THE picture above was taken under two years ago but may already have the nostalgia buffs among you all moisty-eyed.

The eleven men lining up at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium were those entrusted by Gordon Strachan to bring the FA Cup back to Southampton for only the second time in the club's history.

They were also, virtually to a man, the same players that guided Saints to an eighth-placed Premiership finish - the club's highest since the renaming of the old First Division 11 years earlier.

But look at that photo now and compare it to the team Harry Redknapp could send out against Brentford in another FA Cup tie this afternoon.

And only Claus Lundekvam, of the Cup Final XI, can consider himself a likely starter for next Tuesday's crunch six-pointer at The Hawthorns.

Yes, Antti Niemi and Michael Svensson would surely play if not currently injured - but the instability caused by so many on-field changes has never been more obvious than by looking at the photo on our back page.

Indeed, of the 18-man squad that Strachan took to Cardiff, just Niemi and Lundekvam can consider themselves regulars since Redknapp strengthened his free-falling squad last month.

Elsewhere, Wayne Bridge and James Beattie have been sold for big money while Michael Svensson, as mentioned, is injured.

Veterans Paul Jones, Chris Marsden and Paul Williams have also left.

Kevin Davies and Arron Davies - the two who missed out on either a starting slot or a bench place in Cardiff - now ply their trade at Bolton and Yeovil respectively.

Paul Telfer, Danny Higginbotham, Fabrice Fernandes, Matt Oakley and Brett Ormerod look to have a major struggle on their hands to win a regular place under Redknapp, barring loss of form or injuries.

Though none are out of contract this summer, how many have long-term futures under Harry providing Saints avoid falling through the relegation trapdoor?

Anders Svensson, meanwhile, has started saying his farewells. He was dropped after playing in the FA Cup win over Pompey and has since signed a pre-contractual agreement to return to Swedish club Elfsborg in the summer. If the World Cup 2002 star starts against Brentford, it is only because Jamie Redknapp is rested and Nigel Quashie cup-tied.

Jo Tessem, a Cardiff sub, is almost sure to leave Saints when his contract expires in the summer.

And that leaves Chris Baird, the youngster who was handed only his second ever senior start in the Cup final. Though impressing greatly on the big stage and having become a regular in the Northern Ireland set-up since, he has not started a senior match since December 2003.

In addition to those already named, but who played under Strachan two seasons ago, Jason Dodd and Rory Delap might well have played in the Cup final but for injury, while David Prutton was cup-tied.

Oh, and don't forget Agustin Delgado (just what would Harry have made of the Ecuadorean enigma?) and Marian Pahars, two strikers whose 2002/03 campaigns were marred by injury.

But changing a Cup final squad so dramatically is not necessarily tied in with a downturn in on-field fortunes.

Lest we forget, Lawrie McMenemy's Wembley winners of 1976 bore little resemblance to the side that took Saints up two years later. Of the XI that wrote themselves into Cup final folklore, only David Peach and Nick Holmes were regulars in the second half of the 1977/78 campaign ...