Deano6

This isn't about John on another forum, this is about Dougal in the white builders hat.

Ah yes, you're right, there he is!

I was still in the very optimistic about Gaston camp, and believed he just hadn't been given a chance. But seeing him against Stoke on Saturday at a time when the game was screaming out for creativity and see him barely able to make a pass has seen me join the "sell him and move on" camp.

Guly

Is he? He's not renowned for his heading.

I'm gonna pop Turkish on ignore then, as I seem to miss most of his contributions usually.

There used to be a poster on here from round your way...Wiltshire Saint. You should track him down and see what he's up to these days. I think he still posts on Ugly Inside from time to time.

That's the perfect analogy - Yes, you did all that back then, and it was enough. But we were League One back then, second rate, third tier. The club has since improved itself immeasurably in every way. How have you improved yourself? The club has done so by retaining the top in quality and casting out those that haven't made the grade. For every Adam, Morgan, Jose and Rickie there is a Jordan Robertson, Jacob Mellis, Jon Otsemobor and Neal Trotman. Ask yourself, which one are you? Is it enough for you to simply "still be around" because the club can't get rid of you (a la Pulis / Forecast), or do you need to shape up or ship out?

And therefore presumably no losses either. Not really sure what conclusion can be drawn from that. What fixtures are you referring to anyway?

We now have a team that is playing quality football at a very high and consistent standard, playing with flair, composure and a toughness that we've been lacking for a good number of years. In every position we have players that look like they belong in the top half of the Premier League. We have a manager and a coaching team who are looking exceptional, producing a fit, intelligent, well drilled team that has been described as "the best coached team in the league" over the last week. We have a chairman who, love him or loathe him, has been proven to have made very good decisions at difficult times to bring about footballing improvements on the pitch, and who handles himself with dignity out of the spotlight. We have a brilliant youth academy and continue to spend more on improving our infrastructure. This is a new-look Saints side that plays with style and swagger. And yet when you look into the stands you still see the same lazy, fat, sloppily dressed guys with their beer bellies hanging out of their same pair of jeans they've worn for years, no pride in their appearance and often no sense of personal grooming. It suddenly brings tho whole outfit back to looking very amateurish to the outside world, at a time where the message we are trying to convey is "Our Time Is Now" and "Our Dream is Real". So what's the solution - do we need to be getting our acts together and making the same step up in quality as everyone else at the club has over the last couple of years? Should we be starting to take personal responsibility, doing extra training, spending time in the gym, sharpening our image by paying some attention to ourselves and buying some decent clothes that fit? Or should we accept that, like a girlfriend who has outgrown us, the club is too good for us now and we should step aside to let a new crop of fans who are capable of being Premier League come in to replace us? Is it time for the club to move onwards and upwards and out of Southampton?

To be fair, Depeche Mode were singing "Reach out and touch base" back in 1989!

Presumably you don't allow yourself to get engaged with any American sports then? By the way, the kid had been to Southampton before, as he said in his post. He went in Nov 2012 and that is when/why he became a fan / supporter.

Franz Ferdinand tonight at Hammerstein Ballroom.

No way guys...me too!!

I moved my season ticket to the South Stand for this season, after reading that Will Champion also has a ST there. Still not managed to get to any games yet, but excited to see who else will be sitting near me. So come forward chaps: who else sits in the South Stand at St Mary's?? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1727021-each-english-premier-leagues-team-coolest-celebrity-fan/page/15

Fair play to him for admitting to and correcting his error. Nothing more to see here.

That was after the game. Man U had 1 point from their first 3 games: lost 2-1 to Sheff U, lost 3-0 to Everton and drew 1-1 with Ipswich. They won the league that year by 10 points (from Villa, then Norwich).

What's Tony Hadley got to do with anything?

Are you Mary Poppins?

Tbh it should be standard business practice in football (as it is in other business).

Here you go Bearsy, from the Wikipaedo... It all comes down to paperworks, innit. Needed to have his application in before he turned 21.

From the Echo transcript...

Awesome! That was done in Snice on Hudson, my gf's favourite coffee shop and just up the street from us. I'll have to pop in and see what they have to say about it!

If there is such a thing as "season-defining", then it is not likely to be these next 2 games, no. There is always a tendency to over-inflate the importance of the present time (count how many games will be "must-win", "6 pointer", "crucial", "can't afford to lose"). FWIW for me the season-defining games last yr was the victories against Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea in short succession, possibly the Reading win directly after to keep the momentum going too. Although the season petered out from there it essentially cemented our survival, and was the difference to our season - both for points gained and performances in those games.