Saints take on Fulham at St Mary’s on Saturday having drawn level with Derby County’s record low Premier League points total of 11, now the task is to get at least a point to leave the Rams with the sole custody of that mark of shame.
Fulham travel to St Mary’s on Saturday in 9th place in the Premier League; they have high aspirations of finishing in the top eight, with Bournemouth just a point ahead of them, but that is about as high as they can go, with 7th-placed Aston Villa remaining 9 points ahead.
However, they are members of a group of five teams, beginning with Crystal Palace in 12th place with 44 points and finishing with the Cherries in first place with 49 points, all battling for a spot between 9th and 12th.
On paper, the Cottagers appear to have something to play for, but only Brentford is worse on the road of the five teams.
Add to that their recent form, which has seen them win only three Premier League games in the last two months while losing the other five, and they appear to be a team that is win or bust.
So the Saints have a reasonable opportunity of getting something out of this game. Fulham hasn’t been a high-scoring team in recent years, which is good news given how bad we are at defending, but they should not be underestimated after beating Liverpool at home a few weeks ago.
But the Saints enter this game with perhaps the most confidence they have had all season; they are no longer bound by the 100% possession football game in all situations that cost us so many goals early in the season under Russell Martin; also gone is Ivan Juric’s scattergun approach, in which the squad could only guess who would be in and out and what formation we would play week after week.
Simon Rusk has brought some stability to the side. He still does not have the best squad in the Premier League to work with, but by keeping things simple and letting the players know that there will be no change for the sake of change in each game, we have a chance of getting something out of the remaining five games.
All that matters now is collecting that solitary point that will keep us from being the joint worst Premier League club of all time, at least so far.
Of the final games, this one against Fulham, as well as journeys to Leicester and Everton, are games in which we could pick up a point, although Manchester City at home and Arsenal may not, therefore considering that this game is at home, it is our greatest opportunity of doing so.
Southampton fans deserve a home win, and even a tie would be a welcome comfort given our record of only one win and a draw at home, with 13 defeats totaling 17 games of misery.
But that is all in the past; we must now look to the future, and the first goal is to reach that point!
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