SAINTS have been at Langtree Park for five years now and in that time they have been crowned champions.....and yet it still doesn’t feel like home.

Yes, the ‘new’ place is much easier for most townsfolk to get to than Knowsley Road — it is more comfortable, family friendly, gives scope for corporates and you don’t have to wade through second hand ale to go to the toilet, but for all that it is missing something.

The statistics and gut feelings of the fans tell you that much.

Fans will count on the fingers of one hand the really tumultuous nights that have had the West Stand rocking — maybe a couple of Wigan games and the odd Leeds clash.

But from the off in 2012 there have probably been more games to forget than remember.

And it does not help that this year Saints have reserved their most abject performances for their home fans — Roosters, Good Friday and Hull in the Cup — games that should mean something; where the fans and team should be on the same page.

Saints have lost an awful lot of home games this year, but if it was a simple case of the team not being good enough, then any issues with Langtree Park would not be called into question.

But earlier this year Saints went from beating high-flying Warrington in front of a passionate away following, to running out at Langtree Park the following week to lukewarm applause in a game against Catalans where a flat performance was played out in front of a flatter crowd.

Saints have had anything but a vintage year, but they seem to have played better on their travels this year than they have on their own midden?

The fans have been louder and more up for it when they have been out of town.

How is it that they can make a real din at Cas and Hull, but barely raise a murmur at Langtree Park?

On Friday night the Widnes contingent mocked when the West Stand came up with its first audible attempt to get behind the team late in the game.

I know what the fans say. They have paid their money and want to be entertained and have something to jump out of their seats for, win, or hopefully both.

They look to the team to give them the spur to get excited and cheer, but sometimes there is a degree of chicken and egg.

Coaches talk about anxiety being the biggest handicap for players to overcome.

Well Saints, to me, always look anxious and ready to get back into their shells at the first sign of groans at home. Sometimes the silence weighs heavy too.

Leaving aside the argument that Saints need to recruit some quality players – and in a way the fans’ silence and indifference at games is maybe telling the board to change things on the pitch - but is it worth asking how we can change the atmosphere at Langtree Park before the year is out?

Saints will never be like dancing plants, cheering blindly and offering uncritical support and deserting in droves when the going gets tough.

But sometimes maybe they are too reserved at Langtree Park, when you compare it to the South Stand at bottom-placed Leeds, the popular side at Hull KR, and even fans at the old school grounds like Cas and Wakefield.

Some fans have compared the north and south stands at Langtree Park to a library so it is no wonder people long for the return of the raucous Scaff.

The Saints management need to do their bit, recruitment wise, but we also need Langtree Park to feel like a home ground again and lift the cloud that hangs over match days, seemingly even when they win.