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Sutton's predictions: Chelsea v Southamptonpublished at 08:51 GMT 25 February
08:51 GMT 25 February
Chelsea have looked very flat in recent weeks and ended up being beaten by Aston Villa on Saturday after taking the lead.
Enzo Maresca's side are desperate to get back to winning ways so this is the perfect game for them - you could not ask for more of an open goal at the moment than playing Southampton at home.
Saints will give Chelsea the chance to find their rhythm again and I don't see them keeping them out.
I must say every week how dismal this season has been for Southampton fans, and probably the only thing they have to look forward to at the moment is the prospect of a day out in Norwich next season when they are back in the Championship.
Juric on Downes' return, 'incredible' Chelsea and a 'structural problem'published at 15:14 GMT 24 February
15:14 GMT 24 February
Millie Sian BBC Sport journalist
Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before Tuesday's Premier League game at Chelsea (kick-off 20:15 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
His squad will be largely unchanged, with nobody returning from injury. He confirmed Jan Bednarek will not be in contention after picking up a knock last time out: "It is nothing serious, but he will not play in this game. The scan didn't show anything - it is just fatigue."
Flynn Downes "will play" after the pair managed to resolve their differences. The defensive midfielder will step in for Lesley Ugochukwu, who is unable to feature against his parent club.
He added: "Flynn needs to do his job. I think everyone makes mistakes. I make mistakes and he makes mistakes. There is no problem. He knows I appreciate him as a player."
After calling the Brighton performance a "disaster", he said "I don't know if I want to do anything differently" against Chelsea, adding: "You cannot change your way every time. I want to press, steal the ball high and play forward. I want us to try to be aggressive, but it has to be our style."
On facing Enzo Maresca's side: "They lost their last game but there is a huge difference between us. They are an incredible team with incredible players. They have had two bad results but they are great, so we have to play well."
He added: "It's not easy at the moment. It is much easier for them than it is for us because they have 20 great players. So if they are missing one player, they can just replace them - so it's a completely different situation to us."
He admitted January signing Welington is still "acclimatising" to Premier League football after joining from Sao Paulo. He added: "I was a player, so I understand confidence and everything. When you come from another country, you haven't played here and you start to play immediately, then you have to acclimatise to this kind of football. It is much faster than in Brazil."
When asked about Simon Rusk joining his first-team coaching staff on a permanent basis, he said: "He was with me from the beginning. From my first training session, he was always with me - so nothing has changed."
With just three months left of the 2024-25 season, he spoke about his realistic ambitions: "We have to create something good for the future. Now is the moment to work hard, understand what we were missing and why the past few years in the Premier League were such a disaster. Now is the time to understand the problem and create a mentality that we can use in the long term."
He speaks to new sporting director Johannes Spors "every day" and they are working together to rectify the "structural problem" at the club. He added: "Now is the moment - not later - to understand how to become a respectable Premier League team again."
Rusk joins first-team coaching staff on full-time basispublished at 11:26 GMT 24 February
11:26 GMT 24 February
Image source, Getty Images
Simon Rusk has joined Ivan Juric's first-team coaching staff at Southampton on a full-time basis, with Calum McFarlane taking Rusk's role in charge of the club's under-21 side.
Rusk had a short spell in interim charge of the first team following the departure of previous boss Russell Martin in December.
McFarlane had previously been head coach of Saints' under-18 team.
Maggie: It was woeful. Players seemed unsure of what their job was; floundering around sticking the odd leg in for a challenge and worst of all, not looking like they want to be there. I really hope that the management are addressing what must be a huge physiological burden/barrier for these guys who run onto the field every week knowing they have been written off before they even start. Start planning for the long term in the Championship now and get a quality manager in urgently. We cannot keep paying for watching dropped shoulders.
Sammy: Absolutely abysmal. The owners need to be held accountable for some major lacklustre decisions as we are a joke. Teams can turn up and look forward to a guaranteed three points away from home. Cameron Archer one of the worst forward players I have seen. 3-0 down and we put Will Smallbone on sums Southampton up!!!. Get us back to the Championship.
Ryan: Far, far too easy for Brighton to play against us. Defensively shocking and no attacking impetus either. Starting to sound like a broken record but it's just not good enough and I can't see us bouncing back up next year either. Need a complete reset next year -manager, players and coaches - to clear the deadwood and rot hanging over the club.
