| WHY? 07:15 - Feb 2 with 6887 views | A_Saint_in_Stoke |
Are so many posts , so downbeat about our club . Yes, I understand that many are MORE focused on knocking Jones - even to the extent that they seem to rather prefer to watch Jones muck up - than really get behind our Saints ! Again some giving Bree stick on Tuesday night for having the audacity NOT to play to Prem League standards in the first half - but he improved considerably in the 2nd half -- Bloody hell guys - give the lads a chance !!!! Yes - Jones is still learning all about what makes his players tick , best combinations / systems ... BUT It does TAKE TIME !!  ....... I do find some of NJ starting lineups/substitutes sometimes strange - but he does have his own ideas. .......... let's just see what he can achieve.
Even the club;'s board have come to their senses WOW .......... A tall centre forward ( we now have another OPTION - WE NOW HAVE A TARGET MAN ) In my opinion a position we have been lacking FOR MANY YEARS - The last one was Manolo Gabbiadini who i saw at Villa park - Scoring a fantastic double for Saints at THE HOLT end .
Now for many years we have existed on short stickers that play wide and although very quick , make little impact ! and indanger of hitting the corner flag rather than the back of the net!Â
 I do appreciate other folks' posts - they have their own opinions ........... BUT With the new signings - I'm excited ! The fact is that we still have EIGHTEEN Prem League games to play ! .............. so give the guys a bit of slack please .... and although I am going to get LOADS of stick - I am predicting that our Saints will finish14'th - 16 'th by the end of this season.                                          COYS |  |
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| WHY? on 07:49 - Feb 2 with 5459 views | Bazza |
Well said. I’m sick of the negativity on here. Of course we’re in a poor position but persistent moaning by certain bitter individuals helps no-one. | | | |
| WHY? on 07:50 - Feb 2 with 5458 views | dwayne_dibley |
well said, but please tell me what cough mixture you are on |  |
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| WHY? on 08:09 - Feb 2 with 5428 views | Centurion |
I agree with the sentiments of the first poster.
Hopefully we will give it our best shot at staying up, united as a club.
If we go down, it is important to stay positive and not turn upon each other.
We have a young team with bags of potential. A manager who is learning fast. I prefer to be optimistic about the future. In 5 years time we could well have a really good blended team gracing the Premier league. | | | |
| WHY? on 09:34 - Feb 2 with 5329 views | SaintNick |
| WHY? on 07:49 - Feb 2 by Bazza |
Well said. I’m sick of the negativity on here. Of course we’re in a poor position but persistent moaning by certain bitter individuals helps no-one. |
The negativity isnt just on here, it is all across Saints social media and it has been going on since 2014, some people just seem to revel in having something to moan about |  |
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| WHY? on 09:43 - Feb 2 with 5319 views | A1079 |
A good post Saint in Stoke and I think Grumpy said something similar the other day and Nick in his verdict which I tend to agree with.
There has not been alot to sing about or be positive about from the 2nd half of last season and the first half or so of this and I will admit I can be as negative or as downbeat as the next person. There have been alot of frustrations and things that have annoyed be it under Ralph, the board or our new manager and I suspect there will still be.
But, at Newcastle away, as Nick pointed out our vocal support was great despite the manner of the first half and we really need to carry that through to the end of the season home and away no matter what our personal feelings may be about the manager, selections or formation. Our support may make the difference on the day and if at the end of the season we still go down (and at the moment I still think we wil) at least I want to know that the manager, players and fans have given it their best shot.
In respect of Nathan Jones. He would not have been my choice and those reservations have not changed. We all make mistakes - the person who never made a mistake never made anything - but he shouldn't repeat them and the fact he did on Tuesday annoyed me, but I do get the impression (witnessing our 2nd half performance and in other games) that the players appear to be behind him - we need to start games though on the front foot instead of seemingly having to learn as we go along. Nathan Jones is our manager and he will be now for the foreseeable - it is in all our interests that he succeeds and I would love him to ram my reservations down my throat. But, he cannot be immune to criticism and he needs to hold his hands up when he gets it wrong and not deflect blame to others.
This January we have made some good signings (in theory) and even though I think they should have been made in the summer (and it may have helped our previous manager) the fact they have been made in this window shows some intent to give us a fighting chance and to that end I am pleased.
Our support on Tuesday gave me some pride back in our club and many Newcastle fans that I spoke to seemed to be similarly impressed - though there is that thing of being praised when you lose which can seem patronising at times.
