Mr Dad

Has anyone been near to St Mary's Stadium today? I think we can forget about a frozen pitch but last time it was postponed due to ice around the ground and surrounding roads. Does anyone live near to the ground who can report on how the snow/ice etc looks around there?

Lets applaud the new manager when he appears but....... A few rounds of theres only one NA and NA's r&w army shouldn't stir things up too much. New manager doesn't understand English so probably won't know whats going on. Players will understand that its a reluctant protest so won't be disheartened. I think we do need a quiet protest though to let NC that we are the fans that keep the club going and we expect more consultation with us in these matters.

I am trying to book tickets online. I'm a season ticket holder(s) with 3 ST's (me and 2 boys). I can't log on! It won't accept my login details (which worked fine eventually) for Stoke. Whats going on? I tried the reset your password option and it said it was sending me a new password. It didn't! I think I shall try ticket office at St Mary's in person tomorrow morning. Have we sold out? Will ticket office be selling AV tickets tomorrow? Or will it be swamped with people queuing for Chelsea cup tickets? Grrrrrrr! This is really frustrating. Why is online ticket sales service so bad?

I bought three on Monday. You might try Firefox as a web browser. I find Firefox better than Internet Explorer for booking and Saints away game live streaming etc. Worth a try? http://www.ez-download.com/mozilla-firefox/?kw=firefox&subid=EZFFUK&cust=firefox&type=firefox&gclid=CI3I9_bLn7QCFe_MtAod2B8AzQ&utm_campaign=EZFFUK&fwd=1

I did get there in the end but i'll keep that link for the future thanks. The problem might happen again one day and that'll be worth a try. I notice that the site has calmed now anyway. Cheers!

I got there in the end! I waited in the queue for Chelsea tickets and was eventually redirected to the regular online ticket sales page. I was able to buy Stoke Away tickets. I'd have been pretty hacked off if I HAD been waiting for Chelsea tickets because when I reached the front of the queue there was no option to buy them! I think the online ticket sales user experience needs some work.

Hi, I'm trying to order Stoke away tickets (Dec 28) online. No matter which link route I try, I am put in a queue for Chelsea Cup Tickets. But I don't need Chelsea tickets! I can't visit ticket office (which is probably rammed anyway) and phonelines are permanently engaged. Does anyone have any ideas?

FR way behind live. I was hoping to listen to Solent commentary but its way ahead.. FR works better with Firefox.

First Row OK for me. Stopped a couple of times for approx 5 seconds though. Quality not great but easily watchable once you start concentrating on the football. Commentators not too bad. Slightly biased in Saints favour. Better than listening to the radio for sure.

Very good!! I can see that one being a regular if someone from the Northam end starts it! Its not very kind to Guly though. Still, neither was the 'BWP, he robs from the skates' but that caught on in a big way!

I wondered about the pneumatic equipment advert on the new advertising boards. Hardly likely to be of interest to most football fans. Still, maybe thats where everyone went after the second Wigan goal. Off to catch the local pneumatic shop before it closed at 5pm to stock up on flexible conduit and linear actuators!

I have fond memories of Markus! I was on holiday with my family in France when we read about it in a day old paper. My two young sons cried and if I'm honest, I did but held back the tears! I remember him at the Johnstone Pant Trophy where I was watching with my two sons. When the players came up to receive the trophy or maybe it was before that, he stood up sporting his characteristic ear to ear grin taking photos on his digital camera. Just like the rest of us eh? The moment he took over the club, all that negativity disappeared. Remember the booing of players? The fighting between home fans? Do I really want to go to the next home match? That all stopped upon his arrival. The spirit he gave to the club still remains to this day. I often wonder if he is sitting in one of the emtpy seats grinning at SFC continuing success? I'd better sign off before I well up. I wonder if we could get to see those photos he took at Wembley?

Cardiff goal. Solent commentator sounds like he's rooting for Cadiff!

I'm enjoying this thread! Can't believe I just cheered the pompey goal on Solent.

Does your sister know you're here?

Good lads! Thats the spirit. Just bad luck eh? Hope it doesn't put your mate off either. We need true supporters like yourselves.

