It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Southampton. Their manager, their saint, the man the could not do without Nicola Cortese, Mauricio Pochettino, did one to Spurs while their players, their saints, the men they could not do without, like Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers, Gastón Ramírez and, eh, Billy Sharp didn’t let the door get too close to their back sides when they did one too. It was a meltdown, they said, of Ned Flanders proportions. Well they didn’t reference Ned Flanders but by diddily diddily diddily, doodily, Southampton were going to be shodaiddily iddily iddily diddily diddily this season. It was there in print. A certain journalist – for privacy sake, lets call him “Ian McC” ... No that’s too obvious ... uuh. Let’s say “I McCourt” – did a predicted table for the season. Had them at the wrong end come the season’s end. Embarrassing innit?  It wasn’t supposed to be like this but most of us will be glad it is. What a joy Southampton are to behold, both on and off the field. There were no panicked big buys that brought stars with egos the size of UY Scuti (even if the club had the money to do so) that smashed the dressing room dynamic to smithereens. Things were thought out and players were brought in to fit the system already in place. Their brand of football continues to be a joy to watch. It’s adventurous, it’s organised, it’s excellent. And it’s amazing just how hard each, individual player works for the team. Take last week’s deserved win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Deep into the second half and deep into injury time, Graziano Pellè was still trying to score and still tracking back, closing down United when they had the ball.  Given the travails of the summer, it would have been very easy for Southampton to go into this season with their head down, like a guitarist in a college shoe-gazing band that is too obsessed with being like Mogwai to form their own sound. However Ronald Koeman has instilled a belief and a truckload of confidence in his squad. That can be seen in how they have bounced back from a run of five defeats with wins over Everton, Crystal Palace, Arsenal and United (not to mention the draw with Chelsea) as well as the fact that they have dropped just two points from leading positions so far in the league this season, the best in the division. That is no statistical anomaly, that is good man management on the Dutchman’s part. So what is not to like about all that? And while Pellè may have hogged a lot of headlines throughout the season, there are others who have been just as integral to Southampton’s success. Morgan Schneiderlin, Dusan Tadic, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mané, Victor Wanyama, to name but a few.  As for Newcastle, well things are not quite so rosy. Despite the fact that Alan Pardew took his pictures off the wall and Sellotaped his stuff into boxes (having asked the handlers to take good care of the one with that award), Mike Ashley has yet to get the finger out and appoint another manager. The club are marooned in no man’s land. It has even gotten to the point where they players are coming out and complaining. “It will be good when the club makes a statement to say: ‘This is the new coach,’” said Daryl Janmaat. And he was not a lone wolf. “It’s never a good thing when you don’t know what’s happening,” said Jack Colback. Stability is what players prize most and without it, results suffer. John Carver, the current caretaker, has lost two of his three matches, one of which saw them crash out of the FA Cup to Leicester. (In fairness to Carver, that instability goes back to before he took charge so there was obviously grumblings going on behind the scenes before his time in charge began.) Should stability prevail and the right manager be appointed, Newcastle can prevail. There is some serious talent in that squad and there were certainly hints of how good they can be in the first half against Chelsea last week.  Newcastle have been good at home this season, picking up 18 points from 10 games and only losing twice. This won’t be an easy one for Southampton. Stay tuned for some team news. It’ll be here right quick. Promise.
Minute-by-minute report: Two goals from Elia gave Southampton three points as the crisis at Newcastle continues at pace