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Reply | JOHANNES SPORS - New Director of Football
at 17:09 17 Jan 2025
I know nothing about him, but saw this comment on the Echo article:
"Johannes Spors.
Chief Scout at SV Hamburg February 2018 - August 2019. During this time, Hamburg were relegated from the Bundesliga (2017-18) for the first time in their history, after 55 continuous years in the top flight. Then failed to be promoted from Bundesliga 2, or even reach the playoffs (2018-19).
Global Sporting Director at 777 Group. This is the US outfit who spectacularly failed to raise the finance to take over Everton recently. Their UK subsidiary has been compulsorily wound up in the High Court."
He sounds like a perfect fit. |
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Reply | Sulemana
at 16:49 17 Jan 2025
If so, it's yet another mistake. He's fast and more skilful than most of our players and we really need to see what he can do in the Premier League. He was brilliant playing with Sulemana in that 4-4 draw with Liverpool. He's a regular in the England U19 team, and his England team mates, like Lewis-Skelly, Acheampong and Nwaneri, are playing for top Premier League sides. [Post edited 17 Jan 16:55]
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Reply | Sulemana
at 16:26 17 Jan 2025
Amad Diallo is a brilliant player, who's very difficult to stop. But, like all players, he was aware that KWP is not strong with his left foot: a fatal flaw for a left-back, which makes him easy to get past on the outside. So, I agree with you about Manning. He should have been brought on at left-back so that KWP could play in his best position on the right.
Charlie Taylor would have been the best defensive sub and Amo-Ameyaw would have been our best attacking sub, but neither of them was even on the bench.
Juric has clearly found our best pairing up front in Sulemana and Dibling and I think he'll stick with it, but I'd like to see Amo-Ameyaw just behind them. They are not great finishers, but they are the best forwards we have available right now.
Sulemana won't play in the Championship next season as he thinks he's too good for it, which understandably riled a lot of our fans last season. But, anyway, we might as well make use of him for the remainder of this season, before he goes. A few more good performances from him will increase his transfer value in the summer. [Post edited 17 Jan 16:38]
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Reply | Awful subs
at 22:34 16 Jan 2025
Yes, I thought that when I saw Smallbone was on the bench. When he came on, I thought, oh no, that's the game handed on a plate to United. Anybody who's watched him knew he would be too slow and contribute nothing at this level, other than giving the ball away to United.
Juric obviously didn't know that. Some might say, he should have done, even from his sub appearance against Swansea. Stoke fans didn't even think he was good enough for a team that finished 16th in the Championship:
 [Post edited 16 Jan 23:05]
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Reply | Awful subs
at 22:20 16 Jan 2025
Amo-Ameyaw should have been there instead of Smallbone. But, knowing how little our subs would contribute, they should have been left until the last possible minute. In fact, did we really even need to make that many subs? There were too many and they came on too soon and gave United the time to score 3 goals. Just Amo-Ameyaw, if he'd been there, and Lallana would have been enough. Manning at left back, allowing Walker-Peters to move to the right, would have been a bonus and far better than any of the subs he did make. [Post edited 16 Jan 22:27]
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Reply | Man U - Saints thread
at 22:08 16 Jan 2025
Smallbone started the move that led to Man United's first goal. As soon as he came on, the game turned in United's favour. Our midfield disappeared and they overran us, while Smallbone ambled about the pitch, looking lost. He can't even sprint. There is no way he should be playing at this level.
On a positive note, the starting eleven played really well and deserved to win. Pity about the awful subs. If we'd started with the eleven we finished with, we'd have lost 9-0. [Post edited 16 Jan 22:12]
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Reply | Amend to follow follow song for tonight
at 15:27 16 Jan 2025
I remember many years ago, at Leicester, starting the chant, "Yes, you are, Yes, you are", when their fans sang, "Going down, going down" at us. That might still work at Old Trafford tonight.
Although we all know they won't be relegated, there has been some mention of it. Norwich fans started the "So are we" response but I liked, "Yes, you are" better. |
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Reply | Liverpool Fans
at 13:48 16 Jan 2025
Spurs were the last club to start any singing section in their crowd, in the late '60s. Liverpool were the first. They started singing You'll Never Walk Alone after Gerry & the Pacemakers had a hit with it in 1963. Then other teams' fans followed.
At our first top flight game at White Hart Lane in 1966, we took 10,000 fans and completely filled their Park Lane End. Although we lost 5-3, we sang loudly throughout, including many renditions of OWTS. There wasn't a peep from the Spurs' fans, not even one song. The view at the time was that they were a gentlemen's club and wouldn't lower themselves by singing.
