Saints fans turned on Ralph Hasenhuttl at the end of the game, but the problems on the pitch lie far deeper than just the manager, it is about a lack of leadership on the pitch that is costing us so dearly.

They say that stats don't lie, well if that is the case then Saints would have won this game, 60% possession, more shots than the home side and only one less on target.

But the stats don't tell the story, most of our efforts were nowhere near the goal, whereas it could have been far worse than the 3-0 scoreline.

Many Saints supporters have been saying that Saints have been on the beach, but I don't think it is that and this is the only plus point I can think of from Saturday, too many players are not on the beach, but are on the transfer list metaphorically speaking, too many of the squad perhaps suspect or even know they have no future at St Mary's, that in the summer changes will be made by the new owners.

Surely that can be the only reason that a team that was in such fine form 2-3 months ago, has suddenly become so awful, the manager got it from both barrels on Saturday, but he was not the one failing to do the basic things when it comes to defending or passing or just about everything on the pitch.

Did he tell Jan Bednarek & Mohammed Salisu to leave their men unmarked or did he tell them to keep it tight and make sure we don't give the other team chances.

Of course Ralph Hasenhuttl has to play some part in our poor run of form, he picks the team, but if we look at that team, would anyone have picked a team drastically different ?

Certainly not in the back four, injuries excepted and in the midfield only the benching of Oriol Romeu was strange.

Up front I would still have played Adam Armstrong as we need to give him a chance, but why does the totally out of form Armando Broja still get played in front of Che Adams.

But this aside this was a team that a couple of months ago was winning games, so why have the likes of Stuart Armstrong, Jan Bednarek, Mo Salisu, Armando Broja, all key players when we were winning games, suddenly become shadows of their former selves.

Perhaps they are not playing for the manager, there is that theory, but if a professional footballer is choosing when and where he deigns to put in the effort, then that is not the sort of player needed at the club.

But I don't think that it is a lack of effort it is a lack of leadership, when we conceded a goal in the 13th minute it was in many respects against the run of play or at least a surprise as we didn't start badly.

But having conceded an awfully defended goal where Brentford swept the ball home unmarked, we kicked off again and charged about as if we had just conceded a 89th minute goal and only had minutes to equalise, 90 seconds later we were 2-0 down.

That is a lack of leadership on the pitch, there is not calming influence, having gone a goal down a leader would have slowed things down and made sure we didn't give the opposition a chance to catch us out again.

But that never happened, it hasn't happened since Steven Davis left the club and until we find another leader then it will keep happening.

We are becoming like Leeds a team that have only one way of playing and that is charging forward and keep getting caught out.

I do think Ralph Hasenhuttl could be doing things a bit better, but the real issue is the players themselves, the usual suspects will get the blame, but it isn't the usual suspects letting us down, it is those who were previously our best players, how come so many of them have gone to the dogs over the last two months, if you tell me that is down to the manager, then those players are a disgrace, I can accept poor form, but I can't accept players who don't try.

The substitutions didn't help, taking off Diallo just after the hour and bringing on Elyounoussi, another whose form has deteriorated was never going to help, why no Tella, no Romeu or Che Adams at this stage, players who have shone in this poor run of form.

Why only a second substitution so late in the game, Ralph had options why did he not use them, that is a question that needs to be answered, as i said I don't think he can be absolved from the blame.

The issue at Saints is a lack of quality coaches backing up Hasenhuttl, he needs someone to advise, Kitzbichler is a statistical coach not a tactical one, he consults him, but his tactical nous is limited, when do you ever see Ralph consulting Kelvin Davis, Craig Forrest or Dave Watson, his other three coaches.

The answer is just about never and perhaps this is the crux of the matter, perhaps the coaching staff know their days are numbered in the summer, certainly it looks like the players have not been coached, hence the lack of organisation especially at the back.

Yes I was hacked off on Saturday, I was annoyed, but I try to see the root cause of the problem and ultimately it was the standard of performance from certain players that was lacking, it would not have mattered if Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola had been manager on Saturday, if those players had put in that performance then the result would be exactly the same.

In my view we have pandered to certain players who have not performed for a while now, Jan Bednarek and Armando Broja are two who seem to get played despite showing little enthusiasm and both might not be here next summer, certainly Broja won't be, but truthfully would we want him given that he has only scored 6 goals and just about all in a 3 month period in the middle of the season, he has been poor now for 3 months.

But there were plus points, Adam Armstrong buzzed around and scored a decent goal ruled out by offside, but the quality he showed in putting the ball in the net should not go unnoticed, why he wasn't paired with Che Adams on Saturday at least in some point of the game is a mystery.

The sooner the season is over now the better, we have petered out when we should have done so much better, the fact that we are still only 4 points behind Palace in 10th shows that we aren't a bad side, just one that has gone to pot in recent months, if we had just been average over that period then we would be in the top 10.

Photo: Action Images

AmericanSaint added 22:52 - May 9 So, many of you have made some very valid and obvious points. I am going to take a different angle. So to be upfront, I am a RH supporter to a point because I like attacking football instead of parking the bus. Now, I see two issues that could be the core of the problem. (1) As pointed out, RH needs a real assistant manager who is a tactician and he also needs a defensive specialist (not a former goalkeeper). This COULD solve some of the issues with our leaking goals. (2) And this maybe the one that is the real core of our problems - the way RH wants to play is not for the Premier League. It may have worked in the Bundesliga, where teams play more open and free flowing football. In the PL, many of the mid and lower teams play to pack the defense and use the counter-attack to try and score (manly through speed of forwards and wingers). We have struggled against almost all these teams as we do not have the quick passing midfielders that is required to breakdown a 7-8 man defense packed in. We may have to accept that with our budget, the way RH tries to set up the team to play will not work in the PL. So if these two issues are not resolved, i don't think we can expect much more from RH or the players. It just wont work out and that will cause nothing but frustration to us the fans and then the players. So, how do we fix it. It's easy to write on paper, but the new owners will be the ones to decide the future and if RH doesnt get 1-2 good assistants or he new players, then our future looks the same of roller coaster up-and-down. Finally, I think with the uncertainty of several players, I think there is a good chance that we will lose the following players: FF, Stewart Armstrong, Oriel Romeu, and JWP. I think Broja will go to back to Chelsea and be sold for 40-50M, Shane Long will leave mutual consent and we will TRY and sell Djenepo, Benderak, Valery, Stephans, Walcott and Redmond. BUT I doubt many will pay what we are asking, so we maybe stuck with these under achievers for another season. Ok, well I know we all are tired of the sub-par performances and the poor substitutions RH has made over the last games, but maybe we will pull our head out of our arse and show up and give Liverpool a game. We definitely need to start with 5 in the back and play the counter attack. So try and keep the faith and support the team as best as you can and hope for a strong finish to the season. COYR

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Monksway added 21:00 - May 10 Something has to change. If the squad is radically revised with serious investment then perhaps Ralph deserves a chance with and improves group of players. If the squad remains basically the same then we need a different voice in the dugout and on the training pitch. Unfortunately I fear it will be the same squad, the same manager and a similar outcome.
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