knellster

Well there always has to be someone to complain on such a great night so I guess it may as well be me. For the only time this season there was a terrace so why was everybody in the seats standing? If you wanted to stand then why didn't you buy a terrace ticket? Then those who either didn't want to stand or physically couldn't stand for the whole game would still have been able to see. It certainly didn't ruin my night, but the elderly couple nearby didn't see a great deal.

Sorry if this is a bit off topic but I don't have time to keep up with this thread and all the others. On the Poopey website there's an article about tickets for the match at our place in which it lists items banned at St Mary's. One of the items specifically banned is "Musical instruments, i.e. Bell" - well done to whomever at SFC came up with that!

I wouldn't disagree with the OP but it just goes to show how important luck is. Very early on Coventry had a one on one from which Bart made a very good save. However, the Coventry player was a couple of yards offside (we were sitting with some Cov fans who agreed) and if they had scored from that maybe our opinion of the ref would have been different. Similarly, D'Urso played a fantastic advantage at Brighton after a foul on Harding which led to a chance that Guly put over the bar from 5 yards. If he had scored that I doubt we would have cared a jot about Dan's yellow card and the red Lambert got may well not have happened.

I appreciate that this match is governed by the Football League rather than the FA, but you may recall many years ago that the FA refused to accept an allocation of tickets for the away game in Turkey. As part of a fans' group we understood their concerns (it was just after the two Leeds fans were stabbed) and suggested that they accept an allocation, but only issue tickets to people who were travelling on the official charter flights. Their response was that it was illegal to impose such conditions on the sale of a ticket, so I am at a loss to understand how it's ok to impose these conditions on us for this game (or maybe the FA were lying?)

Went to the game with a Man Utd season ticket holder who was very impressed with Saints apart from the first 10 minutes or so. Their third goal was clearly a foul and changed the whole course of the game, but with a bit of luck we'd have salvaged at least a point anyway. I can't remember being so optimistic after a defeat. He was also impressed with the Saints fans who made a lot of noise, clearly recognised a good performance and didn't give the players grief just 'cos we lost. The other thing I noticed was when Leicester were awarded a free kick for offside their defender tried to catch Kelvin off his line from the half way line even though it was an indirect free kick. Kelvin then tried to save it and risk gifting them a goal. Is it really too much to ask that players earning thousands of pounds a week learn the laws of the game?

I'm afraid I have never really understood all the admiration of Ferguson. He has traditionally spent more money than all of the other clubs, and as soon as Chelsea were able to match his buying power they won the league. I have also always been frustrated by the popularly held belief that they grow their own - sure they've produced some gems, but I would expect the line up on Saturday to be Van der Sar, Rafael, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Anderson, Carrick, Park, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez. Not a single player that wasn't bought from another club. Maybe Giggs or Scholes will play but that only gives them as many home grown players as Chelsea which is hardly anything to brag about.

Please no! In my experience it doesn't sctaully save much time, but if it starts here then it'll get very expensive for anyone who travels away. Each club in Germany has their own system so you pay 3 Euros "deposit" for the card (try finding someone to return the card to after the game) and then have to put a minimum of 10 Euros on the card. You will invariably end up with a couple of Euros left on the card at the end and be stuck with it until your club plays there again. It's not a problem if it's your own team 'cos you just take the card back next week and use it again, but I don't fancy the idea of having 20 other clubs' cards to look after for a year. Just to play devil's advocate on one other point: I seem to recall someone who shall not be named being ridiculed (quite rightly) for stating in his programme notes that our catering was fantastic while conveniently forgetting that the team was sh1te. We have since concentrated on building a decent team, and now people are complaining that the catering is sh1te which sort of makes his point that it matters doesn't it?

I once had a great deal of time for him particularly for what he achieved at Porto, but I'm afraid that any respect he earned was lost when he lied in a press conference about what the referee in the Chelsea v Barca match did at half time. He is so far up his own @rse now that I just find his antics pathetic.

Really? After the year we've had the best rush of adrenaline is running on the pitch at the end of the season? Have to agree with a previous poster who said it just shows how small time we really are, and I don't believe it's ever spontaneous. When we beat the franchise to get to Wembley nobody ran on to the pitch because they knew the consequences - if pitch invasions really were spontaneous then people wouldn't have been able to help themselves and they'd have run on anyway.

OK - you're selfish. That's precisely the problem with so many of our fans who do what the hell they want and if it ruins the enjoyment of other Saints fans then tough sh1t. The people in front of us yesterday were standing on the back of the seats which blocked the view of at least two rows behind them, but what the hell they were doing what they liked (as it happens that's also not within the realms of the law but I'm sure you get my point) and the rest just had to put up with it. Also, what relevance is it what other teams' fans do? If they make monkey noises at our black players does that mean we can do it to theirs? Nobody expects or wants our fans to sit quietly when we score, but it would be nice if people didn't behave like tossers for the rest of the game.

Glad it was worth the trip. Thanks for not dropping me in it yesterday :-) I owe you a beer!

