Bourne Valley Saint

A thoroughly decent manager sacked and the first that he knew about it was when he read it on Sky Sports News!! Some of you think we should all sit on our ar**s and not upset dear old Nicola. Somehow, if we all keep quiet, everything will be alright and we might just avoid relegation! Get a grip - if you're p***ed off about this whole sorry saga, get to St Marys tomorrow evening and let Cortese know just how you feel. I'm sure the players are expecting it, probably hoping for it in light of the way Nigel has been treated. Yes, NC can do as he pleases but there is no harm in letting him know that you do not agree with this latest episode.

How proud I was of Nigel for his management skills for taking us from the bottom of L1 to holding our own in the Premiership in little over two years. Proud of Davis, Lambert, Lalanna, Guly, Fonte, Schnederlein, Chaplow, Cork and others for making the step from L1 and Championship to the Premiership. Proud of our fans for sticking with the team through thick and thin. Glowing with pride on Wednesday night following our comeback against Chelsea. Now THIS. One less honourable English manager in the Prem. I don't think I can bring myself to support the club at the moment. Do I go on Tuesday to vent my frustration or crawl away silently? Of course I want the players to do well after all they have been through but I can't bring myself to support Cortese or the club right now. Not even if we win on Monday - which I now think highly unlikely. I think I'll return my Wigan tickets and save myself the pain of wanting the team to do well whilst not supporting the club!!

Turn your backs once the game starts and then walk out and don't come back!

Absolutely riddiculous decision. What is the point of supporting the club after this. Crikey - I've followed them for more than 40 years and this has got to be the cruellest, ill-thought out, contemptuous decision I can ever recall. Total boycott or turn your backs to the pitch on Monday night.

I sat in my normal seat in the Kingsland stand (Northam end) and there were probably up to 50% different people around me. Several Saints fans (including myself) tried their best to get behind the team but it was a losing battle. For the critics, please don't tar everyone with the same brush. There were still a lot of passionate fans trying their best (even singing when 5-1 down) but with the club handing nearly the entire Northam end to Chelsea, it was always going to be a struggle. Saints fans were singing at 1-0 and 1-1 but the goal at half-time knocked the stuffing out of everyone, including the team and it all went downhill pretty much thereon. Our support at home is generally pretty decent and contrary to some on here, St Mary's can produce a great atmosphere given the right circumstances. After the Newcastle game, a Geordie fan on the way home said that "that place can really rock when you get behind the team". It's a shame that it doesn't happen that often (something to do with not winning as often as we used to) but it is not for the want of trying by the pasionate fans - it's just that the majority of the ground don't join in unless we are winning. As for comments about Sunderland's support, from where I was it was pretty good. Are you detractors going to make the 650 mile round trip to show how good you are when we play them in May? As for Stoke, they do produce an excellent atmosphere all around the ground. They were quiet when 3-1 down in the first half - they were in total shock! However when they came out for the second half the noise was deafening and they were right behind their team. A lot of you are too quick to slag off our own and other's support - anyone would think that you don't go to that many games!

2 sets up - one more to get. Come on Justin!!! Jenkins is weaing a P***ey badge on his lapel.

Thanks Derry - I'll have a go at that when I've got a spare half hour. When I said hundreds of cup matches - it is probably between 150 - 200 including FA Cup, Leage Cup, Cup Winners Cup, Uefa Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, JPT and Watneys!!! Maybe some others but I can't recall right now. It just p***es me off that the club feel the need to charge a booking fee for season ticket holders, who loyally pay up front (some year after year even when times are dire) not knowing what sort of season lies ahead. Perhaps it's some sort of tax fiddle where the differential between what they are charged in transaction fees by the banks and what they receive in booking fees is taxed at a different rate to actual ticket sales - who knows!!? At my work, we charge 2.5% for a credit card transaction and nothing for a debit card. I'm not holding my breath for a reply from the club. Perhaps I shouldn't have purchased them in protest - I am as much to blame as anyone for buying them.

