Rows of empty seats a clear giveaway that something is very wrong at Northampton Saints

Perhaps the most telling indicator that all is not well at Franklins Gardens came in the desperately small crowd that turned up for Northampton’s must-win European Champions Cup pool clash against Ospreys on Saturday night.

With barely 8,000 in attendance at a stadium redeveloped in 2015 to hold 15,500, there was a desperately flat feeling inside the ground before Saints clash against Ospreys. The vibes clearly transmitted to Jim Mallinder’s players, who lacked physicality, cohesion and desire on a night they desperately needed all three.

With many Saints supporters choosing to leave their seats midway through the second half, rather than stay to witness the inevitable, even fewer were present when the home side finally decided to play, 64 minutes into one of the abject performances in the club’s proud history.

By then, they had already shipped 43 points to an Ospreys team shorn of a raft of injured international stars and in the midst of their own poor run that had only seen them win twice in 13 games before Saturday. But in full back Dan Evans and fly half Sam Davies they had the game’s two most influential performers while veteran lock Alun Wyn Jones showed almost superhuman powers after playing a key role in Wales’ gruelling autumn campaign. They thoroughly deserved the bonus-point win, despite slipping off the gas alarmingly at the end.

Four tries in a crazy eight-minute spell added an unwarranted gloss to the score-line for Saints, who have now lost eight successive European Cup and Aviva Premiership games, but there could be no masking the dysfunctional defensive display and lack of precision which characterised the opening hour.

After the game Mallinder, the longest serving Premiership director of rugby, bristled at reporters who dared ask if he was concerned about his future at the club he has served so loyally. But only a fool would believe Northampton’s Board are not thinking long and hard about a coaching team which appears to have taken the club as far as it can.

The utterly shambolic nature of Saturday’s defeat, which saw Saints concede six tries in the opening 61 minutes of a game which could so easily have resurrected their European hopes, must be ringing alarm bells.

Despite their score-line flattering late rally, when Saints finally roused themselves to produce rugby worthy of the club’s shirt, they were woeful on Saturday and Mallinder’s position is now under more scrutiny than at any time in the decade he has been in charge.

He was right to highlight the loss of his two first-choice fly halves in the opening 22 minutes as Piers Francis (concussion) and Stephen Myler (leg) were both forced off injured but the lack of a regular No10 could hardly account for the team’s defensive system completely falling to pieces.

“The team are not playing with any confidence,” Mallinder said. “We had a poor, disjointed first 60 minutes. We don’t want to make excuses but losing your two fly-halves in the first 10-15 minutes is always a bit of a problem. We looked a team lacking in confidence.

“The physicality was really disappointing. They were manhandling us and holding us up.

“We’ve got to start winning games and playing better. We’re out of Europe now, we need that confidence and we need that quickly. It’s a tough game to be involved in when you’re losing.”

The next few weeks do not appear likely to provide any respite for Saints. They travel to the Liberty Stadium next Sunday for the return fixture against Steve Tandy’s men, who will be buoyed by some of the scintillating form they showed in the first three quarters of the game, if not be a little concerned by the final quarter when they lost their shape and discipline completely as Hanno Dirksen was sent off for a reckless high tackle which could see him hit with a lengthy ban.

The following week Saints host in-form defending Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs - in a game Saints insist is on course to be sold out - before a tricky-looking trip to Twickenham to face Harlequins in their final match of 2017. With Saints all but out of Europe, lying 10th in the Premiership table and showing no sign of turning their alarming slump around, it is shaping up to be a very difficult New Year for all involved at the club, not least Mallinder.

He refused to answer questions about his future in the post-match press conference on Saturday but unless his side can end their winless run soon, he will face even more.

The inescapable fact is that Saints are a team who appear to be going nowhere. Worst of all, their supporters seem to know it.