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'There is only so much you can do for confidence'published at 17:54 BST 3 May
17:54 BST 3 May
Image source, Getty Images
Simon Rusk spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Southampton's defeat against Leicester: "We started well in the game and we were disappointed with the fashion of the goal. It gave them life and in the end they were worthy of the win.
"We're bottom of the league and it's been a really difficult season. We're lacking confidence and there's only so much you can do for confidence really. We have to keep going. We didn't give up. We're hoping for that one goal that gets us back in it but it never came."
On last three matches to get over 11 points: "The points situation is the points situation. I have inherited seven games in difficult circumstances and I can only take it one game at a time. Hopefully we pick something up in these last three games."
Defeat in this match confirmed that Southampton will finish bottom of the Premier League this season. It's the third time that the Saints have finished last (also 2004-05 and 2022-23), the joint-most of any side in the competition (Sunderland in 2002-03, 2005-06 and 2016-17).
Sutton's predictions: Leicester v Southamptonpublished at 11:06 BST 3 May
11:06 BST 3 May
Leicester have been rotten but, somehow, Southampton have been even worse.
It is sad to see Jamie Vardy leaving the Foxes at the end of the season, but maybe this might be the send-off he deserves. I am going with him to score the winner.
These two teams actually served up a thriller at St Mary's Stadium back in October, when Vardy got one of Leicester's goals as they fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
I am expecting the same outcome here, just with a lot less excitement. The readers will go for a draw, I am sure of it, but I am pretty confident about Leicester taking this one.
An ever-growing gap? The stats on Premier League survivalpublished at 14:05 BST 2 May
14:05 BST 2 May
Alex Fletcher BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
With just four games to go in the Premier League this season relegation has been decided.
For the second season in a row, all three promoted clubs have been sent straight back down, and 14 points separates those in the relegation zone and 17th placed West Ham.
Southampton,Leicester City and Ipswich Town have just 10 wins between them this season, and there is still a chance that the Saints finish the campaign as the joint-worst Premier League team of all time.
But where did it all go wrong?
A struggle to survive
According to Opta, this is the worst combined points total of any group of promoted sides at this stage of the season in Premier League history
The three teams have only managed to get 50 points between them - after just 34 games - and are 14 points behind the previous record which was set last year by Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton Town.
While Leicester and Southampton have seen changes in the dugout this season, Ipswich have stuck with Kieran McKenna, but this has not changed their fortunes.
Between them, they have picked up just 21 points at home, with Southampton and Ipswich winning just once in-front of their own fans.
Promoted sides face 'more of a challenge'
And things look set to get even more difficult for those coming up from the Championship.
According to Opta, five of the lowest eight Premier League points totals for promoted sides after 34 games have come in the last eight years. Southampton are currently on the joint-lowest points total ever at this stage of the season, alongside Derby County.
Speaking before his sides relegation, Ipswich boss McKenna said the gap between the Premier League and the Championship "is getting bigger" and that "it's been getting more of a challenge for clubs to be able to bridge that".
Southampton have faced more shots (605), more shots on target (234) and have a higher xG against tally (78.8) than any other side in the Premier League this season.
On the other hand, Leicester have had fewer shots (299), fewer shots on target (98) and a lower xG tally (29.2) than any other side in the Premier League this season.
Rusk on squad fitness, Stewart and Leicester Citypublished at 14:20 BST 1 May
14:20 BST 1 May
Sean Byrne BBC Sport journalist
Simon Rusk has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Leicester City (kick-off 15:00).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On his squad's fitness: "Paul Onuachu has been training the last few days so he's back in the mix. We have a pretty clean bill of health at the moment."
On their most recent game against Fulham: "Lots of really good things to build on. The first half we did really well to get ourselves ahead. It ended up a difficult one to take. But as I've spoken about, it's about making sure we find the balance of looking like a hard team to beat and having a footprint in the game. It was really nice to get a set-piece goal as well."
On Ross Stewart, who made his first Southampton start in 203 days against Fulham: "I thought he did great. For how long he's been out, starting the game, and it was an intense game too. For him to get through it and be training again this week to try get in the starting team again on Saturday, what a great thing for him and a real positive from the day."
On opponents Leicester: "They're a team that have some versatility to the way they play. Just like us, they will be drumming home that there's pride at stake. There's no easy Premier League games and although they may have had some difficult home form, they've picked up some decent results away from home. For us, it's about going in on the front foot and making sure we're in the best nick to beat our opponent."
On if they would play a more attacking style against relegated opposition: "We have to be realistic about the situation I inherited. We've had some difficult results, we are bottom of the league, and we were never going to become solid and be dominant in the game. If we did that when I came in with seven games to go, I'd probably be able to bring world peace as well. I've had to pick a way for this team to play based on the evidence of the season."
