Fair enough. Mind you, I should imagine some disadvantaged sections of society would be less than pleased with your use of the the word "mong" in one of your previous posts on this topic. We ALL have to be SO careful with our "ist" language.
Perhaps not my wisest moment. I'm not gonna stand here and bandy it around at everyone though like there's nowt wrong with it.
Yes, but when I was a kid, the term "spaz" was used for much the same reason. All I'm saying is, the more we limit others' use of language, the more we have to watch our own! BTW "moron" was a redundant term for a person with mental ******ation and was used by the eugenics movement. An offensive term? I have no time for real racist behaviour, but I'm sure that the vast majority of anti-Guly sentiment is not racially motivated, whether we agree with the negative opinion or not. We have been "educated" to see racism everywhere. I'm sure that the calling of an old favourite "Chicken George" was not exactly PC, but it was affectionate! Personally, I'm against all censorship of language("sticks and stones"), but it's only fair to pick up on all transgressions if we pick on some.
At 2-0 up everyone around me was moaning we were playing possession game and protecting our lead. All wanting more goals.
Answering the OP, I do think some supporters believe Saints should be able to breeze through the opposition as if they weren't there. Sadly, there will always be people who simply won't stand for the pace of improvement in a football side, at whatever pace it takes place. They seem to forget that there is another football team on the field doing their utmost to undo everything their own side is trying to do. If we have a rare off day, you can bet it wasn't because the players decided to take it easy. Do that, and playing stats get you left out of the side. There is no hiding place these days. No, it was because the opposition were well drilled and informed as to our intentions and played well to stop us. In all of this, it is simply impossible to be perfect; to make the storybook pass or shot - the one that is remembered for years - all the time. Even Messi isn't capable of that. All you can ask for is that a player gives his all, and plays as well as he can, for as long as he can, in a match. If you can see that, then there's little to complain about. I suppose some supporters will believe that by paying for their ticket, they can act as they please. I think they're wrong.
I was stood in B43 for the first time, normally I'm in Kingsland North or the family enclosure when i'm skint. Guly seemed to be picked out by some utter c*nts who thought it funny to sarcastically cheer every time he completed a pass. Thank F000k someone started that if you all love Guly clap your hands song. I'll admit to shouting at players if they ain't cuttin the mustard, yet I regard myself rather fair, in the sense that I don't have a player that I hate or pick on, as some do with Guly. On Tuesday I berated Lallana for being ****e, and today did the same for Hammond. Luckily they can't hear me.... It's just the passion I have to see Saints succeed.
But Lallana in his interview said he could hear the fans were annoyed in the first half, so don't think they don't pick up on it.
Which leads them to being completely clueless, and booing/whinging when a single pass doesn't get made, or getting restless during periods of our possession. Getting on the players backs will never, ever be a good thing.
I was in Block 43 too, never again. I'd just like to point out that the cheering was not intended to be sarcastic towards Guly. It was done to get up the nose of the man constantly singling him out for unfair abuse, while not criticising any other Saints player. He was screaming and bawling at Guly at the top of his voice. So people nearby began squealing to take the p!ss out of his voice, while cheering Guly and singing "if you all love Guly clap your hands!". He stood there looking miserable, and never joined in or admitted he was wrong, although he never criticised Guly once more in that game. What an idiot.
Well, I only played at a low level but I still understand football and that when we pass it around the back the opposition can't score. You don't have to play football to understand its concepts.
One way of shutting these people up is to take a photo on your phone and report them to the stewards - we dont need them and certainly dont want them These are great times to be a Saint so lets not let ignorant morons spoil it
But that's just it. He does put the effort in, and he has done something in these last two games. Likewise against Leeds. Granted, in all three games it was much more defensive work than offensive work (the only real offensive work he did was in the 2nd half yesterday, when Adkins moved him into the hole), but it was still work. That is why Adkins is picking him, and his record with us since joining from Scunny maybe suggests that it's probably wise to accept that he knows best. But the fact that you (and many others) apparently can't see this - that you can't see the effort that Guly gives and what he brings to the team - is I think why these racial suggestions are put forward. You lot clearly aren't blind, so there was muct be another reason. Game after game after game you surely can't fail to pick up on what he brings, so maybe there's an uletrior motive behind it? Just because he doesn't run around at 100 miles an hour like Lee or Chaplow, does not mean he's putting the effort in. He covers a significant amount of ground. Even the guy next to me, who borders on a Guly-hater, was very, very impressed with his work-rate and defensive effort over these two home games.
