Javi Gracia's Watford reign began with a whimper as Southampton were comfortable winners over the Hornets at St Mary's this afternoon, despite the hosts barely inspiring themselves over 90 minutes.

Their crowning moment came inside four minutes, when Jack Stephens turned in the rebound from Ryan Bertrand's free-kick to give the Saints a lead they would hold onto with relative ease.

Make no mistake, it is too early to make any serious comment on Gracia's influence as Watford's new head coach after 90 minutes.

But it is at the very least concerning the lack of ideas, spirit and, in some cases, work ethic from his first game.

Here's how we rated the Hornets on the south coast:

Orestis Karnezis - 6
Couldn't be blamed for the goal, where first Shane Long and then Stephens were given free reign to shoot at will. Otherwise fine bar one shaky moment when he hesitated with a ball across the Watford box before half-time.

Daryl Janmaat - 4.5
Poor going forward, poor defensively. Since he was played out of the team by Kiko Femenia early in the campaign, he has looked a shadow of himself. Tadic and Boufal had him on toast.

Watford Observer:

Adrian Mariappa - 5
Just not a Premier League player, let's be honest. Rash in the challenge and doesn't have the composure Watford need. He will always give 100%, but that isn't quite enough.

Christian Kabasele - 5.5
Dodgy before half-time but got a couple of important blocks in during the second half. Should have levelled with a free header at the end - he used to be a striker, after all.

Jose Holebas - 3.5
I've previously defended Jose, because he's a decent crosser of the ball. Where was that today? He looked like he was going for conversions most of the game. Let passion run over at the end too. Let's be honest, it would be in everyone's interest if he does leave during this window, even if it's not to Galatasaray.

Watford Observer:

Abdoulaye Doucoure - 5
Not himself, again, a few decent passes here and there but nowhere near his best and hasn't looked in form since before he missed the Brighton game through suspension. It shows in Watford's performances in a big way.

Ben Watson - 4.5
Looked very exposed as the more defensive of a two in midfield after the break, having been fairly steady before the interval. Struggled with Southampton, who easily won the midfield battle.

Andre Carrillo - 5
Tried to get Watford going at times but did not offer enough quality to really manage it. Didn't get into the kind of areas you want your wide men to populate often enough.

Etienne Capoue - 5.5
Not a lot to say about Watford's often-derided midfielder, he won a few free-kicks and should have had a few more but for some awful officiating. A victim of position with the change at half-time, because he was no worse than a number of others.

Richarlison - 6
Lacked end product at times, but less-so after half-time, and he ran all afternoon and looked Watford's only dangerous outlet. Any questions about his commitment following some ill-advised tweeting already dispelled.

Watford Observer:

Andre Gray - N/A
It feels unfair to give Gray a rating since he barely touched the ball all game, through no fault of his own. The delivery into the box was terrible, and the Hornets failed to play on the break once.

Substitutes

Stefano Okaka (for Capoue, 46) - 5.5
Put himself about a bit when he came on and stung Alex McCarthy's hands with a cross, but that was about it.

Roberto Pereyra (for Carrillo, 57) - 5
Had that one bit of link-up with Okaka but was otherwise pretty much anonymous.

Jerome Sinclair (for Janmaat, 75) - 5.5
Tried to influence the game from an unfamiliar right wing-back position, and did work a good opening before fluffing his lines horribly on his weaker foot, with a shot that went out for a throw.