Kingsland Codger

'How common are minority fans at St Mary's?' Mmmmm ... My reply can only be anecdotal and others may be better placed to answer but I very rarely see anyone who appears to be from a minority group. Your question prompted me to be a 'people watcher' on my way to and from and at St Mary's yesterday. I saw one man who appeared to be of Chinese origin chatting with some (white) mates and a couple of lads whose ancestry was probably from the sub-continent but just about everyone else was 'Anglo-Saxon'. The only noticeable thing was the absence of anything noticeable. In recent years small groups of Japanese tourists attended waving banners encouraging Tadanari Lee and later Maya Yoshida but these have now disappeared and were understandably only a very few. By far-and-away the biggest change in spectator demographics over the (40 plus) years I have been going to see football has been the large increase in the number of Ladies attending. This was especially clear when we moved to St Mary's.

While acknowledging there may very well be racism in football, it is also equally possible to say football has been a pioneer in improving race relations - certainly in Western, if not yet in Eastern, Europe. When I see my Saints team take to the field, I see simply eleven Saints players. Some of the team may well be of a different race from the vast bulk of the supporters but all 30,000 of us Saints fans cheer them all on regardless and want them to know they have our full backing. Similarly, I'm confident Arsenal fans had no qualms about cheering on The Gunners when, a few years back nearly all of their outfield players were black and I'm sure West Ham fans are all currently reveling in the amazing goal-scoring prowess of Diafra Sakho. When Ryan Giggs took over as caretaker manager at Manchester United, I can't recall his racial origins even being mentioned. In this regard, football fans have well and truly grown-up. Not just here, but evidence abounds elsewhere. The crowds in the Champs Elysees cheered the 'Rainbow Team' when France won the World Cup in 1998. I enjoy watching the Bundesliga highlights on TV. Non-white players are plentiful, the crowds roar them on and when a goal is scored all the players join in the hugs and celebrations. You wouldn't have seen any of that in Germany 70 years ago. Sadly, some of our Eastern European counterparts have yet to be as broad-minded but with time and exposure to outsiders I suspect football will turn them around. Certainly the clubs there appear to have no problem signing Brazilian and African players. Yes, the statistics make for grim reading when it comes to hiring minority managers, but l try to look on the bright side and so when Jose Mourinho says there is no racism in football, I can see where he is coming from. I guess the true litmus test for success in this area is when the 'No to Racism' signs and banners are removed because they are no longer necessary. With this in mind we cannot yet say 'job done' but rather it is 'still work in progress'.

"Playing football differently" ... "A world of difference"? But, but but ... I thought we were doing so well because of continuity. We scout for managers who will fit our system.

So does that mean Noble's goal for WHU against us earlier this season should be changed to an OG by Yoshida?

In a similar, but more tangible, vein Red Funnel gave all on board a free pint on our journey south so we could celebrate in style. COYRF.

The tune of We Are The Right Side, We Are The Left Side would appear to fit multi-syllabic names Alderweireld, Alderweireld ... Ole, Ole, Ole It would also work for Graziano but "Ho ho ho It's Magic, you know, His name is Graziano" would be preferable for a name ending in 'o'

Here you are ... LA LISTA — Portieri: Buffon (Juventus), Perin (Genoa), Sirigu (Psg); Difensori: Bonucci (Juventus), Chiellini (Juventus), Ogbonna (Juventus), Ranocchia (Inter), Rugani (Empoli); Centrocampisti: Aquilani (Fiorentina), Bonaventura (Milan), Candreva (Lazio), Darmian (Torino), De Sciglio (Milan), Florenzi (Roma), Marchisio (Juventus), Parolo (Lazio), Pasqual (Fiorentina), Poli (Milan), Thiago Motta (Psg), Verratti (Psg); Attaccanti: Destro (Roma), Giovinco (Juventus), Immobile (Borussia Dortmund), Osvaldo (Inter), Pellè (Southampton), Zaza (Sassuolo). http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazionale/04-10-2014/italia-bonaventura-azerbaigian-malta-balotelli-pelle-rugani-elshaarawy-pirlo-conte-motta-90648253293.shtml

But the point is "the best interests of rUK" is not necessarily the same as the knee-jerk reaction. If your despised neighbour's house is burning down, you get out your water buckets and fire blankets and help him out because it is in your own best interests to do so. Do nothing and you risk your own house burning down.

Looking at things post-18 September, Clause 30 of The Edinburgh Agreement states ... "The two governments are committed to continue to work together constructively in the light of the outcome, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom". This would appear to hamper any "squeeze-until-the-pips-squeak" attitude on the part of rUK. The key words being "in the best interest" - as saintbletch puts it in post 703, the two countries are so linked it wouldn't be of any help for the rUK to play excessive hard-ball, whereas for Scotland, a bit of hard-ball could well go a long way. Do we really want to see UN Refugee camps in Berwick-on-Tweed? Or in Gretna, come to that.

