Whilst i don't think there was a Saints fan at Selhurst Park who would have warmly applauded Virgil Van Dijk on his return to the Saints side, those that gave him such a hostile reception could have cost the team dearly.
It was a brave move from Maurcio Pellegrino to bring on Virgil Van Dijk for his return from the naughty stair with 13 minutes remaining of a game that could at that moment go either way.
There is no doubt that to a man(or woman) the travelling Saints support were not feeling the love for Van Dijk so his entrance into the fray was going to be interesting.
Up until this moment the 3,000 Saints fans had been magnificent in their support for the team, but the reception they gave Van Dijk was not appropriate, one man should not be bigger than the team, but suddenly abusing Van Dijk was more important than the task that lay ahead, ie hanging on to a 1-0 lead and leaving with all three points.
Did the anti Van Dijk chants inspire him to put in a shift ? I would say no, did it inspire the rest of the team who needed the fans backing in the final segment of the game ? Again a resounding no !
Suddenly Van Dijk was the centre of attention and he really should not have been.
In fairness it was not all of the Saints support, perhaps only about half, but the noise they made made it seem like it was a unanimous abuse of the Dutchman.
This is not defending his actions over the past months, all I am saying is that there is a time and a place to vent the anger at him, and 13 minutes to go when you are defending a 1-0 lead was not that time.
Im sure that the manager was keen to get him back into the team at an away game in the hope that it would take some of the sting out of the situation rsther than his return being at St Mary's, this has perhaps made it a worry for what his reception will be next weekend for the visit of Manchester United.
This is a big test for Saints, certainly the first time this season we have played one of the big six, we certainly need Van Dijk in our team, but we do not need a toxic atmosphere in the stadium that will drag the team down.
Yes there will be those that are determined to vent their anger, they will not be happy till they do, but they have to consider what is best for Southampton Football Club not what is best for their own personl satisfaction.
We have to turn the situation to our own advantage, get the abuse out of the way during the pre match warm up and then turn that energy into supporting the team for 90 minutes, if that is still not enough satisfy your blood lust then after the final whistle boo him again.
What we need as a team is Virgil Van Dijk in it, even if it is just to January we need him to help him get us the points that will push us up the table, nothing more nothing else, its business only now in our relationship with him and as they say in all the good Mafia films "Its only business it's nothing personal"
So lets not make the return of Van Dijk to St Mary's counter productive, indeed the opposite lets turn it in our favour and use the energy to get behind the rest of his team mates who deserve our support and backing.