TheAlehouseBrawlers

We were in the Northam yesterday and I thought it was OK and will certainly get better. Very good at the start, best first half, but complete lack of chances created set a reality in and the support suffered (all round the ground. A goal would have changed everything. I think those knocking it were against it from the start. Sometimes there were different chants starting all over and some started one one side, gradually progressed across but had already ended where it started. Forest fans only woke up after they'd scored but thought they'd be much better than they were, they only "outsung" us at the end as they were winning and our lot had already realised we were so inferior at home to a relegation rival we couldn't afford to lose to. And if you're in the Chapel Itchen corner (as someone posted) of course the aways will sound loud, you're right in front of them. It will get worse, Man United will be non-stop, maybe 'supporters' down that end need to pipe up more. Teething problems with the fanzones regarding a bit of congestion but thought they were generally good - not really for me other than at halftime but can only praise the club for trying something new.

Yeah, I'm assuming if the away team wins the toss they'll want to attack towards their own fans second half which is the norm. If anything we may have given ourselves a disadvantage as the keeper at the Northam end suffers most with sun in the first half most of the time. Little chance of that being a problem today though...

If they're putting cards on the seats for fans to hold up I assume we probably won't be seeing this big new flag passed around unless that appears after. Guess we'll now always be attacking the Northam second half - ain't it meant to be sunny when the season starts?

Always up for the first home game of a new season, the bubble can usually burst by around 5pm most seasons but feeling optimistic today and we're only 3 points off the top of the table... These are the games we're certainly going to need to pick up points and get most of our wins so hope everyone is well up for it for the full 90 mins. Bring the noise.

I was expecting some of this 1885 group to have organised themselves over the summer with a few new chants but going by Newcastle last week it doesn't appear to have happened. So it's still just OWTS, the cringey skate shit and a couple of others. Hopefully it will improve as the season goes on but for me, just making noise is as good as singing. Would be good to develop a 'Northam Roar', the kind of thing you used to get in football grounds years ago, particularly with corners down that end. I'm an old git in his sixties but I'm in the Northam Saturday (not around for United and back in the KIngsland for Ipswich), my support is a bit industrial so I'm looking forward to seeing how it is Saturday, hopefully leaving with a sore throat!

Is that farmer Palmer the famous Falmer farmer?

Apparently visiting fans arriving at Central will be guided down Poundtree Road (luckily the Warrens closed a few years ago…🥴), through the parks and past St Mary’s church. Guess the return trek will be the same. They still haven’t sold out but should bring a good crowd, this is what one of them thinks… ”Need to be well up for this match Will be like a Cup Final for Southampton” 😄

Just had a scoot over a couple of Forest boards, they generally feel confident of the three points. I’d suggest this post sums up the general consensus: “I'm not looking forward to sitting through the attempted water boarding possession torture tactics of Russell Martin but as we know its all nice and fancy playing 27 passes between the central defenders only for us to skull them on the counter and rack up a few goals” I’ll go 2-1 Saints.

Guess we could see Lesley, Fernandes, Dibling, AA, oh and...cough...Stewart and Lallana get a run out in this. Cardiff play at Swansea on Sunday so their focus should mostly be on that. Having said that, apparently Cardiff are struggling to sell their allocation of 1700 tickets, only around half sold for their big local derby, maybe they see playing our reserves as the bigger game.

I'm in it this weekend so hoping it's a continuation of the play-off game atmosphere - although we've probably got even less chants in our limited repertoire than last season now we're up and Stuey Armstrong's gone. Hopefully something that will improve as the season goes on, the usual "You've only got one song" will no doubt be heard on Saturday.

Droll....3,000 away fans will probably still make more noise than the home fans where ever we put them, assuming the new...ahem...Northam Wall haven't learnt any new songs over the summer. OWTSzzzz on repeat is going to be pretty mind-numbing.

