PARROTS, MOONS AND MAYBE A PINCH OF SALZ...

My next door neighbour is a lifelong Gillingham FC supporter. Not surprising really, as his Dad was as well and we live just a few miles from the Medway Towns, of which Gillingham is one, along with Chatham and Rochester. You can`t see the join between the three and it doesn`t really matter anyway, as the whole conurbation is administered by the all-singing, all-dancing, do-everything, unitary Medway Council.

But they`re dancing in the streets of Medway right now, as a result of their football team (The Gills) reaching the play-off final at Wembley on 23rd May. If they win that game against Shrewsbury, then they will be promoted to the third tier of English football where, of course, my beloved Saints now find themselves. My neighbour will be at Wembley and I wish him and his team every success.

And it will be good to be playing against The Gills next season - I have already offered to take my neighbour down to St. Mary`s Stadium for the game against Saints but, mercifully, he has not yet returned the compliment - I guess he can`t until after the Wembley encounter next week.

In the meantime, Saints remain in administration and despite the efforts of the Administrator, no deal has yet been finalised to take over the affairs of the club and, as time passes, doubts are being raised as to whether any deal will be possible.

I`m clutching at straws here, but the avuncular gentleman in my picture above is Anthony Salz. A season ticket holder at St. Mary`s and a devoted Saints fan, Salz is one of the sharpest legal brains in the country - as senior partner of Freshfields he gained an enviable reputation before retiring in 2006. Currently Deputy Chairman of NM Rothschild, he was Vice-Chairman and Acting Chairman of the BBC Governors, a trustee of the Tate Foundation and of the Eden Project. He knows a lot of people, including Gavin Davies, another former BBC Chairman, a former managing director of Goldman Sachs and apparently another Saints fan. So Salz moves in high circles and ones with ample resources to help my own club in its darkest hours. Nothing is certain, or even probable, but hope remains that the club will survive. Even if it doesn`t, then it won`t be for want of trying on the part of people like Anthony Salz who, in any event, cuts a much finer and more acceptable figure than the recently departed Rupert Lowe.

If The Saints do survive, I will be over the moon. If The Gills fail to get promoted, then my neighbour will be sick as a parrot. Conversely, if the Saints finally fold through lack of investment, it will be me squawking from my perch and if The Gills do make it through, then my neighbour will be the one doing the moonwalk. I hope it works out for both of us, so we can look forward to some high class neighbourly banter next season. And I hope it works out for Anthony Salz too, for I doubt my club could be in better hands.