ant

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.

Certainly the case where I was stood. Lots of encouragement above the groans, even when he fluffed a couple of kicks straight after - it's almost like people realised that getting on your own player's back doesn't inspire them to perform better... Was pleased to hear that because the negative vibes have been building over the past couple of home games.

You want to risk putting him out of action for the whole season? We'll be seeing an awful lot more of Bart between the sticks if that happens.

To echo all of the previous posters in agreement, I believe this is a far more fair, measured assessment. Can't really add anything in fact. Simply find it difficult to direct all of the blame towards Bart, there's more factors to the situation than simply picking him as the scapegoat.

Possibly, although as you say it's more about the pride. The most ideal part of a strong win in that particular match would be the boost back up it'll the lads. They're well aware of the derby atmosphere. I thought the way Saints rallied today was admirable - they kept their heads up and kept battering the Blackpool goal until something worked. To me it felt like it was only a matter of time. Given the benefit of hindsight and just a smidge of perspective, today hasn't turned out too badly at all. Stick a bloody smile on your face, remember that we're top of the league and get behind the lads to knock the stuffing out of the dirty skates next week.

Exactly. If you're going to end a winning run at least do it with a draw. Must admit I came away from the ground today feeling a little deflated if relieved, but given the West Ham result I'm back in a very happy state now. To the 21 wins - can't see us ever forgetting that run somehow.

*hand raised* Well that's that then!

Don't like the talk of having to play people out of position, especially this early in the season. Doesn't suggest that we have the depth to keep up when niggles, injuries and suspensions start kicking in. Still, I'm cautiously optimistic about tomorrow (only problem with that is the negative side of that attitude's starting to perpetuate throughout the crowd and is evident in the team's recent performances) and will be marching confidently to St. Mary's. In all likelihood half asleep!

Fair enough. I expanded my post a bit after initially submitting.

Boxing day's always an attractive fixture, hardly a fair test. Look, clearly most of Turkish's posts are on the wind-up, but there's a point behind this one. We know for a fact that there's enough match-attending Saints fans to fill St. Mary's and then some, but it takes an occasion as big as Wembley to get them all together at the same time. Even in the Prem you're not going to have the pull to get all of those people to turn up week-in, week-out. Anybody that thinks we're suddenly going to double the number of season ticket holders if we manage promotion is a little delusional, IMO. I guess the truth will become even more clear in the second half of the season - if we're still up near the top and regularly selling out then there might be a bit more of a case for an expansion. Strikes me of counting chickens before they're hatched to even suggest it anyway. No guarantee of promotion, no guarantee of a strong enough level of support, no guarantee of Premiership stability even if we get there... I'm one of the optimists but it's one thing to plan ahead and quite another to make that sort of investment, risking leaving the club with a crippling bill and half-empty stadium.

I've kept out of these discussions to now, but actually agree - doesn't even seem a particularly antagonistic post Sadly you just know that we'll struggle to get more than around 25k in tomorrow. What's Blackpool's away attendance like? Long old way to travel for an early game.

Those blocks have been piping up well this season, shame they're not always open. The North ends of the Itchen and Kingsland are often the ones picking up the slack when all the Northam wants to do is moan and groan - I often cast a jealous eye across.

After repeatedly asking my girlfriend weeks ago whether I should get her a ticket next to or near my season ticket for Boxing Day she piped up on Saturday saying that she does want to come along after all So yes, after checking the online booking and phoning the ticket office I can conclude that the Northam is almost completely sold out, only a few singles left. Would be great to get a full house and have the place rocking, the boys may need a lift after the next couple of aways.