This is meant to be the greatest time ever to be a Saints fan, so why are we going into this game with as much turmoil as we have ever had.
Im going to try and concentrate on this game in this preview rather than what has been going on around it, last Thursday I thought that this might well be a preview fillwed with hope and celebrating a new found confidence in the side, one that had been cemented with a great point at Stamford Bridge, I would have talked about needing only four wins to survive in the Premier league and how all of this and the run of form that we were in might just add up to the first of those four wins against a very good Everton side.
Of course now the perspective of the game has changed and instead of looking forward to a partizan crowd roaring Saints on, all the talk is of the vitriol that is going to pour out from the stands.
Well as supporters we need to focus on what we are all going to St mary's for tonight, of course the sacking of Nigel Adkins should not be forgotten or forgiven in the course of a couple of days and points do need to be made, but on the other hand we dont want it to spill over into the game and create the type of atmosphere that has dragged down Chelsea in recent months when they have played at home.
But my main concern is how will the crowd react should we go a goal behind, my fear is that it could turn on Chairman & manager very quickly if that should happen, at Chelsea we showed that we have the spirit to fight back, but the big question now is have we still got it !
But the real issue is how we are going to put a team out, who is actually going to select it and with the manager not appearing to speak English, how is he going to communicate just how he wants it to play, I have nothing against Mauriccio Pochettino and as i have stated he has done nothing wrong other than not be Nigel Adkins, but getting rid of the coaching staff en masse means that there is no one to advise him who actually knows about the squad except for Fran Alonso, the technical team support coach (whatever that means) unless you count Les Reed.
So previewing this game is going to be virtually impossible, it could go either way, Everton have only lost twice on the road in the league so are going to be no push overs, indeed it would have been hard enough even with the momentum in our favour let alone the handicaps for this game that we now have.
My hope is that we stick to what we know best and that the players go out to show that they appreciate what Nigel Adkins has done for them by winning this game as a tribute.