southamptonbairn

Seeing Southampton play

Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal would be my top 3 but unlikely to get a ticket for either end. So I'll go with the Ugly Manchester Sisters and Newcastle even if I have to sit in the home end AGAIN

GK - Craig Gordon's out of contract. Always rated him and depsite his recent injuries, would be worth a punt for free. Gordon, Davis RB - A new player here is a must. I have no idea why Butterfield was given a new contract and although I really like Frazer, I don't know if we could rely on him as our 1st choice in the Premiership. Alot of people seem to be saying Clyne and from what I've heard he is a great prospect but I didn't think he was a standout against us at Selhurst Park. I like the look of Jack Hunt from Huddersfield, the 21 year old who got into the League 1 team of the year in his first season in that division and can play at right midfield too if needed. Hunt, Richardson CB - I'd hate to see Jos and/or Jose drop out of the team but we'll desperately need more pace than these two offer in the Premier League. I think one addition is needed here but I have no idea who as I've not really seen enough of Curtis Davies to judge. I can imagine most of our signings coming from lower leagues or abroad but we definietly need someone who is fast and strong. NEW, Hooiveld, Fonte, Martin LB - Dickson is out the window and will most likely be sold to a League 1 club. Same with Harding, who I'd be glad to see the back of. I don't overly rate Fox in this league but he'd be a very good option as a back up. England U-21 Joe Bennett looked good against Middlesborough last week but signed a new contract last year so won't be cheap. Bennett, Fox RM - This should be Nigel's priority this summer as we never had a player this year who made that position his own. You've got your ovbious choices for fast winger in Matt Phillips and Albert Adomah, depending on whether Blackpool join us in the Premiership. I'd be happy with either. Phillips/Adomah, De Ridder CM - I'd love to see Surman back here, but there's no chance in hell of that happening right now. Who knows what the future holds... For now, I think Cork and Morgan would more than hold their own in the Premiership but I can see Chaplow leaving, despite his early season form, and possibly Hammond too. I've always liked that Somen Tchoyi from West Brom who's out of contract at the end of the season. He is experienced at 29, is a good mix of playmaker/battler and can also play on the right of midfield. Also, I'd love to see the return of Danny Guthrie, who has brilliant for Newcastle this season, when played, and is also out of contract. Cork, Guthrie, Schneiderlin, Tchoyi LM - I think we're sorted in this department with Lallana and Lee when he returns from injury, with a right winger or a youth player filling in when necessary. Lallana, Lee ST - I think the number of strikers brought in will all depend on whether Guly stays or goes. I hope Mr Marmite does leave us this summer but I can't see it happening so it looks like only one striker will be required. Steven Fletcher is a goalscorer but I wouldn't want us to sign any relegated players because they are in a relegated team for a reason. Despite all the Hooper/JRod talk, our new striker will probably come from abroad and I would be rather disappointed if we did sign Hooper. If Guly leaves, Zaha is twice the player he is and would be a fantastic signing. Lambert, NEW, Sharp, Guly/Zaha Out: Forecast, Bart (on loan), Butterfield, Seaborne, Jaidi, Harding, Dickson, Puncheon, Chaplow, Hammond, Holmes, Connolly, Forte, Barnard and youth players like JWP, Chambers, Shaw, Stephens, Hoskins etc on loan to lower league clubs.

GK - Cammy Bell at Kilmarnock would be an excellent signing. I think he is better than Alan McGregor, as good as Craig Gordon and will be the next Scotland No. 1. He will also be available at a reasonable price.

Stuck in the Palace end on Saturday and the Saints support sounded great, recorded this video at full time. (hope it works) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vjtoRAKOls&feature=youtu.be

One word - ROCHDALE Last season 7 games to go and we had an almighty blip where we just didn't turn up. The same bottling comments were posted on here and in the remaining 6 games we were undefeated The rest is history. Let's pick ourselves up and move on.

Sky announce date of fixtures, games yet to be announced. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12942,00.html# Hopefully with the Reading game being shown on Fri 13/4 they wont pick our game with Peterborough for the one scheduled on Monday 16/4 for those of us with travel already arranged. It's a certainty that the game with Moddlesbrough will be picked either for the 5.20 kick off on Sat or the Monday game scheduled on 23/4

Palace v Saints tickets on sale today on their site. No chance of this going to General Sale.

2200 away allocation at Blackpool, Peterborough were meant to start demolition work on the away end by March for their redevelopment of their stadium but I can't see anywhere if the planned works are still on schedule.

Planning on doing Leeds, Blackpool, Palace, Peterborough and Middlesbrough. Leeds tickets purchased today, how many of these remaining games do you think will go to General Sale?

The condition of the park yesterday didn't allow us to play our normal passing game, so we had to revert to the odd hoof. What Chung offered yesterday was the option to play the ball long into the channels rather than long for Rickie in the centre.If Chung didn't get on the end of it he was putting immediate pressure on the full back. He has great energy and work rate and he'll do for me.

Did you have any luck? If not PM me or post your contact number.

Did anyone have a wait at Upton park tube station. We jogged round to East Ham, no queues got a seat no problem and awaited the mobs piling on at Upton Park. Hardly anyone got on, there were seats to spare. I'm curious to see if we missed the rush or the advice about the 50min-hour wait at Upton park was wrong.

