THE CANDLES FLICKER AND DIM...

I noticed a very brief report in yesterday`s newspaper that Derek Ufton had passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 92.  The brief report was buried away right at the bottom of one of the sports pages.  In one respect it was good to see that his contribution to both football and cricket had at least been acknowledged;  but I felt, partly for personal reasons, that he deserved a little more than what was perhaps merely a passing reference.

Now you reach a certain age in life when you develop perhaps an unhealthy habit of looking for obituaries - I have recorded quite a number of them in these pages over the years (click on `obituaries` on the list of labels at the bottom) - and it becomes yet more poignant when they appear for heroes of your own youth.  And Derek was certainly one of mine.

I first saw him play football for Charlton Athletic way back in the 1950s.  At the time, my parents and I had just moved away from my boyhood village by the sea on the shores of Southampton Water to the mean streets of south east London.   An uncle and aunt of mine had a pub, The Dover Patrol, in Kidbrooke and we moved there so that my parents could learn `the licensed trade.`  Kidbrooke is just up the road from Charlton and it wasn`t long before I started to go to The Valley to watch Charlton, having been dragged away from watching the Saints at The Dell.

I enjoyed watching Charlton back then.  They had an interesting team including legendary goalkeeper Sam Bartram, a host of South African imports - John Hewie, Eddie Firmani, Stuart Leary, Sid O`Linn - a rock solid captain in Benny Fenton, pacy wingers in Billy Kiernan and Gordon Hurst....and Derek Ufton, their imperious centre half.  Derek played almost 300 games for Charlton and once for England, in a game against the Rest of the World in 1953.  After a spell of three years managing Plymouth Argyle, he was a club director at Charlton for 26 years.

And he excelled at cricket where he played for Kent alongside his footballing chums Sid O`Linn and Stuart Leary.  As a wicketkeeper batsman, Derek played 149 games for Kent, scoring almost 4,000 runs and taking 313 dismissals behind the stumps.  He became President of Kent County Cricket Club in 2001 and was for many years Chairman of the Lord`s Taverners cricket charity.

So a full and long life comes to a peaceful end.  The candles flickered and dimmed on yet another of the heroes of my youth.   Trouble is, that`s happening far too frequently these days but Derek, like me, was of his time - he did his National Service, loved the games he played with such distinction and knew the peace and comfort of his Kent village of Elham.

  He is rightly honoured and is much missed.

 

A GAME OF TWO HALVES...

In the quiet backwaters of English football there has been a sorry tale to tell.  It concerns Dover Athletic Football Club who, until very recently, were doing their thing in the National League - the fifth tier of the English game.  Now like so many other clubs up and down the country, Dover suffered from financial difficulties thanks to Mr. Covid and his assorted variants.  But after playing 15 of their games this season, their financial problems became so acute that they could no longer carry on, although the other teams in the National League somehow managed to do so.

Having `failed to complete their fixtures,` an Independent Panel of the FA met to consider Dover`s case and those of a number of other clubs in lower leagues.  As a result, Dover will play no further part in the current season and all their results to date have been expunged.  (What a dreadful word that is - I think it should be expunged from our lexicon.)  In  addition, Dover have been `awarded` a 12-point deduction for next season, should they be able to resume business again; and a fine of £40,000 has been issued - this representing a 20% reduction from the usual amount of the fine in order to reflect the current financial situation and the approach taken in other cases.

The Panel also considered ``the integrity of the competition` and the actions taken by Dover in relation to the other 22 clubs in the league who continue to incur costs as they fulfill their own fixtures, costs which Dover had avoided by curtailing their season.

A couple of curious things here.  Firstly, what on earth is the point of awarding an albeit `reduced` fine of £40,000 on a club which clearly doesn`t have the money to pay it? If it did have, it wouldn`t have been expunged. Secondly, Dover have apparently lodged an appeal against the Panel`s decisions and are `taking legal advice.`  Doubtless the legal advice will either be of the budget variety or offered by a Dover supporting legal eagle.  

Whatever the outcome, I hope it is one of hope for the club, perched as it is on the edge of a white cliff of its own - and for its supporters who perhaps deserve better.  

                                                  ----------------------------

(PS : Once again not much to report on the playing surface - Forest Green went down again, this time 1-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers but once again hats off to Gillingham for their excellent 1-1 draw away at League leaders Hull City.  For both clubs, the play-offs might just beckon.  Oh, and Brechin City lost again.)

