I suppose this is what we all feared would happen after a couple of less than impressive performances in the build-up to the new season. Leeds were second best to Southampton in every department, but yet again we looked especially poor in defence, and Gradel’s late penalty was scant consolation.

Grayson decided to stick with a five man midfield, which left Mc.Cormack operating as the lone striker, with Billy Paynter dropped to the bench. And Celtic loanee Darren O’Dea got the nod ahead of Ben Parker to play at left-back, even though he’s a central defender by trade. In midfield Adam Clayton got his first start for Leeds, and he was one of the few who actually looked interested throughout the ninety minutes, so we might be seeing a lot more of him over the coming months.

Leeds began the game at a high tempo, with one or two tasty challenges going in, especially from Brown. A Man City supporting mate told me that we could expect Brown to pick up his fair share of yellow cards, and it wasn’t long before Southampton manager Nigel Adkins was telling the fourth official that he ought to get one in this match! And off the field the Leeds fans were making most of the noise, as you would probably expect.

The first decent chance of the game fell to Leeds after Snodgrass set Howson up for a shot from outside the area, but unfortunately our noble captain sent it straight at Davis, and the Saints were able to clear from the rebound. And a minute or so later Leeds were behind.

There seemed to be little danger when Hammond started his run through from midfield, but the defence backed off and when O’Brien did come across to make a challenge he only succeeded in blocking Lonegran’s view of the shot. So just when I thought our keeper would have it covered, he was down too late and it went past him into the corner of the net.

Leeds continued to enjoy a lot of the possession, but without carrying much threat up front, with Mc.Cormack on his own against two big central defenders. With no height in our attack we didn’t have the option on lumping crosses into the area, so the one thing we did have to do was to pass the ball well along the ground, but even that seemed to be beyond us. A couple of moves broke down when passes went astray, and when we did manage to get the ball through to Gradel in a decent position he was marginally offside.

In the 25^th minute we were two down, with O’Brien again looking off the pace as Lallana turned him rather too easily before curling the ball into the corner of the net. And a few minutes later the same player had a great chance to put Southampton three up, but this time Lonegran did very well to spread himself and save the shot, before giving his defence the rollocking that they richly deserved.

Grayson probably did likewise at half time, because Leeds came out after the break looking determined to get back into the end, though Gradel channelled some of his energy into an exaggerated appeal for a penalty. There was slight contact as he tried to past the defender, but he had gone to ground very easily and I would have been very surprised if the referee had pointed to the spot for that challenge.

And soon afterwards we were three down, as we again gave Southampton time and space to run through from midfield, this time in the shape of Connolly, who struck an excellent shot past Lonegran and just inside the far post. Of course the last time we went 3-0 down at St.Mary’s we stormed back to win it 4-3, but there was no sign of that happening in this game, even though Grayson made a couple of substitutions to try and drag his team back into the game.

By now Brown had collected the inevitable yellow card, and Grayson took him off before he got sent off, with Paynter entering the fray as we temporarily changed to having two up front. And yet again he seemed to be completely lacking in confidence as he wasted our best chance of the game so far, when he was put clean through but could only produce a tame shot that Davis was able to save without too much trouble.

Nunez was the next to come on when he replaced Mc.Cormack and at least he tried to make an impression, managing one fierce shot after cutting in from the left, but unfortunately it was a little way off target. And in the 73^rd minute we were reminded that Snodgrass had actually being playing, when he became the third player to be substituted and Sam came on in his place.

Despite these changes Southampton looked more likely to score again and increase our embarrassment, but we were fortunate when a downward header from Martin somehow bounced over the bar and a fierce shot from Chaplow came back off the post. Meanwhile the referee  decided to make up for his earlier laxity by handing out a couple of harsh bookings to Gradel and Lonegran for dissent.

Then right at the end we did finally get a consolation goal after a defender was harshly adjudged to have handled just inside the box, and Gradel stepped up to hammer the ball into the corner of the net. But if anything the final scoreline of 3-1 rather flattered Leeds, and there were worrying signs throughout the game that all might not well be right behind the scenes and that a poor spirit is spreading through the team.

Perhaps the players and the manager are becoming as frustrated as we are with Bates lack of ambition and the knowledge that two of our leading players are soon likely to be on their way out of Elland Road, to add to the three who have already departed. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear that a long hard season lies ahead of us.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters