 | Forum
Thread | Dom Ballard Recalled from Loan
at 22:38 6 Jan 2025
Not expecting him to get in the first team squad, his record at Blackpool hasn't been good, 10 starts and 8 as sub with only 1 goal out of 22 possible games in League 1.
Not started much in the last 2 months, so I would expect that its more a mutual consent thing and Saints will try to get him out on loan again for the second half of the season |
| Forum
Thread | Stand Up & Be Counted But Address The Real Issues Not The Petty Ones
at 11:22 6 Jan 2025
I put this up on another thread, I wrote a lot more than I was planning to, so I thought it perhaps deserved a thread of it's own.
Its Not a dig at anyone, just an observation to a thread suggesting that spending money at St Mary's should be boycotted and that SR were perhaps responsible for the marketing of the club.
"In fairness to SR or Phil Parsons, they don't check all the marketing stuff that goes out on social media, in times of crisis most people blame all and everything, but you have to look at the root cause of the issue.
Have Sport Republic spent large amounts of money ? Yes so that is not the issue.
Have SR appointed experienced people to oversee the club ? _ Yes Rasmus Ankersen built up both Midjutland & Brentford, he has the track record, after RA & SR realised that Martin Semmens was not the man for the job, they sacked him and he appointed Joe Shields as head of recruitment who was head hunted and then Jason Wilcox as director of football, he was headhunted likewise, so they have appointed experienced people but due to no fault of their own they went on to bigger things.
The real issue is the failure to replace Jason Wilcox when he effectively went on gardening leave in February/March 2024, leaving no one with any football experience controlling the playing side of the club.
Phil Parsons had no experience running football clubs, although having played at non league level, it cannot be levelled at him that he is no a football man, just that he is not experienced in the business of a football club.
This is the root cause of where we have gone wrong, Parsons was not strong enough to stop Russell Martin running his own agenda, he sat on his hands when things went pear shaped and we are paying the price now for it.
The fact that the Swansea advertising has former players scoring goals is not a sign that the whole club is rotten, but some will take it as that because of the position, if we were 10th in the League and ready for a good cup run then no one would care about it, in fact the opposite they would be saying how great it is that the club is recognising our history.
What were they supposed to do ? show pictures of the 2008/09 season when we were truly appalling along with the headline "It's a bit better now"
The club now need to focus on the areas in which it is going wrong, not be side tracked by the fact that they get a bit of PR wrong.
Back in 1993 when the fans were demanding change, there was a real chance of achieving it, the board were essentially local businessmen, the club ran on it's income not by a rich owner funding it.
Change could be achieved, but the reality is a lot different.
Sport Republic are a business who want to build a portfolio of football clubs, they are committed to football, but will they remain committed to Southampton FC ?
The answer is for now yes, they have always said that this is a long term project, that it will be a bumpy ride and it will be tough, if the fans turn on SR then perhaps they will turn on the fans, stop investing and looking for a cheap sale and that would be catastrophic as was the case in 2006 with the arrival of Michael Wilde, man of the people and absolute disaster.
So yes if you truly want the club to go downhill then boycott it, its the quickest way to send it to oblivion as without the fans a football club is nothing and without the owners it is finished.
In modern football clubs are playthings and the ones with the richest owners and biggest fanbases flourish, whilst the rest of us are just there to make up the numbers.
I am all for supporters standing up and questioning the owners, but it has to be about the things that are going wrong and not about the things that aren't.
You only have to look at the League table to see the gulf now between the Championship and the Premier League, Leicester City are one place above us, 8 points above us yes, it's fine margins though if we had hung on to win against them, then they would be just 2 points above us.
Ipswich are just two points above them, the likelihood is that all 3 promoted clubs will go back down, so it is not just Saints.
Maybe i'm old fashioned, for me and probably 18,000 others it is about turning out and supporting your club (The club, not the owners or the manager) through thick and thin.
We have 12,000 floating supporters, I am not slagging them off, everyone has a right to support how they want, not bother going or storming out after 70 mins whatever they want to do, but that is not what football is for me !
This verse from a poem by Attilla The Stockbroker who was a big part of Brighton's campaigning when the Goldstone was sold and they were homeless is up on the wall at the Amex, it says a lot
"The battle's only just begun, but we have won the war.
Our club, though torn asunder, will survive.
And I salute each one of you who stood up and said NO!