 

TOO MUCH TOO SOON.....

This rather grotesque image show the statue being prepared for its unveiling in the Hampshire city of Winchester next week.  Now I`ve always quite liked Winchester.  Been there a few times and it always struck me as a `nice` place to be.  It has a long and proud history of course - a former capital city of the country;  a spectacular cathedral and the seat of power for King Alfred the Great. (He of the burnt cakes.)  

I have the odd tenuous link with the city - it houses the museum and home headquarters of my old regiment the 10th Royal Hussars and indeed one of our old comrades was Lord Mayor of Winchester just a few years ago.  So Winchester has a lot going for it.

Or so it seemed;  because now we learn that Greta Thunberg is the subject of a £24,000 statue  commissioned by Winchester University.  The University has been criticised about the life sized sculpture after residents complained that Greta had absolutely nothing to do with Winchester at all.  She has never visited the city, which is more than 1100 miles away from her home town in Sweden.

But none of that matters of course, for Greta is a world wide icon devoted to shouting at everybody about climate change.  And a curse on anyone who fails to agree with not only what she says but also how she goes about it, including sailing the Atlantic in a balsawood boat tied up with string.  She has been lauded by the UN, EU, has come close to a Nobel Prize and is feted wherever she goes by world leaders who are in thrall to her every word and terrified of being in the slightest bit critical of her and all her works.  It`s all a myth, of course - a well choreographed razzamatazz - which is all the more sad for it has denied this young lady (she`s still only 18) any kind of `normal` life.  It`s all been too much too soon, not only for Greta but also for the rest of us.

There`s clearly an enormous gulf between the gown of the University and the town of Winchester and I think the good folk of that city are right to complain, especially as they hold dear to the real history of the city and its more illustrious forebears.  So here`s a reminder of what a properly deserving statue in Winchester looks like.....

Ah, that`s better.

 

....Well, it was for the players and officials of Brechin City yesterday.   They made the almost 500 mile round trip all the way to Stranraer on Scotland`s south west extremity but sadly came away with nothing.   Yet another 2-0 defeat leaves the `City` firmly rooted at the bottom of Scottish League Two.  But at least they retain the individuality of being the only football league club with a glorious hedge defining its boundary.  Trouble is, a drop down to the Highland League will see even longer journeys to places like Wick Academy and our old friends Fort William.  Here`s a picture of the hedge at Glebe Park......

In the only other midweek footy news, Forest Green Rovers travelled the 280 miles to Mansfield and back only to manage `a goalless draw - the score  being 0-0` - to quote David Coleman.  It leaves them still in the top three in League Two but it`s all getting a bit tight at the top.  Scott Wagstaff, our street`s iconic midfield dynamo, took a turn on the bench for Rovers in last night`s encounter at Field Mill, where Mansfield manager Nigel Clough is producing impressive results following his recent appointment.   Wagstaff is clearly being rested and saved for the challenging fixtures that lie ahead as Rovers` grasp on promotion could do with a little attention.

My concern today is the news that no less than seven Southampton players are now away on long and winding roads of their own following international call-ups.  We will have players playing in far flung places such as Mali, Japan, South Korea and Mongolia in the next week or two.  I just hope they all return unscathed and ready for the six pointer against Burnley in a couple of weeks time. It`s mad - whatever happened to lockdowns?  Why can`t World Cup qualifiers be decided over games played virtually?

 

MIND HOW YOU GO...

Managed to complete the on-line census form yesterday.  Now being the upright model citizen I am, steeped in abiding by conformity and doing what I`m told, I dutifully filled in the form as best I could.  I was aware of the fact that if you do not complete the census or if you provide `false information` then you can be fined anything up to £1,000, which seemed a bit harsh.

But in completing the census, it raised a few questions in my mind.  The information you give is supposed to be kept `secret` for 100 years, locked away in some inaccessible government crypt, so how will that `help inform decisions that shape your community?`  

Peter Benton, director of population and public policy operations at the Office of National Statistics,said: ‘The Census data is confidential. ‘We don’t pass it to Government, to the local authorities, to the immigration authorities; it stays locked away for 100 years – apart from the aggregate statistics that we produce."

The ONS says it aims to create a ‘detailed snapshot of our society’ to help the Government and local authorities plan and fund services such as roads, education and GP surgeries by using statistics pulled from the huge survey. Charities, hospitals, schools, universities, job centres and others also use the data to help improve their services.

