Another game of deja vu with glimpses of what might have been with moments of good play undone by poor goalkeeping and defending, at least Ruben Selles did look to the future with his squad selection, sadly it looks like he will not be a part of it himself.

In my preview I suggested that Ruben Selles look to the future and perhaps give youth a chance, he seemed to have got the message with both Dominic Ballard and Kamari Doyle listed in the substitutes along with Tino Livramento who ironically made his comeback at the same ground that he has been carried off on 13 months ago.

He also started James Bree who I have also suggested might be an asset in the Championship next season.

But on the pitch is was the same old same old, Saints could have been 2-0 down before they got started, Brighton missing a couple of golden chances before they eventually scored in the 29th minute, the ball going under Alex McCarthy's body.

If Saints thought they could hold out and regroup at half time then they would be mistaken, they were caught on the break just 5 minutes before the break and again it was not good watching.

At half time the travelling Saints supporters knew they had watched a pile of dross by a team that were disjointed and seemingly leaderless, they had adopted a defensive strategy of letting Brighton have the ball in their own half and not pressing, it was not working and to be blunt we could have gone in four down at half time.

Ruben Selles didn't make any changes at half time and then suddenly out of the blue just before the hour mark came an unlikely comeback, Saints won a corner and Moi Elyounoussi who wasn't exactly getting a warm welcome from the Saints fans deftly headed home.

That gave Brighton a little bit of nervousness and Saints thought they had equalised, they counterattacked and Theo Walcott looked to have done everything right, holding his run, cutting across the chasing defender and slotting the ball past the keeper.

The celebrations in the away end were cut short by VAR which after a lengthy delay drawing little lines managed to find a small part of Walcott's toe offside.

That knocked the stuffing out of the Saints revival and it was no surprise when Brighton scored a third with 20 minutes left.

Cue multiple substitutions by Selles, on came Adam Armstrong & Sullemana for Charly Alcatraz & Elyounoussi and what the fans applauded Dominic Ballard for Joe Aribo.

On 77 minutes as Brighton looked to make sure of the game came the return of Tino to again please the Saints fans and with 6 minutes left Kam Doyle for Romeo Lavia.

The game finished with Saints beaten and not routed and they could truly have given Brighton a game if that Walcott goal had not been chalked off, but they didn't !

In truth this was not a game where Saints didn't put a shift in, the problem was that they were disjoined and with changes in the side yet again it was a team where those in it weren't really sure of their job and what they should be doing.

That has been the story of the final three quarters of what will surely be Ruben Selles tenancy as manager, tactically he has been found out, in his initial games he worked with the same small group of players who knew what their jobs where and we got some good results, but he was not a steady hand at the helm, whenever times were tough he panicked, that meant multiple changes from week to week in the starting line up and then in the second half all 5 subs being used in a short period of time which again did not aid come backs but put the team out of sync.

The summer will bring further change, Selles is a dead man walking and it is surely not good from the Club that they seem to have already decided who their man is, leaving Selles in an embarrassing position of having to go through the motions whilst the media talk of his successor already have been appointed in all but the signature on the paper.

No wonder the team started with so little motivation early on in this game, what on earth was Selles supposed to say to his team to motivate them, although I do not think he is the man to take Saints forward, I do feel that he was dropped into this job with little back up from the club in terms of an experienced man to offer him advice and now they have dropped him in it again, expecting him to run the squad with the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

Why have the club done this, why are they rushing into appointing a successor rather than taking their time ? I think they are looking to make a splash in the final game of the season by unveiling the new man, I think they are sadly underestimating the wrath of the Saints supporters if that man is Russell Martin, if they do think of unveiling him at St Mary's against Liverpool it could be very embarrassing for all parties.

As one fellow Saints fan in the seat behind me said "This could all have been avoided by not sacking Ralph Hasenhuttl" He had a point, certainly if he had stayed then Hasenhuttl would have done no worse than Selles or Jones !

To finish on a high note though, fair play to the Saints supporters, although they made it clear at the right moments that they weren't happy with the situation, during the game they stayed behind the team and gave some good support, the fans will be crucial next season we have to have a siege mentality and be behind them from the start, I read on social media stories of fans trying to sell their ticket for this game as they couldn't be bothered, that is their choice, but those that did go and that seemed to be the major majority of those that bought tickets, they more than made up for those missing.

