Saints were within a minute of a vital win when were undone by a cheat and a totally inept referee, but thats what happens when you are struggling.
It is usually not good to blame a disappointing result on one bad decision, but that is very much the case after the draw at Watford when Saints had a vital three points snatched from their grasp by a cheating Doucoure and a referee who capped a game where he had continually given dubious decisions mainly against Saints by making one massive blunder.
The game had started so well for Saints who dominated the first half and were well worth their 2 goal lead at the break, Shane Long had been superb having a hand in both goals and Dusan Tadic had also played his part.
But the performance was based on a stronger base at the back with the returning Hoedt and Soares from injury and a strong cental midfield trio.
After the break you new Watford would come out with a bluster and they did, but Saints appeared to have weathered the storm when suddenly they were architects of their own downfall, the usually reliable Steven Davis losing possession cheaply and then although McCarthy fingertipped the ball onto the bar it fell kindly for the home side who headed home.
It looked bad for Saints from this point, if you had to put money on a result you would probably have gone for a Watford win, but Saints drew the Hornets sting and looked to be about to take three points when fate literally took a hand.
The truth was the referee was not having a good game, he continually seemed to penalise Saints, Hojbjerg was booked early on for literally his first tackle and referee Roger East was quick to get his book out against Saints also booking Alex McCarthy for the crime of choosing to take a goal kick from the other side of the goal which within the laws of the game he was quite entitled to do, Saints had five yellow cards, Watford did not even have one, that probably tells a story.
So it was not a surprise to find out in the pub after the game that when Saints protested so much they actually had a very valid point and questions have to be asked as to how the referee and indeed his linesman who must have had a very clear view did not spot it, the fact that the referee did not even speak to the linesman showed that he had no interest in making sure justice was served, throughout the game both linesman did little other than point the direction of a throw in, usually after the referee had made the decision for them.
But the truth was that although their were plus points that should not be overlooked, including the spirit that Saints put in, this was again a case of a manager who did little to influence the game from the bench, bringing Lemina on for Davis was a no brainer even for Pellegrino, but it was reactive, in truth I dont blame hi for not making the change earlier, Saints were comfortable, but I wonder if he would have made it if they had not scored.
What was baffling though was that no other substitution was made till deep into injury time, Tadic had had a decent game but in the last 20 minutes although he was working hard it wasn't working for him, he needed to come off, but he was made to carry on by a manager who seems unable to make the right substitutions unless it is forced on him.
The two substitutions when they were made where farcical, the first Boufal on for Tadic was right but as said should have been made at least 10-15 minutes earlier, the second was laughable when Josh Sims was suddenly stopped from replacing Ward Prowse by Pellegrino so JWP could take the corner we had, what was the point of that.
But why was Sims brought on at such a crucial point, Sims hasn't played all season through injury and suddenly is asked to step into a very crucial 3 minutes, why did we not put on a more experienced more defensive player ?
This felt like a defeat, it felt like a bad defeat and I have not spoken to a Saints fan who was up at the game who has any faith left in Mauricio Pellegrino to keep Saints up, let alone take us to mid table safety, this is one of those moments in a season when the direction is very clearly taken, the question is is Abdoulaye Doucoure the man who has steered Saints towards relegation or has he had a hand in the departure of Mauricio Pellegrino and a change in Saints fortunes ?