LOOKING for positives when things seem bleak is not easy. But at Saints there is still one - George Burley.

Even with things going wrong on and off the pitch, everybody must remain strong and invest their faith in him to get it right.

His pedigree as a manager is without question. His record as a manager that thrives in situations such as those in which he currently finds himself is without question.

In Burley, Saints DO have the man that can give them hope, on the pitch at least.

Burley can come in, steady a sinking ship and turn it round to make upward progress again fairly soon.

Yes, this is without doubt the hardest he will have ever had it.

Yes, he has found himself at a club that has the feeling of the last hours of the Titanic about it at the moment.

But, yes, he is the right man for the job and, given the right environment to prosper, he can succeed.

The current backdrop for him is so hard because of the politics at the club.

Coming in, reshaping a squad and trying to build a new team is one thing - and that's hard enough.

But when you have the added pressure of a virtually united fan base calling for the chairman who appointed you to resign - and he needs results to take the heat off him as Rupert Lowe looks increasingly desperate - the intensity must be huge.

That is why his footballing judgement must be backed.

Looking at Saints on the field, Burley has at least built from the back, the basis of any good team.

In Bartosz Bialkowski he has brought in a top class young keeper.

And he has organised and re-shaped his defence so they are starting to look like they won't concede many goals.

That is always the best way to go about things. Goals and attacking play can be added and will come, but you will struggle for results if you concede.

Even against lowly Derby, who had conceded nine goals in their previous two away games, Saints - who have the second worst home scoring record in the Championship behind Millwall - rarely looked like scoring.

But at least they didn't lose. That is a positive of sorts.

The trait of a typical Burley team is one that gets the ball down and plays good football and one that scores plenty of goals.

But Burley knows as well as anybody that he needs a short-term fix.

Saints need to make sure they stay up.

It seems incredible to be saying that, but it's true.

It's highly unlikely that Brighton, Millwall or Crewe will overtake Burley's men, but Saints need to guard against complacency.

Once that short term aim is hopefully met then Saints will start to look forward and Burley will build a team for the future.

You could argue that should have started last month with more permanent signings.

But, for whatever reason, it didn't - and so we go on from here.

In terms of entertainment, there probably weren't a lot of fans who thought they got good value for their £26 on Saturday.

St Mary's sadly witnessed another turgid match.

The first half was dreadful. Burley said it was like watching paint dry.

It's hard to remember which bits were that good.

Derby came and played 4-5-1. They got ten men behind the ball when Saints were in possession making them hard to break down and got forward to support in attack.

They had the only chance of the first half when Bialkowski clawed an Inigo Idiakez corner back off the line and in the ensuing melee Darren Moore's header was kept out when he might have scored.

The second half was better - marginally.

Saints did create a chance, Kenwyne Jones getting through on goal but seeing his weak shot saved by Lee Camp. Sub Ricardo Fuller also went close.

But as the game wore on, it was - worryingly - managerless Derby who looked the more likely to break the deadlock.

But Saints' defence was resolute and held on for a point in was the fifth 0-0 draw in 16 Championship games at St Mary's this season.

One thing's for sure - Burley's got his work cut out.