Ted Bates Statue

Congratulations to Bournemouth but I liked how Talksport tried to put a gloss on the decibel level. Apparently Dean Court was dumbstruck at taking the lead against AC Milan... no, they're just a quiet bunch aren't they!?

As it was a quiet one in the Chapel last week, I was able to don my headphones midway through the first half and listen to Solent's coverage of the Bolton match, although it was at least a minute behind due to internet streaming. Seemed accurate enough although many of us would have disagreed with Tessem backing the lino's offside decisions as he speculated whether we were disgruntled with the lino or the player. Maybe if Blackmore had gone off on a really big tangent it might have helped us score. As an aside, the recent Going Home episodes would seem to have made it clear that there was no issue with the original line of questioning. Massive storm in a teacup and Tonda clearly likes a bit of deadpan humour.

At the Millwall match I had to turf people out from my seats in Kingsland North for the first time as another group had decided to take over their seats to be nearer to their uncle or whoever. It's allocated seating FFS, I can understand it might be a free-for-all at away matches but it's bad enough trying to get to St Mary's without having to contend with a game of musical chairs. The only time it's ok is if there are empty seats after the first half, in which case fair enough, but that doesn't often happen these days.

Not sure if it's been mentioned that Matt Donohue was also the ref for us at Watford. Incompetence is one thing but I'm definitely not looking forward to the next match where he's been assigned to us. Did anyone else on here actually agree with the offsides calls? Tessem insisted the last one was valid, although the Chapel didn't agree. Maybe the annoyance made the linesman think twice about it, as I don't think we had another offside against us for the rest of the match and were actually permitted to attack effectively (too bad nobody had their shooting boots on today).

What about his ceiling though?!

To win 3 matches in 7 days would be very impressive, but it feels nailed on that Bazunu will continue his resurgence with his best performance at St Mary's for the benefit of the opposition.

I'm not a fan of goal music by default but if it gets the crowd going I can accept it. Probably works a bit better than James Brown's I Feel Good that I believe used to be played a while back. For those who don't like it, just have to sing louder to drown it out. Notably I remember this happening before the 0-0 derby match, crowd loudly singing something completely different to the music - probably the highlight of that day (that and hearing our support belting out Oh When The Saints from 2 miles away a solid hour before kick-off). Think we do need more singers in the Chapel, I would propose safe standing for just the couple of blocks closest to the away support, although I concede that might go against the point of it being a family stand. It is notable that that section always sells out last in the ground though, despite being one of the cheapest for tickets.

If the club thinks it's an issue, they should consider installing safe standing to create a buffer between the family area and the away support then. Ticket sales are usually lower in that part of the ground and it would encourage a better atmosphere there as an alternative to the Northam. On another note, I'm surprised that ex-Man Utd Finance Director didn't get voted in. With his CV and experience I thought he would've been an absolute shoo-in.

That's according to Alex Crooks though, so I would be inclined to assume that this is not imminent after all. I think it will happen, anyone can see that, but not for a couple of months yet. Thanks to Crooks I was able to predict Tonda's job was safe very early on:

Moving on from discussing Tonda's obituary...! Think Blackmore's decent enough but I've not really noticed this issue personally and sometimes I manage to listen to the Solent commentary in the ground as well (if it's not that noisy). If anything I think it's worse with other broadcasters. Case in point - the 2024 playoff final's commentary build-up to the goal consisted of nearly a minute of Martinball possession. This was ignored by Talksport, Sky and Solent (Ian Wilding with Dean Hammond) who were unanimously talking about Leeds instead until the defence-splitting pass that put AA through on goal. For me, that is intolerable. I think while he can get things wrong, the energy he brings to the commentary makes up for it and there's a good chance he's actually talking about us instead of getting all excited about how wonderful the opposition are. On Spygate, I think although he and Jo went over the top in the aftermath calling for Eckert's sacking, they should be allowed to express their own views. I get the argument for circling the wagons but think it's worse if a commentator can't express their own opinion, for fear of being shut out by the club that they're covering. I don't need to hear a happy-clappy commentator that just spouts the party line. I am very fond of Dave Merrington and his commentary but I think he had his own faults and came in for a lot of stick when he was working. We all know we don't want to concede a goal!

Think it was suspected at the time but Adkins admitted a few years ago that Cortese forced him to play Mayuka over him.

Guy Whittingham having a mare on Radio Solent after claiming that Saints have nobody in the dressing room who grew up and understands the derby, totally forgetting about JWP. Blackmore suggests that having to go to Fratton Park as a child probably put him off Portsmouth for life.

Easily some of the best social media the club has ever done. Nearly 10 years ago. I remember reading that someone bumped into him and he spoke very fondly of Southampton even though he is known to be a West Ham supporter.

Pierce Charles double save from a Jarrod Bowen penalty, what a hero