Whatever the game, I agree on the day, lets give it our all on it and off it and then see where it takes us.
[Post edited 2 Feb 2023 9:59]
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| WHY? on 10:30 - Feb 2 with 5269 views | DorsetIan |
I fully agree. We've just had a fantastic transfer window and the team is playing with so much more heart now.
I've got hope.
But just to be fair to those who still pessimistic...
we have had many years of disappointment under Gao and Hassnehutl
particularly around failures to strengthen the squad
the NJ appointment was underwhelming
as were his first few games in charge
and we are still bottom of the league
It's easy to assume that it's just going to be more of the same pain and disappointment, and it's going to take a while for the blind optimism of some of us to be replaced by a real upturn in results that everyone can buy into.
Jones too I think is the classic marmite character. he seems really easy to dislike because he's so spiky and defensive. But take a look at that Mick McCarthy press conference vid - he seems to really like him and respect him, and he's known him for a lot longer than we have. | |
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| WHY? on 10:44 - Feb 2 with 5256 views | SaintNick |
| WHY? on 10:30 - Feb 2 by DorsetIan |
I fully agree. We've just had a fantastic transfer window and the team is playing with so much more heart now.
I've got hope.
But just to be fair to those who still pessimistic...
we have had many years of disappointment under Gao and Hassnehutl
particularly around failures to strengthen the squad
the NJ appointment was underwhelming
as were his first few games in charge
and we are still bottom of the league
It's easy to assume that it's just going to be more of the same pain and disappointment, and it's going to take a while for the blind optimism of some of us to be replaced by a real upturn in results that everyone can buy into.
Jones too I think is the classic marmite character. he seems really easy to dislike because he's so spiky and defensive. But take a look at that Mick McCarthy press conference vid - he seems to really like him and respect him, and he's known him for a lot longer than we have. |
I disagree that we had many years of disappointment under Gao & Hasenhuttl, just what were we actually expecting.
Under Gao, we had several years of stability, we also had two FA Cup semi finals, that is only disappointing to those that still think a club like Saints can break into the top 6 these days.
Hasenhuttl took us to safety after he arrived, 11th in his first full season and kept us safely in the mid table and one of those FA Cup semi finals, with the owner unable to invest, I am not sure what those that were disappointed with that actually expected.
I think if Ralph had just got one more win and a draw in his final couple of months then the owners would have kept faith and so perhaps would have the fans, if he had come back after the World cup and with the injured back and 5 new players I think we would have seen better progress than under Jones so far.
But we have to the past behind us now and look to the future and give Jones a clean sheet and judge him on what he does and not because he doesnt come across well in interviews or hasnt managed a big club | |
| Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime |
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| WHY? on 10:46 - Feb 2 with 5255 views | Capt_Koons |
WHY..Are so many posts , so downbeat about our clubÂ
Could it be something to do with years of under investment, poor appointments, including board and commercial departments, and a general feeling that those in charge couldn't give a flying fùck about the heart and soul of Southampton Football Club as long as enough people buy burgers at £20 a pop. |  |
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| WHY? on 10:52 - Feb 2 with 5250 views | cocklebreath |
We’re BOTTOM of the LEAGUE |  |
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| WHY? on 11:19 - Feb 2 with 5223 views | PaleRider |
| WHY? on 10:44 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
I disagree that we had many years of disappointment under Gao & Hasenhuttl, just what were we actually expecting.
Under Gao, we had several years of stability, we also had two FA Cup semi finals, that is only disappointing to those that still think a club like Saints can break into the top 6 these days.
Hasenhuttl took us to safety after he arrived, 11th in his first full season and kept us safely in the mid table and one of those FA Cup semi finals, with the owner unable to invest, I am not sure what those that were disappointed with that actually expected.
I think if Ralph had just got one more win and a draw in his final couple of months then the owners would have kept faith and so perhaps would have the fans, if he had come back after the World cup and with the injured back and 5 new players I think we would have seen better progress than under Jones so far.
But we have to the past behind us now and look to the future and give Jones a clean sheet and judge him on what he does and not because he doesnt come across well in interviews or hasnt managed a big club |
Nick, we went backwards under Gao's ownership. When he took over we seemed to have a reasonably bright future. Since he took over we have been mediocre at best and p1ss-poor at worst. I can't speak for you but if you don't find that disappointing, I'm sorry.
