Royal Exile

I would like to add my congratulations as well - it's been a hell of a season for our family as my brother-in-law is a Saint, so everybody's happy. Both our clubs deserved what they got and the other 22 largely got what they deserved. I firmly believe both can survive the Premiership next season as well - both Adkins and McDermott are the sort of manager who will do things the right way and not simply try to buy their way to survival like QPR tried to this season. Many thanks to most of the balanced comments on here - those on other threads who describe us as "tinpot", "mugs", "Noddy", "cringeworthy" etc - well, whatever floats your boat, be happy with your jaundiced opinions of us. From reading some of the threads on here, I think it's safe to say we all have a few contributors who need to pull their heads from up their arses - we too have a sizeable interspazweb contingent who are mortally "embarrassed" by the way other people support "their" club. Every club has shirters + scarfers, kids, old folk etc - we can't all lay our bouquets at the temple of Manc blackshirts and follow the God of properfootballfans -whatever they are. Good luck for next season to those who follow their club without a plate full of chips on each shoulder - the same applies to us.

How come you know so much about our support? I know literally nothing about your fans, but then I would only visit SMS once a year, max. Mind you, having the "worst" support in the League only gave a handful of our fans the chance to celebrate 3 shots and 3 goals at your gaffe, together with spotting approx. two-thirds of your support wearing stripey shirts in another of your cup-finals. How many do you normally get, then? 15k? 16k? I don't know, I've never looked it up.

I know you're bitter at not being the first team to go up, but don't worry, you will get there. "Nothing" teams don't get promoted, sorry to disappoint you. All I've heard from anywhere is "lucky" Reading - guess we've been lucky 15 times in the last 17 games. Big surprise at Sky Sports covering the promotion of a team in detail - they're a sports channel, they've got the time to do that. I'll expect Sky-Saints TV to be in full swing when you go up, can't say it'll affect me as badly as it seems to have done you. Oh, and Stepgar - West Ham may well should have sewn up the League on paper, but the game is played on grass - they've ****ed up royally and we've taken advantage. We've got more points than everyone else and only you can catch us - of course we deserve to go up. I don't think Barnsley or Ipswich or Derby et al deserve it as they haven't won enough points to do so. Jibes about the attendance against Forest are a waste - Forest only brought 600 out of an allocation of 2100 - guess that explains the 1500 short of capacity. Chill out, Saints, you're on the way up too.

In terms of the Russians, I have to say I am still nervous about them. I don't ever want to see Skategate happening to us. The Football League were due to complete their investigations any day now, but, of course, going up means the Premier League now want their own examination of the situation and rightly so. I have to admit the Chelsea/Man City situation of simply buying your way to glory has always bothered me and I had hoped we might be invested in by someone other than the Mafiaski, but as long as everything comes out clean-smelling, then I've got to be happy. You'll never see me gracelessly waving wads of tenners at other fans, though. I hope we have enough class to rise above that.

Thanks for the well-thought out response. I'm 48 years old and first watched Reading in 1967. I don't have a second club, sorry to disappoint you.

As a Reading supporter, I would first and foremost like to wish the Saints all the very best and I sincerely hope you go up with us - and that West Ham blow it in the playoffs, but that's another story. If it helps you to know where I am coming from, my brother-in-law was on the books at Saints a fair few years ago now, but he never quite made the grade, mainly due to a knee injury. Please don't ask me his name, no-one will know him and I wouldn't embarrass him by naming him! As far as Mr McDermott goes, I am humbled to see a lot of replies from fair-minded Saints in defence of the slating he received in the opening post and saddened at the odd irrationally stupid comment dotted throughout the replies. Brian is a thoughtful man of the highest integrity and is not and never has been "disrespectful" to any other club. You will note he did not name Southampton - or any other club - in his response and therefore, those of you who have taken offence at his "slight" are over-reacting badly, probably due to the nerves you may still be feeling about going up. I repeat again, I would like to see you go up - AND YOU WILL. There is no doubt that you have been consistently the best team over the ENTIRE season, for which I congratulate you, especially as you only came up last season and have maintained that momentum all season long. However, the run we have been on, particularly since the end of January, deserves its own reward, which we have now gained. I would be thrilled to win the title, but frankly, that would be a bonus and if we don't, then there is only one team that deserves it and that is Southampton FC. See you in the Premiership.