alehouseboys

How we lost that game is one of life's mysteries, just to have scored in that place would have been a treat for the few minutes of mayhem that would have followed. Can't taint the good memories of an excellent trip all the same. Cameriere, Birra Morettis all round!

That's maybe because we did get shot of Puel bringing in a new man with expectation and rumour of a more Pochettino-esque pressing game that most seemed to appreciate. It was the very slow season ticket sales that probably panicked the club (and prompted them to start phone up Saints ST holders that hadn't renewed) and sealed Puel's fate.

Reasonable post other than these bits. A few gobby fans ranting on a messageboard didn't bring about Puel's demise, more a faltering demand for tickets to watch the turgid football on offer. We must have some of the meekest, most polite fans around inside St Mary's, other than a few half-hearted "boos" there was never any real show of a vocal onslaught. BTW, there's no way I'd be considering getting shot of Pelegrino already, crazy talk by the keyboard bashers.

Yep, you're right, and Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire, and Essex..... Boxing Day will be more like Cup Final day with 80,000 'visiting' fans coming from all directions but only by (grid-locked) road. And like John Boy Saint says "Not to mention the Sale starting at IKEA Brent Park!!!" I suspect/hope the authorities can see real potential for mayhem here and get the date shifted.

With few Spurs fans also being able to walk it, they'll be a hell of a lot of traffic in the Wembley area, all trying to find somewhere to park. It'll be a nightmare.

TBF, in reality, this attitude is probably mostly limited to a few f*ckwits on football forums who don't actually ever go to games anyway. I usually come on to this forum after a match (give it a couple of days if we've lost) to have a read back through the match thread to see how 'fans' sat at home were reacting and it's always the same names whether it's home or away games. I realise a few live overseas but it's also obvious many don't and the most vocal wingy whoppers are just sat in their bedsits ranting at a keyboard. If they're losing interest then, well, every cloud...

What with so many fans losing interest, it appears Kat's timing is impeccable with bailing out when she did.

Which suggests he likes smacking 'em in against the North East sides stick him in

Agree strongly with all this. And, unless you're a supporter of probably the 4 biggest clubs in England, why would you want the 2 Glasgow sides playing down here? After a couple of years or so (if they went straight into the PL) they'd be regular top 6 sides and push everyone else even further down the scale. They are both giants of clubs with massive global support (a lot in England for different/sectarian reasons) and the moment (if) they joined the PL they would have the clout to attract some top players. Initially they'd be mid-table but that would quickly change with the new money and spending power. They'd also have to get used to only taking 3,000 to away games, they won't be able to flood stadiums like they do every away game north of the border but that would probably mean thousands of ticketless p*ssed up Jocks/Irish/hangers-on bowling up at matches round the country and the issues that would follow. So that's a "no" from me.

I'm liking the sound of our subs bench, Kornelius Hansen and...Willy Smallbone (*schoolboy chuckle*)

Yep, top post. Hopefully your Dad did get to at least hear of Rickie's goal against the Jocks, one of my favourite and most joyous moments in 5 decades of watching football, which may have just briefly restored a bit of love for the game most of us older fans have become very cynical about.

Top man. Up there with some of the best signings made by this club, certainly for the time, and outstanding value-for-money! Great memories.

And that's how the 'Top 6' probably could have further advantage over us as they'd just use the extra cash (they don't really need) to hoover up the better players of lower clubs to weaken still any threat and then, to get over the 25 player rule, just send them/other squad players out on loan to the continent. The league probably wouldn't look a lot different to today but there would be less chance of the big boys slipping up against 'the rest'.

"Two Carlton Palmers, there must be two Carlton Palmers..." Yep, quite enjoyed watching him while at SFC, but the **** seems to have had a bit of a thing about Le Tiss for some time. Keeps a forgotten man in the news tho, I guess.

Sounds a bit precious to have a pop at VvD about this one. He's probably best advised to keep well away from anything Liverpool while he remains at this club but he was asked a question and he answered it. It was a question about the Champions League, SFC are not in the CL, he couldn't, as suggested elsewhere, stuck to just commenting on us. He deserves a bit of stick for his previous, but this aint one of them.

Nobody's suggesting they aint "nobheads" for going on the pitch, they probably feel that themselves now, but considering the circumstances the club didn't need to hand out such heavy bans for a few seconds of "nobheadery" which, imo, just reveals the club's stance on the more boisterous type of fan that helps produce the kind of atmosphere that (many agree) we would like but doesn't exist inside St Mary's these days. But fair play to you for never running on the pitch, I trust you also don't break stadium rules and stand in seated areas during a match?

Like a lot of us fans in the Autumn of our years who crave a return to a 70s-type atmosphere inside our stadiums (to the do-gooders on here...I'm not talking about the threat of violence, just full-blooded vocal support), it aint gonna happen. Clubs are now more than happy to just sit back and take money off harmless customers willing to pay top prices to keep the overpaid prima donnas on the pitch happy (for a while). Who cares if the stadiums are sterile places, just give 'em some clackers. Look at the Echo last week...we hardly score at home, we get a rare late winner against West Ham, a bit of passion gets the better of 3 Saints fans who run onto the edge of the pitch (to the do-gooders, we all know it's against the rules, but...) and for that they were all given 3 year bans by SFC on top of big fines and if they were season ticket holders, it probably cost them each around a grand in total. A one year ban would have been more than enough to make a point, another 3 fans probably lost forever. That just highlights the type of customer they want/don't want inside St Mary's and it's not a recipe for a good ol' football atmosphere.

Still, should have been a ship though or a gnarly old docker!

"I look at it all now and those who've taken our place: Watford, AFC Bournemouth, Swansea, Crystal Palace, Soton, Brighton. Our club with big, passionate support and a huge catchment area plus some great history...replaced by what looks like Division 3 South." See, there the deluded f*ckwits go again. The only time they got reasonable crowds were when they had a brief successful period in the black and white days, but even then, their crowds were dwarfed by the big boys. Both times since when they managed/cheated to get themselves promoted up to the top flight they couldn't regularly fill their little ground. Out of that list, I'd only put them just about above Bournemouth and.....well I'm struggling.....on a par with maybe Watford and Swansea. Bigger mouths though, tbf.

Liverpool just need to accept their place in the pecking order, bigger clubs will always want their better players.

Another one to be airbrushed from the history books regarding Henry James 'Harry' Redknapp. ****.

New third away kit unveiled today. Normally I agree that a side usually gets a boast with the arrival of a new manager but we are talking Woy ****ing Hodgson here. Trouble is we are still shot of confidence and litttle change or improvement yet from last season. Let's hope it's all come good on the training ground this week. Take a draw and then on to United.......................

Can't agree simo, Southampton FC and its badge represents my city, what has the New Forest got to do with it? Maybe we should include nods to Winchester to the north, and from the east, plucky little pom...............nah. We've built ships, repaired 'em, filled and offloaded 'em for centuries, that's what made Southampton the city it is. New badge it is then

I quite like that if they changed the tree for a ship/galleon. Southampton is more famous for its docks, since medieval times, than just about anything else, it should be reflected in the crest imo.

I'd happily see it changed, current crest a bit too cartoony or me as others have said. Debate been done a few times before, but about 4 years since the last one https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?44264-New-crest-design-in-the-summer/page4&highlight=club+crest#.WbkjEsh97IU