yorkie

Call me old fashioned - but I like a pint and a sing song at the appropriate time...out of season in Weymouth though...seems a bit odd! The "Pompey fan on a string song..." is some what pathetic. Perhaps I can excuse morons singing it at SMS - but a holiday resort in summer? I have no gripe with anti-Pompey songs - but to "kick his ****ing head in" outside a football stadium is cringe worthy at least! Sure I've sung stupid songs outside a football stadium, and use the "f" word on a daily basis if I can't think of another word to make my point...but for those there - how many have wives and kids and would use that word in front of them? "Oh look it's boring old Yorkie having a dig at the morons again" - grow up I've been there, sung the songs and got the T-shirt. I welcome the celebration of anyone's life - and even if it was Deano's favorite song was it sung at his funeral? I know sometimes people come on here with a "holier than thou" approach - but sometimes it is justified. Give me "Que sera sera..." if you must sing about Pompey - no one get's offended, and it's non violent (exceopt for the shooting bit)! Personally if it was me with the missus in a East Coast resort and I saw a load of Leeds fans doing the same at Scarborough - I would feel a bit intimidated, and not appraoch them to keep the language down. It would what I'd like to do - but who attempts to tackle a group of beered up "twenty somethings" these days? Moral standards are slipping - next there will be a comment that the loutish behaviour at Southampton Central was justified beacause "the pigs" (excuse my colloqialism) asked for it! It's all fair in the laddish behaviour stakes - but honestly I look back at some of the things I have done over the years and cringe. Experience tells you that you will eventually stop being a ***t, and learn to respect others! May Deano rest in peace - rather than turning in his grave.

Nice response Tony - but is the Football League going to stand down? I don't think so - so where does that leave the bid? How long can this go on? Someone may bite the bullet and just buy the club on the FL's terms - is that something you want? The bully boys at the FL are out to get us...how can you deal with that? Whilst you have signed a NDA - surely it's time to go public and get the support of the rest of the footballing world? Or do you think they won't support your stand? The previous regime didn't set the club up in this way - weren't they instructed to by the FL when we went public? So the rules are changing daily - if we have them by the short and curlies - our club deserves a fair hearing in court! Get it sorted before there is no club - there will be no coming back!

Trying to sum up the whole sorry week of F5ing ever minute has just about done me in. I thought I didn't care as much, but this last 10-days it's become an obsession. I tried to remember how I felt about the Luton situation, and why the football world isn't in uproar because of our predicament - then I remembered I couldn't care less about Luton, so the rest of the football world is justified in not giving a stuff about Saints! There is no single word that truly sums up my mood - frustrated is one. I can't understand why the deal has not gone through yet after only having to dot i's and cross t's. I'm a bit gullable - aren't all football fans? - but I really want to believe everything Tony Lynam says, wish for MLT to get involved in the club, and be financed by someone who wants to see the club back in The Premiership. The Championship isn't that bad if you have a commited side. I'd even settrle for the play offs year on year! As for the future - tomorrow I'm spending somerthing between 9/8-hours in a car with no access to a PC. Sure I can pull over and fire up the laptop but something tells me to stay away for a day and let things unflod. Nothing I can do will change anything - and more meaningless drivel on here will only wind me up more. Is there truly a dawning of a new era? Is there really hope? All I really want is a club to follow in August - even with -25 points it would be something to fight for another year in Division 1 without being reelegated! Not the type of excitement I was ever expecting as a Saints fan - but a club in Div.2 is better than no club at all! I would like to thank Tony Lynam for giving us hope...please just deliver before the weekend. I need a break from these pages and the rubbish some people post!

I suppose we better Battenberg down the hatches!

