Gloucester Saint

When my grandfather from the docks and his brothers/cousins drank in the Ice House in Shirley Warren during the 1950s and 1960s on 26 December, by all accounts that’s exactly what it was as the beers went down…

New owners who purchase players to build the spine of a team, and not one-off transactions in an attempt to make money based on what AI Co-Pilot spits out, instead of scouting properly and watching players, is the only remedy. Replacing such failures eg Bazunu with more of the same eg Downs though the spine as projects (Alfie House’s words) is leading to the same outcomes season after season when you add in inexperienced managers who won’t tell them to keep their nose out. SR isn’t working. Sheff Utd are also down that road but even their batshit mad board and owners have decided to bring the professionals back in to sort out their mess.

It’s staggering how easy Saints have been to play against for many years. It’s been the case since Ralph’s last few months and deteriorated rapidly as the recruitment has declined further even since Les Reed’s sanatogen specials. In all of that time, they just haven’t done the basics other teams do defensively across the team, such as limiting crosses and forcing them to be delivered from further up the pitch so they are a simple clearance or claim. No pressure on teams taking shots at goal when the owners force the managers into selecting a goalkeeper who couldn’t save a document on Word. Marking is someone that farmers do to livestock. Zonal-based system doesn’t work with thick players. That would be bad enough, but offensively no-one carries the ball between lines and on the rare occasions it happens, everybody is stood on their heels watching. Witness Archer v Skates, who the hell is following in on that? All stood ball-watching and let Cameron down when he created a chance from hard work. Something they all seem averse to. The tempo is dreadful as well, have they never heard of pass and move? Combine that with some of the shittiest players to wear our shirt since the 1960s and at best the late 00s, and cluelessness from the touch line and boardroom, I think you can see why the fanbase has had enough by and large. Only positive is that they got plenty of stick yesterday from the away end and that’s going to get a whole lot worse with piss taking and gallows humour.

Ah so, people in the north in the Red Wall and crap holes like Yarmouth and Boston, they’re workers but those who vote Lib Dem in the South West, SE and Midlands, they aren’t. I’ll tell my friends who are carpenters and run pubs in Devon and Somerset that the, that Reform said they aren’t working for a living. Reality is that those towns you refer to, if you choke off the local ex-polytechnic’s access to overseas students, that will be the last major employer in them gone and drag the rest of the SMEs with all of the ‘workers’ relying on their contracts and business down the drain. Hope they don’t need access to any key public services after Reform’s local authorities destroy them. Still, they’ve got St George painted roundabouts and Union Jacks strung up in retail parks by Reform and Patriotic Alternative (led by Nick Griffin’s deputy) to help them forget about the free at the point of entry healthcare Farage would cut. Oh, and there’s a bit of a problem with what you describe. Firstly, those places are the amongst the most ethically diverse in the UK. Secondly, the Tories might replace Badenoch with a white face in the next couple of years, probably before then.

Is it racist to criticise someone with ginger hair? https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/562395 Because if it isn’t, I’d like to say that Will Still is as about as effective as a football manager as a chocolate fireguard is at doing its job.

I honestly couldn’t give a flying one, same as any match until SR finally sell up.

And they should be equally be reflecting the views of local people who buy their shit rag/online AI GPT output who travel hundreds of miles to watch millionaires not doing the basics of their job.

Harwood-Bellend

Respect your opinion but we’ve also only won three, two of those were against Northampton and Norwich reserves and the other required two injury time goals. Last week Pompey had the better chances and have had just as much squad churn on 10% of his budget. As @CB Fry pointed out, Bristol City, Boro and others are top 6 with new managers and no parachute funding. I don’t see what he’s trying to do and I’d say that’s coming across in the performances that the players don’t either, not that I rate any of them in any way. Not sure any of the current squad are anywhere near good enough to play for Southampton FC tbh. We don’t have likeable players who can get a crowd going with a change of pace, taking a player on, piece of skill or winning a key 50/50. Scienza might be one I hope who is. It’s all a one-paced highly predicable blob otherwise, The usual shite from Jack Stephens post-match winds people up as well. We can see they’re going through the motions and not pressing or closing down which is why there are so many crosses coming in. Going forward, nobody is breaking the lines or carrying the ball forward. 69% of passes went sideways or backwards today. Even by SR’s pitiful standards, I’d say he’s getting onto thin ice. Seven points from the next nine as a minimum, and personally I’d part ways rather than wait for getting tonked by Boro. Today was the type of performance early on like Jones v Forest where it’s not going to work and points/targets set aren’t changing it. A better effort last weekend might have bought him a bit more credit in the bank.

