Verdict: Saints 2 Ipswich 2

First half - bright start fades

A bright and lively start from Southampton was nearly marred by Surman and Perry failing to deal with a relatively simple ball in the 4th minute, but the resulting shot was blasted over.

Although the home team looked lively going forward, they lacked a killer punch in the final third. But, on 13 minutes, a glorious low finish from Surman from just outside the penalty area left returning hero Richard Wright with no chance and could have provided a platform to build on.

Ipswich looked unimaginative and were on the back foot for most of the first twenty minutes, but - yet again - an inability to deal with clearing the ball from their own area, even after an excellent reflex save from Davis - gifted the visitors an equaliser half through the first period as Owen Garvan slotted from eight yards.

Saints lacked penetration down the wings, with McGoldrick tending to dally too long on the right. On the other flank, Dyer looked lively, but irritatingly always chose to check inside rather than using his pace to take on defenders down the line. Nathan has filled out quite a bit in recent months, but what he has gained in strength, he may have lost in whippet-like pace.

Stern John looked a little out of sorts, failing to get the ball down or lay it off with his customary ease. A couple of half chances for McGoldrick brought a modestly encouraging first half to an end.

Second half - hanging on

A minute into the second half, with Dyer and McGoldrick having switched positions, a slip from the visitors led to Dyer being played in. With the ball at his feet, 18 yards out and just the keeper to beat, he infuriatingly failed to hit the target.

A more seasoned pro would have continued his run and rounded the keeper with ease. It wasn't a nailed-on goal, but with Southampton's inability to create very many gilt-edged chances, we surely have to make better use of those we do carve out.

Whilst Wotton had been strong in the centre of the park, Gillett was less impressive and frequently erred both in selecting and executing the correct pass.

A bizarre decision by the young midfielder to play a soft, speculative ball in the vague direction of the centre circle, let the visitors in and with the back four caught flat-footed, Ipswich simply and effectively fired the ball down the right flank and towards the far post for Alan Quinn to head them into the lead.

Some thought Kelvin should have claimed the cross, but Gillett was the principal culprit. He - and the ineffective Stern John - were hauled off two minutes later. Schneiderlin came on to link up with Wotton and Peckhart assumed the lone striker berth.

Neither team could really get hold of the game and Poortvliet played his last card as early as the 63rd minute, with Bradley Wright-Phillips replacing Nathan Dyer. BW-P took his place on the left flank with Lallana drifting further to the right.

On 68 minutes, Peckhart rifled in a shot from ten yard as Ipswich twice failed to clear their lines. There was excitement that Saints had clawed their way back, but nervousness about whether they could make it count.

In the last twenty minutes of the game, Southampton's formation was undecipherable - not only to the spectator but to the players themselves.

Ipswich looked by far the more likely team to take all three points and Davis was called upon more than once to keep the scores level. The fluidity and movement went out of the home side's game, meaning they found it next to impossible to gain possession and had few obvious or encouraging options when we did get the ball.

Meanwhile, Ipswich used both wings well and seemed immensely more effective in moving up and down the park as a team. Saints' 4-2-1-2-1 formation looked all over the place, sometimes resembling a flat back six, with two wingers and McGoldrick and Peckhart as traditional centre-forwards.

Only the optimists greeted the announcement of four minutes' stoppage time with an encouraging yell. The truth is that wave after wave of attack from Ipswich looked likely to yield a goal at any time. The final whistle brought a relieved cheer. A valuable point, but not a deserved one.

Verdict

It's difficult to be too harsh on a young team still finding its way, but this performance did expose some of the problems with the Dutch 4-2-1-2-1.

When it's good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad, it's horrid. Unless Lallana is detailed to dedicate himself to playing in the hole for the entire 90 minutes, we need to find another player with his pace, ball control and confidence who can.

If the players stop switching flanks and moving into space, the Dutch formation can easily be undone by a reasonable team playing traditional 4-4-2 football. Additionally, with Svensson sidelined and Schneiderlin benched, our lack of height and aerial prowess was often exposed by one of the Championship's more effective and wily teams.

The latter should be considered an automatic selection, he is strong, elegant and not as error prone as Gillett.

This wasn't a dismal performance by any means, but the manager's claim, in his programme notes, that he "remains convinced that we can be the best team in the league" is a triumph of hope over expectation. In fact, it verges on delusional. The league table only looks good if you turn it upside down.

To return to the analogy of my ex-girlfriend; when this whole thing started, it all looked so exciting and so promising. But just a few weeks in, I'm not at all confident that this is really going to work out.