Ralph Hasenhuttl believed Southampton were the only team playing football despite their loss to Newcastle – but admitted they struggled to deal with ’10 ft tall’ Andy Carroll.
Southampton gave up a 1-0 lead to fall to a 2-1 defeat, with goals from Jonjo Shelvey and Federico Fernandez following on from Danny Ings’ opener.
The Saints enjoyed more possession and shots, but their opponents were more clinical in taking their chances, meaning it was defeat for Hasenhuttl’s men.
However, the Austrian coach thought that was far less than they deserved.
“I don’t know what my opponent [Steve Bruce] said before he was here, and I don’t know how he saw the game, but I saw only my team playing football to be honest,” he said.
“We didn’t get three points but that’s football sometimes, they had two chances and got the goals.
“That’s sometimes a pity but if we look on the three performances this week, two wins at home, and a brave game away from home, maybe our best of the season, I must be proud of how the players played.
“When the opponent was really struggling, they tried to play the long balls to [Andy] Carroll and that isn’t easy to defend as everybody knows he is 10 feet tall.
“It’s a pity we lost the game in the end because, even after the equaliser, we were playing football and we were creating chances again.
“We had a few ones after set-pieces where we missed the goal because they were just too short.
“But when I see the team playing now it’s completely different and it gives me a lift.
“Although we didn’t take points today, we must look on the positive things: we stuck to the game plan and were creating chances.
“It was very calm in the stadium which was because of us and that is a compliment.
“In the end, the journey goes on.”