Miltonaggro

Look at Guly, all over the place FFS...

Value for money Golac. Impact Keegan...

Adidas reverse Ajax. Put your shirt on it...

Cheers Shroppie, Lol!...

Par for the course, Barry, it's progress. It would take a Mad Max scenario to return it to the way it was, Portsmuff are attempting their own doomsday programme at the moment so it will be an interesting test case - down there it's less plastic, more cling film wrapped dog turd...

I'll try that again: You are right Adrian, the concept of the 'plastic fan' is not necessarily related to a class construct it's more about culture. In the good old days, or the bad old days if you believe FA quangos and David Mellor, football 'culture' was predominantly working class, as was playing football in the evenings and at the weekends. Football was very much linked to youth culture, so when I started going as a kid in the late seventies there was good smattering of skinheads and architypal older 'bovver boys' (BR, FW, Fords donkey jackets and work boots everywhere), which then flowed into the casuals in the eighties - designer labels but still very much working class in the main in terms of background and job - the 'family club' existed, but only in certain areas of the Dell. Post Taylor and Premier it's a sea change, and moving from the Dell certainly decimated the demographic. Clubs that seem to have held on to the old school fans seem to be the ones that have stayed in historical stadia and thus the areas loyal to them - this would explain the nature of Spurs and West Ham support, which retains a core of grizzly locals and their off-spring. Obviously Saints had no choice but to move as the Dell was so restricted, but when I bump into a lot of people that I used to go home and away with their choice is augmented by not liking the 'new ground', or simply not liking 'modern football, modern footballers, or indeed modern fans' seldom money. Youth culture seems to be dead, so it's unlikely that terrace culture can be resurrected in a meaningful way...

You are right Adrian,

I was recently reading an interview with Jonathan Meades (that's how I roll - he's also a Saints supporter) and he was discussing social class and the so called north / south divide. He made the following observation about Liverpool and Southampton in the 1970s which made me smile: "Oh, I don't think the South is a paradise, that's a complete nonsense. I have a friend who grew up in Liverpool 8 above a pub and he went to university in Southampton and he said that Liverpool will kick you but then say, ‘Sorry wack.' But Southampton will just kick you. We're talking about places that are hard, without any doubt; especially port towns." There was also an interview with Bob Paisley in the early 80s when he compared the port/football demographics of Liverpool and Southampton. I can remember several occasions in the 70s and 80s when northern and London clubs came to Southampton for some bumpkin bashing and got the shock of their lives, due to the docks being on short time or catching large contingents of local nutters in certain pubs by accident. There were also away games where all the local faces plus entourages would show up, all ages, in large numbers, the Brighton FA Cup away game in 1986 sticks in the mind. Anyway, in terms of the original post, in my opinion certain clubs are irrevocably linked to the social identity of their city, and where the city has a history of toil / industry you will have a hardcore of rooted working class tribal support, even if they don't go to matches. Not sure what Reading is built on apart from chocolate and Oscar Wilde, Brighton nudism and dirty weekends - perhaps there is something in this...

Could be set up for Ali Dia mark 2! His Wikipedia entry is clearly written by a ****ed off Bolton fan, as the most interesting thing about him during 150 appearances for his current club is that he was a pain in the *rse to deal with when his contract ended...

No mark town, no mark club, no mark fans...

Experienced keeper, beast of a centre half, cover at left back, and Lens from PSV...

Tranmere 6 -0 Portsmuff...

This...

This...

Genuinely good egg. My brother's two boys go to the same school as his kids in King's Worthy, and he turns out in support of a lot of projects for the school and around Arlesford. Doesn't join in the annual Dad's football match at the school though, but known to run the line with more authority and élan than some of the clowns seen at SMS recently...

A fit and focused Boruc is what we need, it's a matter of whether that can be achieved before January...

Depends on how they do it, the format could remain pretty much as is with the top positions 'seeded' and the Europa places playing a 'knockout' tournament to qualify. Interesting times and would love to see Saints in the mix over the next five years, having seen Newcastle let's be optimistic ;-)

And with the surplus sold to the national grid QPR would be richer than Real Madrid...

I'm with Glasgow, 3-0 and a big dent in the GD...

Especially given Shearer is a Newcastle legend / supporter...

And she cooks and does the cleaning too, if those photos are to be believed. What a package...

We will sign four quality players in January who won't be able to force their way into the side. This foursome can be the spine of our FA Cup winning side :-)

That's either divine intervention or the kiss of death. Fancy us to nick it up there a la Steve Moran, although that Liverpool side were some team, this lot are there for the taking...

And strong and ballsy, reminds me of, dare I say, Viera with a bit of Zidane ;-) If the boys keep this going we may be looking at a brace of England caps...