Just sent an e-mail to the club - "Good afternoon I have just purchased three tickets for my two daughters (both under 11) and myself for the Chelsea Cup match. Despite this being a top-up to our season tickets, hence no postage and little administration, I have been charged £7.50 for the privilege of buying our tickets. The booking fee for the kids is 25% of the match ticket cost. Could you not for once give your loyal season ticket holders some relief from these add-ons (Flybe and Ryanair put Southampton FC to shame!) and stop trying to fleece us at every opportunity. I did try and book on-line but my Customer Number and password (which have always worked perfectly in the past) were not accepted so I had to reset my password which came back as a 10 digit/letter sequence. I obviously would like to change the password to something more memorable (as it was before it was no longer recognised) so phoned up for assistance. I waited three minutes whilst being told about various ticket offers only to be told that no operators were available – hence wasting more money. Living in Salisbury it is not easy to buy tickets in advance from the ground. I’ve been a season ticket holder for 30+ years and have attended hundreds of cup games over the years. I shan’t attend another one if I’m going to be charged for the privilege of booking my seats. Please acknowledge receipt of this e-mail and I request that you forward it to the person/department who is responsible for the booking fee policy. Regards" I know that there are charges made by banks for card transactions but it is not normally more than 2% This has cost nearly 17% of the ticket cost - complete rip-off!! Why not just add a small amount and include it in the total ticket price - everyone then pays the same. Let's hope for a good cup run!!!!

Pretty much a fair result with a lacklustre crowd, weary team and organised opponents. Although Clattenburg didn't offer us a lot in the way of free kicks (I don't think we had one until the one we scored from!), for those morons who were chanting "Racist" at him from the Kingsland and Northam, just ask yourself what did you think it was going to achieve - apart from making yourselves look a complete bunch of tw&ts? Give him stick by all means for being a poor ref (if that is your opinion) but leave those pathetic racist shouts out. Perhaps he could sue you all for defamation of character!

Billy ****e - that above comment is a tad unfair. How can you think that about Kelvin - he was one of the main reasons why we got promoted. He saved us numerous points and we would have probably had to qualify through the play-offs if it wasn't for him. I'm not saying he's perfect but with the way the defence have played in his absence, I'd rather the likes of Fonte, Fox, Cork, Lallana, Schniederlin, etc. (maybe not Hooiveld because that would shoot my argument in the foot!), know the strengths and weaknesses of the man behind them rather than having to learn the ways of a new keeper. Kelvin deserves another crack in the premiership and I hope that he plays on Saturday. Gazza will be fine but at the moment he can keep the bench warm for now. Borat was in my opinion an unecessary acquisition.

Singing about Portsmouth every other song doesn't really encourage the rest to join in. What's the point? Man U will rip the s**te out of us next week if we do that all game. It would be a bit like them singing about Rochdale or Oldham. Surely some bright spark can come up with a few decent songs about our team and players instead. The whole day was disappointing. I expected Saints to sell out and the crowd to be 30000 +. The Northam/Kingsland corner was ok to start with but got quieter as the game meandered towards the inevitable defeat. Could barely hear the Wigan fans from where we were sitting. Maybe holidays and Hampshire cricket were to blame for the empty seats but if Saints fans can't get more enthused for our next 18 home games, then the players will find it much harder without the "twelth man".

We had 6 players in the starting line up who played for us in League one and The Championship and got us promoted - also the same manager. FFS what do you expect? It was never going to be easy. Would you whingers prefer we got rid of the nucleus of that team and brought in foreign mercenaries like we did so brilliantly 7 years ago to get us relegated ? We've played two games, have competed in both and all most can do on here is slag the team off and cast doubt upon our manager. Give them a chance for FS. What on earth did Kelvin do so wrong yesterday? Has he got to prove himself all over again? Have some faith in the manager and the team. I had one particularly obnoxious individual sitting near me in the Kingsland/Northam corner (not there the previous 6 seasons) who could do nothing but slag Guly off. In his own words Guly was a retard and a black see you next Tuesday. I really hope he isn't going to be there every week - he will surely go into meltdown if we lose at home to Man Utd! Perhaps the Moderators can take this site off-line for the next three weeks so that we wont have to put up with such negativity and ill-thought through comments!!.

Just watching the match on the box and I can't help but notice that the perimeter of the pitch is displaying numerous advertising slogans encouraging the public to part with their hard earned dosh - William Hill, Bet 365, 32 Red, Football Scores.com (not sure about that one but it probably is a gambling site!) But you can't accuse Hearts of exploiting their fans or the public because their shirt sponsor WONGA.COM will bail you out with a load of dosh if you do waste it gambling at their competitive rate of 3500% per annum, which I am led to believe is very reasonable compared to some other less reputable loan sharks! Talk about selling your soul. Anyway, it's quite a good game.