The following year, we only took about 5,000 up there, again in the Park Lane End. But, once again, we were the only ones singing, including OWTS. We lost 6-1 and there was a loud rendition of 'We're only warming up" when we scored our only goal at the end of the game.
The following year, I seem to recall is when they had their first small group singers. Even then, they only sang Glory, Glory Allelujah and not OWTS.
I've always thought that as they've stolen our song, we should go tit for tat and steal theirs. Glory, Glory Hallelujah aka The Battle Hymn of the Republic is a rousing song after all. I'm sure they would complain bitterly, without seeing the irony. [Post edited 17 Jan 16:03]
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Reply | Have we lost in our pink kit this season?
at 19:38 15 Jan 2025
Pompey also refers to their traditonal colours, which were Pompadour Pink (pink with maroon trimming). It wasn't an original nickname though as a regiment based in Portsmouth during the 19th century, the 56th West Essex Regiment of Foot, had a Pompadour Pink uniform and were first nicknamed the Pompadours and then the Saucy Pompeys. The football club just copied them. Football club nicknames in that era commonly referred to team colours, like the Clarets, the Lillywhites, Sky Blues etc.
https://www.old-merseytimes.co.uk/regtnicknames.html [Post edited 15 Jan 19:43]
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Reply | Liverpool Fans
at 14:48 15 Jan 2025
I agree, Nick. In the 60s and 70s especially it was, along with You'll Never Walk Alone, the most popular song for fans of nearly all clubs, including Saints. It wasn't that Nottingham Forest were particularly unpopular in the '60s, but just a case of their name having the right number of syllables to fit the song. Forest did have their own version of it. They used the name of another team. I think it was West Bromwich Albion.
One of the high points at the Dell was when the whole ground held their scarves aloft and sang You'll Never Walk Alone at the Mick Channnon Testimonial. Of course we also sang it, along with the Nottingham Forest song, when we were at Wembley in the 70s.
Nowadays though, one of the most popular songs at all clubs, except Pompey, seems to be OWTS. I've heard Liverpool fans singing it and It's even sung at Serie A games. Italian fans also still sing Yellow Submarine, which I've never found particularly inspiring, even when we sang, "We all live at the back of Milton Road."
Most of the football songs sung today started on Merseyside: a tradition which goes back to the 1960s. [Post edited 15 Jan 15:11]
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Reply | offside but played onside
at 14:35 15 Jan 2025
It's not only Saints who suffer from unfair refereeing decisions. In nearly all of the matches I've watched this season at every level, the officials have erred in favour of the bigger club. This was particularly evident in the FA Cup match between Tamworth and Spurs, which Tamworth would have won if the referee Peter Bankes hadn't decided that Spurs would. For example, at 0-0 a Tamworth forward was shoulder charged in the back by a Spurs player who made no attempt to play the ball. The referee waved play on. Spurs then ran up to the other end and a Tamworth defender did a legal shoulder to shoulder charge and the referee immediately awarded a free-kick from which Spurs scored. It was very clear favouritism. To make matters worse, Drăgușin was finally given a yellow card after committing a series of dangerous fouls, and then he committed 2 further yellow card offences. Bankes didn't want to reduce Spurs to 10 men so he left him on.
It's big club + referee vs smaller club.
On another note, how much longer can Cucurella be allowed to get away with his persistent cheating? I'm pretty sure that if he played for a smaller club than Chelsea, he'd have been in serious disciplinary trouble by now: a deserved lengthy suspension. [Post edited 15 Jan 15:16]
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Reply | Leicester City
at 15:12 14 Jan 2025
Their similar path included reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a couple of top 5 finishes in the Premier League, winning the FA Cup in 2021 and the Championship in 2024. How I wish we really had followed a similar path. They've achieved more in the last 8 years than we have in our entire history.
Ten years ago they were a league below us and had fewer fans than we did, but, like most clubs of our size, they've won 5 major trophies as well as winning the Championship 5 times.
If we'd even won the Championship once in our history it would be some reward for the loyal support we have. [Post edited 14 Jan 15:25]
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Reply | Sunderland v Saints
at 13:41 13 Jan 2025
They'd be better off staying at home and watching the ants on their back lawn. |
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Reply | Why oh why
at 21:52 12 Jan 2025
The blue-tinted ones? |
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Reply | Why oh why
at 21:50 12 Jan 2025
Yes, well you know that because you're a Saints fan. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 635 | | Comment Votes: | 1536 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 2171 |
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