Toon Saint

You said 'rose tinted gay glasses' - is there much difference? How can it ever be time wasted if gay people watch or play the sport and are insulted by homophobic chants? Please don't kid us that you are reincarnated as the new Morrissey and are now trying to stop pigeonholing people by sexual orientation. Bearsy, very good.

I'd say dismayed by Orchard's 'point of view' - a man who feels it fine to employ sad remarks about 'gay rose tinted glasses' and in the same breath deny the existence of homophobia in football. The 'idea' that you floated, rooted in eugenics, is probably more troubling still. Hitler and Goebell's leapt upon psychiatric notions of 'perversion', 'inversion', and ideas of stunted mental and physical development, in order to justify their eugenics programme and the killing of thousands of gay men in Germany. So you'll pardon me if I suggest that your idea is worthy of no thought whatsoever.

High horse or not, I do not care; your argument just isn't credible. Loathe as I am to reduce gay people to a statistic, if there are 550+ registered footballers to play in the Premier League, then just a percentage of those (incidentally well below the 6% identifying as gay in Britain) that would amount to 5 gay footballers in the top tier of English football. In what way does denying the existence of gay men in football help the matter? You don't even acknowledge that it might be cultural prejudice (such as your own) that is deterring them from disclosing their sexuality. And in saying that they might not be good enough, might not like football, or just don't wan't to play, you are repeating some pretty lazy stereotypes associating gay men with effeminacy and a lack of interest in sport. If you had opined that gay men are less likely to participate in professional football leagues because they do not want to adhere to a macho straight culture and/or that they risk being bullied by their peers, then you might make a decent point. In my eyes all you've said is that there might not be any gay people in football because they haven't come out - effectively you are just whitewashing over the potential for any prejudice in the sport. I hope I'm not the only one who sees that as pretty ignorant.

What has this got to do with football and homophobia? If you are interested in the relationship between comedy and social prejudice then perhaps you should have a read of this: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/feb/05/top-gear-offensive-steve-coogan The reason the Patridge clip works is because it actually illuminates some of the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of British conservatism. Coogan recognises that and uses the Partridge character as a vehicle to do so, but I'm not so sure the likes of Gervais, who uses 'gay' as shorthand for crap, recognises that function of comedy. All your tired schoolboy guffaws suggest that you don't either, which really means that the real joke is on you.

One of the most, if not the most idiotic posts I have ever read on here. Why are you comparing a hypothetical structural/socio-economic issue (i.e. Indian footballers not being good enough to play in the EPL) with a biological/cultural one (there might not be any gay footballers playing because they haven't come out)? Whatever method you use of measuring the frequency of homosexuality, the fact is that gay men and women (however historically or culturally 'defined') have existed throughout human history and continue to make up a sizeable minority of our population. Why do you think they would not be involved in football or play it? I know gay people who play and watch football on a regular basis. You only have to look at people like Steven Fry and Elton John, as gay celebrity fans/directors, to suggest that English football isn't the last bastion of male 'straightness' that you so obviously crave it to be. Do you not think that gay footballers might have a hard time 'coming out' because of the wider ignorance and prejudices of fans and players? Your a priori assumption that all footballers are straight and that a gay man wouldn't be interested in competitive sport hardly makes for an accepting climate does it?

Lol at sn1ggering being censored for the N word.

Your school-boy s******ing suggests that there is indeed a big problem of homophobia in football, and really you are just lamenting the threat to your 'rights' to continue peddling the same juvenile 'backs to the wall boys!' garbage. DuncanRG is speaking by far the most sense on this matter, and there needs to be a sea-change in attitudes before a gay footballer can feel comfortable opening up about their sexuality to their peers. Joey Barton has gone up a lot in my esteem for publicly supporting the anti-homophobia campaign and all credit to him. No credit to our club who should be doing a lot more to outline their stance on tackling homophobic chants and slurs - a surprise given their committed approach to stamping out racism in the game. I've already tweeted the club about this inaction beforehand but had no reply. If I have time I will look to put something in writing to them over the next fortnight or so.

