I'm glad that the myth of us being a well run club has well and truly been dispelled. All that faith in Les & KL was well and truly misplaced by a lot of people on here, despite the numerous warning signs that I, and others pointed out on here. Obviously we were all stupid and should have trusted the board.
The board did some things right, some things wrong. Unfortunately for clubs of our size two or three wrong decisions can result in disaster. And these wrong decisions are inevitable at some point; it's just the way it is. How many medium-sized clubs stay in that 7th-10th zone for a sizeable length of time? Only Everton. Even bigger clubs like Newcastle, Leeds, Villa struggle to get there, let alone stay there. All we have learned, let's face it, is just how hard it is to survive in the top 8. As the 'best of the rest', your players and managers get taken, and its an impossible task to keep replacing them adequately. The most supporters like us can hope for, is that the club manage to win a cup whilst in a good spell, like Pompey, Wigan and Swansea have done in the last 10 years.
There is a hell of a lot of truth in your comments, however, Les has had a complete brain freeze for the past couple of years.....
I know hind sight is wonderful but many of us have challenged the transfer strategy for a long time not just now. Also why is the club being so quiet? Apart from that very strange interview with Ralph where he stated we are a small club and all fans are deluded, which might be correct but we didn't want to hear it. Was he just softening us up for the inevitable relegation - what is really going on? Why were we so slow in changing our manager? Why did we only sign one player in Jan? There are so many unanswered questions. Its like there is a hidden nefarious agenda which is completely counter to what the fans want.
Flog a bunch of players over the summer before they all waltz off with golden pockets, saying they were doing so ‘because it felt like the right time for the club to start a new era’....?
Let’s hope we don’t do a Sunderland. Will everyone support RK & LR then? How many more mistakes do these to need to make? Do they believe they are “Southampton FC”? Will Mr Gao see them for the buffoons they are?
I was one that always stood up for the board. Happy to admit it. I was wrong, it seems. Shame about your last sentence though. Just because someone tries to show some loyalty or disagrees, it doesn’t mean we think someone else is stupid. That is how discussions deteriorate quickly.
If there are twenty well run clubs in the EPL, all doing the right things, three still get relegated each year. People acting like they've (the board) done this on purpose or its gross negligence need to relax a bit. Mistakes have been made, too many over the last 18 months. But I imagine the take over made things pretty difficult. Also some of the players we have signed have not lived up to expectations, its football, that happens. Go read the Sunderland forum if you want to know how it feels to be betrayed. Check out the hammers to understand what its like to be a customer with no voice. Our biggest problem is we have had it so good for too long. Player power is king now, mistakes catch up faster than ever before, but I think a dip into the Championship will ignite our passion once again. And hopefully Gao catches the bug, then we are laughing.
So you think people who had a different view to you are stupid? Nice to have a better incite into club matters, not to mention being a lot cleverer than those that wanted to support the new board in their infancy. So you have never made a wrong judgement then? Why not try to be a bit more charitable and understanding......rather than the “I told you so attitude”
I must admit that I am genuinely confused as to why Les Reed is so hated by so many on here? he joined Saints in 2010 and was there as we hit the heady heights of 6th in the Premiership from a lowly position in League 1. Why is it his fault that our success meant all the best players and managers moved on? and that eventually we couldn't replace them? I'm just a supporter, his whole life and very good livelihood is SFC. Why do people here know more about running a football club than him? has he just become lazy? or is it easier to invest in a league 1 club and attract Championship quality players than it is to attract top 4 premiership quality players when you've just sold all your top 4 premiership quality players? (through no fault of your own) It's all nonsense, there are 20 teams in the premiership and about 14 of them are in a cycle of boom and bust!
As we all moan ourselves to death, I can now see why they left. That crowd is truly the 12th, where we have become an anchor. Damn, that feels harsh to write.
The real nastiness between Pompey and Southampton started during the late 70's early 80's in my opinion. Which over flowed into real violence when on the rare occasions we met. On one occasion 3 or 4 Pompey supporters were seriously injured one of which if memory serves died. Relations between the clubs since those attacks have never been the same. Quite frankly understandable in the circumstances. That unfortunately was at the height of football unrest in this country. Hopefully never to return...........
As rubbish as we have been this season at least we have not made it on this list https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...=editorial_organic&utm_content=metadata_image
If they put in league performances like ours their atmosphere would soon be similar to St Mary's. Much better than St Mary's ever is though.
The real bitterness and nastiness started inititialy by the Pompey fans sometime in the mid 70s when they were in real decline and we were about to ascend. I heard a story of a Pompey fan that was chased by some Saints fans on Fareham station and was hit by a train and lost a leg in about 76/77, not sure if it completely true but relations certainly deteriorated around about then. Before that, I can remember the Milton Road end singing good natured and humourous songs about Fratton Park falling down and sparrows with arses of cows flying over Pompey and taking potshots! The first time I was ever called a Scummer was in 1978 when I left school and started a Boatbuilding course in Woolston as the first year of my apprenticeship. There were a few lads from Pompey docks and Gosport on the course too and the bitterness they had towards Saints really knocked me back a bit!. Of course I started to retaliate and the banter that year was a lot of fun, even coming down to the QE2 and The Victory! They took me to the Fratton End for one match and the anti-Saints songs being sung were a real eye opener I can tell you. So my conclusion and summary is that the "bitter rivalry" was started by Skates during their decline in the 70s and we responded to it after.
My son had scummer shrieked in his face when he was knee high to a grasshopper and wearing a Saints top. Frightening a small child must have made that man feel really big.
Wore my Saints jersey one day at a music festival in Spain. Nearly got beaten up by a group of thugs from Portsmouth...Explained that I wasn't from Southampton so had no real hatred for Portsmouth (well not to the same level as if I lived there) and I'd say that was the only thing that saved me from a hiding as these lads were proper scumbags
My first away game in '66. 9 years old and bloody terrified by rampaging Pompey fans on the train back. First 'scummer' rant directed at me around 1974, I laughed which seemed to upset them more. Accidently made friends with a Pompey fan in 1983, he remains my best and most trusted friend. We both worked hard at not allowing the 'football' thing to intrude too much. Always remember him disappearing pronto once when I accompanied him to FP mid 80s, I had left my Saints pin badge on my leather jacket. I noticed before the knuckle draggers.
