ant

By and large this thread nails what the club's getting wrong. They would learn far more from taking on board the gist here than through a hundred surveys. With that said there does seem to be one significant element of hypocrisy. Wherein the club's berated for forgetting it's community status, yet also criticised for demonstrating and extolling social values. Like it or not, Southampton's a diverse city, and football isn't just for white men. I don't see that the club having an awareness of the local makeup really detracts from the footballing element in any way. If we're ringfencing football then who are we saying it's being ringfenced for? Are we equating those of other faiths, LGBT fans etc. to being casuals or tourists? Saying that those people aren't already present within our hardcore support? Many are quick to pick up on the supposed failings of minority groups to integrate, yet also criticise attempts to facilitate such integration. Which is a shame, and gives rise to something of a paradox. I don't see any value in failing to welcome anybody that wishes to support us. Our hardcore support of tomorrow - the ones ultimately holding the same ethos as shown in this thread - will come from the Southampton city of today. Written here, you'd think that the majority of our marketing output was aimed at minority groups. When really it's a tiny percentage, with other output perhaps having a general vibe of "all are welcome". TL;DR, I think the thread raises important points about the club's lack of identity and lack of identifiability, but can't equate that with them welcoming all. It's not virtue signalling to be inclusionary.

The concentration of current-player chants was very low. Frankly this shower can get to **** - but it's our club to the death, and the vocal support of that was the only enjoyable part of the evening. It's starting to feel like gutting the lot and going back to square one may be the only way to proceed.

The support was far, far better once half our fans had found the exit. Bearing in mind that this was still prior to half time. I do find it a bit odd that it works like that; it wasn't like those that stayed and sang weren't still physically spread out. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of the motivations for leaving. There's a few I know that follow the club here, there and everywhere, and you couldn't question their dedication. But I bet there was a significant portion that wouldn't come to games if we weren't in the PL.

Yep, will be there. Was initially annoyed at having been moved from Block 46 to Block 15 - though it looks like a benefit now, as I've just realised it's the 'home' end.

Less than 2 pages of posts for a hard-earned point against United, having come from a goal down, and keeping them at bay for 20 minutes with a man less. How many more contributions would this thread have had if we'd crumbled and lost? Having read through, many of the posts here fairly highlight the positives and negatives of the game. Just find it baffling that so many more people are willing to lend their opinions after a loss.

After seeing the OP, was gonna pipe in with a comment along the lines of 'new player, same ****ing thread'. But it appears there's actually a pretty sane contingent here that are willing to give him time. Just hope that translates to attitudes displayed by our fans in the grounds.

Broadly agree with the overarching message and sentiment here, but from what I've quoted it does appear you're comparing apples and oranges. Anybody know what the lowest priced kids ticket was for the match?

That's one hell of an assumption. On exactly the same site as you've linked, there's a case study on those 'cool burn' smoke bombs which explicitly states that they can still cause fires. And that's if it was bought from a reputable source... Other examples burn at tremendous temperatures. Regardless, I maintain it's problematic (and leaves significant room for future escalation) if away fans believe that they're untouchable.

Surprised not to see any mention of this. After the second goal yesterday, a Liverpool fan threw a smoke bomb into Block 42. I caught most of the aftermath, as a rush of enraged Saints fans headed over towards the segregation. Also heard somebody say "he's hit a kid!" One guy in particular properly lost his head. Had to be restrained/escorted away by multiple officers (and didn't cool down in the slightest as he was dragged away). Though I can't 100% verify this tweet, it does tally with my account. Their lot have form with this sort of thing. Obviously they're not specifically targeting minors - but it's pretty ****ing thick behaviour regardless.

Half of this stuff is unenforceable. It's a public front; appeasement. "Look what we're doing". Given the ground's always been all-seater, I don't remember the last time I didn't stand to watch a match. Even in League One when the stewards painstakingly sat down row per row, the first sign of forward play was taken as an excuse for the entire stand to be on their feet again. Does anybody seriously think they're going to eject the entire Northam end, person by person?

Distinctly remember feeling quite chuffed if an evening cup match went to extra time - since I was allowed to stay up until games finished, it was essentially a bedtime extension! Plus it was the beginning of properly falling for football and Saints, so getting bonus time listening to both was a treat. Simpler times and simpler motivations. My strongest single memory was following the final game of the 98/99 'Great Escape' season. I was pre-teen, lived well outside Southampton and my parents didn't give a damn about football - so Solent was a godsend. Despite the anxiety of it all the day sticks with me. I celebrated both of Pahars' goals like we'd won the league (for the second, heading out of the house and sprinting down the street!)

Bednarek simply calms everything down. The formation also seems to afford the centre backs more protection from the midfield. Bit of an odd thing to notice, but it struck me on Saturday that both Jan's stature and the way he runs are really quite reminiscent of (how I remember) Fonte.

Crux.

Mildly wary of anybody that feels their voice is important enough to be delivered directly to the club. 12 people to speak for the entire fanbase... Hmm. Still, from what they've said previously it'll only be trivial off-pitch matters that will be discussed. The whole thing seems like an exercise in appeasement.

The strangest thing for me is this excuse of needing excitement on the pitch in order to vocalise support. For one, that never used to be the case as a Saints fan. If you enjoy chanting then why wait for a supposedly suitable juncture? And if the team is struggling/toiling, that's the perfect time to attempt to lift them! I respect everybody's choice to support how they please and claim no superiority - I'm merely questioning the logic. It's possible too that I'm simply becoming a relic (though being in my early 30s it'd seem odd for that to be the case). But simply put if footballing fanbases can't (in the main) rouse themselves for a FA Cup semi-final then - for my money - a significant appeal of matchday attendance has seeped from the game. The other thing normally said at this point is "well if you don't like it, get it going by making some noise yourself". I do. I did. Not expletive-filled songs. Nothing P*mpey-focused. Normal, well-known examples of the Saints oeuvre. Yet some of the looks I got for piping up...

With the way we played in the Championship we were rarely on the back foot enough to need to defend with the regularity that you face in the top division. Not least when the defence was shielded by two of Scheiderlin, Cork and Hammond. It wasn't just on the left that our full backs played a key part as Richardson got 8 assists that season and Butterfield chipped in with a couple in his cameos. The whole point being that that squad was set up for the full backs to play as secondary wingers. A luxury which paid dividends and was exactly what they were charged with doing. I don't think anybody's defending (fnar) all of his attributes. But to claim he was anywhere near the worst left back we've seen is revisionist crap.

11 league assists in our Championship promotion season. Yep - horrendous return. Did a great job for us at that level, and whilst found out in the Premier League played a valuable role in our rise.

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.