Bourne Valley Saint

Excellent as ever Glen

I sat in the Chapel/Kingsland corner on Saturday and the atmosphere was much better than I expected with a lot of singing coming from the back of the Chapel and we were able to join in without looking like Billy-no-mates doing a solo! However, I thought the idea of the Back of The Chapel group was to sing pro-Southampton songs and not sing about f**king Pompey every five minutes so was disappointed to hear so much of that. But generally, fair play to the lads and lasses who are trying - it certainly made the atmosphere a lot better and hopefully it will spread.

Excellent Glen - I cant wait for your report of the predictable Ipswich defeat. We are a sorry shower of shite and all hope of an uplifting season is bit by bit drifting away after each game. I walked out when the fourth went in and have vowed not to bother again until either the manager is sacked or he sets the team up to play football in a way that they are capable of - not him dreaming of!

Brilliant report and summary as usual Glen. Thank you.

Perhaps one good thing will come out of this - the hideous wages of top professional footballers might come to an end. So what if it's supposedly a short career - other sectors in society have no guarantees either. If the clubs are not receiving any revenue then the players will have to take a pay cut. They can't go anywhere else in the world right now so for once the clubs have the upper hand.

Correction - Burnley was 4 points last season - it just felt like a defeat!!!

An excellent summary Glen. That's exactly how I felt for 80 minutes. I don't know about the last 10 as I'd f***ed off by then, sick of seeing us meekly roll over and gifting West Ham yet another 3 points. That's two seasons running we've allowed Burnley and West Ham to take 6 points from us. We've given West Ham over 1/5th (22.22 %) of their points in their 28 games this season. Let's hope we can do better on Saturday.

Excellent write up as always Glen - always makes me chuckle. You didn't mention Matty Targett for Villa - I thought he played ok without doing anything too right or too wrong! I wish we still had him here.

A cracking evening out and as professional an away performance as I've seen for quite some time. I thought the whole team played their part and yes there was the odd mistake. Vestergaard got caught trying to play the ball out and we got away with it but that was his only real mistake. He looked comfortable alongside Stephens who I thought was outstanding again. It wasn't long ago that Stephens was being slated and look how he's improved. Vestergaard could do the same when playing in a confident team. A great performance capped off with two cracking goals. Bring on Liverpool!!

It does annoy me that the club are more concerned about not losing money on unsold tickets rather than giving fans the opportunity to watch their team play away. So what if 300 tickets at £30.00 aren't sold. Its £9000.00 (half a week's pay for a player warming the bench) whilst potentially keeping 700 fans happy (if we'd taken the 2200 on offer at Leicester as an example). I did e-mail the ticket office asking them how their decisions were made. If anyone's interested here is the correspondence from both myself and the ticket office. I've yet to receive a reply to my last e-mail. Good afternoon As a regular away attendee of our matches and knowing how much our support is appreciated by the players and manager, I find it incredible that you restrict the opportunities of other Southampton fans to watch their team play away. The allocations taken at Chelsea, Leicester and Liverpool are an insult to the fans. Rather than being scared of losing a few pounds in unsold tickets, how about encouraging fans who are prepared to spend their hard earned money to watch their team. 3000 fans went to Villa following some absolutely dreadful performances. Thankfully the team have improved and fans would like to be a part of it. 1200 at Leicester was pathetic and the Leicester fans let us know it! We’ve always sold out at Palace so why take so few tickets. Who is making these decisions and does anyone communicate with the fan’s groups? As for allowing Spurs to have more than their entitled allocation and taking over the whole of the Northam (where the home fans sit), who made that decision? Do you not value the home support? We’ve had to watch such dross over the past three years and now we’re on a bit of a roll you have restricted the home fans chances of seeing their team. I suggest you read the following in case you are in any doubt https://www.saintsweb.co.uk/showthread.php?61642-Allocations I hope to hear from you. Regards Good Afternoon I can understand your frustration on the away allocations which are chosen by the club. When the other clubs offer us different allocations the club then make the decision what they feel is the best option to take. In regards to the FA Cup game you have to give the away club a larger allocation as that’s the rules set by the FA. Tottenham decided to take the full allocation so we have to allow them as it’s a rule set by the FA I know its not the greatest but we just simply have to follow the rules. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards, Ticket Office Good afternoon Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply. Your response of - When the other clubs offer us different allocations the club then make the decision what they feel is the best option to take. This doesn’t explain how the decision is made which is why a lot of fans are angry about the allocations requested. Not requesting more than 1200 at Leicester was totally ludicrous and showed complete contempt towards the fans. The club could have taken the 2200 and sold them easily. How are the decisions made and what are they based upon? Previous demand is not always a good barometer for checking. Consideration should be given to the current form of the team and the kick off-time and date. It would appear that the club are more concerned in not losing money by not selling all the tickets allocated (a pittance compared to the wage bill) rather than looking after the fans’ interests and that of the team and players who always voice their appreciation of the travelling fans. As for the Tottenham match we as a club are only obliged to offer them 4800. It would appear that the club want the Tottenham fans to feel at home! I know that you probably don’t make the decisions but as you work in the office please would you ask your superiors to consider the fans rather than Gao’s pocket. Thank you. Kind regards

