St Louis

Maybe its not the biggest or best sample group, but Mane, Tadic and Pelle used to get abuse every week from where I was sat, for being 'gaaarbage'. Used to really p*ss me off. Some fans will never be happy unless we win the league unbeaten.

I was there 1998-2002... so the Jones, Hoddle, Gray, Strachan glory years 😆 I still had a ST and made the trip back every other weekend. But got to watch a few of the Robins games in-between, and they went from the Conference to League One in that time too, which was great.

Another pre-season goal for N'Lundulu today too. I have a soft spot for Cheltenham Town having lived and studied there for 4 years, so I'm meeting up with some old friends to watch the Robins take on the Skates on Aug 13th. So I'm hoping N'lundulu keeps the scoring streak going until at least that game! Do I take a Saints flag (or maybe just a pin badge) 😉

Agreed, and wages a close second!

My brothers team is.... BigWillySmallbone'r 😳

Maybe it was more recent than 8 years ago, I cant really remember the exact year. He was more making a point that Vardy had gone on to score many goals and make many appearances for Leicester, whist Lee disappeared after 7 Championship games.

My source for that was Nigel Adkins himself, when he did a talk at a 'Leaders in Digital Sport' conference at Stamford Bridge about 8 years ago. He could just about see the funny side of it, but wondered if he would have lasted longer at Saints had he bagged the player HE had wanted of the two.

Jamie Vardy was basically a done deal to Saints from Fleetwood, under Nigel Adkins in the January (2012) transfer window. At the last minute we had the opportunity to sign Japanese superstar Tadanari Lee, and we felt that they were similar ability, but that Lee could help us grow the Saints brand/support in the Far East. I wonder whatever happened to those two guys and what sort of careers they had? 🤔

Dont love it, dont hate it. I dont mind that we mix it up and deviate from stripes every now and then. Personally, I wish it had a v-neck and that would vastly improve it, always my preference as I think round necks look like training tops.

I listened to the Theo interview this morning, and despite what the Echo says, he actually said "I'd love him here" (not there). I noticed it as thought it strange as assumed he'd be off himself. They asked about where he would be next season, and he was cagey about it, but did say he has started his home exercises and fitness regime already that Saints have set him, and he's looking forward to pre-season. he sounded like he'd be happy to stay, but knows there is a strong possibility he needs to move on to play games.

You're probably in the wrong thread then 🙃

Current home kit was announced on May 27th last year, so maybe not too much longer to wait.

I think he managed the England U17's to World Cup glory a few years back too. He seems to have something about him for sure. Personally, I'm still so torn on whether I'm Ralph in or out. Ive been 'in' until the last few weeks, and now I'm doubting. I thought it was just the lack of investment, useless squad, who could do better, etc... but I'm slowly coming around to the idea of something fresh and new to invigorate a very flat looking team. I'm also quite a realist and in my view think that Saints natural position in the league should usually be somewhere between 13th - 17th, with a few occasional fluctuations, so I'm not too shocked/disappointed with the current level. Throw in a young and raw squad, and it doesn't surprise me that they've been as inconsistent and up and down as this for a few years. Our transfer activity under new owners this summer will be interesting and telling of how the short term on the pitch could look. When I read that Man City are about to buy Haaland, and we are playing Shane Long, Che Adams and Adam Armstrong, it brings me back down to earth and the realisation that we will NEVER compete and finish above clubs like this again, until we get the next billionaire takeover. I miss the 80's and 90's, when it was competitive, and you had a chance. There you go, I'm arguing with myself again. I don't know what or who we need.... aside from billionaire owners perhaps. Is it Ralph's fault, would a new manager do better, I have no idea.

I just called the ticket office and they said they were posted on 27th Jan, so clearly lost in post. The kid at the end of the line could hardly string a sentence together (sorry, but so frustrating in a customer service role) and after finding it the most complex request ever, he did allow me to log-in and print them, so all sorted.

Is anyone else yet to receive their tickets in the post? I ordered 5 on the 26th Jan, and usually the club send them pretty quickly and I receive them a few days after placing the order. Maybe overly worrying, but Saturday is fast approaching Really looking forward to this one, feels like a classic cup tie!

Not sure how true, but the rumours circulating are that he may be used as part of a 'Declan Rice to Chelsea' deal in the summer.

Well said. I'm not a regular on here and dont know who any of the posters are, who's right or wrong or historic reputations, etc. But I really dont care and it's so f*cking annoying having to scroll through 'dick fights' to actually read any interesting stuff about the takeover. Surely a Sticky could be made for petty arguments to be conducted or moved to, and leave the relevant stuff in here?

Nothing in-depth, but a little more info on the prospective owner here: https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/football/8234076/dragan-solak-net-worth-southampton-telecoms/

I think Jeremy Wilson is the best out there, very well balanced and not sensationalist at all (not looking for the clickbait or rumour type articles). Very well connected with the club (after years working for the Echo, in the Strachan era) and now Chief Sports Reporter at The Telegraph. He does also cover a lot of other sports, as well as Arsenal news too these days. And a Saints fan to boot, which is always a bonus - he also wrote the Saints Cult Heroes book. Twitter: https://twitter.com/jwtelegraph An interesting Pod here too, where he talks about Saints and some of the Strachan 'moods' he encountered: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3izYUVpKY49Lo3czwo3via?si=io84u2wVQHSMziJa4eyE3w

Rickie Lambert is at it now too, if you have a look at his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CW-gvUQo01t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link What a shame

I like the sound of this. Out of interest, can each team only picked by one person? And who decides who gets first pick? Or could all 6 of you choose Liverpool this weekend for example? P.S I think Liverpool is a smart and safe pick for you this weekend, unfortunately.

Wow, the level of posts on this forum have certainly dropped, im remembering why I dont post often on here now. What a thing to say (its wrong on a few levels obviously) but just because some people like and back our current manager, and you dont!?

Its OK for people to rate our manager, regardless of if you dont. Why try and be condescending by calling them/me 'fan boys'? We lost a game today because our attacking players didnt take their chances, and the keeper let in 2 howlers, I dont blame Ralph for either. I'm sure he would also prefer Haaland up top and Oblak in goal, but this isnt fantasy football. We dominated the majority of the game today, and were it not for McCarthy's two mistakes today, we would be sat in 7th. Instead we are in 13th, which personally I also think is overachieving for a club of our size, with the finances the others have in comparison. So I dont quite get the Ralph bashing and cant think of a realistic alternative who would get much more out of this squad. Each to their own though, I'm quite happy to accept that others have differing opinions to mine. I'm just sharing mine as this is a forum... for Southampton FC fans, and I enjoy reading differing ones, without having to try and belittle them.

Really? Why isn't he?

Am I missing something here? If we'd stuck away some of our (12) chances in the first half and McCarthy hadnt chucked two in, then we'd have been sat in 7th now. I dont think either of those things are Ralph's fault, it's just a bang average squad who made mistakes at both ends. We were missing our three most attacking/creative/pacey midfielders too (Djenepo, Redmond & Armstrong). Ralph did try and change things earlier in the 2nd half as he could see it wasnt working (something he didnt do enough last season), with 3 changes to try and freshen it up and a change of formation to 5/3 at the back. Yes I know Walcott doesnt have it anymore, but I'm sure he wouldnt have got on the pitch if Djenepo, Redmond or Armstrong had been available. Missed opportunity and yes I'm gutted, but we should/would have won that at least 1-0, and would have done if it wasnt for an awful showing by our keeper. Keep some perspective, we could easily have been sat 7th tonight (a 3rd of the way through the season), and personally I think thats a miracle with the squad and resources we have.