But what is most concerning is the prospect that a number of people, either through mischievousness or  confusion, might not complete the questions as accurately as they might.  For example, there are voluntary questions about religion, sexual orientation and gender and it would have been tempting for me to have answered `Southampton Football Club` in answer to the first, `a distant memory` for the second and `Giraffe` for the third.

(I`ve always fancied being a giraffe, wandering through the Serengeti, munching away at high level leaves and generally leading a peaceful life.)

But this kind of response to the census questions might lead to the situation whereby all this planning and funding for services is based on largely the wrong information to begin with.  So perhaps I am right to fear for the validity of the process and the veracity of the policies that might result from this exercise?   Might have been worth the fine though.......

 

A ROSE AMONG THE THORNS...

Disappointing day all round really yesterday.   Well, almost.  Cricket went down the tubes with England losing again to India in the T20 decider.  England`s rugby team got stuffed by Ireland.   Wales were beaten in the last minute by France to be denied the grand slam - I felt for Alun Wyn Jones who was denied the chance to be the first Welsh player to win four grand slams and at 35 he may not get the chance again.  

Forest Green Rovers went down to a narrow 1-0 defeat away at Cambridge, despite which they remain in the automatic promotion places and Gillingham were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Doncaster Rovers despite surging into a 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the game.  They have moved up to eighth in the league table, so the prospects of getting into the promotion play offs are still flickering.

Truro City, Fort William, Maidstone United and Stoke Gabriel are all still in hibernation but Brechin City emerged from the Scottish lockdown to play their first game since December.  Yesterday they travelled to Forthbank Stadium to take on high flying Stirling Albion but came away with a 1-0 defeat which anchors them firmly at the foot of the table. Unless there`s a dramatic turnaround before the end of the season they could be playing Fort William in the Highland League next term.

And so to the rose among all these thorns and it was Southampton who visited Bournemouth in the quarter final of the FA Cup and managed an impressive 3-0 win to propel them into the semi-finals and a trip to Wembley.  It was encouraging to see a return to something like their true form after a pretty abysmal run of Premier League results.  

So, a refreshing change to see the Saints at last bringing some cheer to chez Snopper as he now emerges from behind the sofa for a couple of weeks respite from the mental health anguish of being a Saints fan.

 

STANDING ON THE OUTSIDE ...

Writing the other day about my first ever visit to watch the Saints at the old Dell, I  remembered a poignant tale written by the son of one of the Derby County players that fateful day back in 1946.   In a touching biography of his father Tim Ward, his son Andrew recalled how his father must have felt playing again just a matter of a few days since his return from the war.

"......in the away dressing room at The Dell, he pulled on the white shirt of Derby County.  His boots had been kept for seven years, stored by the club.   He was back doing what he wanted to do all his life.  Playing professional football.  Playing for Derby County.

And yet something didn`t seem right.  Eight of his team colleagues had FA Cup winners medals, won just two days previously at Wembley.  Tim did not.  His colleagues celebratory season was almost over, his own English season just beginning.   While he was in the dressing room at half time, the Cup was paraded around the Southampton ground.  It seemed appropriate that he was distanced from it.  

After the game the Cup,was taken to a Southampton hotel.  He knew that the next day the whole of Derby would turn out to welcome them.  But it was the Cup winning players they would want to see, not the soldier who was home from the war.  He felt like a spectator who had strayed into the penalty area while a penalty kick was being taken." (Andrew Ward.)

So on that day Tim was very much standing on the outside looking in and although it is a reminder of just how unfortunate life can be at times, nevertheless he went on to play 238 games for Derby, another 33 for Barnsley and two for England.  That coupled with a long career as manager of Exeter City, Barnsley, Grimsby Town, Carlisle and Derby itself brought a lifelong involvement with the game he loved.  

His five year tenure at Derby preceded the arrival of Brian Clough, who was perhaps fortunate to inherit some stalwart signings made by Tim Ward, among them Alan Durban, Kevin Hector, Colin Boulton, Peter Daniel and Ron Webster - very much part of the triumphs that followed.

  

WHEN I GROW UP.....

When I was very young - just a few years ago - I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I used to enjoy drawing a lot and looking at maps and I did flirt with the idea of becoming a cartographer but no-one ever asked me what I might like to do and even in those days I didn`t take myself at all seriously, so in the end I guess I just drifted.

