Sometimes it’s frustrating being a Saints supporter. For the first hour at the Rec last weekend we were awful. I felt embarrassed for all those supporters who had made the trip. Ten suddenly we woke up and played some rugby and were pushing for victory at the end.

The Bath supporters around me stopped singing “It’s a long way to Plymouth Albion, it’s a long way to go” and turned instead to “Wake up Bath!” with concern and anxiety in their voices.

Therein lies our problem – we don’t seem to be able to string 80 minutes of good play together. We must do that particularly in the next two weeks. Our game today is vital and next week we play our match in hand against Bristol. Anything less than 100% effort is unacceptable.

W won’t be meeting again at Franklin’s Gardens until the very last game of the season against London Irish – unless of course we beat Biarritz in San Sebastien! This is a tall order; however nothing is impossible. The ant and the rubber tree springs to mind!

The coaches and players take little notice of what I, the chairman, have to say, which is probably just as well. However if they did I might well be saying “Relax, enjoy yourselves. Play some rugby and let’s go for gold!” If Watford can get to the FA Cup semi-final Saints can get to the Heineken semis and then with a home tie who knows?

In the meantime everyone needs to keep focussed at the job in hand, i.e. avoiding relegation. My job is to keep all of the supporters, coaches and players 100% positive during this period, to make sure we play with pride and passion and give it our absolute all.

Recruitment continues a-pace and we try to keep supporters up to speed at all times. Often these deals are complex: there’s always three or four clubs chasing the same players. Most players get signed subject to medicals and often these include scans and second opinions. Once this is all sorted we immediately keep you informed.

I do promise you if we avoid the drop we are not going to be in this position again. We have a great ground, fantastic supporters – you deserve better. But let’s stay tight together during the next five games.