Ralph Hasenhuttl is on the brink of being sacked as Southampton manager after another dismal home defeat left fans angrily calling for his head.
Hasenhuttl is only a month shy of marking his four-year anniversary as boss, but limping on to that landmark seems highly unlikely as the Saints hierarchy prepare to make a change after watching Newcastle run riot at St Mary's.
All the signs point towards this being Hasenhuttl's last week in the job. In fact, he may already have taken charge for the last time. The Austrian started the afternoon by trying to pump up the fans behind him but quickly found himself at the centre of their fury – in a fixture which exactly two years ago sent them to the top of the Premier League.
Man-of-the-moment Miguel Almiron set the tone by continuing his amazing purple match and slotting Newcastle in front.
Kieran Trippier won the ball on halfway, Callum Wilson bravely nudged ahead of Mohammed Salisu to Almiron who ducked past Ainsley Maitland-Niles and gently rolled into the bottom corner.
It was the Paraguayan’s seventh goal in as many matches and fourth in four straight games.
An on-watching Gareth Southgate grimaced when Kieran Trippier pulled up with a hamstring complaint at the end of the first half – but the Three Lions full-back curse didn’t strike again as he continued.
His heart would have skipped a beat when Chris Wood came out after the interval rather than Callum Wilson. But the striker was taken off as a precaution having struggled with a cold in the week.
It was a pathetic fallacy that the bright sunshine at kick-off turned to torrential rain as quick-fire goals from Wood – his first in the Premier League since April – and Joe Willock put Eddie Howe’s men in complete control.
Wood instinctively twisted a first-time shot into the bottom corner before Willock was deliciously released by Trippier on the counter-attack before slotting in.
Hasenhuttl’s hood went up – perhaps to protect himself as much from the supporters’ haranguing as much as the rain – and Newcastle’s travelling fans’ tops came off.
Then came the inevitable “sacked in the morning” chants. This was Hasenhuttl’s Wally with the Brolly moment.
Southampton were slinking into the relegation after an annus horribilis where they are taken just 31 points from a possible 99 in the calendar year.
Romain Perraud put a sense of respectability back on the scoresheet with a fine goal when cutting in from the left, only for Bruno Guimaraes to refile back into the 'embarrassing' category with a stunning low-bending strike from the edge of the area in stoppage time.
It was ironic that the man in the away dugout, Howe, had long been seen as a future Saints manager, the thought process being he would upgrade little Bournemouth for their more illustrious neighbours.
Howe was sounded out when Ronald Koeman left in 2016 and was on their list before plumping for Hasenhuttl.
Whether Howe would have taken the job if offered then is unclear, but what is certain is that in the following four years he has outgrown Southampton.
In the week of his first anniversary, he can look back with pride on how he has taken Newcastle to third and got them playing some jaw-dropping football.
The only jaw-dropping moment for Saints fans will be if Hassenhuttl somehow clings onto his job for another week.
