itchen

I think you understand it exactly.

Is there such a brigade? This is the language of the Daily Mail: the politically correct brigade, the heath and safety brigade, the human rights brigade... Put up a straw man and then ridicule it. Oh, and I think you meant "pedal".

I don't understand the reason for Pardew's sacking. I understand even less the timing of it. I can only think there must have been a huge row since Saturday. I hope AP screws NC for every penny he can.

At the game?

In the same way that the Premier League is now forcing Sir Alex to appear on BBC? That's worked. Apparently, this multi-millionaire was fined £1000 for not appearing on Sunday. He'll spend more than that on a case of wine. Personally, I think it would be better if the Beeb said "It's Sir Alex or nobody". I don't know why they give air time to his assistant. But, going back to our situation, it's a strange decision and I can't think of a good reason for it. But I can't see it's greatly harmful. We rarely feature more than a paragraph in most papers anyway.

Do I hear the sound of straws being clutched?

Well if you heard it from someone it's probably true. Honestly, what a lot of overreaction. We played like champions for the first 15 minutes then let in a sloppy goal following Orient's first real attack. But we hit the post a couple of times and the bar and their keeper made a couple of tremendous saves. Barnard had a great game as did Butterfield. Those are the positives. Negatives were that Orient then parked the bus and we lacked the guile to move it. Puncheon repeatedly over-elaborated when a simple pass was a better option. Lambert, after his excellent goal, didn't look like scoring another and was far too often out of position putting crosses in rather than being in the box to receive them. Jaidi defended well but his passing was appalling. I think we're going to see lots of teams come to St Mary's and play for a draw or hope to nick a winner on the break and we have to find a way to counter that. A pacey winger who plays the simple cross early would make a difference. I also think we'll do better on the road if the home teams are more prepared to give it a go in front of their own fans. Disappointing, yes. But Pardew knows the problem and has said he will be bringing in (the right) players when they are available on suitable terms. No need to panic yet. As somebody said earlier, Pard's job is in no more jeopardy than any of the other 91 managers (or it shouldn't be if it is). If we go on like this then he'll have to go as would anybody else in that position. But it's not going to go on like this.

I obviously move in the wrong circles. I don't know anyone who has met Cortese and so can't form an opinion based on their reports. I'll just have to judge on fact: 1) Is the club in existence? Yes. 2) Is it stable? Yes. 3) Is its tipped by most media/bookies etc to do well this year? Yes (predictions aren't always right but it's the best we can do at this stage) 4) Did it do well last season, all things considered? Yes 5) Has Cortese upset some fans by changing the season-ticket arrangements? Yes. 6) Has he upset the press by banning photographers and, if so, does this damage the club? Yes and no. I know nothing about Staplewood but, if he has fallen out with the contractors (another circle I don't move in) could this be because he is trying to get the best deal for the club? There's a recession, I'm sure there's no shortage of builders willing to take on the job and complete it to Cortese's standards. So, on the whole, more positives but some negatives. Which is all most of us can say of ourselves,I suspect.

Thanks for the account. The Mayor of Southampton is Councillor Carol Cunio who has been a Saints season-ticket holder for many years. I'm sure she would have been there even if she wasn't this year's mayor.

Oh FFS. What evidence do you have that NC has decided to get rid of AP? If he had wanted to get rid of him it would have been at the end of last season so that any new manager could have a pre-season with the squad and make any changes he thought necessary. To panic after losing one game in which by all accounts (I was on holiday so wasn't there) we dominated would be the reaction of an idiot. I agree that if we go on to lose lots more games then AP will be shown the door. But I'm reasonably confident, even given this week's tragic events, that we will win most games. But we will still lose a few. Live with it.

I'm not sure it's a good move for the club to be the first (I'm sure other clubs are watching with interest) to try to benefit from the value of the images created at its premises. But, as I can't remember seeing any pictures from any game in the papers since we were relegated from the Premiership, it's all a bit academic. I'm not even sure there were any "action" as opposed to library shots when we were struggling in the top level. We're rarely reported in the national press. That's fair enough. We're in the third division and aren't based in London so, to most of the media, we don't exist. But our crowds exceed some Premiership and many Championship clubs. And, as long as the crowds are happy and keep coming, I don't see how the club will suffer from a media that largely ignored it anyway. We don't have a shirt sponsor, apparently by choice, this year and so are not beholden to any outside party. The spat with the Echo is largely because the paper has been in decline for many years and seeks to boost its flagging circulation by sensationalising and exaggerating stories about Saints that may or may not have any basis at all in fact. Many of these stories are lifted (without, ironically, any acknowledgement or payment) from fans' websites like this one. Against this, the club is trying to drive traffic to its own website by making sure that news appears there first (for example, by announcing player signings only after the deadline for the Echo has passed). I believe that this is driven by both commercial reasons and the fact that Cortese has simply had enough of the self-righteous preening of the local editor even when the stories he has published have been shown to be entirely without foundation. Having said all that, I still think the club has made the wrong decision though.

