Well I suppose by any standards the new Covid variant is an ill wind.  It is threatening many aspects of life that we all hold dear - even life itself - and I do sympathise with anyone who either themselves or their friends and family find themselves caught up in the slings and arrows that this pandemic is throwing at us.

And yet.....and yet for some of us it truly is an ill wind that blows no good. This coming Saturday would have seen an event of monumental importance to those, like me, who in our infantile sense of priority seem willing to follow the fortunes of Southampton Football Club. You see, to do so belies a warped sense of priority, it singles us out hopeless cases perhaps more suited to treatment in the Priory or even suitable cases for sectioning under certain legislation.

But we march on, as the club mantra goes, and having achieved the unexpected bonus of a point away at Crystal Palace the other evening we have been looking forward to the admittedly outside possibility of actually winning a game at St. Mary`s Stadium this coming Saturday against mid table Brentford.

And what happens?  Mr. Covid and his new found variant happens and thanks to an onset of infections in the Bees camp, the game has already been called off.  Curses.  Foiled again.  But maybe not too surprised because Brentford manager Thomas Frank has been pleading with the Premier League to postpone matches this weekend - well, he would, wouldn`t he?; as he`s clearly petrified with having to play the Saints at St. Mary`s.  

But there is as always a bright side to be looked upon and it is that I can now spend my Saturday afternoon free of the mental anguish that besets Saints supporters every time the team crosses the white line and takes to the field.  And perhaps my neighbour will share my relief with his beloved Gillingham`s game has also being called off for Saturday.

Maybe, instead, I will find something else to trouble my infantile octogenarian mind? After all, there`s plenty to choose from.