And fought to keep the Albion alive.
And one day, when our new home's built, and we are storming back
A bunch of happy fans without a care
We'll look back on our darkest hour and raise our glasses high
and say with satisfaction: we were there."
Not the same issue that we have now, although quite near the one we faced in the 90's and then 2009 with administration, but the message is, turning you back on your football club is not the answer, standing up and be counted is.
Let's see how many boycott Saturday's game but instead make a protest outside the ground instead.
Last May standing outside St Mary's and welcoming the team coach seemed to be popular, where are the people NOW who were all over the internet back then encouraging it "
|
| Forum
Thread | Brentford Game Matchday Thread
at 09:50 4 Jan 2025
Will Welington be in the squad after becoming Saints first signing of the transfer window, |
| Forum
Thread | Russell Martin
at 10:17 27 Dec 2024
Yesterday showed that this team can play, that it can defend and it can attack, I stuck up for Martin both last season and the first games of this, he should be revered for getting us up last season, but I find myself now despising him for the way he stuck to his own agenda rather than adapting and utilising the players that he had to hand.
I think I despise him more than virtually any manager that has been at this club, off hand I can only think of Branfoot and Redknapp that I hate more, the rest might have failed, but they did so because either they didn't have a squad to work with or they just weren't up to it.
Russell Martin was up to it, he was just too selfish & arrogant and cared more about his tactics than keeping us up.
he would have preferred to go down with 64% possession that stay up with 34 points |
| Forum
Thread | 5 Things About The West Ham Game
at 10:12 27 Dec 2024
1. I though our support was decent at times, but we haven't got that red wall effect where the Northam keeps going throughout the game, dare i say it we need a group of ultras who just keep singing.
2. I though West Ham's support was poor, both in terms of noise and the fact that they sang some silly songs taunting Saints, no need for that we are not their rivals.
3. The Bedford pub didn't open till 3pm and afterwards only had two beers on tap, a lager and Guiness, it's due to close on 4th January, I doubt that it will last that long, it was empty after the game, after going in there since the 1970's it was a sad sight to see.
4. Spirited performance, sadly i think it is going to be too little too late, Russell Martin left us nothing to build on in terms of results & points
5. Why the hell did we not play Big Les under Russell Martin, most teams have big tall powerful players, we had none if Big Les had been used by Martin we might have picked up a point or two extra, that might have given us a chance now |
| Forum
Thread | Ivan Duric & The Blockheads
at 09:25 24 Dec 2024
As someone mentioned in another thread, it sounds like the Croatian pronunciation of Ian Dury who many will remember from the 1970,s
So if we have a song for our new manager perhaps it should be an Ian Dury song, my first suggestion is Sex & Drugs & Rock N Roll
"Saints & Beer & Death Metal Football
It's all my brain & body needs
Saints & Beer & Death metal Football"
It's very good indeed
|
| Prediction | Prediction Logged by at 09:15:55
Southampton v West Ham United prediction logged |
| Forum
Thread | Previous Premier League Experience As A Manager
at 09:24 21 Dec 2024
In the past 70 years Saints have had 31 permanent managers, some people are bemoaning the lack of previous experience managing in the Premier League for the candidates,
It should be noted that in that period only 7 had previous top flight managerial experience in England
Ball, Souness, Hoddle, Strachan, Redknapp, Burley & Pardew |
| Forum
Thread | Swansea Cup Tie Tickets
at 12:55 19 Dec 2024
Swnasea have received what is said to be the "full" allocation of 3,008, they could have half the crowd |
| Forum
Thread | Quiet Today
at 12:36 19 Dec 2024
I would have thought a few more people would have had something to say about the match |
| Forum
Thread | Today In 2011
at 08:52 18 Dec 2024
We drew 1-1 at Fratton Park in a very Christmassy atmosphere where both fans exchanged gifts and yuletide greetings.
A great day out in the bubble |
| Forum
Thread | Rohl
at 13:30 16 Dec 2024
There is a bit of a groundswell for Rohl and some on here and other social media sites are saving that Hasenhuttl went downhill after Rohl left but that is wrong.
Rohly was here for the second half of the 2018/19 season, Saints finished 16th on 39 points, the following season a Rohlless Ralph finished 11th on 52 points |
| | SaintNick
|
Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 419 | | Comment Votes: | 1391 | | Prediction League: | 5 | | TOTAL: | 1815 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