Excellent post as ever from Giordano, and one that has helped to blast away some of yesterday's gloom (my own included). A couple of side-notes: While I do rate Big Vic, and I agree he is defensively superior to Cork, I would question whether he should be playing home games against average opposition. I think Cork helps us shift the ball a lot quicker and carries it further up the pitch. West Ham offered so little going forward yesterday that I would hardly say he was needed in there to protect the back 4. Great to have competition for places as you say, but Cork wasn't even in the matchday squad yesterday which hardly amounts to him breathing down Wanyama and Morgan's respective necks. I still remain concerned with the balance of the team. It's easy to pin this on new signings arriving and unsettling the balance, but in truth it has been an issue since we beat Reading away last year. Lallana and Rodriguez just don't stitch between midfield and attack well enough for me or offer enough natural width, and I think that whenever they have played in tandem we have struggled. I'd like to see stats relating to our points total when those two have played together - it seems that our struggles from last year began to arise when Lallana was re-introduced into the starting line-up at the expense of Puncheon. While we have the personnel to reconcile this I'm worried that it is a more long-standing issue than just early season teething problems.

Good article, spot on in my opinion: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/15/southampton-gaston-ramirez-mauricio-pochettino

Agree with most of this. Wanyama was very poor first half and one of my mates expressed similar sentiments to yourself, but think it's a little soon for saying we got mugged. He was excellent vs West Brom, but think that Poch needs to learn when best to deploy him. When are are supposed to be taking the game to the opposition and seizing the initiative then I'd much prefer to see Cork in there. Morgan was equally as terrible in the first half, but think the real problem is the balance of the team at the moment which dates back to after the Reading away win. Playing a variation of 4-4-2 with Lallana and Rodriguez as the wingers will never work and their control and reading of the game was absolutely abysmal today. Best performances and results came last year with an AMC trio of Rodriguez, Davis, and Puncheon or Lallana, Ramirez, and Puncheon. We need to get overall balance of team right before worrying about Osvaldo and Lambert partnership. Personally, I'd try and get back to the 4-2-3-1 with Osvaldo up top as offers that bit more mobility. Use Lallana, Ramirez, and JWP as the AMC three, and think about dropping Wanyama for Cork. Once we get the passing rhythm back in the team we can start to look at getting Lambert and Osvaldo clicking together, but for me the general balance in team is the most pressing concern. At the moment, we look nothing like the high-octane, swashbuckling side that we were when turning over Liverpool, City, and Chelsea. So negative in the first half and I think Poch left his subs far too late today.

Interesting quotes about Saints growing fanbase in Kenya: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/14/victor-wanyama-southampton-celtic

What is this based on? Wanyama is on around £30,000 p/w http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton/10174509/Victor-Wanyama-says-he-has-moved-to-Southampton-due-to-their-dogged-persistence.html Ramirez about £45,000 p/w http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/southampton-transfer-news-gaston-ramirezs-1282886 Osvaldo is on £50,000 p/w www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/10620004.Saints_sign_Pablo_Osvaldo_in_record_deal/ The rest I have no idea, but Osvaldo is our top earner.

I lived in Liverpool for five years (did my degree and masters there) and have to say it beats Southampton hands down. Shopping, restaurants, music, tourist attractions, culture, pubs/bars, sporting heritage, general aesthetics of city, all far superior. Always a lot of snobbery directed at Liverpool by people who haven't shelved a perception of the city that is rooted in the 1980's, but with the money pumped into it from the European Capital of Culture in 2008, it really is a transformed place. Surrounding area's aren't fantastic (with notable exceptions of Crosby beach and Port Sunlight) and it can't compete with many of the Hampshire villages as a pastoral idyll, but it's a great place to live.

Hear, hear.

Wham set to sign Petric. Hardly fills me with dread, but gives them another body to lump it up to on Sunday. I'd be massively dissapointed if we didn't beat that dross, especially without two of their 'better' players. We're due to give someone a spanking and it might as well be Fat Sam's charges.

Great set of pictures. Have to say that Rickie's looking in his best physical shape ever this campaign - leaner than a fair few in the England team.

True. Disheartening that he felt he couldn't continue his career in England though, where terrace banter is a lot more 'unforgiving' (for want of a better word) than in the States. At least we have some clubs (Liverpool) looking to address that. Bit more of a public movement in the US as well with active sports stars coming out - Jason Collins, the NBA basketballer, for instance - so that sort of progressive environment, and attendant support on social media, has probably helped Rogers. I still can't believe that Fashanu, who came out in 1990, is the only English footballer to have done so - though his personal tragedy has hardly encouraged others to do the same. Ignorance of the issue among some football fans in this country is incredible and it would help if we had some high profile PL footballers throwing their weight behind anti-homophobia campaigns. My lasting impression of PL footballers interventions on gay rights is Robbie Fowler bending over and bating Graeme Le Saux (labelled as gay because he read the Guardian,) to do him up the arse. The ref did absolutely nothing.

