ITALIAN weather, Italian result and, in the case of Gianluca Vialli, an Italian anti climax. Vialli failed to steal the weekend from Fabrizio Ravanelli yesterday as Chelsea left a goal less game at The Dell feeling that their sporadic superiority should have gained them more than a point.

Hard though he worked at times, Vialli did not look fully match fit and came no closer to emulating his compatriot's hat trick at Middlesbrough the day before than the moment midway through the second half when his overhead shot rebounded from a Southampton post.

Yet, had Dave Beasant, Southampton's 37 year old goalkeeper, not been alert to Vialli's predatory instincts the former Juventus striker might still have scored the goals which would have begun the reign of Ruud Gull it with a comfortable victory. Beasant's speed in covering the near post saw a number of shots blocked which might have punished slower goal keeping reactions.

Graeme Souness, the new Southampton manager, took more satisfaction from his first Premiership game in charge than did Gullit. "As a manager the first thing you look for is commitment, and we got that in abundance today," he said, looking decidedly happier than he had done in his dog days at Liverpool. "Chelsea passed the ball well and on days like that it's a difficult game when you haven't got the ball."

Had Souness been the manager of Chelsea he might well have shared Gullit's disappointment at not winning what at times appeared to be a highly winnable game. Not for Gullit the coded criticism or verbal feint. Chelsea, he declared, had to do better.

"Too many of our players were below their normal standard," he declared. "We had a lot of chances. I regard this result as two points wasted. We lost the ball too many times. We were a little bit sloppy, especially at vital moments. With the players I have we must perform better than we did today."