By Chris Gleadell
November 23 2006

On reflection after Saturday it is time to retire that emotional rollercoaster. Instead I’m starting to feel that our seasons an emotional bungee jump, sure there were highs but they get lower and lower as the season progresses. We thought that maybe a corner had been turned with the win at Worcester two weeks ago come this weekend we collectively seemed down in the doldrums again and as long as this famine and feast cycle continues the more it is going to dent confidence both on and off the pitch.

The frustrating thing is you just cannot put your finger on what exactly the problem is.

If it were that obvious the powers that be, those whose livelihoods’ depend on the outcome, would already have the wheels in motion to remedy the situation. Personally I believe its something that just has to be ridden out. A time for noses to the grindstone and get on with the job to the best of everyones abilities. The doom merchants may be calling for heads to roll but it would solve nothing. The answer has to come from within.

A RELIABLE SOURCE INFORMS ME THAT....

The conspiracy theorists, and lord knows we have enough of those at the moment, have the current dip down to everything from the service in the bars to a repeat of the Solomons scenario and of course they have all heard it from a ‘reliable source’ or ‘someone in the know’.

In my view 95% of these rumours are plain daft with the other 5% questionable at best.

I really do not know where some of these people get their information from, or indeed why they bother repeating them as some of them on the face of it is an attempt to undermine the workings of the club or indeed the person bigging themselves up that they are party to information that other mere mortals are not..

If you believed all you heard, or read, then there seems to be more little birds telling all and sundry what happens behind closed doors than there are in the Franklins Gardens starling roost.

In the last couple of weeks we’ve had players heading in all directions come season end, Tim Rodber, Wayne Smith and Uncle Tom Cobley and all as the new Director of Rugby whilst we can look forward to seeing Chris Latham, Yannick Jauzion, Nicholas Jeanjean and Rupeni Caucaunibuca in the gold black and green by Christmas.

Now unless Keith Barwell, Allan Robson and Paul Grayson et al, whom I am sure have all got better things to do with their time, spend all day leaving cryptic messages under aliases on the clubs websites or calling those ‘in the know’ I would take it all with a pinch of salt. Even people within an organisation do not know what going on higher up the chain of command so even those who think they are hearing these titbits of information 'straight from the horses mouth' might not be getting the full story indeed they might even be a victim of spin for a persons own ends.

THE SHIRTS OFF YOUR BACK

In Paul Grayson’s programme notes on Saturday he raised the issue of a supporter at the Quins game stating he didn’t want to wear his Saints shirt anymore after the nature of the defeat. Paul ended his piece “people will come and go but the club and its colours last forever.”

That may well be true but I take a slightly different view that the club is its people first and foremost be it past, present or future. They might be administrators, players, coaches or supporters but they all make the club what it is. We may take pride in those three colours but they are just that, colours, I’m sure we would be the same if they were purple, mauve and pink (but thank god they are not). When people talk about pride in the shirt to me it doesn’t mean the shirt itself or indeed those colours it means what that shirt represents. It represents our rich history and traditions but most off all the people that have worn or been associated with it before. From the Reverend Wigg through the Edgars Mobbs, the Harry Westons, the Jeff Butterfields, the Buck Shelfords to the modern day Pagels, Pountney’s, Spencers and Graysons. Add to that those hundreds of thousands of supporters over the years perhaps best typyfied by the likes of Rattling Rita and yes even right down to the guy who felt so passionate about the club that he felt he didn’t want to wear the shirt. At the end of the day anyone can buy the jersey as a fashion statement (though maybe we would sell more if they were purple, mauve and pink) but it is just cloth and dye however what that shirt represents to some means more, much more.

OFF TO THE EXILED EXILES

So on Sunday it is down to the Madejski Stadium in Reading to take on our old friends London Irish. Their season pretty much reflects our own and they currently sit just one point and one place below us in the Guinness Premiership table. A comment from one of the Irish crowd talking about his team just about summed up a certain other club “In truth we are not as bad as we paint ourselves and we are not so good as we told ourselves we would be.”

Given that its an ‘up’ week for us on my bungee jump theory and that Irish are targeting this as a must win game it promises to be a bit of a battle however going on past games between the two clubs just about anything can happen. Here’s hoping the lads can put everything behind them and get that season back on track.

YO HO HO FROM THE SSC

A date for your diarys.
The Saints Supporters Club Christmas Draw is being held next Thursday (30th November), in the Sturtridge Pavillion, starting at 19.30.
As usual, it is free to Members of the Saints Supporters Club – All you need to do is turn up! Several players will be in attendance to draw the tickets and chat during the evening. New Members can join on the night, so why not come along and have a great night out, with the chance of winning some great prizes.