aussiesaint20 Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 While I was lucky enough to be at Anfield to see the opening match of the season, my normal partners in crime were heading off to the pub late on a Sunday night. They knew they'd be badly outnumbered, but that wouldn't put them off. Like the fans at the ground, they showed up the Liverpool supporters with pride and passion for our club. Anyway, here's the view of our budding young journo, 19-year-old Patrick Mustafa. Intro by interim-Melbourne Rep, John Paron. Hi All, Please take some time out of your busy lives to read this brilliant article written especially for us by our resident up and coming journo, Paddy Mustafa. For those of you who were at the Imperial, he was the young bloke sitting next to me. Just let me add how I was so proud of everyone in Melbourne when we did not lose our cool when baited by those Liverpool supporters who came upstairs looking for trouble. Proud to be part of the SAS and a big thanks to Paddy JP THE BEGINNING: It has been a summer of frustration, confusion, discontent and ridiculous accusations at St. Mary’s. I don’t feel the need to recap about the players and staff who went for big money and to ‘better’ Clubs. I don’t feel the need to point the finger at the players or at the board. Enough has been said about all that, enough has been said about our hopes of surviving in the Premier League. Not enough was said about the quality replacements that were brought in (staff included), not enough was said about the quality which stayed on at the Club, not enough was said about a strong pre-season. It is finally time to speak about the positives of Southampton Football Club. However, Southampton and its fans beat me to it. When Nathaniel Clyne smashed home the equalizer at the Kop end, a group of 50 people in a small Melbourne pub rose as one to out-sing, out-class and out-support 200 Liverpool fans downstairs. As I jumped and celebrated with the rest of the real S.A.S (Southampton Australian Supporters), I couldn’t help notice how loyal the fans are to the Club. Fans turned up in Adelaide, Brisbane and even Townsville had a representative. Down in Melbourne, a scouser even asked if he could sit with us because he would rather sit with, and I quote, “proper football fans, not like the plastics downstairs”. Had Liverpool had a summer like we did, perhaps only 50 to 100 would have showed up in Melbourne and less across the country. Had we had a different summer, the same number would have supported the team across all the venues around Australia and the world. More of the same please S.A.S, we are fast becoming the most respected supporter group in the country. When you’re a fan though, you need a team to support. I would gladly at whatever time, whatever place and whatever circumstances watch Southampton play after their performance at Anfield. Southampton were absolutely magnificent in the second half; they played with the same speed, skill and swagger as the previous team of last year. Unfortunately they still seemed to have that knack of missing chances and not getting points when they deserved too. I must say, while I have been impressed with who the Club has brought in to replace those who left, I was nervous about how we would perform against quality opposition. Players need time to gel, to understand each other’s game style and so on. I’m sure Ronald Koeman would have liked a few more weeks with all the new signings, but that’s football. I was blown away at our performance, perhaps a little surprised. Not that I thought we weren’t capable of that, the players of old and new seemed to click so quickly. I can’t wait to see where we are in a couple of weeks. More of the same please. Dusan Tadic was brilliant on debut, along with Ryan Bertrand, while new signing Graziano Pelle impressed upfront with his physical dominance. Fraser Forster didn’t have much to do all day, but his presence in the box will surely help Southampton in defending set pieces. Both goals which Southampton conceded had elements of poor defending, so the debut of Florin Gardos cannot come soon enough. Clyne, who will benefit from being the permanent right back, showed exactly why most people have tipped him for an upcoming England selection. The midfield quartet of Ward-Prowse, Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Davis struggled early, but completely dominated the second half. Never has there been so much optimism after a loss, especially when we didn’t deserve to walk away with no points. There was no prolonged and bitter sulking, all we want as fans is for the West Brom game to come as quickly as possible. So I wrap this up with a salute. A salute to Southampton Football Club and its fans, who didn’t give up on the Club and its dream when all seemed lost. We witness something special last season. This season I think we are beginning to witness the birth of a prolonged era of high performance and success. On the basis of the performance at Anfield, 54 points could be equalled, or bettered. Keep the support strong and on to West Brom! Paddy Mustafa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingdomCome Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Seems OK, obviously a young writer so it seems raw. The flow isn't great, long meandering sentences, separated by commas, obviously just a question of style, this will come in time. we didn’t deserve to walk away with no points I would avoid double negatives Never has there been so much optimism after a loss, especially when we didn’t deserve to walk away with no points City in the 2012/2013 opening game? new signing Graziano Pelle impressed upfront with his physical dominance There's not need to lie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiSaint Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Thanks for posting that. As a supporter in exile myself I am envious of the support you are able to garner in one place. Anyway, very well written piece - well done young Paddy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelman Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 On the basis of the performance at Anfield, 54 points could be equalled, or bettered. 