Southampton PodJockey Sam Poulton has taken Andrew Surman's recent comments about staying at his local club with a pinch of salt, especially if the Saints were to continue to struggle.

It was great to hear today that Andrew Surman has came out and stated to us the fans, the people he is responsible too that he wants to be a part of Southampton for the foreseeable future. I for one was convinced of the sale through financial and football reasons as well. 

Leon Crouch the new chairman of the club and the PLC stated that the clubs position is not as serious as what was first predicted, this is clearly a great boost for us because this has given us a reasonable chance of keeping our main assets which is not linked to the financial problems. The problem I have is related to a certain Kenwyne Jones who clearly is the best example of somebody who, I believed was a great talent and after one season of success, believed he was at a standard that was too high for the Championship. If Kenwyne can just go on strike like he did in August refusing to play against Stoke then why can't Surman do it? We harp on about his image, local hero come good and all that rubbish but I cannot see him sticking it out with us when it becomes a struggle with the Saints. 

Let's not forget his performances in November and December were sub standard which sort of reflected the performances of the team as well and although all our fans believe he will be a superstar the reality is, that it is not going to be in a red and white shirt. There is nothing I would like better than this side to get promoted and keep our good players but even when we were big time people like Beatts and Bridgey wanted out as well. Bridgey has always stated he loved the club as a kid like Surman, but if a big club comes in for him he'll vanish; Bridgey's career has taken a nose dive through injury and the signing of Ashley Cole too. Should he have taken Le Tiss's attitude and become a local legend like him? 

The point I am really trying to get across is that it is great Surman coming out and saying this in January but do we as fans really believe that come the start of next season whether in the Premiership, Championship or god forbid League 1 Surman will be still at St Mary's, call me cynical but I believe that there is more chance of the city seeing the Titanic again then that occurring. Unfortunately I have realised that the club does not have the attraction that people believed we have and for the first time in a long time that small and insignificant town down the road is a lot more of a tastier and hot prospect than the premier town on the South coast. People forget that the fan base of our great club is vast from right down to Plymouth up all the way round Sussex and into Kent and it is only with the recent Pompey success that they have challenged us over the last 40 years.

The worry for me is if Redknapp was actually to take Surman for instance that would really shatter me you would like to think as a Saints fan Drew wouldn't do that to the people who love him, but stranger things have happened. I remember Alan Smith coming out in the papers playing for Leeds saying he would never play for Man United and look what happened, I am not saying that Surman will do the same thing as that but I believe today's comments do have to be taken with a pinch of salt and not to literally about his future at St Mary's.