On Adam Lallana's future: "In terms of a playing decision, that's solely with him at the minute. Building up to this game he's on the coaching staff and that'll be a similar format this weekend as well."
'It's not fair on the fans to just give up' published at 09:45 BST 30 April
09:45 BST 30 April
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton defender Ryan Manning, speaking to BBC Radio Solent about not giving up on the club and planning for a better season: "We have to finish this season in a way that we can put it behind us.
"We are going to plan for next season and show the fans that we're going to fight, and we're going to show up and give them a season to be proud of.
"This is a massive football club and everyone in the changing room is committed to it. The opportunity to come here and play is something I never take for granted.
"Everyone is going to show up next season with the goal of getting the club back to where we want to be. It's not fair on the fans to just give up."
Rusk brought improvement but 'no Plan B' from the benchpublished at 12:29 BST 29 April
12:29 BST 29 April
Ray Hunt Fan writer
Image source, Getty Images
After saving a point at West Ham to equal Derby's worst Premier League points tally record, could we build on that positive and overtake that mark of 11?
For the most part, yes. We saw huge improvement in performance and for large portions of the match, we looked capable of competing with Premier League outfits. Even European-chasing ones. The vibes are as good as they have been all season. Simon Rusk has them playing with more desire, and personally, I am enjoying watching them more since he took temporary charge. We have yet to concede in the first half under his tutelage.
After ceding possession to Fulham, we struck inside 15 minutes with virtually our first attack and kept them without a registered shot on target in the first half.
Inevitably though, Fulham got what they needed - like so many before them. An injury-time dagger from Ryan Sessegnon condemned us to another defeat. The 27th of the campaign and 14th at home. Another goal in stoppage time to see the point(s) snatched away.
That is now 28 points dropped from winning positions and an all-too-familiar pattern from a season where we have conceded 11 goals after 90 minutes. That is almost one every three games and highlights our bench is not capable of saving games for us.
Contrast that with the past two home games against Aston Villa and Fulham where they have had four goals and an assist coming off their benches to make all the difference.
There is no 'Plan B'. When fatigue strikes, who can save points off the bench? If we sort this out, then things will improve. All we ask is to stay in games and be competitive. We will go in to Leicester with a slight wind in our sails and with something still to play for.
Gossip: Walker-Peters draws summer interestpublished at 07:36 BST 29 April
07:36 BST 29 April
Fulham are interested in signing full-back Kyle Walker-Peters on a free transfer when his Southampton contract expires this summer. (Sky Sports), external
Chris: Utter dross. These are supposedly 'professional' footballers - I think they need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror. I've seen more skill and passion from non-league sides.
Oliver: A game of two halves - the nostalgic Southampton of then and the daunting Southampton of now. Simon Rusk has elevated us from 'that bad' to 'not that bad', and we looked like dominant for the first 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the second half underscored our disappointing season and the sad reality that lesser sides like Fulham, among others, have overtaken us. It left me with doubt that we could ever return to our glory days.
Bill: I'm not sure how many time Jan Bednarek has cost us points this season. I realise that at times he has saved us, but sadly neither he nor Jack Stephens are Premier League standard and they never have been. Our defence was tired and disorganised but I wasn't aware of any forwards having a pop at goal. If you don't shoot you won't score! I'm not sure why folk thought Ross Stewart was the prodigal son returning. I've not seen anything to persuade me of his value to the club. Sell him!
Marc: Stephens was a gladiator - he gave it his all. It's a shame the rest of his team couldn't be bothered. Super Jack Stephens.
Fulham fans
Matthew: A pretty poor performance, particularly in the first half. Many individual errors throughout the whole game and we were very lucky that Southampton had no threat. Credit where it's due for Southampton's gameplan, but also the Fulham substitutes were impactful. I also felt Southampton's substitute of Stewart for Cameron Archer really helped Fulham. A win is a win!
Richard: Three points, but what a struggle to get there. They are not likely to make Europe - they are just too inconsistent and conceding late goals has been their undoing.
Will: We never make it easy for ourselves. We need Crystal Palace to lose the FA Cup final for eighth place to be good enough. We need to do all that we can to keep our position.
Michael: I really can't understand why Marco Silva keeps playing Andreas Pereira because he makes very little contribution to the overall game. Time and time again he fails to make a decent cross from a corner and worse still his free kicks are consistently poor. His unnecessary tackle in the 17th minute gifted Southampton their first attempt. Time to go, I think.
Rusk emergence 'should be seen as a positive'published at 08:14 BST 28 April
08:14 BST 28 April
Laura Kenyon Final Score reporter
Image source, Getty Images
As if Southampton did not already know just how brutal Premier League football can be, Ryan Sessegnon's late winner was a painful reminder.
