Saints need to deal with the latest off the pitch crisis and fast !
Lets be blunt, if Nathan Dyer and Bradley Wright Phillips are guilty of the crime that they stand accused of by the Sunday Mirror, and it does seem that the evidence is stacked against them, then they deserve the full power of the law coming down on them, it was a despicable act, professional footballers being involved in an act of petty thieving.
Most people would agree that any form of theft is wrong but when it is against an individual then it is even worse, especially when the victims are not exactly earning a fortune.
The club has to act fast, if the accusations in the paper are true this has only come to light because the club failed to respond to the nightclub manager who initially seemed to be willing to sort it out quietly and only went to the papers when Saints did nothing.
This incident seems to explain why Wright Phillips was missing from even the bench for the Ipswich game, so it seems something was being done internally.
The club cannot be blamed for the incident, they cannot help it that they employ persons that have lower morals than the majority of the supporters, they cannot be blamed for that, but now it is in the open they have to come down hard.
The problem is though that the players nowadays hold all the power and they know it, Dyer is already running down his contract with Saints and looks unlikely to sign another one, will he show loyalty to a club who have nurtured him and in truth have paid him a good wage over the past couple of years and in return have had a handful of good games and a darn sight more indifferent ones from him, so what do Saints do now with Dyer, do they come down heavy on him which will probably influence him in any small thoughts he had of staying at Saints or do they back him to the hilt knowing that he might throw it all back in their faces.
Bradley Wright Phillips seems to have played a lesser part in thet he wasnt pictured pilfering from the handbags, it was clear he knew what was happening but played little part, in this I do have some sympathy, lets be frank many of us, if we put our hand on our hearts may have been present when so called friends have done something that they could be ashamed of, for most it wasnt something of this nature but at the time did we stop them doing it, possibly not, but that didnt make us guilty with them did it, however I am not letting Wright Phillips off the hook on this one completely, he seems like many to have just been with the wrong company at the wrong time and like many immature people of his age he isnt big enough to be able to stand up against him, being shallow isnt a crime yet !
So what should Saints do, well the bare minimum should be that we should fine them the maximum we can and then donate those wages to the victims of the crime, or at least a sizable chunk of them, it doesnt make it right but at least its a start.
But this isnt just a Saints problem, its a football one, sadly professional footballers are brought up in an enviroment where they have to be hard, mean and arrogant, to come throught the academy system which is effectively Gladiator School you have to have a certain streak in you and when you do make it you believe that the laws and morals of this country dont apply to you, virtually every week you read of a footballer doing something despicable and its been going on for years, think of those Chelsea players who abused Americans at Heathrow on 9/11 some of them are Internationals now.
Years ago if a player did something like this he would be kicked out of football, not just his club but no one would touch hi, it would be a badge of shame, but now things are different they know someone else will pay them, some of those who run football and even the fans dont care if a player rape's their sister as long as he is performing on the park.
The fact of the matter is they will not care too much what happens, a fine is no deterrent and sadly all we care about is how they play, if Wright Phillips plays against Leicester and scores a last minute winner on Tuesday what reception will he get ?