Ted Bates Statue

Listening to Exeter v Pompey, how is it possible to enjoy a football match with that stupid bell tinkling away? For all the moaning about our support, I would die of embarrassment to be associated with idiots like that.

4-D chess by the club to enhance the Chapel Kop of legend that we all know and love. Such was their intention from the very beginning.

A few days ago I saw some interesting stats across the division on this. I can't find the original but this summarises it: https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/championship/attendances/average-as-percentage Got to hand it to most supporters, basically unless the club has really pissed off the fans (Venkys, Birmingham City etc) then the support is there. I guess the chance for most teams to be within touching distance of the playoffs helps greatly too. The other factor is ticket pricing. When we went down in 2005, the ticket reduction was minimal, and we lost a good chunk of supporters right from the get-go. At least this time the tickets are priced for the division we're in.

They must be gluttons for punishment, they only got thrashed about a year ago by a Wrexham XI containing Lee Trundle (we should sign him)

For the first time this season, we're further ahead on points compared to the same number of games played in Nigel Adkins' promotion season. Back then we had a bit of a wobble in December, but it was still enough to stay top with 47 points. At this stage, in both seasons we have 14 wins, the key difference being we've still only lost 4 this time around. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/championship/spieltagtabelle/wettbewerb/GB2?saison_id=2011&spieltag=24 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/championship/spieltagtabelle/wettbewerb/GB2?saison_id=2023&spieltag=24 Still a long way to go, but back in September I really didn't expect us to trouble the top 2 at any point, so it's tremendous that we are on this run. I'm sure there will be bumps along the way and the odd defeat shouldn't de-rail our season, but it's increasingly looking like we are capable of fighting for automatic promotion. Whether we get it or not, who knows, but I'm enjoying it. Bring on the rest of the season.

Not great news, but have to LOL at people losing their fucking minds on this thread.

"Too many games" but the pre-season nonsense tournaments and European group stages get more and more bloated every year. Who really gives a shit about group stage matches, except for supporters of the teams directly involved? The League Cup has already taken a hit since winner only gets Europa Conference qualification (although I would still consider the possibility of winning it as a potential highlight of supporting Saints).

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

So if there are people on here who claim to know Danny Ings, can anyone verify Nick's claim on the Ugly that he's moved back to the Southampton area? And by Southampton area, does that mean Winchester as I thought that's where he lived?

When his win percentage made him one statistically our greatest manager since Lawrie Mac (let's not mention that almost everyone else had to contend with the added difficulties of competing in a higher division).

We may only be fifth now, but we're still only two points off top of the division and automatic promotion. I don't know how much we've spent relative to others but we're not doing that badly, as far as I can tell.

In the long-run you'll probably be best off leaving it blank because he definitely won't be supporting Saints for long, as soon as he finds out that Newcastle have such an efficient name and numbering service at their club shop.

Relevant quote from Farke in the article shared by @Alanh "It’s sometimes a coincidence when two or three teams are winning that many points. Over 46 games it can level in the end and if you are there with an average of two (points per game), like we are at the moment, then definitely happy days." Hopefully that'll be us by the end of the season (and tonight, as we climb our way up the table).

If we're concerned with the quality of our current away support, what better than to delve into our own back catalogue and wheel out the big guns.

Last time I was at an away match it was at Brentford away where it was mostly the old MCFC "we never win at home and we never win away," which I felt was a decent effort and to be fair fits us down to a tee in the Premier League. Trouble is we don't sing that now that we win or draw most of the time. Was it you who came up with Raspberry Beret song for KWP? Can't find it anywhere but thought it deserved to catch on. For those who think that the anti-Pompey sings will drop off anytime soon, think again. I doubt anyone singing about Pompey this season is paying any attention to their position in the table beyond knowing what division they play in.

Can't believe you've forgotten about our epic JPT win.

Statistically he's the best manager in Europe, and he's good with powerpoint

Let's hope we don't sack him for unspecified reasons. I take your Rohl and raise you one Glynn Snodin.

