ant

It wasn't so much the volume of my reaction as Long's strike went in, so much as the fact that I didn't know human beings were capable of such a sound. I also ended mere inches from the TV, having been sat on the sofa moments before (and it's a fairly wide room!) To this day I couldn't piece together those lost few seconds for you.

Man alive, those images in the first post are horrific. Sub-secondary school level stuff.

Answer's already been nailed. Honourable mention for Forte's second against MK Dons though. Very loud and seemed to sustain for the rest of the match.

Afraid to say that article could really do with some proofreading. It's also somewhat out of date - Bleacher Report did an incredibly thorough investigation (probably the first with original research) and published the results just under a year ago. They located Ali (or rather 'Aly'). It's as definitive a run-down of the story as we're ever likely to get; certainly the closest to the truth. http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/finding-ali-dia/

Start making noise and we'll score plenty of goals. What's that? Oh, indeed - by-and-large they're independent clauses. You don't need a great atmosphere for goals, but if it makes 1% of difference to the team then to my mind it's crazy not to create one. Equally goals help generate an atmosphere, but we shouldn't need the team to be playing perfectly in order to support them.

Well that worked out well for them.

Pragmatism isn't common in football fans. Indeed, I'm sure many would argue it's a mutually exclusive trait. I'm not so sure; isn't it perfectly plausible to be both passionate and realistic? In the 2-or-so hours a week that we're playing, all I'm focused on is Saints getting a result - but it's how the club is run the rest of the time that facilitates that. I'd rather we go about business the right way than attempt to force the issue, as so many other clubs have done. Recently, every time I've visited one of Saints' accounts on Twitter or Facebook (or to an extent, here), I've left thinking 'thank Le God the fans aren't running the club'.

Worst. Chant. Ever.

Omitted that they've done exactly the same from the moment he joined. Amusingly leading to multiple moments in his first couple of seasons where they were interrupted mid-moan by having to celebrate a goal.

Tadic cops by far the most flak from the hard-of-thinking sat behind me. Normally 'lazy c***' is thrown in amongst the mix. No matter how well he's playing or what he's contributing. When will our fans learn that you don't need four or five Richard Chaplows in midfield? Different roles, different strengths; different tools for the job. Dusan was well below his normal standard last season, of that there can be no doubt. I'd quite happily never see him take another penalty. But pair him with a striker that can actually make the most of chances created and you're on to a winner. To replace him like-for-like would cost twice the figure quoted in the OP. Perhaps it's just me but I'm struggling to see where his nationality or taste in culture (or 'culture' if you prefer) comes into it. The OP appears to be projecting a hatred of facets of modern football onto one player when we have multiple that indulge in exactly the same way. Odd.

This and this. I'm not happy with the football we're playing, nor our 'grind to a halt' end to the season. And it's not got anything to do with oversensitivity (LOL! Just need somebody to roll out the term 'snowflake' next). Nor an aversion to criticism of the club. The last 9 months have indeed contained plenty of valid bones of contention. With that said, let's make a leap and assume that all of yesterday's chants, boos and ironic jeers were totally justified. Does it not strike anybody as even vaguely daft to create such a venomous atmosphere during the match? A match in which league position and therefore millions of pounds were on the line? Money that would probably be quite handy in terms of furthering the squad for next season - or at least paying a few wages/new contracts. Because that's literally the only chance a club of our stature has to attract better players or to keep any existing gems. If you could quantify the detracting effect of yesterday's antics, even if it came out at 1%, why would you want the club you support to be any less likely to win? At the heart of it all, I'm not even sure most of the people booing could truly explain the realistic alternative or some metrics for what would constitute success for Southampton FC in 2017-18. Puel's appointment began at a point of prejudice for many. Perhaps that would've been the case for virtually anybody that came in. I've certainly encountered a lot of fans still hankering for Pochettino and/or Koeman. Whilst Claude, overall, hasn't done enough for me, I remain unconvinced that this squad could ever have delivered enough for him to win over the masses.

The Cat has taken a lot of flak for voicing it, but the ugliness of today's atmosphere was shocking. Even having witnessed first-hand the goal droughts and periods of (occasionally unacceptable) inadequacy, I see no just cause for the more extreme reactions borne from the crowd today. Not sure I've ever felt so disconnected from what was happening around me at a Saints match. Unless you were in the thick of the Northam (go on, insert stereotype about the Northam's demographics - we've heard them all), I don't think you can get a measure of just how absurdly toxic it became. And don't make the mistake of thinking it was all directed at Puel. Welcome to the Premier League era of entitlement.

Block 43 was mostly general sale as City didn't take up their full allocation - and yep, was absolutely full of tourists. My season ticket's in 42 but close to the 43 side and all I could see was people taking photos, playing on their phones or disinterestedly chatting. Pay your money and do as you please, but I find it difficult to understand why those people even bothered to attend.

Did the club bring it to Wembley then? I was under the impression they had it in storage, as opposed to any individual fan.

I'll likely be in Waterloo at the crack of dawn, but in terms of 'decent' pubs it doesn't look like much is open around there until 11. Quite possibly then!

Sod it, I'm too tempted to make a big day of it. Braving the trains it is. For anybody doing the same from Southampton Central, I'd recommend buying (and collecting) tickets in advance.

Almost exactly the same plan, though I don't think we'll get more than 5 or 6 pubs in. Starting at Waterloo at 11am and probably leave Brewdog Soho around 3pm. Originally had a plan that started at Borough Market and worked across from there. Then I realised that the market is closed on Sundays...

Yeah but you can't expect the people to support AND think for themselves.

Also: @OptaJoe: 7 - Dusan Tadic has been involved in seven goals in his last four Premier League games (scored 2, assisted 5). Scheming. Brilliant end-of-season form against some tough opponents.

Advertising revenue and sponsorship, mostly.

Equal 7th highest number of chances created in a season lacking security of starts. Not to be sniffed at. Tadic is a creator and he creates. There's a few blokes around me at St. Mary's that are on Dusan's back for roughly 50% of the time the ball's in his vicinity. The common theme being that he's a "lazy ****". "You're ****, Dusan" comes up a lot too - and the calls for him to be subbed at half-time never get old. For some reason it doesn't seem to matter how often they're made to look daft by him having a hand in a goal moments later. Even if Tadic is a "lazy ****", very few teams in the modern game possess (nor require) ten outfield workhorses. Tadic lacking consistency is indeed a fair criticism -and one that Koeman has levelled himself. But that's to more to do with his output than effort. In terms of running, he puts in significantly more per match than the league average for midfielders anyway. Had Dusan been able to perform at a slightly higher level this season then yes, his stats would read even better (as may the league table). He'd also be off in the Summer. I'm a fan.

Plymouth. Which I suppose does qualify him as one of the few people that gives a toss about what Portsmouth fans think or say.

Cinema ticket - £10-12 (standard seat, non-3D), £14 (standard seat, 3D), £18 (premier seat, IMAX) Gig - £10 (new band/comedian), £20 (mid-sized act), £30-£70+ (mainstream act) Theatre - £20-£200+ I'm really not sure your issue is with football so much as modern entertainment pricing in general. Refuse to see how £14 (with the public fully aware that proceeds are going to charity, FFS) doesn't represent value for money. Especially compared with how far that money would get you elsewhere.

According to The Mirror, yes. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/revealed-andros-townsend-8million-escape-7724519 At that price I'd suggest it'd be worth a punt. Has a touch of the 'Bertrand' transfer about it.

Completely agree with this. Now that Townsend's got his head down he's making a bit of a nonsense of the long-held belief that he's one-dimensional. Though I maintain concerns that he could revert to type without something to fight for.