Once again we saw a spell of dominance and good play by a Southampton side completely undone by lapses of concentration & shoddy play, we are dropping points due to the same things every week, where will it all end.

This is the second attempt at writing this verdict, the first disappeared into the ether due to a computer issue and that is perhaps for the best as in truth I am sick of moaning about the same old issues after every game and then writing about it again the following week, i could almost save a template for each Verdict and just change the names to suit.

So I am certainly not going to write the same article twice in one day, so this is a lot shorter and to the point than the last one, but the conclusion is still the same.

We have all watched this game either by being at the ground, on TV and also the highlights or perhaps I should say lowlights, some of us were perhaps masochistic enough to have done both.

This was a game that once again saw a better quality team fail to beat one that was of inferior quality, due to the fact that the opposition, were better drilled, better organised and had leadership both on and off the pitch.

One that knew what it's task was, played to a system and was highly motivated, that description cannot be applied to Will Still's Southampton side.

So why after 11 games are we sitting 17th in the table, with the possibility of dropping down further and finding ourselves only 4 points off the relegation zone ?

The answer is everything that Bristol City were last night, motivated, organised, well drilled, we are not, they were a team, we are a group of individuals who are thrown together.

Harsh, but I think true !

Will Still is having a lot of bad luck, he had a lot last night, but that is the least of our problems, he may well be happy with the stats last night, 67% possession, more shots and for that matter shots on target than the home side and of course a higher xG, however that is calculated.

But again the stat that matters is not in our favour, so the problem isn't the quality it is the application.

We are a team that plays the way it does without belief that it is the best way, when you have 3 different players making mistakes for 3 goals, that is not bad luck, it is symptomatic of the belief that the players have in the system and to be blunt the manager !

Perhaps I am wrong, but the results and the league table support my theory rather than Will Still's.

So where do we go from here, what does Johannes Spors do next, I would beggar this question, if Will Still had arrived replacing a manager who had been in place for the last 3 seasons, then I would perhaps be writing his obituary now and not this verdict, but that is not the case and if he is now sacked, then his replacement will be the 5th man in the hot seat in 10 months, this is possibly the only thing keeping him in the job at the moment, but is that right.

Now I don't enjoy writing this, far from it, I would be far happier praising Will Still as a great young coach, I would be happier having seen Saints win last night and up in the promotion race, but I am not doing that.

The manager has been given all the tools he needs to do the job, we have bought in some decent players at this level, including Tom Fellows one of the best wingers in the Championship last season & Finn Azaz who in the past 3 seasons has scored and created more chances than anyone else in his position, yet neither can get in the starting line up, Why ?

So what happens next ?

Do we keep faith in the manager, something that he does not seem to have in his own judgement at present given the chopping and changing or do we change things now.

If we do that who do we replace him with.

Ex Saints manager Dave Merrington once said to me that at any given time a manager is only 4 games from being hailed as the greatest thing or from being on the verge of being sacked.

I would think that this is the case with Still, Saints will give him another chance, but we cannot go another 4 games where we average just a point a game.

I truly hope that in 4 games time Still is repaying the faith his employers have shown in him and he is still the manager of Southampton Football Club, a team now in the top 6 or thereabouts.

All Photos Via Reuters

Jesus_02 added 00:02 - Oct 23 Our first 11are very young, especially the defense and thier confidence was shot once again. McCarthy cant fill them with confidence either he doesnt comand his box at all. Up front we are desperate for options. Yes we have bought creatice midfielders but over all out recuitment has left us asking too much from a obviously talented but novice manager. Sacking still is not the answer, can he really be blamed for loaning out our only decent keeper and Downes being simply not up to scratch?

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Bawdrip added 07:09 - Oct 23 Living near Bridgwater on the edge of the Somerset Levels this was my nearest match of the season. For the third time in a row we were well beaten at Ashton Gate. First half was good. No complaints really. Very unfortunate mistake by Wood. The ball seemed to spin and he got in a complete tangle. Second half was pretty awful. Dreadful cross field pass for the 3rd and a fluke of a goal for the second. Never looked like recovering. Individual mistakes kk es and bad luck cost us dearly. That said City deserved the win as they seemed to want it more and we're better organised. I think our luck will change and I'd persevere with Still. Definitely need a new centre forward in January as much as I like Stewart he's clearly very injury prone and without a tall striker we struggle.

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PezzaSaint added 08:08 - Oct 23 I don’t think Still had much to do with the summer signings. Damien Downs doesn’t appear to be good enough and certainly Still isn’t a fan. Our player recruitment has been poor for a good few seasons now, the focus should have been on a proven centre forward even if it had meant splashing the cash! If we had taken chances we would probably have had 3 more wins this season.

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StRipper added 11:39 - Oct 23 halftimeorange - "if we don't give him time, we won't find out what he can achieve" - you could apply that argument to every football manager. And the finding out is often not all that, when the gaps in their overall competence already show up and their reassurances of future excellence never come to fruition. For example with Reuben Selles. We gave him time. Was that the right thing to do? If the appointment was a bad one, as pretty much every appointment has been since Ralf, it doesn't matter how much time we give them. Except in maybe one situation... Should we have given Nathan Jones more time, seeing as Charlton are in the Play off spots?

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djtsaints123 added 11:52 - Oct 23 Why when a system has not worked even when you change players do you keep using it I am beyond belief our problems are always the same players 3 at back and no one covers when one CD loses concentration opposition scores.
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kevleykeegle added 11:57 - Oct 23 Do those who call us happy clappers (so annoying - but I guess you get a kick out of putting down anyone who thinks differently to you) really think we are happy with where we’re at?! We’re not. We just want to stop pushing the panic button during lean times. Some of us can see positive change, albeit not at the pace we would like. We all support the same team. No one is happy but some of us want to give the manager a fair shot.

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onetowatch added 17:25 - Oct 23 Just 1 question Bowlercrow, you agree with playing 5 at the back, even at home, against mediocre Championship competition???? Really!!!!
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onetowatch added 17:30 - Oct 23 For all those vehemently defending WS, can I just ask - do you really defend playing 5 at the back against mediocre opposition???? No Saint fan wants WS sacked, or any manager, as it's a reflection on how badly we're doing, but Nick is right to call out current failings that are obvious. We should set up to win games, not survive in them, and that mentality, currently, is coming from the Manager...

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