SaintBobby

Best complaint is to the BBC - it's basically their coverage. Having to pay an extra £30 over and above my licence fee for this appalling service f u c k s me off too. Welcome to the world of state broadcasting.

Nope...but as I'm bragging about everywhere, I have £2,000 on Rickie as top L1 goalscorer (at 2/1) and he's now 4 ahead of Grant Holt. Happy days.

As a total stat nerd, I'm looking at Saints' results this season from going 1-0 down. I can't say I've completed a categorical search, but it looks like - on a cursory glance - that we may recover more points from 1-0 down than any English league team in any division since the war. As an aside, I spoke to a few bookies about this. They said that in live betting markets, the first goal is usually decisive. Of course, that's usually because it is scored by the stronger team (e.g. Chelsea 1 Bolton 0) and therefore just tends to reaffirm the pre-match odds. But in a relatively even battle - say Rovers v Saints - they reckoned the first goal nearly wipes out a recovery to win. Their best guess was that at the 30 min mark, the spot price on a Saints win vs Rovers was about 10/1 or 12/1. But we seem to do this a lot (Southend? Oldham? Leyton? Walsall? Hartelpool!) Would welcome other nerdy/statto analysis. I blame the manager. We shouldn't be going behind early this often. PARDEW OUT (note: this para is not serious)

I'll bring a squadron of pigeons. And a shotgun to pick off any last moaners. Whatever happens at the last game this season, we should shout our appreciation for a fantatsic Saints manager.

I wasn't there. But I wear his name and no. 19 on the back of my shirt. Top player. Totally delighted for him.

trying to do the maths. let's assume we win all 5 remaining games. we need Huddersfield to go W 2 D 1 L 1 or worse, right?

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR That Huddersfield winner makes it a bridge too far.

looking like a pretty good investment all in all. Rickie was at 2/1 when he should have been 5/6. just hope Grant Holt doesn't score 4 for Norwich.... will be a difficult for me is Barnard starts scoring hatfuls...!

COYR. Need one more Rickie goal please. Drinks on me if he gets top scorer.

Am punching the air still. Partly cos we're winning, of course. Also cos I've got £2k on Rickie to be top L1 scorer at 2/1. Soooo close to him nailing me a £4K profit! Now make it a hatrick in the 2nd half!

Billy Sharp from Donny

Puncheon was busy - but enfuriating. I thought Antonio was quite good - except when he fluffed that 4-on-1 pass on the counter attack. Seabourne is okay-ish - but compares unfavourably (unfairly) to Fonte who is a cut above (although made a couple of unusual errors on Saturday) Kelvin was MOTM surely?

The OP is right, of course, that the positions a club is in at Xmas and at the end of the season can change dramatically. I seem to remember one season when Millwall topped their division at Xmas, but ended up being relegated in May. That said, assuming we're in League One next season, it seems to me that the target should be to win the division and accrue about 100 points. If we're falling short of that, we should be disappointed. And if we're falling way short, Pardew is doing something wrong.

Thats a betetr view than the 885 saints fans had for sure!

This thread is absurd, really. But still irresistible. Just want to throw in my 2p's worth. 1. There's an obsession with the play-offs. The term seems to have become synonymous with promotion. They are not the same thing. Even if we make/made the play-offs we would probably not be promoted. So, I think the important question is whether you expect us to be PROMOTED this season. If we make the play-offs, but then lose home and away to e.g. Swindon is that an acceptable season or not? 2. In my view, the team and club were so broken at the start of the season that we effectively started with a 15 or 20 point penalty. Pardew has constructed a team from scratch basically. Had the takeover happened in May or June, this may have been different. But it didn't. Our best starting XI (today's) only includes 3 players who were at the club in July (Kelvin, Lallana and Schneiderlin). Our subs bench is also full of new arrivals (Connolly, Antonio, Papa, Seabourne) 3. We've been unlucky that the top six or seven teams have broken away so clearly. This is partly our fault - e.g. giving up 4 points to Colchester and 6 to Swindon. But mainly it's bad luck. The points total needed for the play-offs this year is going to be on the high side, when we needed it to be on the low side. 4. We have been slightly disappointing in the League this season, in my view. Not awful. Not abysmal. But just a tad worse than I expected. Our record against the better teams is a bit disappointing. I'd have expected us to be on about 60-62 points now, not 57. Those few points may yet make the difference between being in the play-offs and not. So be it. 5. Pardew's signings have been immense. And our record in the cups (FA and CC, not just JPT) is impressive. We should - with maybe one or two squad additions - be looking to win the League next season with some room to spare. Pardew should be judged on our League position in Jan 2011. Failure to get promoted next season is a sacking offence. Second guessing now that he isn't the man for the job is just fan w*nk.

Thanks for posting this. I'm usually a little sceptical about people with charity tins - however well meaning. But your moving post explains everything. And I guess is very hard to get across in a few words to a throng of people just before a game. I will look out for the collectors pre-Charlton and will donate as generously as I can. I wish you every success.

I hate these ridiculous stories. Read the terms and cons on your ticket. If a steward is mishandling you, call the police and have him arrested for assault. If the club is breaking their agreement with you, sue them. Otherwise, shut the f*** up.

