These feel like desperate times at Saints.

Officially the worst ever home start to a league season, marooned in the bottom three and with the manager who was meant to be the saviour now being questioned over every decision he makes.

The club, the fans and the players feel devoid of any belief whatsoever - and when that happens the outcome is far from certain.

For the past two seasons Saints have just about done enough to dodge relegation, but if you keep on putting yourself in that situation then history suggests that eventually you go.

There was optimism that Ralph Hasenhuttl may have enough to somehow turn this around and make largely the same group of players who have struggled so badly for the past couple of years suddenly perform.

That hope is looking increasingly forlorn.

There is still a long way to go in this season. We are only around a third of the way through and Saints have had a tricky enough start to the campaign in terms of their fixtures.

But once you are stuck in the bottom three nothing is easy and the fact the players seem to struggle so much with handling the pressure of playing at St Mary’s it’s hard to be overly optimistic about home matches against the likes of Watford and Norwich.

And even then Saints are looking at having to win those to try and just keep within touching distance of teams just above the bottom three rather than thinking they will move past them with victories and comfortably into midtable.

You would be tempted to say the first half against Everton was about as woeful as you could imagine from Saints, who lacked any confidence, intensity or belief, but then you remember the previous home game was 5-0 at the break.

There seems little point in changing the manager yet again, despite some fans starting to call for it. Ultimately, several managers have had a similar group of players now and not been able to do much with them. After all, ownership and past recruitment remain the biggest hurdles to a revival.

Hasenhuttl did make a few odd calls again. Sticking with a back three for so long when chasing the game. Armstrong at right wing back. Djenepo following Cedric into that role in the second half. Obafemi not coming on until stoppage time.

However, like several of his recent predecessors, he has found himself in a much more difficult position then he imagined when he walked in.

Giving out scarves to the fans before the game was a nice touch on All Saints day.

But what they want more than anything is not only a win but even the remotest chance to get excited about their team again and that feels a long way off at the moment.