James: It's just become a complete embarrassment now. No desire or passion to win. What difference has the new manager made?
Brighton fans
Steve; Dominant, aggressive, incisive, against, let's face it, a poor opponent. Still, three points against a lower-ranked team is a pleasant turnaround. Confidence abounds, so keep the foot on the pedal and perhaps we can secure another European challenge.
Anton: The naysayers who asked "is it time to change the manager?" will be eating their words. Let's face it - we were more or less a new team a short while ago with a new manager. This will need time to settle, time for the team to understand each other's individual nuances, and the manager to play to those strengths. It's looking a little more sixth sense on the pitch now - and this was a great result. Perhaps give this team the benefit of longevity to become more settled and robust.
Mike; A confident and controlled performance that should have resulted in more than a four-goal return. It was like a knife through butter, or the soft central belly of the Southampton team on numerous occasions. Yankuba Minteh probably should have scored a hat-trick and left the pitch with the match ball. Consistency is the key now, ahead of a much stronger south-coast challenge on Tuesday night at Bournemouth.
Paul: Superb win, and the past three games have been a joy to watch. We fear no-one on this form. Eighth position is good, but we can do better. We are in control of our own destiny, and have the players to take us to the top. Happy days!
'We don't have much confidence' - Fernandespublished at 07:53 GMT 24 February
07:53 GMT 24 February
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton's Mateus Fernandes says the team must "fight more" after another heavy defeat on Saturday - this time a 4-0 home loss to Brighton.
Saints have now lost five matches by a three or more goals in the Premier League this season, only losing more in 1998-99 (nine), 2020-21 (six) and 2021-22 (six).
"It's a sad moment for us as a club," Fernandes told BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore.
"We need to do the easy things not the hard things. We need to get more confidence and try to do better.
"When we did make mistakes they scored - one mistake, one goal. It's sad, it's a tough moment for us. We don't have much confidence.
"Confidence is very important in football. We need to do our best, fight more, rest well, eat well and prepare for the next game."
It is a quick turnaround for Ivan Juric's side, who travel to London to face a Chelsea side - who are themselves enduring a difficult run - on Tuesday.
"It's a big game for us. We are not happy - it's too many games we are losing," Fernandes added.
Woe again for struggling Saintspublished at 19:14 GMT 22 February
19:14 GMT 22 February
Tim Oscroft BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Reuters
It is hard to see any way that Southampton can clamber to safety on the evidence of their 4-0 loss at home to Brighton, despite having 36 points to play for.
Lesley Ugochukwu's booking for a reckless challenge on Joao Pedro just under two minutes into the game set the tone, and Southampton captain Jan Bednarek did not make it beyond 12 minutes when he was forced off with an injury.
The home side did not have any touches of the ball in Brighton's penalty area in the first half, and only managed five after the break.
Kamaldeen Sulemana's shot after 69 minutes was their only attempt on target in the match, and the way Georginio Rutter and Kaoru Mitoma sliced through the defence to extend Brighton's lead epitomised the woes at St Mary's.
They have conceded three or more goals in home Premier League games on nine occasions this season, and visits to Chelsea and Liverpool loom in their next two outings.
The margin of defeat would have been even wider for Southampton had Ramsdale not denied Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh with some last-ditch saves in the closing minutes as Saints threatened to fall apart completely.
Southampton manager Ivan Juric, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "It was just a huge difference, there is nothing more to say, really from the beginning to the end there was an incredible difference between two teams. It was an awful game, a disaster and we played really bad."
On going man-for-man: "We wanted to play like this, it was not good today, I think the players wanted to do it but individually they were much better than us.
"Everything disappointed me today because we were no good before, later I think for me, my staff, the players it is a really bad moment and we did a really bad game."
Sutton's predictions: Southampton v Brightonpublished at 11:24 GMT 22 February
11:24 GMT 22 February
There does not seem much point talking about Southampton.
I must say it every week but I could not think of anything worse than being a Saints fan at the moment, and I really feel for them.
It is just sheer loyalty that is making them turn up for matches at the moment because they only get more misery when they do.
Brighton have been quite inconsistent this season - well, until their back-to-back wins over Chelsea last week anyway - and that has made them a tricky team to predict.
