sandwichsaint

Gully sounding good.

Totally agree.

Great result, if not a great performance. Saints started very flat and looked unbalanced from the off with MS alternating between a narrow right and wide right position and not being very effective in either. Gully and Lambert also failed to connect, add in a fairly limp AL and a midfield that failed to deliver very much quality ball to the strikers and it was always likely that Hull would score first. As others have said Hull were neat and tidy and pretty much out-played Saints at their own game for large parts of the first half, they must be strong play-off contenders on this form. Second half Saints were a different side (literally, with SDR on wide right and a more orthodox 4-4-2 shape) and scored two good goals (though Gully was very lucky to get a second go at his after missing a really straightforward chance that the keeper could only parry back to him). Unfortunately after this rousing 10 mins Saints were unable to apply the coup-de-grace of a third and Hull forced themselves back into it in the last 20 minutes and might consider themselves unlucky not to take a point from the game; at half time they looked favourites to take all three. KD 6, no chance with the goal and little else to do, but he never looked comfortable and his distribution was very scratchy. Bring back new improved KD immediately, I don't like old flappy Kelv much. FR 8, solid game at the back and regularly raided forward to good effect. JF + JH 7,7; both had a difficult first 20 mins but both settled well after that, now forming a really good partnership together. DH 5, shaky first half (no cover from AL though), improved as the game went on but offered very little going forward, no comparison with Fox on this showing. MS 7, out of position in the first half, and it showed; much better second half and made some crucial interceptions around and in front of our box. JC 7, lively first 20 mins but faded out (prob due to injury?) and was replaced at HT DH 8, excellent, did everything a skipper needs to do; got through shed loads of work and most of it decent, my MOM. AL 7, prob his best game since his injury, obviously nowhere near his best but he still had the tricks and awareness to help us unlock a resolute Hull defence. GdP 4, I'm a massive fan but this was probably as poor as he has ever been in a Saints shirt. Just couldn't get going and nothing he tried came off. Looked tired and I would rest him on Sat and bring him back fresh in 2 weeks to face Blackpool. RL 7, great quality and endeavour (as always) but like Gully nothing really fell for him. Fantastic persistence for his part in the second goal. SDR 8, looked fresh and lively and injected some much needed energy; I'm in a minority but I'm quite happy to see him continue in this 'impact' role at the moment. LB 2, lots of questions at the moment but he doesn't seem to be coming up with any answers. We can do better, and hopefully we will in January. Crowd 3, good numbers for a midweek game but a dire atmosphere for all bar first 20 mins of the second half. Do we just turn up and wait to be entertained nowadays? What's with all this leaving 5-10 mins early? Isn't being top of the champs, completing our umpteenth straight home win, and fighting back for a very creditable 3 points, worth 5 minutes of your time to stay and clap the team off? Unreal! I enjoyed it, Saints weren't great but Hull were pretty decent and it ended up a very satisfying three points - a champions style performance.

I'd be surprised if Palace can't shift up to 3000 for an attractive, reasonably local, Boxing Day game.

In raising your children spend twice as much time and half as much money. Wise words (not from me) but I thoroughly endorse them.

I didn't realise they had ever recorded more than one song. If SOTW is best, can't imagine the others are up to much.

Rather like a goal of the month competition but now we count in whole games. After seeing Dubai's rection to the Brighton game 'are we really this good?' what do you think is our best performance of the season? I've seen six games live and three more on telly/streams. For me Ipswich away, first 45 minutes, was the 'best' Saints football I've ever seen; I also saw Midds home on the stream and that was also an excellent performance. For those that have seen lots of games (or even if you haven't!) what's our best performance so far this season?

Don't talk wet, we were bent over a barrel with our wrists cuffed to our ankles. I for one am very glad of that decision, we kept trading, we kept our heads above water, and we got ourselves into a position where our saviour stepped up at the 11th minute of the 11th hour. I've never looked back since then and I don't think you should either.

Stern John v Norwich anyone?

Thanks for the heads up, might just do that.

Thanks for the history lesson! This is a complete 'blank' in my Saints supporting days, having spent many a time in the chocolate boxes, I wasn't aware that the Milton even went to a two tier terrace! Moved away from Soton in 76-77 aged 14 and despite the one-off away game didn't really get back properly till the early 90's. I must be the only person on here of a certain age who never saw a Le Tiss classic, I saw him live lots of times and saw him score lots of scuffs and penalties but never saw any single one of his classics live. Sad, me; but my match day shirt can now be reliably carbon dated at 20 years old.

Just watching some s7ite music channel and have just seen the video for the Smith's 'There's A Light' ... the one with the bikes in it if you've seen it. Never seen it before, awesome - took me straight back to the Thatcher times, without passing go, and when I looked again we've come full circle - what's with the boarded up houses? Are they still there or have been gentrified into massive negative equity opportunities? Or have the poor always been with us? Plus ca change, but a decent video though!

Looks like we are all barking up the wrong tree - clearly what we need is a ground reduction. Saints have a hard core of uber fans, like all clubs I guess; a Dover fan has just clocked up 1000 consecutive games, home and away, pre-season friendlies and testimonials included, everything! Fifteen years of his life, and God knows how much wonga, he'll never get back. 'Sad loser' or 'paragon of fandom'? You decide.... Lets reduce SMS to 24k, pack out the corporates at premium prices, fleece the STs for another 30%, and sell walk-up tkts at 40GBP, but only when the oppo don't want them at 35 pounds a pop. Job done; revenues are similar, the club can save on stewards, bar servers, policing and all the rest. The club gets to play in front of a 24k 'sell out' crowd every week. What more could anybody want - the plastics can all go shopping on a Saturday and real men can all go to the footie. What could go wrong?

