Will Still indirectly mentioned last preseason's lofty victory over Eastleigh while claiming yesterday's 2-1 win can be even better for the matches ahead.
For a Southampton fanbase that saw a grand total of only six wins across a span of a dozen months, they must have waited for yesterday's Eastleigh clash to enjoy six more on the same day. Don't get it wrong, the Saints mostly managed a single goal upper hand in those victories, thus, six wins were basically a six-goal scoring-fest in front of a side nearly sitting as many divisions down in English football.
The reality was merely a 2-1 win which vanished all the statement result mood, many fans had travelled all the way to Eastleigh for. Yet, the brutal part is Will Still isn't a fan and isn't afraid even to enrage the Saints if that's the way forward.
Following the whole struggle-filled passage of play, the Daily Echo quoted Will Still's intriguing comments: "It's important to win and I think it's probably best that we didn't win with six or seven goals difference".
2024 Eastleigh trip was a flattering outcome for league matches
No doubt, Still is referencing last year's Eastleigh visit where Russell Martin guided the team to a 7-1 result but it hid many weak-links present in the squad. Especially, the back-line because there was rarely anything significant to defend and even the subsequent preseason drills felt easier to navigate.
Win against fellow relegated Montpellier, and the couple of draws against Lazio and Getafe sounded convincing but they were the notorious friendly catch.
Once that fairytale run went away, the brutal reality of not being competitive enough, crept in. And why won't it, as the Premier League doesn't let anyone have a free attacking sequence and only an easy going defending effort to make, in order to secure points and climb up the division standings.
Overall, Still doesn't need any justification on his part and Southampton fans must measure the amount of progress made rather than obsessing on the massive scorelines.