This. Absolutely disgraceful the way his brother disowned him when he was at his most vulnerable. But the fact that another PL player has yet to come out since hardly suggests that things have improved.

Based on current form I'd like to see: -----------Boruc Clyne Lovren Fonte Shaw ------Morgan Wanyama -------------JWP --Lallana------------Osvaldo ------------Lambert Really interested in seeing how Ramirez and Osvaldo combine at some point though. Question of who plays 'up top' out of Rickie and Osvaldo not that important such is the interchange and fluidity we try and get b/w the front four. Both players savvy enough to occupy that position at different times during the same match and also move out to wing positions. When those two start getting decent service and with full-backs overlapping properly, can really see us starting to toy with opposition.

Substitute wife for girlfriend and 'someone else' for her mum and that's my life.

Until we relocate our centre of excellence from Burton to Sellafield then youth in this country won't stand a chance.

A*?

I'd have to give us an A. Drastically improved the spine of the team bringing in three international class players, who not only bring strength, guile, and composure, but also a mental edge that we have been lacking. Lovren, in particular, looks like a Southampton Captain in the making - incredible passion and winning mentality demonstrated by him in his short time with us so far. It's been a window in which we have shattered expectations, not only of our own fans but fans of other clubs in the PL. The consistency of quality that we have been able to attract should make it that bit easier to recruit as we move forward; agents and selling clubs will no longer see us as precocious upstarts but serious and credible contenders in the transfer market. On paper, you'd say that the signings we have made would improve every team in the PL - if Arsenal, for instance, signed Lovren, Wanyama, and Osvaldo (while not immediately recognised as world class,) I'm sure their fans would have been excited by those deals. If you put Osvaldo in a similar bracket to forwards such as Negredo and Soldado then you'd have to say the £12.9 million we paid looks like good business, and the transfer fees shelled out for Wanyama and Lovren look to be steals based on early form. Good to see that we got the deals done early with no panicking on the deadline day. All our dealings seem well thought out and part of a coherent transfer policy. More than that, we have shed the idea of us as a selling club. Keeping hold of the likes of JWP and Shaw, who could both mature to be the best English players in their respective positions, makes such a refreshing change and credit must go to Cortese for signing our young prospects up on long term deals. Poch needs to tinker a little to restore the balance of the team which has not, as have some suggested, been the result of Wanyama's introduction into CM, but was pretty evident in the final 6-7 games of last season. Partly this was due to Puncheon's omission from the starting line-up in these games, and while I don't think he is the incredible player that some make out on here, he did provide balance on the RW that we seem to be lacking at the moment. A signing in that position would have been welcome, but alas, the transfer committee obviously felt that there wasn't any value to be had on the market. I'm not convinced we play as well when Lallana and J-Rod play together as part of the AM trident, but with the transfer activity and the youth players coming through (Isgrove, Rowe) Poch has enough options to remedy that. I'm hopeful that Ramirez and Osvaldo can start clicking together and provide a bit more threat in the final third, as we need to restore that dynamism and fluidity across the front four that we displayed in our better performances last year. Disappointing result at the weekend aside, we have so much to look forward to and can't wait for West Ham game (which incidentally will my first live one of the season).

I actually think Sharp is a better player than Mayuka (who I'm sorry to say is absolutely woeful,) but Sharp still isn't PL class and he won't improve us by being in our match day squad.

By all accounts, Billy Sharp is a really nice bloke and perhaps the club haven't treated him in the best possible manner. But I just don't understand this overly sentimental attachment to the guy among some of our fans. Yes, he helped us get to the Premier League but to varying degrees so did De Ridder, Chaplow, Hammond, Lee, etc. Unfortunately, some of the players that have helped us get through the leagues have been left behind as they are simply are not good enough for where the club wants to be. In a perfect world everyone of these players would have been given their chance and they would have turned out to be Premier League class players destroying all opposition before them. We have been lucky that quite a few have been able to make that jump and some have even excelled - Morgan and Lambert for example. But this naive expectation that because he helped us get to the Premier League that he is somehow entitled to a chance is just a complete folly. Sharp had obvious limitations as a Championship player and these would become even more pronounced and obvious in the Premier League. Get over it, he most probably won't be given a chance in the EPL and nor is he entitled to one.