What formation was Ivan Juric playing against Wolves ? once again we went down to defeat and once again, our manager seemed to have no clue on what selections to be made and how to set out his side, the fans didn't know and seemingly nor did the players.
Mateus Fernandes has perhaps been our best player this season, Ok there is not much competition, but he has been one of the shining lights in midfield, so why was he seemingly being used as a centre forward.
No one was quite sure how we were lining up, was it 4-4-2, was it 3-4-3 or was it 3-2-2-3, no one seemed to be completely sure and that has been one of the problems.
The popular view in the press was that we were playing Mateus Fernandes as a centre forward flanked by Sulemana & Tyler Dibling, but who knows.
The truth though was that despite this we started quite well, we looked good going forward, although with 3 up front with two wing backs behind them, that is not surprising, Kamaldeen Sulemana should have given us the lead but missed his kick from close range, but the visitors weathered the initial bluster and then caught us quickly with a cross and header that saw Strand Larsen head home , although in fairness Ramsdale should have done better, but he is entitled to the odd mistake given his form this season, just a shame in happened in this game.
This gave Wolves momentum and confidence, although we still had the majority of the possession.
Half time saw a strange change, off went Mateus Fernandes, most assumed through injury, but Ivan Juric later confirmed that the midfielder was fit and that it was tactical.
Just what those tactics were is another matter, on came Tall Paul Onuachu, who ran around a lot but did little up to his goal.
But if Juric though that switch was going to change the game, he was half right, withing 2 minutes of the restart Wolves had doubled their lead and now it was an uphill battle..
In fairness Saints stuck to their task, we were all over the place, but the core of the side still at least battled if for their own pride rather than for the manager.
But the manager changed nothing else, Sulemana was trying, very trying, continually making runs and having the ball taken off him like sweets from a baby, yet he stayed on when the first change was made on 70 mins, Sugawara coming off for Cameron Archer, a reasonable change, a striker on the field, but without Fernandes no play maker, so how were we going to get the ball into him.
On 75 minutes we got a slice of luck, the ball came back of the post and Tall Paul scrambled it in, now we had a chance of getting something out of the game, you could see the spirits rise, especially in Tyler Dibling who looked lacking in swagger.
Now we looked a bit better, on 83 minutes a double substitution, Gronbaek for Sulemana and Downes for Big Les, but although we blustered, we still lacked that player who could put his foot on the ball and create something.
With one substitution still to be made, surely the obvious choice was Adam Lallana, but no, Juric waited until the 92nd minute of the 8 in injury time and then brought on Jack Stephens as a makeshift centre forward.
If ever the final nail should be hammered in Juric's managerial coffin at St Mary's, this should have been the moment, it was almost of Juric was sticking two fingers up at the crowd and taunting us that he was getting paid to ensure that not only would we be relegated, but go down in history as the worst ever Premier League team.
Surely Johannes Spors can see this, nothing can save us going down, but let us go down with our pride intact, or at least as intact as it can be, the fans have been magnificent this season, but they do not deserve this manager and his team selections, substitutions and these tactics, it is clear that Juric is out of his depth.
You can see that in the players and you feel that they are as baffled by Juric as the supporters are, they are professionals, but deep down they know that Juric has and is making things worse not better.
There is no point in keeping him on, Southampton FC need to do the right thing and do that now !