STAGE FRIGHT ...

It`s been an odd 24 hours in the life of a Saints fan.  Last night, Saints were  beaten by in-form Reading 3-1 at St. Mary`s which put the Royals at the top of the table for the first time this season thus demoting the Saints back to second.  It`s the case that the Saints haven`t been out of the two automatic promotion places all season.   And yet.....

And yet today their nearest rivals for that second automatic spot, West Ham, inexplicably beat Brighton 6-0 to reduce Saints` goal difference over West Ham to just three goals.   With three games to go, how come a team that has dominated the Championship for so long now find themselves under pressure to secure that second automatic place?

Well, I put it down to stage fright.   The Saints have been on television quite a lot this season - both BBC but mostly Sky and each time the result has been found wanting.   Just recently, a 3-0 away defeat at Blackpool was, frankly, embarrassing.   This was followed by a barnstorming game against Portsmouth which ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw.   Last night`s defeat to Reading was also televised and it really does seem that the glare of the television cameras affects the team`s performance.   Trouble is, one of the remaining three games - away at Middlesbrough - will also be televised and we probably need to win all three to be sure of automatic promotion.

So, another fraught couple of weeks lie ahead, but all we can do is "live in the here and now, put yesterday`s result to bed, control the controllables and move on to London Road, Peterborough on Tuesday evening."   Well, that was manager Nigel Adkins` positive message last evening.  

Easy for him to say.  But all the time, I remind myself that the default condition of being a Saints fan is one of constant anxiety mixed with an expectation that fate will intervene to ensure that the worst will happen, leaving us all in a state of almost permanent bewilderment.   In two weeks time, we`ll know the outcome of it all but if all the world truly is a stage and all the men and women merely players, then I hope at least the Saints players will get over their debilitating stage fright.

NURSE!  Pas the Sal Volatile!!