IN FOOTBALL, like any other walk of life, you take your leadership from the top. But when there is a void, things start to drift.

At Saints that drift is in serious danger of becoming an avalanche of massive proportions.

It starts at the very top of the club and filters down to the players.

The great Alan Ball used to say if you give players an excuse not to perform they will use it.

It's the way football has always been and always will be.

At Saints right now, the players have enough excuses not to bother getting out of bed in the morning.

You still expect far better of them than they are currently giving, but we'll come on to that.

It seems now that Saints are a club built on hope.

There is passion at the top, but where are the plans to get them out of the mess they are currently in?

Rhetoric about wanting to fill the ground and lead the club back to the top flight is all very well, but any fan can say that with passion. How?

Instead of a clear way out, it seems all we can do is hope.

We all know that without new investment this club is in serious trouble in the summer. We all know that attracting such money is a very tough task.

But everything seems to be on hold until the summer. Everything is to buy time, but for what?

The hope somebody will walk in the door with a huge pile of cash - it's a slim hope at best.

That's why the club is sliding at a rate of knots.

It may not be a popular thing to say, but John Gorman and Jason Dodd deserve sympathy - not slating, not barracking, but sympathy.

They are decent men trying to do an honest and professional job in difficult circumstances.

Both are clearly giving it their all, but it just isn't working out.

The chance of the play-offs have now gone, out of the FA Cup and getting sucked ever nearer a relegation battle is the current state of play.

It can be hard to predict how things will pan out, but the club need to act to stop this slide.

The trouble is at Saints there is nobody there for the fans to pin their hopes on and get behind.

The club have always had a big character, whether it be a manager, a player, even a chairman.

Some sort of figurehead to show a way out of the dark times every club has. It just isn't there at Saints and has only accelerated since George Burley left.

A new manager seems the only answer to half the equation.

With Dodd and Gorman still there, it would at least provide the players with a focal point and a much-needed kick into life.

Sadly, it seems that some of the current squad don't have the desire to go out there and motivate themselves to play well.

At Bristol Rovers they couldn't even get themselves up to try and get to an FA Cup quarter final - so much for professional pride.

And what's worse is that some of these guys say how pleased they are for Dodd and Gorman, and then go out and play like that for them, knowing they will take the flak.

There are too many journeymen and retirement plans at Saints, players who through bad management in the boardroom have been handed deals the likes of which they should never have been given.

The fans have certainly identified the ones who give the required amount and the ones who don't.

The game at Rovers was abysmal.

The pitch was dreadful, but Saints coped with it badly.

The minimum you expect, even if you don't play well, is a bit of heart, determination and fight.

They were all in very short supply.

Rovers picked up so many second balls it was untrue, intercepted so many passes. They were poor as well. But they were too good for Saints.

In a game of few chances, the best first half openings fell to Craig Disley, who came close for Rovers, while Kelvin Davis made a good save from Rickie Lambert.

Saints didn't threaten Rovers' goal at all.

In the second period Jason Euell at least forced Steve Phillips into a save with a low volley from the edge of the area, before Jhon Viafara hopelessly slashed wide and over.

Saints got a let off when Lambert headed home from a corner on 70 minutes, but it was disallowed for a push on Darren Powell.

Lambert again came close before Rovers got the goal they deserved six minutes from time.

After conceding a needless free - kick 20 yards out, Lambert struck low past a terrible wall and Jermaine Wright stuck a leg out and directed it into his own net.

It's hard to imagine how things get any worse, but without a bit of leadership at the club they will do.

Daily Echo Man of the Match: Andrew Davies One of very few Saints players to come out of the game with any credit. Gave it his all throughout.