Charlie Wayman

Some routes in work better than others. Trying to jump in from the OS seems particularly fraught.

No surprises there then but well deserved anyway. Terry usually picks Bertie for the special award but fair's fair, JWP has put in the miles.

Is there any legitimate way of watching Saints matches (pay or free) that are not being shown on Sky.

Fans are important stakeholders of the Club and there is no reason why they should not have access to this sort of information. I doubt it is being withheld. Mark it down more likely as a lack of initiative and/or laziness on the part of individuals charged with supporter relations or PR. This is one area where the Club can, should and must do much better. Too many idle people "working from home" may be a factor.

Adkins Hasenhüttl Koeman

The Ugly Inside has become attractive again!

Part of the announcement today about non-league soccer said attendances would be restricted to 15%. Very close to the 16% calculated on here for St Mary's. If this is the way it is going our earlier guesses of 5000 at SMS will be nearer the mark.

It's quite weird after all the often justified cynicism of the last 25 years that we are now beginning to believe that the Club might actually be doing things in as fair a manner as possible. You and I are clearly two fellow travellers in this respect. As has been repeated here over and over again we must all get used to living in a new norm and must accept it and get used to it. It's either that or have no fans at football matches at all. If the rules say wear masks what's the point of bitching about it, accept it or don't go. Same with singing, stay silent or stay at home. If such measures are required there will be good health reasons underpinning them. None of us has access to the science on which decisions are being made so all our speculation is just that. If they let 5000 untested people into SMS chances are one or two of them might be carriers of the Covid-19 virus. The duty of the Club and the PL is to minimise the risks of any onward transmission as much as possible. There is no place here for a "sod it" mentality of "I'm gonna do what I want" which sadly seems to be gathering some support on here. All I can say to these chaps is dig in lads and don't let it get to you yet, we are all in this for the long haul. The best way to make a more normal future is for all of us to stick to it as one. It may help others to know that my son & I have made the conscious decision to skip this season partly because of the health risk but mainly because of what will be the total artificiality of the whole experience.

YES! Any future hope may lie with Amazon rather than Sky or BT.

Not bad at all but very 1950's. You're showing your age my friend

Leaving only one row of seats is nowhere near 2m apart. No doubt you have been watching the TV matches from SMS where players have been seated socially distanced in the Itchen Centre block where at least three rows of seats were unoccupied. A few players seemed to fill up the whole lower section. I think you might get away with two. The family bubbles issue that many on here feel is a deal breaker can be met by allocating certain stands say Northam & Kingsland to them and others to single seaters, Chapel and the wings of the Itchen. Itchen Centre Lower will always be difficult because they will want to keep players and spectators as far apart as possible so as not to compromise the team bubble. The likelihood is that that section will be unavailable to fans which is a bummer as that's where I sit! There is another aspect where people should not raise their hopes too much. Groups of up to six people are able to meet in a garden outdoors provided that they remain socially distanced. In reality a lot of irresponsible people cheat on this and huddle together in groups but that definitely will not be allowed in the stadium in full public view. Those six people would be treated as six individuals and sat well apart not as bunch of 6. One would have thought also that family bubbles would be restricted to a certain number 2 or possibly 3 otherwise it all becomes impossibly complicated work out. Chapter 2: Has the mask issue been seriously thought about? The footnote to these comments is that the regulations will be enforced rigidly not to spike the guns of fans or to ignore their wishes, they will be enforced to stop the Virus spreading, to show that allowing fans back in to stadia can be viable, safe and sustainable. All of us have to accept this from the outset and not moan from now until eternity about their own narrow needs and frustrations. There can be no special cases.

Hopefully the days of make-do and mend are beginning to recede. We should be looking at the promising16 -18 year olds from the Academy as part of our future not the early-20's been tried and failed cohort. We have to rely on Ralph's judgement. As they say what happened in the past is a foreign country and they did things differently there. It is sad that we have had to buy in players like KWP because JV didn't step up to the plate as expected but surely nobody ever imagined that all first team Academy players would automatically make the grade. If one or two each season get into the first team squad that must be judged a success especially if Ralph is the judge.

We've done rather well without him lately. Just a commodity player to buy and sell when the timing suits. He'll get more publicity at Spurs than he did here which may turn out to be a poison chalice. I'd rate his time here as OK-ish. Will he be missed? Doubt it. My computer will he happy that it doesn't have to predict his name every day.

How come when he's only 16 🤣

We have always been in agreement on this. Common sense suggest that the obstacles to keeping a crowd of even as small as 5000 safe inside and outside the stadium are insurmountable. Common sense also says that no way will the Club be allowed to admit 5000 people to the stadium untested. Who will do the testing and what form will it take? As for all those people returning to their homes, the risk of a huge knock-on infection of whole families does not bear thinking about.

That tallies with several predictions on here of 16%. Probably these same suggestions looping around. The Club could take a cynical approach of allowing only the people under 40 to attend and cram them all in together irrespective of SD. If it's OK to do it on Bournemouth beach why not here. 🤐

Tell your mate, "Sorry pal but we are not a selling club" .........and no way will we take Lampard in p/ex.

Yes, I watched the game as well and 100% agree with your analysis. Very much the player we remember; slow to think and react, risk averse with the ball and not much creativity. Romeu is twice the player and Harrison is not the cheap option to replace him. Best all round if he stays at Fulham and we get him off the books.

Don't worry, just assume as your default position that the so-called ITK-er is a myth. The Club are not stupid enough to leak information on transfers accidentally. All of the stuff on here is idle speculation based on regurgitated fake news or press rumours. You have to question the sanity of people who feel the need to draw attention to themselves by claiming 'insider' snippets of information.

🤗

Saints in Blue, Heaven forbid. All those years of shouting "Yellow" down the pan. Anybody upstairs awake?

It'll be Pulis

A bit like the "temporary" 40 mph speed limit on Millbrookk Road you mean?

Having just heard what the PM had to say this morning about the reversal of planned easing of lockdown restrictions on indoor venues and mass gatherings, looks like PL will be playing to empty houses for some time to come. End of hope for the club to sell season tickets?

Perhaps he doesn't like the new jerseys. Remember when The Potter's Heron was the centre of the universe?