Falling out of love

Over the many years I have watched the Saints there have been a great many players that I have admired, respected and had a great affection for. Players like Ron Davies, Mike Channon, Matty, Jason Dodd, Francis Benali, Terry Paine, Nick Holmes, Ivan Golac, and so on. The affection for those players is inextricably linked in with affection for the club.

Today I have nowhere near the same admiration and affection for our players so my question is this:

Once you start falling out of love with your favourite players is the inevitable next step that you fall out of love with your club?

If I am to remain fond of and loyal to SFC what must they do to break this perception amongst other clubs and the media that our players are there for the picking.

If the club really want Morgan to stay they simply stamp a £50 million price tag on and the money must be paid up front.

I also have a subsidiary question which is:

Is this as good as it is ever going to get and are we capable of repeating this years performance if our players get picked off? Was this years recovery just a lucky matter?

 

I have frequently fallen in and out of love with SFC. The fallling out happened when the club became becalmed in the old first division for nigh on 20 years in the lower reaches of the division. Starting at the bottom end of League 1 in 2009 restored my love. Could it happen again. Could I fall out of love again? Definitely if things start to stall!!

 

The real test is would you support someone else...I'm sure almost everyone would say no.

 

When I have lost a little love with SFC then it is Athletic Bilbao!!

 

Who is this Ron Davis of whom you speak?

I think the answer to the question is that as you say Godders, the players are inextricably bound up with the club but with very few exceptions the love continues even after they have gone. Plus the fact that we have all continued to love Saints even in the worst of times, right up to the very brink of liquidation, so how how can there be any diminution of love after 6 consecutive seasons of continuous improvement? I have every confidence that even if a few players do leave this summer, and it won't be as many as last year, we will end up next season with a stronger squad than this, our most successful in the Premier League era.

 

Maybe it's probably more falling out of love with football.

I only watch MOTD if Saints win (I've seen many, many defeats both on TV and in attendance to be bothered repeating it too often), we cancelled Sky TV about three years okay so I rarely watch live matches either.

I love Brentford getting in the play-offs and Bournemouth being promoted but the truth is I will confidently predict 15 teams that won't win the Premier League next season now - and I'll be right, so where's the thrill of the competition? You already know your team can't win it.

I think this season is probably the best we will see from our club in the Premier League, just because we lost a load of players and a manager this season, replaced them and were successful a lot of people think we'll just do it again next season. I'm not so sure.

I follow Saints and really hope they'll win every week but I'm starting to think it's a habit rather than wanting to do it. My brother bullied me into supporting Saints when I was small (he really did) and I still haven't got him back yet

 

Next Friday my partner and I travel to Leicester to stay with Leicester Saint (from Saints Web). We have known Leicester Saint and his partner for more than 40 years, we will be joined by another couple who live in Essex who have supported Saints for their life times. We know and care about each other's children and grand children. It may be that we would have been friends over the years anyway, complementary tastes in literature, music and drama have also given us cause for remaining 'in touch'. There is however a significant common denominator which is why we are all together in Leicester next weekend, we have red and white stripes running through our lives. We were at Hartlepool, and we would go again. WE WON'T FALL OUT OF LOVE.

 

It's OK Chilco, I went in there silently and corrected his spelling. I just couldn't stop myself. How anyone can pay tribute to a favourite player, I mean thee Ron Davies, Saints greatest classic centre forward for pete's sake, and not at least get the name correct is a bit beyond me.

Never mind Godders, I'm sure you didn't mean it. Must be those doddery old fingers, eh..?

 

Hmm I seem to have difficulty understanding where you are coming from Godders. While I agree I do have my favourite players I'm am not so enamoured with them that it particularly bothers me if they prefer to move on. Disappointed certainly but not enough to stop me going to support the players that do stay and of course the club itself.
Over the years there have been many ups and downs while supporting saints but I cannot think of any time that I thought of rapping it in supporting them. No matter how bad it has been.

 

I think the question is can you love your club in the same way when you can't love your players like you used to?
I think the answer depends on the level of continuity and performance levels.
We have had a LOT of change, new owner who sadly passed away, 'new' owner come in with uncertainty (to begin with), charismatic chairman who upped and left, 4 managers since L1. And some different home kits! Its not surprising some of us don't know how to feel.
For me the key is having enough continuity so your identity doesn't change each season. What that entails is a bit subjective.

 

I don't care about the players as much because they no longer, on the whole, honour their contracts and are greedy for more money even though they earn more in a month for playing football than the Prime minister does in a year for running a whole country. They can afford to be loyal but choose not to. Some are possibly good enough to play at a higher level but don't have the ambition to try to do it with us. All we can hope is that a few of the local academy lads feel a bit more of a pull to stay at Saints. Despite my poor opinion of a lot of the players this will not stop me supporting Saints whoever is in the team. It's impossible.

 

Spot on.

 

I actually love this club now more than I did when it was scraping by each season, surviving on a lst minute LeTissier goal. I'm quite proud that I support a club that operates the way Saints do. There're good reasons why we are constantly held up as an example to the other clubs.

However, I do not love professional football as much as I used to. Partly because I'm older but largely because it doesnt mean as much any more, its a self-perpetuating illusion where money is the only reality. I can't find it within me to care about multi-millionaires that much which is why I had a lot of love for the players that brought Saints up from League 1. They werent multi-millionaires, they werent motivated soley by the money. Then the premier league and England got into their heads. Re-inforced my feelings.

Still, I've enjoyed the last 4-5 years of being a saints fan very much. Long may it continue.

 

You grow to love a lot of players after they have left. You name Franny and Dodd among your list of faves, but during the 90's people used to groan when Franny's name was on the teamsheet, and Doddy was usually second fiddle to Kenna or whoever that season's new signing was. Neither were very good. Dodd improved later on. The affection kind of grows in later years, because there is no risk to the team, and so the memory of any dodgy performances raises a smile.

In ten years time, we will love this current team (and those involved in the double promo) even more than we do now.

 

Bloody Hell, I got the spelling of his name wrong on another thread For what ever reason. To question someone's spelling" thats beyond me"
Maybe falling out with so called fellow supporters on such threads contributes to falling out of love with your club. No one loves people who think they are perfect.

 

I didn't fall out with you Possum, I just pointed out you hadn't made it clear which Davis/Davies you were referring to. We've had a few!

And by the way, not bothering to spell people's names right is quite beyond me.

 

on of th buttons on my k y board do sn't work. That's my xcus and I am sticking to it.

 

Well there is perfect.....and then again ultra perfect......Some like to think they are while others just complain because they are not.

 

I know exactly how you feel godders, and I feel exactly the same. It's the reason I have streamed most games this season rather than making the effort to get down to St Mary's like I used to. I stopped my season ticket when we got back to the premier league, due to the price jump, but still managed 90% of home and a few away games in that first season. Since "the exodus" I would rather save my money than give it to players who would abandon the club at the first opportunity.

 

I didn't say I fell out with you Chico
Believe me I would have said, your point was valid. But last comment is crap.
Time, Rushed, mobile phone lots and lots of reasons but none need to justified. Maybe some people have to much time to spend on here and bigger key boards. who knows, who cares.
The only reason I like to quickly browse and if time make a comment is because I am a Saints fan of 40 years of varied love but still Love.