Is this it in a nutshell? The league will have to add another 15-point penalty as we have not done what they want in getting a CVA to come out of administration (just like Leeds). But then we aren't in administration so we can't get the CVA. If the FL acknowledge this then the first 10-point deduction is invalid too! The FL has a right dilemna on it's hands. I personally hope the Pinnacle bid is as upfront and above board as it appears with no smoke and mirrors. Why do so many on here (and the Echo forum) seem intent on undermining all they have tried (and trying) to do? At the end of the day we are just soppy football fans - or more specifically Saints fans! We are threatened with extinction so we react by biting the hand that could possibly feed! It will come out in the wash as the saying goes - but we don't need any more dirty laundry next season. Say Pinnacle get the position, and the FL climb down or compromise - what then? The club will be branded as cheats - nothing to do with now or the fans - but we'll be the ones on the road getting it in the neck week in and week out. The fact the National media has not jumped on this story makes me believe no one really cares except us...the FL remain very quiet after all the interviews at the time of the 10-point penalty with the laughing Malwhinney (sorry if this is not the correct spelling)! There is a problem with making the rules up as you go along - someone clever enough will find a loop hole and wiggle their way out of the penalty. Can you imagine if this was any of the big four? The press would be hounding for more information! Then again if it was Man U I expect 95% of the country would love to see them demoted to the Blue-Square! We need to get a grip - this is Southampton FC. A provincial club with a small time attitude and a bigtime pedigree established since the mid sixties. We do not have the history of clubs like Wolves and Preston - but we were in the right palce at the right time and believed we were Premiership quality! The truth of the matter is we missed out on the big time by not investing. All we can hope is whoever ends up in charge sees the club's potential. Just believe and it will happen - but as often happens unless you get up of your ar$e and do something things remain in the same state! Pinnacle are doing their level best I'm sure - all we can do is press F5 all the time for an update!

Adrian Heath - that goal in 84! Going back to that era - a bloke called Bailey played for Blackburn and got Steve Williams and Ossie sent off in the Battle of Blackburn. He later went on to play for Everton and represent England at left back if I remember correctly. Always got a good barracking at The Dell!

Strange I feel as though Pearson deserved a chancve after all his efforts. He had the team playing as a team - and they didn't give up. I don't think some of the so called professionals liked his methods compared to the luvvies in charge prior to that...he was no bullsh*t type. I liked him - he was honest, dowen to earth and very eloquent when interviewed. Him and Lowe were never going to get on - he's also proved he can get out of this divison - and I think we have a better set up then Leicester! I'd have him back - he'd get the right players to get us out of this division and build a team we the fans deserve! I still have memories of the last few games of the season before last and applaudiong him and chanting his name after the Sheffield United game. The man has integrity - but whether that extends to loyalty to Leicester and Mandaric I don't know. All hyperthetical I know - but tyhe most important think for us he knows most of the players in our squad and will probably get the best out them quicker than anyone else.

FL to hold an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon - not much of an emergency if it can wait that long - why not do itover the weekend? Next season beckons on a level playing field!

Not really an issue for me - not that far away at all...just north of Middlesborough and across a bit. PS Don't come dressed as a monkey as they might hang you! Should be nicknamed the "Monkey Hangers" - after stringing one up thinking it was a French spy during the Napoleonic period of hostilities. Strange folk in that neck of the woods...all those big clubs around them and still support Hartlepool, bit like Saints fans I suppose?

And then there was that Party Seven...what a waste of beer! It's grim up north!

Better scrub that remark - Ajax will probably scour us!

Crickey '76 memorabilia - I've still got a 1-pint mug with crest and FA Cup Winners on...I quickly moved on to proper glasses - any mug can use a handle! Not seen much use - open to offers!

"The Battle of Bradford"...who could ever forget the nearly full Party7 that came flying down from the back towards the turnstile? That game in 1984 - I came back from Manchester for that one and stood in will all the Pompey fans. What a great moment when Steve Moran banged it in! It's not about the glory It's not about the prawn sandwiches It is about a faith...a common cause and wanting to be part of it! One of my best the best days/nights of my life was that night we won promotion at Leyton Orient in 1977/8. It was one of the greatest feelings ever. From the coach trip to the game to having the window of the coach put in at the end - and the stop off in an area by a pub full of squaddies wives up for a night out! Swapping coaches at gone midnight at Fleet services and eventually getting home in the early hours. Memories I doubt will ever be replicated again in my lifetime... I really sense the good days are just around the corner again... The days out have lost nothing. A day out, a few beers, good company, a good laugh, football (winding up home fans), a good sing song...and always with a sense of humour. I'm only sorry I don't have a son I can share it all with - my youngest daughter did express an interest but lost it after an unsavoury incident. She loved the singing, the songs, the bad language, the fact that everyone seemed to say what they wanted when they wanted - and she saw a side of me that she never knew existed! She laughs now and often says "Do you remember when..." Just hope they do something sensible like shut the Chapel next season and open The Itchen North to STs. To me the ground and atmosphere suffered with the closing last season. To the brave few who can confess to watching Saints that far back...we are a dying breed literally. Some would call us dinosaurs stuck in a time wharp but they have been the best days of my life.

