Lighthouse

And then in the Poortvliet season we were about 13,000 home fans on average, which is a massive difference from 25,000. So all we’ve really proven is that attendances will vary, depending on multiple factors and isn’t necessarily tied to the league we’re in. Having Lowe in charge, Poortvliet as manager and playing a bunch of kids, in administration turned away a much greater number of fans than simply the brand of the PL.

Some of the big teams had big followings, others not so much but point taken, let’s say the average away following was 1,500 instead. That still leaves an average home attendance of just under 25,000 in the Championship and 27,500 in the PL. So a difference of 9% on average. The BIB just doesn’t work, you’d need over 8,000 ‘big gamers’ to turn up for more than half our games for everything to even out.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-southampton/besucherzahlenentwicklung/verein/180 According to this, our average attendances are around 30,500 in a PL year, compared to 26,400 when we were promoted. The main difference there being away fans; any of the ‘big six’, plus Leeds, Newcastle, West Ham and a few others will easily bring 3,000 down here. This compares to sub-1000 for an average Championship club. If we’re talking just the home end, it’s probably 27,500 now compared to 25,500 in the Championship. Then there might be 500 away fans in the home end because they couldn’t get tickets, so the difference could be as few as 1-2,000 Saints fans over a season. 2,000 fans out of 27,000 is 7% and even that is eroded by the fact that some fans will make a bit more effort to go more often in the PL.

I can categorically say I’d rather be in our position than Millwall, who according to Wiki are competing in their 94th season outside the top flight, in the last 96 years. They might make the playoffs, they might even win them, or they might fade away and finish 14th whilst we comfortably avoid the drop. Personally I’d rather have been saints over the last five years than even Norwich/WBA/Fulham, finishing top two in the Championship. Winning the league just because you were relegated last year has a faint whiff of being held back a year at school. You might be one of the smarter kids in your class all of a sudden but it’s not much to brag about.

Yes but that was one game in a season of absolute sh*te. My personal memories of that season are mostly dreadful, I remember going to Hull and watching us get stuffed 5-0. Frazer Campbell looked like Romario that day.

Surely this is fake news? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-63874001?fbclid=IwAR1ES3iFOGUKgb5wIwZYGhmg0Amlop-5H_E6IOE-qZkoXoRHcZYgTLfR6ew

I've read that three times and I'm still non the wiser as to what you're implying.

Agree with the first bit but I can’t say it’s depressing, personally. Targets like this are always going to be a bit of a long shot for Saints.

You’ve got to love Portugal having an absolute worldly with Ronaldo sat on the bench and his replacement bagging a hat trick.

I think the man who’s just scored his 16th goal of the season in all comps, aged 21, is, was and always has been out of our reach. Likewise Gakpo.

Ignoring the fact that when he did actually play for us, he did absolutely sod all in three years and four managers, aside from one wonder goal a year against someone sh*t.

When supermarkets don't have decent bananas at the right level of ripeness. I don't know why but that annoys me more than anything else being out of stock.

It’s nothing to do with experience and everything to do with quality. At no point this season have I really seen a team which looked naive, inexperienced and struggling to see out results with poor gamesmanship. We’ve just, quite simply, been crap in front of goal and the worst culprits are Che Adams, with 110 PL apps, Walcott with f**k knows how many, Moi and Armstrong. Hardly kids.

Two sh*te pens there, all over already.

I’m hearing that the ball could be as much as 0.6PSI lower than the one used in the Wales game, huge news if true.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer rat-faced w*nker.

What shouldn’t have happened? To disallow the goal they needed clear evidence of the ball crossing the line and there wasn’t any, hence the goal was given and there’s nothing else to show.

WTF is with Souness angrily demanding pictures of something that didn’t happen?

Some of you have an intriguing imagination. Even if a British newspaper was planning to run a front page story about him attending cocaine-fuelled gay orgies, complete with photo evidence (and I can’t believe for a second there’s anything like that forthcoming) he wouldn’t have to flee the country to escape beheading. Being in possession of drugs and committing a homosexual act are severely punished. Simply being gay and having previously taken drugs in another country is not going to get you in trouble. I can’t imagine it’s anything more exciting than a private, personal matter and no business of anyone other than those involved.

The Saudi goal changed literally nothing and missing chances is part of football, Poland had a penalty saved against Mexico which would have made these fixtures pretty much irrelevant. Wolves beating this season Saints wasn’t a fluke, even though on another day we’d have won 3-0.

Nothing flukey about it any of it. Everyone played everyone and they were slightly better than Mexico, who wasted a lot of chances against the Saudis.

You had an open goal there to make a 'trans fats' joke and you made a complete Elyounoussi of it.

My comment wasn’t personal to Ralph in any way. Replace ‘he’ with ‘no credible manager in his right mind, Ralph, Jones, Pompey’s manager or otherwise…’

Leeds offered £30m plus £13m in add ons, according to this article quoting a Dutch media outlet, with apparent quotes from PSV’s chairman. https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2022/09/20/we-said-no-director-admits-leeds-united-made-43m-bid-for-his-star-man/ There were also quotes from Gakpo himself saying he’d had contact with ETH at United but I CBA digging it all out again. To say it was ambitious is an understatement and it’s certainly not something I’d be laying at Semmens’ door for not happening.