On Friday I wrote a prediction of how this game could turn out sadly it turned out to be more of a script than I would have hoped it would be.

Yes Saints did have a couple of decent opportunities in the first half but overall this was a performance that followed the pattern of many that have gone on before of late, ie we had plenty of possession but couldn't finish our dinners when the chance arose.

Aston Villa were nervy and you sensed the crowd could turn on them if they went behind, yet we showed little appetite to actually do that, the line up was again predictable and so was our methods, if someone had told me our players had been told to walk the ball into the net I would not have been surprised.

We did have several chances to open the scoring in the first half though, on two of them Rickie Lambert looked a shadow of his former self, a tame header should have been buried as should have been a cross that he side footed tamely wide, not to mention his failure to react from a cross although Steven Davis drew just about the only save in anger as the ball bobbled around the area.

In the second half the game petered out, Saint when they got the ball time and time again seemed to prefer to turn and pass it backwards or sideways rather than run at the Villa defence, Luke Shaw was about the only player who did, but he could not seem to get the ball near any of our players in the box, it did show that the game was there for the taking though and one of the rare occasions we did get down on the right wing we should have had a penalty for hand ball, the Saints fans could see it clearly, however the linesman only yards away for some reason could not.

Villa did come out of their shell a little for a ten minute period, however they soon retreated back into it and it was clear that they were content to see the game out for a draw.

Sadly so were we it seemed the substitutions were entirely predictable and the introduction of Sam Gallagher did little to change the game and what was the point of bringing on Harrison Reed for 1 minute of injury time.

We are not playing well, the loss of Jay Rodriguez has taken away our cutting edge,l but we don't seem to have realised that we don't have the personel to keep playing the same system week in week out, sometimes you have to adapt and change, but on Saturday and indeed the week before against Cardiff we didn't adapt we just tried to put in square pegs into round holes and hope it worked, yes we have good enough players to still have 68% possession, but we cant use that domination and teams are just sitting back, watching us pass it around on the half way line.

This was definitely a case of two points dropped and it was lucky that the teams behind us could do no better otherwise we might well be looking at dropping out of the top 10 before the season ends.

The big plus point was the return to form of Victor Wanyama who showed just what his strengths are, sadly though it meant dropping Jack Cork who doesnt deserve to be dropped, surely both could be accomodated.

Photo: Action Images

Stephen added 10:21 - Apr 21 So where would you play Corky?
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abingdonsaint added 10:44 - Apr 21 Sadly predictable report as well I'm afraid Nick! Our problem is clearly in finishing our chances, and the manager will be fully aware of that. Again though, given that our philosophy is based on possession of the ball, and we did create 2 or 3 clear cut chances, would your report have been the same if we had won 3-0 against a side that content to defend for 90 minutes even on their own ground? Given that we pushed Prowsey and Steven Davis to full back regularly in order to allow our only pace in Shaw and Clyne to go forward, what other tactics would you suggest given the personnel currently available? We are undoubtedly a couple of players short in certain areas, but we are doing an awful lot right I'm my view, and are now a lot closer I'm performance terms to the top 6 than the bottom. If everything goes well this summer, next season can be even better. Keep the faith!

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ItchenNorth added 11:32 - Apr 21 Lacking cutting edge again. Lambert will do well to get a place in the starting lineup next season at this rate. Nothing new, we need a striker to replace Osvaldo (who was bought to replace Lambert !). Wanyama played well and I agree perhaps we could fit Cork in as well sometimes; further forward if Davis is not working etc.
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thegeneral added 11:34 - Apr 21 We are like a dog with no teeth, plenty of threat but no bite. It was never the plan though for Osvaldo to get kicked out and J to get injured, leaving a tired RL as our only recognised striker. It is therefore puzzling why MP persists with the same system, its simply not working without the right players in the right place, Gallagher for me at this stage in his career is offering nothing. Wanyama is defensively a good player but the vast majority of his passes go backwards or sideways, for me Cork has much more vision for a forward pass. If MP persists in playing Victor i can't see Corky being a Saint next season, i would rather see Wanyama go if i'm honest.

