WE can only guess whether Monsieur and Madame Malbranque named their baby boy after their favourite character in The Avengers.

Whether or not Mere and Pere Malbranque did pick their boy's name on the basis of a dodgy TV, there was one Steed who certainly left Saints reeling as if they had been whacked over the head with a brolly.

The Avengers' Steed was known for his style, flair and elegance, all virtues that Steed Malbraunque showed, along with his Fulham team-mates, who only served to illustrate to Gordon Strachan the size of the task he has taken on.

Strachan wore the look of a man who witnessed a car crash, the normally bubbly little Soct was subdued at the post-match press conference.

He saw his new charges ultimately comprehensively outplayed by Fulham, and put his hand up that the point that might have burgled at the end would have been an act of grand larceny.

The fuel which powers Fulham is confidence, and when their tank is full, they motor along at a heck of a lick, full of the Gallic flair, elan and elegance that manager Jean Tigana has steeped his team in.

Fulham's confidence is a fragile bubble that can easily be pricked, but Saints contrived to lose the pin they had stuck in it.

Malbranque fired Fulham ahead on 25 minutes, showing he was the Jean-on-the-spot as Paul Jones parried Barry Hayles' shot, and Steve Marlet nodded the ballooning ball down for Malbranque to stab it home.

Saints dug in and got a deserved equaliser six minutes later when Tahar El Khalej's clearing header from Edwin van der Sar's clearance turned into the perfect pass for James Beattie who ran past the vainly appealing Fulham back line to slot past the Dutch goalkeeper.

At that point, you sensed that Fulham were mentally brittle, and had Saints held out for ten minutes or until half-time, they might have gained the strength to go on and get something.

It was a moot point, though, as Fulham restored their lead straight from the restart.

El Khalej and Jason Dodd got into a tangle, and Hayles collected the ball to set up Malbranque to fire powerfully home.

After that, it was Saints who collapsed as Fulham's resoted confidence produced some irresistable football at times.

The Cottagers were quicker not only in deed but also in thought.

Tigana hasn't hesitated to return to his homeland for players, and in Malbranque and Sylvain Legwinski they had midfielders which France rejoice in; skilful, inventive, full of intelligent running, and sharp of eye to see an angle for a pass.

Saints, in contrast, were sloppy when they had the ball, conceding possession too cheaply and learning a harsh lesson that when you lose it against teams like Fulham, you have to expend valuable energy to try and get it back.

Jones denied Malbranque a hat-trick, while second-half substitute Louis Saha struck the post. Saha's catalogue of misses was almost embarrassing as Fulham went through a Saints midfield without Chris Marsden's combative edge like grass through a goose.

Even Strachan's ploy of fielding Dodd at left-back to push Wayne Bridge into midfield failed to click, as Bridge spent most of his time double-teaming on Luis Boa Morte, who had the bit between his teeth against the team that showed him the door.

As per the Arsenal defeat, when Saints' heads weren't down, they were involved in pointing recriminating fingers at each other, and the only wonder was how Fulham didn't treble their money.

New signing Paul Williams looked like a man who hadn't played first-team football for six weeks and it was probably unfair to throw him in.

Suddenly, Strachan's shopping list has expanded. If Saints knew they needed another central defender BEFORE they sold Dean Richards as well as a striker, the wish-list could extend to several other positions. They can't afford to wait ten days, two weeks, or whatever for Agustin Delgado, they need the catalyst of fresh legs NOW.

To their credit, Saints didn't buckle and bizarrely might have got something out of the game.

Saints' best chances of getting back into the game came courtesy of Edwin van der Sar, who escaped a handling ricket when he dropped Wayne Bridge's cross, and then drifted off his line to allow Anders Svensson to dip a shot over him against the crossbar. Marian Pahars coughed up another instant reprieve when he lashed the rebound over the bar with van der Sar beached.

They were also denied a penalty when Dan Petrescu's shot was clearly blocked by Rufus Brevett's arm but if ever the old saying that you make your own luck in football hit home, it was then. It would have been a travesty had Fulham not claimed all three points.