First published in The Pink on Saturday February 27, 2010

ALAN Pardew and his side have been under some pressure in recent weeks.

Getting to Wembley, the scrutiny of the derby game and the return to league action in a bid to make the play-offs have all led to different types of problems.

As we already know, Saints’ chairman Nicola Cortese has made it quite clear that he was not happy with the form of the side in league matches.

Quite simply, his view was to be as far off the play-offs as they were was not acceptable bearing in mind the finance Pardew has had to play with.

Understandable, I guess. Who else has splashed £1m on a top striker outside of the Premier League, let alone the £1.2m we spent on securing Jose Fonte?

I’m sure the players and coaching staff are well aware of the expectations on their shoulders now.

But let’s not get carried away.

It’s not the form of the side now that is likely to stop us getting to the top six - it was the slow start to the season that did the damage.

Added to the ten-point deficit, that is why we currently sit 11th and not say, fourth.

For that reason, it would be very, very unfair to make any rash decisions or statements about the side.

With half a pre-season and a brand new team that had to hit the ground running, it is no wonder it took so long for Pardew to get his side winning.

A better start – say, three extra wins in our first ten games – and the table would look very different.

Alas, it didn’t happen, but I reckon there are very good and fair reasons for that.

What I fear is the club falling into the same trap as QPR in assuming that the formula of football plus cash equals immediate results.

The demand for instant success at Loftus Road has been holding them back.

The money has been pumped in and decent players bought, but if the manager gets booted out every time the team suffers a dip in form, you’re not going to get anywhere.

At best you’ll tread water or you’ll end up fighting to stay up – just ask any Saints fan that.

Prior to Pardew coming in, we had more managers than there are Pompey fans. It would be a disaster for the club to ditch Pardew in the summer should we not be in the top six come May.

I don’t think that is necessarily likely to happen, but with the habit of kicking bosses to the kerb the club – and football as a whole – has had over the last 15 years or so, it’s not unreasonable to be worried about it, if you ask me.

Pardew has something to prove after his time at Charlton and I think, given time, he’ll do well for Southampton.

Yeah, we don’t want to be in this division longer than we have to, but by the same token we only had a shell of a club ten months ago, so we have to keep a bit of perspective.

Saints are – unbelievably – still available at 250/1 to win League One.

Some teams higher than us in the division aren't available at any price, so the bookies certainly think Pardew is doing something right – unless a load of optimistic Saints fans have some cash burning a hole, of course.

Every time the whole manager-under- pressure thing comes along at any club, many people point to Alex Ferguson at Man Utd.

There’s no getting away from how awful he was for the first 18 months of his Old Trafford tenure, compared to what was expected of him. United fans wanted him out but the board stuck with him – and off they took.

The only managers I can think of in recent times who have come in and made instant impacts in English football are Mourinho at Chelsea and Redknapp at Spurs – and it’s not as if things were really that bad for either of those clubs in the first place.

Martin O’Neill has crafted his Villa side over the last four years and only now are they genuinely looking like being able to fulfil their (admittedly very lofty) ambitions.

Now, I’m not saying Pardew will get us to a Champions’ League spot in four years, but I’m confident he’ll get us up the divisions provided he is given ample opportunity.

Please, just don’t make us another QPR.

Good luck Pompey - you need it

WELL, it’s happened. Pompey are in administration.

I bet the blue few don’t find those “sunny in Portsmouth but minus 10 in Southampton” jokes quite so funny now, eh?

Unbelievably, the club’s hierarchy were trying to spin administration as a positive for the club. A way to start anew.

Rejuvenated. Revitalised.

If you believe that, you’re a moron.

The only way this could be seen as a positive thing is that they haven’t vanished from existence altogether.

They’re going to have a hell of a time limping on until the end of the season – paying wages, normal bills – things they have already had trouble with are not going to be any easier just because they’ve got someone in to sell off all the family silver.

Good luck to them, they’re going to need it.

Just ask any Swindon fans what they think of Andrew Andronikou…