Liverpool battered away missing six clear chances and a penalty but lost to the home side's only two efforts on target. Furthermore both shots were deflected with the first clearly offside to boot. Little wonder the Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier, nursed his growing sense of grievance. "It's a game we don't want to look back on because we have some reasons to feel hard done by," he said.
Sturrock had demanded more creativity but will take this just their 28th and 29th goals in 28 games. And with them he made a little bit of history giving Southampton, after their more impressive victory at Anfield in December, their first league double over Liverpool since 1961 when both clubs were in the old Second Division.
History is what Houllier may soon be as well. For although this was Sturrock's inauguration at this level, the game meant more for Liverpool who remain stuck in eighth place in the Premiership and teetering on the brink of elimination from the Uefa Cup. Judging from the fractious reaction of Houllier's players as they left the pitch, it's not a happy ship with Harry Kewell who had initially been left out only to be included after Bruno Cheyrou broke down gesticulating with Houllier's assistant, Phil Thompson, as he trooped off.
Kewell missed several chances with an early, finger-tip save from the outstanding Antti Niemi setting the tone. But it was Michael Owen who was the main culprit. The world is weighing heavy on his shoulders right now and he took none of his opportunities with any conviction. Niemi's legs blocked a shot on the stroke of half-time when clean through and then after the break Owen nudged the ball against a post from no distance at all after another brilliant block from Steven Gerrard's shot. To cap it all Owen slouched forward to hit a penalty when one down for Niemi to comfortably push away. Amazingly he has now scored only 10 of his last 23 spot kicks. The penalty came a little harshly after Jason Dodd accidentally caught the heels of Kewell.
It was a bits-and-pieces match in the first half. Liverpool had the bits through a host of missed chances, Gerrard was another at fault while Southampton were in pieces. Sturrock, in his notes, had talked of his delight at his new job saying he had expected this weekend to have been "welcoming Swindon to Plymouth". On the form in that first 45 minutes his new charges would have struggled in that company. But he can surely give a half-time team talk as Kevin Phillips, scorer of the second goal, provider of the first, testified. "Hearing a Scottish accent having a go at us again gave us a lift," he said with a grin, referring to Sturrock succeeding Gordon Strachan. The new man was equally direct. "I did have words," he said. "People were trying to convince me they were footballers." And, clearly, failing.
After the break, they shot out of the blocks. Phillips and James Beattie raced into the Liverpool half, running a full 50 yards, to exchange passes. As the ball ran back to Beattie he was ahead of the last defender, Jamie Carragher, and as he flicked his shot it spun off the Liverpool player, away from Jerzy Dudek, included after Chris Kirkland broke his wrist in training, and into the net. "That was the turning point," Houllier said. "A major mistake by the linesman changed the balance of the game." Niemi was imperious. He saved Igor Biscan's header, another Kewell shot, then another from Owen and he even dragged the ball back as it appeared to have crossed the line from Owen again. It hadn't. Before that final chance, Southampton scored again. Phillips, growing in influence, shaped from 30 yards and saw his shot fly off substitute John Arne Riise and loop high into the net. Dudek was stunned. His team-mates were too.
"We have used our get-out-of-jail card," said Sturrock, acknowledging the fortune of the victory. "But that's football," he said. "And there will be lots of games when I will be sitting here saying we deserved the points and got nothing." Just like Houllier, in fact.