In reality I would suggest that most People that where there, were just enthralled and engrossed in the game. We had the Guly moaners around me as well. In the first half nothing seemed to go for him. In the second half he improved especially when he was allowed to play his more natural game. As for the possession side of things........I think there is many schools of thought here. Those that think it great to keep the ball away from the opposition are right of course they are. While we have it they can't score! Possession though does have to be productive. Just keeping possession is very negative if used in the wrong way. The same as passing back.....we were always taught to pass the way you are facing unless told to turn. Short passing can be very effective if it is done quickly and precisely and is a very effective way of breaking down stubborn defences. Our play makers in the middle of our line up are a little slow at times at spotting good runs by our forwards to create gaps where the ball should have been placed, effectively passing side ways or back when the opening has been created. Often then being played into the gap which has now been closed. If they are not quicker at this when they move up to the premier we will have a very tough time, trust me on this. The trouble is we the spectator have the luxury of seeing these gaps being created, but going begging week, in week out. A prime example of what I mean was Lee's runs in the first half. Space being created to run into but not seen by our boys and when it was it was to late giving the opposition time to step up, so off side. Although on a couple of occasions the decisions were questionable I would agree. To me it was obvious that NA spoke to the team about this at half time and Lee's runs caused havoc in the second half. One of these runs paying big dividends for Lallana. So I can understand the frustration about our possession football. As far as Saints fans being racist.....Yes you are going to get some Idiots making stupid remarks like "monkeys returning to Brazil etc". I wouldn't mind betting it was just said by some little moron that thought he was being funny. I bet his remark went down like a damp squid!! Southampton in general does not have a reputation of a racist area. Having said that I don't mean there is no racist people in the area as clearly there are, but in the main the population of Southampton will not tolerate it!! I enjoyed yesterday's game despite being a tad frustrated with the first half. Barnsley tried and succeeded to frustrate us for the first 25 minutes or so. It is though no coincidence throughout the whole game Davis did not have a shot to save.
I think that saints fans are too quick to criticize when a run isn't seen, or a pass goes astray. Sure it can be frustrating when we see something that they don't, but the level of abuse of our own players was ridiculous. I can't believe the amount of people shouting "You're s***" and "you're useless" at our own team! I am a fan of our slow tempo build up passing, and I don't think that it can be called negative. A lot of people see it as negative football when really we are bossing the game, and probing for openings. Obviously this can sometimes lead to some risky looking passes at the back (which have decreased so much since the start of the season, they have clearly been working on it) but we have a back four with immense technical ability who can be trusted to play it. Just look at Fonte who was roaming around in the second half almost like a Central Midfielder. Some of the stuff in the second half yesterday was absolutely fantastic, and Adkins whole philosophy of keeping the ball, and controlling the ball is clearly working. I know what you are saying about there being a fine line between possession football and negative football, but in general I think that a lot of saints fans don't see it, they expect us to constantly be attacking. I am aware that me posting on here about it is futile though, as the majority of people on here understand football and arent the type to shout constant abuse at our own players.
Yea i really dont get why people moan when a pass goes backwards! if there is nothing on thats the best thing to do not just hoof it up field! i dont see why the old pricks behind me cant understand the fact that not every pass can go forwards AHHH!!! RAGEEE
I too sit amongst a little group of Guly haters and they well and truly get on my tits. I cheer Guly at every opportunity but they shout abuse at his slightest error and yet will forgive other players who make far worse mistakes. Our Nigel picks him and seems to give him free reign to roam wherever on the pitch and he works his socks off for us. If we go up this season we will have a whole squad to thank but five players in particular have done it for me and they are Kelvin, Morgan, Guly, Lambert and Lallana. All the rest have been bit part players and they hve done their bit but these five have given their all. I bet if you were able to see Nigel draw up his team sheet for match days those five names would be the first pencilled in. Like others on here I can only conclude that as some of our fans cannot appreciate what Guly does for the team they must never have played football themselves. We are bloody lucky to have him.
