saint1977

She looks relieved frankly. Brady bricking it with the journalists, journalists insisting on a GE. So do I. I won’t recognise whoever they select unless there is a GE as being permitted for them to be chosen by the electorate to govern me. If Sunak or Mordaunt are confident, go to the country. It’ll be Sunak but Boris’s and Truss’s followers will make much trouble for him. Whatever they do, millions face higher mortgage payments and families will end up homeless and without lighting and heating because of the crazed actions of the Conservative Party. They can stick their fake unity up their arses, and if they want respect, call a GE now and stay away from power for many, many years. As an example, Peterborough MP insisting on Boris returning, Red Wall MP saying Sunak. Brady saying membership part of process! Brexit was supposed to be partly about not being governed by unelected politicians! Boris still has to face a Standards Committee too.

Plenty of evidence that we are practically and economically far worse off still emerging. Brexiteers are being routed and their attempts to govern are being nationally and globally humiliated, resulting in the UK being seen as the third rate republic that it used to offer ODA assistance to. Sunlit uplands my arse. Happy to hear apologies from the likes of GM and others for being so overwhelmingly wrong. We don’t have to go back into the full EU but at the least the single market, Leave EU even suggesting staying in that before May’s fuck up speech scorching the negotiating position https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/20/trade-from-uk-to-eu-16-lower-than-if-brexit-had-not-happened-report-finds

Yep, and when the scale of the cuts is revealed on 31 October and both ministers, MPs and public kicks off, Hunt will keep the energy windfall tax on the table, she will say it’s a bridge too far and stand down. Perfect excuse.

Yep, ministers doing their job. There’s nothing to cut on public services, maybe can slow rise in science budget off and delay some transport and military projects. All of those will hurt growth badly which is why Hunt hasn’t taken the windfall tax option off the table. Truss would have to go take it up but that looks the the option which will force her exit. The going back on pension triple lock will destroy the only societal group that consistently will vote for them now as the Red Wall is going to be red again with no levelling up regional agenda as per 2019 GE.

The only clean sheet our keeper and back 4 will be experiencing this season is when they wipe their cock on the curtain.

Which I would think is true, but SR has not accounted for the impact of Semmens and Ralph’s negativity and lack of drive through the club and onto the first team culture. If you start saying league position and results aren’t important, that’s a very, very dangerous game to play. Only way for SR to recover this is either a big name who shakes the place up and lifts standards like Hoddle or WGS did, or a lesser name who is hyper driven and can find some tactical points of difference. I’m struggling to see sufficient goal threat for anything other than relegation this season even so.

Liz. She looked on tranquillisers today, like Pellegrino did and Ralph has more recently. Les let a seemingly ill man to publicly hang until Feb/March 2018 when clearly out of his depth. Same happening now with RH and SFC, less out of his depth but just burned out. Current Tory party horrendous but at least they will dispatch her when she is horrifically out of her depth and totally unsuited to the role. Mostly for their own good rather than hers whereas SFC and SR keep expecting a broken first team manager with lots of negative stories around him and no ideas for how to change to turn it around despite all of the evidence pointing to having lost the dressing room. SFC seems to be using RH as a human shield so the board and ownership isn’t scrutinised as it should be. As a fanbase we need to put his right. It’s why Blackmore is being used as a decoy - get him close, feed him corporate agendas and watch him distract the fanbase as a agent provocateur for a deeply unpopular manager. Could be argued to be working too in terms of keeping heat away from Semmens and Steele as long as SR remains hands off.

