Southampton news: Opinion – Any hope of going down with dignity?

Saints once again failed to stop the rot and slumped to their fifth straight Premier League defeat and ninth consecutive at St. Mary’s.

In doing so, they become only the fourth team in top-flight history with that embarrassing record.

After a bold performance at Anfield playing four at the back, Ivan Juric, again tinkered with squad selection and reverted to a back five which included three full-backs, no recognised striker and Albert Gronbaek, once again, keeping warm on the bench.

All the positives from the previous fixture were seemingly ignored, at home to Wolves, who themselves aren’t yet secure, and without top marksman Matheus Cunha. It feels like a huge chance has gone by.

Bizarre team selections are the norm these days. For a team who only have 21 goals to their credit, to leave focal points like Paul Onuachu and Cameron Archer on the bench to deploy five at the back is ludicrous. The team are beat before a ball has been kicked.

In-game tactics also proved peculiar. Onuachu came on at the break for Mateus Fernandes to a chorus of boos around St. Mary’s. We also saw centre-half Jack Stephens try his hand upfront in the final stages. It’s hard to know what Juric will do next.

The team, as a whole, didn’t play too badly in parts. We’ve seen far worse recently. Chances were being created and Onuachu gave us hope, fifteen minutes from time when he halved the deficit. However, the fault lies with Juric for his team selection and bad tactics.

Is there any hope of going down with dignity?

We remain 18 points from safety with only nine games to play. The only solace right now is we have a fortnight off from this mess.

Find more from Ray Hunt at the In that Number podcast