I'm one of those 'stay-away' fans, not for any political reason, but partly because of geographical reasons, and partly because of huge disillusionment over what has gone on with the team over the last couple of years.
However, I went to the Ipswich game and then, against my better judgement, I went again last night. I found the Ipswich game frustrating, because there was some great football (Surman's goal) but also incredibly naive defending. But last night, I thoroughly enjoyed it. We played some excellent football, of which we should all be proud. It made it all the more enjoyable that it was all created by kids that have come through our youth team. Give me Lancashire over Powell any time, or Paterson over Rasiak.
I know his hands are tied financially, but Rupert Lowe must be given some credit for the approach he is taking. The easy thing to do would have been to appoint Pearson again and we would carry on struggling to make ends meet with no money and a bunch of mercenary players who are more interested in whether they get a contract renewal at the end of the season rather than collective team success.
Instead, he took a gamble and appointed an unknown who at least would follow the philosophy that Lowe wants. It still remains a gamble, but having spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening at St Mary's last night, I have confidence that it might just work.
In my opinion, Rupert Lowe is slowly putting the heart back into the club. A half-arsed consortium takeover right now could be the worst thing to happen to us.
The major problem now is that too many fans stay away and continue to stay away, further threatening us financially.
My pledge is that I will now make a much greater effort to go to games, as I saw a new set of Saints heroes last night, and I can't wait to see how Lancashire, Mills, Lallana and Paterson develop from here. If this is the quality of players that we are creating, both our present and future can be very bright, as long as these players are allowed to flourish at our club. They can only do that if the likes of myself come to support them, and therefore not force the club to cash in on them.