Lord Coe was asked last night about the need to play rock music during one of the athletics finals last night and he didn't seem to think it was an issue. Well it is for me. Call me an old fart or something but why the f**k do we have to listen to rock/pop music blaring out when a sports spectacle is being performed/played in front of our eyes. The olympics are a world spectacle and do not need music or a deranged wannabee dj stirring up the crowd - is it not capable of creating it's own atmosphere? It happened at the Johnstones Paint Trophy final when any attempt to get a song started was drowned out by some sh**e that is better suited to radio 1. I went to the Heineken Cup Final in Paris a couple of years ago and despite the best efforts of the Biarritz band dressed immaculately in their Basque robes, they were no match for the blaring lyrics of Murder on the Dance Floor. Do the organisers think that we are too thick to understand the speactacle in front of us, or incapable of creating our own pre-match atmosphere, so need some form of stimulation to ignite our brains? The 1976 Cup Final is memorable for the great atmosphere before and during the game - I can't remember pop music blaring out when Bobby Stokes netted our winner. The Rose Bowl is just as bad - 20 x 20 x 2000 decibels every time someone scores a run! It's bad enough in restaurants or pubs when you can barely hold a conversation with the person sitting two feet away. What next - piped bagpipe music at next year's Open whilst Ernie Els is putting out for the Claret Jug? Who decides on the music? How do they know what, if any, music we would like? None is my emphatic answer.

FFS - I thought I'd missed a huge pitch invasion after the final whistle when I read this heading. Oh dear - some fans in The Chapel went onto the pitch to celebrate what could have been a winning goal against our bitterest of rivals. Whatever next? Let's arrest the lot of them for showing a bit of passion. Was it ok for the skate players to join their fans in celebrating their equaliser or was that a bit too over the top as well? Let's hope we don't score a late winner at Palace tomorrow - who knows what could happen!! How dull it must be to live in a world where you're always looking to be so easily offended and seeking to apportion blame!!

Was going but now can't. Impossible to get back to Salisbury by train after the match. Daughter's birthday on the Sunday so no chance of an overnighter. Was the same for Leeds (not because of daughter's birthday) - couldn't get back same day or else would have gone.

This has all come about due to John Terry being a complete knobhead. Great timing though -no sooner had Capello gone into his meeting with the FA, just round the corner Harry and Milano were being acquitted of tax evasion! They might as well have sent a cab for him to go straight to the FA for the interview. If he does get the job, fair play to him. At least he's got a bit of character, unlike some recent ones who must have had a charisma bypass! Mind you, Roy Hodgson might be in with a shout.

What a disappointment. Fair play to everyone who went - it was as cold as i can ever remember watching Saints at home. A home tie against Premiership opposition waiting - a great chance to test ourselves in readiness for next season (hopefully) - totally wasted. At 2-1 up we should have finished them off. I cant believe that in the above posts no-one has mentioned Reeves's disallowed goal with about 5 minutes left (unless I've missed it). He was a good yard onside when he received the ball - our other player (Lambert/Lee?) was in an offside position but did not touch the ball. A dreadful decision and one that potentially cost us the game. However, I thought that Millwall were the better passing team last night and scored three great goals. As for our players, Bart did at least three fantastic saves to keep us in the game but his kicking was woeful. The full backs were exposed for two of Millwall's goals and when going forward hardly delivered a decent cross. De Ridder did some great runs but the final ball was, as ever, wasted. Lalanna was excellent as was Reeves when he came on. Lee looked lively and when he did get the ball showed good control. Hammond always seems to me to struggle to play the right ball when looking to pass but worked hard in breaking up play. Chaplow was a bit off the pace but good to see him back. Guly looked a bit lost but had one header that produced a super save from their keeper. Lambert looked class but seemed to be playing behind the front two at the end. Barnard did ok but is short of matches - should have done better with his shot at the end. All in all, a bitter disappoinment but it was that cold, somehow it was a relief not to have to sit in that freezing stadium for at least another 30 minutes!

