OF COURSE Bill Shankly was talking nonsense when he famously remarked 'football's not a matter of life and death...it's much more important than that'.

This fact was underlined before a ball was even kicked on Saturday thanks to Saints legend Danny Wallace.

Now suffering from multiple sclerosis, the former winger made his first appearance in front of the Southampton faithful since being diagnosed with the debilitating disease back in 1995.

Walking with the aid of a cane, he followed the teams out onto the pitch to a spine-tingling ovation as the chant 'There's only one Danny Wallace' boomed around St Mary's.

After shutting himself away for some five years as he came to terms with his condition, no-one should underestimate what it took to make such a public appearance.

The entire ground applauded Wallace's courage and dignity as for a wonderful moment 32,000 people were united in their support of one man.

As for the match, the 2-1 defeat once again underlined what a roller-coaster season this has been for the fans.

Their European hopes have been like that flirtatious blonde who keeps enticing you at a nightclub.

Just as you believe something might actually happen, the possibility seems to just keep slithering away. All seemed feasible early in the season, then again around Christmas, and yet again at half-time on Saturday, as Saints looked on course to make it five wins out of seven Paul Sturrock.

Once again, though, the chance appears to have slipped by.

The reason this keeps happening is simple. For all their progress in recent seasons, Saints' squad remains deficient at the highest level in a few key positions.

Basically, the central areas are strong, but the lack of top quality options out wide is glaring.

With just a handful of games remaining until the end of season, no player has yet made the left or right midfield position his own.

And with Graeme Le Saux struggling with a series of injuries since November, left-back could also be a problem.

Wayne Bridge and Chris Marsden have been badly missed, while of the supposed specialist wide players, Paul Telfer looks better at full-back than in midfield, Neil McCann has yet to shine for the first-team and Fabrice Fernandes remains inconsistent.

Leandre Griffit is rightly a big long-term hope, while the likes of David Prutton, Anders Svensson and Rory Delap are simply central midfield players filling in.

The best natural possible convert to midfield is Marian Pahars, although he showed both his strengths and weaknesses in that role when first scoring but then failing to clear just prior to Bolton's equaliser.

To improve, Saints basically still need rather more natural players on both the left and right of midfield.

The challenge for Sturrock, of course, is not so much identifying this, but finding and securing the correct personnel.

It's a big task, but with strength in other positions the rewards are potentially very exciting.

Yet as Danny Wallace reminded us on Saturday, it is a process we should keep in perspective, as well as enjoy.