Hovering just three points above the Championship relegation zone, four wins in 51 league games and now on the hunt for a new manager.
It has all gone so wrong for Southampton, a club that once appeared a staple of Premier League consistency.
And it never really got going for Will Still. The 33-year-old lasted 13 Championship games in charge after taking his first role in England.
Just two wins in that time, and only one since the opening day, made his sacking largely inevitable. The Saints are currently 21st in the table. They have not been this low in the pyramid since promotion from League One in 2011.
Still had a fascinating background and seemed an alluring appointment after time in Belgium and France. He may now regret taking his first job in England at a club who had suffered such an abject relegation.
They beat Wrexham on opening day but only thanks to two stoppage-time goals. The only other league victory came thanks to some Ross Stewart brilliance against Sheffield United in late September.
After defeat by Preston on Saturday, the situation at St Mary's turned truly toxic. 'Sack the board' chants rung around the home end, as frustration with club owners Sport Republic boiled over.
They took over in 2022, sacked Ralph Hassenhuttl and have made a series of questionable appointments since. Nathan Jones was followed by Ruben Selles the season they were relegated.
Russell Martin managed to return the club to the Premier League via the play-offs, but kicked off their abysmal 2024/25 campaign, with Ivan Juric the man who filled in between Martin and Still.
It is just two wins at home since the start of last season.
Was Still unlucky with results?
The underlying data from this season would suggest so, yes.
In the Expected Goals (xG) table for this season, Southampton 'should' be fourth in the Championship table. No side is underperforming more.
Still was clearly coaching performances that created chances, with the problem being that they simply weren't being taken.
You can see that both Southampton's main forward options, Adam Armstrong and Cameron Archer, were in the top six for xG underperformance after the first 13 gameweeks of the season.
The margins can be so fine in the Championship. And it seems Still's Saints just came out on the wrong side of the divide too many times.
There were, at times, chances missed that have to be seen to be truly believed. See Caspar Jander in the video below, spurning a golden opportunity in a game that eventually finished goalless last month.
Southampton were, quite comfortably, also the biggest xG underperformers in the league after 13 rounds of games.
Still's side managed 13 goals, when the data suggests they should have notched 23.
Despite all that, it felt inevitable that Still's time was up. And he cut a resigned figure after their latest defeat.
Still in many ways dealt a bad hand
Sky Sports' EFL Editor Simeon Gholam:
Still had longer to prepare for the start of this season than many, having been appointed way back at the end of May and even being in the stands for their final Premier League game of the season.
But business dealings were slow at Southampton, it can only have served to halve his pre-season preparations.
In attempting to squeeze maximum value out of departures. the likes of Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes were not sold until the final week of the summer window, meaning arrivals were also delayed.
Tom Fellows and Finn Azaz were top Championship operators last season, but both have struggled to adapt after arriving in the final few days of August, with Jander and Leo Scienza in a similar boat.
Mix that in with a club low on confidence after such a miserable Premier League season, and a fanbase alienated from the ownership of the club, and it is no wonder that Still struggled badly. He was dealt a very bad hand.
What comes next for Southampton?
Perhaps if there was one more game scheduled before the international break, rather than two, he would have been afforded a final opportunity to turn things around. But instead, the owners decided to act ahead of their trip to QPR on Wednesday night, which is live on Sky Sports.
QPR have lost three of their last four while the visitors to St Mary's on Saturday are Sheffield Wednesday. It presents Southampton with the chance to get their season motoring as they work out their next appointment.
But whoever takes charge - their fourth permanent manager since the start of last season - faces a huge battle to stop the rot.
And his first task will be somehow getting his key attacking players to step up in front of goal and take their chances.