ENOUGH IS ENOUGH....

This was the despairing scene repeated throughout the suburbs of Southampton and beyond when the news broke that Nigel Pearson`s contract was not going to be renewed and that, instead, the future of Southampton FC would be placed into the care of two unknown Dutch coaches.

Jan Poortvliet played for Holland in the 1978 World Cup Final and his mate Mark Wotte played for Feyenoord at the highest level of Dutch football. Since they stopped playing, they have been coaching various teams in Holland, Belgium and latterly in Wotte`s case, in Qatar.

But no experience of coaching in England, no experience of what it takes to survive in the Championship, but they are cheap and it is this last quality which has appealed to Saints Chairman Rupert Lowe on his comeback from the wilderness. It seems that we can have these two for a combined salary which is less than Pearson was being paid, so that`s alright then. Re-arrange the words economy and false and you get an idea of how most fans see these appointments.

But it is the refusal to renew Nige`s contract which has angered most Saints fans. At last we had a manager who instilled some discipline into the team, whose contacts made it possible to loan good, experienced professionals like Chris Perry, Chris Lucketti and Richard Wright who were influential in our last day survival from relegation. Nigel also showed a lot of passion, tactical awareness and exemplary man management.....but all of these qualities were rejected by Lowe and his equally failed counterpart, Michael Wilde, in favour of the cheap option. They clearly could not resist the BOGOF offer when it came along.

So I think that may be it for me. No longer will I be a season ticket holder at St. Mary`s at least all the time Lowe is in charge of the asylum. Nigel`s departure is the last straw in a long line of disappointments, not to say embarrassments, which include:-

- relegation from the Premiership

- dreadful managerial appointments (eg. Steve Wigley, Harry Redknapp, Paul Sturrock and even Sir Clive Woodward)

- Krankie-esque statue, now thankfully put right

- overpaid players caught stealing cash from the staffroom of a Southsea nightclub

- constant boardroom squabbles

So, enough is enough - for now at least. There seems to be the whiff of yet another takeover which might see the departure of Lowe once again. If that happens, then the landscape will change once more. But I fear it may be far too late for any hope of returning to the friendly, family-centred community club I have known and loved for more than 60 years.

And the one person I really feel for in all of this is the sadly departed Nigel Pearson who did everything right....until Lowe came back to ruin his dreams as much as mine.