I haven't seen Saints win away from home in the last two seasons and what's worrying me is with 15 games to go, I'll be at seven and six of them are away from home. On another note, I was sitting at the opposite end of the ground last night and the Saints fans were in fantastic voice. Those Hammers fans are a bunch of moaning faced miserable sods. They were worried when big Jos scored though, they cheered Green's catch at the very last corner kick like they had scored the winner.

Probably there are a good few who, like myself, couldn't see this going to general sale and opted to go for the home end rather than miss out.

Went there last season when visiting London, there is a light above each turnstile inside the ground which I noticed lit up when my daughter scanned her ticket. I hung around to see when this light came on and it did appear to light up when a concession ticket was scanned. The stewards in the inside were concentrating on the lights waiting to pounce on anyone entering with the wrong priced ticket.

Stokes came on loan to Falkirk from Arsenal and scored 18 goals in 16 games and I thought he was a fantastic player. He ripped every team apart including the Old Firm. For a team who were struggling to stay in the SPL before his arrival, his goals helped secure another season in the SPL for Falkirk. At the end of the loan period several clubs including Celtic tried to lure him away from Arsenal and he surprisingly ended up at Sunderland. I followed his career after he left Falkirk as I was convinced he would be a world class star. That was when I finally realised how big the gulf was between the English leagues and the SPL as he flopped miserably down south. Wenger obviously saw the writing on the wall, because if he was potentially world class he would never have sold him. When he returned to Scotland to play for Hibs...surprise surprise, he started scoring goals at an incredible rate again. When judging a player, it's not just how good they look or how good their scoring ratio is, you have got to look at the quality of players they are playing against. I don't think Stokes has improved since his loan period at Falkirk, he's still banging in the goals because he's back up here playing against a poorer quality.

Yes travel down in the afternoon and back home on the sleeper service. Hopefully some kind ST holder will offer a favour for Watford 25/2 and Palace 9/4 Oh dear, my main concern is my teenage daughter refuses to tuck her Saints top in to her jeans and the red and white stripes eventually slip below her jacket.

Home tickets went on General sale today on West Ham site. Most London games are restricted to SFC season ticket holders, so I took the plunge and will be sitting on my hands yet again.

Being a Scot living in Scotland and also a season ticket holder of a Scottish Club for 30 years, I have found the Hooper topic quite amusing and frustrating. The irony of Old firm fans calling anyone arrogant has led to the odd chuckle. Old firm fans believe everyone in Scotland supports either Rangers or Celtic and those who go along to support their local team only do so because they can’t afford the bus fare to Glasgow. I’ve often been asked “but who’s your big team.” The truth is, like many other football fans in Scotland, I don’t like either of them. I love to see both of them being turned over in Europe, as it’s the only chance these fickle fans have of feeling the lows most fans feel supporting their local club. My frustrations are with those on this board who, often tongue in cheek, have generalised the Scots from the posts on the Celtic site. We are not all the same... honest Like many have said previously, Rangers and Celtic are both big clubs and that’s where it ends. The quality is no longer there to compete with top English clubs as they have done so in the past. There are several individuals of international class on the horizon, ( and I include Hooper in this)but that aside, Scottish football is on its arse. Celtic can no longer compete in Europe because it cannot attract enough quality to play in a poor league, so their main focus is being a step ahead of Rangers to guarantee Champions League Football…yawn. If the BoD feel they have that advantage over their rivals and a decent offer comes in for any of their players, they will take the cash, because like it or not Celtic fans, you are now a selling club. too many repeats of meaningless games have turned fans away in their droves and the governing bodies will not change a structure that brings numerous episodes of “ A clash of the bigot brothers”, for sky sports. Two seasons ago, I made the decision not to renew my season ticket with my Scottish Club because I no longer had the appetite for what was being offered as entertainment. Too many repeats of meaningless games have turned fans away in their droves and the governing bodies will not change a structure that brings numerous episodes of “ A clash of the bigot brothers”, for sky sports. I then focused my finances and time to follow my English club, Southampton. So I have witnessed both ends of the spectrum, from SPL to English League 1 and can say that the quality in League 1 was better than the likes of Dunfermline, Inverness CT, Hibernian etc. This season the Saints have produced a brand of football that has not been seen in Scotland for many a year and that’s what keeps bringing me back to watch them. It puzzles me when I see players opt to come to Scotland rather than the English Leagues. Surely it must be every player’s ambition to play at the highest level against the best in the world. Perhaps they prefer the easy life in an easy league and being idolised by those like “hooper88”

Newcastle or Sunderland away would do for me as well. The shortest journey down the road.

Not doing any forward planning this year from Mid November to Mid February, lessons learned from previous years. I'll make my decision on the day, there's not many grounds that will turn away fans on match day.

:lol:m £38 isn't a lot,in fact it's one of our cheaper trips but it all adds up when you're travelling from Scotland most weeks. (can be over £100 for a home game) It will be about £45 return for the diesel so not much difference in the cost and I'm not willing to take the gamble cause this freeze IS forecast again this year. It will probably be our last game over the winter until sunny mid February for West Ham away. COYS

I was getting advance rail tickets from Edinburgh, Adult and 15 year old for £38 return. However I then discovered that the Keepmoat does not have under soil heating and the corresponding fixture last season was called off for a frozen pitch. Just going to keep an eye on the weather and if it's ok drive down.

You are right Badsey!! Just managed to get a couple myself:smug:,thanks for that reply. Why say on the site sold out when there are tickets left ?? I was just 2 clicks away from purchasing from DCFC at the WRONG end of the ground for another "sit on your hands Saturday afternoon"