Am still trying to work out why they didn't show the Brighton v Saints game on Saturday's programme. Has Cortese banned cameras as well as the Echo? :-)

I agree with this. I know "we will walk this league" is now an in-joke, but surely.....

We had 21,000 today, which is a very good show. A heck of a lot of people spent a lot of cash to make the JPT final. It's also Easter weekend - I thought there were many less families/kids than usual. Great comments by Pardew on the OS about today's game btw. Top bloke, top manger.

not to wish to cast a damper on this...but you mean watched live...not just watched. I doubt the international Tv rights for Sunday were worth tens of millions. Still amazing to have been there though!

Reply from COYR to my earlier email. (I look forward to their reply within the next few days, but am inclined to take them to the small claims court if I don't get a refund, it's important to make sure the club distance themselves from such amateurs...not so botehred about my 60 notes) We were saddened to read your email this morning about your experiences at Silverspoons. Whilst we appreciate that some peoples expectations of the day were clearly not reached we do take exception to some of the detailed allegations in your email, nevertheless we also take your issues seriously. The fact of the matter is we have only had a handful of written complaints from the 2000 attendees at Silverspoons and whilst this is disappointing it does indicate to us that the majority of people present did not feel as negatively about the event as you. We do take our new business seriously. Whilst we are not experienced event promoters we do have a wealth of business experience on board and are more than capable of running a business professionally. To this end we will endeavour to tackle the points raised in your email objectively and are currently undergoing a full and thorough investigation with all parties involved on the day. Once we have completed our investigation we will, where appropriate, consider compensating you for any disappointment you and your group experienced as a result of your trip to Silverspoons. We anticipate being in a position to get back to you in approximately seven days from today, please bare with us. Regards The COYR Team.

Madness. In FourFourTwo this month, Rickie is rated as the 30th best player in the Football League (i.e. discounting the Premiership). I think that's a bit harsh - possibly has a case for being in the top ten and certainly in the top 20. But he's nowhere near England quality. Maybe about 15th chocie striker - and there aren't that many injuries!

This is the email I have sent to the event organisers: I write in response to your statement re: Silverspoons on your website. I was, frankly, appalled by the experience and seek a full refund for the six tickets I purchased. If I do not receive this refund, I am minded to take legal action in the small claims court against you and to encourage other Saints fans to join me in such action. I do not believe (a) you came remotely close to providing the event that you advertised or (b) that any reasonable human being could have considered it possible or feasible to have provided such an experience if they had visited the venue. I therefore believe you have perpetrated a fraud on those who purchased tickets. It is all very well for you to say now that you were just trying your best as willing amateurs to help Saints fans on the day and that you are not experienced in events management. Such insecurities and uncertainties certainly did not feature at any of your pre-event publicity or in your PR work with the Daily Echo. It is quite beyond me to understand what you think you were offering that was not readily available for free elsewhere. The event was grotsesquely misadvertised. If you were not intentionally misleading, you were certainly negligent in the extreme. Beer was no cheaper than at other nearby venues. Queues were as long, if not longer. If there were ex-players in attendance, I certainly didn’t see any. Food was impossible to order. Although pubs in the immediate vicinity of the stadium are not renowned to be high class joints, this venue was particularly shabby. It beggars belief that an outlay of c. £20,000 was necessary to secure the venue for 2,000 Saints fans. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine how the venue wouldn’t have just opened their doors for free. Most obnoxious of all, is your half-hearted apology on your website. You say “The vast majority of the fans present seemed brimming with the "spirit" of the day, but, inevitably when so many fans congregate in such a confined area some are bound to have experienced less than their expectations.” A whole hearted apology on your website and, preferably, sent to all the email addresses you have as purchasers of tickets would have been in order. And had I received such an apology, I may have been inclined to let the matter rest. But your implication that only a relatively small number of attendees experienced something “less than their expectations” is just staggering. It displays a totally unacceptable lack of contrition. I defy you to find any attendee who believed the experience matched or exceeded their expectations. Certainly, a considerable number of people were openly expressing their disappointment. Given the nature of the day, being ripped off for a tenner was hardly likely to completely ruin the occasion for any Saints fans. I would still have had a great day if someone had nicked my wallet and urinated in my pocket. That doesn’t mean I’m happy to give you £10 for such an experience. Southampton FC are now an upwardly mobile club. It is likely that our fanbase will grow over the next few years and, with luck, days like Sunday will come around more regularly. At board, management and staff level there is a new and welcome culture of professionalism at St. Mary’s. For these reasons, I believe it is sensible for the club to warn its fans away from future events and activities put together by the organisers of this particular fiasco. Although I doubt you have the ability to ruin a great day out for Saints fans, you certainly have a proven ability to take the edge off what is otherwise a fantastic occasion and the club should advise supporters accordingly. I will therefore also be writing to the club’s Chief Executive in these terms. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Can't decide. Really can't work out how well this squad - with one or two additions - would do in the CCC either (middle-ish) If we don't make it, I think we will win L1 next season though.