But one ambition came to pass in April 1946.  My father, not long home from his five years as a Prisoner of War, decided it was time to introduce me to football.  And so we made the journey across Southampton Water on the Hythe Ferry and made our way to The Dell, home of Southampton FC.  For a boy of not quite seven it was a real adventure.  The game was against Derby County who, less than 48 hours earlier, had won the FA Cup at Wembley, beating Charlton Athletic.  So they were a formidable side and maybe their exertions or their celebrations crept up on them but the Saints came out 4-2 winners. 

From there on, I was hooked;  and I knew that one thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a Saints fan.   And so it has endured for all these years - almost 75 years ago since my first initiation.  And over all that time there have been ups and downs, good times and bad but throughout it all there has been the companionship of fellow Saints fans and because supporting the Saints is not all about winning trophies - more often than not, it`s about struggles and disappointment -the feeling of belonging to a community of fans becomes more important. 

Which might explain the photo above - it is a calling card of the Codgers Crew, of which I was proud to be a member.  It was in its heyday a good few years ago now when we all had season tickets and met up for pre-match coffee and cake at Monsieur Hulot`s Patisserie on Southampton Town Quay and enjoyed each other`s company during and after the game, even if the result did not always go the way we would have preferred.

And it is experiences like that which - at least I hope - encourages me to avoid growing up too much.  Life is short, it seems especially precarious these days, so there seems every sense in avoiding the customary inevitability of anno domini having its way, but instead maintaining the links with people, places and times that have made it all worthwhile and look forward to what might still be

Don`t worry about me - I`ll be fine when I grow up.

 

Shouldn`t be too difficult to spot.  Firstly, neighbourly Gillingham fans will have been pleased with their resounding 3-1 win away at the Robins of Swindon Town to maintain their strong league position.   And Forest Green Rovers sealed a 2-1 win at home against Harrogate Town.  Their closes rivals, Cambridge United and Cheltenham Town both won as well, so things at the top of League Two are very tight.  Rovers next travel to Cambridge on Saturday in a game that has `huge` written all over it and a genuine six pointer.  

So, two good wins so far and so it`s a touch painful to be the odd one out this week, as the Saints lost 2-1 at home to Brighton - the first time Brighton have beaten Southampton in 16 attempts.   The result and indeed the performance says much about the Saints` malaise ever since they beat Liverpool back in January.  They have now amassed just four points from a possible 36, lost 10 of their last 12 games; and but for their early season form which garnered 29 points before Christmas they might now be well entrenched in a relegation battle.  Could still happen if they don`t pick up a few more points in the remaining nine games.

Nothing unusual there, for Southampton have done relegation battles over the years and in some way it now seems business as usual for us Saints fans, accustomed as we are to a life of anxiety, bewilderment and cliff-edge, eggshell-walking uncertainty.  Yesterday`s `performance` was just so disappointing - lacking passion, energy or invention - and unfairly there are rumours that the manager has lost the dressing room.  (Up the corridor and turn left, I think.)  

Next up is the FA Cup quarter final at Bournemouth next weekend and a chance to regain some pride but already there are worrying signs - the Vitality Stadium is a difficult place to go to and Saints Manager Ralph Hassenhutl  has a lot to do to convince his squad and the supporters that he knows what he`s doing.  I hope he and the team come through this dire spell.....but at least it`s not boring.

A SHOT IN THE ARM...

Had a phone call yesterday offering me an appointment for my second Covid vaccine which will now happen in a week`s time.  I have to say that the vaccine rollout here has been exemplary - very efficient in all respects and I am seriously grateful for the service being provided.   Being `of an age` I`m encouraged too by the fact that two of our 50+ sons are having their first jabs very shortly but less encouraging is that 50+ son number three, who lives and works in the EU, might be waiting some months before he has his.

What was particularly discouraging about the EU, quite apart from the apparent shambles surrounding their rollout and the arguments about the respective merits or otherwise of the various vaccines, was the report that thousands of EU Eurocrats could be having their coronavirus jabs soon, whereas millions of people across the EU go without, thanks to the bloc`s bungled rollout.

Starting in the next week or so, 20,000 MEPs, officials and staff from the European Commission, Council and Parliament will be vaccinated at special centres set up in Belgium for their exclusive use.  The report goes on to say that this comes after the EU allegedly blocked the export of the Astra-Zenica doses from Italy to Australia, saying it has a greater need for them.

What could have been a shot in the arm for showing where their real priorities lie, the EU has, perhaps predictably, shot themselves in the foot by showing a classic demonstration of primus inter pares.  Why am I not surprised?

