The Winning Mentality

[MarkSFC]

Successful teams and indeed succesful individuals know how to win, never give up, and most importantly perhaps expect to always win.

 

Alan Pardew has shown that he is creating this mentality with the club and within the players. Most pro footballers will have learnt their trade in winning teams and so getting that mentality back is nit as hard as working with perennial losers, under-achievers, or pesimistic people.

 

As a fanbase collectively we are not used to being winners, seeing our team win very regularly and are generally pesimistic and negative.

 

If you look at the best teams in the world their support grow up as winners ( generally), are far more confident and that portrays itself as arrogance in many.

 

Alan Pardew has rightly mentioned the effect our support has on the team. We have to turn our mentality around to one of optimism, and expect the team to win, but most importantly portray the positive support for the team consistsntly.

 

In the glory days at The Dell (and the not so glory days too!) there was a general feeling of togetherness. This was probably helped by the fact that the base was virtually the same people week in week out. When it was 22k odd capacity it was still terraced which makes a difference but when it was all-seated and just over 15k it almost felt like a members club. Of course it was a very compact ground and that aided the volume but even still I seem to remember a bit more positivity especially in the dodgy years!!

 

Maybe my memory is being selective but part of the fan base now will only now the last decade or so and that is generally a negative time. Apart from the odd season we have watched more defeats than wins in St Marys (or at least in comparison to what is regarded as succesful) and therefore that pessimism and expectation is ingrained in many.

 

To change this round the team and the club have to initiate and lead this change but the fanbase have to be open to this change and make an effort to be more positive and optimistic during a game firstly, but more importantly in every day life as a Saints fan.

 

On a slight slide note I think that the Chapel end should become the "main singing area" if the away fans have to stay where they are. If the main singers are effectively in the middle of the home fans ( I.e. home fans will be in one uninterupted chain when the ground is less full) then singing will spread down the Itchen and Kingsland, overtime!! It would also isolate the away support which helps Saints.

 

I realise fans like being near the away fans but what's mist important is that Saints win. Almost every other big ground puts the away support in the worst positions possible...not by the singers!

[Saint_Ash]

God mate, you don't half go on!!

 

I agree though.