East Kent Saint

Also watching slow motion goals from behind the goal often shows a touch on the defenders boot or leg or shoulder , so what looks like a fantastic shot to us turns out to be a lucky deflection that wrong foots the goalkeeper rather than the goalkeeper being useless etc.

We just don't appreciate how difficult it is for match officials , it totally depends on what you see . The fans have opposing views depending on their viewing position and how a linesman can accurately note when the ball is kicked as well as if a player is millimeters in front of a defender at the same time god knows. We still can't agree on a decision after watching it 10 times in slow motion on MotD ! It has always been the case that top clubs, in a period of domination, will always get the benefit of the doubt (ie Liverpool , Man Utd , All Blacks , Australia cricket team ) so yes there is a bias but it is not predetermined plus you have to factor in the human element , ie making up their minds so that is the decision or wanting to make a point to prove they "know the rules" . I don't know the rules apart from the basics so get steamed up if I think it is a wrong decision ! Money is probably the root cause as usual .

Lambert was being sold to West Ham in Jan but NC left so he was looking to leave at the end of the season. Chambers was bid for by Arsenal in Jan and left at the end on the season as they were keen to buy him. Lallana etc were influenced by MP who allegedly told them that they should move to better clubs as after NC left the club's ambitions changed / financial constraints meant that the club would be mid table at best.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43877716 At least we are not going to Burma ................

Considering how well Hazard played and with a team that had better players on the bench than we could put out on the pitch Saints did well . It might have have been better if we had been given that goal or Gabbi had poked Austins shot that hit the post in but it wasn't to be . I thought that the players at least looked like they were trying but were just not good enough for this level.

People say how good the Palace fans are singing all match but if you look at them you will see that they are busy singing the same chants while moving around in formation etc and not watching the game most of the time , like wise ManU fans too busy jumping around if they are winning also not watching the football. Fans pay their money and can watch how they like . Standing is another issue , I would like to see safe standing for those who want that but I want to see the game not the back of other fans who seem to want to take issue with the stewards all match rather than watch the football . Anyway if Saints were winning most matches people wouldn't be moaning about all and sundry and more fans would be cheering , leaping about etc !

I would imagine he finds playing regularly in a winning team who will probably get promoted exciting and a better bet for the near future !

I hope not as we have bought our tickets already !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43644865 Good report jogged my memory , shocked that it was all 30 odd years ago

The points you overlooked was "key to the decline" ie the start of the decline and "Kat decided to sell" meaning financial considerations overrode decisions on signings . I watched Koeman salute the Northiam at the end of the season and thought he would be staying and keep us top half but it hasn't worked out like that . As for Brexit I thought remaining would be the lesser of two evils but "make up your own facts" is the worst case of pot and kettle in the history of the last 2000 years.

West Ham started well as they did in their previous matches only this time they scored and they were playing a team that couldn't defend or even get a shot on target so much better outcome for them . As for Hughes' chances of turning us round , how with these players ? If MP was in charge for this match he would be taking the blame , it's difficult to see what can change to prevent an embarrassing end to to what looks to be our last season in the Prem for a while .

I think the key to the decline was when Poch left and advised talented players to take their chance with a big club if they wanted to ever play in europe . Kat then decided to sell hence cheap replacements that didn't measure up , unfortunately Gao is not the answer . Now he is only in it for the money so at this moment the future is bleak , even bleaker than brexit ...........

Even at non league level the official attendance is higher than the actual theses days , I am told that they now include ST hoiders in the official figures which would explain why they seem higher than actual numbers at the game. In the past some teams declared a figure that was way higher , it was suggested that is was a way of explaining the amount of money going through the books ......

It needs a review on use and possibly new rules ie clear space between players for offside or feet position used instead of a few millimeters of upper body etc They may also review penalties as nearly all players look for or admit they fall over to get a penalty as if you don't you don't get one . Could be penalty for obvious handball/professional foul or free kick from centre of D etc just saying...

As a goal scoring , penalty taking and attitude on the pitch coach then yes !!

So far this year Saints have beaten Watford , WBA and Wigan just West Ham for a full set begining with W !!!

Things we haven't heard this season : "and Southampton with FIVE men forward" "Stephens wins it " and "Stephens has been good for Southampton today"

Good luck to our traveling fans safe journey , hope you get rewarded with a win esp after the 6 nations disaster yesterday which I had to watch in odd 5 mins bursts to avoid a meltdown.

One of my regular pubs is "closed for refurb" , Googled it and it is for sale !! also usually applied to food outlets that have failed an inspection but I bow to your superior ITK local knowledge on this .

Closed for refurbishment is standard retail jargon for we are selling up !!

"This is a nice little earner " "You're not wrong there Mark "

The word we have received from the street is that Southampton are hoping to have a replacement for Mauricio Pellegrino in place by the weekend. They face Wigan on Sunday in the quarter finals of the FA Cup. The club has confirmed Assistant Manager Carlos Compagnucci and Assistant First Team Coach Xavier Tamarit have also parted company with the club. Dave Watson and Kelvin Davis both remain on the coaching staff at St Mary's More from BBC in Stoke match commentary !

er that table is of Saints permanent managers in the prem (copied from BBC Sport)

Games Wins Draws Losses Win % Points Points per game Ronald Koeman 76 36 15 25 47.4 123 1.62 Glenn Hoddle 45 18 11 16 40 65 1.44 Mauricio Pochettino 54 19 18 17 35.2 75 1.39 Paul Sturrock 13 5 2 6 38.5 17 1.31 Gordon Strachan 93 31 29 33 33.3 122 1.31 Alan Ball 59 18 22 19 30.5 76 1.29 Claude Puel 38 12 10 16 31.6 46 1.21 Dave Jones 98 31 19 48 31.6 112 1.14 Graeme Souness 38 10 11 17 26.3 41 1.08 Ian Branfoot 66 18 14 34 27.3 68 1.03 Nigel Adkins 22 5 7 10 22.7 22 1.00 David Merrington 38 9 11 18 23.7 38 1.00 Mauricio Pellegrino 30 5 13 12 16.7 28 0.93 Harry Redknapp 22 4 8 10 18.2 20 0.91 Steve Wigley 14 1 6 7 7.1 9 0.64 oops doesn't line up !

Gills 3-1 up against ****** Hull 4-3 up v Norwich (just to cheer you up )