I must admit that I did laugh when one of the ball boys in front of the Itchen ducked under the ball in the last five minutes when it was going out for a Spurs throw in and it ended up in the stand. Good lad

Well done Glen - pretty on the money as usual. What a great day out at a top venue. You could tell the players were up for it from the first minute - unlike last week. We are so much better when there is space to run into and Villa certainly weren't lacking in giving us plenty on Saturday. I thought the whole team turned up, even Cedric. Every player makes mistakes and some get highlighted more than others. I think that the fans are more forgiving if they see some kind of effort and improvement. Special mention for Danny Ings and Jack Stephens. Not only were they on top of their game but they both helped me pick up £125.00 from the Villa bookmakers Let's hope that we can pick up some points over Christmas and the New Year.

Great write up as always Glen though I don't think you've been critical enough. We have been ****e for most of the season but that performance took it to new levels. Hojbjerg should not be allowed anywhere near the starting eleven until he has worked out what colour shirts we play in, how to trap a ball, how to pass a ball, how to tackle and how to shoot! I read one comment somewhere that summed up his performance - "it was as if he had won a prize to play in a football match". As for Redmond, the least said about his first half performance the better - you'd have thought that he'd never met Bertrand before in his life! Thought you were a bit harsh on Stephens - at least he tries and create things and has a bit of skill. Its bloody hard for our defenders playing behind an invisible midfield. We are truly in the mire. I reckon you and I could have bought Southampton in the same way that Gao has. Just find a bank willing to lend £200 million, pay the interest out of the TV money, invest sweet FA and hope to sell at a profit. We have been totally shafted. Merry Christmas.

There have been many but the most poignant one for me was when Williams scored in stoppage time for Bristol Rovers to beat us 3-2 at St Marys in 2009 when we were on minus 1 point and rock bottom of League 1. That was as low as we have been since I started watching Saints in the 1960's and I hope that we never repeat the experience.

I'm just glad that most on here don't attend games because you'd destroy any confidence that any player possesses with such negativity and cruel comments. Jack Stephens is an honest, hard working player who despite playing in a struggling team never hides and shows a fair amount of passion, qualities sadly lacking in some of his teammates. Yes, he makes mistakes but so do the rest of them. He also makes some great tackles (a brilliant one on Saturday when Watford were 3 against 1 on him and we were 1-0 down) and great blocks and interceptions. He also provides an outlet for our static midfield by bringing the ball forward and passing to our forwards, as he did at Arsenal with good effect. I just don't get all the hatred directed at the likes of JWP and Jack on here. It was the same with Targett last year - he seems to be doing ok at Villa. Is it because they have come through the academy and you'd rather we spunked millions on some Carillo or Claisse type player? I'm proud of our academy players (there were 5 on the pitch on Saturday) and long may it continue - at least the club means something to them as it does with the real fans.

The charity that is Southampton will probably just keep on giving. Arsenal are in a slump and we'll no doubt help them recover. Spurs were hopeless and we couldn't even beat 10 men. I am going to the game and I will cheer my team on and be as positive as the players performance dictates. However, if Arsenal score first then all I can see is the usual capitulation. Its good to see a few on here giving Jack Stephens a confidence boost - he was by far our best defender against Everton, if not best player. At least he tries to play others in with his forward running rather than passing it square and backwards all the time. We have got to try and take the game to Arsenal. Another first half performance similar to Leicester and Everton will just invite defeat. Who knows what will happen if we give it a go but if I was a gambling man I wouldn't bet on Saints getting anything from this game.

