pap

Watched the second half, so missed most of the goal action. However, very impressed with a lot of the movement and the way we were trying to play. I reckon you could bung that team in League One and it'd do well.

I don't know how much scope there is for that, genuinely. I suspect that as an English speaking nation, we're a bridge to a huge part of the world and the EU outpost for that particular language. That said, the EU can't be seen to offer terms like that to us without compromising its long term political objectives. Float this idea to an EU true believer, and it'd be akin to suggesting that Sussex implements border controls to people getting in from Hampshire.

Well, possibly. Many of them aren't going to be able to escape the benefits trap, or will only be a few quid better off for forty hours work. That is a problem we've had for decades now, and the minimum wage jobs that would be vacated by unskilled EU migrants aren't going to change the situation one bit, especially as Cameron is already giving away millions of hours of unpaid work anyway. Immigrant labour has helped to paper over the cracks of a broken economy. On the illegal side, you've got people working for a couple of quid an hour. Legally, there are plenty of takers for low-paid unskilled work, even on a zero hour contract basis. The EU has created a huge employer's market. Don't like the conditions? Fine. We'll have 300,000 new people coming in this year. I'm sure one of them will want your job. The situation erodes creates instability and erodes security for all workers, because the availability of labour means that employers get to avoid the consequences of the contracts they issue. Similarly, the demand for housing is going to keep prices high there too. Something has to give. As I said in the OP, there are two broad paths we take on this. Take the plunge with chancers like Farage, or acknowledge the sort of country we are and start building the infrastructure for it. The country is far from full up, territorially speaking. Most of us live in urban areas, and many of those are very poorly designed and/or utilised. We're too centralised, and haven't got appropriate infrastructure in place for the demands on our country. I retain concerns about the political entanglements the EU can get us into, the way that legislation is created or the way the executive is formed, but I'm not particularly arsed about foreigners coming to live here. It has happened for centuries. That said, there are practical matters of capacity that just aren't being addressed, and are unlikely to be under a period of austerity.

Britain's next top stand-ups, right here.

It's the unskilled work that'll be most difficult to comprehensively fill.

Surely an in/out EU referendum would present that situation? With no ready supply of EU migrants to fill the positions, there would be more demand for British employees. A lot of that demand will go unfulfilled, either because people don't want to do the work at the going rate, or because they don't like the job on offer. I'm not saying it would give employees the whip hand, but the basic rules of supply and demand would suggest a rebalancing in the relationship between employee and employer in favour of the employee.

Disappointing. I'd have thought a massive session of mutual masturbation would have been in order, in keeping with the contributions on the site.

One of the biggest claims that people make in support of immigration is the amount of useful work that immigrants achieve while here. A related claim is that the country wouldn't work without them, due to the various shortages we have in certain sectors. It does raise an interesting question though. What would happen to the labour market if we didn't have them?

Palace were definitely louder, but they had no respect, and seemed so far up their own arses (and perhaps supporting culture) as to be immune to banter. West Ham were a better laugh.

I note that KRG is conspicuous by his absence on this thread so far, which is a shame. I would like him to explain himself, because as the Bear points out, it is very difficult to reconcile the quoted content with his recent hardline stance On The Side Of Girls. Explanations I would be willing to accept KRG was a chauvinistic díck back then, had an epiphany and has decided that he is going to seek redemption through consistently championing female rights. KRG was just trying to hang with the boyz, mistakenly taken the temperature of the forum and unwittingly setting himself up for a bear trap in the future. KRG was not in contact with his mind at that precise moment. It's not unknown, and is particularly acute in Somerset. Explanations I would NOT be willing to accept KRG is still in fact, a chauvinistic díck, more dangerous than we could have ever conceived and actually hates women. The anti-gun rants, feminist praise and love of Sleater Kinney are all just components in a plan to get invited to women-only gigs on account of his advocacy, after which he will start dispensing the punches.