Another name to add to your search list (though this might also be the name tpbury posting above had in mind) is Micky Fialka. And one who came out very well was Kelvin Davis. I think he carried on playing for no wages and didn't make a big fuss about it. And the name Fry - there were two people with that name and one of them was at Barclays Bank - the Daily Echo has part of the story http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/untoldstories/4356000.print/

I counted around a few more passes, around 39 or 40, the full version was on the Sky showing last night.

Don't be surprised if your child asks a simple question; they are not asking because they don't know but because they know the answer but want you to ask them that same question. So when they ask, say, "which is the team in red-and-white stripes"? Don't reply saying "the Saints". Reply "I don't know; which team do you think is wearing red-and-white?" ... and he/she will tell you the answer.

I can only recall two occasions when I have seen Luke Shaw use his right foot to kick a ball. For the amount MU paid for him and for his weekly wage, one would expect him to be equally strong with both feet. Compare him with arguably England's most successful left-footed athlete, Jonny Wilkinson. He spent hours and hours kicking with his right foot until he was comfortable using either. His World Cup winning drop-goal was with his right foot. I doubt if I shall ever see Luke Shaw taking a pressure penalty with his right foot.

Maybe Sky might like to take a look at 1 January 2002 at Stamford Bridge.

jimmysaint7 in post 4 gives the answer. I, too, have not heard of any pub that shows matches unless they are on Sky or BT Sports.

The pub in Brighstone is ... The Three Bishops. It's been years since I was last there and don't know if they have Sky TV - my guess would be they don't and I would think it unlikely if other pubs in the area have it, either. There isn't much local population out there in West Wight and Sky may be too expensive for local pubs. Further afield, there will be pubs in Newport that will have it, probably the Hogshead in the High St and The Crown in Ryde High St will also be showing it.

A round of applause for Pilsmer and his 6 week old son - let us know who he chooses for his MoM.

Kasey Keller - not that he contributed much in our 2004-2005 relegation season (he was an emergency keeper and only played 4 times) but he made 'that save' from a Matty Taylor point-blank blast in the last couple of minutes to ensure an all-too-rare victory. Since it was against you-know-who, the save and the victory was all the sweeter and has ensured his immortality at St Mary's.

a minor addition, if I may?

Many thanks Redslo for your blog. You conclude ... "Therefore, it simply was not possible to keep the team together and bring in new players in any significant amount or of any significant quality. " and yet this appears to be incompatible with Mr Reed's statement of April 25 2014 where he said "we want to improve the squad going forward, we want to retain the players we’ve got" - "Our intention is to keep this very good team together and build on it by bringing in players to improve upon it" Can any forum member shed any light on this? http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11172160.Les_Reed_s_Saints_statement_in_full/

Francoise Hardy and although it is over 40 years since I first heard her sing this song, I still get turned on by her accent. Note the way she says 'oranges' around the 25 second mark.

For those who feel reassured by what Mr Kreuger said, here are a couple of confusing (worrying?) quotes. "You cannot begin a Premier League season with half of your starters disgruntled" and "The five players we sold were not all starters" So disgruntled starters remain. More sales to come? Or somehow has Mr Kreuger found out how to make those disgruntled starters now feel gruntled instead?

Of course he did From his statement of 25 April http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/11172160.Les_Reed_s_Saints_statement_in_full/ "we want to retain the players we’ve got. They are all contracted, they all have existing contracts and we intend to honour those contracts" ... "Our intention is to keep this very good team together and build on it by bringing in players to improve upon it." "It’s a positive message we want to get out there. Our fans deserve to understand there is not going to be a fire sale here and we have repeatedly said that ... we want to keep all of our best players here at the club and build on that for the future."

Mr Reed did this as-near-as-damn-it in his statement of 25 April. "We want to retain the players we’ve got. They are all contracted. They all have existing contracts and we intend for them to honour those contracts". and "Our intention is to keep this very good team together" "we want to keep all of our best players here at this club and build on that for the future" And yet three of our best players have now been sold. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/25042014-les-reed-statement-on-pochettino-and-players-1509755.aspx Like I said quite clearly a few posts above, we were given a clear indication of what we might expect in the coming season (I repeat the words of Mr Reed "We want to retain the players we’ve got" ) and now things have changed. I am looking forward to the coming season, whether it is to see many new faces from abroad, or the kids from the academy being upgraded - but it won't be what we were all hoping to expect, that's all.

Maybe - but my original thought was to say a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to be replaced by the band of the local Boy Scouts. Perhaps I should have stuck with it. The point I was trying to make is that what we will get this coming season might be good but it won't be what we might have expected to see. Unless that is, you were expecting Mr Koeman as manager and the England internationals sold off.