franniesTache

Also explains why Martin hung around so long to be honest, his "my way is the only way and it will work because these stats say it will" despite the fact everyone could see it wasn't is more or less identical

It's from this article and some of the stuff in there is fucking mind blowing and shows why we are such an unbelievable shit show All of these are direct quotes from him: People see huge difference between the Premier League and the lower divisions in England,’ Ankersen explains. ‘We think this is not true. ‘And I’m not going there to watch him play,’ Ankersen says – this could only muddle his opinion of the player, who he knows is good. Ankersen says. ‘We tell them: your job is not to tell us whether a player is good or not. We already know that. The scouts need to see whether they are a fit from a personal, psychological point of view. ‘We redesigned the club based on a question: what would a football club look like if it had no human eye and ear?

The thing with the FAB is that half of them don't go to away games, and the other half use the bingo buses, of course they're going to be fine with a bubble as it's what they would've done anyway. Given FAB are affiliated to the club it would've been a peace of piss for them to send out a survey to say the top 3000 away supporters in our fanbase asking about travel preferences for the game, and then advocated for the actual fans who go, and not just for themselves. Mind you given for the league cup game the same FAB were more interested in grassing up our own fans on social media than anything else it's hardly a surprise they bend the knee to the police and club about the bubble. Still at least they'll cover the important stuff like the women's game and chips in the ground.

I responded with quotes direct from the minutes of our FAB that showed that not only were they complicit and supportive in the decision, but also that the FAB is a closed shop and the current members "vet" new members, meaning that the wider fanbase isn't represented. I also pointed out that the FAB do not consult with, engage with, or listen to the wider fanbase, which when combined with the fact that they don't represent the majority of those who travel away means no change is ever likely to take place.

Got a response back from the FSA, which seems to suggest that the people who should be challenging this are the FAB, but as we know our FAB are a closed shop who don't represent the wider fanbase and don't consult with them either. If you add in the fact that those on there are responsible for also vetting who joins it seems we are largely stuck with this situation going forward. This is the response in full from the FSA

I haven't missed a game against them since the 90s but if the bubble stays next season (and they stay up) i'm not going. It's an absolute fucking piss take and completely over the top, getting to St Mary's for a bus that leaves at 08:30 to do a 17mile trip that takes less than 40mins for a game that kicks off at midday, to have to provide ID like a passport to get tickets and not be able to take food or drink on the bus is beyond fucking stupid. Plus we have to pay extra for the coaches which they're forcing us to use, and more than you'd pay for the train too. I swear the set up is a scam to rip fans off and completely unnecessary too, there were barely any arrests or trouble last time round in the cup for a night game with no bubble. I'm actually half tempted to contact the football supporters association i'm so annoyed.

Is the next round midweek again? If it's not then any of these away Vale Macclesfield Grimsby Burton Mansfield Salford As they're the only ones i've not done (technically haven't done Wrexham but we'll do that later in the season)

Or the fact that he "might not have the talent of his brother" actually means he does have talent

Man't wait for the 50th anniversary shirt for stop the count when we've still not won anything. Maybe we could do an anniversary shirt for passing the ball sideways under Martin too. No running away from the fact we're getting old mush, I now work with people who are younger than my email address ffs

It's starting to feel a bit fucking tinpot that we're celebrating the fact that the last time the club did their job properly was 50 years ago. I wonder if they did a commemorative kit for winning the southern league in 1954?

What's a win?

Not sure how you can say that as we've not experienced them playing well since it's been done...

I can't believe the Northam Wall(tm) isn't one of the most feared ends in the country, we were told by people from salisbury, the isle of wight, basingstoke and bournemouth that it was EXACTLY what the club needed, and that anyone who suggested it probably wouldn't work because it's not the culture of Saints and we don't have 8k fans that want to stand and make noise was told how wrong they were. Personally i can't believe that ripping off a liverpool song every five minutes and singing OWTS too fast, or telling people how much they hate the skates hasn't led to an improved atmosphere and better results. Maybe someone should do a vlog about it, because that's sure to fix everything

Pretty sure he played for Everton too, definitely have memories of a player of that name playing there though it might not be the same one. That was the game where i realised just how screwed we were going to be in the premier league, it was a game that displayed all of the worst Martin traits and the only shining light was dibling, remember mentioning to the mates i was with that we were going down rock bottom

If what i was told on saturday is right, and i've no reason to not believe it, we're planning on spending big in the January window. Saying that though spending big doesn't mean a hell of a lot with SR, it could just mean we over pay for players that don't improve the team.

