RUNNING AWAY ?

Here`s a conspiracy theory ;  it concerns the games between Southampton and Charlton Athletic in the upper reaches of League One.   It started over the Christmas period when the Saints were due to play Charlton at The Valley.  The team got there in good time, along with 12 coach loads of Saints fans, only for the game to be controversially postponed by referee Andy d`Urso 40 minutes before kick-off on the grounds that there was a bit of ice where the linesman would have to run up and down and it might cause him to fall over.   So that game has been rearranged for the evening of 22nd March.

Next, according to the fixture list, the return game at St. Mary`s was due to take place on Saturday 29th January, but on that day the Saints play Manchester United in the FA Cup.  So, that game was rearranged for earlier that week, Tuesday25th, just four days before the cup game.

In the meantime, Charlton have sacked their manager Phil Parkinson and have just appointed Addicks legend Chris Powell to the managerial hotseat.   And guess what?   The rearranged Tuesday game has now been rearranged again, at Charlton`s request, and will not now be played until the evening of Tuesday 7th April, when I`ll be away on holiday in Cornwall.  I`m sure it`s deliberate.

You could almost be forgiven for thinking that Charlton`s hierarchy, along with our local pacy hard working gay icon and his chums, might be trying to avoid meeting the high flying Saints, now lying second in the table, unbeaten for eight games, scoring 19 goals in their last four league games and conceding only two.  Just like watching Brazil.

 No official reason has been given for Charlton`s reluctance, so I am left to conclude that they need time to get sorted out under their new manager or they suspect that, by late March and early April, the Saints will already have secured promotion and not be too bothered or they will have lost their rich vein of form.  But just in case, they may have spotted the long range weather forecast and are busy alerting referee Andy d`Urso to the possibility of icy conditions along the touchline around early Springtime.

Well, I said it`s a conspiracy theory.