Against MK Dons we showed some initiative and passion hence the crowd's reaction. Last night was utter sh*te and there was no way back, hence the crowd's frustration. We've not played well at home (or away come to think of it) since we beat Brighton in November and if we carry on like this we'll be lucky to make the play-offs. Had we been offered second in January at the start of the season, yes, of course we'd have taken it but the steady decline in performance over the last couple of months somehow takes the shine off it. Last night reminded me of the performaces I witnessed when we were last in this league! How much do we need Lambert , Lallana, Fonte and Chaplow back to arrest this slide!

Our numbers are good but our songs are simply awful the majority of the time. Cringingly embarrasing chants like "Steeeeeve" and "Your support is effing sh*t", "I've got a shed", "When I was just a little boy" being sung at places like Coventry. The skates took the pee when we did the arms to the left and right for the Lallana song and right they were too thinking about it. Songs about the team or individual players are what we need, not mundane chanting of the name or abusing Pompey every five minutes. Palace fans were excellent last night and they were pretty good when we went there a couple of rounds ago. If not entirely original (I think there is German influence to their chanting) at least they were different from the normal dross we hear at St Marys. We've got the numbers but no originality. Blokes of my age don't want to sing about Pompey (unless we're playing them) or Steve, we want to support the team. OWTSGMI is too quick most of the time so it's no wonder the majority of fans don't bother to sing I'm too old to start singing (I used to do it) but I do join in for supportive songs. Come on - there must be a group of fans out there somewhere who can come up with something better than STEEEEEEEEEEVEEEE!!

Compared to a lot of grounds that we have visited in the past two seasons, I thought it very pleasant and accessible. Compared to the shower of sh*te that we visited a couple of weeks ago, it was positively luxurious. Unlike P**tsm**th who spawned all their borrowed money on foreign mercenaries, huge wages and agent's fees, Brighton have at least got something tangible from their expenditure/borrowings. I don't understand some on here who ridicule them for trying to improve facilities for all fans -both home and away. Last season you were taking the p**s out of them for playing in an athletics stadium. Remember when were at the Dell and how it restricted our income and expectations (ok - I know where we've been since we moved). I was delighted to move to the new stadium and instantly double our crowds and potential. The views at St Mary's are excellent and the facilities good. Brighton have done the same as us. It's cost them a lot more and it was a brave move to make when they are in the lower leagues. They have good support from a huge catchment area such as we do and will probably keep their gates over 18000. Yes, it is out of town but so what, it's right next to a railway station and is on a main route (albeit potentially dangerous for pedestrians). On Monday, we caught the train to Lewes, sampled the local Harvey's beer and then caught the train to Falmer - piece of cake. Inside the ground they had decent real ale - much better than the beer served at SMS. Having said all that, if I had to watch a team coached by that tw*t Poyet whereby gamesmanship is a priority, no matter how good the stadium, I wouldn't bother going!!

Forget D'Urso - the linesman to our left was shocking. He ruined Harding's afternoon and probably ours as a result of his stupidity in being instrumental in Dan's booking. It was a brilliant tackle but the dickhead was influenced by the baying whingers behind him and got him booked. The next tackle he did resulted in a talking to from D'Urso and then he was substituted. His reaction towards the linesman when he was walking off pretty well summed up his and our feelings on the matter!! Complete incompetence.

We all see things differently and I seldom criticise the team or the players and I see no reason to do so today. However, I feel that we shall have to play a lot better against Bristol City and Brighton if we are to maintain our automatic promotion push. Yes, there was some fantastic cross field passing but a lot of other shorter passing that went astray and gave away possession. Earlier in the season we passed other teams off the pitch but I feel that we are not now so dominant in this respect. As a matter of interest and I seriously can't remember, when was the last time we scored from open play with a shot from outside the box?

For those of you creaming yourselves over this result, I think the opposite. Yes, we deserved to win in the end but the performance was not that of a team at the top of the table and unbeaten at home. We gave the ball away on numerous occassions and invited Palace to run at us. Palace should have had a penalty at 1-0 early in the second half and up until we scored again, I feared that we would concede. Too often the simple pass is not made and we play ourselves into trouble and a better team would have pinished us. However, two well taken goals by Guly were the difference and hopefully we'll start playing again as we did against the likes of Middlesborough, Watford and Brighton soon. It's great to be top and we are there on merit but let's not get complacent and delude ourselves that this was a great performance ...... it wasn't. As for the crowd, from where I was in the Kingsland, I thought our support was ok for a sterile Boxing Day fixture!

Lying in mine now - upon reflection, not often enough!!