ant

One of the better performers this season, and to be honest I don't mind seeing a player give a bit back. We were justified in how we reacted to today's performance, and it's more authentic for him to react like that than to meekly clap as he walks off the pitch. Feels fairly similar to Boruc lobbing that bottle of water into the Chapel. In the sense of not being the ideal reaction, but an understandable level of humanity.

Just stop supporting a team altogether. My little bro fulfilled the younger sibling role in all aspects other than deciding to glory hunt and be a United fan around the age of 6. He saw the light from then on. You're telling me that at (what I presume is) an adult age you'd go against what a literal child managed to ascertain was wrong? Southampton 'til I die. And if you disagree, be gone with ye. Good riddance.

Sorry, I meant in terms of the general optics and wider public opinion of his clown club getting beat all the time, as opposed to him literally watching.

Doesn't match my experience. Multiple chants of "you're not fit to wear the shirt" towards the end and after - including during one of our final corners. Might have imagined it, but fairly sure Wood got pissed off about it. One or two renditions of "sacked in the morning". Then at the final whistle "Sports Republic, get out of our club" got a couple more decent rounds. When Still came over after the final whistle the boos were venomous. Overall thought the crowd pitched it about right today. Timeless chants like "Southampton til I die" rather than much about the current day. Saved any poison for the most dire moments. Definitely less soft and accepting than we normally are.

Almost as scared about controlling the narrative as Lowe was.

Plenty of venom directed SR's way today. And it's about time. How proud a man is Solak when it comes to public shaming? He's clearly not all that perturbed by watching us get humped every week.

It was either brave or stupid for him to walk towards the Northam at the end! Maybe he just wanted to say goodbye. 😉

Crowd ire is turning towards SR and the board. Imagine they'll just react by chopping Still.

Starting lineup looks gross. Feeling pretty fucking despondent on the walk to the ground. The guilt of having bought a season ticket when money is tight is more of a motivating factor to attend than any anticipation of enjoyment.

Given the ridiculous number of crosses we put into the box with nobody willing/able to attack them, I fancy Gav to get about a goal a game with the suggested tactics. A 34 goal season will easily make him top scorer. As for Saints, we'll draw every remaining match 1-1 or 2-2, scraping to 46 points and surviving on the final day. Bazunu will get a big-money move to a top division continental side and Sports Republic will congratulate themselves on a another job well done. Sadly, Solak's funds will be frozen shortly after and we'll fall into administration over the summer. Starting 2026-27 on -10 in League One. Our saviour? Rasmus Ankersen as a private investor.

Only just seen this. Explains why Bragg didn't have a name or number on his shirt. Unfair to throw him in at the deep end through little other than ineptitude. We don't buy success, we traumatise it.

I head towards Bitterne, so walk straight past the bridge and use the underpass. But if you're heading west you can easily do the same thing and then double back once you hit Northam Road. A longer route, but I bet you'll be away quicker.

Match 12 - Martin W6, D2, L4, 20 points (5th) The infamous home draw against Rotherham (where Downes moaned about the fan reaction) was followed by an away win at Hull. By this point, we were over the tricky run and up to 5th - a position we'd go no lower than for the rest of the season. Match 12 - Still W2, D6, L4, 12 points (20th) Midweek: bloody hell. Yesterday: bloodier hell. Start brightly; score; retreat; miss chances; lose our heads. Repeat. Our points tally is matched by the mighty Oxford, who have a superior goal difference to boot.

Sunderland on near enough 1.5x our points from last season after just 9 matches. Not an 'I wish we were Sunderland' post. More that they were a basket case club before their current owners sorted shit out. Yes, there's going to be worse suitors out there than what we've got. But fuck me, I feel ready to twist.

This is where I'm at. If I were pay-as-you-go, I wouldn't be handing over more money to be spunked by these morons. As a season ticket holder I'm leaning towards continued attendance but giving SR hell. Though if we decided en masse to stay away I certainly wouldn't scab.

Not sure what he was saying to Welington after his red card, but the body language appeared that of a mentor. He's enigmatic, but with the talent to back any swagger; passionate, but appears level-headed with it. Going by SR's record, a capture of blind luck. Enjoy him for the season.

I feel for Blackburn, who have had issues with their owners for bloody ages now. They were in good voice against Venkys today - we're a bit soft as a fanbase, but I hope it's inspired us to follow suit. We need SR gone, ASAP. We can stay away from St. Mary's or make it vile for them. But no more of this meek acceptance.

Shambolic mismanagement, and I maintain it isn't going to get better. Whatever the challenges of this squad, how the fuck have we contrived to end up facing a potential relegation battle?

We don't buy success, we breed it (out of everybody that walks through the door).

'Pathetic' is the only word. At this point I wish I didn't care so much.

Why are our players SO thick?

The Bristol Beer Factory taproom is only 5 mins away and well worth checking out. Personally I'd probably go to Wapping Wharf as there's tons of food and drink options, then a 20-ish minute stroll along the river. OR (time allowing), head from Temple Meads to the exceptional Left Handed Giant taproom on the river, then crawl down King Street. (Beer Emporium, The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer, Small Bar). You can get a bus from there that takes you more or less straight to the ground.

Agree that there ought to be more pressure on SR, but from what I've seen at St. Mary's it'll be tough to rally. Many have long since given up hope. And fair play, really. That stat Turkish posted is enough to drain the life out of anybody. Others seem more at a point of 'acceptance' - we are where we are, and they'll clap the team off no matter what. Tricky to rouse a slumbering fanbase.

Same number of league wins in 8 games as we've had since we got promoted, FFS.

Given prevailing opinion is that Russell Martin cost us the autos in 2023-24 (and it's our most recent comparable season), I thought I'd take a look at the match-by-match comparison. There's some flaws to doing it this way, as we aren't playing teams in the same order. But let's do this for starters; if I've time I may do a more like-for-like breakdown later (RIP Minsk). Match 10 - Martin W5, D1, L4, 16 points (10th) After losing the first four in September - and dropping as low as 15th - we finally broke the streak in match 9 with a crucial 3-1 home win against Leeds. Match 10 was a 0-1 away win at Stoke. In which Stoke had less than 35% possession yet managed over twice as many shots on goal. How apt. Match 10 - Still W2, D6, L2, 12 points (TBC - 15th in live table) So yes, this is caveated by my notes above - but equally I don't feel we've had a particularly oppressive set of opening fixtures. From a depression point of view this is the wrong time to start this thread, as match 9 of 23-24 commenced the unbeaten run (22 matches: W16, 6D, 54 points, or 62.1% of our 23-24 total). Closing thoughts I've no intention of making the Martin season seem more grand than it was. Just thought it would be vaguely interesting to compare and track. Competition at the top is unlikely to be so tough as it was last time. But my god, we've got to start turning some of these draws into wins.