Football Special

At least our sharp eyed directors then recruited Dave Jones as manager, along with P. JONES and legend L. TODD remembered fondly by fans for worst fitting kit , true beauty this one

We'd still lose but at least might make it competitive. I remember as a nipper absolutely buzzing to reach 1/4 finals of this competition, some great atmospheres at The Dell but inevitably let down against Cup powerhouses of the time Luton and Oldham Didn't we also manage to knock ourselves out in 1/4 final v Stockport mid 90s , classic Saints. Shame how much this competition has been devalued

SR would argue they've tried initiatives to "improve the fan experience " - By creating an home end of safe standing - investing in fan zones and entertainment And let's not forget the light shows and big flags. However a cynic would see them as attempts to just milk the fanbase for more money, moving away fans allowed them to sanitise the Itchen North paving the way for our opulent luxury Knightwood lounge (can't see many bookings for that in the Championship)

Following in a Legends footsteps there. We've got the Rusk Super Simon Rusk I just don't think you understand He's gonna keep us up Win the carabao cup We've got super Simon Rusk

Is there anything in his CV to give us hope? Could this be another 'Ruben Selles' until the end of season appointment?

I don't think anyone could genuinely hate him, they could hate his tactics, results etc but it's not like they know Martin personally. He came across as arrogant in interviews but when I met him in person in the summer he was really sound, chatted to one of my kids about football and Saints and couldn't have been nicer , shame it had to end the way it did but was inevitable, I wouldn't be surprised if Martin was pleased go get the push and walkaway with the payoff.

Don't forget the booking fee, absolute joke these prices Tickets are priced at the following: General Sale Adult: £32.50 Over-65: £32.50 18-25: £32.50 Under-18: £12.50 Under-14: £12.50 Matchday Adult: £35.00 Over-65: £35.00 18-25: £35.00 Under-18: £15.00 Under-14: £15.00 Tickets are subject to a £1.50 booking fee.

With a name like that I'm sure he'll be popular with the younger players

Wonder if SKY will get Martin on as a pundit?

Even more random than when Selles took over

R m took focus away from sports Republic, he had to go but focus must be at board level, terrible decisions time and time again and I expect they'll get next one wrong as well I think Martin knew he was gone and players knew it and played accordingly

I'm going if only to sing . Simon Rusks red and white army . For 90 minutes. Obviously a defeat, Liverpool with more important things to focus on play in 2nd gear , couple of early soft goals conceded

It is certain. Don't need a calculator, surely bookies already paying out

We're down, have been for a while, don't understand why we don't have an R after our name in the table

He knew he was gone. I take no real pleasure from it as I think sports Republic have absolutely no idea what they're fucking doing

Left at 4-0,, would have stayed if supporters would storm the executive area and chase the board out of the club, as bad but probably worse than the Leicester 0-9 , brought embarrassment on the club to another level.

Indictment of the board in my opinion.

In defence of Martin he is doing exactly what he always said he would do, for me change needs to happen from the top. Will still get behind the players today , they're trying and deserve the fans backing. In a disaster of a season if we could fluke a win over a side like Spurs would be a highlight

Maybe it's just the way my brain works but I'm struggling to work out where all the blind faith comes from, Martin's faith in his tactics seems to go against all the real evidence where every team he's managed has conceded loads of goals, and the boards blind faith in Martin where we are handicapped in the league but continuing to gift goals to opponents. I think Martin must believe that it will lead to bigger and better things for him. For the board I think they are so far out of their depth when it comes to the actual sport of football they have no idea who they'd actually replace him with, so will hide behind "long term " project and pretend everything is fine.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c7ven7l547ro

I assumed he was being sarcastic Sutton has always been negative when it comes to Saints, seems to hate us for some reason which might explain why he wants us to keep Martin so he can laugh at our expense

Interesting insights from Chris Sutton: This should be a great game of football. It's one for the purists, really, because Southampton will play their defined style under Russell Martin and Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham will definitely do the same. Both managers have been criticised recently and some of the stuff written and said about Postecoglou after Spurs lost to Chelsea was staggering, although it is the same after every defeat. As I said on the Monday Night Club, on their day Spurs are the best team to watch in the Premier League, but they are just patchy. They should get over the line here, though, because Southampton have bigger problems. It looks like Saints are going to get relegated but I hope they see the bigger picture when it comes to Martin. For starters, he got them promoted, which wasn't an easy job. Keeping them up was always going to be even harder but, because Southampton have had a pretty recent spell of doing OK in the Premier League, their fans think they should be doing much better. It was a similar story with Leicester under Steve Cooper, where expectations were unrealistic. He got the sack but I hope Saints stick with Martin because with a bit of patience they could come back, stronger. Sutton's prediction: 1-2 Stephen's prediction: Tottenham have been terrible but Southampton keep losing. I think they are going down, aren't they? 0-2

Anyone got the picture of the old plans with the chicken petting zoo or whatever it was?

I think it would have been Saturday lunchtime game if Spurs hadn't been playing Thursday night. It's on TNT

Spurs have one win in 8, was that the 4-0 against Man City? So one way we definitely don't want to play is try to be like Man City. Was a real good battle v Rangers last night , need to get at them. Fraser Forster should get a good reception coming back.