saints are a top flight team who's average league position in the old Division1 or rebranded Premier League is always somewhere in 12-16th. So, if we want better, the club have to invest more on a more regular basis. You also have to accept therefore, that any manager that from the outside looking in is deemed over achieve at Saints will be poached and so will the best players. I'm happy with Saints and who we are. I just hate the merry-go-round of managers, as I didn't think it gets you anywhere. I'd just like a cup or two once in a while and imo, if Ralph is backed, he can be that guy.

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SanMarco added 19:14 - May 2 Hi ItchenNorth - I get what you are saying but I just don't see that Ralph (or any other manager) will be 'backed'. And as you say if he does suddenly start over-achieving he will on the bus to a 'bigger' club. All part of the fun of being a Saints fan!! Perhaps we should just make sure we stay up before we plan too much for next year...
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