ant

Plus quarters of the fanbase have been rabid for transfer news, so I'd hazard a guess that releasing the news early is meant to be a sign of intent.

Did you mean this link? (Japanese Star In Talks) http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2565417,00.html I think it's fair to say we already knew all of that 'story' mind. [EDIT] Ah, ninja edit from paris there, your link was going to an error page before

I always wear my Saints shirt to games but put a long-sleeved tee underneath for the Brizzle home game so that one's my fault. Promise to man up and shiver my way through the remaining St. Mary's fixtures in the name of superstition.

That's about the long and the short of it. Why not employ a measured approach? Have we blown our chance to win the league? Not by a long chalk. Yes, in reality we have blown a chance to take a big lead into the new year, but what a platform we still have to build upon for the remainder of the season. Some on here are already prepping the ejector seats FFS. Last season we weren't anywhere near the top come the start of January yet still managed automatic promotion; very different circumstances but indicative of why it's far too early to be doom-mongering. The slump needs to be addressed on and off the field, but who's to say it won't be?

For my money Fox has been a good signing but I still don't understand why we targeted that position over others in the Summer - Dickson gave a good account of himself when utilised towards the end of last season and really could still do a job (even at LM, potentially pushing Adam onto the right?) Not sure exactly what it is about Holmes but often the rest of the team seem to cut him out when he's on the pitch. He'll be hungry for the ball in acres of space on the flank but the ball will almost universally be distributed elsewhere. Overall though I'm not entirely sure what he can add to the team other than cover. Butterfield is surely just a casualty of Richardson's contributions to the team so far this season.

No shame

Sod it, make it clear that this is last chance saloon and give him a go (assuming he's at the required level of match fitness and mentally prepared). Lots of talk at the moment about needing a right-sided midfielder slash winger - if it worked out he could be as good as a new signing. The way we're making do on the right flank at the moment I'm not even sure that risking a couple of disinterested Punch performances would be a massive gamble. We won't ever be certain of the ins and outs of the tale, but a lot of time has passed since whatever caused the spat. He's conducted himself fairly well of late, in my opinion at least. You can point to his desperation to seal the QPR loan deal, but there's a positive spin to take from that in that he wanted to ply his trade rather than sit out his contract counting the money. There's passion there if it can be redirected to the right places!

LA Galaxy.

Obviously the quote above is fabricated (or at least I hope it is!) but even if anybody does try to say that about the Blackpool goal I'm pretty sure the official stats don't count it as Rickie's - he'd be on 16 strikes in the nPC if they did. McCormack's on 10 in the league, surely we've not had more than 5 pens?

Worst bit for me was when an offside flag graphic came up overlaid on a replay of the skates' goal. Why the hell would you show a replay when the ball's in play, let alone in an attacking position?!

Not sure whether it works outside the UK, but the iPlayer website does a live stream of all BBC channels. If you can't get on that I'm sure one of the usual sites will transmit that.

Since this seems to have become the 'scrounge for tickets' thread, I completely missed when they went on sale due to it only being announced the day before One or two tickets would be grand if anybody has (a) spare/s. I'm contactable via PM, email (amplifiedant (at) gmail (dot) com) and Twitter (@antonydjames).

Initially when reading this I was getting myself all het up, but realistically if Arsenal want to keep throwing 6 and 7-figure sums our way then so be it. If we can keep the talent coming it becomes a fantastically sustainable way of balancing the books and let's face it, we won't be able to hold onto the top, top talent unless we ever become a 'big' club. It's sad that perceived loyalty doesn't come into it any more, but the days of the 'one club man' are surely numbered.

Forget kids, I might try to collect all of the Southampton ones Ah, still remember getting the first Merlin's Premier League sticker albums...

Didn't hear any booing or jeering from the Northam on Saturday, just piercing, deadly silence. In fact there was a lot of encouragement for Bart after his mistake (well, the biggest one). I have faith that even the most moronic quarters of our fanbase will get behind the whole team for this one.

Those photos of the St. Mary's construction are quality, would be a shame if they get lost. Hope somebody has the originals saved somewhere.

Yep. The Alex wins for me though as we don't have draught beer on tap in our living room, decent or otherwise.

Yeah, I'm 24 and this article really resonated. Some great and some chilling memories evoked. Solid writing style and a few little bits of info that I'd forgotten. OP - on that note, how much of this was written from memory rather than researched (purely out of interest)?

This. End thread.

Nailed it with the after-thought.

It's moments like this that I thank my lucky stars I wasn't born or raised in that sh*thole. Even the name 'Pompey' is bloody annoying, eurgh. Delusional f*ckwits.

Joe Curtis with the 6th, can't be much more than 5 mins into the second half.

Official Saints Twitter feed is updating too. Sounds like a tidy performance, wish I'd made the extra bit of effort and gone across now, even if it is bloody horrible out there.

I may, but depends how long it takes to get home when I leave in a min. The Basingstoke to Southampton drive has been taking an hour and a half in the evenings recently!

It's our bloody song, it's our bloody sonnnnn-ng, OWTSGMI [chant phonetically], it's our bloody song.