SAINTS BOOS CREWS HIT THE ROCKS
LONG before the end, they could not even be bothered to boo the pantomime villains.
Southampton fans who stayed to the last kick of an anti-climax had been sharpening pitchforks all week to admonish a £170million platoon of refugees who deserted the cause for the Mersey Riviera. But Virgil van Dijk, the world’s most expensive defender, did not put a foot wrong.
And by the closing minutes, Liverpool were so comfortable Jurgen Klopp virtually dared the rabble-rousers to crank up their grievances by sending on South Coast exiles Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren. In fairness, Lallana and Lovren have probably encountered more hostility at a church fete.
Saints were booed off, and if Mauricio Pellegrino hoped their first win in 13 league games at West Brom eight days earlier had lifted the siege, he is back behind the barbed wire and sandbags now. After Huddersfield and Newcastle’s quantum leaps towards safety earlier in the day, Saints could not handle the burden of following suit.
In Open golf parlance, Pellegrino’s side were like the last men out on the course, knowing a par four on the 72nd hole will be enough to lift the Claret Jug – but they blew it by finding water off the tee and the greenside bunker like a gravel pit.
With 11 games to go, and a relegation battle which changes colours with every twist of the kaleidoscope, Saints must confront a heinous dilemma. Do they stick with Pellegrino, whose support among the disgruntled patrons waned long ago, or twist in the hope his replacement is a Red Adair and not a red herring.
“The second half was really bad,” admitted Pellegrino (above). “The anxiety in my players was too high. We have to be more brave. Obviously we’re not happy to be in the bottom three and understand the emotion of the fans, but we have to keep going.”
Either way, Saints’ fate will be sealed in a four-act drama next month, when they play Stoke, Newcastle, Swansea and West Ham on consecutive weekends. Lose three of those four, and Pellegrino’s blueprint for survival will be scattered to the four winds. P W D L F A Pts Man City 27 23 3 1 79 20 72 Man Utd 27 17 5 5 51 19 56 Liverpool 27 15 9 3 61 31 54 Tottenham 27 15 7 5 52 24 52 Chelsea 26 15 5 6 46 23 50 Arsenal 27 13 6 8 51 36 45 Burnley 27 9 9 9 21 24 36 Leicester 27 9 8 10 39 40 35 Everton 27 9 7 11 32 46 34 Bournemouth 27 8 7 12 31 41 31 Watford 27 8 6 13 37 47 30 West Ham 27 7 9 11 34 46 30 Newcastle 27 7 7 13 25 36 28 Brighton 27 6 10 11 22 36 28 Crystal Palace 27 6 9 12 25 42 27 Swansea 27 7 6 14 20 37 27 Huddersfield 27 7 6 14 23 47 27 Southampton 27 5 11 11 28 40 26 Stoke 27 6 7 14 27 53 25 West Brom 26 3 11 12 21 37 20