John Boy Saint

I need a sack of that for my roses!!!!

Ah I see we have Michael Oliver on the whistle tomorrow, one of the refs towards the bottom of the league table posted earlier in the season showing points gained by Saints with them in charge of the game.

They take the fans for mugs anyway, they know the audience is captive, Tesco shoppers will switch to Sainsbury's if they feel they are getting a raw deal off Tesco. The club very nicely let season tickets behind the goals be reduced to come in line with the cap on away supporter ticket prices................. then let the Club main sponsor subsidise visiting fans to the tune of £10 per ticket, what do us mugs who put our hands in our pockets get................ our trousers down round our ankles. We are now light at centre back at the same time we have a general strike force that can't achieve the main objective of the game, let alone hit a cows backside with a banjo. Come the 1st February if the interesting possibilities have stopped the gaping holes us idiots can see being filled, then we fans will have no trousers on to pull down......... our shirts have been off our backs for ages.

I wonder if Jo Tessem went back to being a Postman?

What also didn't help on Wednesday night was that many folks hands were fitted with Dolby Noise reduction.

It's only a box with the only moving part being the pump, have you tried sourcing a new pump online?

But when they did come the ball was kicked like it would explode with a very scary bang if hit too hard!

There was a moment when that song popped into my head tonight (Strangers in the night). That was turgid to say the very least, if Shane had put that in with his hand in full view of the ref, he would have still given it just to avoid another 30 mins of turgidness in the cold! The cheer when it went in wasn't so much celebrating the goal, but the fact that we would all be going home sooner than than it was looking seconds before. We are missing a spark, someone to ignite a game, Pelle could drive you up the wall then un pick a lock, Mane was random and unpredictable. Currently we look to have a team of ordinary players, maybe heavy rotation has become a hinderance more than a well meaning tactic. But even with what many would consider to be the 1st team what spark there is, is a weak one, which is possibly why VVD always looks to be considered "too good for us" to many onlookers. Maybe as someone commented on Solent as we drove home "this season has to be considered as a transitional season" and when you look at the amount of players we have sold over the past few summers, perhaps we have to view it as such. Just as an aside I heard the stupidest comment being made in the gents as I exited, "I would prefer us to be knocked out of the League cup for a good run in the FA Cup"................ WTF????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought all the fruit loops only lived on here shielded by their keyboards.

Is it Maya Yoshida's turn again next week or someone else!?! If he was as bad as some on here make out, he would have been shipped out by now, if it's not the playground flock of sheep hounding this player or that player, it's the playstation masters of FIFA whatever who know everything about football through beating toddlers with ease over 90 minutes before every bedtime. .............then of course it could be the Dušan Tadic singers who let him flatter to deceive-simply because he waved at them twice for singing his name.

Hmmmmmm not so sure about that.

Considering how even by his own admission RL was tailing off at the end of his time with us, if we were going to roll any sort of dice like that, may as well get Gallagher back from Blackburn, the lad has been in at the deep end at Ewood Park and been finding the back of the net in a team full of players keeping them perilously close to heading into League 1. Better service better return you would think, those of you moaning he isn't ready, there have been times when neither PEH or NR, both in their early 20's, have looked ready, just because they came in with 7 digit price tags seems to have made them instantly ready.

Think that will be a general whoosh moment on here!..................... Very good all the same ​my edit might help.

Thought my cuppa on match day tasted a bit different!

+1 That game sticks out in my mind too, champions of Europe and we made them look like chumpions. As does a 3-2 game v Liverpool from a similar time, where the ref's watch seemed to stop as Liverpool were pressing hard, and someone stepped out from under the West stand ran on the pitch and told him the time. Players are obviously much much fitter now, you never saw a pre match warm up like now, 5/10 to 3pm both sides would come out have a run about fire a few at goal, then kick off, never saw half time with players on the pitch, but you walked out of the Dell having seen Saints win with the same buzz you do now. Its evolution the game is the same, but much more technically advanced making the players fitter, faster, with more endurance, the biggest change is effect money has had, before football was invented when the premier league started, the playing field was very level. You beat a big name team on merit, not because they had a bad day at the office.