Blimey and I thought I was the only one! The club has been a part of many of our lives for the last 50-years and it's difficult to believe theere is anything else that matters. Unfortunately many of my good firends have given up the ghost, other things have become more important - grandchildren believe it or not! You don't have to be a mastermind to know the last few years have been dire - personally I have been living off the memories for years. Every Saturday I got and to drive to Southampton was met with optimism and all the old buzz. Last year it was only one game - in the aftermath of Rupert. Let's face it if it wasn't for the 70's and 80's many of us would have thrown the towel in ages ago. I've tried believe you me - I've tried, but it always comes back to what else can you do on a Saturday afternoon, with other blokes and all want the same outcome? The 70's was a fantastic era even after the relegation, the 80's were even better. Then we had Shearer, MLT and the Wallace's...we had some fantastic days and nights at The Dell. Particular memories that will live with me forever...Terry Paines testemonial, that 5-0 win against Derby, Channon's testemonial, Barry Horne's screamer against Bolton, Brian O'Neils screamer against Gordon Banks, my first derby against Pompey, Millwall...battles against Man U & Chelsea in The Milton. In more recent years the game against Liverpool my favourite 4-1 win ever, the night game against Swindon we eventually won 4-2, that last goal my MLT! Who can forget the Branfoot days? The away days were pretty good too! We rarely won but who cared? It all seems so long ago - and yet some of those days are as clear as the day the memory was made. In much more recent years SMS has never really done it for me - some of the games with Pompey has a fantastic atmosphere - and the Wolves game in 2004 in The Cup. When we rock - we rock. It's a fantastic place. The Itchen North was undoubtedly for me the heart of the club ground. So many faces from those years, so many memories, a nod, a handshake, a hug...it's what being a Saints fan is all about. I get the feeling those days may return soon. The right combination of players and staff will see us rise up through the lower ranks of the football world. I don't live as far away as Tim and I don't come to SMS as often as I would like to - but the spirit lives on on the away days I attend. I'm accused of being a plastic and believing my non-attendance from SMS last season was purely because of RL was the right thing to do... I'll be back for more next season. Football is almost overpricing itself and fans can't afford to go - that's the real reason for lower attendances, and the poor fare served up by a couple of Dutch clowns and an overpaid bunch of so called professionals. We'll get our just deserts and we should soon be looking up the league instead of down. Like Tim & Dunc - I'm too old to give it up - or too stupid. Who cares it's my club and nothing can ever replace that.

Anyone tried buying a season ticket yet? If the football club isn't in administration - and trading why can't season tickets be sold? Some good news for the staff at SMS at last - the players can wait - but to staff this could be the difference between still having a home or being kicked out!

I'm a super fan! Home when I fel like it and away when in Yorkshire! According to GM that makes me a plastic!

Think we will all just be happy to stay in League 1 next season. Play-offs are a pipe-dream...like tobaccoo will go up in smoke after the first flames are fanned! If we needed men for The Championship - we need bullies for Div.1. Don't have many of those in our side except Wooton! keep dreaming of play-offs - there are better teams than us in this league with 15-more points before the ball is kicked!

Nothing like expressing an opinion and having someone come back with a slanderous statement...I've never made anyone vomit! So let's agree one thing...if the 5,000 had turned up we would not have been relegated? We would have money in the bank to bank role another chance of promotion like we did with the parachute payments, but this time to Div.1? If you think we were second best this year - what about next season? It's not about class - I've been shooting. I wear Harris Tweed. I've got big rosey cheeks! It was shameful what happened at our club and by tuerning up every week - or when I could to SMS I was supporting the regime that brought us relegation, and further relegation! If anyone mentions Cardiff and the good times - it's all in the past. As far as I'm concerned I got the club I deserved. As for being a plastic - is that like the mugs they serve beer in at SMS on the concourse? I'd rather be a plastic than a "prawn sandwicher" any day of the week.

