THAT WAY DOTH MADNESS LIE...

And so the Premier League is back in action and despite the more agreeable distractions of Test Match Cricket and the Olympics, I confess to a passing interest in how things went for Southampton FC over the weekend.

To say that things were `mixed` is to underplay the reality of life in an environment where the only things that seem to matter are money, money and more money.  It`s really quite depressing especially for fans like me who have followed the fortunes of one club for well over half a century.  No wonder we hark back to the days of flat caps, rattles and Sloan`s liniment.

Any road up, the Saints first game of the season ended in a 1-1 draw at St. Mary`s to visiting Watford.  Wasn`t great, could have been worse, but it could have been, oh, so much better.  Problem is we keep selling our best players to clubs who have more money and who pay outrageous wages, leaving clubs like the Saints finding it hard to compete - no such thing as an even playing field in the self-styled `best league in the world (tm).`

But what infuriates me is that when I look at other results this weekend, I see that Arsenal lost 4-3 to Liverpool, that all three Arsenal goals were scored by players from Saints` academy (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Chambers) and two of Liverpool`s goals were scored by ex-Saints Lallana and Mane, as well as Clyne and Lovren also featuring in the Liverpool line-up.   And that was just one instant of `our`former players featuring elsewhere - it`s quite a long list.

Now, even if I was inclined to, which I cannot bring myself to even think about,  it`s much too late for me to change my allegiance to the Saints, who I first saw in 1946 when I was seven.  But it increasingly occurs to me that if you keep doing the same thing which leads to disappointment, bewilderment and despair over and over again, then truly doth madness lie that way.

 Nurse!!!

921

According to my online mileage calculator, it`s 332 miles from Southampton to Carlisle United`s football ground at Brunton Park, so it`s 664 miles there and back. Yesterday, 921 Saints fans made the journey, many by car and coach, some by rail, but however they got there, it represents a heroic journey to watch a team still lying at the foot of the third division and still not yet free of the ten points penalty imposed by the League for going in to administration.

For once, the Gods that rule football smiled kindly on the Saints as, for the first time in living memory, we came back from a 1-0 deficit to snatch a draw in the 95th minute, courtesy of a header from new signing Rahdi Jaidi. So we are now unbeaten in six games and this week`s fixtures against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday and Gillingham on Saturday promise to lift us into positive territory.

The unbounded joy of the players yesterday was demostrated by the fact that, at the end of the game, they all gave their shirts away to the travelling fans, as a token of appreciation for the long and winding road they had travelled to get there. Despite the fact that we are still ten points adrift of safety, there does seem to be a togetherness between the players, the management and the fans that has been so lacking for so long. The only way is up. Possibly.