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SaintNick added 11:38 - Apr 21 stephen - I would try using him on the right of midfield he has played there before Abingdon - My report is predictable because the game was, the fact is we didnt win 3-0 against a side content to sit back and for the second game running failed to score, if you add Man City thats three games without a goal in open play Im making it clear that our current form is down to missing Rodriguez, but a side should not go to pot due to the loss of one player, but we cant play the system without rodriguez or Lallana for that matter we have to do something different I would have tried using Harrison Reed for a lot longer, by the hour mark we were in control but we didnt look like scoring and didnt try to do something different we are doing a lot right, but at the moment we are faltering, I am only giving my opinion im not saying its right, but if we want to keep getting better we cant become complacent, a crisis be it injury or otherwise wil tell you a lot more about the character of a team or its manager than beating the likes of fulham 3-0 ever will,. Villa were a side who hadlost three on the bounce and were in crisis, we gave them an easy ride.

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slynch added 12:23 - Apr 21 "They think the season's all over - it is now!"
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montecristo added 13:04 - Apr 21 completely agree with your assessment, the problem seems to be the lack of real penetration in the final third, we have no pace without Rodrigues.Dare I say it but I would drop Davis and bring in Reed for the last few games and see what he can do. We have nothing to lose, Davis is not the answer to our problems in midfield he lacks creative ability.I do not know if anyone has seen the article in the Mail about Saints by Martin Samuel which is nothing short of irresponsible and one step short of slander.The gist of it was that Saints have to sell their best players in order not to fall foul of the financial fairplay rules which I can assure you is tripe. I am hopi ng you will take a look at this and do a proper piece on this, because any young player reading that will think that their days and future at Saints is limited.More to the point its the bigger clubs like United, who have huge debts who have first to service their debt and pay their bills from income with injections of cash from owners being limited to 45 m per annum, before buying new players. I keep seeing claims in the press that United can afford a war chest of 200 million plus, sheer nonsense, they have huge interest payments, plus a massive wage bill to pay not to mention instalments on Mata and Fellaini who cost more than 60 million between them, to pay before they spend a single penny. Sometihng to ponder on with the season coming to an end,.. the football business is really vicious!

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cheltenhamsaint added 13:33 - Apr 21 I wouldn't disagree with your verdict one iota Nick but I'm in the same camp as Abingdon Saint. As supporters, paying customers or travelling fans we live in the here and now. We take what we see on the pitch as the "state of play". It's understandable, we've shelled out hard earned money, but there is much more going on both in front of our eyes and behind the scenes. Let me view the positives as I see them Dominating possession is a very sound tactic, especially away from home. Other than the Saints fans Villa Park was a "library". This immediately negated any positive atmosphere for the home side. Do this at Old Trafford, The Etihad, The Emirates, Anfield, etc next season and the home fans will turn against their team. This gives you a competitive edge. We have all bemoaned, the loss of points from winning positions, some more than others. Keeping possession after you have scored, including passing sideways or backwards helps eradicate a "reaction" from the opposition Neither of these points are particularly pertinent to the game we saw. But I saw 10 Southampton players (I'm excluding Boruc) extremely comfortable on the ball, rarely caught in possession and rarely giving it away. Not exciting, not penetrative but it gives a manager a heck of a solid foundation to build upon in the summer with 2 or 3 strategic additions to the squad. I believe this is what MP is instilling in his squad. And I am afraid that you only get proficient at this, particularly the young inexperienced players, by putting this into practice in a live situation against a Premier League club away from home.

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codge added 13:45 - Apr 21 This was like an exact replay of the Cardiff game and many previous games this year.So much possession but no end results, we badly need someone who can find the back of the net now that Jay is missing.....
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davepid added 18:21 - Apr 21 Nic thanks for working over Easter. We have played like this for most of the season irrespective of whether jrod plays or not , although he probably turned one or two games destined for draws into wins, most recently away to Palace. Either the players aren't up to MPs style or Mp isn't capable of taking his squad and developing them into a winning team. After all , your post on Villa could have been written on about 10 or so previous games this season. Not turning possession into chances, not turning chances into goals ,not defending leads ,even against the bottom club, together with MPs unproven track record abroad leads me to concludehe's a one trick pony . we should be thankful for the developments he's achieved but we need a new leader for the promised land of 6 th spot. I don't pretend to know who that should be but that's a different point to first of all saying MP has reached his limit.

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SonicBoom added 10:42 - Apr 22 I love MP's plan A. Great football to watch. He does seem suspiciously light on ideas when that doesn't work or when we have injuries to key players though.
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cheltenhamsaint added 20:01 - Apr 23 Athletico Madrid v Chelsea - 69% possession, 25 attempts on goal and failed to score against a team looking for a draw. Endless crosses into the box lapped up by Cahill & Terry, Chelsea barely had a shot on goal all match let alone force the keeper to make a save. If only their manager had a Plan B. Utterly predictable. He'll never achieve anything with an unfashionable side trying to break into the elite group playing like that.

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