THEY SAY you can't buy success, but Saints' best hope of survival is for Rupert Lowe to spend - now.

There seems no alternative - apart from Championship football next season. For that's where Saints are heading if the chairman doesn't step in and back his manager with money.

Nobody is suggesting that Harry Redknapp should be given so much money it could put the club into possible peril if it still went wrong.

But there is surely no better case for spending than now. The immediate future looks bleak if Saints don't.

And if Lowe doesn't back Redknapp to the hilt then you wonder what the point of bringing him in was.

Saints, of course, aren't a selling club - except for players such as Dean Richards, Wayne Bridge and now James Beattie.

But despite all this they seem unable to be able to find cash to bail the team out when they need it most.

A short-term risk is what's needed. Not a massive investment that ties the club down for a long period of time if things go wrong, just something to help them get back on track.

Saints fans are sick of hearing how well things are going financially, how the turnover has increased and share dividend gone up.

They look at it and think 'Well, that's good, it'll mean some more money for the manager to spend.' That doesn't seem to have been the case so they are left wondering 'What's the point of having it?' Of course, that's the uneasy contradiction of having a plc running a football club.

Redknapp has already said he doesn't think he'll have more than the money he raises by selling Beattie to spend.

Why?

He also says it's going to be hard to get in players good enough to keep Saints up because the club won't pay their wages.

Why?

Did I blink and miss something? A little while ago Saints, we were told, were a club progressing, on the up and up, matching some of the Premiership's traditional upper mid-table teams.

Now it seems they are lagging miles behind Everton and Aston Villa.

Not just in the table, but in terms of ambition as well.

Sure, Everton sold Wayne Rooney when crippled with debt - but how come these sort of teams can think about buying a top Saints player whereas Saints buying one of their top stars is totally unthinkable?

The transfer policy at the club has been wrong for a while.

Redknapp spotted it within days of walking through the door and most of the fans could have told him anyway.

Quantity doesn't mean quality, especially when it comes to footballers.

Now Lowe has to get in quality. He has to find a way to fund the players Redknapp wants.

If not, then he will have to shoulder the blame from the Saints fans for whatever happens come the end of the season.

At City it was again a case of plenty of effort but a lack of quality, and also a hint of bad luck.

Saints started the match with a 4-5-1 formation with Brett Ormerod wide on the right but trying to make it a 4-4-2 when attacking with Kevin Phillips.

It didn't really work and City went in at half-time drenched because of the torrential rain but 2-0 up.

Their first came on 19 minutes from a Robbie Fowler corner. Richard Dunne was allowed space at the far post to head back across goal where Paul Bosvelt also found himself unmarked and nodded home.

It could have got worse but for a good save by Antti Niemi and a goalline clearance from Danny Higginbotham.

But City made it 2-0 five minutes before the break when Shaun Wright-Phillips turned David Prutton, cut inside Matt Oakley and unleashed a fierce shot that flew past Niemi, off the inside of the post and in.

Redknapp made two changes at half-time and reverted to 4-4-2. Peter Crouch looked good alongside Phillips in attack, while Prutton switched to a more traditional central midfield role and really took the game to City.

Saints, who were slipped to their 11th away loss in 13 matches, were unlucky not to pull one back just before the hour mark when Phillips headed home but was wrongly flagged offside.

With 12 minutes left only a superb save from David James kept out Crouch but Saints did at least get a goal when Phillips slammed home from the penalty spot with seconds remaining after Crouch had been fouled by Sylvain Distin. It was Saints' first goal for over five hours - 313 minutes to be precise.

Splashing the cash may sound a little crude, but it's time for Saints to do business - it could soon be too late otherwise.