Saints fans hoped it would be a turning point for the team after the disastrous reigns of both Ivan Juric and Russell Martin this season, unfortunately an Aston Villa side intent on once again qualifying for the Champions League made it largely one way traffic.

Simon Rusk made only a couple of changes from the side that lost at Tottenham Hotspur, restoring Paul Onuachu and Jack Stephens to the starting line up with Joe Aribo & Tyler Dibling out.

But not a lot changes from the game against Spurs, although in fairness to Rusk he was facing a far better side than Juric had come up against in his final match.

The fact of the matter is that this team is now shell shocked, low on confidence and leadership.

But it did battle hard and it took Villa 73 minutes to break us down completely and score, however when they did the floodgates opened.

All three goals could have been avoided, the opener from Ollie Watkins perhaps highlighted the difference in class, Watkins had come off the bench 7 minutes earlier, contrast that with the fact that just before that change, we had taken off Cameron Archer and brought on Ross Stewart, the difference in class between the two squads at this point could not have been more obvious.

Indeed that was perhaps the main reason for this defeat, all three Villa goals were scored by players who came off the bench, they had game changers, sadly perhaps Tyler Dibling aside we had no one who could come off the bench and improve the side.

Perhaps this game was all about the players who were not even on the bench for one reason or another, we lack strikers, so why did we let two go out on loan in January and not replace them, once again Sulemana failed to shine, plenty of running, plenty of promise, very rarely any end product, Sam Edozie contributed more in the Championship and he is out on loan, why was Adam Lallana not named on the bench, we could use his experience, what has happened to Albert Gronbaek, Charlie Taylor & Ryan Fraser, all three have barely played since signing this season.

The fresh legs that came on were on just for that reason, fresh legs, as I say all three goals could have been avoided, but tiredness in the legs breeds tiredness in the brain and this contributed to all three goals conceded.

The first saw a through ball catch out both Jan Bednarek & Taylor Harwood- Bellis with neither knowing who was going to deal with it, Aaron Ramsdale who had been the hero shortly before with his penalty save, got caught in no mans land for this one to compound things.

The second found the scorer given acres of space to slot home and the third was another clumsy challenge that was mis timed and not needed to be made.

But we have to put this game behind us and move forward, we know this squad is not Premier League class

The one ray of hope in this game was that Arsenal aside in the last game of the season, Aston Villa are probably the best side we will face for the rest of the season.

The real problem with this game is that Simon Rusk changed little, he did the same things as Ivan Juric and he got the same results, as I said this is a shell shocked squad, something had to be changed, the same players made the same mistakes that we have been making all season, it was still deja vu.

But to be fair to Simon Rusk, he has a job on his hands that is not of his making, he has a task that is virtually impossible, turning round a squad that is disheartened, low on confidence and leadership and all over the place, to just stop it and turn it around with just a few days on the training field was a big ask.

However we now have a run of matches that we can get points out of, we have to concentrate on them, but it will need change, at least three players who started the game should not be on the pitch at the start of the game at West Ham, things have to be freshened up and not see those that constantly let us down once again & again.

All Photos Via Reuters

Farlow added 10:04 - Apr 14 Very disapointed with the team selection,i was hoping to see a few changes,Bednarek is not worth a place.What Gronbaek has done wrong i dont know and Charly Taylor has proven Premiership ability.
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saintmark1976 added 10:06 - Apr 14 “ Arsenal aside in the last game of the season, Aston Villa are probably the best side we will face for the rest of the season” ? Forgotten about Man City Nick ? Current League Champions who are presently ahead of Villa in the table, and put five past Crystal Palace whilst coming from two down on Saturday. As for our Saturday’s umpteenth humiliation of the season. I didn’t go, so won’t comment.

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Block8 added 10:14 - Apr 14 To be fair to Rusk he set up to try to paly on the break but to do that you need to hold onto the ball! We couldn't keep the ball anywhere apart from at the back, fans around me were getting frustrated with the continual backward passes but where was the pass? Tall Paul is very very slow and Archer is too easily bullied but what options do we have? Tyler should have been told to stay reasonably close to their back four and look for gaps, we expect him to track back and tackle but that's not his game, so play him where he is best. The bottom line is that we have a very big squad but not enough where we really need it, perhaps thats why we frequently have 6 or 7 defenders on the pitch!

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underweststand added 13:29 - Apr 14 A very creditable 70 minutes of defending against an all-out Villa attack force, but it took a miracle goal from Ollie Watkins to break the deadlock. We must surely feel sad for Aaron Ramsdale's plight - saving two penalties - yet still conceding 3 times without making any of the errors himself. Sadly, both Jan. B and Capt. Jack aren't upto the requirements of Prem. level CB's. Both are fairly good in the air, but painfully slow on the ground and often too clumsy in the tackle. A non-existent attack from Saints. I suppose Archer did play?. His name was on the team sheet, but he went AWOL for much of the time, and Tall Paul had few chances to get even close to the Villa goal. Our midfield seemed to be; Fernandes, Fernandes and Fernandes. He covered so much ground and turned up all over the field, with only a yellow card for his troubles. Little of note to talk about from anyone else that comes to mind. One bright spot was the debut of 18 year old Jay Robinson (already a regular in the U21 's) who came on when the game was already lost, but at least got a Prem. app. to his credit and will certainly get more game time, in anticipation of Dibling's summer departure. Onto West Ham, where we may put on a goodly show - until we concede in added time.

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ItchenNorth added 14:07 - Apr 14 To be fair, we at least had a game plan, which was to get men behind the ball and defend. But if you set up like this you must have an outlet up front, someone to hold the ball up. We had nothing. Tall Pall was so deep at times he was defending our box! He can go in the summer, he's a cart horse, far too slow. When Stewart came on he put himself about a bit and he's far more mobile for a tall no 9. I'd start him next game and see if he can last 60 mins. I was impressed with Robinson's camio, he looked positive on the ball.

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KilkennySaint added 15:13 - Apr 14 Agree it's strange about Gronbaek, Taylor & Fraser, they should be starting every game until the end of the season if available, Taylor and Fraser have experience at this level and could make us a little better. Can we see the starting eleven finish a game? Whenever we make a sub, the team becomes weaker. We have lost points this season with our substitutions. Five at the back just hasn't worked. Why are we still playing it? I would with a back four, take out Stephens, Bednerak, and THB. They can't play together, look clueless, and aren't up for the fight. Play ABK and Wood, what do we have to lose? Tiredness didn't contribute to all three goals conceded, we made three subs before they scored. Tielemans had the freedom of the St Marys midfield for their first goal, it was embarrassing how much space he had. We can't use tiredness as an excuse for lack of effort, fight and determination, these are supposed to be professional athletes. Players need to be held accountable.

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dowater added 15:56 - Apr 14 "I have nothing against Southampton F.C. It just seems very wasteful loosing two hours of my life watching 22 millionaires at St Mary's, chasing a bag full of wind in their underwear, and getting the same loosing result." ~ Guy Martin ~ Modified slightly by me :o)
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