All if's and but's...the fact is Lowe got what he deserved. Now the "fans" loyal every weekers or the stayaways are being asked to keep the club afloat. What about all those who made money out of being at SFC? Ex-players, Managers who got the big pay-offs, Dividends, et al? Sorry but to blame those who stayed away for our demise is very short sighted - you must speculate to accumulate - and Rupert and his chorts (the senior management with business acumen) chose to get second rate players and pocket the "parachute" payment. I'm proud to have stayed away from SMS - it eventually got rid of the joker in charge. His shares are worth SFA - and those who propsered from the reverse take over finally got theirt just rewards - absolutely nothing and a blot on their business CV, which reads "Failed at SLH". So we need investment - so we need a saviour. The fans (not cutomers) do not demand success - just blood, sweat and tears. No one has given blood (except Claus to see if he was over the limit!), very few sweated - and I guess only the fans have shed tears! Have Lowe back? I'd rather have no association or affiliation with a business that only takes and never gives back! No SFC...sure I will survive on the memories. When people ask me what I did in my youth and informative years and say "I followed The Saints"...nothing else will matter! To any potentail buyer out there - we have a fan base. We love ourt club - we jkust want the players and owners to show the same passion. Unfortunately it will never happen again - football sold it's soul to the devil - SKY! If it's not Premiership - it's not worth watching. Based on our experience at SMS since our demise I tend to agree - but they are my team of choice and nothing comes close. Even watching England leaves me cold... I am losing the will to worry about what the future holds...I have memories of another era when it was an honest profession when players got 2/3-times the average mans salary - but they've exceded that beyond all expectations. If the man on the street has lost touch and putting these people on pedestals - the game is doomed!

Who would that certain well known be then - the local MP? The gravy train at SMS has dried up - and the platform still looks full of expectant journeymen! Charity Matches are jsut that - it's for charity! If you don't wish to donate your time for free, and cover your own expenses then you shouldn't get involved. This is why I rarely give to charity - because how much is left after expenses? If this so called person is unemployed, has no possible way of covering their expenses - perhaps we should raise a few bob for them! Unlikely that it is I bet the person alledgedly wanting £500 to cover expenses was trying it on like most MPs have been. (topical as usual). So let's face it - massive walk-up on the day? Cost for policing and staffing at SMS? If they really wanted to do something - why not on a pitch at Southampton Common or the Sports Centre? No it's a little too far from the comfort zone - and people would actually be able to talk to players and alike! Charity - charity begins at home...did Rupert offer any money?

The only three things I can remember are: 1. We had the best catering in The Premiership & The Championship & now Division 1 2. He resigned on the eve of the EGM (2006/7) 3. He walked out of the club in 2009 They are the only three things to remember him for... Then on the otherhand we have the whole Delgado debacle, Theo "could leave us for nothing" Walcott scenario, & I think we need a new Manager this month policy!

Strange best offer alledgedly £3.8m according to 606 forum about an hour ago. That isn't going to save us - is it?

They must be there for the Forum match tonight! If you play well you will get an opprtunity to play for the first team... You heard it hear first!!!

Who cares what League we are in surely the club surviving for another 12-months is all that matters? I read the article - it appears from where I sit in deepest darkest Yorkshire, that there are 2-Nr confirmed bids. As opposed to 2-Nr interested parties. Le Tiss or not Le Tiss that is the question. Not really sure what he brings to the table apart from passion for the club, think back so did Crouch! Being a fan is not always the best thing when involved at high level. However he may get some decent players coming here on the back of his involvement. On the -10-points issue - my gut feeling says we will get away with it should the new owners have the bottle to take on the Football League. Onward and upward - what glories next season? Promotion Johnson's Paint League Cup FA Cup I'll settle for a club that survives in Division 1 and looks like moving forward - but then again I'm easily pleased.

Not being picky - but so what if you can buy tickets online without re-newing the membership? If you are a customer surely it is your choice as to how you buy a ticket - online or at the ticket office? For once in my life I believe I should invest in a season ticket to give the club the must needed injection of cash. Sure I won't be there every game, and may spend more visiting other stadiums - but that doesn't seem to matter. However I think I will only do this is the club's new owners show so balls in changing the ethos at SMS. We need an experienced manager, a new squad of experienced and young hungry players to compliment our own rising stars. I read somewhere that Norwich has already sold over 19,000 STs for next season - I'd like to think we could at least match this now Rupert is gone. New hope could generate a significant income stream for next year at -10points or not. My only fear is that 3-seasons of dross has turned people off, and even the likes of MLT coming back will not be enough. The team needs to start performing from the start next season then then crowds may return. Being entertained is one thing - losing virtually every other week at SMS is unacceptable. Sort out the defence, gets some balls in midfield, and find someone who isn't scared of scoring and we may be on to a winner. So in summary they may get my money if: 1. There is an experienced MAnager in place 2. We invest in some full backs 3. We add some steel to midfield 4. We get a goalscorer 5. No more televised games...until we draw a big gun in the FA Cup! Well at least next season we won't have a TV jinx to worry about - can't see Div 1 being televised live can I?