It is solely been just a few months since he took over as Southampton supervisor Nathan Jones, he should be questioning if time has handed. The Saints’ sixth consecutive Premier League defeat – within the palms of their relegation opponents Nottingham forestRecording a landmark first away win of the marketing campaign because of Taiwo Awoniyi’s halftime objective – he trailed Southampton by 4 factors on the backside of the desk and seemed into the barrel of relegation.

It was simply what Steve Cooper’s facet deserved, after a decisive showdown that restricted their opponents to solely a handful of alternatives on a bleak night time for house followers. However as Forest struggled to consolidate after final season’s promotion, leaving the final three locations behind, Southampton After this proof – who has spent the final decade on the high – can solely concern the worst, as their supervisor has left the sector chanting “You do not know what you are doing”.

After admitting this week that it is time to flip a number of the progress their gamers imagine they’ve made since Jones’ appointment, it wasn’t the type of efficiency that will persuade the skeptics as Southampton as soon as once more proved their worst enemies. Lyanco’s mistake that led to Awoniyi’s win might have been simply averted, and Jones was shocked by his facet’s failure to reply.

“I am actually disillusioned – we gifted them a objective and we did not present sufficient high quality to create something,” he mentioned. “I do not know what the followers will do, however they’re free to specific their opinions. This stunned me a bit, however it’s their privilege and I perceive their frustration. We now have to discover a solution to get via this collectively.”

So lengthy had it been since Forest’s final go to to Southampton within the Premier League in August 1998 that they had been nonetheless enjoying at Dell in these days and visiting followers stuffed the stands behind Dean Henderson’s first half objective. it is a occasion ambiance. Additionally receiving One point for Chelsea and after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup, issues all of a sudden started to look very rosy for Cooper, who had a tough begin to the season.

“I by no means thought we might settle for it as a result of we had been so snug,” mentioned Cooper, whose staff has solely misplaced two of their final 10 video games. “There have been no elephants within the room after we bought to our away type, however it’s very nice to have this field ticked now.”

In an evening the place Bhupinder Singh Gill made historical past as the primary Sikh-Punjabi to function an assistant referee in a match. Premier League Within the match, it was Southampton who needed to take the early benefit as Ché Adams competed for an ideal go however widened his shot terribly. A second of confusion on the different finish virtually gifted Forest the lead when a Ryan Yates fault fell on the unmarked Brennan Johnson 10 yards away, however the Wales ahead was capable of slap the bar with simply his shot.

Southampton has been linked to strikes this month for Croatia’s Mislav Orsic of Dinamo Zagreb and Nigerian ahead Terem Moffi of French facet Lorient, and it was straightforward to see why they had been wanted as Adams and Sékou Mara tried to hyperlink successfully on offense. As a substitute, it was Forest who appeared more likely to get out of the stalemate, as each Morgan Gibbs-White and Awoni posed a risk, and it was the latter who did ultimately. Lyanco took too lengthy and had the ball to Johnson, who was racing the ball earlier than giving Awoniyi the best touches to report solely his facet’s second away objective within the Premier League this season. Away followers chirped with the hosts about how dangerous it should have been to lose to Forest at house.

Issues took a flip for the more serious for Southampton when key defender Armel Bella-Kotchap limped off at halftime and headed down the tunnel to the booing refrain of disgruntled punters remaining of their seats.

Nothing appeared to have modified at halftime when Awoniyi pinched the ball over Lyanco and took his lengthy shot simply minutes after restarting. Southampton’s gamers a minimum of confirmed some willingness to appropriate their dire scenario as they pushed Forest again into their court docket and tried to place some strain on them, however a collection of corners had been wasted. Jones attacked three substitutes to kick off his faltering facet, however they nonetheless could not discover a solution to get previous the cussed Jungle protection as Awoniyi got here near embarrassing James Ward-Prowse’s sloppy management.

Since Adam Armstrong, Samuel Edozie, and Joe Aribo did not make any actual influence, it was the Forest backups who appeared extra decided to contribute to their management. Had the substitute Gustavo Scarpa been sharper, he might have marked his debut with a objective after good work from proper wing Sam Surridge. Nonetheless, as Forest followers wildly celebrated their victory on the ultimate whistle, Jones made a rapid exit and has had 4 straight league losses since his appointment in early November.