As the clock ticked down, reporters watching on were primed to praise another point gained under interim boss, Simon Rusk.
A team, already relegated, but seemingly transformed – or at least much improved – under Rusk's leadership. Put the Fulham result aside, one cannot help but think Rusk is doing enough to at least be considered for the permanent role with Adam Lallana in tow.
Articulate press conferences, noticeable improvements on the pitch and the fans seeming to warm to him. In a season of negatives for Southampton, the emergence of Rusk into the limelight should be seen as a positive - even if he returns to his under-21s role.
Catch up on the Premier League actionpublished at 12:29 BST 27 April
12:29 BST 27 April
Mark Chapman presents highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures, which saw Ipswich Town's relegation from the top-flight confirmed.
'I've found it tough but I know how hard I've worked to get back'published at 21:18 BST 26 April
21:18 BST 26 April
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton striker Ross Stewart has been speaking to BBC Radio Solent after earning his first home start of the season: "On a personal note, I'm very pleased. It's been a long time since I last started a game. I've had really bad luck with injuries over the past couple of years and it's been really tough on me.
"I've found it tough but I know how hard I've worked to get back to this stage. I completed 65 minutes and felt good during it so I think that's a positive personally.
"I think the difficulty has just been the constant setbacks. It's never easy being injured and the last two years have been the first time in my career where I've had to deal with this sort of thing. Every time you build yourself up to a place and you get a knockback, it's probably tougher.
"There have been a lot of dark days and a lot of solo days where you are having to work behind the scenes. You just want to play football.
"I would have liked to have done it during a win but we just got so unlucky at the end. We dug in so well and on another day, we would probably get something from that game.
"I really enjoyed just playing football today - result aside. So it's a positive to be back out there and hopefully I can continue to be a part of this team for the rest of this season."
On Fulham's defensive line: "Both of their centre-backs are big boys and quality players as well. It was a tough afternoon but I thought we did well for the first 60 minutes. We were well in the game and then we probably found ourselves defending more than we would have liked.
"We invited the pressure and in the end, when you're up against a quality team with quality players, like Fulham, they can always find the goals. Conceding late goals sucks, there is no other way around it.
"So it's disappointing, but the fight was definitely there. We aren't going to let this season die because there are still games to play and points to be earned."
Southampton still risking unwanted Premier League recordpublished at 18:54 BST 26 April
18:54 BST 26 April
Adwaidh Rajan BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
With only four minutes of added time remaining, it looked like relegated Southampton were about to secure a vital point against Fulham at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday.
The result would have been the first time the Saints avoided defeat in back-to-back league games this season.
And more importantly, it would have helped the bottom side move to 12 points and avoid the ignominy of sharing the record for the fewest points in a Premier League season with Derby County, who ended with 11 points in 2007-08.
But a late header from Ryan Sessegnon condemned them to their 27th defeat of the season - a result that was even more painful for the Saints faithful after they had seen their side open the scoring through captain Jack Stephens.
Southampton, under interim manager Simon Rusk, will next travel to Leicester City, who will play alongside them in the Championship next season.
The Saints had became the first team in Premier League history to be relegated with as many as seven games remaining earlier this month.
And the meeting with the Foxes will assume even more significance now as it could be their last realistic chance of getting a point to avoid both the unwanted record and the moniker of the worst team in Premier League history.
They will then finish their campaign with games against Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal before trying to rebuild in the Championship next term.
'We need to digest it and bounce back'published at 18:33 BST 26 April
18:33 BST 26 April
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton interim manager Simon Rusk has been speaking to BBC Sport following the defeat: "It is a cruel game. Last week we scored a late goal, this week we conceded a late goal. Of course it is a tough one to take, but we need to digest it and bounce back.
"I feel like there is much more effort and desire from the players and they are giving maximum effort in these games. Whether we deserved more or not, I think it evens out in the end. We just have to keep going and trying to improve.
"We need to take what was good from the game and take it into the next one. The overriding feeling at the minute is one of disappointment."
On Jack Stephens' goal: "Yes, delighted for him. He has been a real captain for us in recent weeks so I'm happy that he has scored. It was a nice set piece goal."
On hopes for the remainder of the season: "The main thing is that we have got the players fighting. I think the supporters can see that and have connected with that. We want to take one game at a time, get as many points on the board as possible, and finish as strongly and positively as possible."
Southampton 1-2 Fulham: Key statspublished at 17:52 BST 26 April
17:52 BST 26 April
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton have lost 14 Premier League home games this season, with only Watford in 2021-22 (15) losing more matches on home soil in a single campaign in the competition's history.
The Saints have dropped 28 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.
Jack Stephens netted his first Premier League goal for Southampton since December 2019 against Aston Villa, ending a run of 79 games without finding the back of the net in the competition.
Image source, Getty Images
