SACRE BLEU....

It comes to something when the highlight of a trip to Southampton to see a must win six pointer turns out to be the time I spent at Monsieur Hulot`s Patisserie on the Town Quay. Not for the first time in years of making the pilgrimage did the football disappoint, discourage and depress. The game against bottom of the table Charlton ended with Saints losing 3-2 in front of a crowd of over 27,000 who were there in numbers to celebrate to departure of Rupert Lowe and cheer the team on to a victory which would have propelled them out of the relegation zone.

In truth, Charlton deserved their win, for they played with a freedom which only a team virtually certain of relegation can. Saints, on the other hand, played with all the freezing tension of team desperate for a win but never looking like getting one. I fear relegation for Saints is all but a foregone conclusion, for if we can lose so convincingly to a team that had won only one game away from home all season, we surely can have little chance away at Watford on Tuesday, away at Wolves on `Good` Friday and away at Sheffield Wednesday the week after. The optimists believe relegation is still avoidable. I wish I could share their optimism.

The reality seems to be that if relegation does not arrive via performances on the pitch, which seems increasingly likely, then it might well come by means of the Football League imposing a 10-points penalty for the holding company going into administration. There are moves afoot to avoid that eventuality, based on the notion that it was the holding company, not the football club, which entered administration, but I see little satisfaction in that kind of dishonour. I would rather we retained our respect in the lower league than be outcast for the sleight of hand now being considered.

And so for Monsieur Hulot`s Patisserie - the traditional meeting place where the Codgers Crew have over the years enjoyed their pre-match coffee and croissants. We were thin on the ground yesterday - no surprise there - and over the years, the availability of M. Hulot`s almond croissants has been a little hit and miss. None were on sale yesterday and so refuge was taken with an apple lattice and a capuccino, despite which Hulot`s - not for the first time either - turned out to be the highlight of yet another agonising afternoon seeing my football club lurch from crisis to disaster. Sacre bleu.