A KICK TOO FAR?

Apologies for yet another football rant, but as I mentioned the other day, if you`re a Saints fan, you`re never more than three feet away from a kick in the nuts.

I`ve been digging out my old football programmes and I came across one from seven years ago almost to the day. It was on Sunday, 31st August 2003, that Saints played Manchester United at St. Mary`s in front of a crowd of 32,066. Late in the game, James Beattie headed in a corner from Graham Le Saux and despite a frantic last few minutes, Saints held on to record yet another win over United to go to fourth place in the Premiership. One abiding memory of that day is of our manager, Gordon Strachan, saying he was going to celebtrate that evening by staying at home and watching teletext. Heady days indeed.

Yesterday, in a League One (really Division 3) fixture, Saints lost 2-0 at home to Rochdale in front of a crowd of 18,169 and find themselves in 14th place in the third tier of English football. The team looked disjointed, the natives were restless and the prospects look decidedly grim. No complaints about the result - Rochdale deserved the three points for their spirit, endeavour and finishing, all qualities sadly lacking in a clearly demoralised Saints team. There was plenty of huff and puff, lots of headless chicken-esque chasing around but absolutely no guile or penetration. Key players like Rickie Lambert Southampton`s Goal Machine (RLSGM) are so much off form and clearly carrying injuries, caretaker manager Dean Wilkins was guilty of tactical naivety and duff substitutions and there was a crying need for leadership.

It seems the bubble may be bursting, following the death of Markus Liebherr, the sacking of Alan Pardew and a string of questionable decisions made by Executive Chairman, Nicola Cortese. It`s still very early in the season, of course, but it`s as clear as day that firm, decisive action must be taken and quickly if a season of much promise is to be rescued. Such a contrast to seven years ago, when teletext was much more enjoyable tv watching than Goals on Sunday was this morning. As in the dark days of Chairman Rupert Lowe, I`m considering whether I really want to drive the 250 miles round trip, spend a small fortune and feel all of my 71 years to watch what I saw yesterday. It may just have been a kick too far.