Ronald Koeman:

"If I had been asked the question in pre-season would we be third in the table after 22 games, maybe I would have laughed.

"But not now because we have a really good team and we have really good spirit and really good organisation, and I'm not surprised that we are now third in the league because we haven't stolen any points and what we have got, we have deserved.

"I am very happy and very proud of everybody. It was a long week, a difficult week, three away games, but okay, if you win games, that gives players the confidence and the spirit that you need to win against Newcastle at home.

"Everybody was proud after the win last week against Manchester United because that's history, that's a great place to win. But as a manager I think the win today is still better because it was the third game this week and we have some injuries.

"It was a third win in one week, three away games, and the support of the fans, that distance from Southampton was great. Always it is important to have the fans as a background. They believe in the team, they support the team and that is a great feeling after the whistle when you win the game.

"I’m happy for them. It’s a long trip back but if you win games they will not be tired, they are happy to have the trip back, that’s the best for them.

"Sometimes if you look to the table I am impressed myself, but we know we have a good team, good players. We were without some good players and still won away against Newcastle.

"That shows we have good spirit, great ambition to win games and good concentration, If we keep this we can fight for the third, fourth, fifth or sixth in the table, I’m sure of that."
 

when this old toon starts getting me doon....

St.James' Park, please welcome....The Drifters. And on this particular Saturday night at eight o'clock, I know where I'm gonna go - to the nearest ale house for a gargle and grumble.....

The seventeenth day of 2015 proved to be like the preceding sixteen for a football club with one finger firmly fixed on the pause button. A team unable to defend at one end has a scoring vacuum at the other, mirroring the information void that swallows the whole thing. No shots, no statements.

On the face of it, losing 2-1 to a side who had previously inflicted successive 0-4 hammerings on us seems like progress of a sort. However this final game before the season ticket cancellation deadline proved to be a tipping point for some.

While some big ticket losses (notably the two 0-3 derby reverses) saw fans throw in the towel, the quiet desperation prompted by this performance, this team and this club meant today was the final straw for two long-standing season ticket holders of our acquaintance. 

Neither know each other, but both reached the same conclusion at 7.30pm today. Why bother? 

Our winless 2015 continued at a downbeat St. James' Park, as the Saints completed a league double over us in front of a live TV teatime audience. The best defence in the country came under pressure in a bright opening, but our all-too evident lack of talent in front of goal meant that they were aided in their quest for a third away win in seven days. 

Had top scorer Papiss Cisse played some part then a point or more could have come our way - as has been the case on numerous occasions when the result obscured the awfulness of the display. 

Certainly anyone looking for evidence of whether Fraser has improved as a keeper since he left here in 2012 will have found precious little here, especially in a second half when his old team laboured forward and were unable to get anywhere near the target when they did manage a form of goal attempt. Replace Demba Ba? It's debatable whether they've filled that Andy Carroll-sized hole yet.

Conceding the opener against the run of play, a fortuitous leveller raised the spirits and the noise level among home supporters, but another second half dip after going behind again saw proceedings conclude in dispiritingly hushed tones - a lack of belief in the side mirrored by those looking on.  

The one true moment of football gold came when Cabella's long ball over the top before half time dropped for Perez to send his half-volley past Forster but also just wide of the far post. If that was reminiscent of Shearer though, most of the other forward stuff was Shintonesque.

Trailing 1-2 and having seen Pelle head against the crossbar, a late penalty claim was as close as United came to avoiding their third home defeat of the season. Emmanuel Riviere's goalbound shot clearly struck the hand of Jose Fonte in the box, but referee Robert Madley was unmoved. 

Forget about the handball though - had it been the other way and resulted in a Saints spot kick then the lamentations would have been long and loud. And almost as unfortunate as not being given the penalty is the fact that it obscured a nagging realisation that there's nothing else to be had from this set of players, trying in their own way but proving to be utterly inoffensive, save for Sissoko. 

The loss dropped United into the bottom half of the table while the Saints marched on into third. One win in nine league and cup fixtures and another game in which we tailed off badly points to significant issues of motivation, organisation and leadership.

On that basis, our future depends on what returning players De Jong, Aarons, Obertan, Abeid and Santon can bring to the party. One or two glimmers of hope, but a discernible lack of goals there. 

With Cisse unavailable until after the transfer window closes, anyone else would be looking at the transfer market to strengthen that area. Anyone else for that matter would also have a manager, but as it is we now sit  waiting for a puff of white smoke to emerge from SJP, wondering whether any of those here today - or on international duty - have played their final game in our colours.  

Based on the evidence of previous seasons, where we are once the January window opens dictates the events of that month. On that basis, Alan Pardew's final gift to the Geordie nation may have been beating Everton. Giving the Toffees those three points would have left us looking over our shoulders, rather than being becalmed in mid-table; safe and therefore not deserving of anything. Perhaps losing would also have diverted the attention of the owner from his Govan adventure. 

Occupying eleventh spot in the table on 27 points is a shortfall of nine points and three places from the same point in 2014, but that wouldn't have cost Pardew his job if he hadn't done a bunk. Why do we need a new boss anyway? the old one was fine and we can just plough on without him in the same direction - the evidence is in the balance sheet, high fives and pints of fizzy all round.

Rather than support, indifference is what's currently being encouraged by this club. It's a message increasingly being heeded by the bedrock of our support, sitting mute if they attend at all. Going through the motions as they witness this bland facsimile of a football club decline still further.

Their may be replaced for now by younger, dafter elements but those who are the real lifeblood are dropping off, attending from a sense of duty but getting satisfaction only from the company of fellow sufferers. How alienating core customers can be construed as good business remains beyond us.  

It's not just about spending money, it's wanting to be better and putting the elements in place to make improvements. Instead though, we're drifting off into obscurity, promoting underachievement and an "anything will do" attitude. John Hall's vision of Geordies in the team has finally come to fruition but for purely fiscal reasons, not local pride. It could just as easily be North Koreans. 

The results are there for all to see, and put into sharp focus when a team like Southampton turn up with competence, enthusiasm, momentum, leadership and direction. The biggest home crowd in their history is less than 33,000. You could weep at the wasted opportunity on Barrack Road.

Biffa