Photo: Action Images

obelisk added 09:57 - May 22 "at least Ruben Selles did look to the future with his squad selection, sadly it looks like he will not be a part of it himself.". If that was a look to the future then we should be worried, although Tino looked good so he'll likely be gone soon enough. I also really don't think there's much to be sad about if Saints approach a future without Selles. He's been a common factor throughout this awful season. Nice chap but out of his depth.

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landsdownsaint added 10:28 - May 22 I do hope they don’t unvail RM against Liverpool as it could be disastrous from all angles , RM will not get us promoted. Regards RH the guy next too u was right
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aceofthebase added 10:30 - May 22 I was looking forward to seeing how Ballard would play in a premier game. Did he get a single kick of the ball? What a shame that Walcotts big toe was allegedly offside. He took his chance well and perhaps the game might have changed. The initial team selected must have been an unpleasant surprise to most Saints supporters who would not have wanted those leaving in the Summer to have been in the squad. I have to say that Moi and Theo did as well as others. Standby for one-year extensions to contracts. Oh no!

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IanRC added 10:32 - May 22 Utter tripe, poor team selections by another rubbish manager selected by Sports Republic, who appear to be going for a hat trick in this regard. McCarthy was largely responsible for at least two of their goals, Sulemana who has been one of the few bright spots was given his usual few minutes. I despair of the new owners and management and dearly wish we still had Ralph in charge with proper backing, as you rightly say Nick he could not do any worse than these two clowns and I do not have high hopes for the apparent incoming manager. My club is being ruined.

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Fordy added 10:51 - May 22 To be fair to the club, if RM is their man they probably had to act quickly. His trip to the USA to discuss his contract with Swansea was common knowledge and they probably had to act before this happened. Once this trip was cancelled it was bound to leak. As for the game itself, at least there was a bit of fight with some crunching tackles and plenty of bookings. Why haven't we seen this earlier? It's almost as if the team have been told the priority has been to not get booked. Just a shame that the usual rubbish from Mccarthy let us down. I'm sure he'll be here next season as nobody else will want him at anywhere near what we are paying him. So we've probably got a year of him letting shots go straight through him or in at the near post in the championship.

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davenbennett added 11:00 - May 22 VAR is meant to check 'clear and obvious errors'. Lino didn't flag. No real protests from Brighton. Sky commentors didn't mention offside. On the still I have seen, the line goes through 3 players feet. The offside part of Walcott is his arm! I only listened to it. But from Sky highlights. Walcott did get a few crosses in. But Ely and Aribo not up with play. Watch Man City and they get 5 players in the area when attacking. They are better, but are they also just fitter and can keep up with play? McCarthy! One under, one known issue of his near post. Big mistake was making him No.1, forcing Forster out.

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PaleRider added 11:01 - May 22 Although the gut next to Nick was right it's worth bearing in mind that he literally could not have done worse - we are comfortably bottom! What a horrible season it has been. The worst thing for me is how the enjoyment and fun has been sucked out of watching Saints - there has been so little pleasure ever since Gao took over and this has been made even worse by SR. Unfortunately, although I want to look forward, I see nothing in SR's tenure (other than spunking the cash, which is not sustainable) that suggests our forward momentum will be any better than our historical momentum.

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IanRC added 11:30 - May 22 Actually apart from McCarthy, VAR and the officials were their best players, failed to give the foul against Lavia and giving the ‘obvious’ error of Walcott’s offside.
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JoeEgg added 11:52 - May 22 Hey - I actually found myself wanting to say great article Nick - a pretty good summary - and then the inevitable: "As one fellow Saints fan in the seat behind me said "This could all have been avoided by not sacking Ralph Hasenhuttl"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This totally unnecessary reference to Hasenhuttl - yet again - leave me with absolutely no desire to comment on the current predicament. There are some really good commentators on this site and I will get my satisfaction later reading their observations and conclusions.

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WoolstonSaint2 added 12:18 - May 22 It's been a terrible season from start to finish. Retirement Ralph, Jones, and Selles have all contributed to our abysmal predicament and with Martin having had two seasons with MK Dons and two with Swansea, this seems in line with SR appointments. Cheap, and unproven at top level. Selles will, thankfully, not be with us next season. He has never managed an adult football team before Saints in the PL. I still cannot believe he was even considered, let alone given the top job, with 16 games still to play. The way we have played since the World Cup reflects a rudderless club with nothing to cheer for. 25 defeats in 37 games FFS. Also look how we played v Grimsby, Blackpool, Sheff Weds, Lincoln, and all the teams in the bottom half of the PL. We are absolutely garbage.

