COMING to the end of a decent season I found the events of the Bank Holiday weekend strangely depressing.

It started on Saturday when the team picked an odd time to put in such a terrible display. Definitely not the done thing on the last home game of the season whilst anticipating the approval and adulation of the fans on the lap of honour. And especially not with a UEFA Cup place at stake.

Understandably, the post match reception was slightly muted, and, judging by his absence, headmaster Graeme Souness was particularly unimpressed.

Souey's reported ire was hardly surprising. At half time on Saturday a UEFA Cup place was as good as ours. When I heard the half time score from Fulham, I wanted those three points so badly it hurt.

Unfortunately it appeared the players didn't share the same enthusiasm or desire.

However, whilst the performance of the players on the pitch fell short of expectations, subsequent comment from the management caused me even greater concern.

Not for the first time in recent weeks our only real source of inspiration was Damien Duff. Yet we had the manager actively courting potential suitors in the National media by indicating we would not resist a suitable bid. And if the hint wasn't quite broad enough we had assistant manager Tony Parkes reiterating the message.

Whilst adding the astonishing comment in last night's edition of this paper that selling Duff and replacing him with two or three players would be "the perfect scenario."

I have to hold my hands up here as obviously I'm not a football professional.

However I've been watching the game over 30 years now and can rarely recall a team benefiting from the loss of their best player. Particularly so when it has happened in our case. Of course, way back then we had to sell. Now we don't.

And have we really learned so little from the lessons of 1996 and the loss of Shearer?

If like Shearer, Duff were determined to leave the club no matter what, that's one thing. If not, advertising his availability to all and sundry is another matter entirely.

Whatever the situation, if he were to leave, I can't see that adding two or three inferior players to an already creaking wage structure will result in anything but tears.