When does this picture date from? Chocolate boxes and the Shearer/Draper tools shirt... late eighties? I'm still wearing this shirt to games now ... it must be 25 years old???

Cards on the table - Saints born and bred but Hampshire exiled. 4th generation me, pretty much all my family on both sides are Saints fans, insisted on my 2 lads being bought up in the faith, and they've done me proud in this respect! My first game v Sheff Weds 1966-67, I've seen Saints here there and everywhere since then, home and away, rain or shine, come hell or high water! Never had a season tkt (tho would love to!), financial circumstances/other commitments/geographical distance has always mitigated against it. I think my 'personal best' is the JPT season when I saw about 20 games home and away. I saw 15+ games last year and have seen 5 this year so far so hopefully will see somewhere between 15-20 for the remainder of the season. I'm not an uber fan but I think I do my bit: I have three points in relation to this thread: I hate it (Hate It!) when a big game comes up and it's first dibs to season-ticket-holders-plus-one ! WTF does this come from? Big game - ST holders can bring a friend/partner/hanger-on, over and above PAYG customers? Sorry, I don't get that. This one I do get, but it's equally annoying! When it comes to a big game the tkt office wants to know how many HOME games you have been to. I understand that the club gets revenue from 'home' tickets and nothing from away tkts, but in what system does three home games trump six away games? For the allocation of Wembley tkts for one ... Which brings me to my third gripe... I think 'local fans'/ST holders totally underestimate the size of our exiled/travelling/latent fan-base. A common truism on here is that 'everybody who wanted one got a tkt for the JPT final', I can tell you for a FACT this isn't true. That season my eldest and I had been to about 40 games home and away (and we got Wembey tkts, but it was very, very tight), my other nipper was away first year at uni and had only seen about three games that year (but up to 10 a year for the previous five year); he didn't get near a tkt. Mrs Sandwich had probably seen 4-5 games a year for the previous five years but she didn't get near a tkt ...... would people please not keep posting posting on here 'that everybody who wanted a tkt got one'. I could have used two more, and I'm sure that other people could too. They would certainly have been put to better use than the ones that I was sat with (top rows, directly behind the goal: people on mobile phones, people in jester hats, people going down early for a pie at HT, people that didn't know the names of any players ... I have to think I was in section for the players's families/SMS staff etc.???) Finally a story for you. A young lad about 9 joined our local cricket club a couple of years ago and he regularly turned up to training in a Saints shirts, good lad! Got talking to the parents and the whole family mum/dad/nipper are massive Saints fans; never picked up the connection but they live 160 miles from SMS and are Saints through and through. They are not of massive financial means (in fact they are of modest means) and dad has had some cancer-related up and downs, which have led to them having some understandable family up and downs. Dad is now fully in remission and runs a local Sunday football team - these guys are absolute salt of the earth, honest as the day is long, family types. Nipper is 11 now and is absolutely Saints mad (he knows more about Saints than me!) ... he's been to SMS three times .... no lack of passion there .... just a lack of opportunity and of a lack financial wherewithal ... for this family, to travel 160 miles to a match, pay for tickets and all the rest of it is literally a once-a-year, high-days-and-holidays (birthday treats) event. It literally makes me cringe the thought that one day they might buy tkts in block 43 and be jeered at by fellow Saints 'fans' - if that's the choice I'm embarrassed on their behalf and I'd rather they went to watch Gillingham or Charlton! Funny old game football.

Fack me! Where is the face-palm thingy on here?! One question! Why would you pay LOTS of money to build EXTRA seats, and then GIVE THEM AWAY? The club will make far more money over the next (five) years by slapping 5 pounds on every seat - pure profit! When we have spent that money on stabilising and then improving in the PL we will be able to gauge the demand for 'extra' seats.

If you have to ask the question, it's because you don't know the answer.

You driving there?

It gets worse! Q2 Who managed Swindon, Chelsea, England, Portsmouth and Spurs? FFS!!

That gully's krap... can't believe he's been picked for another away game!

80's FFS? Football was way better in the 70's .....

Fair play to him, thought he was going to be missing due to his bereavement?

Stay ?

Great draw for Totton, real chance of getting further from here. Dover went out on Saturday so no chance of last year's heroics being repeated; did Aldershot 2-0 in round 1, won 2-0 at Gillingham in round 2 (and against their ex-manager too), and gave a very good account of themselves away at Huddersfield in round 3 in front of 2,500 travelling fans .... happy days.

For me KD is probably our single most-improved player over the last 12 months. He's always had the shot-stopping ability (Brentford away a couple of years ago anybody?) and has always had that 'players' player' mentality, an absolute model pro in all respects. Always used to be a question mark over his consistency, his communication and his command of the area, and to a lesser extent (for me anyway, about his distribution). This year he has put all those negatives behind him and looks a man totally on top of his game, and very at ease in the roll he plays within the team and the group. Undoubtedly more great work behind the scenes by the ex GK and pychologist that is NA. This season I think he has been one of our stand-out players (one of many) and I feel very comfortable with him between the sticks. Definitely no vacancy there for the foreeeable future. None of that stops us looking for a third GK though although not sure Steel yesterday (why would boro sell?) is any better than Smithers or Flinders? Only saw the stream but thought Emnes looked v good and would definitely give us options in the wide areas - again why would Boro sell at the moment, and he will most probably end up on the bench at a 'big club'.