The Kraken

Behind the Chapel goal is worse; 3 or 4 rows unsold as of now, and a few singles that aren't (likely won't?) sell.

As far as WUMs go PES, its not bad but a bit too obvious to get many genuine bites. Only a delusional Saints fan would tell you we're a big club with enormous potential. We're a big enough club to consider that the Premier League is our level (i.e. we attract enough fans to be run sustainably rather than having 20K fans and relying on investment). The media interest in us is fairly equal in comparison to other clubs our size; in simple terms, we're not in the group of elite champions league clubs, and we're not in the 3 or 4 clubs outside that (Liverpool, Spurs, Newcastle); therefore the Premier League don't really give a sh*t about us. I do enjoy it when fans of small clubs tell Saints fans that they're arrogant; simply for pointing out that we're a bigger club than them. A cup each aside, both Saints and Pompey haven't really won anything noteworthy in 2 or 3 generations; but in general comparison terms our fanbase, facilities and league standing show that we're a bigger club than you. That's not arrogance, its a simple fact. In contrast, we're a tiny club compared to others in our league, so it matters little who is the biggest south coast team, its like 2 bald blokes arguing over a comb, no-one outside of the county cares. As for not very vocal, it must have been a different saints crowd that Gary Neville kept eulogising about when we played United. We're not the loudest set of supporters by any stretch, but then we have never claimed to be anything of the sort, and we don't hang our hats on convincing ourselves it is such in some mistakenly deluded quest to feel good about ourselves.

That's a really good point, actually. With the loading time it takes for each individual block, it's not a very quick thing to see which particular blocks have available seats (when you have to individually drill down into each block to find out). It could take up to 15 minutes just to access each block of the stadium and find where the available seats are. The addition of a running total of available seats per block would be really useful.

:lol: Tin foil hat me up; its a conspiracy!

I wouldn't be upset if we were. At all. Last time we were relegated from the Prem it seemed like a disaster. In my lifetime I'd really only ever known Saints to be a top division side, so I couldn't really imagine life in the lower leagues. What I actually found out was that I enjoyed it more; I enjoyed not having to put up with games where Saints would try and keep the score down. Where a 1-0 defeat was seen as thoroughly acceptable and indicative of a solid display. In the years since we were relegated I've enjoyed going to games much more; I've been to more games each season than I ever did before; and in general I have a hell of a lot more respect and admiration for supporters of clubs that don't necessarily get all the Sky exposure. So, while it may seem like a strange thing to say: I'll continue to hope Saints win every game that we play. I hope that we'll finish as high in the table as possible. I'll be p*ssed off when we lose games. And I won't care one iota if we get relegated at the end of the season.

Not necessarily, no. I've seen some far better games of football in the lower leagues than I had to sit through in the Premier League (and Div 1 before that). The league we're in is no guarantee as to the quality of football on show.

Superfan? What are you talking about? You said (and I quote): That to me says you place most importance upon how good the team facing Saints is, when you choose how enjoyable a match is. Doesn't it? Not sure why you're being argumentative about it. If that's how you rank games then fair play to you, it's your opinion. As I said earlier, everyone will have their own one so no-one's is either right or wrong.

Nail on head right there. Its different strokes for different folks, there is no right or wrong answer. I'll quite happily put our visit to the Millenium Stadium right up there with our visit to Wembley for the JPT. I'll quite happily remember away days to Leyton Orient alongside trips to the biggest sides in the country. I don't particularly care for watching international players play against us; that's not my priority. I just like watching a half-decent Saints team, not feeling like I'm paying through the nose for it, and generally just enjoying going to games with a care-free attitude. The PL doesn't really give me that, I may be in a minority but there you go.

So your enjoyment of Saints is determined by which superstars you can see playing against us?

That's your opinion. Sorry to say, not everyone shares your utopian world of "being the best", or they certainly recognise that "our best" simply isn't good enough at the top table. Does that diminish my enjoyment of supporting Saints while in the Premier League? Yes it does. Its a strange dichotomy, supporting Saints in the lower leagues. Of course the natural reaction is to strive to reach the Premier League. And then to strive to finish as high as possible. But its just an abject league to be in for anyone outside of 4 or 5 clubs, in my opinion. Success is deemed massive to finish in the top ten. Finishing in the top 5 is remarkable. Finishing above that, well, almost inconceivable in this day and age. You mention the TV deal; it won't make a difference to the structure of the PL, except for it'll make the very big teams even bigger and will stretch their advantage at the top even further. So, in resposne to your disparaging remark that "anyone with a brain cell would choose the Premier League"; I'd simply say, please don't ever speak for me. I'll enjoy our time in the Premier League as best as possible. But I think I'll more cherish our time both struggling and succeeding in the lower leagues. Call me thick or brainless if that's your thing.

Not this again. Lawrenson's comments are entirely valid (especially given that Adkins has today spent a press conference deflecting questions about his supposed upcoming termination of contract). From Lawro: An entirely valid point of view.

Maybe the ideal season (for some) is just being in a league which we can actually win and in which we aren't just making up the numbers?

Not as stupid as it sounds. While Premier League was always the goal, my enthusiasm for watching has diminished since we got into the top league. I'll always look back very findly on the past 3 years, and even the struggling Championship years before that (staying up in the Champ on the final day of the season against Sheffield United remains my favourite day at St. Mary's).

Think you mean Centro. Now The White House, Lee Barnard's favourite hangout.

Added to that, Michalik was lucky to still be on the pitch when he scored, booked for going through the back of Matt Richie then did a carbon copy about 5 minutes later which, luckily for him, only warranted a talking to from the referee. Thick.

I always thought it was called Bar Below

He's certainly taken over Owen Coyle's role of pushing the "Barclays" in Premier League.

Well its not really a pre-requisite for Saints defenders at the moment, so he may have a chance yet.

You speak as if addicts who manage to quit drugs and alcohol never return to their old ways.

I can barely remember Ryan Dickson. Was he ever any good at defending?

Other rumours (i.e. not Nixon) stated at the time that Saints were going to have him watched; he then got injured in that game. Pretty sure that report was issued on the same evening of the game that we had him watched; so not the best journalism to not notice that he'd been crocked just a couple of hours beforehand.

Fox had his injury to recover from (and lets be honest a bit of a poor game against Arsenal; was he fit?) so perhaps a precaution.

The silence from Tricky Trev is deafening; despite that moron Neil Allen claiming that the situation would be decided by early in the week. Keep filling out those timesheets, Trev. That working capital is going down and down by the (grossly overpaid) hour.

Actually that's a good point; I had the misfortune of being in the Northam once last season, and at half time it was as if the smoking ban had never happened. A horrid throwback, as you descended the stairs into the concourse you could just see the thick wall of smoke.

That video is quite possibly the most cringeworthy thing I've ever seen. My mate is a hull fan; he said his old man lost his watch at one game "doing the maul".