This and rejoining the single market would sort most of it, instead of cutting almost non existent public services, transport and science budgets where our next spin outs to cure serious illnesses, innovation for new high paid job growth, climate adaption through expanding the green economy with new ventures which EU Interreg/EIB used to help fund and transform quality of life come from. I thought that’s what this craziness was all about, growth? Vote Leave even advocated staying in the single market FFS. Truss looked like she was on tranquillisers to me in the HoC. Gone by the end of the week. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hunt revealed the scale of cuts but then didn’t take windfall tax off the table and fly a public kite. Wouldn’t want his job right now but it’s what I’d do. Those polls are underestimating Lib Dem support and tactical voting, I agree with WSS on this, although they won’t be protest votes. Especially not in the South West, and the opportunity to topple the likes of J R-M. In seats like his Labour shouldn’t even stand, every Lib Dem vote is needed including tactical Lab ones where they struggle to maintain a deposit, to get people like J R-M out of office. Has made a fortune from Brexit seemingly. LDs by contrast should keep standing in Tory marginals where Labour can beat the Tories as they’ll absorb Tory voters who just couldn’t vote Labour. Tories need a series of heavy GE defeats and for the 1980s to be a historic event with most of us OAPs who can remember it before they can be permitted anywhere near power. Even then only in a coalition with L plates on. This ineptitude goes way beyond Winter of Discontent and IMF 1976. Thatcherism was effective in a particular social and economic context, and funded by North Sea Oil revenues. Now, I’d rather have a sovereign fund like Norway but at least she wasn’t funding huge tax cuts from pure thin air. Minford and Redwood was a pure nostalgia trip and millions will struggle to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on a result. Not exactly sunlight uplands is it? If there is anything positive in this longer-term, it’s the death of the IEA, and all of ideological hangers on. Neoconservatism’s funeral.

It’s like that though, and far worse actually on most PL, Championship and bigger League One clubs forums. Have a sample of a few and see. Broadly I agree with you about how revolting Twitter is, to the point where I can no longer stomach using it even for promoting stuff for work. I too remember the 1990s but you are forgetting some key differences to now. Saints were up against it in those days against clubs with stadiums double the size of a Dell at the end of its life, trying desperately to find somewhere to build a new stadium. I defended the club a lot in that era post Branfoot and it was us against the rest of the league. 2017 onwards is a totally different kettle of fish. The club didn’t have to be sold to Gao, the middle of the Kingsland didn’t have to evict STHs to accommodate unsold £99 corporate seats still watching League One quality football. The club didn’t used to pick fights with fans constantly eg block 1 and away supporters were evicted from home areas at the Dell. And of course, whilst watching Saints on the road in that era was a depressing experience, at home the record kept us up and most games the players gave it their all. For example we beat ManU three times in a row in their prime at home. The primary focus was what mattered - first team and academy, not vanity projects and empty strap lines. In those days we had disadvantages caused by the Taylor report and geography, no excuses now. Self inflicted problems, ponderous decision-making and governance, dreadful home league record for over 5 years, insipid performances and a faceless corporate feel. Adams has his strengths but only ever a second striker. All these posts and scouts and we ‘forget’ to buy a striker after Broja and Long left and AA flopped. Unbelievable. Romeu sold leaving only one DMC, an 18 year old, after seeing what Oriol’s leg break at Leeds did to results in 20/21. Find us a club apart from Brentford who wouldn’t being protesting and kicking off hugely in the same shoes and you will be doing well. Blackmore is definitely channeling the sloping shoulders of Semmens and the board but businesses that blame their paying punters without exception go out of business in the end and understandably so. Take heed SR.

SR reminding me of Les with incredible procrastination levels - constant leaking of stories cannot be helping morale although the players did put some energy and effort in for the first half today. Obvious to all bar Ralph that midfield needed reinforcing second half but outwitted by Moyes. Realistically the successor with the sacking being so inexplicably delayed has to be looking at a decent Liebherr era budget to challenge for automatic promotion next season unless they can pull a survival escape on a par with 1998/9. I don’t know SR were smoking in the summer which made them thought the manager wasn’t a major part of the issue.

We need someone different anyway, a HoR that knows the Championship and can put some solid senior reliable pros at that level who have promotion experience. That deal which sold Romeu and brought in a winger Ralph refuses to select and a midget LB we didn’t need was particularly terrible plus the striker debacle.

Has been excellent at Luton, but struggled at Stoke. Similar record to Ralph at Stoke. He might be wary as Stoke had also been in the PL a while before going down as this the case with Saints this season. We were in the PL for 11 seasons and clubs that have been in the PL a while can take a long time to readjust. Saints are pretty much relegated bar the shouting this season so rest of the season will a free hit as no-one expects him to keep this club up. If the club wanted to survive Ralph would have gone the week before the Everton six pointer. Next season perhaps SR feel he can get a better balanced squad top 6 and get Saints back into the PL within 3-5 years?