 

Well, I said they don`t come around too often and I wasn`t wrong.  The celebrations of the last weekend have disappeared in a hail of disappointment for my neighbour, our street`s local hero`s family down the road and for myself.  We need help and counselling after each of our teams slipped up in the midweek fixtures.

First, Forest Green Rovers were on the brink of going top of the league at home to Morecambe on Tuesday evening;  they were leading 2-1 deep into added time when from nowhere the visitors grabbed an equaliser. Still, they didn`t lose.

Which is more than can be said for my neighbour`s Gillingham and my beloved Southampton.  The Gills were away at Fleetwood, hoping to cement their play-off hopes but sadly it was the Cod Army who came out on top with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to a second minute penalty awarded by a referee who did not please Gills boss Steve Evans that much. Following the Fleetwood defeat, Evans said: “We went away really disappointed, it was a big chance to go there and win, but it makes it a real uphill task when the referee does that to you. He’s running around calling the Fleetwood players by their first names and that’s not right..   "  Never mind, Steve - you have a good chance of repairing the damage on Saturday against struggling Swindon Town.

Now the Saints 5-2 defeat away at Manchester City last night was perhaps predictable. Ah, Manchester City.  There`s a world of difference between City and the Saints.  City are owned by Sheikh Mansour, one of football`s wealthiest owners with an estimated net worth of at least £17billion and a family fortune in excess of £1 trillion.  City could arguably be called the football club of the United Arab Emirates.  Southampton, on the other hand, are an entirely different proposition - a provincial club struggling to survive on and off the field of play and who, like most other clubs, stand little chance of competing on a level playing field with the size and resources that City have.

But last night the Saints did what they could, played well enough for Pep Guardiola to say they were the best team City have played against all season (which you might say when you`ve just won 5-2) but in the end some defensive blunders and the sheer quality of City produced the inevitable result (3-0 nett?)  Next up, Brighton on Sunday, televised live by the BBC so no doubt there will be pre-match warnings that viewers might find some of the scenes upsetting.....especially if you`re a Saints fan.

 

A few weeks ago I made a solemn promise not to mention the corona virus and all its works on these pages and, apart from the odd passing reference whilst posting about other subjects, by and large I think I have kept to that promise.   In similar vein, I really have no interest in or desire to post too much about the latest kerfuffle involving the royal family and Harry and Meghan.  I will just recall, however, that quite a few moons ago now I did a piece or two about the Harry/Meghan thing - it might have been at the time of the wedding - and I suggested then that I felt there might be trouble ahead.  Well, I wasn`t wrong. (Using the search thingy at the top, search `Not quite Right` and scroll down to the post for 14 February,  2018.  Ironically, that was Valentines Day!)

Now of course there has been an outburst of comment and opinion across just about every media outlet you can think of.  Newspapers of all persuasions are full of it, social media has apparently gone into meltdown and TV and radio is going on about it with reports, analysis, pros, cons and opinions from `opinion formers` and the new profession of `influencers.`  I sat down yesterday lunchtime, turned on BBC news and the Harry/Meghan thing took up the first 20 minutes of the half hour bulletin.   No wonder there was no time to report more on Che Adams` 25 yard screamer against Sheffield United.

So, whilst I might have my own opinions I can see little point in going on about it in this blog and  probably boring you yet more in the process.  No, I`ve come to the conclusion that it really is not something that I want to get involved in or hearing any more about.  In the end, it`s a family affair for the royal family to live with, sort out and get on with.  Good luck with that.

 

ONE OF THOSE DAYS...

Well, they don`t come around very often but yesterday produced one of those rare occurrences when each of `my` football teams secured a win.  I`m down to just three teams at the moment - the others having fallen victim to Mr. Covid and his variant chums - but it`s a good day when all three teams do themselves proud and ensure their supporters are over the moon at least for another week, as you can see from the photo above.

Gillingham took on Ipswich Town under their new manager Paul Cook, who had been installed following the removal of Paul Lambert on Friday.  But it was the Gills who came out on top with a resounding 3-1 win at their Priestfield Stadium to reach as high as eleventh on League One - not too many points away from a play-off place with 15 games still to play.  Could it possibly be?......

Forest Green Rovers bounced back from their midweek defeat away at Stevenage and this time they made the long trip to Grimsby and secured a hard fought 2-1 win to keep them in the automatic promotion spots.   Our street`s talented hard working pacy flanker Scott Wagstaff played the whole game and manager Mark Cooper was full of praise for the performance of the whole team, especially as he said, "Grimsby - always a difficult place to go to.".  Keep going, lads - next season you could be making the trip to Portsmuff where the glories of Krap Nottarf await.....

