Although the squad has been stripped of the star names throughout our tenure in the Championship, the emergence of Nathan Dyer has had the Premiership vultures circling yet again.
With the academy youngster out of contract at the end of the season, Saints face losing him for a measily compensation fee. His ankle injury heavily reduces the chances of selling him in January. Clubs will simply wait to see if he makes a full recovery and then get him for nothing.
Local boy Surman's displays led to a very welcome long term contract, but Dyer's inconsistency as he flittered in and out of the first team left his future more uncertain. With money tight, you can understand why he didn't have a longer contract, although in hindsight that seems short-sighted.
This has been his breakthrough season and it is a disappointment that if we have to bow to the inevitable it will be well short of his potential value. Of course we trying to keep hold of our academy players, but recent history shows the difficulty in doing so with Bale, Walcott and Baird enjoying varying degrees of success in the Premiership.
The one bright light has been the emergence of Adam Hammill, finally given a run in the team and starting to show that there is more to his game than showboating. His display against Hull meant that Dyer was barely missed. We just have to hope that he can continue his improvement and do what nearly all Saints players find so difficult - stay injury free.