After over 70 years as a Saints fan I guess I`ve got used to the default condition of permanent bewilderment, spiced with the occasional success but also many disappointments.  The latest episode centres around the impending departure of manager Ronald Koeman to Everton, a team that finished six places below the Saints in last season`s Premier League campaign.

We`ve been here before, of course - Mauricio Pochettino to Spurs and a litany of players to other clubs - Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chambers to Arsenal;  Clyne, Lovren, Lallana to Liverpool; Shaw, Schneiderlin to Manchester United; to name just a few in recent years.

This time the disappointment is tinged with a touch of disillusionment that Koeman is going, because he consistently vowed - as recently as 25 days ago - that he had no intention of going anywhere and would see out his three year contract on the south coast. But money talks and off he goes to the crumbled ruin of Goodison Park, seduced by a reported £7million a year and leaving us Saints fans once more bewildered in our default position.

So it`s again a question of `next please` for the manager`s role and we wait to see who gets the chance to see if we can make a decent fist of the Europa League and, who knows, once again finish above the likes of Liverpool, West Ham and, yes, Everton.   This morning I looked for a calm head in the storm and found it with someone who knows all there is to know about loyalty.  

None other than Saints legend Matthew Le Tissier who made it clear that, as far as the players are concerned, they didn`t sign their contracts with Ronald Koeman or any other manager, rather they signed with Southampton Football Club.  A telling difference, which gives me hope that once more we can draw a line in the sand and move on at the end of the day, so to speak.  Well, it is a game of two halves, to be fair.