SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT..

It`s been a while since I rambled on about football, which is odd really as the Saints are still in the automatic promotion spots, having just been replaced after four months at the top of the Championship by West Ham.   But a recent stuttering run of just two wins from seven games has exposed the fragility of the playing squad.   Injuries and suspensions have deprived the Saints of at least six regular first choice players and that, coupled with a pretty alarming loss of form and confidence, has brought questions about the strength, depth and determination of the club in its quest for promotion back to the Premier League.

But it`s a relative thing.   As the saying goes, "If at the start of the season you`d have told me we`d be right up there come January, I`d have bitten your hand off."  Expectations might be high at the moment - perhaps too high - but Southampton supporters need to remind themselves where their club was a couple of years ago - on the very edge of liquidation with the very real prospect of going out of business.   So any discomfort currently being felt about the faltering progress towards a second successive promotion might well be misplaced.

Contrast that with the situation confronting our fiercest rivals along the other end of the M27, where Portsmouth find themselves on the very edge of liquidation with the very real prospect of going out of business (where have I heard that before?)   A succession of fantasy owners, some real, some wholly imaginary, along with a `unique` financial policy in recent years, has resulted in Her Majesty`s Revenue and Customs serving a Winding Up Petition on the latest reincarnation of the club over unpaid taxes amounting to £1.6million.   There are other large debts outstanding and the prospects for survival look grim.   

And so we see the supporters of these two south coast football clubs feeling discomfort for very different reasons - Southampton for having a blip in their upward progress, Portsmouth for having real fears for their very survival.   I suspect I know which set of supporters has the more legitimate cause for their discomfort.