No surprises there. There won’t be a GE but there should be. There cannot be two successive unelected PMs. Best thing the MPs can do for the country and their own party is vote of no confidence. It’ll be a 1997 defeat but they need a decade at least to rebuild post Brexit and sort out who they actually are. It won’t happen because the MPs are only interested in their own jobs and someone, probably Sunak, will want the PM role even as a 2 year interim. At least the finances will be in a better state for Starmer.

Iain McLeod 30 days in 1970, heart attack, was shortest. Although current government could break that the way Tories are going.

It was a facist coup. Only difference with Germany and 1933 is that 6 January 2021 failed and for that the world can be grateful. No wonder Trump and Putin admire each other so much.

It’s what he’s doing but risky tactic as if SR fire RH, MS and TS next week he’s looking awfully vulnerable and having alienated 90% of the fan/listener base. His behaviour was really odd at the fans forum too. Its obvious with hindsight today that Semmens or someone around boardroom level tipped him off about Shields which is why the recruitment was getting pushed under the bus, when just a few weeks ago it was brace and exciting. Question is who recruited Shields in the first place? Impression was it was Rasmus in which case Blackmore just signed his P45 because he’ll be frozen out if West Ham win on Sunday and his plastic best mates get the heave ho.

Putting the individual departure here to one side, although Blackmore is behaving like a complete tit and must be breaking every BBC rule on impartiality and going the way of MLT towards the end on Sky, there’s been a lot of non player departures in 2022. Two Heads of Recruitment in less than 6 months, set piece coaches, youth coaches and I’m sure people can remind us of more. Something very toxic in the SFC environment. SR need to sack off the Gao era people or sell the club on now. The time to be silent owners is well and truly over. Ideally I’d want Rasmus to run it directly for a couple of years and clear decks. Crocker can be continuity and seems committed to the club, not just his fiefdom as Semmens, Steele and Ralph seem to be. If a club is at public war with a majority of its supporters, it’s a war it can’t win. Often even clubs who are stricken off the pitch can provide fighting performance on it and take the crowd with them eg Palace and Warnock and arguably post Lowe in administration 08/09. We aren’t even seeing that, it’s insipid there as well. This club is in huge trouble, as bad as 2008-9 possibly.

Blackmore, Semmens, Steele, Ralph - on a par with Branfoot for me with his ‘can’t live in same street’ comments after being humped 4-0 by Leeds. Get lost then and get lost now. If SR buy into that bullshit narrative they need to clear off as well. It’s Southampton Football Club they bought - Lawrie, Channon, Ball, Keegan, MLT, Pahars, Lambert, Mane, JWP - not Morecambe, or Exeter City. They’re small clubs, go and buy them instead. Difference was that the Saints fans of 30 years had some backbone and drove Branfoot out, saving the club. 90 minutes of invective aimed at the manager, board and Blackmore (20k Saints fans singing ‘Adam Blackmore is a wanker’ is beyond any microphone to muffle) on Sunday would be a good start. Sod the game, Hammers will piss all over us anyway and without a change of manager there’s no more points coming. AB has shown total disrespect to the paying Southampton listening football supporting public tonight but the also fans need to respect themselves as we did 30 years ago and get these people out of our football environment. Won’t hold my breath though - current ‘fans’ rather clap the players off after a timid 0-3 defeat. Even 2006 and 2009 there was the protests against Lowe. This all started with Gao taking over and that was Semmens involved there as well wasnt it? He’s supposed picked SR as owners yet pushed them under the bus tonight - or AB has in effect as the official mouthpiece - when it’s gone belly up, just like he did to Gao at fans forums. ‘It’s not our fault’. Pushed the fans under the bus and kicking STHs out of their seats for more leather padded, empty ones. If you don’t like football interrupting your weekends, do something else for a living that’s 9-5, 5 days a week. Dragan is a mug for trusting him with his investment. Club’s been dead really since 2017. Faceless, boring, corporate entity. Marching onto…mediocrity and the lower leagues. Because that’s where truly small clubs end up.

If he’s not going to play the likes of AMN then get him some match fitness, AA some confidence in front of goal. Perraud came back too quickly and could’ve gained more minutes, tough little player as well. McCarthy as well.