The Ralph question I more nuanced - had he been better managed by the owners and the board, I think we could have done better. His stubbornness and bizarre decision-making needed to have been reined in - that's down to the board.
Your point about Jones is fair - echoes of how Puel was viewed. However, his performance so far has not been encouraging. Once again, bizarre decision-making and team selections are still in evidence and the first six weeks of preparation saw the team goes backwards from an already low base.
The good news is that we are still in the mix and have hopefully made some decent signings. The worry is that they will not be well utilised and we continue to deal self-inflicted wounds, which ultimately result in relegation.
In short, I'm on the fence. I'm neither optimistic not unduly pessimistic - who knows what the next few months hold.
COYS | | | |
| WHY? on 13:15 - Feb 2 with 5156 views | Berber |
It is all relative of course, if the happy fans posted a lot about what is good, then the negative ones would fade into insignificance surely. It just goes to show there isn’t a lot to shout happy things about I would say. |  |
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| WHY? on 13:22 - Feb 2 with 5142 views | DorsetIan |
| WHY? on 10:44 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
I disagree that we had many years of disappointment under Gao & Hasenhuttl, just what were we actually expecting.
Under Gao, we had several years of stability, we also had two FA Cup semi finals, that is only disappointing to those that still think a club like Saints can break into the top 6 these days.
Hasenhuttl took us to safety after he arrived, 11th in his first full season and kept us safely in the mid table and one of those FA Cup semi finals, with the owner unable to invest, I am not sure what those that were disappointed with that actually expected.
I think if Ralph had just got one more win and a draw in his final couple of months then the owners would have kept faith and so perhaps would have the fans, if he had come back after the World cup and with the injured back and 5 new players I think we would have seen better progress than under Jones so far.
But we have to the past behind us now and look to the future and give Jones a clean sheet and judge him on what he does and not because he doesnt come across well in interviews or hasnt managed a big club |
You've got your view, which you've always stuck to. Fair enough.
I don't think too many fans are/were as sanguine about the steady, dreary decline under Gao and Hassenhutl as you are.
Jones might turn out to be the wrong man, but the players we have brought in recently at least shows that the club has some ambition again. | |
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| WHY? on 13:27 - Feb 2 with 5137 views | SaintNick |
| WHY? on 11:19 - Feb 2 by PaleRider |
Nick, we went backwards under Gao's ownership. When he took over we seemed to have a reasonably bright future. Since he took over we have been mediocre at best and p1ss-poor at worst. I can't speak for you but if you don't find that disappointing, I'm sorry.
The Ralph question I more nuanced - had he been better managed by the owners and the board, I think we could have done better. His stubbornness and bizarre decision-making needed to have been reined in - that's down to the board.
Your point about Jones is fair - echoes of how Puel was viewed. However, his performance so far has not been encouraging. Once again, bizarre decision-making and team selections are still in evidence and the first six weeks of preparation saw the team goes backwards from an already low base.
The good news is that we are still in the mix and have hopefully made some decent signings. The worry is that they will not be well utilised and we continue to deal self-inflicted wounds, which ultimately result in relegation.
In short, I'm on the fence. I'm neither optimistic not unduly pessimistic - who knows what the next few months hold.
COYS |
All of the posts seem to judge the club on what it was and past issues, when Gao took over we has Mauricio Pellegrino as manager and two players in Virgil Van Dyke and Jose Fonte that wanted away, these were issues that Gao inherited, we escaped relegation by a hairsbreadth and had an FA Cup semi final and the then we appointed Hasenhuttl, in his first season we finished 11th, in his second mid table with another FA Cup semi final, that is not going backwards.
Gao has gone, all the old managers have gone, lets judge things on the present.
The board have spent around £100 million, judge them on that firstly, have we signed a dud in that list, time will answer that , some have been better than others, but most have contributed something.
The Ralph question is strange, how could be have been better managed by the owners ? he did a lot of good work for the club, his bizarre decision making as you put it, I take it you mean team selection ? his hands were tied, the Owner had little input not through his own choice, and Ralph had little money.
Anyway as I said lets forget about the past and look to the future | |
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| WHY? on 13:30 - Feb 2 with 5133 views | MytchettSaint |
| WHY? on 10:44 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
I disagree that we had many years of disappointment under Gao & Hasenhuttl, just what were we actually expecting.
Under Gao, we had several years of stability, we also had two FA Cup semi finals, that is only disappointing to those that still think a club like Saints can break into the top 6 these days.
