West Dean FC Legend

Thank goodness. I thought it was only me. I was dipping in and out of the game admittedly, but I saw a lot of halfway line passing back and forth, then out to the wing, then forward for a bit up to near the penalty area but then back down the wing and along the halfway line again. I thought it was pointless and tedious. Around the Saints-based Internet, I have seen posters saying what a good game it was. Honestly, if football is getting more and more like this and people are thinking it is 'great' or 'good' I might have to stick to ice-hockey more. At least you can say there were goals in a 9-6 win!

The Inadequates The Incompetents The Impotents The Inefficents The Blunderers The Sporting Republicans

Funny thing is when people talk about awful record we hold, not many mention the 0-9 home defeat to Leciester City. This is the record home defeat in the top division (regardless of what the division was called) in the HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE! It broke the record Newcastle United 1 Sunderland 9 in 1908, United getting absolutely shafted at home by their bitter rivals BUT there was one consolation. They won the bloody First Division (top league at the time) Championship that season.

Knowing Sports Republic's incompetence and the 'if it ain't broke break it' attitude and the fact that nothing has been said, confirmed or shown, they will probably sack him 8 o'clock Friday night. That would fit their methods and ideology.

I can't get my head around the sick players picked, not picked, taxis, a bloke with no number on his shirt, this seems isimilar to a Sunday morning team going and knocking on a mate's front door to get him because they're short - except of course how many people at Saints are involved in the organisation and running of the first team and match day squad and are professionals and it is all the do for a living, and get paid very well for it I would imagine....

If they sign on Russell Martin Mark 2 then that's me done for the season.

Funnily enough I used to do detailed player/team/opponent stats for a top ice hockey club in the UK for season or so (I still do them for graphics and so forth nowadays), the player/coach I worked with (he was the British UN20s assistant coach for a while so no dummy and he scored a lot of points when he played) always was interested in them, took notice of them, but he said he did not select his 'lines'/players and tactics soley based on them. For starters you don't know who is recording them in another ice rink. Interesting point - a 'shot-on-goal' is a shot that will go into the goal and be a goal (whether it goes in or is saved), hitting the post or bar (unless saved by the goalie prior to that) is not a shot-on-goal and if a goalie saves a shot but a team mate is behind him on the line or in the goal area and could have stopped the shot if missed that is not a shot-on-goal! Half the stats recorders did not know that

I don't bet, darn it.

Will Downs touch the ball? Odds please?

McCarthy - don't pass the ball around in our penalty area when we are under pressure or even if you aren't sure we are. Just don't do it. Never do it again okay. Bazuna - can you stand in the right position when the opposition are attacking and be in the right position in relation to what is happening in front of you - oh yeah try and push any saves you do make wide towards the corner flags rather than the middle of penalty area. Oh yeah can you have a bit more presence in the box too, you know with crosses and stuff. Cheers. Sports Republic - just buy at least one average goalkeeper in January please?

Another forum I am on appears to be mainly his fan club. I mean some people getting fairly niggly that people aren't impressed with him, all of the goals he lets in apparently are not his fault - ever. On here I am onside with most of the posters. I used to play in goal, not at any level, Commercial Houses League, Salisbury and District, Southampton Junior and Senior, and Swindon Sunday League and a bit of Hampshire and Wiltshire - but I soon got found out in that standard. Some of you older posters might have played against me - you probably scored loads of goals too. Anyway I did play from 13 to 45, then I retired. I can tell you this. I watched games, watched highlights, and more than once, the first thing that came into my mind was, 'Why is he standing there?' The goalie's starting position is more than 50% the beginning of a save; some goals he conceded it looked like he wasn't even watching what was going on in front of him. The ones I saw had nothing to do with playing around at the back or anything like that. It's fundamentals. He has no commanding presence, this was my problem, I am the same size as him so big fellas battered the crap out of me with crosses and corners - but I wasn't a professional. He has no presence in the box, for me he doesn't even look like a goalie when he's stood there in his kit. His reactions are 50/50 at the best, the save against Wrexham was good, mind you the way he celebrated embarrassed me. I know it seems mean to say this about a human being who plays for the club I support, but in all honesty, just judging him as a professional goalkeeper only, I really, really cannot see how he made it to this level. It makes my head spin. I hope I am talking poo-poo. If it is any consolation, I do about 90% of the time.

I went to Stockbridge Secondary School (later Test Valley Comprehensive) deep in Hampshire, 80% of the kids sounded like 'Farmer Giles' but in the 70s nearly every 'sports bag' was Leeds United, I remember lads wearing Leeds football kits as their PE gear, including at least two lads, who are old men now, who support Saints and have for years. My mate Bob and I were the weirdos, we used to go and watch Saints!

I had to check, my first game was April 24th 1971, so 54 years ago, I was 9 and my late brother who was about 16 at the time, took me along with my parents' permission. I had never been to a professional football game in my life and wasn't that interested. It was Mick Jones' birthday, he scored two goals but we missed the last one as I had to go to the toilet and my brother then walked us back to the coach stop. We were from East Dean (Hants/Wilts border) so like away supporters we caught a coach to watch games every week (Buddens' two-bob coach). After that I never really went regularly until Saints were in Division Two and then I went every weekend with my mates. I was so jammy, I kept all the vouchers you got in the programmes (most people threw them away), so I saw the FA Cup semi-final and the Final. My brother couldn't get tickets and was fuming! I didn't go so regularly when I finally started playing football, playing on Saturdays and Sundays, I only went to midweek games or when we didn't have a game. I was crap and never won anything or played a good standard. Later on my mates all started getting serious with girls so stopped going so much and I didn't enjoy going on my own, saw a few games for free as one of my friend's late dad was a doorman on the players' entrance! Then when I met a woman whose judgment was as bad as her eyesight I moved to Swindon and really stopped going at all by then. When we moved to the Scottish Highlands three years ago that was it. So it's just telly for me - but at least I can turn it off and forget about some of the stuff you see.

I'm sure I posted this before but Ted MacDougall owned one of our local pubs, The Mill Arms in Dunbridge, he even played for the team on Sunday mornings and scored 8 goals in a 9-1 win, the lad that wrote the report for the paper went on about the other goal for the entire report! He was okay, a bit pro' footballery but okay, his mum and dad were really nice. Loads of Saints players used to come in every now and then. Alan Ball, Mick Channon, Peter Wells, Kevin Keegan, you name them they turned up. Most were alright to be fair, a few 'look at mes' but we did leave them alone too, rather than bother them from the minute they walked in. David Peach used to serve behind the bar, he was a nice bloke. Alan Ball tried to smarmily chat my mate's girlfriend up, she was 20 years younger than him at least, and when we told her who he was she literally had no idea who he was. My mate and her have been married for 40 years, so it didn't work anyway. Due to the Ted MacDougall connection I played in goal for The Mill Arms against Peter Osgood and Ian Hutchinson against their pub The Union Inn, we lost 7-1 if I remember correctly but I saved a penalty from someone who's brother played for Aston Villa, I can't remember his name, and Peter Osgood properly kicked the ball out of my hands on the ground after I had the ball under full control, it hurt too, but he did apologise after scoring. In years further back Mick Channon and few other players from the 70s Saints teams, as very young men, tried to chat my late mum up in Brashfield Club more than once, she was a bit glamorous to be fair.

I suppose he could say 'I've been to games but I'm not a supporter/fan' but I thought that at the time 'How is he reffing Saints games?'