It is not hard to call this game, though - the Seagulls are going to win and all I have to decide is by how many.
The problem with playing a prediction game is that my guest and the BBC readers are clearly going to go with a Southampton defeat too. I don't think anyone out there will go with a Saints win, will they?
🎧 Saints and Sinnerspublished at 18:38 GMT 20 February
18:38 GMT 20 February
The latest episode of BBC Radio Solent's Saints and Sinners is available now on BBC Sounds.
Tom Deacon chats with BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore about the latest news from St Mary's.
The team are also joined by former Saints goalkeeper and 1976 FA Cup winner Ian Turner, as well as Brighton fan Stephen Grant to look ahead to the game against the Seagulls this weekend.
Has 'short-term fix failed'? Was removing Martin 'a mistake'?published at 16:48 GMT 20 February
16:48 GMT 20 February
Image source, Getty Images
We asked for your views on the things going on at Southampton that are being overlooked.
Here are some of your comments:
Dave: Watching Bournemouth and Brighton, who have both turned their clubs into very credible Premier League teams, why can't the Saints learn from them and get our club back on track?
Ray: What I'm surprised at is why no one is talking about the fact that Ivan Juric has a worse record than Nathan Jones. Jones was hounded out of the club and Juric seems to be getting a free pass. Juric's football is terrible to watch. If he's the manager next season, I won't be renewing my season ticket.
Matthew: Removing Russell Martin was a mistake. Many of the players loved him, his man-management, and they worked hard for him. His style needed tweaking, it was a pity he was too stubborn to change just a little bit, but we won't find another manager who creates as positive an atmosphere around the club as he did or plays as attractive football as he did. The results were poor, but we're quickly becoming a poisoned chalice for managers. Perhaps we should have kept him at the helm despite the inevitability of relegation and maintained the long-term vision, because the short-term attempt at fixing it has failed.
Mike: It's likely that most of our better players will leave. I'm including Dibling, Fernandes, Walker-Peters, Ramsdale and Sulemana on that list. But if Saints are going to bounce back and become an established Premier League team again, we need to keep these players and add quality elsewhere. Which means getting rid of Bednarek, Stephens, Manning, Bree, Downes, Aribo, Armstrong. These are the players that have failed us. But I suspect they will linger. I'm not sure they can be relied on to get us out of the Championship again. But if they do manage it, we are just destined to repeat this horrible season again.
Juric on Downes, Brighton and 'perfect' fans published at 14:23 GMT 20 February
14:23 GMT 20 February
Marissa Thomas BBC Sport journalist
Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On team news: "Jack [Stephens] is OK, [Adam] Lallana still not. [Taylor] Harwood-Bellis is still not and [Flynn] Downes is in training with us."
The Saints boss elaborated on Downes being available for first-team selection after being left out of the past three squads: "We had a really good chat and I think he understands the mistakes and everything. Even now, after everything, I think what I thought when I first came here, that he is a very good player and a good guy who made a mistake. But he's OK, he's fit and training very well."
On comparisons between Brighton and his Southampton side: "It's a perfect way of operating. When you are in the Premier League and you have more years, you have a greater opportunity to create great players - this is the big difference to us and [fellow promoted sides] Ipswich and Leicester."
He added: "They [Brighton] are eight years there [in the Premier League]. Every year they can buy new players, sell well and then buy more new players to create something important in the team. Even if they change their managers - from [Graham] Potter to [Roberto] De Zerbi and then now, they are still good."
On competing with Brighton: "Bournemouth isn't like Brighton but it is similar in some moments of the game. The team were fighting and when we have intensity we can compete with Brighton, Bournemouth, anybody."
When asked if having the backing of the crowd would be important against Brighton, Juric said: "At this moment, they [the fans] are perfect, more than perfect if you consider that at this moment we are bottom of the table. All that has happened and they are [still] really great."
On the reaction of supporters during their 3-1 home defeat by Bournemouth in their most recent match: "When we started to play good in the second half, the stadium was incredible. They [the fans] are pushing us. When we scored the goal it was really nice to be the coach of the team with the crowd like this."
What's the one thing no-one is talking about?published at 17:21 GMT 19 February
17:21 GMT 19 February
Saints fans, you know your club best, so we want you to tell us the one thing - good or bad - that nobody is talking about at Southampton but really should be.