Even if we could keep hold until January and then someone comes in and panics and makes a stupidly inflated offer as some usually do in that window….oh hang on, that’s usually us ain’t it………

Did this come off in the end and anyone know what design was chosen? Guess we’ll see it Saturday if so.

One for the Northam Wall to go with return of the Lallana ghey wave ditty - they should all dress up in tights, green tunics and pointy hats in a Robin Hood stylee belting out “Cameron, Cameron Riding through with Ben* Cameron, Cameron With his band of men Feared by the bad Loved by Southampton Cameron, Cameron, Cameron” ** *cough…BBD **I’m not being serious

I remember Ossie's home debut midweek against Leicester and someone must have cut up a bed sheet into loads of homemade scarves, penned 'Osgood' on them and handed them out around the Milton. They were being held aloft under the Toomers to 'Ossie' being sung to Amazing Grace. Between Ossie and Keegan we signed some exciting internationals and big club players. Jim McCalliog from Man United (if only really best remembered for the quarter final at Bradford and that pass at Wembley), Ted MacDougall (and the Boyer partnership), Bally, Chris Nicholl, Charlie George (big name but...) and Dave Watson. Just after Keegan, Shilton and Mick Mills.

They seem to have mixed views of him, some suggesting not strong enough for the PL and would be more suited for them in the Championship, Also saying signing BBD forced him out of the side. Still, we must have seen something way back, we even named a stand after him back at the Dell.

I can’t really remember being genuinely ’excited’ about a signing since Keegan. That was crazy. I remember the first exciting signing coming a few years after I first started going, and that was Peter Osgood in 1974. I couldn’t believe we’d signed him, despite being a Saints fan he was bit of a hero to this young nipper. I loved Bally too so that was another. Keegan was on another level.

I can’t read the DE article as not subscribed but the headline is MANAGER Russell Martin said Saints have not "wanted to show all our cards in pre-season" and insisted he has a plan in mind for Newcastle United. So I guess something only tried on the training ground in pre-season, this will be interesting….

We did start last season with JWP, Tella and Lavia all involved up until they were sold, unfortunately I don't think playing KWP will make too much difference to the outcome next Saturday.

I recall team spirit doing it for Hull a decade+ ago, they came up and set off like a steam train. In the CL positions come Christmas and then…..bombed. Just missed out on relegation, dropped the following season. As long as we don’t do a Derby I’ll be happy. And I won’t be devastated if we do get relegated, as long as we don’t go down without a fight. The Championship renewed my enthusiasm for the game.

It is...and so is this, costing the taxpayer £500,000 every time WHU play a home game https://www.thetimes.com/article/97b666b5-7035-4ca8-aa1d-5d8d8c6012c3?shareToken=214926dad775926e37346641e0d4cb13

I thought the pink shirts looked lovely against our pink seats last night.

Good workout for essentially our second XI, rode our luck, now just one game to give our starting line-up 90 mins before Newcastle. 50-odd Italians enjoyed themselves singing away for most of the match (lots of different chants). If anyone interested from a Lazio perspective - they seemed unaware (understandably) that they were playing almost entirely our ‘B’ team but saw the game probably much the same as many of us, after the first 10 mins they were mostly the better side. One poster fancies Shea Charles but Alcaraz gets some stick for the brawl. They didn’t like the ref and the usual oppo view of us. “I can tolerate the inventors of passing football less and less. For about twenty minutes in the first half, Southampton did nothing but make a series of passes in their own half. It may be efficient and legal but for me this is not football. We need to put in place a water polo type rule. If within two minutes you don't cross the halfway line, it's a change of ball” https://www-lazio-net.translate.goog/forum/lazio-talk/lazio-southampton-(amichevole)/?PHPSESSID=81vpdnnoj196bg8lt7u2jkl4fe&_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc#google_vignette

Not easy to make out but it looks like the new away section could be entirely safe-standing. Probably not as there will still be some visitors that will want to sit and wonder where their disabled will go, maybe just at the front?