St Mary’s Musings: “Saints have too many deficiencies for top 10 finish”

Cast your mind back a little over a year and Southampton sat top of the Premier League. Ralph Hasenhüttl was the flavour of the month and Saints fans were fantasising about European football.

12 months on and those dreams must seem a world away. Ever since hitting the dizzy heights of first place, it has been steadily downhill. Brighton will travel to St Mary’s to take on a Southampton team 16th in the table.

Why do the Saints find themselves back in the mire having looked to improve so much under Hasenhüttl? What does the remainder of the season hold? And how are a couple of players the Albion were heavily linked with in the summer getting on 93 miles away from the Amex?

To answer all that and more, we spoke to Allen Gunn from St Mary’s Musings ahead of the 99th ‘South Coast Derby’ between Southampton and Brighton.

Southampton are currently in 16th but with the table so snarled up, only seven points off sixth. What are realistic expectations for the Saints over the rest of this season?

I think a realistic expectation is to avoid relegation – I don’t think we’re a bottom three side even if we get outplayed by teams currently in the relegation zone – but we shouldn’t expect to be pushing for a top table finish. If we get there then that is added gravy to the potatoes.

We have too many deficiencies and inconsistencies to reach that potential. I would love to be proved otherwise but I don’t see it based on our recent performances and overall history.

With seven draws on the board, you appear to be tough to beat like Brighton currently are. What needs to happen to turn draws into wins?

We need to start putting together full 90 minute performances. On Wednesday we lost two leads against Leicester in yet another draw.

Both sides will view it differently – Saints will take a point against anyone because a point in the bag is better than the alternative.

Leicester said they viewed it as two points dropped, considering they produced the best chances in the second half. But it is also a view of how opposition near the top end of the table view Saints. I think most teams expect to get something out of us, which is a huge problem.

I know Ralph Hasenhuttl had success at Leipzig over one season, but he regressed in year two before eventually leaving. Team mentality starts at the top and I question if Hasenhuttl is actually a winner or just a nice guy in charge.

Who have been the Saints’ best players? Any disappointments?

Tino Livramento has been the buy of the season for us. At just 19 years old, he has put in performances of that of a seasoned professional and can do everything a modern day full back should be able to do.

I think Che Adams has finally figured out what it will take for him to be successful in the Premier League and has started consistently finding the net.

His participation with the Scottish National Team has really given him some confidence with us and it is paying dividends.

Mohammed Salisu has also stepped up into the void left when we sold Jannik Vestergaard in the summer. He’s someone who took a bit of time to settle in, and whilst still needing some maturity, he has shown his potential long-term.

Until recently, Adam Armstrong was a bit of a disappointment considering we brought him in to score goals, but he’s started to see an upturn in performances and has begun to form a great little partnership with Adams up top. That’s something we need as we’ve always struggled for goals.

You have mentioned two players who Brighton were linked with in the summer there. Tell us a bit more about Livramento, who the Albion were very keen on before eventually being put off by Chelsea’s insistence of inserting a buy back clause?

It might have been the biggest coup bringing him in, especially at just £5 million. Livramento actually froze out our regular right back Kyle Walker-Peters, who was virtually undroppable a season ago.

Eventually, that forced Walker-Peters over to the left side so we could utilise both players. Long-term, Livramento will net us a hefty profit either through Chelsea’s buy back or another sale, and yes, he will outgrow Saints at some point.

And some Brighton fans felt that Armstrong could have been the answer to our woes up front. What has he been like?

It took him a while to find his feet. A lot of people within the Saints community joked that maybe we had bought the wrong player from Blackpool with Shayne Lavery and Jerry Yates hitting the ground running early in the season following Armstrong’s departure.

I just think it is a big ask to put so much emphasis on a Championship striker to come in and produce immediately. It is very rare when it happens – it was the same issue we had with Adams when he arrived.

If you are in desperate need of goals, you might be better off getting a Premier League veteran or a proven goal scorer from a different league outside of England.

Armstrong has shown now that he can effectively hold up play, distribute the ball and produce goals. If he can do that on a consistent basis then his value in the team will expand greatly.

Brighton secured a rare win over Southampton when we met back in March, making it one victory apiece in 2020-21. What did you think of those matches?

It is hard to put a lot of stock into what both teams did last year. Brighton always proves to be a difficult game whether at home or away, regardless.

I know Saints have had a decent run in the head to head since 2017, winning four out of eight, including four draws. Brighton’s only win so far is that 2-1 win at St Mary’s in March. But the games are always tight.

Finally, your prediction please for what will happen this time around?

I predict a 1-1 draw. We’ve not been able to hang onto leads, but have done okay at getting back into games.

Thanks to Allen for his honest appraisal of the Saints. You can read more about Southampton over on St Mary’s Musings or by following St Mary’s Musings on Twitter.