Not surprised on Michael Flynn. Decent bloke and not backed in the transfer market this summer but even so, they’ve been even worse than Saints under Still (staggeringly). Mike Garlick the former Burnley chairman has bought them and after the very unpopular DoF Gary Johnson was sacked last week (their fans sang for him to go for 25 minutes solid at the Accrington game - learning for our fans, it does work) Flynn had to beat Oldham at home, they lost 0-3. On our fans - hard to say why they’ve lost their edge, Semmens and the security bloke from Millwall definitely used Block 1 as an excuse to ban our more vocal element who might have opposed him, Gao and eventually SR. That doesn’t stop protests outside the stadium though. To be frank, it might be a bit more intellect and organisation with other fanbases - those anti-Rudkin vans were ace at Leicester and no-one was banned. Whereas those supporters in the Itchen who made up that brilliant P45 for Nathan Jones at the Wolves game got ejected and banned. Saints aren’t dissimilar to Trump and MAGA in many ways with any whiff of criticism. They were trying to grab the Martin out banners at the Spurs game as well. Stewards are just club lackeys these days, not like my grandfather’s era when he had to deal with firms in the 60s/70s and his fellow dockers and supporters at home games. Best way is to do what Coventry did - starve SISU out with an home boycott - when they actually played in Coventry - but sell out the away sections every week and give SR absolute hell. Be as offensive as you within the law.

More likely to snort them. Although that’s unlikely on second thoughts as cocaine would make them more animated. And this squad makes a sloth seem like a Tamsin Devil.

Whoever the chef was at Spurs’ hotel that time with the lasagne hopefully has found new work in the NW.

Following the club line whilst twiddling his Aviator moustache. Local journalist following the club and area in having absolutely no ambition and being a carrot-crunching backwater (which is what I’m supposed to be living in!).

They do tolerate it though as we’ve seen. Pellegrino was only really opposed despite dreadful underperformance and horrific football just before he was sacked in March 2018 when the guy was clearly a mental health wreck and would’ve been gone by November at any other PL outfit. Look at the Rangers reaction to Martin compared to ours at this point of last year. 20-30 years ago our fanbase didn’t have quite the breadth but they had backbone, not the jellyfish of recent years. They, the players led by Stephens and SR deserve each other.

Featherlight though, tears and leaks through the middle.

He fucking does say it all the time - the last 20 away games at the very least. He might as well just send it to the press via ChatGPT.

He’s going to cop some serious shit (possibly the odd object - not that I ever condone that) from the stands if he plays again in the Boro game with that attitude. That’s three times he’s missed it/almost fallen over the ball in front of goal and three sitters missed. Typical SR project signing - and whilst Mara was a lazy git too, technically he was miles ahead of this bloke. Paul Moody was tall, basic and not very good but at least he put himself about for Branfoot and did well at Oxford. Where does the club find these players - Carrillo, Onachu, Downs? Austin was saying on the podcast that in the first training session Guido Carrillo was at, the players were astonished as what he cost, looked nowhere a PL player.

Didn’t seem that fussed post-match either similar to Redknapp considering he just got a hiding at a team heavily tipped for relegation. Was on slightly thin ice after the no-show at home to Pompey and much thinner again after today. I think he’ll just put it down to Saints being a basket case needing new owners who know what they’re doing and get another job by November probably overseas again. The usual meaningless drivel from Stephens at the other end of the spectrum. Fair play to anyone who is willing to build their weekend around watching these jokers. Turkish and his son are probably in the image somewhere hopefully giving a range of wanker, v-signs or middle fingers at him.

Seeing as the media team have always been keen to banter the opposition, why not turn it on the boys and have them coming out to Slow by Rumer. Perfect for their lethargic nature. Hate slow teams having grown up on watching the Wallace brothers (Danny and Rod that is).

To think we sang ‘Captain Crap’ at Glenn Cockerill. Played on for too long at the top level but very good player in his 1980s peak. Jack’s never been anywhere that level. Bring back the ‘Captain Crap’ when his name is announced, rub Spors nose in it.

I think this is why Will is on thin ice now. Going to take a sudden clicking of the new players and a run of wins to keep his job which I cannot see for the life of me.

The Cornish Beckenbauer is though. Second SR pet after Gavin.

That’s fucking shocking.

Out fanbase is bigger than it was for the Branfoot protests in the early 1990s but they’ve got 0.2% of the backbone. Mirrors what’s on the pitch, in the dug out and in the boardroom perfectly. Wet Wet Wet. I used to think Devon and Cornwall were the graveyard of ambition but it’s actually Hampshire.

Mads has sunk to their level. Still’s replacement needs to just tell him to play like he did for Brentford when they went up and to ignore the other three twats.