Hasenhuttl took us to safety after he arrived, 11th in his first full season and kept us safely in the mid table and one of those FA Cup semi finals, with the owner unable to invest, I am not sure what those that were disappointed with that actually expected.
I think if Ralph had just got one more win and a draw in his final couple of months then the owners would have kept faith and so perhaps would have the fans, if he had come back after the World cup and with the injured back and 5 new players I think we would have seen better progress than under Jones so far.
But we have to the past behind us now and look to the future and give Jones a clean sheet and judge him on what he does and not because he doesnt come across well in interviews or hasnt managed a big club |
I’m not going to get on the anti Jones bandwagon after the bloke walked into a clusterf*ck of a club. After abject horror at the Brighton and Forest games, there seems to be some effort out there.
Ralph was a breath of fresh air when he came. I certainly wouldn’t have expected us to start winning cups, top 8 finishes but he’d lost the plot, the players (if reports are to be believed) and the majority of the fans. The separation should have happened in the summer. It’s noticeable that the press are often all over clubs when they sack a manager calling them out for it, but that didn’t happen once.
I had high hopes from SR after the austerity years under Gao (a difficult situation for him and us) but I think they’ve tried to be too clever.
As fans, we think we know football, but we’re told we don’t.. I could see for seasons, we’ve been weak at the back, lacking in a few leaders on the pitch and for the last 18 months goal shy. SR have put their money where their mouth is but I didn’t see the issues mentioned being addressed (hopefully the new signings might)
It’s been a tough watch for a while now, in terms of going to the match, it’s been grim for ages. I just want to see some metal from a saints teams rather than getting bullied. Couple that with the issues between the club and fans attending (a perceived or not two tier class system of the home and always fans) and I think most fans have had the stuffing knocked out of them from all directions. |  |
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| WHY? on 13:44 - Feb 2 with 5118 views | I_would |
Cos we only get to play for one half, cos we've already lost the match in the first half cos of the starting eleven which Mr Jumpy picked. That's why. | |
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| WHY? on 13:44 - Feb 2 with 5120 views | SaintNick |
| WHY? on 13:30 - Feb 2 by MytchettSaint |
I’m not going to get on the anti Jones bandwagon after the bloke walked into a clusterf*ck of a club. After abject horror at the Brighton and Forest games, there seems to be some effort out there.
Ralph was a breath of fresh air when he came. I certainly wouldn’t have expected us to start winning cups, top 8 finishes but he’d lost the plot, the players (if reports are to be believed) and the majority of the fans. The separation should have happened in the summer. It’s noticeable that the press are often all over clubs when they sack a manager calling them out for it, but that didn’t happen once.
I had high hopes from SR after the austerity years under Gao (a difficult situation for him and us) but I think they’ve tried to be too clever.
As fans, we think we know football, but we’re told we don’t.. I could see for seasons, we’ve been weak at the back, lacking in a few leaders on the pitch and for the last 18 months goal shy. SR have put their money where their mouth is but I didn’t see the issues mentioned being addressed (hopefully the new signings might)
It’s been a tough watch for a while now, in terms of going to the match, it’s been grim for ages. I just want to see some metal from a saints teams rather than getting bullied. Couple that with the issues between the club and fans attending (a perceived or not two tier class system of the home and always fans) and I think most fans have had the stuffing knocked out of them from all directions. |
Someone said to me yesterday that 70% of the other clubs in the 92 League clubs would loved to have have had the last 9 years we have had, even the last 3 years | |
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| WHY? on 14:49 - Feb 2 with 5085 views | saints__fan__73 |
| WHY? on 09:34 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
The negativity isnt just on here, it is all across Saints social media and it has been going on since 2014, some people just seem to revel in having something to moan about |
Interesting you choose the year 2014 Nick. I wonder what happened in that year!
What would you say about people who reveled in moaning about the club for the 4 years prior to that? (or Mayuka-Forren syndrome as it was known). |  |
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| WHY? on 15:08 - Feb 2 with 5061 views | SaintNick |
| WHY? on 14:49 - Feb 2 by saints__fan__73 |
Interesting you choose the year 2014 Nick. I wonder what happened in that year!
What would you say about people who reveled in moaning about the club for the 4 years prior to that? (or Mayuka-Forren syndrome as it was known). |
You tell me, you seem to be obsessed with 2014 as you tell us all on your profile | |
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| WHY? on 15:16 - Feb 2 with 5054 views | MytchettSaint |
| WHY? on 13:44 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
Someone said to me yesterday that 70% of the other clubs in the 92 League clubs would loved to have have had the last 9 years we have had, even the last 3 years |
The grass is always greener.