And so to the Saints.  With enormous relief all round the city, Southampton finally won a Premier League game having gone nine league games without one.  A James Ward-Prowse penalty and a screamer from Che Adams - surely a contender for Goal of the Season - in a 2-0 win away at Sheffield United now surely mean that the Saints can stop looking over their shoulders at the lower end of the table and look forward to a satisfactory end to a difficult season.  Next up - Manchester City away on Wednesday evening.  Oh well.....

My reference to Portsmuff above reminded me that the Blue Few went to Northampton Town yesterday and were 4-0 down at half time.  It ended 4-1 but made a severe dent in their promotion hopes.   So quite apart from the hat trick of victories to report, the day ended with yet more smug satisfaction.  I wonder how long before another day like that....

 

PRIORITIES ?

This picture shows the long slog along the shingle spit from Keyhaven to Hurst Castle on the southern shore of the Solent, close to Lymington.   It`s a few years ago now that we walked from the car park at Keyhaven all the way along well over a mile of hard pebbles and shingle to reach Hurst Castle, which was built on the orders of King Henry V111 between 1541 and 1544 to protect the narrow channel between the mainland and the Isle of Wight from French invasion. 

When we reached the castle it really was like going back in time - an almost eerie feeling that you could reach out and touch the island, it seemed that close.  Was it worth the slog?  Well, maybe;  the exertions of getting there and the sea air did us good although we were not sure that our then golden retriever, Barney, was too impressed.  Rather than slog all the way back, we took the little ferry - the ferryman taking pity on Barney so he allowed Barney aboard where he was impeccably behaved and a lesson in good manners to the children who were also aboard.

The point of all this is that I read yesterday that the east wing of the castle had slid into the sea as a result of the foundations being undermined by the power of the waves;  this despite the fact that English Heritage, who own the castle, did not heed the early warnings about the problems with the foundations and didn`t act in time to prevent the east wing collapsing.  Here`s what it looks like:-

Maybe it`s a question of priorities but perhaps if English Heritage had spent less time rewriting our heritage and more time looking after it then maybe this important piece of our history would still be in one piece.  For example, last year they announced that all 950 of London`s blue plaques would be `reviewed` for potential links to slavery.  I wonder why they stop at `just` slavery - maybe they will also be looking into links with torture, raping and pillaging as well.  Maybe things like that do not offend quite as much?

 

.....just about sums up this brief report on the few remaining football teams I`m following and this weekend we had it all..

So let`s start with the win.  On the back of a disappointing home defeat by low riding Southend in midweek, Forest Green Rovers swept past Colchester on Saturday with a resounding 3-0 win despite being down to 10 men for the whole of the second half.  They now sit comfortably in second place in League Two with games in hand and this evening go to Stevenage with the chance to go top. 

Manager Mark Cooper was full of praise for his team`s gritty performance on Saturday and singled out our street`s football icon Scott Wagstaff for a special mention in his post match interview.  "Waggy - great pro;  fantastic ability; can run all day and has a massive part to play till the end of the season with his great experience and talking to the younger players."  Good to hear some genuine appreciation of a professional player who has now played over 320 games in his career so far.

So, on to the lose.   And it came as no surprise that Southampton went down 1-0  away to Everton in last night`s televised game.  After all, the Saints haven`t won a game at Goodison Park since 1998, despite which there were a few glimpses of encouragement in Saints` performance which hopefully might bring an end to a run of just one draw in the last ten league games which has seen them plunge down to 14th in the Premier League.  Next up, Sheffield United away on Saturday.  Win that and things might look a bit brighter.  Lose it and there will be trouble ahead.....but while there`s moonlight and music and love and romance, let`s face the music and dance.......

And so to the draw....and arguably the most satisfying result of the weekend.  Gillingham went to Portsmuff, a happy hunting ground for the Gills who, my neighbour advises me, have been unbeaten in their last four visits to Krap Nottarf the crumbling home of the Blue  Few.   Gillingham secured a creditable 1-1 draw against their promotion hopeful opponents in a game which Gills` manager Steve Evans said they should have won.   It`s always a scrap of comfort for us Saints fans, especially with all the mental health issues brought about by the Saints` current malheur, when our south coast rivals fail to win a game.  Nice one.