Now that is patently untrue.

Just be grateful.....that.....he's....cut down on.......the....random..... dots.

There's a small part of me that doesn't want Saints to return to the Premier League. I can't justify going to every game either financially or in taking time away from other things. Where we are now, or the Championship, suits me fine. It's not too expensive and there are nearly always tickets available. This means I go to more home games than I miss but I go when I choose to. When we were in the Premier League it was not always possible to get a ticket (especially against the 'big' teams) and the cost was much higher - and by the looks of things will be lots more should we get back there in 2 or 3 years time. So I hope that when we do get promoted, some sort of membership scheme can be reintroduced so that at least I stand some chance of being able to see us play the top sides. Of course the best thing about watching Saints at this level is that we go into every game thinking we'll probably win - something I've never known before in forty-odd years of supporting Saints. Long may that continue as we march up the leagues.

I can see why people are p*ssed off about this. It does seem a large rise if the figures are to be believed. But what proportion of our fans actually use parking provided by the club? I would wager it's actually quite a small percentage. And if it's running at a loss that means that the vast majority are subsidising it in one way or another. I hope the club will allocate an adequate number of spaces for disabled fans but, frankly, the city is not short of parking spaces within a reasonable walking distance for the able-bodied and if these are cheaper, why not use them if you can? I'm fortunate enough to live within walking distance of the ground and, despite being the ripe old age of 53, can still get my aching limbs there under their own power but it's still further than several city centre car parks. I did see something in the paper about Bristol Rovers (or was it City?) who are encouraging fans to use bicycles to go to matches, even promising that team members will greet early cyclists. There's a whole load of cycle spaces at St Mary's so perhaps more of us should travel that way.

I'm amazed this thread is still running, Several pages ago somebody ridiculed the idea that rival fans could go off hand-in-hand and swapping scarves after the game. Well why not (OK maybe not the hand-in-hand bit)? Most of the time, I can go to Saint Mary's in complete safety and I am sure this is true of most grounds in the country. But, because a lot of people in the past, and a few people today, cannot enjoy friendly rivalry without it turning to violence, football supporters are treated badly by police, stewards, the press and others. We're herded into our own areas. We're forced to sit down (actually I prefer that but I know many people don't) and we can't be trusted to enjoy a pint while we're in sight of the pitch. And we risk fairly tough sentence if we're caught misbehaving. Given that all this has happened because of the actions of a small minority, how can any football supporter defend the actions of the tiny minority of yobs?

We must move in different social circles. I haven't had a fight since I was 11 and can't think of any of my adult friends who have either. We must all be dead soft.

Wonderful stuff. Thanks for digging it out. Why do all the players look like they're in their forties?

Obviously, as a local paper, the Echo couldn't ignore speculation in the national press about the local football club. What I would have expected is that the local paper would check whether or not it was true rather than run repeated stories and get people who also didn't know the true situation to comment. Murray says that the club refused to comment. Well, firstly, why should the club comment? Does NC have to respond to every rumour? And, secondly, perhaps Murray should be reflecting on why the relationship with SFC is so poor that the club won't speak to the local paper. And somebody said that perhaps the Radio Solent commentator won't be commentating on Saints games next season because of his remarks. I hope that's true. Not because of his remarks but because he's not a very good commentator. And Dave Merrington has got beyond parody "What they don't want to do now is concede a goal". Dave, thanks for all you did for the club, but please stop now.

I was with you until your last sentence.

What I'm clinging to is that this is just paper talk. No doubt Pardew and Cortese will be aware of it but I expect, if there's nothing in it, NC has told Pards he is safe. He hasn't commented publicly because if you comment on one rumour you end up having to comment on all of them. And, now and again, they might be true but premature. There may even be a grain of truth in this one about unhappiness at not reaching play-offs and the Daily Heil has added 2&2 and made five (and blamed Labour). Of course, it could all be true but, if you're going to sack someone, do you really leak it to the press and then leave it for several days?

Was Kevin Keegan seen driving into the car park? It's about time we had that rumour.

Ah, now you've isolated the problem - moving goalposts. I thought it was just muddy pitches.

You're right. He's nicked your line. You should sue.

We're losing, Alpine will be along in a minute.