trousers

Nail. Head. It really is that simple....

Adkins goes into analogy overload.... http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2156967,00.html

I've never had any friends

Fair point, although I would venture that the result would be fairly similar to what it is now

Why not? Isn't that where most people fit? In the 'general/average' pool. I say we should generalise more. It's the specific polarised views that cause more damage. IMHO of course.

Ultimately, yes. But if I was running a newspaper I'd want to satisfy myself too and share that with my readers.

Indeed. And who's to say that these kind of reports don't filter through to the Liebherr family who may get the false impression that a 'significant' fan organisation is unhappy with their levels of intervention....? Whilst I'm sure Cortese will be filling in the gaps for them it could still sow seeds of doubt in their minds as to whether they want the hassle of dealing with what they may perceive to be a bigger groundswell of negative opinion that is actually the case. Straws and camels...

Over to you Danny....

As previously mentioned, it's all about perception rather overt statements. I've often heard media outlets (e.g. SKY) refer to Nick (for example) as "saints fan spokesman" or words to that effect but never heard him start his responses with: "thanks for the intro but just to clarify that I'm not speaking on behalf of most saints fans...." It works both ways.

That's it....make me even more depressed at how low we've fallen FFS ;-)

Do you dictate your posts via 'LifeLongSaint'....? ;-) Also, why are footballers so delicate beings when it comes to dealing with managerial change and politics? If you're a professional player then just get on with showing everyone how good you are for 90 minutes on the field. If a pilot or surgeon doesn't get on with his boss how would you feel if he took his mind off the job when at work? Footballers: pull yourself together and rise above the politics. You have a privileged life. Deal with it FFS

You've seen Pardew's phone?

Hi Danny, Thanks for taking the time to explain the mechanics. I'm what you might call a middle of the road Saints fan - in other words I tend to see both sides of any discussion point (or, as my wife calls it: 'sitting on the fence'! I hear what you say about 'SISA' or the 'Saints Trust' being treated the same as any Saints fan who declares an interest in making their views available for media publication but the point people are making about these 'organisations' are that your average reader WILL attribute a significant element of gravitas to the views being portrayed by such an 'organisation' as it is human nature to see an acronym and or name of a group and make the logical leap that they are formally representing a significant number of fans. I can believe it when you say that the Echo don't overtly set out to raise the profile of these so called organisations when you represent them in an article but it's all about public perception and when the public see an article quoting these organisations they will perceive them to be officially recognised institutions whether you set out to portray that or not. Perhaps the best thing to do for balance is to print a footnote at the bottom of any fan initiated article with a one liner along the lines of: organisation 'x' has 'n' members so that people can clearly see how many people then purport to represent. Just a view from a fence sitter!

The more important question is: do they genuinely believe they are representing the views of saints fans (i.e. A form of delusion) or do they know they're not but for some kind of personal crusade consciously decide to carry on as if they do?

Ask Danny who posts on here?

I wrote this on the match thread after the game last night: We've had these post match player rallying call articles on the OS since the advent of time. Not predictable in the slightest..... sigh..... p.s. It's the cat I feel sorry for when I get home from work this evening....

Would be interested to know the reason for the relatively low goal tally between 2006 - 2008. Maybe he was out injured? A more informative list would be a percentage 'per game' strike rate.

I do like a shrewd manager.... ;-)

Indeed. Here was the official saints twitter message at half time: officialsaints: Half time from stadium:mk MK Dons 0-0 Southampton. Somehow level at the break, Saints playing with fire in their bellies! #saintsfc They didn't send one out after the game funnily enough!

Yup

Assume we kept the receipt from the medics for a refund....?

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/buying-selling/sale-supply/page8599.html

That's exactly the type of player we're missing! Cheque book time Mr Cortese...

Do you ghost write those player OS articles per chance...?! ;-)

Look on the bright side....we now stand a better chance of playing Pompey next season....