By John May

Southampton 2-0 Liverpool

Ron Atkinson once said: "There are two types of manager, good ones and lucky ones - and I would rather be a lucky one."

On that basis, Paul Sturrock is likely to be around the Premiership a lot longer than Gerard Houllier.

Sturrock's reign as Southampton boss got off to the perfect winning start. And it was thanks to a huge smile from Lady Luck and a world-class keeper in Antti Niemi.

As for Houllier, he headed back to Merseyside, not only trying to remember when he had run over a black cat but also attempting to piece together an explanation as to how Liverpool came away empty-handed from a game they really bossed from start to finish.

And while Liverpool were unlucky, Houllier will have to come up with something better than that judging from the thunderous expressions on the faces of chairman David Moores and chief executive Rick Parry as they brusquely asked a steward to be shown to the dressing room.

They will want answers to the same questions for which Liverpool fans want explanations.

Most of all, Moores, Parry, Liverpool fans and England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson will want to know what has happened to Michael Owen

Questions like, why are Liverpool unable to keep a clean sheet? And how can they concede two goals to a team who only had two shots?

Questions like, why do certain Liverpool players consistently under-perform and show a complete lack of heart for the cause when Houllier has backed his judgement in bringing them in at vast expense?

Most of all, Moores, Parry, Liverpool fans and England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson will want to know what has happened to Michael Owen.

England's top striker - and the bearer of the nation's biggest goalscoring hopes in Euro 2004 - looks a pale shadow of his former self.

Claims that he is going through a bad patch are looking hollow as Owen appears to be playing with his mind elsewhere, which in turn affects his penalty-box sharpness.

His second penalty miss in successive visits to the south coast just rounded off a calamitous afternoon for Owen.

By the time he placed the ball on the spot, he had already missed two gift-wrapped chances. The first was the sort of one-on-one duel with the keeper he used to put away in his sleep. The second led to him stabbing the ball against the post from three yards out.

No surprise that his body language spoke of a shrinking violet when preparing for his penalty. And no surprise that Niemi made a disconcertingly comfortable save from a weak kick.

You could see where one tabloid journalist wanted to take the post-match press conference as he questioned Houllier about claims that Owen regularly seeks racing tips from jockey Kieren Fallon.

Houllier shrugged off the allegations about Owen's gambling by stating: "That is his own private life."

But Houllier then offered the striker his backing and added: "Michael is going through a tough period and that is when he needs his manager to lean on."

Chairman Moores will want to know, though, at what point his manager thinks a player's private affairs affect his performance on the pitch.

Unfortunately for Houllier, he visited the last resort of the desperate by blaming officials, claiming: "The turning point was when the linesman made a major mistake for their first goal. How can he miss an offside that wasn't even close?"

Neither do Liverpool supporters want to hear their manager sourly and churlishly bleating: "Their goalkeeper was man of the match - and that tells you everything."

It says nothing to Liverpool fans why their team have only won once in seven Premiership outings and are wallowing in eighth place.

In contrast, Sturrock was like a man who had lost a penny but found a pound.

"The keeper kept us in it," admitted Sturrock, whose first Premiership half-time team talk must have been worth listening to.

"We had a few words," added Sturrock, who showed every sign of being a fast learner.

"People were trying to convince me they were footballers in the first half. They were playing sideways and backwards and when they did that they lost the ball."

Sturrock even got his key substitution spot on. He drew the sting from Liverpool's mounting pressure by boldly sending on Swedish midfielder Anders Svensson to retain the ball.

As happy as he was to start with a win, Sturrock is cute enough to know that he can only visit the well of good fortune every so often.

For his part, Gerard Houllier has got to stop blaming bad luck and, in the old football parlance, start making some good luck of his own.