This weekend my Facebook feed threw up as a memory the picture I took from my seat at Wembley of the Championship Playoff final a year ago. I remember the exhilaration and hope I felt then.

Which brings me to my thoughts on this …..remarkable…season that finished yesterday with a home defeat 1-2 by an Arsenal side who finished 2nd in the PL and reached the semi-final of the Champions League. Put like that, it looks a relatively respectable performance as does the previous 0-0 home draw with Man City. These results are not representative of a season that has been the most miserable and disappointing of my experience as a Saints supporter, worse even than the 2008/9 season when we were relegated to League 1 (which serves as a warning for next season).

I went to a good number of home games; we won one (Everton), and I left early several times as we utterly surrendered to Brentford, Brighton and Tottenham. The players were frequently outclassed. Russell Martin did a fine job building a team for the Championship at the beginning of last season, but completely failed to build one for the Premier League. Only two of the new players looked PL quality – Ramsdale and Mateus Fernandes; both of whom will most likely be moving on to stay in the PL. RM had to go, but his replacement Ivan Juric was equally unable to halt the downward momentum.

We have now appointed Will Still as manager. He comes with a good reputation from Ligue 1 in France. Perhaps he can find a few gems for us from that league, I hope so as the tean needs a major rebuild. There are reasons for optimism for next season, but the example of Luton Town hangs over us.

Up the Saints