There have been highlights followed by some very lowlights in the last 3 seasons.
I’m not sure if I were following 70% of the teams mentioned, I’d look at Saints and say, I fancy some of that; 9-0’s, record consecutive defeats, watching your team consistently throw away points from winning position, even if you offset it with semi final appearances, being top for a week and the odd good run | |
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| WHY? on 15:17 - Feb 2 with 5055 views | Bazza |
We are only 20th out of 92 teams in arguably the best league in the world.
I've watched the Saints in 3 divisions and seen them in cup finals, we've been in a lot worse places. We've never been moneybags.
There's half a season left, do you leave games at half time!
We have a lot of young talent ready to blossom that needs encouragement, get behind them. | | | |
| WHY? on 16:25 - Feb 2 with 5002 views | Capt_Koons |
| WHY? on 15:17 - Feb 2 by Bazza |
We are only 20th out of 92 teams in arguably the best league in the world.
I've watched the Saints in 3 divisions and seen them in cup finals, we've been in a lot worse places. We've never been moneybags.
There's half a season left, do you leave games at half time!
We have a lot of young talent ready to blossom that needs encouragement, get behind them. |
 "We are only 20th out of 92 "
If ever there was a losers mentality that is it ffs! | |
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| WHY? on 19:45 - Feb 2 with 4909 views | Berber |
| WHY? on 13:44 - Feb 2 by SaintNick |
Someone said to me yesterday that 70% of the other clubs in the 92 League clubs would loved to have have had the last 9 years we have had, even the last 3 years |
Does anyone want to be in League 1 or 2? So that would be half of the argument gone right away. | |
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| WHY? on 20:01 - Feb 2 with 4898 views | mountsaint |
It was so refreshing to read something other than negative comments from posters who probably couldn't run an under 9 side | | | |
| WHY? on 21:09 - Feb 2 with 4839 views | Meonsaint |
If Nathan Jones proves the doubters (which include myself ) wrong then I will be the first to eat humble pie and admit my poor judgement of his ability when he was appointed in November.
I agree, lets be fair give the guy a chance and on the face of it there could be a couple of gems that we signed on deadline day that might be able to help us achieve survival.
My beef is with Martin Semmens for not hiring a proven Premiership Manager, of course Nathan Jones is going to accept a Head Coach role for a team in the best league in the world in the blink of an eye.
I absolutely hate it when Saints lose, I can't bring myself to watch Match Of The Day or listen to Talk Sport with all of the pundits tipping us to go down.
Sadly the inexperience of Jones shone through on Tuesday night. All day before the match I had in my mind that we were going to give the ball to Edozie as much as possible to attack the big lanky steark of pee Burn, have Armstrong and Adams pressing high up the pitch like a couple terriers and forcing the Newcastle defence into errors. Jones always says he wants his players to be bold and play without fear so as a Saints fan and like many of my mates we were expecting us to have a right good go and put the fear of God into the Geordies.
I could not believe the line up when it was announced. No Edozie, Lavia or Perraud who in my opinion been our best players of late, Walker-Peters at left back when it didn't work in the first leg, a rookie at right back, and Bottler Bednarek at CB who has played only 45 minutes all season.
I understand that football is all about opinions but Jones without a shadow of a doubt lost the tie in the first 20 minutes through his inexcusable crap selection. When he finally realiased that by playing Perraud at left back gives us a natural balance, Walker-Peters has a more attack threat at right back, Edozie can scare any defence with his trickery and Lavia is a classy midfielder that had Newcastle back peddling it was just too late and the game was over.
The turning point was Armstrong clean through one on one with Pope. Ings would have gone round him and it would have been game on for the last 15 miniutes.
I care passionately about my club as much as anyone else on here.
If you see my constructive criticism as "moaning" well so be it, 50 years of watching Saints I think I am qualified to be upset and express my disappointment as it still hurts to see my team lose today as much as Anderlecht in 1977, Forest at Wembley in 1979 them scouse gits in 84 and 86 semi finals, Redkrapp's team against United last game of the season in 2005 plus the FA Cup home 1-4 mauling by the Skates.
3 points against Brentford on Saturday and I might just break my dry to date 2023. [Post edited 2 Feb 2023 21:35]
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