2008 could possibly have been the worst year in the history of Southampton Football Club.

A year ago Saints fans were disatisfied with their lot, in George Burley they felt they had a manager who had lost interest in the team and was going through the motions, the play off position of the previous season had not been built on, leaving Saints in mid table but already on a downward slide, the extent of which few predicted.

In the boardroom there had been yet another change, the fourth of the year as Leon Crouch took over as Chairman, not many had read the signs but the worst was to come.

There is scarecly a good word to be said about 2008 by Saints supporters who now find the club they love torn apart and fought over by those who claim to have the best interests of it at heart but seem unable to see the damage they are doing in pursuing their own agendas.

In short the only way forward is complete and utter change in the boardroom, a clean sweep of every one involved.

But that as we go into 2009 is not a viable option, at least not yet, so what does the future hold for Saints ?

To be blunt unless the warring factions stop and the supporters take a long hard look at the club and realise that unless they cease pulling it apart themselves it will self destuct, then there isnt much hope.

Napoleon once commented that "It is better to have one bad General, than two good ones who cannot agree" the gist of his statement being that unless you are united then you cannot conquer.

Of course Rupert Lowe is not exactly uniting the fans, but as we enter a vital period of the season, we have to accept that he is in charge and allow him to try and turn the club round, maybe he will and maybe he wont, but if the clubs fans and past and present directors continue to bicker then its virtually guaranteeing that he wont. 

Its not a good situation but whilst Lowe & Wilde remain in alliance the balance of power cannot change, they hold the majority of the shares between them and on proxy, the anti Lowe brigade wont like it, but it is democracy, rightly or wrongly, the time for boardroom squabbles is in the close season, I want to see Southampton FC stay out of administration and i want to see them survive in the Championship.

Without a doubt this is the saddest period in the History of the Club, it has been through hard times before, namely in the 1950's, the difference between then and now is that back then the supporters worked tirelessly with the Club to ensure its survival, the old supporters club even buying a player and contributing towards the floodlights, do we have that unity now, NO but we should have, it should be about the Club not personalities.

Perhaps from a personal point of view it is very frustrating, for several years I have been advocating more ownership of the club through the collective structure of the Saints Trust, when it started almost three years ago, we were in the final stages of Ruperts first spell, if fans had seen back then  what could have been achieved over the next three years and acted on it then this current fiasco would not have happened, even now if the 30,000 Saints supporters attending the Man Utd game all joined the Saints trust at £10 per head, that would enable the Trust to buy approximately 1,500,000 shares, this represents over 5% of the shareholding, a substancial amount, if everyone also donated £10, the balance of power would be with the fans.

Repeat that excersise in the summer when renewals are due, the fans would then become the major shareholder.

Sadly too many people cannot see that collectively is the only way forward, whilst most have debated on internet message boards, it has allowed the warring factions to destroy our club in the boardroom. Many will pour scorn on this statement, but fact of the matter is someone or something has to break this circle otherwise we will simply continue to repeat the folly of the past few years. 

Will 2009 be any better than 2008, well on the final day of the year its hard to say that it will be, in fact the indications are that it will be much worse, everyone involved with this Club be it Supporters, Directors and Ex Directors has to take a long hard look at themselves and ask whether they want to be part of the continuing problems, or whether they want to work together to be part of the solution.      

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