Express & Star

Southampton vs West Brom: Mauricio Pellegrino struggling with the Saints

Mauricio Pellegrino must be quaking in his boots.

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Mauricio Pellegrino (Photo: Solent Creatives/Oscar Rodriguez)

Southampton’s new boss has got off to an inauspicious start at St Mary’s and the Baggies’ curse for getting managers sacked is back up and running following Craig Shakespeare’s dismissal.

The Saints’ only victories so far this season have come when they’ve scraped past poor Crystal Palace and West Ham teams.

They’ve been dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Wolves, lost to Stoke, Manchester United, and Watford, and played out dull goalless draws with Huddersfield and Swansea.

And it is their struggles in front of goal – like Albion, they have scored only seven so far this season – that is an all too familiar problem for Southampton fans and one that did for Claude Puel.

Pellegrino has proved just as uninspiring so far, despite coming from Spanish club Alaves with a glowing reputation.

It is the home form in particular that has got the locals grumbling and one win in six home matches so far this season has got their back up.

His team though, are sticking by him, and are confident the wins will start coming.

“I wouldn’t call it worried but no-one is happy,” said midfielder Oriel Romeu. “We’re not happy after not winning (against Newcastle) and losing other games at home.

“We have the right mentality, there’s nothing to change. There are things to get better at and to improve.

“We have confidence in ourselves and we believe in our players and we have enough quality to win games.

“It’s about making sure when teams are coming here to defend we need to break them down better and score more and not let them counter-attack.”

On the plus side, Manolo Gabbiadini struck two goals in a 2-2 draw with the Magpies.

“Before we had a problem with goals now we’ve conceded two where we shouldn’t have,” added Romeu.

“Every game is a different story and we can’t always put each one down to the same reason.”

Southampton, like Albion, have had a relatively kind opening to the season, but they’re aware that luck is about to change.

In November, they play Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City in a row before facing Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs in December.

“This period between now and the next international break is very important,” said defender Maya Yoshida.

“We need to pick up points now because December holds some very difficult fixtures for us.

“West Brom are a strong side and consistently in the top half of the table. It’s a big opportunity for us to show character.”

Dangerman - Manolo Gabbiadini

Scored two goals last time out and has three in five starts so far this season. Southampton's biggest goal threat.