I remember that game too 'cos I was with my mum. Hugh Fisher just sat there and shouted to the bench "I've broken my leg". When he got no response he then shouted "I said I've broken my f***ing leg!" This was in the days when people didn't swear in front of women and a couple of blokes apologised to my mum on Hugh's behalf to which she said "If my leg looked like that I'd have been tempted to say the same" (to this day I've still never heard her swear and she's nearly 80 now). As far as my first game was concerned, it was 1969 against QPR. We were 2-0 down at half time but won 3-2. The two things I remember were Mick Channon being laid out by a Ron Davies shot (and the game carried on for ages while he lay there), and the players coming out before the game whereupon I realised I was watching my first ever match in colour. I must have been a bit thick 'cos obviously the whole ground was in colour but I didn't notice until the players came out (but I was only 5).

TijuanaTim - can you give me an email address or mobile no? I may be able to help.

I appreciate that it was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that they did! Still can't get too worked up about whether or not we do tomorrow though.

Surely that comment is as blatant a claim that referees are dishonest as Fergie's was? However, it's probably better if the FA let it go 'cos we wouldn't want him banished to the stands when he seems to be demonstrating his lack of ability from the dugout.

Sorry but why shouldn't we allow them to celebrate? A few people in this country (that's fans, league officials and the Old Bill) should grow up a bit. If someone is just sitting there behaving perfectly reasonably but then celebrates when their team scores is that really such a crime? In Germany they have a dedicated home end and a dedicated away section - sit in the wrong bit and you are likely to get kicked out, but anywhere else in the ground is fine so long as you don't behave like a knob. Isn't it about time that we in this country were mature enough to allow something similar? I appreciate that it probably wouldn't work with the Skates (although it does with Schalke v Dortmund and there's no love lost there either) but for most games it would just allow more people to watch the game.

Isn't turning a 2-0 reverse into a 3-2 advantage exactly what we did on Saturday? Yet I wasn't surrounded by people shouting "F*** Off" when Barney scored even though I would think they were just as excited as Rooney was. If he had shouted something vaguely sensible and just included some offensive words then I could have accepted that it was maybe just excitement, but what he shouted seemed designed purely to offend. Also, referees are pumped up during matches 'cos there's at least as much pressure on them as on players, but you never seem to catch them swearing on MOTD. It happens with players because everyone in authority tolerates it.

Proudly showing off his newly leased downtown apartment to a couple of friends late one night, a guy led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong hanging on the wall. "What's that big brass gong for?" one of the friend's asked. "It's not a gong. It's a talking clock" he replied. "A talking clock - seriously?" "Yup." "How's it work?" the second friend asked, squinting at it. "Just watch" he said, and he picked up a hammer, gave the gong an ear shattering bash, and stepped back. His mates stood looking at one another for a moment in astounded silence. Then a voice from the other side of the wall screamed, "For f**k's sake keep the noise down you pr1ck. It's ten past three in the f**king morning"

To be honest we played far better at Walsall and lost. The second goal came from a corner that never was, but we could have added a couple more late on especially with Barnie's last touch. However, I'd have taken 2-0 before we started.

Sorry but that is not necessarily true. In order to get offside decisions right, the lino has to be up with play. The AVERAGE 30 year old bloke is considerably faster than the AVERAGE 30 year old woman - that has to make a difference. I am not for one minute saying that the lino in question wasn't up to the job, or that women shouldn't be involved as officials in professional football, but they are officiating top athletes so physical movement is important. You just have to look at any road race and see how many women finish in the first 100 to see that the average bloke is far more capable than the average woman of keeping up with play. However, if a female lino can keep up with play and get more decisions right than the usual idiots we get on a Saturday that's fine by me. Btw I'm well aware that we've had our fair share of male linos that couldn't keep up with play. I'm just saying that I don't believe questioning their ability on gender is necessarily nonsense.

Went to Vabbinfuru a couple years ago, and the wife is determined we'll go again this year because she fell in love with the place. There were only about 25 villas on the island so it was very quiet, and I could find absolutely nothing to complain about for the two weeks we were there. Spent a few hours every day snorkling which is very rare for me but the sea life is spectacular. Flew via Dubai and it took just over 30 mins by speedboat from the airport. Also managed to take in an Asian Cup 1/4 final in Male ($3 for the best seats!) and there are league matches most days 'cos there's only one stadium with a grass pitch. As others have said it may be better to go a bit later in the year if you can, but it's gonna be great whatever time you go. Enjoy!

It's safe to say that d'Urso would not have called the game off lightly as he will miss out on at least 50% of his match fee. My suspicion is that Charlton were desperate to get the game on so didn't make any attempt to get it called off early in the hope that the referee would feel pressured to play the game with fans already arriving. The fact that he still called it off shows how certain he was that one area was not safe. It's all well and good pointing out that both teams wanted to play, but they don't care about the physical wellbeing of an assistant referee - although they would no doubt soon be complaining if he missed an offside because he couldn't run properly on a dangerous surface. I'm afraid that the fault is 100% Charlton's.

Nice to see we were helping out the Skates' opponents. Let's hope we offer them the same assistance when they come down again. "We managed to train on a full-sized pitch at Doncaster last Wednesday and we used Southampton's training facilities when we got down to the south coast on Friday." http://www.thisiss****horpe.co.uk/sport/Friendly-cards-Iron-fit/article-3021961-detail/article.html

I still have no time for Peter Crouch, but as others have said "hate" is too strong. Can't forgive him for behaving like a ***t at Palace. he got a red card in that game and then missed the last game of the season v Man U which sent us down. Then he couldn't wait to jump ship and sign for someone else.

Ivan Golac