Obviously would have been nice to have stayed at the Dell but as we all know it was totally un viable. As for this thing about moving the away fans to the Chapel all that would do is move the Northam and block 1 to the opposite end of the ground, except it would be a fragmented move because of all the season ticket holders already in the Chapel-Itchen-Kingsland corners. But going back to this romanticising about the Dell, when I first started going to games the Milton Road end was the Northam, and the away fans were often caged in the "pig pen" in the corner at the Archers road end. When we got promoted to old money 1st Division, because we were in the bad old days of football hooliganism inside the grounds, the Archers road terraces were re developed and the segregation fencing went up creating 3 areas. Being 13-14 these were very different times, I stayed put in the Milton Road End as I had a good view without fencing and liked watching football, and still being relatively little didn't fancy the jostling about. But loads of guys who we use to see on the Mlton Road terraces just vanished and it later turns out ended up down the Archers Road where all the "action" was. As I got older I went into the Archers pens for a few games, a 2-2 Draw with Liverpool springs to mind as I was in the pen next to the Liverpool fans, always remember a penalty being awarded to Liverpool all their fans were climbing the fences spitting an snarling at us, bit like a modern zombie film, the penalty was saved and all the Saints reciprocated the spitting and snarling climbing the fences. Then we had Hillsborough and things changed, the fences came down, seats installed. But for over 10 years the Archers Road end was established as the raucous end of the ground and adjacent to the away fans. So wherever you put the away fans in SMS the guys who like to compete with them verbally will gravitate to that vicinity. As for the atmosphere, at the Dell it was all very cozy if a song started in the Archers everyone else in the stadium was close enough together to hear it start and join in at the right time............ At the Dell someone could fart in the upper west stand and in less than a minute someone under the east stand would be interrogated to see if it was them who let one go! Sitting in the Chapel yes it's quieter, invariably aside from the usual winkle spouting on about complete cobblers, most folks down there have had their raucous days in the 70's, 80's, 90's and actually watch the game in a detached state, you suddenly hear Chapel Chapel give us a song, as the opposition are attacking our box, the majority of the folks in the Chapel are exercising their sphincter not hearing that they have been asked to sing. Actually when OWTS is started slowly that's when more folks in the Chapel join in, but because of the speed of sound and the distance between the Northam and the Chapel it's always a tad out of time. I said this before, Lawrie McMenemy always commented that we are gentile folks here in Hampshire and that the team have to get the fans going by their actions on the pitch, but when they do get going Saints fans can be the noisiest in the land. So just like whoever in in charge we always fanny about in front of goal, as a crowd we are relatively sedate until the team do something to fire us up......... I guess it's just in our dna

Real shame seemed like a top bloke who knew his onions. Remember watching him on those celebrities v old pros games and he was the celebs manager and tried to cram as much into their heads as was possible in a short time. Sat in SMS watching games I spot so many of the little nuggets he passed on even now, so he obviously had a good way of getting things across. RIP

Ouch!! Clatts would have loved to have been here to see that, there is no way I can blow my whistle for that he would be giving me wedgies round ref school for months!!

Should have been Crock him for the 1st Yellow then get an early shower for wiping out that spawny git Sturridge. 2 games down the Saints and not had to see that stupid dance of his.

Bloody hell I wish people actually watch Yoshida and note for themselves what he actually does well and not run round the playground like bloody sheep picking on the kid who looks different, equaliser on Saturday Yoshida is minding his defensive side of the box so Norwich don't do a Virgil in the first half from the corner, Virgil had gone walk about in his side of the box not watching behind him or even worse to his right Yoshida had his men covered, but because he spotted Naismith in space un guarded by anyone, moves towards him......... And The numpties are falling over themselves to blame him and not the perfect VVD who had spotted a butterfly over on the other side of the box. ........... Just like the clowns who sing for Tadic to come on, then when he does, he does chuff all except wave to the now very happy souls who sang his song........ Who think he is bloody wonderful because he waved at them. ........ I knew backing off the sauce after Christmas was going to be a bad thing!!!!!! Grrrrrr!!!

What is up with Saints in cup draws shed Crystal bloody Palace get bloody Arsenal again and again .

Been on the grand tour of the stadium for the League Cup, Low in the Northam for Palace had a great view of Austins pen, sat low in the Chapel for the Sunderland game, if the net hadn't been there Boufals goal would have ended up in my mush before I would have had a chance to react...... feeling slightly uneasy for the semi as I have my usual seat!! If the stand is closed have an adventure and buy a seat now in another stand that you might fancy trying for a different view.

Looking at your location were you possibly his neighbour? He wasn't that great, Niemi was a pretty damn fine keeper when he came to us, his man of the match debut performance v Charlton, in particular the save he should never have got to from a blistering free kick from Janssen showed that, and he had only been with the club a few days. Paul Jones was always a good shot stopper first season with us voted fans player of the season after his first season based heavily on that ability, he had already showed us that ability when in goal for Stockport County in the league cup. With Jones second season oppos strikers had sussed him out, he was still stopping amazing shots but as he was not catching them the immediate second shot was invariably whistling past him. To cut a long story short, I ended up chatting with Coles, thanks to someone else setting me up to comment in his earshot, which got a reaction. He went for me verbally, nothing obscene just wanting to put me straight. Among other things, the chance came. I pointed out that Jones was stopping fine shots but they were all being parried out forwards, and attacking opposition had worked this out and were capitalising on it. Told him to watch the tapes, then look at Bartez for United who saved the shots but always parried them out to the left and right and away from danger. The next week Stone the Crows, Jonah is stopping the shots and they are going left and right. Not saying he wasn't any good, just as has been said already he had "good tools" to work with. He is at Bristol City now. One observation with Dave Watson this season (and mentioned elsewhere) he doesn't seem as active as he was under Koeman in handing out instruction from the technical area.

Just seen Dean give a poor decision, then realised that it's Spurs playing at home in the cup, bound to be a penalty second half.

Having seen the highlights nasty bobble on that back pass from Virgil just as its getting to Lewis.

As Grevsie always said "it's a funny old game Saint".......... You will only regret it if you don't go.