As someone who lived in the North West "hotbed of soccer" for decades, I have to say that this is an excellent post. I have seen fans up and down the country over 60 years, and have to say that I have never seen fans so committed in their support of their team as Saints have been since the great crash of 2009. It seemed to start at Nottm Forest when we played our last game with an uncertain future and gone on from there. Two mates from Liverpool came to the recent Liverpool game with me. They were pretty depressed in the car later, as you'll imagine (one of them had predicted a 4-0 win for Liverpool!), but told me that they couldn't remember being a stadium where the fans just never stopped singing and supporting their team. I was, of course, on the other side of the divide that day and agreed it was a great atmosphere, but this was now the norm. When I can be in an atmosphere like that I don't give a monkeys what the press say. We know what we think about the management change. There was not a single "Adkins, what's the score?" last week. Had there been any rancour this little chant would have shown it. By singing his name, fans showed their appreciation. But as Kelvin Davies said in his pre-match interview, it's looking like the change was the right thing to do, and aren't we fans loving it? Good luck to Nigel Adkins, he'll be remembered as a legend. But now onwards and upwards with Mauricio!
Few managers can be as loved as Nigel, but Saints fans showed their common sense by showing no rancour towards Mauricio or Nicola. Cortese also showed common sense by replacing Adkins when there was a few days grace before the Everton game...letting high emotions subside. It was in our interests that Mauricio succeeded and most fans thought they'd wait and see...keeping their powder dry. Didn't take many minutes of the Everton game to make us happy with what we were seeing.
People used to make fun of me r.e. Saints having such a small ground to which I would always reply 'Ours is full every week and have to turn fans away. When was you r last sell out?) That was true to a point but of course artistic licence to the max Compare Chelsea in the second tier who had third tier crowds in a stadium akin to that of Pompey where they could hope at best for a season here and there in the top flight until Ken Bates gradually brought them back up and got Hoddle/Gullit in and then compare that to us in L1 the 3rd tier of English football. We had an average attendence of 21,161. The 25th highest in the country even though we were in the third tier. People who didn't watch that league properly would have said Sheffield Wednesday would have the bigger ground AND better attendance at that level but nowhere near. please log in to view this image Next time some plastic twat from any club calls us little old Southampton or a small club, tell the to F**K right off because we are bigger than most clubs there are and probably only 1 of 10 or so that could achieve that kind of attendance in the 3rd tier. And just to continue my angst ridden non smoking West Ham hating week, they would nowhere near get that attendance in the 3rd tier. They would've struggled for that had they had to spend a second year in the Championship. Who's the bigger club? Don't ever apologise for being clever enough to support the might Saints. I don't and I get a lot of **** for it. That makes me love the club even more. The best bit? All these other clubs that went to the wall and got their fancy stadiums at knock down price? Anyone who question's our club's morals and assumes that we got a stadium on the cheap. Make sure you f*****g set them straight, slap 'em silly and make sure they know that our chairman paid whole pounds, not fractions, that he paid everything in full and everything we have is what we deserve because WE PAID ALL OF OUR BILLS
Must we turn over this subject, again and again..? I'll give one example: Last weekend, after the Reading game, in one particular interview, the question was asked how Nigel felt when the Saints section sang his name out. He said, and I quote. That was nice, but I'm the Reading manager now. So he's ended it. Those who still haven't, perhaps should. And I don't give a monkey's what any of the rest of the country think, be they fans or media or pundits. It's over.
The crowd never got on MP's back, even though we didn't like to see NA go, we just had to accept it. It was the same when AP went. We're not plastic Chelsea fans. We support our home team (even if we don't).
Best chant at the Chelsea cup game when we were already losing: 'What's it like to support your local team' from the ever passionate Saint's fans. Best and most honest fans in the whole pyramid. I love Southampton Football Club and anyone that wants to make fun of me better have a good argument or understand I am laughing at your insignificance when you tell me how big or how good or how succesful 'your club' is. They aren't 'your club' they are 'your fashion' and you have no idea what it is like to support 'your club'. I was actually a grown man crying less than 4 years ago at my life, yes my lifelong love being days from extinction. I supported from afar (bar a few games I could get to) my once beloved top tier team edging ever closer to the team who play in the City I now live in. I know what it is like to be a real football fan at cold windy roofless little grounds that are outdated due to the Premier League's greed yet go barmy while 90 minutes of John Beck hoofball results in 1 goal from pinball in the six yard box. I know what it is like to see the mighty Saints being demoralised by defeats on cow fields. This is a real football supporter and not those people who sit at Old Trafford overjoyed at being at their first (and probably only) game of their lives. Something they will tell their children and grandchildren forever. For you guys that is your ownly story. For me and others of teams like Southampton, Luton, Oldham, Swindon. We know the real score and when our children and grandchildren ask us our reply doesn't start with the words 'Once I went to' It starts with the words 'How long have you got' because we have a REAL story to tell. Now bring on the hammers with their tales of 40 years ago. Wake up from your sleep because you never talk abvout anything other than the one story. BRING IT ON p.s. hope we win
You mean like in the 2004-2005 season where West Ham averaged over 27 000 during a second season in the Championship? You're right, West Ham have never got those sort of attendances in the 3rd tier of English football, seeing as we're one of the only 8 sides in English football to have never played outside of the top 2 tiers of English football. Who's the bigger club?
He, he still laughing at your signature I wasn't talking about 2004-2005 though was I I was saying if you hadn't gone up last year. Second season in the champioship watching BFS!!!! wouldn't be getting 27,000 then. Come on Saturday put me out of my misery one way or the other
We played pretty much the same under Curbs, Pardew and Grant, Zola was the only one who never mixed it up and kept it short, however as it's BFS that must mean that it's horrible anti football.
I can understand that if you mean Pardew's sometime Saints style for League One. He occasionally went direct, which for many was too often. He doesn't do that too much with Newcastle because he's confident he's got the players for the moment. Possibly he underestimated the potential abilities of the League One Saints squad, and those were later to be exploited by Adkins. However, if I am allowed to further digress, he recognised the potential of and signed the legend that was to be Rickie Lambert, and for that alone, if need be, he can be lauded by Saints fans everywhere.
Thankful that he signed him but it wasn't rocket science given Rickie's season before. Just don't like him and Newcastle aren't much prettier. their stats tend to show it too.