That 8-2 was my first ever game, think it's probably safe to say i peaked early in my time supporting Saints

The police dog display where the dog ran into the milton road end The Valley Slags winding up the away fans when performing on the pitch The midweek league game that got stopped because some kids were chucking tennis balls and footballs over the top of the east stand/archers onto the pitch (probably the same youth who put the razor blades in the whip at center 2000 i reckon)

When i got ours for doncaster this morning mush there were a a few blocks greyed out again, assume some are supporters groups but can't be all of them. And so far we've had these empty blocks at Hull, Norwich, Charlton off the top of my head. Your problem is we just follow you 🤣 Obviously didn't spend enough on your cabin mush, no perks for you proles. I don't think many would begrudge tickets at st mary's, to use totally made up numbers 500 tickets in a crowd of 32k isn't going to be noticed, the same number in an away end of 2k is a pisstake. As @Noodles34 said i'm in the "i'm alright jack" camp, there's basically no away game i don't qualify for as i do most of them, but it's the principle of those people who do them being overlooked for corporates that pisses me off. It's the same way i think season ticket holders with no aways getting preference over members who do away games is a pisstake too, those folk who put in the leg work should get priority, that's just the fairest way to do it. I don't want to de-rail the important work they're doing on making sure there's chips at st mary's, or how we make home games friendlier for away fans, you know, the things we really care about

Bigger issue is by spending money in their ground you're helping them out, we shouldn't be spending a single penny there and should be hoping this games costs them money. That's how we get rid of these cunts once and for all, cost them money so they go under (again)

So we've now see at multiple away games entire blocks that have been empty despite games "selling out", for example Hull, Charlton and Norwich, and we all know that when people first logged in to buy tickets for Fratton at least three large blocks were greyed out and unable to purchase. Obviously we also know regional supporters groups get tickets, as do staff and players families, but that doesn't seem to account for the amount that are seemingly now being held aside. Doing some digging i came across this from publicity P&O did when they agreed to sponsor us "This collaboration marks P&O Cruises’ first venture into sports sponsorship and will provide exclusive benefits and experiences to P&O Cruises guests and Southampton FC members and fans. Perks include special cruise offers, match tickets, meet-and-greet events and onboard coaching sessions." https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/08/po-cruises-partners-with-southampton-fc/ Maybe the club need to be honest with fans, are they holding aside away tickets for people taking cruises with P&O? And if they are how can they justify doing that at the expense of the mushes who go home and away supporting us. Some serious questions need asking of the club about this because with lower allocations in this league it's taking the piss to give tickets to people who potentially aren't even Saints fans

For single games then i don't think i can go far from the 4-1 win against liverpool under Nicholl, which i think is still probably the best Saints game i've been to. Aside from that the JPT just because it was a celebration of us still having a club, beating Inter Milan and playing at the San Siro (things i could never have imagined as a nipper), the league cup semi final win at Anfield, the 4-0 at Fratton in the league cup, the 6-3 against United at the Dell, and a bit of a leftfield one Dellhurst, just because i don't remember ever seeing so many Saints fans at a league away game

Given the "originality" of our support and their absolute obsession with the skates i'm surprised it's not, Tonda (wo-oh oh oh) Tonda (wo-oh oh oh) He comes from germany He fucking hates pompey (clap like seals)

The regional groups still need to meet the qualifying criteria, also knowing a few of them they're one of the most loyal groups of fans we have, some of the london saints lot are the same faces you'll see at every single game home and away. I have absolutely no issue with the regional groups, it's the corporates who are the problem, as you can see from the empty block at Norwich on saturday

They deserve statues if you ask me, as they really speak to what's important if you read the published minutes, questions on the women's team, catering, ground redevelopment, they absolutely have their fingers on the pulse of what most of us want. It's definitely not a whitewashing exercise that's stuff full of people who don't represent the majority of the fanbase, nope not in the slightest. https://assets.ctfassets.net/qtmbc4zcgkle/3E7UARQclwb9siY4lVQCHO/9ca56c2887a5eea0a4df38bd23655b5a/FAB_Meeting_Minutes_26.06.2025_Final.pdf

Fucking pisstake that and properly offensive by the club. The mushes who put in the miles should get those tickets not some corporate numpties. These games are games for Sotonians not for tourists and corporate cunts. Really annoys me that they're doing this