So far this season he has been the prime candidate to join Millwall and Rotherham, and this week he's linked to Sunderland and of all clubs, Swansea?! We're talking about the former Cardiff supporter Nathan Jones who surely doesn't fit the style that Swansea expect to play. Someone's having a laugh. At this point, I'm going to believe he's in the front-running for a job only after he's been photographed on a pitch holding a scarf aloft.

I can vouch for the difference that's been made. I returned to the Chapel for the first time in years yesterday next to Block 14 and it has transformed the atmosphere at that end, from an environment where previously, I felt embarrassed to be singing Oh When The Saints practically solo and promising myself to never sit there again. Before, the only noise generated was when we scored. Now, there is singing all the way through the match. There were a quite a few Pompey chants but I don't think it's got worse - make of that what you will. I'm fine with the occasional bit of one-sided banter, but there was a solid ten minute period of this in the first half which only ended with the stoppage in play for the Cardiff player about 33 minutes in. I do get the distinct impression that the bold claims of "kick their fucking heads in" are very much empty threats, so it's about as inaccurate as the "Ten More Years In League One" chant. I liked the moment where after a few minutes of singing "Aribo" to Spandau Ballet, someone in an adjacent block tried to change the subject to a Pompey song, but to no avail as everyone else continued on as they were. Singing about a team that isn't involved with the game I'm watching is really not for me, and I have to admit I'd rather learn the words to the Woolston Fucking Ferry, despite not being keen on it before, but at least it celebrates Southampton in a weird way, and I actually welcomed it getting a short outing yesterday. Don't get me wrong, most of the singing is OWTS or some variation on Saints Til I Die, COYR etc. Yes, there was a Rickie Lambert song for a brief moment but I think part of this is maybe down to the high player turnover. It's not easy getting songs going if they're off soon, or injured, or not good enough, or shipped out on loan. As I think we're a good bet for at least playoffs this season, hopefully this changes. Just let us occasional supporters know what the lyrics and the tunes are, and I would be happy to join in with any new ones next time I'm there. If you're sitting in the opposite corner near the Northam, I reckon there were maybe 200 (?) of us standing near the back of Block 14, so of course you're not going to hear us over the thousands making up the Northam end. Russell Martin won't be walking over to the Chapel giving us the fist pumps anytime soon, but compared to the rest of the rest of the stadium it makes a huge difference. Early on someone and his lad walked up the steps to join us as "They're too quiet over there", but for all I know, he might have just been referring to the very front of the block. Chapel has the reputation for being the quiet stand but I don't see the Itchen or Kingsland being much better, at least for the halves near the Chapel. One of the main reasons for bothering to watch Saints live is because I enjoy the noise. I can tolerate a calmer vibe when it's a women's match but it's literally a different crowd for those games and no big deal when it's so much cheaper. I think it's fair to expect a higher level on and off the pitch in the men's game. I think Southampton support has always been fairly average since moving to St Mary's, and exemplified by the exodus that happens from 80-83 minutes played. Adam Blackmore has been making a point of mentioning it this season and it happened again yesterday. I just can't believe the amount of early trains that need to be caught. Anyway, more singing in the non-Northam areas of the ground can only be a good thing. It's something the club should have made way more effort to encourage. At least it's happening now. Hope to be back next time against Blackburn. COYS

Just watched this build-up to the first goal again, as the short highlights don't include it. So enjoyable to watch the match, and so many instances where we simply bamboozled our way out of potentially tricky situations for the defence.

For the purposes of this thread, while watching the TV yesterday I noticed that at the first slight lull in volume, the away support suddenly piped up with "Is this a library." This happened just 8 minutes in, and lasted about twenty seconds before it got drowned out. So it's not just us who take part in false and inaccurate chanting. As an aside, we sounded reasonably good on TV, although I accept that microphone placement is the deciding factor more than anything else.

What makes the chant worse is that most real libraries are too fucking noisy these days. They get treated like internet cafes and nobody gets told to shut up anymore.

Good to see MLG-standard pedantry is alive and kicking on here