It's so weird that, three seasons in a row, we've delivered the coup de grace to a relegated team 2025 - Southampton 2024 - Burnley 2023 - Leeds
So the Reddit crowd are thinking we should sign Taylor Harwood-Bellis this summer That would be the Taylor Harwood-Bellis who Solanke easily barged off the ball in the buildup to Johnson's second goal And that's without the obvious issue of the Mansourites having a fat sell-on clause...
You lot were pretty poor yesterday. Can see why you are where you are in the league. Ground was like a morgue too? I thought with home wins being rare your fans would be more up for it.
There is a real sense of deflation there at the moment, along with quite a few "tourists" around me, as well as Dad's with young kids so it did not make for a good atmosphere. The die-hard Levy out brigade who attended were also far more intersted in that than the game or result! I did think you lot were magnificent though considering. I have fond memories of the likes of Mike Channon and big Matt in their prime at the Saints so I find it quite sad to see the club in that state. All the best for next season anyway...
The club seem not to want 'legacy fans' like me. Tourists spend more on food and merch and demand less in terms of sporting success. Like other clubs who sell out their stadia, the direction of travel is to reduce season ticket sales, as one-off sales are more lucrative. A former manager (who actually won silverware) once said..."There used to be a football club over there..." We're just an entertainment arena these days.
Probably the flattest atmosphere that I've experienced, to be honest. Felt like one of those end of season matches with nothing on it. The big VAR break in the first half didn't help, either. Early Sunday game with a protest and little to get worked up about on the pitch. I thought we should've killed it off in the first half, but the second was awful. Fernandes had time to take it down and take a touch in the box. Ludicrous. Thought you were going to nick a draw near the end, til someone just aimlessly hoofed it out. Must've annoyed the crap out of your lot, even though you're probably used to it. Do we get a discount on Dibling for helping you to move on two managers?
The second half was a perfect example of a team trying to manage a game, but exposing how incapable they are at managing a game due to the system they play in There's no reason the personnel we had on the pitch should not be able to operate in the box midfield that the Mansourites used to sit on leads for large chunks of last season, but the system is currently creating more space for our opponents than it does for us
I thought that, but Postecoglou's post-match comments suggest it wasn't part of the plan. We've come out after the break in a shambles far too frequently this season. Perhaps it was just another example of it?
I know it's rich saying this to a fan whose team has just been relegated, but there really isn't much to be excited about at the moment and tbh there hasn't been for quite a few years. Feels like we've been treading water for six seasons now. The deflation we all felt after losing the CL final and then Poch's project unraveling hasn't really gone anywhere. There is also a distinct lack of quality out on the pitch. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the only players many fans were excited watch yesterday were Spence and Bergvall. That was certainly the case for me. I couldn't give a toss about most of our players, such is the disconnect at the minute. In the 90s we used to occupy similar league positions, but at the very least back then there were always players who'd get you off your seat and were worth the entry fee alone regardless of the score. Klinsmann, Ginola, Keane etc. Now we've got no one.
The biggest tell was how every single sub put in a performance which was visibly worse than the player they replaced, which made it clear they were being instructed that we were easing off
Yeah definitely get the same tourist/entertainment vibe from the ground as you get at the big clubs which you didn't get at WHL. Don't remember it being that bad two seasons ago either. As you say though it's the way football is going now for most clubs in this league really. Looking forward to next season.
That's cos it was Yeah I said on our board that once the second went in the match was basically like a testimonial pace. The VAR wait was utterly horrific and when they put it up on the screen didn't even look offside. Says a lot that our fans were singing against it despite it going in our favour. Re Dibling you can have a discount if we get him back on loan? He's not looked arsed in months in fairness, don't think he broke into a sprint once yesterday. Much more gutted about losing Fernandes.
