Quite a day of sport yesterday, not just the dog ends of the football season but also the determined fight back from Dom Bess and Jos Buttler for England in what still seems to be a plucky defeat for England in the first test against Pakistan at Lord`s.

Then there was Chris Froome coming from way back to take the lead in the Giro Italia which ends today with a traditional procession to the finish line.  And Froome will be making cycling history as the first Briton to hold the tours of France, Spain and Italy at the same time.  I fervently hope that the intervention of chemists will not take the edge of his historic achievement.

But  back to yesterday`s footy.  In the morning the announcement came that former ManUre, Real Madrid and Southampton legend Mark ("Sparky") Hughes had penned a three year contract to become Saints first team manager - the title is significant as the last two incumbents have merely been first team coaches.  That didn`t work so it looks as if Sparky has control of transfers rather than simply coaching what he has been given which I hope will bring mid-table obscurity rather than another relegation battle.  We know our place.

And in the afternoon there was the play off final between Fulham ("There`s only one f in Fulham") and Aston Villa to decide which of them gets into the Premier League next season.  I was pleased that Fulham won 1-0 for two or three reasons.  First, they deserved to - their style and quality of football deserves to be played on a higher stage;  next it meant that the serially unpleasant John ("The Leg End") Terry would not make a return to the top flight;  and lastly that the Fulham team included Matt Targett who has been on loan to them from Southampton for much of the season.  Yet another of the Saints` academy graduates and a local Southampton lad.  I wonder if he will stay at Craven Cottage or return to the beautiful south.

And last night we had the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.  The Liverpool squad included Sadio Mane, Dejan Lovren, Virgil van Dyke, Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana - it would have been more of their `captures` from Southampton had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain not been injured.  And it was yet another former Saints player, Gareth Bale, who came on to score two goals for Real which sealed Liverpool`s fate.

Seems to me that there is no escape from the world wide influence that is Southampton Football Club.