Dibling is Saints' most 'saleable asset'published at 14:13 GMT 19 February
14:13 GMT 19 February
Image source, Getty Images
Southampton "don't need Tyler Dibling in the Championship", says BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore.
Speaking on the BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast, looking ahead to the Saints' match against Brighton on Saturday, Blackmore said: "[Dibling] turned 19 this week and he is a really good talent. I spoke to him properly for the first time last week and he has a lovely, simple,19-year-old's way of looking at the game.
"I asked him: 'How have you bulked up and got more powerful?' And he said: 'Well, I haven't really. I have just played my football and I just do what I always do. I have always been able to hold defenders off.' He just sees is in a really lovely, simple and clear way.
"I don't think the club can hold on to him when they are relegated. Probably the best thing for the club is he is their most saleable asset. If you are going to save money from relegation, then honestly, you don't need Tyler Dibling in the Championship to go back up, but would you need him in the Premier League.
"I don't think it would be easy for him [in the Premier League] because he is so young, but if you can get £60m for him then you can probably keep most of the other players without worrying about the money.
"It would make sense to me to sell him. It would be gutting for the fans, but it is business. If they have to sell him but they keep Matheus Fernandes, then I would go with that all day long."
Having been unbeaten in their first seven Premier League games against Brighton (W3 D4), Southampton are now winless in their last six against the Seagulls (D3 L3).
Brighton are unbeaten in all six of their Premier League away games against Southampton (W2 D4) – they've only visited West Ham (8) more without ever losing in the competition, while Saints have only hosted Nottingham Forest (7) more often without success.
'This situation is a mess'published at 07:56 GMT 18 February
07:56 GMT 18 February
Ray Hunt Fan writer
Image source, Getty Images
A 20th defeat in 25 league matches. A 10th defeat in 12 at St Mary's. We remain 10 points from safety and the latest loss - a 3-1 humbling at home to Bournemouth - meant it was the first time they have completed the double over us. More unwanted records are falling.
With relegation almost a certainty, the question is: what do we want to see for the remainder of the season? Is it merely to chase down Derby County's 11-point total, to salvage some pride, or maybe to find some minutes for frozen-out Armel Bella-Kotchap?
It is all of the above. But a more pressing concern is team selection. It is way past the time for Ivan Juric to ditch the back three, which has not been working. The midfield is full of holes that need to plugged. He appears just as inflexible as predecessor Russell Martin and seems unable to learn from previous mistakes.
Martin stuck to the same approach, no matter the opponent, and Juric continues to select players out of position to fit his style. Square pegs, round holes - though it is worth noting that the last time we played a flat back four, we were dismantled 5-0 at home by Tottenham.
The Bella-Kotchap situation continues to confuse. He was named among the substitutes for the fifth consecutive game.
He has played 27 minutes all season - at Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup - but still continues to be unused in a set-up missing key centre-backs Jack Stephens and Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Instead, Juric opts for Joe Aribo to fill that void.
We have Flynn Downes still sulking, Adam Armstrong seeking approval elsewhere, loaned-out players thriving, players being used out of position and players who deserve time sitting on the bench.
This situation is a mess - and with Brighton, Chelsea and Liverpool up next, where is the next point coming from?
'Bournemouth's consistency is everything Southampton crave'published at 11:39 GMT 17 February
11:39 GMT 17 February
Chris Wise Final Score reporter
Image source, Getty Images
There must be more than a few envious eyes at Southampton right now glancing along the coast at Bournemouth. After all, it was less than a decade ago when Saints were competing in European football. They're now hurtling back towards the Championship, and Bournemouth are quietly preparing themselves for the continent.
The Cherries' victory at St Mary's at the weekend was the first time they'd completed a league double over Southampton, and also provided us with the final piece of evidence that there's been a changing of the guard.
Bournemouth were just a level above Saints for large portions of the game. If they'd shown some ruthlessness, the margin of victory could have been far greater.
No-one at Bournemouth is going to openly say they're genuine European contenders, but they are. They've won 10 of their last 15 games in all competitions, are freely scoring on their travels, and are just a brilliantly coached side.
Bournemouth's consistency is everything Southampton crave right now.