The complete sorry state of the club was summed up perfectly for me when, in the first half, a great ball was played down the left channel for Cedric to run onto and hopefully cross on to the head of the fast approaching Ings. For a split second it brought back memories of the wonderful cross that Targett made from the same position last season (against Arsenal I think) when he placed it superbly on Ings's head for him to to bury it in the net. What did Cedric do? ........... a Premiership player playing on the left. Did he float a majestic ball into the box like Targett? No, he hit it with the outside of his right boot and shanked it into Row Z of the Northam. Utterly pathetic on numerous counts. What the F*** is he doing playing at left back when he is a one footed right back? Why was Armstrong playing in Cedric's position at right back? Why was Targett sold if our preferred cover is a one footed right back? Why was Vokins not given a chance to show what he can do? It beggars belief and as much as I have been supportive of Ralph, if this is his way of dealing with the current malaise, then I do fear for our future. On a separate note, did anyone else on here receive the Questionnaire about the Matchday Experience for Saturday?? My responses wouldn't pass the censorship on this site.

An enjoyable and insightful read - thanks for posting the link

As one of 2000 Saints fans who attended the match last night and who watched Stephens' performance with interest, I thought that he played pretty well. He defended competently, was good in the air, did some great tackles and blocks and linked up well with those around him. He made a couple of stray passes and weak headers but no more than anyone else in what I thought was a pretty decent performance by the whole team. In answer to the above, I'd have Stephens over Hoedt any day. Too many people (particularly on here) are quick to write players off after a couple of poor games.

Lets just hope with give ourselves a chance by attacking the Northam in the second half as we did against Spurs.

Seems that quite a few on here take no pride in our youngsters making it to the first team at all. "Not good enough" "Championship players" "Send them out on loan" "Get rid of" etc. I for one am delighted that the club were able to include 7 former academy players in the match day squad, 6 of whom played a part in the 1-0 win. I doubt that any other premiership (or even Championship) club can boast of such a percentage of players taking part. These are still young players who will undoubtedly improve if given game time. Embrace and encourage them rather than wishing to discard them.

Good stuff Glen. Pretty much sums up what I witnessed from the stands at Old Trafford. I'm just glad that United's winner didn't come from the penalty spot. That would have been unbearable.

I think that he made his debut for us in the 6-1 drubbing away at Arsenal a few weeks before the final. Always a model professional who gave his all for whoever he played for. Wish there were more like him around.

I really don't know what some so called fans expect of our club. Surely the preferred way to try and strengthen the squad is to do so from within, i.e. the academy, rather than wasting millions of pounds on players like Carrillo, Claisse, Boufal, etc. May on here cream themselves when a new foreigh signing is linked to our club and pour scorn on any youngster trying to break into the first team. The fact that Slattery played on Saturday should be applauded but many on here just don't seem to want it. They think we should have wasted further millions buying some unknown at the 11th hour in the hugely inflated January transfer window. Why do some think that there is an abundance of talent just waiting to be signed? The shelves look pretty short of quality to me. Give me Valery, Slattery, Stephens, JWP, Sims, etc. Along with the rest of the squad we should have enough to stay up and then Ralph can strengthen if and where required when he's had a bit of time to assess the situation.

He did fine and I love the fact that our club is once again giving the academy players a chance to prove themselves rather than wasting millions on under performing imports. Despite only drawing on Saturday, it was a good result and to have 5 academy players in the starting line up is something that should be applauded (plus 3 more on the bench) and is obviously the way forward for a club like Saints who don't have limitless foreign cash to invest in the team. Slattery played very responsibly and seems to have a good footballing brain. However, I would have taken him off for the last quarter as he was looking a bit tired and would have kept Armstrong on. Thought that was a mistake by Ralph and maybe cost us the lead. I don't think we're going to get relegated and if we do survive with this squad, it can only get better as the younger members improve with experience.