Thought they were nobs, meself. West Ham may have been quieter overall, but we had better banter with their fans than we did with Palarse, who had three modes - the loud collective singing you rightly praise, getting excited when their team accidentally got near our goal (joke, visiting Palace lurkers) and utter fkn silence (not a joke, visiting Palace lurkers). At least we've got an excuse. The rarefied air of our alpine top four surroundings has created angst that has not existed before, which has not created a good atmosphere at St Mary's in recent games. I've seen someone on their forums moaning about our OWTS spam. Fúck em. They were effectively prevented from supporting their team during crucial periods of yesterday's game, and our own boo boys got drowned out in the din. It got the job done. Let Palace do a karaoke act if they want. We're there to support a football team, not get through a setlist.

I'd love to attribute my high ranking to wit and charm, naturally. Unfortunately, I think that "turned up for a drink" might be top of that particular list. Wit and charm are further down. Just scroll past the big gaps, FFS.

Why? He's our player now. I'd have thought he'd be jumping at the chance to shine against a team that overlooked him.

You're right. I'm scape-goating immigrants. I'd like to declare that every post I've ever made supporting them, and the attempts to deflect anger at infrastructure issues towards the politicians that helped create the conditions, as a gigantic facade, all leading up to this moment. Alas, my attempt to stunningly cross the floor of the house, become a gigantic racist and start some kind of far right organisation now lies in tatters. My immigrant family are happy though. They've even offered to pay for the laser surgery to get the swastika tattoo removed from my forehead. Well done, Verbal.

Two threesome challenges thrown down in my life, both the MFF variety. I took the first one on. Acquitted myself fairly well. Looked at the plain one every time I was about to lose it over the pretty one. Harsh, but true, and a tactic I share for the benefit of threesomekind. Second one was with two sisters, which I turned down. I'd like to say I did so because of the sister thing and moral implications. In truth, I was fkn shattered, so just picked one and told the other to call the bloke she jipped off earlier to further their wicked threesome plan.

The world reports on exception. This is why the news doesn't have millions of stories every day about kids getting safely home from school. It's also the reason that when discussing your significant other with a mate, you are more likely to say something like "she's a f**king annoying b!tch" and tell stories supporting that claim, rather than rabbit for hours how much you love her, how well you're getting on and how you like to choose curtains and soft furnishings together.

The government has got no business subsidising business with taxpayer cash. Working Tax Credits. Market rate housing benefit. Every penny that is spent on those things is the public donating to big business or banking. That doesn't mean that immigrants aren't a factor in wage pressure, nor does it mean that immigrants are the only factor. We run a country in which the low-paid are unable to survive without public assistance. That is an ongoing scandal that demands some kind of action, hopefully in the form of some reform that'll benefit those affected. The EU-provided solution is cheaper people. Guess what business prefers?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/08/wisbech-migrant-workers-exploited-gangmasters-eastern-europe https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_library/policy_library_folder?a=88331 Clear enough? I've emboldened bits to account for your severe cerebral atrophy.

In your opinion. I'm sure there's something better out there, but thanks. I'm not sure why you're getting on your high horse about this. I've identified a sub-group of immigrants in a discussion about net migration, and detailed how their long-term intentions may affect wage pressure in the UK. Nowhere in my post did I suggest that this was the sole source of overall wage pressure, nor did I scapegoat immigrants. I've frequently made the case that corporations get far too much from the public purse, which subsidises wages they should be paying in the forms of things like Housing Benefit or Working Tax Credits. What you've written isn't news and doesn't invalidate anything I've written, especially not that post I did a while ago about you being a bit obsessed. Our points aren't even mutually exclusive.

Before my Itchen North time, unfortunately. I mostly did away games back in those days, and would roll up to wondrous places like Rochdale, Oldham and Walsall, where if nothing else, the Saints fans could be relied upon to consistently make noise. That's really why I love it. At its best, it's like having the away fan vibe in your own stadium. At its worst, its replete with glory hunting mugs from other f**king teams, keeping quiet if they have sense, getting lamped if they haven't. Either way, they're not shouting for Saints.

They cancel each other out a lot of the time, or are competing with the away fans in between. The rare occasions where we do join up to do the slow version of OWTS are pretty special.