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silverspringsaint added 12:20 - May 22 Brighton might well have gone on to win anyway - but that offside decision in the second half knocked the stuffing out of an unlikely comeback by Saints. True enough, Theo ( and Che) has some form on getting on the wrong side of the line - but this was a clear example of the ridiculousness of VAR as currently applied on offside. The spirit of the law - as I understand it - is to prevent an unfair advantage accruing to the attacking player. Whether an arm or toe is fractionally ahead or behind the last defender is irrelevant! Not usually one to beef about VAR, I will be glad that it seems we will avoid this nonsense in the Championship. Otherwise it was good to see Ballard and Doyle get on the field, though they did not have enough minutes. Same for Tino who looked pretty useful. Other than that KWP was the pick of the (fairly average) bunch today.

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davenbennett added 13:19 - May 22 Won nothing, not even got to play offs. Will have to support him of course. But no enthusiasm. Also depends who we keep, who we sell, and for how much, and who be buy. We don't even know if SR will provide funds after spunking up £140m this season. Will they want to cover losses, and any £ left can be spent? All up in the air. Need to be decisive selling those who want out, and new blood asap. Not panic buy 10s before transfer deadline, letting 1st month slide by.

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NewburySaint added 13:23 - May 22 Why McCarthy? Why Walcott? Why Elyounoussi? These aren't our future so why play them however well they played, or not? Selles really isn't doing his future employment prospects much good.....
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Peterx added 14:04 - May 22 Walcott was the only pace we had on the pitch to threaten Brighton and even he is no longer the quickest, yet we had pacy options on the bench, why would we have not started Sulemana instead of Elynoussi. I've got nothing against Aribo and I don't think he has had much of a chance but having him furthest forward also did not work and to me there are better options even with Che out to lead the line. Selles strikes me as being clueless tactically and while he comes across as a decent enough person and I wish him well I can't wait to see the back of him.

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AmericanSaint added 14:05 - May 22 Normally I would give the manager lots of wiggle room on tactics, but this game should me the RS has no idea of what he is doing and is/was not ready to be a manager (proving the SR tanked the season when they put him in charge). If he planned on playing a more defensive setup and not pressing, then he should have started tall Paul instead of Joe Aribo up front. Next, why the hell is he playing AM in goal. I fear that AM will take the pay cut and be our #1 next season because he knows he will not be able to get another job. If SR allows this, then this is truly a sign of their ineptitude. Next, while Theo's toe was offside, VAR had to call it to make their point that it is used correctly. With all the major errors this season, they need to improve their stats for "correct calls" vs "erroneous calls". Additionally, the refs in the VAR booth always seem to forget that key point of VAR - to help on field referees with "CLEAR & OBVIOUS ERRORS". This is how far VAR has fallen in its ability to help the game. I started out as a fan of VAR, but after this season, I think it has hurt the game more than helped it and unless they make major changes to the rules and how VAR is used, this will become more detrimental. Finally, why is SR rushing to make Martin our next manager? They have screwed up so much in that department this season, you would think a sensible person would weigh all their options and then make a choice. It seams like the inmates are running the asylum. UGH

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SanMarco added 18:26 - May 22 So we would have been pushing for Europe if good old Ralphy had stayed. His stats in his last 25 odd games in charge say something different but why let that get in the way of a nice 'if only' narrative. Ralph was running on empty and was happy to be put out of his misery. The fact that his two successors were both atrocious doesn't mean he shouldn't have gone. I suspect this disjointed, overlarge and very mediocre squad were always going to go down whoever was in charge but SR made sure with their appointments. If they appoint Russell Martin we need to do what supporters do and get behind him - you never know, he might be alright...

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SexyBeast added 12:09 - May 24 I don’t how the bloke sitting behind you said anything? You were on the back row 😂 I know your thoughts on Ralph and maybe in hindsight you’ve been proved right but is t it time to draw a line under it now Nick. He’s gone and he ain’t coming back. Sorry for your loss.
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