SoccerMom

Bizarre. Utterly bizarre. I suppose then, to him, any company that goes into administration has been "cheating." Pity you can't just press a button to Ignore bull-hockey like that.

Varies with every year, but it's always been a treat for the nipper! Scarves, pens and pencils, calendar, wallet etc. The little magazine that comes twice a year is good, too. Also, Junior Saints get the chance to be mascots - just picked at random from the database. That's worth a packet, too - he got a home kit out of it, and we got 4 free tickets.

Note - the gesture was made by a Premiership club. Maybe one that realises the value of customer loyalty - or at least the qualities of modern fandom, one of which is to be a customer, another to be a member of a group. Don't suppose the Coop or BT have supporters' forums.... In fact, there were cards from some of their local businesses that he'd shopped at for decades. Don't know about flowers, as we asked for donations to the Bobby Moore Cancer Fund instead. Blimey, there is some bitterness on here today!

Well, maybe, but I don't think my 82-year-old mother-in-law is on any WHU forums! I'm sure my brother-in-law and nephew would bring her home a programme, and in fact, that's something even more permanent. But that is something that has more cost implications than putting a paragraph up on a website, and it would be a shame if that cost then fell on the family.

I've seen a thread on another fan who has died - RIP poor man. But it got me thinking. Does anyone else think that the OS should carry fan obituaries at the family's request? I wouldn't have thought so until just recently. However, my father-in-law died at the beginning of the month. He was a Hammers ST holder for over 70 years, and the WHU site put up a tribute to him on the day of the funeral. It was really important to the family, particularly my mother-in-law, who got a lot of comfort from it (and from the card sent by the community affairs person). It's fair to say that there were two on the page - one for my FIL and one for another man the same age, so it seems it's something they do on request. Once upon a time SFC prided itself on being a family club. Gestures like that could bring back a lot of goodwill - and we all know the club needs to rebuild and reunite its fanbase. Something to suggest to the new administration?

Red-headed stepchildren... Now there's one I haven't heard outside the family for some time, as in.. "I'm gonna slap you around like a red-headed stepchild!" Cheer up, Tim! Live life and love Saints like the nipper does. League one, who cares? Administration, who cares? And when you're nine, you have no real concept of mortality or finality, so everything that's happening has no impact on him. He just can't wait to get back to St Mary's and is hounding me for news of season tickets and pre-season. And feel his joy: on Weds eve he had his Manure supporting friend over. They watched the match. They put on "Unbelievable" afterwards. And went to bed nattering, "and did you see that back-heel? what about that volley? how did he stay on his feet when....?" Henry? no. Ronaldo? no. Saints fans know what real heroes are.

Aw, I wanted it to be Gerry Anderson - then we could watch games in Super-Marionation. F.A.B.!

Watching Carlisle elbow and shoulder his way to the Premier League yesterday made me think of Wotton, and what might have been had the ref not bottled it. Any news on how he's doing? And whatever happened about the ref's conduct? Did anyone ever make an official complaint?

David James is at least 37.

Think about the difference between this and Jordan Robertson six months ago. I know the witnesses who reported the crash said that the first thing they saw was a man sprinting as fast as he could from his own damaged car back to the crash site; later, he was sitting by the side of the road, crying uncontrollably. He apparently cooperated fully with the police, and no, he hadn't been drinking the night before. Claus, if you did do this, you've let us down - how are the mighty fallen.

So where's the moral imperative? With Barclays? No. With Pinnacle? No. With Fry? Hell no. Perhaps all the pledges are going to be more meaningful very, very soon because the only people who might take up the challenge of not 'allowing' the club to die are the fans. And perhaps the Council, who need a functioning sporting concern in the city for all sorts of reasons.

We can but hope.

I sing down the Chapel End, too, much to the nipper's chagrin. It just feels kinda lonely sometimes...

Stirring stuff - how do we buy it? One thing, though - have these guys ever really BEEN to SMS? Singing in the Chapel end? Really?? Just kidding. Well done, lads.

For shame, man! A grocer's apostrophe...?

Aw, bless. He does seem a genuinely nice kid.

Too true. In my experience, people only sign contracts when they are more afraid of losing the deal than they are of the consequences of making the deal in the first place. There is always an element of doubt when you commit to a contract, regardless of how carefully you've checked it over - but the potential reward needs to be great enough to make that doubt insignificant. Let's hope they want Saints badly enough...

Quite right, Phil. But, true to my moniker, I would argue there is more than Saturday football and fans at stake here. This morning I took the nipper to his last Saints in the Community session - not by choice, but because the scheme appears to be folding everywhere but at Fleming Park (they seem to run it on a franchise). Next week he'll start at another local scheme, where the coach is looking to become a feeder into the Pompey academy. The nipper is sad, but philosophical. I'm also minded to think of my older son's good friend, who was supposed to be starting as a Scholar in the Saints Academy this summer - he's been at the Academy since he was eight years old, and it probably was his only option as when he began his mum was on her own with two boys, and so not available to go trailing across the county to other schemes. Our kids need Saints to be a going concern. The demise of SFC is a community tragedy. I don't think unique in saying I have supported the club because it has meant being able to take my nipper to live sport on a Saturday afternoon, and because it has given him something to feel he belongs to almost as birthright. I was brought up in London, not Soton - and when I was a nipper I supported Chelski as it was the nearest thing I had to a local club. And when I went out to play, I was Peter Osgood and my Leeds supporting mate was Billy Bremner (except when they made me - the girl - go in goal, when I became Peter Bonetti). Now I can't imagine supporting them, even if I still lived in London - there's absolutely nothing 'local' about them. But when the nipper goes out to play, he's Lee Holmes or Drew, and it makes him feel on top of the world, just like I did, because he belongs to Saints. I know, coz I can hear him commentating as he runs around. And when he scored at St Mary's last weekend during U9s tournament, he thought his dreams could come true, if only for the afternoon. I can't imagine what it will be like for him, or thousands of other Junior Saints, if he has no local heroes. And if the kids of the city have fewer interests here, they will just drift away and not try and keep the community together. And what about the staff at the club, and the kids who've committed to the Academy? Livelihoods and dreams, all jeopardised by people at the top who can just walk away and find someone else to pay their wages. Please Begbies, Pinnacle, Barclays, creditors, players-who-will-become-creditors, DON'T let this club die. It is one of the things that holds this city and its community together. Rant over - gotta go and pick the nipper up now!

Could be wrong, but (when we're playing reasonable well) don't we have bigger gates than any of them, except maybe Boro?

Wrong! It was about lemmings...

something about lemmings, perhaps?

Exactly.:D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Exit#Characters [Garcin = Joseph] Inès the grand manipulator, Garcin the coward, and Estelle the vapid admirer of "manly men."

As we're dealing with French theatre of the 1940s, to make ourselves feel better we could also imagine Wilde, Lowe and Crouch as the three mutually incompatible characters in Huis clos, trapped eternally together in a room furnished in the worst taste. That really appeals to me!

I'd sign it. Fed up with all this attention-seeking behaviour. They can all crawl back under their respective rocks, as far as I'm concerned. Can't believe ANYTHING they say, anyway.

There's going to be talk about any and all of our players at the moment. All of them will be thinking about their next steps - as there is a distinct possibility that none of them will have a job in the very near future. If we are still watching a team in red and white next year, I'd very much like Gillett to be in it. If we are not, good luck to him wherever he goes. This season, he added a great deal of entertainment value through his sheer determination and energy, and watching him win headers against players that were 20cm taller than him was a real joy.