Happy with 1 point. Reading team looked far better than their current league position. Yet again KD saved us. The game reminded me of a couple of seasons ago when KD consistently won player of the month. In those days it was sad when the goalkeeper was winning player of the month! We had no attack. It should be midfield/forwards winning that award. Anyway, he is a true Saint! He has saved us again. Highlight was NA bringing on SDR as a late impact sub. Certainly did the job. Yet again Richard Chaplow impressed me. Fit as a butchers dog and NEVER gives up.

Before the Watford game in a pub, I was speaking to a Watford supporter. He seemed very clued up and was a long term season ticket holder at Watford. It turned out that he now lives in Southampton but keeps up his ST and attends the games. Fair play! He asked me if David Connelly was playing as Watford supporters had a song ready for him. I can't remember the words but it transpired that they weren’t happy with David because he had been trained in the Watford equivalent of our Saints Academy and he left pretty soon after graduating. The Watford guy had an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and reminded me of the time when Watford was 4-0 down on the first leg of a cup game then turned it round by winning 7-1 in the second leg at Watford. He was a nice guy, a true football supporter. The reason that he mentioned Connelly was that he came through the Watford Academy and the supporters at the time felt that he didn’t show enough loyalty to the club. He left too quickly to further his career and didn’t give Watford enough benefit of his ability and took the money too soon. He said that approximately 50% of Watford players came through the academy and that it was an essential source of players. He also mentioned the financial basis of Watford FC. When they played West Ham, the top wage earner at West Ham was on 70% of the total turnover of Watford FC. He was questioning the funding of the game and how its difficult for an average club to survive. I used to know a girl who was a Watford season ticket holder and I asked him the stupid question, “I know this is a one in twenty thousand question but do you know xxx who is a Watford supporter”. He answered “No but with the way Watford support is dropping off, it won’t be long before I know all Watford supporters by name!” Now, I know we have done OK with Chamberlin etc who did play for us for a while but how long is it before other clubs don’t bother with an Academy because it is used by young players who want a route to the Premiership? With any luck, we’ll be there and Academy players will have a route straight there. However, I do worry about smaller clubs and whether they will be able to afford to keep up this great way to enable home grown talent to progress through the English football system? DC has done great job for us and our Academy players are doing a great job for other clubs. But how long can smaller clubs afford to keep up and academy/youth scheme?

When I left the stadium, there was a large group of SAINTS fans singing 'We all love leeds'. That made me laugh. If they play like that next time, I love them too!

OK, I read above that it'll be on BBC tonight. My wife watched on TV and said she was irritated by the 'We all love Leeds' marathon. 10/10 for persistance though. When I was leaving the stadium, there was a big group of SAINTS fans singing 'We all love Leeds'. That made me laugh. If they play like that against us next time then I love them too!!!

Will the TV coverage be repeated? I'd like to see if that really was a penalty although the linesman seemed in no doubt. From Kingsland/Northam corner, it looked like a straight chest down. Can someone who had it recorded pleae give an honest opinion?

exit2 - I am going to do the same. There is so much identity fraud these days. Why should we hand over birth certificate copies to an organization which has no published procedures for handling such documents? Anyway, perhaps we are straying slightly off topic for a football forum and I am looking forward to the forthcoming season. Nevertheless, our beloved football club should still respect data protection act/privacy etc. I'll PM you exit2 when I get a reply.

I collected my ST plus 10 and 12 year old sons at approx 1.30pm today. All 3 were renewals so I had already paid. There was a short queue but I managed to get in/out of car park before the 15 minute free parking limit. It was close as my watch was showing 15 minutes and we had to run back to car. They took photocopies of my son's passports. Are they allowed to do that?

I like the enthusiasm of those predicting 3 or 4 nil! I'll be there with my sons shouting/singing for Saints. The 3 or 4 nil will be good for our goal difference which could make a difference with things so close at the top of the table. Yeovil normally bring a good bunch of noisy supporters. Could be a good atmosphere for a mid-week game!

Thanks for your support The9 and earlier, oh, its a corner! I think its got potential but I don't have the voice to try and start it. I sit with my sons in Kingsland Northam Corner. Its easy to remember and quite subtle/humourous. The 'he's got a long name' variant doesn't scan and is open to corruption if supporters substitute 'name' for .... Lets not go there! Now I just need a member of the Northam operatic chorus to give it a try!