Troy Deeney eviscerated Southampton defender Jan Bednarek and declared the place ‘toxic’ as the club continues sleepwalking towards relegation.
The Saints slumped to their 20th defeat of the season as they lost 3-1 to Bournemouth at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Dango Outtara and Ryan Christie scored twice in as many minutes early in the first half to suck the life out of the home support.
However, Kamaldeen Sulemana sparked hopes of a surprise comeback when he scored in the 72nd minute to halve the deficit.
But Bournemouth awoke from their brief slumber as Marcus Tavernier wrapped up the three points with his 83rd-minute strike.
Deeney, who was at St Mary’s on commentary duty alongside Adrian Durham for talkSPORT, did not hold back when asked to sum up the Saints’ meek performance.
“They’re really bad, Adrian,” Deeney said.
“They are really, really bad. I’m sat here. I’ve got my wife and my son who came today, as we spent Valentine’s day down here yesterday.
And I just said to my five-year-old son, was that any good? And he said, ‘Southampton are trash, Dad’. That’s what he said to me.
“So, when you think about it, a five-year-old who’s not very up-to-date on football, he can’t see anything that they’re doing.
“And I’m sitting here as an adult who’s been around and understands the game. I can’t see where they win. I think they will win a game, but I can’t tell you how they’re going to win that game or where the goals are going to come from.”
Deeney conceded the Saints did have two bright spots in the form of Sulemana as well as teenage star Tyler Dibling, who has attracted plenty of interest from Premier League rivals.
The Watford legend also praised Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale for keeping the scoreline as low as he could.
However, he was at a loss to explain why Ramsdale wanted to leave Arsenal to join the mess at St Mary’s and felt it could have major ramifications should he seek a move in the summer.
“Yes, he wanted to play,” Deeney said.
“Yes, he’s going to have a lot of shots.
“But do you think someone’s going to take him on next year, if they go down? I don’t think so.
“I think he’s made a real big gamble. Yes, he looks half good, but he doesn’t fill you with confidence that he can go on and kick and be in this England team, which is what he ultimately wanted to do.”
Although Deeney had kind words for Dibling and Sulemana, he reserved his strongest criticism for Bednarek.
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The Pole started in the heart of Southampton’s defence but had an afternoon to forget.
So poor was Bednarek, Deeney felt he could still run rings around him despite having hung up the boots.
“And finally, the big centre-half, Bednarek,” Deeney said.
“I was running around him three years ago, and I haven’t run in a year. I’d put money on it, mate, that I could run past him now.”
Durham was stunned by the last comment, replying: “Wow. No disrespect to you, but that’s some indictment of the ambit.
But Deeney doubled down: “No, but I’ll be deadly serious. That’s not to give myself a big head. I haven’t ran in a year. I can run past him.”
With the loss against Bournemouth, Southampton remain dead last in the league on nine points, ten behind 17th-placed Wolves.
Barring a spectacular run of form, the Saints appear destined for an instant return to the Championship.
However, Deeney believes the club have much bigger problems on their hands than just relegation.
“It’s remarkable,” Deeney said.
“Again, when I come back to games, I remember playing here. It was like this. This place is toxic at the moment because there’s a massive disconnect between the board, the ownership, the players and the fans.
“What are you here to watch? I came here to do the research. I was thinking, are we going to see a solid defensive unit? Probably not.
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“Are they going to be good attacking? Probably not.
“And they kind of do a little bit of nothing all the way through the game. We had a ten-minute spell where they scored. When you watch the goal, it’s more because Bournemouth completely took the foot off the gas, thinking this was job done.
“And then as soon as they scored, Bournemouth went, okay, let’s score another one and get this over and done with.
“I feel really bad for Southampton fans. I sat around a lot of them today, having a lot of talk, but I just don’t see where they’re going to get anything from.
“There’s nothing here now to build. And again, I’m not calling for the manager to be sacked because that’s not right, but I’ll put a hundred quid on it that he’s not a manager by the end of the season.”
Southampton will hope they can muster a result when they welcome Brighton to St Mary’s on February 22.
