Just how do you preview a game when you do not have a clue what team either club will put out ?
The game at St Mary's on Saturday would normally be the highlight of the season, even back in the days we were in the top flight, a FA Cup tie against the Red Devils was always seen a something special, but for some reason this game has just not captured the imagination.
Of course the cup is often cited as being devalued nowadays, but up until now we seem to have bucked that trend, a year ago saw a full house for pompey, OK a local derby, but back then neither team talked about priorities in the league, which both at that time had, merely about beating the other.
But perhaps the strangest thing is the fact the game hasnt sold out !
So why is this all so low key, well its all down to the perception of the Saints fans, when the Club took the decision to scrap the season ticket repayment plan and half season tickets, in one foul swoop they changed the mood of the fans from positive to negative and despite fine words from some, that mood still prevails, yes we have the biggest average crowd in League 1, but truth is its only a rise of 2.5% on last season and given the feel good factor after the JPT final and the fact we are now firmly in the promotion race, this isnt exactly a great increase.
This is now impacting on the FA Cup and the fact so many are saying that they arent going and the way the club is struggling to sell the tickets and this is all down to the way the club has marketed itself to the supporters and doing that positively needs a lot of help from the local press.
Foe this game there has been little positive spin put on it by the club, not helped by the way the supporters have percieved the way tickets have been sold, for my mind i think the Club in the main had no choice to do it how they have given their lack of a membership scheme, but it seems folly to stay with a linked sale for so long when it was clear that the club were struggling to sell tickets well over a week ago.
Of course there are many who will say we are a league 1 club and 29k or so is a great crowd, but that is thinking like a League 1 club and if we have aspirations then we have to think like a Championship club and higher, two years ago a full hosue saw United at SMS, at a time when unrest amongst the supporters had never been higher than at any point in its history, but why were they willing to come then but not now.
Hopefully Saints over the last year will have learnt a lesson or two in marketing and the main lesson is if you treat the supporters as mere commodities, then they will respond in kind, the most succesful clubs are those that make their supporters feel part of a Club, United are a fine example over the years, but they have faced in recent years a similar communications problem with a change of ownership.
So to the game, what side will United put out ? who knows ! what side will Saints put out ? who knows ! Probably the real answer is that Saints will put a hybrid out and United to a lesser extent with a few big guns on the bench for insurance, for me football is all about pitting yourself against the likes of United and i feel sorry for those who will miss out on the atmosphere tomorrow, because it might nnot be quite full but it will still be the first time this season we have got anywhere near 30k in the ground and once the game starts everything will be forgotten apart from the fact that its 11 Saints V 11 Red Devils, just how football should be.