Easy to say this but the club only needs a couple of first teamers to up their work rate, intensity and some focused training/confidence building. One example is Redmond after Ralph arrived, awful and looked fed up under Hughes, POTS after just over a half a season with RH. JWP wasn’t even in the squad. Look how much more he got out of Ings as well who was reckoned to be an over the hill crock. Everyone else starts to pull their finger out even if some players don’t force their way back into the picture. Sadly RH has lost that fizz and coherency about how he wants to play. Partially through not being backed in the transfer market when he should have been at PL level expenditure but since Villa away x2 it’s not even been clear what the game plan is. There were people on the Milton saying the same as this ‘who else are we are going to get then?’ about Ian Branfoot. Daft in hindsight but there are always people who stick with what’s there whether it’s Ralph, Ian Branfoot, Rupert Lowe. Sometimes they get proved right eg Lawrie after 74. Alan Ball’s managerial record wouldn’t have stacked up if he wasn’t a Saints legend but he was what we needed combined with judicious winter signings. A less worn out version of Ralph, minus two scarring 9-0 defeats and the Chelsea home game, whether it’s Tedesco or someone else might do the trick this time. It might not but they need the opportunity to go for the Champ top 6 next season if the seemingly inevitable does happen. What is a certainty and we all see it, is that recent performances are equally as bad as later Pellegrino ones and that means relegation. SFC WILL go down in 20th place if it sticks with RH, it probably does with a new manager but there’s an outside chance it might not. Worth taking the risk rather than going down Derby style in 07/08.

SR do seem very green and naive. It’s one thing to have an impact in the Championship or Danish Superliga but without a drive of a Matthew Bentham owner behind it rather than the boardroom of wet farts at SMS they look horribly out of their depth both with a bigger club like SFC and in the PL generally. They’ve sucked up Semmens old shit and still are it seems. People keep on saying ‘SR are no mugs’ but on what evidence?

‘Decisive action’ - not really what SFC does is it? SR seem more like Les Reed by the day, clearly the squad and manager don’t get on at all but have a good dither whilst the players don’t move a leg, as happened with Pellegrino. Meanwhile their CEO and Head of Ops continue to antagonise the core supporters who they will need next season in the Championship. Don’t even get me started on the striker situation. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That needed to start in April tbh, but yes. Can’t see it though, the sheep didn’t even do it for Pellegrino, our fanbase has none of the cojonoes of the Branfoot era, SMS would probably give Ian a standing ovation these days. Then again, if anyone did sing about Ralph going they’d probably be banned for showing some passion and parts of the Northam and Kingsland shut as a result. Some ironic oles for the players when they manage to string a couple of players wouldn't do any harm, let them know they don’t put 100% in and at least press/tackle/run it’s going to get toxic for them. SR don’t seem engaged much at all - Semmens and Steele are destroying what relationship remains with the fans and ditto Ralph on the pitch on their watch. If it was my investment I’d be a lot more proactive in freshening things up after the coaching clear out has failed but it isn’t so there you go.

More internal strife leaking out into the open his morning - JRM and Truss at war over energy saving messaging over the winter - and Braverman and Truss over the latter’s plans to increase skilled migration and the former’s obsession with stopping it almost altogether. Added to the revolt over benefits inflation and the mini budget and Conor Burns suspension they are in total free fall.

It certainly feels that way with no leadership on or off the pitch, dithering and hands off ownership. The change of manager and attitude needed to happen before the Everton to have a realistic chance of staying up and with the striker fiasco in the summer window it’d take a miracle now. The club is leaking like a sieve to the media it seems with a very young squad miles out of its depth. 2008/9 all over again and the outcome looks very similar. Hopefully SR has a plan to reboot, find a Kompany type figure next summer with a bit of presence, who will add experienced second tiers to the younger talent and whom they can learn from. With Ralph, Semmens and Steele the club is as good as deceased to most of the fanbase, the block 1 nonsense is another nail in the coffin. I can see some midweek gates in the Championship for Rotherham/Luton games next season of below 15k, I hope Dragan has deep pockets to cover the losses unless the club hits the automatic places early on and stays there. This season has turned its toes. Next season could be better in a lower division, clear the rest of any Gao era people, plus this security manager out over the rest of this season and bring people in who care about who they work for, who have some professional pride in listening and want to restore the club’s identity. Fans engagement a priority as well, the side has been pathetic to watch for months and for years at home, back to 2017.