There is little dispute that Southampton are a club in crisis. Results have been dreadful since Tonda Eckert took the permanent job. After a couple of home wins, the team has gone seven Championship games without a victory, picking up just three of an available twenty-one points.
That slump in form has seen the Saints slide to fifteenth in the league. Tonda Eckert's team are just six points outside the relegation zone and ten points behind sixth place.
It was always going to be a tough week. Hull came to St Mary's on Saturday in good form and well organised. They have a way of playing that gets results on the road, and they took care of business again at Southampton's expense.
This Southampton team is psychologically fragile, and the cracks that appeared under Will Still are resurfacing. That too is probably to be expected after a traumatic season in the Premier League for some of the squad.
Salvation lies within
Like a modern-day Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption, Eckert told reporters that his players are accountable from within. “It needs to come from inside,“ he said.
“Accountability always starts with me first,“ Eckert explained. “The only way out is to dig very deep. It needs to come from inside, and it's not about pointing fingers.“
Whether the Southampton players have the resolve to dig as deeply as they need to is yet to be seen. They certainly failed to dig deep enough to keep Will Still in a job, and there is little to suggest they will now under Tonda.
Against Hull, the team had the entire Northam Stand on their backs. Nathan Wood's confidence must be shot to pieces after being hurried every time he got on the ball by the crowd.
The panic and anxiety spread around the place like a disease on Saturday and Eckert's negative tactics are not helping his players out. They are just putting his team under increased pressure.
“Where we struggle is obvious,“ admits Eckert
Eckert was at pains to remind fans that, under his leadership, Southampton has created the most chances in the league. “Where we struggle is obvious,“ admitted Eckert.
He means, of course, defensively. His team has conceded in all but two of his fifteen matches in charge. His policy of playing three at the back has not plugged a leaky defence, where individual errors and poor defending of set-pieces are the main problems.
Eckert's tactics have been heavily criticised by fans who find the style boring to watch, as passes go side to side across the defence as pressure mounts and the ball gets ever closer to their own goal.
Ryan Manning's misplaced backpass against Sheffield United was entirely predictable, and it's reassuring to hear that “Rhino has held his hands up,“ and taken responsibility, according to Ross Stewart.
Saints fans have seen it all before, of course. It feels like Premier League Southampton under a stubborn Russell Martin regime.
Inner strength comes from belief, and belief comes from sticking together and winning football matches. Against Sheffield United and Pompey, the players need to find an edge, compete physically, and win both football matches.