It's no contest

I have since spent a lot of time with Michael and am more than ever convinced he is the right sort of man to lead the club back to the way it used to be.

He has spent a huge amount of money acquiring enough shares to call the EGM and is certainly not the sort who would be looking to sign autographs or for his ego to be massaged.

He is a football man through and through and would dearly love to have the club back in the Premiership.

Michael reassured me that, if his efforts are successful, there will be new investment and a football board will be put in place, leaving the PLC completely separate to run the business side, which I'm sure most people would agree with.

In Monday's article, I mentioned I had not been a regular visitor to the new ground.

The main reason was because, when it opened, the club sent me two tickets. On going to one of the early games with my wife Anne, I automatically went to the directors box to be told I was not sitting there and instead was shown to seats two blocks away.

At half-time, we were not allowed in the boardroom.

I certainly got the message.

I did go at the invitation of the FA to attend the England v Macedonia game and also acted as manager to teams in benefit matches for Matt Le Tissier and Danny Wallace.

I listed my reasons for airing my opinions on Monday, comparing this situation from nine seasons ago at the beginning of the PLC reign when the club was a solid Premiership club to where it is now.

Remember, until George Burley, pictured, oversaw the good run-in to the end of the season, we were on the verge of relegation again.

It should also be remembered that five of his players were loan signings with four of them having now gone back to their clubs.

I support George 100 per cent. I have known him for many years and actually signed him when I was at Sunderland.

He will know better than most how Saints used to be from his time playing at Ipswich under Bobby Robson when both clubs were run on very similar lines.

Although I purposely make no contact at all, I met up with George again for the first time after the season was over when we both did a Q&A session for the League Managers' Association at The Rose Bowl.

When George was asked the inevitable question, he said in his short time he had had the support of everyone at the club but the point was made forcibly by the business people in the audience in particular that the problem the supporters had was not during the previous four or five months but in fact the whole nine seasons with him being the ninth manager in that time.

As one of them rightly pointed out, if any one of their businesses had had that many managers in that time, they (the bosses) would have had to have a good look at themselves.

So with only a week or so to go before the big day, I'm sure the votes are being cast and counted and checked up on religiously.

I don't know all the politics of this sort of business at this stage.

The current regime have a spilt board and are attempting to offload so-called rebel directors who themselves have supported the club for 40 years or more on average and who have made statements recently about decisions made in the club without their knowledge.

I suppose many different routes and angles will be made before the final vote.

Who knows what may be up anyone's sleeve but, whatever the final outcome, one thing is certain of the current regime. They have lost the crowd, lost credibility, lost a third of their own directors, lost Saints' standing in the game and lost a lot of professional goodwill with number of managers coming in and out as if through a revolving door.

The same is true where Danny Wallace is concerned. A Saints legend who didn't cost the club a penny, Danny was sold for over £1m and has now got MS and will never get any better. He was given a testimonial but had to give up a third of the income he made in costs for stewards, stile men, strips etc with the answer being it was PLC rules.

I don't think there would be a single shareholder who would have argued had the club covered the cost with a donation.

But most damning of all, the current regime have lost top flight football after 27 years and, believe me, having managed in every one of the divisions, the league they are in now is the hardest to get out of.

The club may have balanced its books over recent years without any significant investment by selling its best players with very little outlay on newcomers.

But George Burley deserves better than this for the coming season, which will be one of the most vital and important in the club's history.

George wants to be here for the long term. Let's get back to those good old days, which he experienced at Ipswich and I did at The Dell.

Stability and continuity are words being used by the current regime. They have not been practised during their reign but were the standard of the club in the good old days, which gave it its backbone.

I can only repeat that, without personalities being involved, it's simply a question of the current regime looking in the mirror and admitting they had nine years in which they have basically not done anything that hadn't been achieved at the club before. Some of the old directors who are still in situ should know that better than anyone.

Surely there is nothing wrong with saying: "Hands up, we gave it our best shot, it's time to move over and let someone else have a go."

Let's hope commonsense prevails and we get our club back with the heart and the soul the supporters used to thrive on and love to support.

I personally feel Michael Wilde in particular has the same feelings as myself and many others.