Southampton At Leicester The Debacle

The big question is how can a side that was so tight at the back, so clinical up front and who could pass the ball around almost with their eyes closed, become the disorganised rabble that they were at the Leicester City this evening.

In truth Saints never looked confident from the beginning, they looked nervous and low on confidence and gave the ball away far too many times.

The goal threat was non existent and to be blunt Leicester just picked us off.

We were somewhat fortunate to go in only a goal down at the break and although we came out and had a go in the first 10 mins of the second half you just had the feeling that the home side were just biding their time.

This was indeed the case and when on the hour mark Leicester made it two, you knew we were finished.

Perhaps Saints can be excused for trying to pull a goal back at this point, but once the third went in it was just astonishing that at this stage we didn't just close the game down and apply a little bit of damage limitation.

No we carried on as if we were still in the game, 4 minutes later it was 4 and only 2 minutes later as we poured forward, Leicester cleared the ball and suddenly we were caught short and it was 5.

We were now just a rabble, again no leadership on the pitch, indeed in the final 10 minutes we had more meaningful attacks than in the previous 80, but what was the point, were was the possession football, where was the game management to stop a defeat becoming a rout.

Few players could come off with any real credit, Will Smallbone was one and to a lesser extent Shea Charles and Joe Aribo, but after that it is hard to give anyone any real credit.

The problem is now where we go from here, somehow as I have said our confidence has been destroyed in the last two months, our pattern of play disappeared, our leadership zero, I am sorry to say it but Russell Martin has destroyed everything he has built up and we are back to where we were when Leicester won 4-1 at St Mary's.

We go into the play offs in a bad way and the worry is that the manager does not really know how to get his side out of it, his answer to anything is always multiple changes and you don't have to look far past that as to why our best players have had their confidence shattered by baffling team selections.

On a bright note we kept a clean sheet in the final 10 minutes plus 5 of injury time and yes it was a very good performance from Leicester, but this was more about how bad we were.

What the answer is I don't know, the hope is that we can get back on track against Stoke and perhaps pick up some confidence.

These players were so clinical in all areas only two months ago, how could it be destroyed so quickly and so badly.

Over the past few days over 3,000 Saints fans have travelled to both Cardiff & Leicester, they do not deserve to see a team collapse so badly in both games.

Russell Martin has to show that he is the man to take Saints forward, two months ago I firmly believed he was, now I cannot see any way forward with him as a manager.

Many Saints managers have proved the fans wrong over the past 50 years, I would doubt whether many trooping out of Leicester tonight and a long journey home, can think of much good to say about Russell Martin.

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