56 last season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiesaint20 Posted 20 August, 2014 Author Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Need to get yourself to Facebook.com/SaintsFCThailand 6,600 Thai Saints on there, compared to our 2,200. They sometimes meet at Molly Malones. Group is made up of about 80% locals and 20% expats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shurlock Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Excellent post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiSaint Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Need to get yourself to Facebook.com/SaintsFCThailand 6,600 Thai Saints on there, compared to our 2,200. They sometimes meet at Molly Malones. Group is made up of about 80% locals and 20% expats. Thanks for that but I already follow SaintsFCThailand - your split with Thai and expats is unlikely. Mostly Thai and you very rarely see a post from an expat but it's good to see so many Thai supporters! Molly Malon'e where? No such place in Chiang Mai - I should know for reasons I won't diclose here ;-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Great stuff TF. Sums up the feelings we had while watching down at Barasti. Keep up the great work SAS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Uninteresting,pedantic and lacking merit. Post #2 in this thread was a bit of a waste of my time. The OP,however,was a fun read! A nice change to read something from a different perspective. Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiesaint20 Posted 20 August, 2014 Author Share Posted 20 August, 2014 I speak to Patty often and he's keen for feedback, both good and bad, so keep it all coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingdomCome Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Uninteresting,pedantic and lacking merit. Post #2 in this thread was a bit of a waste of my time. The OP,however,was a fun read! A nice change to read something from a different perspective. Keep up the good work! Uninteresting and pedantic perhaps. I was providing constructive guidance so not without merit. Why would you read what others thought about the piece if you are so uninterested in their opinion? I would imagine that the OP posted this for feedback, not just for sycophantic ego boosts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Uninteresting and pedantic perhaps. I was providing constructive guidance so not without merit. Why would you read what others thought about the piece if you are so uninterested in their opinion? I would imagine that the OP posted this for feedback, not just for sycophantic ego boosts. I was only being facetious. No offence intended. I should have added a winky, but I was on my ipad, and that is time consuming. Edit: I'm not sure that was a double negative in it's usual sense though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingdomCome Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 I was only being facetious. No offence intended. I should have added a winky, but I was on my ipad, and that is time consuming. Edit: I'm not sure that was a double negative in it's usual sense though? My apologies then, text is severely lacking in emotive sense. Re double negative; It's a personal choice but the sentence as is just jars a little for me. I'm maybe just being pedantic though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadhall Saint Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 Stuff the journalism feedback - you should of just whacked the hobby scousers. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dangermouth Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 It's a big improvement on his previous piece and a good read. Really should get the English right unless there's a point for the errors cause obviously a journo is a master of language (and no, I'm not taking the ******). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 We need to encourage this sort of thing so well done. I seem to remember being in a pub called the Imperial but if memory serves it was in Kings Cross in Sydney. Mind you that was back in the 80s. Just one word of advice when writing about football best use English parlance ie equaliser and not equalizer. But the more Saints fans in the world the better so keep going Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearsy Posted 20 August, 2014 Share Posted 20 August, 2014 (edited) I speak to Patty often and he's keen for feedback, both good and bad, so keep it all coming! I found the first sentence confusing. Let him know pls. Edit: I liked most the rest of it tho! I wasn't sure if he didn't include double negative or not, I didn't notice bout that. I did see couple typos tho. I also yearned for more local colour, the smell of the barbie, the distant chirp of quarrelling abo's, the bit where one guy balances a pint on his head while you punch him etc things like that Edited 20 August, 2014 by Bearsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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