Completely agree, and I'd like to think it made some difference. Drowned out the few moaners when things weren't going our way, didn't really let up when Palace were attacking, and most of the crowd found their way back to it after any super-exciting moments. Everyone was proper giving it too. No half measures, belting it out. It went on so long that Palace fans felt forced two renditions of "you've only got one song". Weird, they were complaining about not being able to hear a f**king thing earlier. Football fans. Fickle.

Now I know the consensus is that Sarnia's posts are probably redneck brain farts, steeped in a mixture of one-up-manship and creosote, but I'd like to submit an alternative analysis. Sarnia's posts taken collectively, might just be genius. Look at the way that they elicit the broad themes of the perceived problems with gun proliferation in the US. Indiscriminate fire, targeting the homeless and the use of various ordnance. Hollow points. Y'all are dum dums. He has even established a Canada-based anti-knife lobby (of one), focusing on UK knife crime, for the benefit of the US pro-gun cause. It's dizzying stuff. House of Cards isn't this convoluted. Perhaps these posts are part of a wider unseen whole, and that when the final post hits the thread, everything will fall into place for us dumb "rest of the West" types that aren't too keen on having guns about, and don't know what we're talking about. Perhaps we will say, "Sarnia was right". Perhaps WE will change. "Babes, can you pick up an AK47 and some ammo from the ASDA? Don't worry about the expense. I'm making money hand over fist by installing these full body scanners in primary schools" I can see it now

The pressure is what has been killing us, fans and team. At the beginning of the season, no-one really had any expectations beyond hoping that Koeman, this unknown quantity in England, would somehow turn this ragtag bunch of recruits into a functioning part of our existing team. Our dip in performance recently was a harsh reality check, as was December. We've got players that can put the ball in the back of the net, but we now know that they require a lot of chances to convert, more so during periods of low confidence and bad form. Actually think this had a positive effect tonight. The consensus amongst the fans that I talked to was that they just wanted a fkn goal! From Champions League to that, eh? Noticed a bit less jeering and a lot more support from the fans tonight, even before the goal. I think a few fans, myself included, have gotten a bit too ambitious as the season has progressed. I still think we have a decent chance. The end of the season is usually mental, throwing up all kinds of results as teams battle for Premier League glory or survival. I submit Brendan Rodger's planned 8-0 victory at Crystal Palace as evidence. Our fans are just going to be hoping for another goal. Pressure is all on Chelsea, and I reckon Bertrand will have a point to prove.

I feel like I've just had an orgasm after a month of abstinance, powered by plums the size of planets. There was something different about the game today. I told my brother I could feel something was going to happen this game. The crowd were a bit more up for it, and it was a pleasure to see the Itchen North going for it for much of the second half. People may not be fond of the continual OWTSGMI, but I wouldn't be one of them. It's not only our song, it also denies the other side the opportunity to support. After they were singing about us being quiet, bless them. My bro reckoned we looked like we had an extra man after Pelle was substituted for Long. I kind of agree. Maybe just the rub of the green, but even the part of his job he's still doing is starting to look a little suspect. Noticed a few aimless wins go off to Palarse defenders. Palarse weren't really that great, but proof that you don't really need to be a coherent, passing team to be a danger. Minutes before we scored, they almost did. Twice. In those awful seconds, it really did feel like it was going to be another one of those games. Mané had other ideas, thankfully. Big Vic had another solid game, taking responsibility and winning the ball all over. Morgan's corner delivery looked dangerous today; someone should have been and will eventually get onto the end of them. Clyne and Bertrand were competent, but not at their best. I was encouraged by some of the swift play in the first half. Djuricic looks like he's going to be a useful acquisition once fully integrated into the team. Elia was disappointing. Forster looked mostly solid. I want to see more of Shane Long in a Southampton shirt. Mané is probably my man of the match. His goals have been decisive in a couple of games, including tonight - but we've just come through an awful drought. I'm not getting carried away just yet. Still, 3 points and a bit of pressure on the teams playing tomorrow night. That'll do me. Reset the sex clock. Southampton FC have finally scored.