SAINT ANDREW`S DAY........

This is Andrew Surman - raised in Bitterne in Southampton and, having come through Southampton Football Club`s very productive Academy, has now secured a starting place in the Saints` first team line-up.

Given his local connections and those of his parents, who are both season ticket holders at St. Mary`s Stadium, Andrew is fulfilling his boyhood dream of playing for his home town club.

So it was a special day for Andrew, his friends and family and the 22,400 Saints fans when he scored his first ever hat-trick of goals in Saturday`s 5-2 defeat of struggling Barnsley. The first two of his three goals were exquisite strikes from outside the area and the third came when he grabbed the ball from nominated penalty taker Gregorz Raziak to secure his hat-trick by sending the despairing Tykes` custodian the wrong way, following the award of a spot kick for hand ball given against, ironically enough, Barnsley midfielder Brian Howard who was himself a former scholar in Saints` Academy.

Things are getting very tight at the top of the Championship league table but with 13 games to go, who can say whether it will be Saints, West Brom, Birmingham, Preston, Cardiff, Sunderland, Derby or any of a number of other teams who finally make it to the promised land of the Premiership. Having been absent from my seat in the Itchen Stand since November, it was a real pleasure to be back among good friends to witness a thoroughly entertaining game - fair play to Barnsley; they may be struggling at the wrong end of the table, but at least they came and had a go at playing progressive football.

All of which confirmed to me that the Championship is the home of proper football, with virtually every team capable of beating any other in the league - a far cry from the predictability of the Premiership, with all its hype and theatricals.

Now I know that from a financial point of view (and I speak as a shareholder in Southampton FC) the Premiership is the place to be, but from a football point of view, the Championship wins hands down. Maybe we should just stay where we are and enjoy it.